Confused/scared

Let me guess - you're eating a high-carbohydrate diet (bread, potatoes, pasta, chips, rice, healthy-wholegrains, sugar)?

Others will be able to advise you on specific strategies, but if you radically reduce the amount of carbohydrate you are eating, then there is a good chance that you will be able to reduce your BG to almost normal. If you can do that, and stick to it, you can minimise your chance of future complications, and possibly reverse some of the damage that you've already done.

Well done for taking the first step. Don't worry, lots of us (including me) have been down the same path. You can probably make this right.

Hello Bigsy

Yes, those numbers are high and will be making you feel rubbish. The stress makes them worse and so you worry more and suddenly you're in a vicious circle.

Well done on getting yourself a meter. Start taking structured readings - as you wake up and then before and 2 hrs after each meal. Also, write down exactly what you eat for each meal. As Boro says, cut out the big carbs and you'll see the effect immediately on your numbers.

Don't think about having to eat this way for ever, think about eating this for this week - once you get your numbers down it will change your life - I promise. We have all been there.

Good luck

Swim

HI. Yes, do get down to reducing your carbs and possibly portion sizes. If necessary you can have further meds added, but do try a better diet first. Good luck.

Should they be this high with metformin.

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For the record, metformin does help but there is only so much it can do even at the maximum tolerated dose.

Metformin is not a magic pill. Most of us find that even at its maximum dose it will reduce your levels by 1 or 2 at the most. What works 10 times better than any diabetic medication is to change your diet and lifestyle. So ...

Get yourself a BG meter, if the doc wont give you one get an SD Codefree meter from eBay or Amazon as that is by far the cheapest way of self testing.

Do some exercise even if it just walking. Lose weight if you need to as excess weight stops what insulin you are producing working properly. As you reduce weight the insulin you are producing will begin to do what it is supposed to.

Cut out as much pure sugar as you can so not just soda's but sugar in tea, coffee, pure fruit juices, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc. Next halve your intake of rice, pasta, bread, cereals, potatoes and other things made from flour. Replace with extra meat, cheese, eggs and loads of green veg.

Test 2 hours after you eat and recognise that the safety limit is 8. The guidelines say you should be below 8 two hours after eating and between 4 and 7 at all other times. If you are regularly exceeding 8 then you are running risks of going blind or losing a limb, it really is that simple.

At the start you may find it difficult to get below 8 but look for a gradual improvement day by day. This can take many weeks and during this period you may find getting under 8 is difficult. Until things begin to settle down you can test before your meal as well and then judge if the meal was safe by trying to get your 2 hour after meal reading to be roughly the same as the before meal one.

If you still get a big rise in BG's two hours after a meal then cut down more on the rice, pasta, bread, cereals, potatoes and other things made from flour next time. You can try swapping the white varieties for brown so brown basmati rice, brown or tri-colour pasta and try Burgen soya bread that you can get from most supermarkets as that will help a bit.

All of this sounds difficult but it is achievable. Loads of members have followed the above advice or very similar and restored their BG levels to those of a non diabetic. It's not a cure but you can bring the disease under control.

If you feel you can't change your diet then you should go back to the docs and ask for stronger medication to keep your levels under 8. Recognise that stronger medication route tends to lead people onto insulin sooner or later which is why many of us do the "eat to your meter" way as many members who have followed the diet change route have seen no progression in the disease over a period of years.

Good luck and keep asking questions.

Bigsy, there is a very high chance that you will feel so much better if you cut down the carbs-I know I did and my OH keeps telling me to slow down now!

Nikkig said:

Bigsy, there is a very high chance that you will feel so much better if you cut down the carbs-I know I did and my OH keeps telling me to slow down now!

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I absolutely concur with this. I turned my life, and other health issues on their head, and all due to a low carb diet. My BG is 'normal' and I feel amazing. I have lost so much weight it's unreal, and I now see diabetes as a friend, not some unknown enemy. My diagnosis completely changed everything, and all for the best.

Good luck.