Always Tired

JCordier

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2011. I am on oral medication - Glucophage 500mg twice daily, Diamicron daily, Galvus daily. I am also taking Tetroxinand Eltroxin for an underactive thyroid and Coversyl for blood pressure.

I am constantly tired, no matter how many hours sleep I have at night. Hope somebody can give me some advice.

Regards,

Joey
 

lessci

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,023
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Both your diabetes and underactive thyroid can cause tiredness, have you had your levels tested recently? It could be your medication needs tweeking
 

JCordier

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Thanks for your reply Lesley. I am a registered member of a Diabetic Clinic and regularly have bloodtests. Don't know if there is certain foods that I should concentrate on more to counter act the tiredness.
 

))Denise((

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,580
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
When someone mentions tiredness, I have a list of possible culprits
  1. High Blood Sugar
  2. Underactive Thyroid (which you have)
  3. Iron deficiency anaemia
  4. Vitamin D deficiency
  5. Vitamin B12 deficiency
  6. Depression
  7. Stress
  8. Sleep Apnea
  9. Not getting enough sleep or good quality sleep
What are your blood sugar levels like? Do your thyroid meds need adjusting?
 
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JCordier

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi Denise,
I regularly have check-ups at the Diabetic Clinic of which I'm a member. I do sometimes have a problem sleeping, but it's not a daily thing. I take two Brewer's Yeast tablets per day, which is a good source of Vitamin B. I also take two-three Calcium/Magnesium tablets per day. I regularly eat fruit and veggies. Am going for a check-up in April, will discuss it with Dr Asvat.
 

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I also have both hypothyroidism and diabetes.

What are your levels? Do you check bg after meal? I find this very useful.

Do you get proper thyroid care? I didn't and am now on NDT that I import myself and it is a million times better for me than Levo was. My TSH is supressed but both FT3 and FT4 in range so no one is worried about the low TSH.

As Denise says in her excellent list, low iron and vitamin deficiencies can make you very tired. They are however fairly easy to correct once you know what the problem is. Vitamin D deficiency is common in most autoimmune diseases so get this checked. Low iron is common, not least in hypothyroidism, so get ferritin checked, not only Hb. Vitamin B12 deficiency can be another autoimmune condition so get vitamin B12 checked along with folate.

I found that going on a strict, grain free low carb diet (LCHF) gave me my old energy back in a very short time.
 
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JCordier

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi Totto,

Can you give me more details on your diet?

Regards,

Joey
 

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi Totto,

Can you give me more details on your diet?

Regards,

Joey
I am happy to share my diet with you!

Basically I avoid carbs. I eat two or three meals a day. Breakfast is yoghurt, the full fat Greek variety often with some extra double cream, shredded coconut and cinnamon. I eat breakfast when I feel like it, often I don't.

Then lunch. If there are left overs from yesterday, that is my favourite option. Otherwise I go for bacon and eggs with butter so this is often combined breakfast/lunch. I eat when I am hungry. Today, for example I started working at 7.00 and was sort of hungry for a while but work went well so I didn't go in to eat until 11. Then I had my first meal, bacon and eggs with butter.

Tonight I had smoked salmon belly, you know the fat part and oh it is soo nice! with spinach and celeriac. The two meals were eight hours apart and even though I was sort of hungry for a while I could handle it. Work came first.

Apart from avoiding carbs I find the high fat is vital. Fat fills you up and make you stay satiated for a long time, so you don't need to snack and you eat normal at your next meal. Most of us who do high fat find the high fat content regulates appetite so we don't over eat .

I eat a lot of eggs as we keep chickens. And I eat chickens, and lamb. Also cabbage in all shapes and forms, spinach, egg plant, celeriac, cheese, butter, broccoli, olive oil, herring, winter squash, onions, tomatoes, Swiss chard, lard, any fat I can find like goose fat and duck fat, etc.

I also eat a lot of cheese, very nice alternative to sweets at any time as are nuts. In the summer I eat a lot of lettuce and other vegs. And parmesan.

I find I can´t tolerate flour or grain of any kind. I also avoid carrots, potaotes and beet root. I do however thrive on olive oil, butter, cheese, lard, drippings, duck and goose fat etc. Fat is nice an filling and will keep you slim.
 
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Randburg

Well-Known Member
Messages
751
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
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Can I ask do you have a problem with cholesterol on your diet, as it is high in Fat, and not the best types of fat
I have heard that going very low card and eating fat does not increase cholesterol to much
 

Totto

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,831
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Can I ask do you have a problem with cholesterol on your diet, as it is high in Fat, and not the best types of fat
I have heard that going very low card and eating fat does not increase cholesterol to much
My HDL is 1.8, LDL is 4.0 and triglycerides 0.9. I have refused statins.

What LCHF usually do to cholesterol is reducing triglycerides and raising HDL. Total cholesterol is of little interest but you want your HDL on the high side and triglycerides low.

LCHF is also a useful tool to reverse non alcoholic fatty liver disease.