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Confused and lacking information

H

Helsk

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi everyone
I am 39. Type two medicated with metformin and glicozide. I am about 3 stone over weight and fairly stressed in general.
Basically I feel like I don't know what I should be eating, and what I ought to avoid. People talk about counting carbs and I have no clue how to do this.
Also should I not be pricking my finger to test sugar levels ? My doctor hasn't told me any of this?
I am a teacher and therefore not lacking ability to learn but I feel like I've been sent out into the ocean on a boat with a leak and no compass or sail :(
 
Hi, it takes a few weeks to get your head around things, read the old topics and ask lots of questions. Get a meter
In the beginning I found it easier to not eat grain, grain product or potato and sugary stuff including fruit... You can adjust it later

Watch your gli dose as with the lower BG you can hypo with it

A lot of us are on this, look at video and read
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
 
jack412 said:
Hi, it takes a few weeks to get your head around things, read the old topics and ask lots of questions. Get a meter
In the beginning I found it easier to not eat grain, grain product or potato and sugary stuff including fruit... You can adjust it later

Watch your gli dose as with the lower BG you can hypo with it

A lot of us are on this, look at video and read
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
Click to expand...
Thanks so much @jack412 willy doctor prescribe a tester
 
Hi Helsk, welcome. Yes it is a minefield of confusion at first, but there's plenty of advice and encouragement on here. For counting carbs, you could try the book 'Carbs & Cals' from Amazon and elsewhere - loads of pictures of foods and meals with values for carbs, calories, fat etc.

A test meter is your principal tool for managing your T2 by identifying the impact on your blood glucose from different meals. But cutting carbohydrates significantly is the key. With a bit of exercise it will help you lose weight too.

You are unlikely to get a meter on prescription as a T2, but no harm in asking. Most of us have to buy one - SD Codefree from Amazon etc is popular and good value for strips.
 
sanguine said:
Hi Helsk, welcome. Yes it is a minefield of confusion at first, but there's plenty of advice and encouragement on here. For counting carbs, you could try the book 'Carbs & Cals' from Amazon and elsewhere - loads of pictures of foods and meals with values for carbs, calories, fat etc.

A test meter is your principal tool for managing your T2 by identifying the impact on your blood glucose from different meals. But cutting carbohydrates significantly is the key. With a bit of exercise it will help you lose weight too.

You are unlikely to get a meter on prescription as a T2, but no harm in asking. Most of us have to buy one - SD Codefree from Amazon etc is popular and good value for strips.
Click to expand...
Great
How do I know how many carbs etc I should be having
 
Helsk said:
Great
How do I know how many carbs etc I should be having
Click to expand...
I guess what I was hoping was that someone would say "ok this is what you need to eat, this is how many carbs you can have and this is how you monitor your sugars" my diabetic nurse is pretty clueless in terms of communication
 
That's up to you, some can manage to go straight to a very low level straight away, others take it more gradually. I would aim for no more than 100g a day to start with and take it from there. That will mean cutting out most if not all bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Look at the labels on foods and go for ones that are less than 10g carbs (forget the 'of which sugar' bit, that's irrelevant to us) per 100g, or even less than 5g/100g.

Obviously cut down on fruit as well because of the sugar, especially tropical fruits and grapes. Berries are preferable.

Have a read around and ask more questions, you'll soon get the hang of it.
 
Your meter will tell you how many carbs you can eat with the diet exercise and meds you are taking to keep your BG in range
There is no right or wrong

So how many carbs I'd too hard of a question
I'm probably on about 50g a day and is very low carb area, from memory recommended for diabetic female is 3 x 45g meal and 2 x 15g snacks
You may need more meds to eat that many
 
sanguine said:
That's up to you, some can manage to go straight to a very low level straight away, others take it more gradually. I would aim for no more than 100g a day to start with and take it from there. That will mean cutting out most if not all bread, potatoes, pasta and rice. Look at the labels on foods and go for ones that are less than 10g carbs (forget the 'of which sugar' bit, that's irrelevant to us) per 100g, or even less than 5g/100g.

Obviously cut down on fruit as well because of the sugar, especially tropical fruits and grapes. Berries are preferable.

Have a read around and ask more questions, you'll soon get the hang of it.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much x
 
jack412 said:
Your meter will tell you how many carbs you can eat with the diet exercise and meds you are taking to keep your BG in range
There is no right or wrong

So how many carbs I'd too hard of a question
I'm probably on about 50g a day and is very low carb area, recommended for diabetic female is 3 x 45g meal and 2 x 15g snacks
You may need more meds to eat that many
Click to expand...
You guys are an amazing support ! Many thanks
 
Hi Helsk, welcome to the Forum, you have come to the right place for excellent advice and support. Some people can tolerate carbs better than others, I cut my carbs quite drastically to start with and then increased them gradually, but some start by cutting them out slowly, it is entirely up to you, as Jack said your meter will tell you if you are eating too many carbs.

Unfortunately, most doctors do not give meters and strips on prescription (unless you are very lucky). Your doctor or DN will probably tell you not to test, but to enable you to manage your diabetes well and know what foods you can and cannot tolerate, testing is the key. Don't rely on the dietary advice that you get from your doctor or DN it is very out of date.

Have a good look round the site and read some of the other threads, you will soon pick up lots of information and tips, it is all a bit confusing to start with, but you will be amazed how quickly you get to grips with it.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here, so ask as many questions as you like, we are all here to help each other.

Good luck

Marilyn
 
T
Mazzer said:
Hi Helsk, welcome to the Forum, you have come to the right place for excellent advice and support. Some people can tolerate carbs better than others, I cut my carbs quite drastically to start with and then increased them gradually, but some start by cutting them out slowly, it is entirely up to you, as Jack said your meter will tell you if you are eating too many carbs.

Unfortunately, most doctors do not give meters and strips on prescription (unless you are very lucky). Your doctor or DN will probably tell you not to test, but to enable you to manage your diabetes well and know what foods you can and cannot tolerate, testing is the key. Don't rely on the dietary advice that you get from your doctor or DN it is very out of date.

Have a good look round the site and read some of the other threads, you will soon pick up lots of information and tips, it is all a bit confusing to start with, but you will be amazed how quickly you get to grips with it.

There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here, so ask as many questions as you like, we are all here to help each other.

Good luck

Marilyn
Click to expand...
Thanks very very much
 
Hi and welcome.

There are some great books on diabetes around. Amazon is your friend! :)

If you want a list of my favourites, here they are:
Diabetes for Dummies (written by UK doctor)
Bloodsugar101 (reviews latest studies and dietary findings)

But really, it's probably best for you to find your own preferences.
Just be careful in your choices. Dietary advice has changed and is changing pretty rapidly, and orthodox medicine dietary advice is somewhat outdated nowadays. In the last year or two low carbing has become more and more popular (maybe because it usually works?) but there are some people for whom it doesn't work (there is no one-true-way-suits-all).

One thing that ALWAYS works is trial and error!

The good news is that once you get a meter and start testing how your blood glucose reacts to your foods and portion sizes, you will quickly find out what works for YOU.

Example: most people find that potatoes send their blood glucose (BG) higher than green beans. So they get to decide whether to switch to eating lots of green veg and avoiding potatoes altogether, or reduce their potato portion sizes until they find a portion small enough to not spike their BG.
Or they could replace potatoes with something else (celeriac, cauliflower cheese, mashed swede or turnip, sweet potatoes...) that don't spike their BG too high.

If you want to know about what your BG levels need to be, then my favourite site is bloodsugar101.com (link in my signature). It actually explains WHY the levels are chosen, and how to stay within them. The NHS website also has slightly higher BG targets, if you would prefer more leeway.

Stick around, this forum is a mine of fantastic info.
 
Hi. We each set ourselves different max daily carbs based on what the meter says and how far our diabetes has progressed. As you are overweight you will have insulin resistance that the Metformin will help with. I've set my rough max carbs at 150gm. As you can see some set a max of 100gm. Set yourself a limit and see what the meter says 2 hours after a meal and adjust so you gradually lose weight and blood sugar. Yes, you will probably have to get hold of your own meter and strips; I did and it's essential.
 
Hi @Helsk

I'm relatively new here so can only speak from personal experience, but I have had great results since converting to a low carb/high fat way of eating. I converted overnight and gave up all white carbs, and followed the wonderful advice from experienced posters here. The transition was effortless with no carb flu or cravings and I've not looked back. I've just lost my first stone, but its taken since March - slow and steady - but I feel confident it will remain off.

Losing weight was secondary to feeling better almost immediately with a lifting of the brain fog, return to normal energy levels and enjoying my meal preparation and food.

At the suggestion of others here, I use MyFitnessPal to calculate my carbs and keep tally of my weight. I adjusted the settings to 60g of carbs daily. I never feel hungry nor do I ever feel deprived of good food or crave "bad" food.

Good luck with everything, and do take a look at MyFitnessPal to calculate carbs and record a food diary
 
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