dizziness

[Maskedman]

A few weeks ago i was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (groan!) i was told to cut out sugar drinks and not to eat a lot of sugary food. fair enough. so i've done this - but now i keep having dizzy spells. yesterday i felt ill all day.

i'm not sure if this is because i dont eat a lot, what sort of foods should i eat to bring up my blood sugar (if that is the problem)

my last blood reading thingy was13.5 and i've also just started taking metformin

thanks in advance

Simon

 

[cugila]

Hi Simon.
Welcome.

Cutting out sugary drinks and sugary food is the bare minimum if you want to get control of your Diabetes ? There is much more you will have to do.

You state you don't eat much. It can also be a problem if you are eating the wrong type of foods for YOUR body ? Your reading of 13.5 is very high at any time of the day or night ! You need to keep a food diary for a week and test when waking, before meals, 1 hr and 2 hrs after meals as well.
Then you will begin to see what individual foods are increasing your Bg levels to high figures. You will probably only need to do this intensive testing for a week or so. Then back to a normal routine.

You need to get your Bg levels down to the Feb 2009 NICE guidelines. They are :
Fasting (waking) ....................between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals....................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.

Stay within those levels and you won't go far wrong.

Ken.

 

[Maskedman]

Hi ken,

cheers for the reply - to be honest so far i have been told nothing - i didnt even know that 13.5 after fasting was high a typical food day would be toast for breakfast / lunch (usually combined) and some sort of tea like chicken and studs. i used to drink about 4 litters of pop a day - these days i have around 2 of no sugar stuff.

i also dont have a blood monitor - they offered me one but i knew i wouldnt be able to test myself.

 

[cugila]

You must get a blood monitor and strips otherwise you will know nothing and have no control.
I would tell them ? you have changed your mind. Try to get the strips on prescription as well. If you can't get one they are available cheaply at most Pharmacies. There is also an advert on here for a Company offering a free monitor. I got one of mine that way.

Testing is virtually pain free and is very easy to do. Nothing to be worried about.

As for your food I have no idea what 'studs' is ? Different meaning entirely in my day.

Ken.

 

[Maskedman]

sorry that should have been spuds (potatoes) that'll teach me for not reading my post properly

i honestly dont think i can intentionally wound myself - i have phobia about blood and needles - i think this is why i put of going to the doctors for 5 years

thanks for the help

 

[cugila]

Ahhh spuds !!! :lol:

Glad you cleared that one up. I know what you mean about needles etc but you will have to try and confront that phobia. There are others here who felt the same and have had help to overcome this fear. See ypur GP and discuss it. As a Diabetic there is no getting away from needles or pin pricks, it's a fact of our lives.

Anyway back to spuds. For a lot of us they are things to be avoided as we find that they and other foods such as rice, pasta, breads, flour . certain root veg all raise Bg levels alarmingly. YOU are going to have to find a diet that is right for YOU. Take a look around the Food Forum, the non low carb area and low carb area. Have a look at the success stories. Some are amazing ?

Hope you can get over the needle thing, it is going to be a problem.

Ken.

 

[Iolanthe]

You were really lucky to be offered a monitor, I was told at the one un-informative session, I had with the nurse, since being diagnosed a month ago that I didn't need to bother. Thankfully I ignored that and took the wise words from the fellow forumers, it is amazing what you do learn by testing and you do get into a routine. I do on waking now and 2 hrs after every meal and also if I feel a bit "off". I know something is not right with me and looking at my weird results proves it. I keep this in a simple excel spreadsheet, where I enter time, reading and food. I can send my template if it would help.

In terms of needles and monitors I bought the Accu Chek Avia Nano, was on offer in Lloyds Chemist for £9 and I have seen it the same price on the internet. The good thing about this one is the finger pricker, you buy cartridges for it pre-loaded and you literally stick it against you finger and press and button and "hey presto" blood! It doesn't hurt too much just like pricking you finger and I have found that washing my hands in warm water first, makes it hurt even less. You don't see a needle It is also very small and in zip pouch, so if you use a handbag(!) then you slip it in.

Honestly, I am just starting to get my head round all this but reading all the research, the only way to get to grips is to be in control. And control comes from knowledge and that is about your body and what sets it off.

 

[sandymaynard]

Hi simon,
Firstly i was not eating alot before i got diagnoised, One meal a day if i bothred!
I came onto here and got explained to in great detail! That the body needs to eat!
I personally have cut out, Bread, pasta,rice, potatoes, If you want rice then try a little wild rice you can buy it from asda! I thought not sure but it is not that bad once you give it a try!
The problem is your diabeties nurse will tell you to eat lots of carbohydrates! This is not a good thing! As this will keep your blood sugars high if not make them rocket!
I do a nice lemon chicken! Real easy get chicken breast soak in bowl in a little lemon then cook what ever way you want it does taste nice! My ususal breakfast
Is pouched or boiled egg, Lunch usually some cheese and a apple, Evening meal either stir fry. curry. or salad!
For me that is a big step eating 3 times a day! I ahve mananged to lose weight through having a reduced carb diet!
I was so confused when i first thought that i had diabeties, but with everbody help here i have started to get some sort of control of it now!
You will find that everybody here will help you! The good thing is that sometimes you need support or to talk to someone who is not family! As sometimes that is much easier than trying to talk to family members trust me mine are a nightmare! Oh except for my fiancee, he is a pure gentleman and i trust him with everything!
You need a blood testing monitor, I bought my own, But my doctor says because i want to take control i get my sticks on porescription, alot of type 2's don't i think this is wrong!
everybody here will help you no end!
I have pnly been diagnoised just over a month, Hope in some way i make sense, sorry of any spelling mistakes eyes are shot today!
Hope you are okay! Oh word of warning watch the sun and intense heat, You will dehydrate quicker i have found this! Make sure that you have access to drink! As the weather is hot out there!
fizzy drinks are not good, I don't drink tea and coffee, Not through religion i just don't like them! can't stomach them, The only safe fizzy drink i have found, is pepsi max,
That is the only one that does not affect me! It never has!
Sandy

 

[Maskedman]

cugila - thanks for the support i will get a monitor today - but i really dont know if i can do it- its gonna take some time i didnt realise potatoes were bad for you this is going to take a lot of getting used too. i though you only had to cut out sugary food.

Iolanthe - Thanks for the reply - i had my first meeting with a nurse on thursday - waste of time. she moaned at me for not being able to findthe room, for not bring a pee sample (they didnt tell me to bring one - i didnt know i should bring one), for not going to the doctors for having numb feet. the nurse said she could perscribe a monitor - i think i may go and get one from lloyds. how much are the sticks and needles???

sandymaynard - the annoying thing is - i dont eat a lot but have always been overweight so eating more is going to be hard. i tend to eat bread quite a bit. will look at the wild rice - sounds nice as does the lemon chicken i drink a lot of water too - but fizzy drink is my favourite. what i find odd - is before i found out i was diabetic i used to drink a lot of sugar pop - now i dont drink any - and sugary suff makes me feel ill i dont get it.

 

[mullaneder]

theres a lot to take in at the start and you can feel overwhelmed, but with the help of this forum i found that a lot of things fall into place and your knowledge builds, as for the needles i didnt like it at the start , a mental thing really because it didnt really hurt,but its amazing how fast that passes i didnt even feel after a few weeks but it is very important to test to see what effects you,i had a really sweet tooth and i did drink a lot of pop,but when i stopped all that my taste buds changed after 3 months i tried a bit of chocolate and strangely i didnt like. it as your knowledge grows you will be better prepared for the docters and nurses best of luck dermot

 

[Iolanthe]

Masked man, if they offered you a monitor, then they may pay for for you to get the strips etc on prescription, which would be amazing as a lot of GP's won't including mine. So suggest you ask the question, if they won't then, you can buy them on the on-line pharmacy's and Ebay - it's worth googling and doing a comparison. I've just paid £22 for 100 strips for the Accu-Chek Avia Nano, so they are fine but worth remembering that the testers, needle cartridges have best before dates!

In terms of a wee sample, my nurse asked me at the end of the 12 mins she spent with me and when I said I had not bought one I got the same repsonse. Ironically I had asked the receptionist if I needed to bring one and was told no. My nurse asked me to drop a sample in, I still haven't that was two weeks ago, so shows how much they care about me!

It is hard, but it is right once you start to cut things out amzing how much fresher things taste. In terms of cutting fizzy drinks, why not try waters with a touch of fruit? You could start off by substituting one can a dayof pop with 50cl bottle of water and build up. I quite like the Volvic ones, they are only 7 cals, have no sugar, and 0.04% of sucralose, so are not going to cause your BS to rise. I like the lemon and lime, there is also strawberry. But experiment, just check the calorie count and the amount of sweetner etc. 8)

 

[Maskedman]

mullaneder - its true i do feel very over whelmed - it seems like no one is giving me any ideas what i should or shouldn't do - but also they seem to assume i know everything alread. i agree with the needle thing - i know htey wont hurt - but i'm not sure if i can actually press the button to draw the blood - i guess i will learn in time

Iolanthe - they said i could get a monitor and everything else on prescription. apparently you should be able to get a nhs free prescription thing if your diabetic. not sure how this would work - but worth looking in too. my daughter who has thyroid problems can also get this (she's only 7 at the moment but when she grows up).
the wee sample was stupid - the useless nurse asked me for one - then was really sarcastic to me about not bringing one - like i should know. she then told me to do one. i said i couldnt as i didnt need to. after about 5 mins of stupid measurements etc she told me go povide a sample. hmm so in 5 mins i got from not needing to go to busting - grrrr!
i will try the water - sounds nice

 

[Trinkwasser]

mullaneder - its true i do feel very over whelmed - it seems like no one is giving me any ideas what i should or shouldn't do - but also they seem to assume i know everything alread. i agree with the needle thing - i know htey wont hurt - but i'm not sure if i can actually press the button to draw the blood - i guess i will learn in time

Think of it as fingering your pr1ck, only the other way round.

http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/ ... ricks.html

the wee sample was stupid - the useless nurse asked me for one - then was really sarcastic to me about not bringing one - like i should know. she then told me to do one. i said i couldnt as i didnt need to. after about 5 mins of stupid measurements etc she told me go povide a sample. hmm so in 5 mins i got from not needing to go to busting - grrrr!

Not uncommon, if I'm told I should have brought one without being told I say I am carrying it internally. Once I had that problem, couldn't go so drank some water and waited five minutes. After that I filled the little pot and couldn't stop, if the place was on fire I could have doused it singlehanded

 

[mullaneder]

very funny trinkwasser :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[mullaneder]

"mullaneder - its true i do feel very over whelmed - it seems like no one is giving me any ideas what i should or shouldn't do - but also they seem to assume i know everything alread. "
i could tell you what works for me but thats not much help to you,you have to work out what your body tells you what it can cope with, and testing is the only solution,all i can tell you to do is hang in there and it will get easier, also any question you have no matter how silly you think it is just ask it. as for the pushing the button just look away thats what worked for me dermot