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Confused newbie

ChemicalAngel17

ChemicalAngel17

Member
Messages
9
Location
North west
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Fake people.
Hi, recently diagnosed type 2.
Severe gastric issuesean I cannot tolerate oral meds as they trigger ,
So put straight on kwikpen insulin, the dial on the pen set to 8.

It's not having any effect on my blood sugars, doesn't help that I have to follow a low residue diet (alzo called low fibre diet)

Is anyone in the same boat as me??
 
Hi. I'm surprised you were put onto insulin so soon without looking at all the options? Do you have excess weight? If so then the first thing to do is reduce the carbs in your diet. There are several diabetes meds. I can't believe they all cause stomach issues. If you are talkng about standard Metformin, do ask Metformin SR (Slow Release) as it's much kinder. Note that is you do have excess weight insulin may fail to work due to insulin resistance. A T2 can often already have too much insulin in the body due to insulin resistance.
 
Daibell said:
Hi. I'm surprised you were put onto insulin so soon without looking at all the options? Do you have excess weight? If so then the first thing to do is reduce the carbs in your diet. There are several diabetes meds. I can't believe they all cause stomach issues. If you are talkng about standard Metformin, do ask Metformin SR (Slow Release) as it's much kinder. Note that is you do have excess weight insulin may fail to work due to insulin resistance. A T2 can often already have too much insulin in the body due to insulin resistance.
Click to expand...
Cannot tolerate metformin. Or any oral meds as they give me chronic stomach upset and diahorrea.

They did say next step should be ozempic, but weightloss industry is grabbing all available stock, they've had to move patients onto other meds, so I had no option but to have insulin.

My gastric system is severely damaged. Cannot tolerate and fruits, veg, nuts, seeds, nothing brown or wholemeal. No spices etc as I over produce bile. My system doesn't understand I'm full of bile, so sends signals for more to be produced upon the above foods hitting my system. Hence the need for low residue diet. Without carbs I've nothing to eat.
 
ChemicalAngel17 said:
My gastric system is severely damaged. Cannot tolerate and fruits, veg, nuts, seeds, nothing brown or wholemeal. No spices etc as I over produce bile. My system doesn't understand I'm full of bile, so sends signals for more to be produced upon the above foods hitting my system. Hence the need for low residue diet. Without carbs I've nothing to eat.
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How are you doing on meats, cream, cheese, eggs, natural full fat yoghurt?
All of those are very friendly for blood glucose, it's the carbs that make us rise, not proteins and fats.

Mind, because you're on insulin you'll need to keep a very close eye on your blood glucose, if you eat a low carb meal your BG can go too low.
 
ChemicalAngel17 said:
Cannot tolerate metformin. Or any oral meds as they give me chronic stomach upset and diahorrea.

They did say next step should be ozempic, but weightloss industry is grabbing all available stock, they've had to move patients onto other meds, so I had no option but to have insulin.

My gastric system is severely damaged. Cannot tolerate and fruits, veg, nuts, seeds, nothing brown or wholemeal. No spices etc as I over produce bile. My system doesn't understand I'm full of bile, so sends signals for more to be produced upon the above foods hitting my system. Hence the need for low residue diet. Without carbs I've nothing to eat.
Click to expand...
I'm seconding Antje here... The carnivore way of eating would serve you well, by the sound of it... You don't need carbs to live, you can do just fine on fats and protein. It's a bit of a shift, and for me that meant having the runs for a few days, but that was just my gut microbiome getting used to the new normal. It passed.

So yeah... Kind of surprised at the heavy measures taken. Insulin is a bit of a last resort, ozempic is largely unavailable anywhere now that Hollywood caught on, so... Diet may be the way to change things, just be extremely careful when you mix low to no carb with insulin, because you'll likely fall flat on your face with a hypo. So test loads, if you do go that route.

Good luck!
Jo
 
Antje77 said:
How are you doing on meats, cream, cheese, eggs, natural full fat yoghurt?
All of those are very friendly for blood glucose, it's the carbs that make us rise, not proteins and fats.

Mind, because you're on insulin you'll need to keep a very close eye on your blood glucose, if you eat a low carb meal your BG can go too low.
Click to expand...
I'm lactose intolerant, avoid dairy. Go for chicken mainly. Aldi no sugar soya milk and yogurt. It's not worth my going the loo upto 27 times a day. Yes it's been so bad. I did say my gastric system is damaged. Hence no oral meds as they do not stay in long enough or trigger the pyrotechnics
 
Before you change your diet have you been told how to adjust insulin ?
How are you monitoring blood glucose levels ?
Do you have a good list of foods you can tolerate ?
 
JoKalsbeek said:
jonathan183 said:
Before you change your diet have you been told how to adjust insulin ?
How are you monitoring blood glucose levels ?
Do you have a good list of foods you can tolerate ?
Click to expand...
The nurse who i saw is checking my am and pm readings and adjusting the dose, started on #6 on the pen, now #8. I know through trial any every error what sets my stomach off, I have crohns disease, bile acid malabsorption, ibd and ibs
Click to expand...

JoKalsbeek said:
I'm seconding Antje here... The carnivore way of eating would serve you well, by the sound of it... You don't need carbs to live, you can do just fine on fats and protein. It's a bit of a shift, and for me that meant having the runs for a few days, but that was just my gut microbiome getting used to the new normal. It passed.

So yeah... Kind of surprised at the heavy measures taken. Insulin is a bit of a last resort, ozempic is largely unavailable anywhere now that Hollywood caught on, so... Diet may be the way to change things, just be extremely careful when you mix low to no carb with insulin, because you'll likely fall flat on your face with a hypo. So test loads, if you do go that route.

Good luck!
Jo
Click to expand...
Kidney pain and needing to follow low residue diet stops me from following carnivore plans as I cannot process too much protein or fats.
Hence my needing help.

Local authority uses DESMOND service to advise on diet. Lady rang me and I said I was thankful as I was struggling and have to follow low residue diet......
The reply?? Oh we can't help you then.... and hung up on me.
 
ChemicalAngel17 said:
The reply?? Oh we can't help you then.... and hung up on me.
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That is shockingly unhelpful.
Are you already seeing a dietician for your gastric issues?
I would naively have thought that a competent dietician could advise on more than one medical dietary issue....
 
ChemicalAngel17 said:
It's not having any effect on my blood sugars, doesn't help that I have to follow a low residue diet (alzo called low fibre diet)
Click to expand...
The amounts of insulin that people need can literally vary from 1 unit to 100s, but you have to start on a low dose because of the risk of low blood sugar from too much insulin. . Are you able to talk to your team about dosing adjustments?
 
ChemicalAngel17 said:
Kidney pain and needing to follow low residue diet stops me from following carnivore plans as I cannot process too much protein or fats.
Hence my needing help.

Local authority uses DESMOND service to advise on diet. Lady rang me and I said I was thankful as I was struggling and have to follow low residue diet......
The reply?? Oh we can't help you then.... and hung up on me.
Click to expand...
Oh, how nice... Left to your own devices, then. What can you eat, at the mo? If (animal-?) proteins are a problem, kidney-wise, how does the poultry work for you? Can you eat that more often, or would that make things worse? Can you take sodium bicarb to take some acidity out of your urine? (Helps with my kidney stones, but there's so much that can happen with kidneys, it's a shot in the dark).

Just throwing some stuff out there. Not sure if I found the right yog... The plain one from Acti Leaf is low in carbs, the flavored ones aren't. Just go over what you can eat with us, as detailed as possible, and maybe we can suggest alternatives or additions, things to ditch maybe?

I have different conditions to juggle too, which can make eating a bit of a puzzle sometimes, but for me it just usually means eat this, have more pain/inflammation for a bit, done. A little mistake doesn't impact me for more day a few days. I can appreciate for you it's an entirely different story. We'll try to help, but we won't be very useful if we don't get a stupid amount of detail. What works for you, what doesn't, and we can tell you whether that fits with low carb or not, so you might be able to lower your insulin dosage.

That said, I do understand completely if this narrows your food options too far and insulin may just make your life that much easier. It's not usually the thing docs go for straight off the bat, but I can see in your case it may be a good solution. Maybe not the only solution, but the fastest one to help right now, and who knows, maybe in the long term. We're a yay-for-any-kind-of-low-carb-diet bunch largely, but if it doesn't suit, it doesn't suit. We'll help wherever we can, though. Entirely up to you.
 
EllieM said:
That is shockingly unhelpful.
Are you already seeing a dietician for your gastric issues?
I would naively have thought that a competent dietician could advise on more than one medical dietary issue....
Click to expand...
Saw gastric dietitian last year. She told me to follow a low residue diet and to look up on Google what to eat. Yep. Good ole nhs help is fab
 
EllieM said:
The amounts of insulin that people need can literally vary from 1 unit to 100s, but you have to start on a low dose because of the risk of low blood sugar from too much insulin. . Are you able to talk to your team about dosing adjustments?
Click to expand...
Yes, she's ringing me every week fir my numbers. I have to check when I get up and before my evening meal. Then she will say what number to put the kwikpen on. Started at 6 now on 8
 
Re the Desmond course, I don’t think it would have been very helpful to you in regards to your other conditions. From my recall of the course albeit 13 years ago is that the course leaders are nurses who have been trained to deliver a course via a script and any questions outside the box of T2 they would just say to speak to your GP.
 
lovinglife said:
Re the Desmond course, I don’t think it would have been very helpful to you in regards to your other conditions. From my recall of the course albeit 13 years ago is that the course leaders are nurses who have been trained to deliver a course via a script and any questions outside the box of T2 they would just say to speak to your GP.
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My gp sent my details to the Desmond team.

That's as much help as they are.

Menopause consultant put me on gel hrt as despite being on tablets a few years, my oestrogen was too low. Put in my repeat for the gel, for my Gp to ring me..... Do I really need to use gel and not oral meds?? Bloods confirmed I'm not absorbing tablets as when you've diahorrea 27 tines a day, nothing is bring absorbed
 
I understand my hubby has a similar condition- it’s very debilitating, he travels a lot for work and reckons he’s used every single motorway toilet in the country several times over
 
Be careful with the gel you don't end up with the same problem as in Doc Martin ;)
 
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