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Diagnosed a week ago, where to start.

R

ryouga

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Had another thread but this is main one.

Been on meds a week, for first day or two felt far better than usual, but at same time since end of last week been very rough feeling like a hangover.

I haven't gone cold turkey yet on sugar and carbs, but I'm cutting down so don't know if it was the meds reacting.

One good thing is overnight my body felt lighter/less pressure.

This morning got an appointment letter for an eyetest.

The main problem I have right now is most of the food I have stored is carbs, a lot of pasta, noodles, rice and I love naan bread weekly with take out.

Last night I made casserole, I used 2 tins of tomatoes and about 12 cheap sausages to make a meal that will last a few days (normally I would eat rice/pasta with that but not sure now)

I haven't eaten sweets since Friday (and looking into sugar free sweets instead)

The doctor confused me last week when she told me I was diabetic, she said cut all fat, milk, sugar, carbs etc out (as I am obese, yet she hasn't seen me in person for 2 years so it was me who told her this so they don't know my weight)

I'm just confused over what I can or can't eat or now and again to eat something or not at all.
 
ryouga said:
The doctor confused me last week when she told me I was diabetic, she said cut all fat, milk, sugar, carbs etc out
Click to expand...

So what does she want you to eat then? Stick around ryouga, you are about to be enlightened and I reckon you are going to be surprised. In the meantime, welcome! Do you know any of your numbers, ie, your hb1ac etc and I'm guessing they have diagnosed you as type 2 given where you are posting, also if you can post what would be a typical days food for you that would really help people to assist you with any advice based on their own experiences, and are you on any medication.
 
Many of us ignore out-dated advice about healthy eating - plenty of research shows that many carbs is not good for Type 2s.
If you cut carbs then you'll also be cutting highly processed foods, replacing that with protein and unprocessed/barely processed fats. And in spite of the old advice, eating good fats without carbs means you could lose weight and improve your blood fat profile.
 
Not sure exact numbers but blood test came back I was 7.9 and a number that 45 and over is diabetic was 49, im also about 22/23 stone in weight at moment(put on around 6 stone during lockdown)

I basically don't have a diet as such, only a few weeks ago I began changing from a Subway sandwich with chicken, cheese salad and sauce once or twice a day (and basically nothing in evening apart from a bag of haribo or a bar of choccy) to using my pressure cooker.

I generally almost never eat breakfast, and I only eat in daytime on days I work so 2 or 3 days per week around 12(which is why I got the Subway) I start eating around 6pm and peak around 10/11pm.

Yesterday I had a few sausages, a packet of noodles and that's it I think.

Today I had a few scraps of leftover haggis, and some noodles so far (so carbs and salt)

Saturday is my cheat day each week so I ate chips and cheese on a naan bread, and later I felt a snacking so ate some dark chocolate.

Friday, I had some Haribo, and some haggis and potato with sprouts.

My eating habits have always been all over the place, I can have one week that I pig out another I starve its all about how I feel.

EDIT : I was put on 500mg metformin, I am also on anxiety meds and stomach meds if you want to know.
 
Have a look at the link in my signature.

If you change your diet you will improve your glucose levels and lose weight. It's a lot to try and take everything on board at the beginning. Baby steps.
 
Cheap sausages are really not worth it - We always have slightly expensive ones with lower levels of carbs because they taste so much better.
I cook mushrooms, green sweet pepper, aubergine, along with the sausages, and do some frozen stir fry as well, as the ones from Lidl are low carb mixtures. My husband has some chips, but I am quite happy with the sausages with veges.
 
Sadly, sugar free sweets are a bit of a false promise - the sweetener used in most is one that is still going to act somewhat like sugar in your blood (maltitol) and they are horrifically expensive. I thought they were my solution initially and tried quite a few but they are mostly a dead end. The same for all those allegedly healthier sweet boxes screaming "HIGH PROTEIN" in the cereal/ biscuit aisle. I tried some for a while as a coping mechanism but again eventually moved on as I realised they were just sweets of a different style.

70% cocoa chocolate, peanuts. Almond butter on ryvita is my crack cocaine.
 

I normally buy from butcher direct I get 3 packs of meat for £5, I get 8 or 9 sausages in a each pack (or I can get burgers, pies, etc) Just happened I had some cheaper ones in freezer that I wanted rid of.

I do have a lot of chicken in freezer too, and liver etc.

I don't mind a tofu curry for example from a takeaway but I have no idea how to marinate food and Asian stores near me I can get spices for a fraction of the price supermarkets want.
 
The Dr obviously knows little about diabetes - not uncommon. You can eat Fat as it isn't a problem either for BS or weight gain. The Dr ought to know that. The problem food is the Carbs so keep them down. I would suggest avoiding any sweets even low sugar ones. You need to re-train the body to not have a 'sweet-tooth' and come away from carb addiction. Most of us have been thru that and you can get to the other side so just keep at it and you'll get there.
 
Mentioned to someone I know (that I forgot works in a care home) that I am now T2 and he kinda gave me the tough love scenario saying if I don't walk at least 2 miles a day and cut out all sugar I will lose a leg as it has happened to many people he works with,

He did go on to mention what others say on here though, fats are good for you.
 
Hello!
Welcome to the forum and I truly hope you get as much out of this as I have.

Firstly, from my own findings and with great help from @ianf0ster and others, consider cutting carbs out or down immediately. Why do I say this? I've been T2 for over 18 years, I've had two episodes of cutting carbs, one I couldn't control due to bereavement, my weakness, but at the time I hit ideal weight and felt amazing. The second is right now, I've lost weight ( 4 kilo over a month) I don't feel that hungry - Why? I'm eating lots of protein and little carbs, very little carbs. The first few weeks/days are difficult and, yes, you get pangs. Fight through it, this forum is fantastic with more support and knowledge than you will need.
All the very best. Here's to your future.

Kev
 

This might help. Best of luck.
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/six-things.2884/#comment-3207
 
Hi, a little update from me, been a little more tired but that may be as I am having overall far less sugar. still not perfect on carbs yet as had things like sausage rolls, scotch pies for meals past few days and had some sugary sweets today(maybe twice a week rather than 7 days a week)

I have started to notice that within about 30 minutes of eating I feel really spaced out for about another 30 minutes then by bedtime I struggle to fall asleep.

Guessing this is more normal.
 
Not for me - though back when my thyroid was declining but had not yet been detected, I used to have that tired in the daytime and then could not sleep at night - it was a real nuisance back then with the children to look after and a job to do.
 
ryouga said:
Not sure exact numbers but blood test came back I was 7.9 and a number that 45 and over is diabetic was 49, im also about 22/23 stone in weight at moment(put on around 6 stone during lockdown)
Click to expand...

You big dirty fat *******, do you know why joke about it, I was 19.5st at diagnosis too, BMI 42, sound familiar.
II hit low carb, smaller portions, moderate exercise out the gate, lost 5st in about 4 months.

You're figures say you had a HbA1c of 45 & a Fasting blood of 7.9 mmol/l at diagnosis.
You're HbA1c is only in the pre-diabetic zone so you've just won the lottery that so many of us never had the chance to embrace.
I cant impress on you how much the next 2 decisions will affect your future life
(1) Get a meter & eat to your meter
(2) Embrace low carb

Gonna see your next post in Success Stories, I'm sure
 

Yeah I keep forgetting to buy a meter, wasn't sure where to get a cheap one that wasn't a risky Chinese one, or where to get strips cheap. I was thinking about asking a friend who has T1 if he could get me some strips as he only uses his as backups now as he has that device that is attached to his arm now.

Friend of a friend has offered me a bike to exercise more as well.


Resurgam said:
Not for me - though back when my thyroid was declining but had not yet been detected, I used to have that tired in the daytime and then could not sleep at night - it was a real nuisance back then with the children to look after and a job to do.
Click to expand...

A few times over the past 12 years or so they have thought I had a thyroid problem but the tests all came back fine each time, but I am not sure exactly how they test it different,

Overall they just told me its diet and bad sleep pattern which they say for everything and to be fair up until around 2012 at one point I was eating take aways near every day so assumed it was that (and literally going from like midnight to 9pm each day without eating!) and for a short period in 2014 (won a gift card with like £400 on it for take aways!) Since then up until lockdown it was twice a week one day was as it was weekend and saw friends and other was mid week especially after I got a part time job as a treat

Did have very low testosterone in 2013 too but that was only for a few months.
 
I had numerous tests to check my thyroid, which all came back as fine, right up until it came back as a total failure with my thyroid stimulating hormone level four thousand times higher than normal. It is notoriously difficult to catch at a low point and it tends to fail and recover numerous times.
Oddly enough, after many years of needing 200 micro grams of Thyroxine, in the last few years my dose has been reduced little by little to 125micro grams, and it is still high. Another test in 6 weeks to see if it will be reduced again.
 
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