Blood Sugar not coming down-

What are you actually eating?

Aw Sami, I fear you are going to get a barrage of advice because the answer is 'everything'. I despair of Doctors & Consultants sending people out following such a diagnosis and giving them no advice whatsoever on how the body works and it's science. I will leave it to the experts but everything you have mentioned is FULL of carbs.

"Carbohydrates" are much more than just "sugar" and include a lot of common foods, including for instance bread, rice, pasta, potatos, fruit.

This link has great information about low-carb food: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb.

Carbs are what you need to avoid or reduce as much as you can - bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, most fruits (especially banana and other tropical fruits and fruit juice in particular) All carbohydrate converts to sugar once inside the system, so it isn't just refined sugar and sweet stuff you need to avoid. Most of what you ate in that list is possibly why you are in the position you are now. T2 diabetes requires a suitable diet, low in carbs, and this requires a different way of eating completely.

Have a look at this list of foods that are good to eat, and ones to avoid or seriously reduce in quantity.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodlist

I'm tagging @daisy1 as she has a very useful post for newly diagnosed.

Have a good read round and ask a lot of questions.

EDIT you need to test frequently because the fewer carbs you eat the less insulin you need. Too much insulin and your levels may drop very low.

Sami007379 said:

How much carb one should take in my case ? I thought 100 Carbs per day is ok..

Thanks,
Sami

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100g carbs a day is fine for some people, but not for most. We all have different tolerance levels. There are a lot more than 100g in that list you gave.

The best way to judge what is OK for you is to use your meter to guide you. Test immediately before you eat. Test again 2 hours after first bite. Look at the rise from before to after. If it is more than 36mg/dl (2mmol/l) there are too many carbs in the meal. If you also keep a food diary including portion sizes and record your levels alongside you will soon find out which foods are causing you harm and it will give you the chance to reduce the portion sizes of the carbs or eliminate some completely. This is called eating to your meter and works for the majority of us.

T2. Papaya may be good for some people, I don’t think it is good for me. There was an afternoon I ate three slices, the following morning my bg was up. I’ve stopped eating it. I leave the fruits to rot on their trees in my garden.

What @bluetit said about testing, and insulin, is important. When you lower the quantity of carbs you need less insulin, and if you are taking insulin you could have a hypo if you take too much.

mate are you serious a subway really. lets be right
lose the brown bread
forget the subway
lose the naan what veg i hope no rice
fruit bowl nope
low carb veg are like salads roots are heavy.
meat enjoy.
ready meals and takeaways avoid
rice breads grains are bad news, most fruit are quite high.
did you not get any dietry advice.
Dr Kesar Sadhra has had a lot of success adapting asian diets to meet low carbing. he was very interesting. watch his vids.

I echo all the advice above but would sound a note of caution with regard to you being on insulin. Most of us can reduce the carbs with the initial diagnosis drugs that are offered, but if you are on insulin you need to be careful that you don't reduce the carbs too quickly. Check with your endocrinologist about doses for carbs eaten. If you are carb counting, and you should be if you are on insulin, then advice from our type 1 people might be more appropriate.

Sami007379 said:

Thank you every one.
I will not eat subway, any more. Here is the new diet..
Morning: Plain Roti/Chapati + boiled Egg + Tea no Sugar 30 Carbs..
Afternoon: Plain Salad with chicken pieces ( Subway Salad/ Wendy Salad) 39 Carbs
Snack: cup of fruits 20 Carbs..
Evening: Plain Roti/Chapati + Veggie 60 Carbs
I am still at 120 Carbs..
I have an appointment with specialist tomorrow. I will also show them my new diet. I will update here with my new numbers in few days.
Remember me in prayers.

Thanks,
Sami

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I hope that you get some lower blood glucose readings with that amount of carbs - but I can't eat anything like that amount of carbs and get good readings.
The chapati or roti is wheat - which spikes my blood glucose, a salad should not have 40 gm of carbs in it - mine are about 20 gm at the most, I would not eat 20 gm of carbs from fruit, as that spikes my blood glucose very fast. My usual intake of carbs is 40 to 50 gm a day in order to have normal blood glucose. I realize that eating habits and conventions vary greatly, but your levels are worryingly high even with the insulin.
Saying that, though, you take the insulin in the evening, so eating lower carb in the day and then taking insulin and going to sleep is a concern too.

Bottom line is that you will need to look up carb counts of food items and then determine how they effect you personally. You may also find that you need to make a lot of your own food to stay within your personal carb tolerance. Here are some sites with recipes/ideas for Indian food. I can tell you I like Megha’s Keto Naan, but haven’t tried the others, yet. I look under Keto for low carb recipes.

Actually a site called Dietburrp, never heard of them before, just posted an Indian version of a Ketogenic diet plan you can check out. They are selling the recipes in a book, but the plan may give you some ideas https://www.dietburrp.com/indian-version-of-ketogenic-diet/

Megha, of KetoConnect, has adopted some recipes.
Chicken Saag. https://www.ketoconnect.net/recipe/chicken-saag-recipe
Low carb Naan. https://www.ketoconnect.net/recipe/low-carb-naan/
Butter Chicken. https://www.ketoconnect.net/recipe/keto-butter-chicken/

KetoSummit has a grouping called 20 Aromatic Low Carb Indian Recipes
https://ketosummit.com/low-carb-ketogenic-indian-recipes/

I breath I’m hungry compiled a list of 25 low carb and/or paleo Indian recipes. Check out the carb counts for individual dishes first, since some paleo allowed foods are high carb.
https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/25-best-low-carb-andor-paleo-indian-recipes/.

Though I didn’t paste them, a search also brought up some sites on how to eat low carb in an Indian restaurant.

Hi @Sami007379 and welcome!

Before you drastically reduce your carbs, I wanted to check with you that you are testing your blood glucose regularly, and understand the symptoms of a hypo, and what to do if you experience one?

For most type 2 diabetics there is little chance of a hypo, but when someone is on insulin, or one of the stronger diabetic drugs then there is always a risk. The insulin reduces the blood glucose level, while eating carbs pushes it back up again. So if we combine very low carb intake AND fixed amounts of insulin, then there is a risk that we may hypo.

I would definitely agree that managing type 2 diabetes is going to be helped by controlling carbs. But I would suggest that you do it step by step, while checking your blood glucose at every step, to make sure that you aren't dropping your blood glucose too low.

Just take it gently, and keep a record of all the readings to show at your next appointment.
Your doc may well be so impressed with your improving control that they tell you to reduce your insulin doses!

@Sami007379

Hello Sami and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members which I hope will be useful to you. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  
  
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
  

Sami007379 said:

Hello,

I was diagnosed with Type 2 last week. Doctor has prescribed me metformin 500mg 2 Tablets after meal and 10 units insulin shot before sleep.

I have been strictly following this regiment and not consuming any sugary food. I am eating very less carb based food.

The problem here is my blood sugar is not lowering down. Here are the readings for a day..

Fasting ( in the morning ) 260
Afternoon after lunch 250
Night after taking insulin 220.


My Blood sugar is floating around 250's. The last time it went to 183 was, when i ran on treadmill for 1 hour. That's pretty much it.

I am worried. I spoke to my physician and he told me to adjust the insulin to 15 units. Not sure if i should do it or wait till my next appointment..

I have an appointment with endocrinologist next week. Should i wait till that appointment before i increase my insulin or just increase it and observe the sugar level ?

Help will be appreciated.

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Hi Sami,

Since you were diagnosed a week ago it will take a little time for the readings to come down and your body to adjust to new diet. Initially it is best to keep away from most fruits especially bananas, oranges, grapes .They are very high in sugar. If you must have some fruit try some blueberries or other berries with a small cup of yogurt. Avacados also are filling and healthy. Increasing your protein content and reducing carb will keep your hunger levels in check. Boiled channa, lobia, peas are some ideas. Greens like methi , spinach and any other greens must be part of your diet everyday. Lentils are good too.I am a vegetarian ,so have given veg ideas. All the best!