Cold feet. High glucos after supper

[san-777]

Hello, I have 2 questions here:

1. I noticed my other half (type 2) have cold feet all the time. Putting on winter socks on does not make them any warmer. Strangely above the ankles the lower calf still feels warm. Is this related to diabetes i.e. due to poor blood circulation? What should we do to improve it?

2. This is the 4th week on Metformin and since 2 days ago the dose has increased to 4 pills i.e. 2000mg a day. We've been checking his BG level and his BG level after supper (2 hr after) - about 10 or above - is always the highest compared to fasting and 2 hr after lunch. But since 4 days ago his BG 2hr after supper suddenly went high again, between 16.2 ~ 13.2. We are eating the same food and have been careful, so how come his BG went up, more than when he was on lower dose of Metformin? Should we ask his GP for advice on this?

BTW, for anyone who may be interested: we bought cinnamon powder from Holland and Barrette, hoping 1~2g a day will help lower the BG level. But researching further online led to findings that basically say this dose could already be harmful to liver, cos cinnamon contains carcinogenic chemicals. Glad we only tried it for a few days!

 

[RFSMarch]

1) Has the doctor tested his feet at all? I have had bad circulation all my life and tend to live in socks and slippers and actually even though my feet were cold after a day trudging around on a golf course, I still resorted to ice socks last night to ease the aching!

2) What have you been eating - you say you are being careful, but eating the same food? When I was diagnosed my bloods were super high and it took a few weeks to start coming down to something sensible, although admittedly I started with looking at Low GI foods to begin with before moving to LCHF but I was travelling away a lot so it took a while.

 

[san-777]

2) What have you been eating - you say you are being careful, but eating the same food? When I was diagnosed my bloods were super high and it took a few weeks to start coming down to something sensible, although admittedly I started with looking at Low GI foods to begin with before moving to LCHF but I was travelling away a lot so it took a while.

Thx for replying to us!

What I mean by eating the same food:

Ever since his diagnosis 3.5 wks ago, no more added sugar in tea/cooking, no more occasional chocolate energy bar or sweet yogurt between meals when hungry; ~ 70g of spaghetti at lunch, a small bowl of rice ~80-90g at supper (which could also include a bit of sweet potatos, black rice, sweetcorn for variety, but in total it's never more than a small bowl); veges, meat are as usual cos we have always been quite balanced on these 2 before, but no more bacon and sausages; soy milk is added to our diet cos plant proteins are supposed to be good. (well, we were eating relatively healthily before i.e. no take-away, hardly any ready-meals from supermarket; no fruit juice but whole fruits, no smoking/drinking, no fizzy drinks at all). All these 3.5 wks we have been keeping to this diet.

When he started his medication his 2hr post-supper BG level came down a bit, we expected it to come down further and further as he takes more Metformin. That's why we don't understand why in the 4th week, his 2hr post supper level suddenly went up again.

 

[RFSMarch]

I got a Libre sensor to monitor my BG soon after diagnosis despite my original GP insisting I did not need to monitor.

Because on diagnosis EVERYTHING was high i started to try and see what spiked me and began to work around that before I was home long enough to start LCHF.

So I found my usual portion of pasta (around 75g) spiked me huge so I brought that down to 50g for example. I moved away from high GI foods to medium and low and gradually worked to move away from complex carbs and finding alternatives although as I was working away a lot it could really only be done effectively when I was home.

On initial view those portion sizes of pasta and rice seem to be the culprit. Also my understanding is Metformin has a cumulative effect over a longer period of time (but in those waters lie other monsters but that is for another time!)

I still eat bacon and sausages because they together with say scrambled or poached eggs are v low carb. Obviously the old fried slice had to go!!! But half a small tin of beans for example make a handy weekend breakfast that is not too spiky (for me anyway).

It looks as though your first steps were a good start and the important thing to remember is EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT - what worked for me might not necessarily be the right solution for you but hopefully it can give you some other ideas?

You will inevitably have people tell you “the only thing that will work is THIS” - my advice is to keep monitoring and seeing what has an effect on your husband ... I find using an app like MyFitnessPal is really helpful for counting carbs which is essentially what you have to do. There are tons of others out there.

hope this helps.

 

[LaoDan]

Check out ceylon cinnamon, supposedly not toxic to the liver.

Those dishes you mentioned are extremely high in carbs. Fruits, rice, potatoes, corn, pasta should be considered off limits until you get control. Soy milk should be unsweetened. I used to think those were healthy, but they’re not, at least for T2s

 

[san-777]

Check out ceylon cinnamon, supposedly not toxic to the liver.

Those dishes you mentioned are extremely high in carbs. Fruits, rice, potatoes, corn, pasta should be considered off limits until you get control. Soy milk should be unsweetened. I used to think those were healthy, but they’re not, at least for T2s

Thx for your reply.

We were told we still need to eat those basic stuff i.e. rice, bread, pasta, corn, and fruit, but in smaller portions, and what we do is that if corn is to be added to a meal, than less of the others e.g. rice.

I read that one cannot go totally carbs free, and only a couple of days ago I just read that an Indian actress lost her young life due to carb-free diet. So we'd rather not to go carbs free. But yes we probably need to cut down on those even further.

 

[RFSMarch]

Thx for your reply.

We were told we still need to eat those basic stuff i.e. rice, bread, pasta, corn, and fruit, but in smaller portions, and what we do is that if corn is to be added to a meal, than less of the others e.g. rice.

I read that one cannot go totally carbs free, and only a couple of days ago I just read that an Indian actress lost her young life due to carb-free diet. So we'd rather not to go carbs free. But yes we probably need to cut down on those even further.

Totally agree - you do need some carbs hence the term Low Carb, Healthy Fats (LCHF).... although some folks can get quite evangelical and flip out of you so much as flirt with a carb!

You are starting by doing the right things monitoring after food and you are seeing some results... so now, you tweak and tweak again.
One of the things I liked to do when I was home was to google low carb versions of things I loved. Then had a go at making them (risotto for example, using cauliflower rice, or cauliflower fried rice with some stir fried veg).

The Diet Doctor has a lot of free recipes you can use without having to sign up for their paid service - and I have a ton of recipes from there already.

More and more places are jumping on the low carb band wagon and you will often find really nice recipes on the BBC Good Food website as well.

Eg - I loved a good Pad See Ew (Thai noodle dish) so instead of the noodles, I started to replace those with thin strips of cabbage, or you can invest in a spiraliser and run a courgette through it and use that with a pasta sauce.

 

[Resurgam]

Thx for your reply.

We were told we still need to eat those basic stuff i.e. rice, bread, pasta, corn, and fruit, but in smaller portions, and what we do is that if corn is to be added to a meal, than less of the others e.g. rice.
I read that one cannot go totally carbs free, and only a couple of days ago I just read that an Indian actress lost her young life due to carb-free diet. So we'd rather not to go carbs free. But yes we probably need to cut down on those even further.

I'm always amazed at how often that is repeated. We have a zero requirement to eat carbs, but most people find they can cope with a small amount and it helps with variety and flavours etc.
If someone died due to not eating carbs perhaps they were also taking medication which can cause hypos - it is possible for Humans to eat an entirely carnivorous diet and come to no harm - the Inuit used to do so and so did some wandering herdsmen.

 

[san-777]

Totally agree - you do need some carbs hence the term Low Carb, Healthy Fats (LCHF).... although some folks can get quite evangelical and flip out of you so much as flirt with a carb!

You are starting by doing the right things monitoring after food and you are seeing some results... so now, you tweak and tweak again.
One of the things I liked to do when I was home was to google low carb versions of things I loved. Then had a go at making them (risotto for example, using cauliflower rice, or cauliflower fried rice with some stir fried veg).

The Diet Doctor has a lot of free recipes you can use without having to sign up for their paid service - and I have a ton of recipes from there already.

More and more places are jumping on the low carb band wagon and you will often find really nice recipes on the BBC Good Food website as well.

Eg - I loved a good Pad See Ew (Thai noodle dish) so instead of the noodles, I started to replace those with thin strips of cabbage, or you can invest in a spiraliser and run a courgette through it and use that with a pasta sauce.

Thanks! That Diet Doctor looks very interesting!