Another Newbie

[niblue]

Hi. I'm another newbie, a 55 year old male based in Scotland and diagnosed with diabetes last week. Due to a very high hb1ac test (108!) I've been put straight onto Metformin and have had pretty much no other advice yet, other than to cut out sugar.

After the high initial test I was referred to a diabetes nurse however as the NHS systems were down at that time she didn't have access to the test results or my notes so it was fairly pointless (she was talking about arranging a 2nd blood test after 3 months and other than that we just had a chat about lifestyle stuff) although not her fault. Once the system was back up and she'd seen the results the nurse phoned and asked me to schedule an appointment for another blood test in a week, but while I was doing that one of the doctors said to put me on Metformin straight away, giving the high result. So I've got my prescription and am on 1 500mg tablet per day for 2 weeks (4 days into that), then onto 2 tablets a day. So far that's pretty much it from the NHS and I'm not entirely sure what else to expect from them - even in terms or follow up appointments or referrals to a clinic etc.

I have however done my own research, much of it with the help of this site, and so far have:
- bought a blood testing meter and am currently testing once a day, first thing in the morning (12.2 this morning, which is one of the lower results I've had so far)
- cut out sugar in my coffee
- stopped snacking
- looked into low-carb diet options (and realised carbs are the devil!)

I'm 55, don't appear to have any symptoms at all, have a BMI of 27.9 (so room for improvement!) and am fairly active as I've 2 large dogs that I walk a lot.

Decisions I've made:
- to start running and/or cycling again which I used to do a lot before I got the dogs - I did a half marathon a few years ago (when my BMI was perhaps slightly higher than it is now) and used to be in a cycling club
- to start a low carb diet
- cut down on beer (not that I drink an awful lot) and switch to wine and spirits in moderation instead (not a big challenge as I collect whisky!)

Being in IT (and having studied Chemistry at Uni) I like data and am tempted to get Freestyle Libra 2 but am holding on that for now, however I can see the value of being able to see the effects of different meals on blood sugar levels.

My Mum, Dad and both sisters all were diagnosed as type 2 so it's not been a big surprise (despite the lack of symptoms) although the hb1ac result was a bit of a shocker. I'm not letting it get me down though, and am instead am keen to get on with doing what I can to improve things.

Anyway, nice to be here and I'm looking forward for getting more advice and assistance and support from this very helpful site.

Cheers
Steve
P.S. These are the dogs

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi Steve and welcome to the forum.
Testing your Blood Glucose once per day (even if at the same time every day) is rather pointless since it can only show long term trends - rather like the HbA1C which just indicates an average Blood Glucose over a 10 to 12 week period.
Also unless you turn out to be Type 1, then a Libre is probably over-kill.
What a good cheap blood Glucose (finger prick) meter is best used for is for sorting out your meals. If you eat more carbohydrates ( starches as well as sugars) than your body can handle at a meal then you are likely (depends on things like fats and alcohol) to see a spike of over 2.0 mmol between a reading taken just before eating and one taken 2hrs after first bite. However fats and alcohol can reduce the maximum size of the spike down and spread it out for longer - not always a good thing depending upon how big it is.

We all have unique metabolisms and gut micro biomes, so exactly the same quantity of the same food can affect different T2 Diabetics in a different way.
Thus you can only test which foods in which quantities are OK for YOU!
Most healthcare professionals don't understand this and so tend to advise patients not to test, when in fact it's almost vital to test in order to achieve T2D remission.

Any exercise is good, but you don't need to do more than a moderate amount. a brisk walk of 30 min or more each day plus a little weigh training if you enjoy it is quite sufficient. - Why? - Because exercise makes you hungry and you can't out-run/swim/cycle a bad diet!

Talking of diets, I say it's best not to consciously try to cut down on calories, unless you are prepared to be really drastic (fasting for several days at a time or eating one of those 800 calorie per day diets). If you go Low Carb even without reducing calories then you are more likely to lose weigh quite fast enough on its own. Just eat until full and then don't eat until your next meal. Snacking between meals just raises you insulin which is the fat storage hormone (as well as inflaming your arteries and helping you toward Cardio Vascular disease).

Anything below 130gms of carbs per day is considered to be Low Carb, but rely on your meter to tell you how low you personally need to go. For me it was in the 20gms to 40gms per day range - which is flirting with Keto.

 

[EllieM]

Hi @niblue I'm T1 so can't be of much help on the general advice front but just wanted to say that you seem to have a very sensible plan and I really like the photo of your dogs.

And welcome to the forums of course.

 

[niblue]

Yesterday I started my low-carb journey (and found it interesting on how my view on what is a healthy food has now changed dramatically!) so am hoping that'll see an improvement on my blood sugar levels over time (although sadly no drop when I tested first thing this morning). I'm also one week into using Metformin, with another one to go before increasing my dosage to 2 tablets a day.

I've got a load more test strips and lancets coming so once those arrive I'll start doing more regular tests during the day as well, to see how meals are affecting things.

Currently my morning test results are still high (the last 3 days have been in the 12.2 to 12.8 range) but at least that's better than a couple of the ones I had last week that were around 19!

 

[ajbod]

Your morning results will be the last to come down, maybe months. But your results throughout the day will be significantly lower. Your liver is dumping sugar to give you energy to go and hunt for breakfast. Until your body readjusts to a lower blood sugar level, it will keep trying to get your fasting numbers up to where they've been for some time. It has to learn the new normal.

 

[niblue]

Well that's me 3 weeks on from my diagnosis and starting on Metformin, and about 2 weeks from switching to a low-carb diet (aiming for between 50 and 100g of carbs a day). I didn't have any issues with the first 2 weeks of 1 x 500mg Metformin per day, but in the last week of being on 2 x 500mg I've had some queasiness although nothing more than that so far thankfully.

I've decided that I want to try and get my weight down into the normal BMI range (which will be the first time in 30 years!) and so far have shifted about half a stone and got my BMI to just over 27 - so that's going well. The trend of my morning blood sugar levels has also been generally downwards, with the occasional morning where it's spiked, although I've still got a fair bit to go as the average for the last week has been 10.3, with the last couple of days at 8.0 and 8.4. That's still progress however given my test on the morning I was diagnosed was 18.8. I had been doing some occasional testing during the day but I'm not yet a huge fan of being a pincushion so have gone back to just the morning tests for now as the interim results wouldn't really influence what I've decided to do about diet etc. anyway - at least not in the short term. One thing I did notice was that after a morning test of 8.5 on Saturday, followed by a hilly 6.5 mile walk with the dogs (without having eaten)I did feel slightly light headed when I got back so perhaps should have tested my blood sugar then (but instead had a banana straight away) as I suspect it might have been quite low! Previously I'd been able to do stuff like that no problem but that might have been because there was so much sugar washing about in my blood then low-blood sugar was never going to be an issue.

Some things about low-carb I'm finding tougher than others and my wife and I are still working on finding carb replacement stuff that's reasonably edible. Cauliflower rice I'm finding reasonably ok if served with something with a lot of sauce, but the "Eat Water" noodles, rice and pasta I'm finding I really don't like. I've just recently got some "keto" pasta and rice which while expensive is more palatable. For bread type stuff the Fitbakes tortilla wraps are fine, the HiLo bread is quite nice and we've also been making some 90-second microwave bread with almond flour and that's also ok (and quite a bit lower in carbs). I am missing potatoes though, but have had them occasionally in small amounts which has helped.

Other than a letter for me to arrange an retinopathy appointment I've still not had anything further from the NHS but I'm going to arrange a follow-up appointment in the next couple of weeks as I'll need my Metformin prescription renewed by then anyway.

I've stopped doing daily blood pressure checks as dropped a lot from the circa 150/90 that it was when I went originally went to the doctors about a month ago to a more reasonable 120/80 or so now.

So far thing are going reasonably ok I think.

 

[ajbod]

As a type 2, low blood sugar should never be a problem. When you were light headed you should have tested, i'm sure your levels would have been fine, but lower than you have been used to, hence a false hypo. This is when that pesky liver that sets your morning fasting levels, does it's trick, dumping glucose to raise your level. False hypos can be disconcerting, but they are NOT dangerous, your body needs to learn that this is correct. It's basically throwing a tantrum. You need to ride it out, and put the inner toddler in it's place. Also i would give the Bananas a swerve, as they're basically sugar grenades.
Besides that keep up the good work, you're doing well.

 

[Outlier]

I found that bean shoots made a very acceptable spaghetti substitute, I actually like them much better than the real thing.

 

[0110]

Well that's me 3 weeks on from my diagnosis and starting on Metformin, and about 2 weeks from switching to a low-carb diet (aiming for between 50 and 100g of carbs a day). I didn't have any issues with the first 2 weeks of 1 x 500mg Metformin per day, but in the last week of being on 2 x 500mg I've had some queasiness although nothing more than that so far thankfully.

I've decided that I want to try and get my weight down into the normal BMI range (which will be the first time in 30 years!) and so far have shifted about half a stone and got my BMI to just over 27 - so that's going well. The trend of my morning blood sugar levels has also been generally downwards, with the occasional morning where it's spiked, although I've still got a fair bit to go as the average for the last week has been 10.3, with the last couple of days at 8.0 and 8.4. That's still progress however given my test on the morning I was diagnosed was 18.8. I had been doing some occasional testing during the day but I'm not yet a huge fan of being a pincushion so have gone back to just the morning tests for now as the interim results wouldn't really influence what I've decided to do about diet etc. anyway - at least not in the short term. One thing I did notice was that after a morning test of 8.5 on Saturday, followed by a hilly 6.5 mile walk with the dogs (without having eaten)I did feel slightly light headed when I got back so perhaps should have tested my blood sugar then (but instead had a banana straight away) as I suspect it might have been quite low! Previously I'd been able to do stuff like that no problem but that might have been because there was so much sugar washing about in my blood then low-blood sugar was never going to be an issue.

Some things about low-carb I'm finding tougher than others and my wife and I are still working on finding carb replacement stuff that's reasonably edible. Cauliflower rice I'm finding reasonably ok if served with something with a lot of sauce, but the "Eat Water" noodles, rice and pasta I'm finding I really don't like. I've just recently got some "keto" pasta and rice which while expensive is more palatable. For bread type stuff the Fitbakes tortilla wraps are fine, the HiLo bread is quite nice and we've also been making some 90-second microwave bread with almond flour and that's also ok (and quite a bit lower in carbs). I am missing potatoes though, but have had them occasionally in small amounts which has helped.

Other than a letter for me to arrange an retinopathy appointment I've still not had anything further from the NHS but I'm going to arrange a follow-up appointment in the next couple of weeks as I'll need my Metformin prescription renewed by then anyway.

I've stopped doing daily blood pressure checks as dropped a lot from the circa 150/90 that it was when I went originally went to the doctors about a month ago to a more reasonable 120/80 or so now.

So far thing are going reasonably ok I think.

Good news and it sounds like your doing well Steve, I have many people in the gym who stress to me eat one meal a day only and your sugar levels will be ok, but I find that very hard to do. I tried to get the low carb bread from Sainsburys but no one stocks it in my area, I think its online only.

 

[Diablo T2]

I am missing potatoes though, but have had them occasionally in small amounts which has helped.

What I found was that cauliflower mash was surprisingly good in lieu of potato mash.

The other potato alternative for chips was using celeriac. It is a little bit different taste/texture and celeriacs are harder to peel, but it is an option.

 

[KennyA]

Well that's me 3 weeks on from my diagnosis and starting on Metformin, and about 2 weeks from switching to a low-carb diet (aiming for between 50 and 100g of carbs a day). I didn't have any issues with the first 2 weeks of 1 x 500mg Metformin per day, but in the last week of being on 2 x 500mg I've had some queasiness although nothing more than that so far thankfully.

I've decided that I want to try and get my weight down into the normal BMI range (which will be the first time in 30 years!) and so far have shifted about half a stone and got my BMI to just over 27 - so that's going well. The trend of my morning blood sugar levels has also been generally downwards, with the occasional morning where it's spiked, although I've still got a fair bit to go as the average for the last week has been 10.3, with the last couple of days at 8.0 and 8.4. That's still progress however given my test on the morning I was diagnosed was 18.8. I had been doing some occasional testing during the day but I'm not yet a huge fan of being a pincushion so have gone back to just the morning tests for now as the interim results wouldn't really influence what I've decided to do about diet etc. anyway - at least not in the short term. One thing I did notice was that after a morning test of 8.5 on Saturday, followed by a hilly 6.5 mile walk with the dogs (without having eaten)I did feel slightly light headed when I got back so perhaps should have tested my blood sugar then (but instead had a banana straight away) as I suspect it might have been quite low! Previously I'd been able to do stuff like that no problem but that might have been because there was so much sugar washing about in my blood then low-blood sugar was never going to be an issue.

Some things about low-carb I'm finding tougher than others and my wife and I are still working on finding carb replacement stuff that's reasonably edible. Cauliflower rice I'm finding reasonably ok if served with something with a lot of sauce, but the "Eat Water" noodles, rice and pasta I'm finding I really don't like. I've just recently got some "keto" pasta and rice which while expensive is more palatable. For bread type stuff the Fitbakes tortilla wraps are fine, the HiLo bread is quite nice and we've also been making some 90-second microwave bread with almond flour and that's also ok (and quite a bit lower in carbs). I am missing potatoes though, but have had them occasionally in small amounts which has helped.

Other than a letter for me to arrange an retinopathy appointment I've still not had anything further from the NHS but I'm going to arrange a follow-up appointment in the next couple of weeks as I'll need my Metformin prescription renewed by then anyway.

I've stopped doing daily blood pressure checks as dropped a lot from the circa 150/90 that it was when I went originally went to the doctors about a month ago to a more reasonable 120/80 or so now.

So far thing are going reasonably ok I think.

Well done. I have discovered mashed swede as a potato substitute - about 3g/100g, and available readymade from Lidl.

 

[jonathan183]

Testing blood glucose before eating and 2 hours after will give a good indication of what your body can stand without too much of a blood glucose increase. You may find you are OK with some foods you would otherwise rule out, and may find some foods which you think are OK are not.
You might also find reducing the eating window helps ... if you decide to skip a meal one at the beginning or end of the day would be of most benefit

 

[MrsA2]

You're doing well @niblue
I find most of the manufactured carb substitutes expensive and odd tasting so I simply skip them. For example spaghetti bolognaise is just the meat sauce without anything else, just more sauce. Ditto curry more meat and sauce , no rice.
Sometimes I'll use simple veg such as cabbage cut into ribbons, or caulifower.

It's just an imprinted habit for most of us to think every meal needs carbs, or restaurants or food manufacturers who serve or sell carbs because they are cheap and therefore increase thir profit margins.

As you get more used to low carb it will get easier and cheaper to ditch the manufactured replacements.

I make my own lc cakes and keep them sliced in the freezer. I mash swede or caulifower when mash texture is required, I roast swede or celeriac when roast is required. I bake cheese or eat pork scratchings instead of salty crisp snacks.

It does get easier, promise

 

[niblue]

The beansprouts were a good tip. I had some instead of rice (or cauliflower rice) with a Chinese chicken curry a couple of days back and enjoyed it, then used some of the remainder in an omelette (with cheese and chorizo as well) that I had for my dinner last night.

There are also signs(!) that I might be getting a bit more fibre into my diet as well, which is welcome - partly by eating more salads but also by adding milled chia seeds to some meals.

I've managed to move another 1lb of weight off so my BMI is now bang on 27 and hopefully I'll be moving into the sub 13 stone and sub 27 MBI range soon. I went for a short (3k) run this lunchtime to see how I'd cope with that (I've got some initial signs of what might be arthritis in one of my hips and it's the first time I'd run since that started) and that seemed ok, so will most likely go back to running regularly.

My Libre2 sensor (from the free trial) has also arrived today so I'm planning to give that a go soon as well.

 

[niblue]

My morning blood sugar levels appear to have continued their general downwards trend, with the last few days being 6.9. 6.8 and 7.0 - which is nice, and hopefully will continue in that downward trend as they've some way to go yet. My weight is also continuing to drop and that is me now into the sub 13 stone and sub 27 BMI range, which is also nice (although I'm not running out of clothes that fit, so might need to go and do some shopping next weekend).

Also after nearly a month I now have access to the NHS Scotland MyDiabetesMyWay website - and have discovered that my initial hb1ac was 106 not 108. I also need to get around to either scheduling a follow-up appointment or getting my prescription renewed as I've now got 1 week of Metformin left.

 

[0110]

My morning blood sugar levels appear to have continued their general downwards trend, with the last few days being 6.9. 6.8 and 7.0 - which is nice, and hopefully will continue in that downward trend as they've some way to go yet. My weight is also continuing to drop and that is me now into the sub 13 stone and sub 27 BMI range, which is also nice (although I'm not running out of clothes that fit, so might need to go and do some shopping next weekend).

Also after nearly a month I now have access to the NHS Scotland MyDiabetesMyWay website - and have discovered that my initial hb1ac was 106 not 108. I also need to get around to either scheduling a follow-up appointment or getting my prescription renewed as I've now got 1 week of Metformin left.

Sounds good , your doing a great job, clearly teh new diet and Metformin kicking in, hatt off to you. How you with Metaformin any issues? Also what numbers do you see before dinner? Your morning numbers seem good to when you first got diagnosed.

 

[niblue]

Sounds good , your doing a great job, clearly teh new diet and Metformin kicking in, hatt off to you. How you with Metaformin any issues? Also what numbers do you see before dinner? Your morning numbers seem good to when you first got diagnosed.

I had some mild nausea when I first moved up to the 2 x 500mg Metformin dose but it wasn't really an issue and is a bit better now.

I've decided for the moment not to test multiple times during that day as I've already decided the immediate path I want to take with low-carb etc. and I'm still not overly keen on being a pincushion several times a day! I've got a Libre2 sensor to try though (which I might do later this week) so that'll give me continual testing during the day.

 

[niblue]

I decided to do a little bit more testing to see what my levels were during the day. Just before dinner last night I tested at 5.4, which is the lowest I've seen so far however I hadn't eaten for about 8 hours at that point as I'd been travelling. That also meant I had dinner quite late as well (9pm or so) which might have contributed to a slightly higher reading (compared to the last few days) of 8.1 first thing this morning. Just before lunch today I tested again and was 7.8 (that would have been about 3 hours after a breakfast of greek yoghurt, milled chia seeds and some other mixed seeds - 291 calories and 12g of carbs). 2 hours after lunch and a 40 minute leisurely walk with one of the dogs) I tested at 6.8 (lunch was salad, chicken, olives, coleslaw and a little ceasar salad dressing - 368 cals and 7g of carbs). Not entirely sure what that's telling me though - especially as I don't think there were any foods in there that were likely to cause a spike. It's down a fair bit since the last time I tested at similar points, which was about 3 weeks back and was 12.7 first thing in the morning, 9.8 before lunch, 11.8 2 hours after lunch (which was a frittata with 24g of carbs) and then down to 9.3 pre-dinner.

 

[Bogie]

Welcome, niblue!

I was diagnosed 7 years ago in in 2016 (will be 75 in June) and started the journey of discovery and T2 education. My blood tests at that time were similar but much better now (HbA1C staying around 6.7). Also a family inheritance (thanks, Mom!) going back at least 3 generations. I am on Jardiance and recently added Tragenta. I am also in IT (work from home), have 3 dogs, and live in a 3 floor townhome (so like a built-in Stairmaster for exercise). Diet will be your most challenging task as 55 years of eating what you had been doing makes it hard to adjust - take your time or you will defeat the goal.

If you are only testing once or twice a day then it won't help you too much to gauge how your diet changes work. Last year I switched to the FreeStyle Libre 2 - best thing I have ever done. Don't miss the finger-pricking, even though I kept forgetting to do it (you are also in IT so your mind is focused on your tasks at hand and easy for time to slip by), and still do it to double-check high or low readings (especially low, as the FGM - FreeStyle Libre - can be inaccurate in low readings like low 4s and into the 3s). Self-funding as our provincial government health plan (here in Canada) won't pay for it unless you are on insulin. This was the boost I needed to really focus more on diet and lifestyle. To each their own, but you were just diagnosed so unless your self blood tests (with meter) show dramatic highs then the 3 month blood tests, and being diet conscious, will show how your HbA1C is going.

Weight isn't a problem for me as I am bang-on for my age and height (5'8"/172cm). Before going on oral meds I was 210 lbs (95 KG) but dropped quickly to my current 153 lbs (69 KG) in just over 6 months.

Beer and Wine (and all alcohol) are rich in carbs, therefore an increased risk for high blood sugar readings. Personally, I do not drink at all, but was like that before being diagnosed so an easy choice. But I did have a sweet tooth and that was hard to segue from (sugar is a toxin and addictive).

All the best in your journey as a T2. This forum has been my greatest resource and support.

 

[Resurgam]

Dry wines and spirits are not high in carbs.