Boyfriend newly diagnosed, need help

Well done!

You are still going to have bad days as well as good days - but stick with it and you will quite soon find that the good days outnumber the bad. Eventually you will get through this rough period, and you will find that diabetes really isn't so bad. Once you get on top of it, then you will see that it is a nuisance rather than the calamity that it seems to be on the bad days.

Incidentally, sorry about my crack about the fruit juice. I didn't mean to imply that fruit juice is a sensible thing for diabetics to drink - as Dennis pointed out they are full of sugar, so you have to be very careful with them. It is true that before I was diagnosed I used to enjoy pulverising innocent fruit, but after looking up how much sugar they contain that has become a very rare treat. There are lots of other things to drink, though - many types of tea, coffee, wine, whisky, diet soft drinks and ... water! I'm not complaining :wink:

Boyfriend said:

Any ideas for substitutes for yoghurts?

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Not exactly a substitute, but you might like to try EasiYo. This is an extremely simple DIY yoghurt, and has the big advantage that you control exactly what goes into it. You buy sachets of a culture powder, mix it up with cold water in a pot that is provided and put it into a flask with boiling water. Leave it overnight, and you have a litre of yoghurt. You can get them from some shops (e.g. Lakeland stock them) or from an online shop. They do lots of flavours - just make sure that you get one of the unsweetened ones. The full fat versions have lower carbohydrates than the diet versions, and as such are probably better for diabetics. If you want to flavour them, then I suggest that you use a spice like cinnamon or vanilla rather than fruit (certainly don't use the fruit topping that EasiYo supply - that has a huge amount of sugar). If you want to sweeten them then use an artificial sweetener rather than sugar.

Flavoured yoghurts are quite difficult - most of them are high in carbs. There are some which aren't as bad: Tesco healthy eating and Shape are made with artificial sweetener so are lower in carbs.

I would agree with what everyone said about fruit juice - the only time I touch it is when I'm having a hypo and NEED to increase my blood sugar very quickly.

I go for sugar-free squash and tea as my main drinks.

!

Boyfriend said:

He does find it hard to find what to drink though, he doesnt drink alcohol and he doesnt drink hot drinks like tea so it narrows things a bit.

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Here are a few ideas for cold, diabetic-friendly, non-alcoholic drinks:

• Diet soft drinks.
• Mineral water (still or sparkling) - improved by a slice of lemon or lime.
• Iced tea - make it yourself, it is best flavored with lemon. Either drink it unsweetened or with artificial sweetener.
• Iced coffee - again unsweetened or with artificial sweetner.
• Kool-Aid (don't laugh, some of them are vile but some of them are very good), just make sure to sweeten it with artificial sweetener. It is a bit hard to get in the UK, but you can order it online from KoolAidUK. Try the pink lemonade, that is very good.

Hi - those drinks look fine altho try not to drink too many diet drinks - they are so acidic they take the enamel off your teeth.

I havent looked at the sugar free sunny d for a while - not sure what is in it! Lots of colourings I guess!

Sugar free squash - I like the robinsons special R quite dilute.

Also just be careful with falvoured water - some have suagr in them but the writing is so small its hard to see the list of ingredients!

Unfortunately flatulence is an unfortunate side effect of metformin. In fact it is sometimes joking referred to as metfartin. It can also cause the runs as well as stomach cramps. Hopefully he is taking the tablets with food (ideally in the middle of the meal) as this way they have a less troublesome effect. If that doesn't help then get him to ask the doctor to change the prescription to Glucophage SR. This is metformin but in a slow-release form. It is much kinder on the stomach and has less harsh side effects than standard metformin.

Boyfriend said:

A good result on his BS this morning was 7.4 the lowest it has ever been, he also says that his sight has improved by about a third.....maybe he was right about the other tablets?

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You are getting there slowly What are the other tablets? I think it pretty unlikely that his eye problems are caused by drugs, although I suppose anything is possible. I strongly suspect that the problem is simply caused by changes in BS. If he has been very high for a while, and then comes down a lot then that causes changes in the pressure of the fluid inside the eye. That causes the eye to change shape, which in turn causes a blurring of vision. Since the problem is caused more by the changes in BS than by it actually being high, when diabetes is first brought under control it often gets worse before it gets better. I suspect that is what you have been experiencing, and it does get better once the BS stabilizes at a lower level. If it is now getting better, that is another sign that you are getting things sorted out. Don't be shocked by bad days, they will still happen I am afraid, but the overall trend should be an improvement now.

Hi, I,m diagnosed type 2 only 8 weeks ago and am also totally confused on how to deal with this. My doctor and practice nurse have both said to eat lots of stuff like cereals, bread. potatoes, pasta etc and cut out sugary foods and fatty foods. I also have high cholesterol and quite overweight. they also told me not to test and refused to give me strips or a machine, saying that regular blood tests, every three months would let them know exactly how my sugar levels are doing. I have no idea what is happening with them just now, and I am losing weight (approx 1kg per week) and find that i do have problems with flatulence and some nights cant get a decent night's sleep for having to go to wee, sometimes as often as every 1/2hr or so, and sometimes am not bothered at all with these problems. No-one has ever told me what types of food to eat, os suggested a diet to follow, I think what i am eating must be good for weight loss, but methinks maybe not correct for the daibetes side of things. A typical day's food for me consists of cereal (special K favourite) for breakfast, sandwich with wholemeal bread and cold meat,then mullarlight yoguart for lunch, roast meat or stew or similar with potatoes and veg for main meal approx 6pm. Anything between meals is usually fresh fruit or cereal bars. Drinks are coffee or diet fizzy. Does this sound appropriate? I think I need to find out more about diet and what will really work for me. Fortunately I do not seem to having any problems with vision or feet, but do have a tingling feeling in my hands and arms.This forum seems as if it could be a good source of information and advice, especially compared to the seeming woefully inadequate NHS I thank you for the advice I have already read, and for wicch i will recieve in the future, Dave

Hi Dave and welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately your tale is pretty typical of the many who come to us having been given little or no information by the medical profession. So, lets see what we can do to help you.

Firstly I see you are on oral meds, so presumably metformin? That would certainly explain the flatulence problems - metformin is also sometimes referred to as metfartin! Hopefully this will wear off as you become accustomed to it, but if it is still the same after 2 weeks then ask your GP to switch you to Glucophage SR. This is metformin in a slow-release form and is much kinder on the stomach. It would help us to help you if you would say what meds and strength you are on.

Now diet. This is a very tricky subject and one that not all diabetics agree on. However, the majority of Type-2s on this forum manage to keep their blood sugars under control by adopting a low or low-ish carbohydrate diet. Your medical team is quite right in saying that you need to cut down on sugars. But the advice to eat lots of bread, cereals, potatoes and pasta is the worst possible advice that a Type-2 can be given. Follow that diet and it will kill you. I am not exaggerating. All carbohydrates convert to blood sugar, and the more carbs then the more blood sugar. Type-2s have a problem in getting their insulin to convert blood sugar into energy. So logically you need a diet that will produce less blood sugar, not more. Have a look round the forum and you will find loads of advice on how to reduce the amount of carboydrates that you eat. But shout if you have any questions.

Cholesterol. Around 80% of your body's cholesterol is produced by your liver and 20% comes cholesterol in food. So by cutting down on fats you can only reduce a very small proportion of your cholesterol. Where does the liver get its cholesterol from? It comes from carbohydrates!! So if you really want to lower your cholesterol then reduce your carbohydrates.

Blood glucose home test monitors is a very thorny subject. The guidelines from NICE and the Dept of Health are that patients should be encouraged to monitor their blood sugar levels so that they are able to make adjustments where needed. Three-monthly testing is absolutely no use to you - it is YOU that is expected to manage your condition on a daily basis, not the surgery. They just need to see how you are progressing, but you can't know whether you are progressing at all without a monitor. You can do one of three things:
- challenge them as to why they are going against NICE and government guidelines in refusing to let you test
- just accept that you won't change their attitude and buy the tester and strips yourself (the testers are not expensive - generally around £6-£15 depending on the model, and but the strips are dearer - a months supply costs between £12 and £25 again depending on the model)
- get yourself a new doctor - one who understands more about diabetes, its causes and treatment than your present lot do.

For most newly diagnosed people diabetes is a huge learning-curve. But you seem to be developing a very quick understanding so I am sure will very quickly come to terms with it - and show the "health professionals" how it can be successfully treated - with or without their help!!

Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.

Boyfriend said:

I really dont know how these doctors get away with all this bad advice and how they say one thing but the people who are actually living through this illness say another, why dont the two get together.

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Oh, if only life was that simple. Ever since the medical profession decided around 25 years ago that a healthy diet must comprise at least 60% carbohydrate, they have steadfastly refused to listen to any argument that says differently. What really riles me is that the decision was made following research in the US which 2 years ago was proved to be totally flawed and the "scientist" who first came up with the high-carb idea has been completely discredited. But medical opinion won't shift on this because:
- no professional wants to be told that he is wrong
- when, as a doctor, you have been brain-washed into believing something then anything that proves otherwise will simply be dismissed out of hand
- even those doctors who may say to you privately that they agree with you will still go on recommending for Type-2s a high-carb diet that will inevitably lead to amputations, blindness and early death - because that's what the medical profession says they must do
- the medical profession itself is scared to admit that they have got it wrong and that for the last 25 years the advice they have been handing out is not helping the obesity and diabetes epidemics we see in the western world, but is probably a major cause of them. They are afraid of the legal claims there would be from those who have followed the advice and suffered as a consequence
- there is now a huge volume of research that proves beyond any shadow of doubt that Type-2s need a lower carb intake than non-diabetics, but all of it is simply ignored. There is also no valid research that says that a high-carb diet is good for Type-2s except in rare circumstances (e.g. some sportspeople).

Believe me, many of us have tried but the medical profession simply will not listen.
After all, they're the experts, what can we possibly know about it!

Thanks guys, doing a bit of a rethink on my diet, trying to cut down the carbs. I'm on 500mg metfortin twice a day, 20mg simvastatin once a day for cholesteral, and120mg xenical twice to reduce fat absortion. If i do eat anything too fatty I do have to run to the loo. Think I'll just eat eat meat, veg and fruit for a day or two, and get a meter to test myself, cos I don't think I can wait 3 months to see if I'm improving. I do think that the real experts are the people who are living with this, and not some jumped up scientist who can read things, but knows nothing!

When you've bought the meter, take the test strip label to the Dr & ask for the strips on prescription.