Another Club Member

What are you drinking? Something does not add up here as with that diet (if it's consistent low(ish) carb) those numbers could do with big improvements.

Brunneria said:

Thank you

Your diet looks very low carb. So long as you are not eating bread, rice, pasta, potato, tropical fruit, sugar, etc. i would not expect that your bg be in the 20s for long.

Is it dropping gently over time?
How long have you been low carbing like this?
(Gotta go to bed now, but will pick up again tomorrow )

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Interesting how perspectives differ. I would have agreed before diagnosis. Now my reaction is that it looks high enough to set my BG off - the tomatoes and beans, specifically. I make a lentil soup that I was hoping to be able to eat in small quantities that has tomatoes and lentil beans. A single scoop (slightly less than 1 cup) elevates my BG more than I'm willing to tolerate.

Paulcunny said:

Water & coffee

haven't had any fizzy drinks since i was first tested, had a few beers and a couple of rums, but not had a 'proper' drink of alcohol since Christmas Day

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Beers are fairly high in carbs. Rum doesn't have any

Paulcunny said:

Water & coffee

haven't had any fizzy drinks since i was first tested, had a few beers and a couple of rums, but not had a 'proper' drink of alcohol since Christmas Day

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Well, patience grasshopper ... strange I have to say but if you stick to a good diet and water / coffee, those numbers will drop

Neohdiver said:

Interesting how perspectives differ. I would have agreed before diagnosis. Now my reaction is that it looks high enough to set my BG off - the tomatoes and beans, specifically. I make a lentil soup that I was hoping to be able to eat in small quantities that has tomatoes and lentil beans. A single scoop (slightly less than 1 cup) elevates my BG more than I'm willing to tolerate.

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For someone who has been lowcarbing enough to have reached their baseline, and be fine tuning, I would agree. But Paul is just starting out, and it can take a while to reach that kind of awareness.

Paulcunny said:

i've been low carbing all week cut out pasta, rice, noodles, before that, it was the same kind of food, but with rice, chips (slimming world ones) pasta etc

these are my readings for the week!

thanks for taking the time out of your day to give advice, it is very much appreciated! have a good sleep

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Thanks Paul, that is looking better than I thought, from just that screen shot of the 20!

And if you have only been low carbing for a week or so, then I would stick with it. The numbers will drop. Some people drop quickly, others it can take several weeks of gentle decline.
You may also find it very useful to test before food as well as 2 hrs after. That gives you a way of gauging the rise for each meal.

The ideal is to only rise by 2 at 2 hours (so for example, if you eat at 7pm with a bg of 9mmol/l before food, then you shouldn't be higher than 11mmol/l at 9pm)
This can be quite challenging. but it really helps to work out where the hidden baddies are...

Since we are all diffferent, please don't compare yourself to others, particularly at this stage. I have higher readings in the morning. You don't. My bg drops after breakfast, yours rises... I get lower before evening meal, doesn't look like you do. But things will change a lot over the next few weeks, so just roll with it, and you will find those numbers go down.

The other thing to bear in mind is that if you have had raised blood glucose for a while, your body is used to living with it, and it has become 'normal'. So when you dip lower, your body will draw on its reserves of glucose (glycogen stored in the liver and big muscles) and dump that into the bloodstream to get back up to 'normal'. The longer you low carb, the lower your glycogen reserves go, and the less you liver dump. So your blood glucose baseline drifts lower.

and just one more small thing worth mentioning.
Occasionally we get people diagnosed as T2 who don't respond to the low carb diet as expected.
Usually, these people have been misdiagnosed, and are T1 or T1.5 diabetics.
So, if after several weeks, your bg rises on LC instead of falling, then getting tested for T1 would be a good idea.
Don't get hung up on this at this stage. It is rare, and you have a family history of T2, so you may respond REALLY WELL to low carb, just give it time.

I think it is early days and your body is still adjusting Your diet is certainly good so just keep doing what you are doing and I am sure that your levels will come down just give it time Good that you have your wife to help you eat the right foods so well done

Paulcunny said:

Hi all, been diagnosed with type 2 this morning, after a few horrible weeks of testing and changing diets, been put on 1 500mg Metformin tablets, and have to go back too the diabetic nurse next week!

just a question, my meter reads yesterday were
11.3mmol/L first thing after waking up
15.4mmol/L 2 hrs after breakfast
17.1mmol/L 2 hrs after lunch
13.4mmol/L 2 hrs after dinner
14.5mmol/L 4hrs after that before bed

does this seem normal? will the Metformin bring it down to a normal level? i will be taking my first one with my dinner

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Hi Paulcunny. Welcome. Recently diagnosed with Type2 but at the moment just on the diet and exercise programme. For me, it was welcome news to be told that I have diabetes, rather than be unaware and then maybe suffer because of it. Now I know, I can deal with it. All the best. Ian

Hi Yorkshire_Ian. How you doing with just diet? Are you not on any medication for your Diabetes?

Hi Paul. I am about 3 months ahead of you,, and believe me there is a lot to take in when you are a newbie. However, my best advice to you is simple. Keep reading these forums, and DO NOT be fooled into believing that you can continue your current lifestyle and have medication sort out your blood glucose. The only way to deal with the problem sensibly is to cut out eating and drinking sugary and high carb stuff. I managed to get my levels down within 10 days by changing what goes into my mouth, and sadly am suffering badly with tummy troubles even on Metformin SR. The meds are given more to help avoid future complications from diabetes than they are to get your initial high readings down. Just relax and think about what you eat and drink now, then as you start to get under control you will begin to take in all of the really good info on this site..

Hi Mick. Should you still be having stomach upset with the Metformin, go back to see your GP as there is other medications that you could have. It's not just diet in controlling Diabetes! - Exercise is important as well. Even if you just go for a 20 minute walk everyday, some people go to the gym, others go swimming - anything that makes you burn up energy - Will help to lower blood sugar results. The best advise is what you have already said to Paul - keep reading the posts on this forum. I learn all the time on here and I've had Type 2 for almost 16 years.