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Confused, Uncertain & Frightened

N

NeilC

Member
Messages
11
Location
Northamptonshire
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Soap operas, angry people, curry, diabetes
After bumping along borderline for a few years my doc. now tells me I am diabetic. Having read some of the posts on here and the paperwork the nurse gave me I am totally screwed up.

The paperwork talks of avoiding fat, eating plenty of carbs. Then on here I read that it should be the other way round. Where the heck do I get meaningful information. I don't see my normal diet as high in fat, carbs or sugar. Yes I have a spoon of sugar in a cup of tea, say three a day. I only drink a fizzy "pop" (Lucozade) when I am fishing (once or twice a week). I like chocolate but don't eat it every day. We may have a takeaway once a fortnight/three weeks (pizza, chicken & chips, I don't like fish, and the very rare Chinese). Rarely eat bread and/or cake.

I am also known as a fussy eater, in other words I hate curry and spices, and as for most veg - yuck.

One reason I am so screwed up headwise just now is my recent medical history. Seven years ago I had my colon removed. That's settled very well and basically I can eat anything I like. Last July I had a brain haemorrhage (same type that killed my father). That led to the discovery of a heart problem (thickened left ventricle) that I am told may not be serious. Seeing the consultant cardio guy next week. And now diabetes. So I am feeling a bit beaten up right now.

I have no idea how to modify my diet. Add to that I am s*** scared of going blind because of the diabetes. Also I am now so tired most of the time. I have always been active, have run a few marathons and halves, until 18 months ago went to the gym two to three times a week. Now a walk down the road and back sees me needing to take a rest.

Thing is that I am used to giving advice on another couple of forums and rarely need help for myself but this has just pushed me into a black hole. Is there anything anyone can tell me that might help get my head around what I am facing.

Thanks for reading.

Neil
 
G'day mate, you have got a load on your plate at the moment. did the Dr give you a BG meter? you will probably need one of those to sort out what and how much carb you can eat. If you control your BG levels you should stop any bad diabetic complications
 
No mention of self measuring. Just been left to "manage through diet". Just assumed that's what happens to everyone.
 
the good news is you don't have to learn everything in the first week and everyone takes a while to come to terms with having diabetes.
depending on your BG level shows what food you can eat, some can eat more carbs than others
a lot here buy their meters from amazon uk . it's the code free brand and the strips are brought separately there for 7 quid per 50
 
NeilC said:
No mention of self measuring. Just been left to "manage through diet". Just assumed that's what happens to everyone.
Click to expand...
as Jack412 says, you don't need to learn everything in the first week.
you have been left to "manage through diet" but not provided with the tools to manage it. Would a driving instructor ask you to drive without a speedometer?
I would advise you to either go ask for a meter & strips or purchase one such as the Codefree. Until you see how your foods manage your BG then it will be hard to manage your BG.
 
You have got a lot of problems, so now wonder you are p'd off with this latest diagnosis. However, it isn't anywhere near the end of the world and for many of us here it has been the proverbial kick up the bum we needed to get back on track with healthy eating and more exercise.

I am also a fussy eater so I understand your problem. I detest curry and most veggies so I've had to increase the ones I do like, such as mushrooms and tomatoes.

The first thing you should do diet-wise is ditch the sugar in the tea (get sweeteners) and throw the Lucozade in the river. That is like drinking liquid sugar. Some people use diet coke or fizzy bottled water but personally I just have tap water and 6 mugs of tea a day! Then have a look in your fridge and cupboards, pull out what you eat regularly and read the nutrition labels. You will be surprised how many carbohydrates you are eating. All carbs turn to sugar (glucose) once inside your body. The main ones to be careful with are potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, pastry, processed ready meals, anything with a lot of added sugar. You can swap to granary bread or brown rice if you can't do without them, but any of these must be eaten in small portions. Ditch the milk chocolate, try the 70+% dark. It's yuk in my opinion so I don't bother. Instead of having a plateful of potatoes, try reducing your portions to one or two new or roast spuds. Weight them first so you can calculate how many grams of carbs they contain. Your body may cope with them, or it may not. A meter will help you decide.

You can eat as much natural fat as you wish as this doesn't affect blood sugars, so go for real butter, full fat yogurts, real mayonnaise etc. This will all help.

Ask as many questions as you like. No question is silly. We are all in this together.
 
Hello, a lot of stress you have been through , so sorry to hear of all your health problems , life is not easy is it but it is a challenge ....
It is as well something else for you to,cope with , I support what has been said with regards to take it slowly , you will learn and find out lots of information , but is is important to,find out what is best for you ....a lot to think about already ...

So many diets to think about and changes , such a balancing act with other health problems and all the stress .....

Take your time to think things through and never try blaming yourself .....

Chat away on this site as much as you like it is great to come here you will always find support ....

Welcome ......best wishes ...Kat
 
I appreciate the replies, thanks. I don't think my diet contains much in the way of carbs. I made some changes a couple of years ago in an effort to lose weight. Not that I am obese, 6 ft 14.5 stone and have been the same since recovering from surgery seven years ago. Lost about a stone and a half while in hospital recovering from the haemorrhage but this went back on when I returned home and I returned to my standard 14.5st.

I normally don't eat breakfast. Cereal is difficult as with no colon it passes through too quickly. If I do have a breakfast it will be on fishing days and will be a fry-up but then no lunch. Lunch is normally a small deli wrap with cooked chicken, light mayo, lettuce and a bag of crisps. I guess I'll have to ditch the crisps. Dinner is usually grilled/roast meat, peas & some potato wedges, no dessert. Hate tomatoes and don't really like rice unless with Chinese. Pasta once a week on average.

At weekends I will allow myself some digestive biscuits, guess they will have to go as well. I cut the sugar in my tea down around a year ago and replaced two thirds with sweetener, found the taste without some sugar unpalatable. Guess I'll have to try again

As I said we often have no bread in the house. And my holidays in France will get boring with no crepes, galettes or croissants.

One of the really frustrating things is that two weeks ago I attended a talk by a surgeon researching the metabolic affects of losing your colon. They concluded that the effect was to lower the blood glucose level and that patients had benefitted from drinking a glucose & electrolyte supplement. I wish.
 
mate if your diet didn't have too many carbs for you to handle, your BG wouldn't have been high. that is why the Dr told to to use diet and exercise to control it
 
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My husband is 6ft but weighs a stone less than you, yet he is classed as overweight and certainly has too much fat round his middle, which is the dangerous area. Maybe you should aim to lose a few pounds as this will all help with any insulin resistance. Maybe your meals don't appear to have excess carbs, but what are your portions like? You need to start weighing stuff then calculate the number of carb grams you are eating. You may be surprised. I know I was. It's all a big learning curve.
 
The paperwork you were given to have plenty of carbs and avoid fats is bordering on the criminal unless it relates to your lack of a colon; it will make your diabetes worse. A meter is essential as others have said and then you can determine how many carbs you can tolerate. As a general rule keep the carbs down and top-up the calories with protein and fat. Obviously with your medical condition you need to seek your specialists advice. Treat added sugar as something to avoid like the plague as it has zero nutritional value and just bumps up the blood sugar. There is quite a choice of sweeteners so do try all of them to find one with the best taste. BTW I have 85% Dark chocolate which is very low-carb
 
Again thanks for the replies. As always there is a great community on the web willing to help.

Just ordered a Codefree monitor. As you have said, I really need to get a handle on the effect what I am eating now is having.

Perhaps I am a little in denial because of the readings. Still learning what the numbers mean. Last blood test showed, as I recall, the H? figure was 50 and the fasting figure 6.8/9. Previous test showed 7.2. As I understand it this isn't too high but just over the threshold.

Daibell, I'll need to go back to the paperwork but I'm sure I recall it recommended what seemed to me to be quite a high carb intake. And no it wasn't specific to my colon-free state, just the standard stuff. The only real issues with not having that part of the gut is salt and vitamin B12 uptake. There is a risk of blockages with indigestible foods such as nuts, mushroom, sweetcorn etc. But that is more to do with internal scar tissue called adhesions than not having a colon.

Hopefully I can get on a Desmond course quickly and get some of this sorted.
 
You are now on the right track. Your readings aren't drastic so it has been caught early, which is obviously excellent. The test is called HbA1c.
Good luck.
 
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