Hello there I am new to this forum so can you bear with me. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last November.I take three Metformin daily but my BG level is usually around 11-12 now but when I first started the tablets it was around 7-9. On two occasions when I have felt ill I checked my BG and it was 5. Why do I feel ill at 5 when it is not classed as low. Also my feet and shins feel like they are burning sometimes but the docs say I haven't diabetes too long, I am also interested in finding out about the low carb diet I look forward to any help from you.
Can't control blood sugars on Metformin
- Thread starter bluebindy123
- Start Date
That is disappointing!
Are they Certain it's type 2, not one of the other rarer kinds?
What are you eating?
It all comes down to a balance of Insulin, carbohydrates and exercise.
As type 2 on metformin only, you cannot have a huge effect on insulin, but you can on carb intake and exercise.
If your legs hurt, you may be sitting about more.
It's always worth cutting down on your carb intake, on the grounds that it cannot hurt you and doesn't cost anything and is quite likely to work
What advice were you given on diet? How much do you know about food groups?
If you got the standard, "base your meals around complex carbohydrates," guff, you will almost inevitably be eating too much. Did anyone tell you what a "portion " looks like?
Hurting legs doesn't sound too good and should be reported back to the care team ASAP.
Get back to us with more information, and someone will probably have the answer.
Are they Certain it's type 2, not one of the other rarer kinds?
What are you eating?
It all comes down to a balance of Insulin, carbohydrates and exercise.
As type 2 on metformin only, you cannot have a huge effect on insulin, but you can on carb intake and exercise.
If your legs hurt, you may be sitting about more.
It's always worth cutting down on your carb intake, on the grounds that it cannot hurt you and doesn't cost anything and is quite likely to work
What advice were you given on diet? How much do you know about food groups?
If you got the standard, "base your meals around complex carbohydrates," guff, you will almost inevitably be eating too much. Did anyone tell you what a "portion " looks like?
Hurting legs doesn't sound too good and should be reported back to the care team ASAP.
Get back to us with more information, and someone will probably have the answer.
Hi Bluebindy and welcome to the forum.
As Hana said we will do all we can to help you in getting to grips with your blood sugar levels, but to do that we need to know what a typical day's diet is for you (including snacks and nibbles as these are often the worst culprits).
You are right in that the symptoms of a hypo normally start below 5, but at 5 you are not that far off, plus if you are using a monitor to test, these can be out by up to 20%. So when your monitor says 5 you could actually be anything between 4 and 6. Also when you have been running high BS levels for any length of time, your body becomes used to the higher "normal" and you can start to experience hypo symptoms at a much higher level (for example some have reported starting to feel hypo-ish at a reading of 10, but they have been running sugar levels of 15-20 so the body thinks of 10 as being quite low!).
As Hana said we will do all we can to help you in getting to grips with your blood sugar levels, but to do that we need to know what a typical day's diet is for you (including snacks and nibbles as these are often the worst culprits).
You are right in that the symptoms of a hypo normally start below 5, but at 5 you are not that far off, plus if you are using a monitor to test, these can be out by up to 20%. So when your monitor says 5 you could actually be anything between 4 and 6. Also when you have been running high BS levels for any length of time, your body becomes used to the higher "normal" and you can start to experience hypo symptoms at a much higher level (for example some have reported starting to feel hypo-ish at a reading of 10, but they have been running sugar levels of 15-20 so the body thinks of 10 as being quite low!).
Hello again The diabetic nurse just gave me a diet saying not to eat too much fat and to steer clear from jams and marmalades. I usually have porridge in the morning, a sandwich or wrap containing tuna or ham and salad and on an evening boiled potatoes, braising steak or chicken breast and vegetables. If anyone could tell me what they eat daily on a low carb diet I would be delighted. I struggle with exercise as I have scoliosis of the spine and most causes a lot of pain. I do go walking on a weekend in my mbts which have made a huge difference with back pain. It is not pain in my feet and shins it is a burning/itchy feeling. My cholestrel is 4.1 and I do not have high blood pressure.
IanD
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 2,429
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Carbohydrates
bluebindy123 said:
My diabetic education programme included a dietician who told me, among other things, that normal jam & marmalade (& sauces) are used in such small quantities that they are OK. In fact it is what we eat them with that's the problem. A thick slice of bread is bad, stirred into a natural yoghurt is OK.
A typical day's diet for me is:
(I prepared this for our resident dietitian, Ally's comments
wts are grams)
I'm 69, T2, 5'8", 12 st 3 lb (down from 13 st in 3 months), Jan 08 HBA 6.7, CHol 5.2,
My overnight BS has gone from 6.7 av to 5.3 av.
Tea is a mug of green blend with semi sk milk - about 8 per day plus at least 500 ml water
supplements - 1 multivit/mineral, glucosamine/chondroitin, EPA
porridge: wts in gm
oats - 9
oat bran - 12
wheat germ - 14
wheat bran - 5
dried apricots - 15
sultanas - 12
cinnamon
1 saccharin
aspirin 75 mg
ss milk - 225 g
almonds 10
--------
apple - 112
medium cheddar - 12
snacks on nuts (almond, wall & brazil) - 30 g
--------
veg casserole:
carrot/swede/onion/pulse mix/tomato paste/herbs/spices/veg OXO - 176
grilled lean pork - 136
------
stewed fruit (unsweetened):
apple/rhubarb/sultanas/apricots/spices - 150
plain yog - 85
------
salad:
tomato/lettuce
beef - 70
cheese (med cheddar) - 34
hummous - 30
salad cream (10% carb, 8% fat) - 20
bread (18 g carb)
------
stewed fruit 150
yog 40
==================================
before reducing carbs, I would add:
potato - 100
bread - 3 slices (54 g carb)
You are eating quite a lot of carbs. my intake is much less and I don't worry about fats. I take 3 - 4 metformin 500s a day and my BGs are between 4.7 and 5.5 each morning. I can't test more often, because of strip rationing. (I'm supposed to test twice a week) I'm said to be very stable and well controlled 5 years past diagnosis
Breakfast
scrambled egg (microwaved)
OR eggs and bacon cooked in the bacon's own fat in a frying pan
Lunch
A slice of cold meat and an apple
Or a slice of cheese and some berries
OR 1/2 avocado with tuna mayo
Dinner
Meat. chicken or fish and green veggies, sometimes plus carrot. Never pasta, rice or old potatoes, sometimes a couple of baby new potatoes
NO snacks most days. Occasional nuts or dried fruit
I drink tea with milk,no sugar or coffee with cream and Splenda.
I also walk miles each day
I've just come back from a 6 mile walk with the dogs. We didn't mean to go quite so far, but we lost a lead and had to retrace several times. (we didn't find it and rang home for a spare tobe brought to us and since the heavens opened, we go a lift back)
Breakfast
scrambled egg (microwaved)
OR eggs and bacon cooked in the bacon's own fat in a frying pan
Lunch
A slice of cold meat and an apple
Or a slice of cheese and some berries
OR 1/2 avocado with tuna mayo
Dinner
Meat. chicken or fish and green veggies, sometimes plus carrot. Never pasta, rice or old potatoes, sometimes a couple of baby new potatoes
NO snacks most days. Occasional nuts or dried fruit
I drink tea with milk,no sugar or coffee with cream and Splenda.
I also walk miles each day
I've just come back from a 6 mile walk with the dogs. We didn't mean to go quite so far, but we lost a lead and had to retrace several times. (we didn't find it and rang home for a spare tobe brought to us and since the heavens opened, we go a lift back)
Thanks for the information I can see now I have really had no idea of what to eat. As I dont eat fish except tuna and prawns and only eat beef, chicken and ham I will really have to do my homework on a different diet.
Most people's major sources of carbohydrates are things like bread, cereal, potatoes, pasta and rice. I would suggest that you cut down, or completely eliminate these. Also, be a bit careful of fruit - many fruits have a lot more sugar in them than you might think (I was shocked when I first discovered how much sugar there is in an apple).
Breakfast
Bacon & eggs
Coffee (unsweetened - sometimes black, sometimes with cream - usually with cinnamon)
Lunch
Green leaf salad (I add interest with things like raw mushrooms, and small amounts of chopped sweet pepper and a few cherry tomatoes). With this I have some combination of ham, roast chicken, salmon, tuna or sliced hard-boiled egg. I have a dressing made from olive oil with a few drops of balsamic vinegar and some dried herbs, and sometimes add some cubed feta or gorgonzola cheese to the salad.
Dinner
Generally this is meat or fish with green vegetables or a salad (no potatoes or rice). Sometimes I have a curry with a ground cauliflower rice substitute. If I have a desert at all, it is usually either an unsweetened EasiYo yoghurt or artificially sweetened home made ice cream.
Snacks
I am not a big snacker, but what I do have is generally: cheese (babybell or the individually wrapped cheese portions that you can get in supermarkets); peperami mini sausages; nuts (especially almonds and macademia nuts); or fruit (mostly apples, oranges or satsumas). Because of all of the sugar in most fruits I avoid having more than one per day.
Drinks
In work I drink a lot of coffee - usually black, sweetened with sucralose, and at home I usually drink coffee with cream and cinnamon. Very occasionally I drink a cappuccino. I drink some tea (black or green) - always unsweetened and generally without milk. I drink soft drinks - at home this is usually Kool-Aid sweetened and when out I drink sparkling mineral water. I typically drink one or two glasses of wine per day (mostly red), and a very occasional glass of whisky. I used to drink beer in pubs, but now it is mostly red wine. I very occasionally still drink the odd beer - this and the cappuccino is really my only seriously high-carb vice.
I don't count carbs (personally, I find the rigour of counting to be counterproductive - I hit my budget and then feel deprived). However, I reckon that I am probably averaging about 40-60g carbohydrate per day, which seems to be working pretty well for me.
My biggest changes since I was diagnosed are:
OK - a typical day for me would be:bluebindy123 said:
Breakfast
Bacon & eggs
Coffee (unsweetened - sometimes black, sometimes with cream - usually with cinnamon)
Lunch
Green leaf salad (I add interest with things like raw mushrooms, and small amounts of chopped sweet pepper and a few cherry tomatoes). With this I have some combination of ham, roast chicken, salmon, tuna or sliced hard-boiled egg. I have a dressing made from olive oil with a few drops of balsamic vinegar and some dried herbs, and sometimes add some cubed feta or gorgonzola cheese to the salad.
Dinner
Generally this is meat or fish with green vegetables or a salad (no potatoes or rice). Sometimes I have a curry with a ground cauliflower rice substitute. If I have a desert at all, it is usually either an unsweetened EasiYo yoghurt or artificially sweetened home made ice cream.
Snacks
I am not a big snacker, but what I do have is generally: cheese (babybell or the individually wrapped cheese portions that you can get in supermarkets); peperami mini sausages; nuts (especially almonds and macademia nuts); or fruit (mostly apples, oranges or satsumas). Because of all of the sugar in most fruits I avoid having more than one per day.
Drinks
In work I drink a lot of coffee - usually black, sweetened with sucralose, and at home I usually drink coffee with cream and cinnamon. Very occasionally I drink a cappuccino. I drink some tea (black or green) - always unsweetened and generally without milk. I drink soft drinks - at home this is usually Kool-Aid sweetened and when out I drink sparkling mineral water. I typically drink one or two glasses of wine per day (mostly red), and a very occasional glass of whisky. I used to drink beer in pubs, but now it is mostly red wine. I very occasionally still drink the odd beer - this and the cappuccino is really my only seriously high-carb vice.
I don't count carbs (personally, I find the rigour of counting to be counterproductive - I hit my budget and then feel deprived). However, I reckon that I am probably averaging about 40-60g carbohydrate per day, which seems to be working pretty well for me.
My biggest changes since I was diagnosed are:
- Bread - I used to eat lots, now virtually none (my bread machine is sadly underused!).
- Pasta - this used to be my staple in the evening, I now never touch it.
- Rice - curries without rice are tricky but can be done (grated cauliflower is the saviour here).
- Pre-cooked chilled meals - I used to be a sucker for these out of general laziness. They are horrendous for carbs, so I have given them up completely.
- Cakes, biscuits etc. I now just avoid these completely. I find a total ban easier than trying to stick to occasional tiny portions.
