Confused Type 2.

Ruthy24 said:

Hi there, I'm very confused. I'm type 2 no meds but have recently been given a one off prescription of testing strips as I keep having funny turns. Are these hypos? Usually about 11am I will start to feel weak, wobbly legs, shaking, confused and clumsy. I have breakfast at 7:30 and lunch at 12:00. Please help!

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Hi and welcome to the forum.
Do you have a meter to test your blood sugar levels?
Have you drastically cut back on carbs and sugar, lost weight quickly?
Sorry about the questions, but the more information the better.

Also tagging @daisy1 to give you the newcomers welcome information.

@Ruthy24

Hello Ruthy and welcome to the forum

Here is the information which Nosher mentioned which we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Tell us a bit more about the way you manage your diabetes and then someone will hopefully be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Ruthy24 said:

Hi there, I'm very confused. I'm type 2 no meds but have recently been given a one off prescription of testing strips as I keep having funny turns. Are these hypos? Usually about 11am I will start to feel weak, wobbly legs, shaking, confused and clumsy. I have breakfast at 7:30 and lunch at 12:00. Please help!

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The symptoms sound about right, or at least similar to mine when I was on medication. There is really only one way to tell and that is to take a blood sugar reading. Below 4 is hypo country.

Definately start testing to see what is happening with your BS as going by symptoms alone it is impossible to tell.

Ruthy24 said:

Hi thanks for the replies. I have been struggling for a while. I haven't cut out carbs but have changed to wholesale options where possible. No weight loss lately but I work in a garden centre so it's heavy work. I had been testing recently . Mornings I was ranging from 6.5 - 10, 4.7 - 7.4 before food and 5.5 - 9.7 after. I have noticed I'm feeling weak around the 5 Mark.

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I get the same symptom around the 5 mark, apparently it's because I have been used to higher BG levels and it's called a False Hypo. I've been told it should improve as my body gets used to lower BGs.

Ruthy24 said:

Hi thanks for the replies. I have been struggling for a while. I haven't cut out carbs but have changed to wholesale options where possible. No weight loss lately but I work in a garden centre so it's heavy work. I had been testing recently . Mornings I was ranging from 6.5 - 10, 4.7 - 7.4 before food and 5.5 - 9.7 after. I have noticed I'm feeling weak around the 5 Mark.

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Do you mean wholemeal options?
I do agree with catlady it probably is a false hypo.

Once you get over this you will definitely feel better.

Maybe reducing your carbs and upping your full fats a little bit, will help you more

Ruthy24 said:

Hi thanks for the replies. I have been struggling for a while. I haven't cut out carbs but have changed to wholesale options where possible. No weight loss lately but I work in a garden centre so it's heavy work. I had been testing recently . Mornings I was ranging from 6.5 - 10, 4.7 - 7.4 before food and 5.5 - 9.7 after. I have noticed I'm feeling weak around the 5 Mark.

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One possibility is that your meter is reading a little high. Quite a few of them do. This would mean that the real reading would be lower than the one your meter suggests.

Sorry if this is a little late. Been off line a lot today with internet problems.