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Type 2 dont know what to do?

damienhardy

damienhardy

Member
Messages
7
Location
york
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
I have been diagnosed now with type2 for just over 2 years. In that time I have been trying to watch what I eat and eat anything sweet as a treat. I used to work in a warehouse keeping active for 8 a day 4 days a week. I'm on 4 metformin and 1 gliclazide a day, and my levels used to hover around 7 or 8. On the odd occasion they would come down to 5.4 and I would feel ill. Since the end of may I lost my job through a medical problem. Now I'm taking gabpentin. My diabetic nurse put the gliclazide up from 40mg to 80 to see if it would help bring my levels down. This has not happened. Now my levels are around 10 - 13. I feel the tablets don't seem to be working, and I'm feeling even more stressed and fed up. I'm trying to keep active by going out for walks and keeping myself busy. But I feel it's not helping. What can I do?
 
damienhardy said:
I have been diagnosed now with type2 for just over 2 years. In that time I have been trying to watch what I eat and eat anything sweet as a treat. I used to work in a warehouse keeping active for 8 a day 4 days a week. I'm on 4 metformin and 1 gliclazide a day, and my levels used to hover around 7 or 8. On the odd occasion they would come down to 5.4 and I would feel ill. Since the end of may I lost my job through a medical problem. Now I'm taking gabpentin. My diabetic nurse put the gliclazide up from 40mg to 80 to see if it would help bring my levels down. This has not happened. Now my levels are around 10 - 13. I feel the tablets don't seem to be working, and I'm feeling even more stressed and fed up. I'm trying to keep active by going out for walks and keeping myself busy. But I feel it's not helping. What can I do?
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Hi. I'm Type 2 and was on Gliclazide after diagnosis in April following a transplant and steroid treatment (I'll be on for life). My levels bounced around from 7.5 to as much as 15. The doctors doubled my Gliclazide from 80mg once a day to twice a day - no real difference. The difference came when I took more control and tested myself twice more often throughout the day. I tested at various times to find any patterns, and did find some. I kept a diary of what I ate, when I ate and readings before meals and two hours after...patterns got clearer. I informed my doctor I was coming off the pills as they had no apparent effect. he wanted me to increase the dosage but I said I'd rather try without for a while and focus on diet and exercise. I am now on a low carb diet, eating nothing with a his carb content (ie. not just a low sugar content) a sit is clearly the carbs which are pushing the levels up. Evidence? Apart from a wee spike after my steroids (up to maybe 9.2 at most, often less), my levels are generally between 6.2 and 8.2 , sometimes as low as 5.2...and I feel fine and I'm more and more in control. So..what to do? Consider low carb diet. I see no reason why you'd feel ill at 5.4 - it bang in the normal range..maybe coincidence? Seriously.keep a diary and take control. i wanted to see if I could get things down without the Gliclazide..and that's worked. If I do feel it's going up..I shall talk about pills again but for now...I'm making real progress. Good luck ps. doctors generally don't want you stopping meds they have prescribed and won't necessarily praise low carb diets - a hell of a lot of people disagree. Investigate and use this site..it's really helpful.
 
SweetLucie said:
Why not try insulin?

7 or 8 are still high. 5.4 would be a good reading. 10 - 13 is in a advanced risk range.
Are you not taking your diet serious? Diet can be up to 80% of the diabetes treatment.
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I am trying to stick to a diet. But it's not easy now I'm not working. I can't afford to go out and get the usual things I normally get. My levels did start out really high when I was first diagnosed, so they have come down. Unfortunately they seem to have stopped at what they are now and don't seem to be going down any further?.
 
pleinster said:
Hi. I'm Type 2 and was on Gliclazide after diagnosis in April following a transplant and steroid treatment (I'll be on for life). My levels bounced around from 7.5 to as much as 15. The doctors doubled my Gliclazide from 80mg once a day to twice a day - no real difference. The difference came when I took more control and tested myself twice more often throughout the day. I tested at various times to find any patterns, and did find some. I kept a diary of what I ate, when I ate and readings before meals and two hours after...patterns got clearer. I informed my doctor I was coming off the pills as they had no apparent effect. he wanted me to increase the dosage but I said I'd rather try without for a while and focus on diet and exercise. I am now on a low carb diet, eating nothing with a his carb content (ie. not just a low sugar content) a sit is clearly the carbs which are pushing the levels up. Evidence? Apart from a wee spike after my steroids (up to maybe 9.2 at most, often less), my levels are generally between 6.2 and 8.2 , sometimes as low as 5.2...and I feel fine and I'm more and more in control. So..what to do? Consider low carb diet. I see no reason why you'd feel ill at 5.4 - it bang in the normal range..maybe coincidence? Seriously.keep a diary and take control. i wanted to see if I could get things down without the Gliclazide..and that's worked. If I do feel it's going up..I shall talk about pills again but for now...I'm making real progress. Good luck ps. doctors generally don't want you stopping meds they have prescribed and won't necessarily praise low carb diets - a hell of a lot of people disagree. Investigate and use this site..it's really helpful.
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Ye my levels are usually down between 7 and 8. But my diabetic nusre says that's still high. Since having a migraine related seizure in may, and finding out that I could have a serious back problem, I've been put on gabapentin for the headaches and the back pain. I've been having this problem since 2008 where they diagnosed it as syatica. This however is now not the case. Back then I was working as a parking attendant for a car park company, so I was kept active. I was always feeling tired alot and put it down to the hours I was doing. Then 1 day a few years ago I had a checkup for life insurance and that's how I found out that something was wrong. Since then I have tried everything to bring it down. And it has come down. When I was first checked, levels were over 20.
 
I understand you are trying to stick to a diet, but is it low carb as well as low sugar? Many of us on this forum can't cope with the wholemeal bread and pasta etc that the NHS guidelines tell us to eat.
 
zand said:
I understand you are trying to stick to a diet, but is it low carb as well as low sugar? Many of us on this forum can't cope with the wholemeal bread and pasta etc that the NHS guidelines tell us to eat.
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Yes it is one of those diets. It's not easy at all. I tried to cut down on my portion sizes, and only eat the amount of meat the size of my hand. ( I've only got small hands) so it doesn't look worth eating that much. And as to eating 2 types of oily fish a week? If they're going to pay ME to go get all this stuff? Then I will do it. But not all of us can afford to eat what they say we have to
 
damienhardy said:
Yes it is one of those diets. It's not easy at all. I tried to cut down on my portion sizes, and only eat the amount of meat the size of my hand. ( I've only got small hands) so it doesn't look worth eating that much. And as to eating 2 types of oily fish a week? If they're going to pay ME to go get all this stuff? Then I will do it. But not all of us can afford to eat what they say we have to
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No I haven't. Thanks for the advice.
 
Hello. I'm sorry to hear you lost your job. I hope you find another one soon so you can feed yourself properly! Also the stresses of a job are usually better than the stresses of being unemployed.
I have time on my hands and being a bit of a foodie I got half an allotment, which means during two thirds of the year I have not only a fair amount of almost free food (I don't count my labour) but also gifts of surplus. Mind you, you need to be fond of runner beans :D
I give the local butcher a hand in his garden on the odd Sunday in return for a couple of joints of meat and some eggs in the week.
If I wasn't so lazy I could get a fishing rod, go down to the beach and spend hours catching mackerel and stuff.
Plus I don't have to think of what exercise to do. It takes care of itself. I also have an old bike for getting around, although I prefer to walk.
I don't know what your medical problem was that cost you your job, but I'm confident that you can get your diabetes under control. The evidence on here is overwhelming.
I'm angry that whether we can afford it or not we have to pay to keep ourselves well.
Sorry if this isn't much help in your situation but where there's a will there's a way, and you will find yours, I'm sure.
 
DeejayR said:
Hello. I'm sorry to hear you lost your job. I hope you find another one soon so you can feed yourself properly! Also the stresses of a job are usually better than the stresses of being unemployed.
I have time on my hands and being a bit of a foodie I got half an allotment, which means during two thirds of the year I have not only a fair amount of almost free food (I don't count my labour) but also gifts of surplus. Mind you, you need to be fond of runner beans :D
I give the local butcher a hand in his garden on the odd Sunday in return for a couple of joints of meat and some eggs in the week.
If I wasn't so lazy I could get a fishing rod, go down to the beach and spend hours catching mackerel and stuff.
Plus I don't have to think of what exercise to do. It takes care of itself. I also have an old bike for getting around, although I prefer to walk.
I don't know what your medical problem was that cost you your job, but I'm confident that you can get your diabetes under control. The evidence on here is overwhelming.
I'm angry that whether we can afford it or not we have to pay to keep ourselves well.
Sorry if this isn't much help in your situation but where there's a will there's a way, and you will find yours, I'm sure.
Click to expand...
Hi there. The problem is with my back and that I suffered with a migraine related seizure. The back problem has been going on for a while now, and came to a head in may when I had the seizure. I can feed myself ok, just not how the medical profession want us to all of the time. I do tend to go out for short walks but because of the way my back is at the moment, I can't go as far as I used to with having to stop and start. I wish I had a garden. I live in a shared first floor flat with 3 other people. It would be nice to grow my own fruit and veg. The only problem is, my flat is in a building that has a grade 2 listing. So can't put any window boxes on the outside of my rooms windows. I used to cycle as well. But can't with my back.
 
I'm sorry to read that you have back probs, might I suggest that you ask GP for physiotherapy in the form of hydrotherapy, aquarobics or something like that ? The water supports your weight and you can build up your muscles to help strengthen your back - just a suggestion.

I'm going to prove to you that you can eat well for less.

Firstly, you need to look at www.dietdoctor.com/lchf as previously mentioned and make a note of the kind of real foods that you can eat like fish, meat, chicken, eggs, butter, nuts, vegetables, milk. Real food. Use that as your basic shopping list.

There's no reason why you can't eat canned or frozen fish, provided they aren't in carby sauces. Poundland has Fontinella wild pink salmon 213g £1 and Ocean Wave tuna flakes in brine 70g 3 for £1. Iceland has Young's Scottish kipper fillets with butter 170g £1. (If you don't have a freezer, just buy it the day before you want to eat it and let it defrost in the packaging, in the fridge). Poundstretcher has Princes Tuna Flakes 160g 49p and Oceans Best tuna flakes 3 x 165g for £1. Tesco sardines in oil or brine 120g, 40p. Tesco 6 frozen wild Alaskan salmon fillets 600g £5

Vegetables.. Amore Italiano canned peeled plum tomatoes 400g 25p each in Poundstretcher, Heinz canned chopped tomatoes 400g 3 for £1, Poundland. Oaklands fresh cherry tomatoes 250g 29p (offer), Lidl. Large flat mushrooms 250g, 59p, (offer), Aldi. Red bell pepper, 29p (offer), Lidl. If you have a freezer - Iceland frozen curly kale 1kg £1.50 Iceland frozen sprouts and bacon 600g £1 Iceland frozen ready to cook onions 650g £1.Iceland frozen broccoli florets 900g £1. Iceland frozen cauliflower florets £1,Iceland frozen sliced green beans £1 Tesco frozen sliced mixed peppers £1

Cheese.. full fat soft cheese, 200g, 49p, Aldi. Farm Vale mild white Cheddar 200g,£1, Iceland. (If you have a freezer, try and pick up some cheap yellow-stickered hard cheeses in supermarkets, and freeze for cooking).

Meat.. Birchwood Farm fresh pork belly slices 500g £2.15 (offer), Lidl. Birchwood Farm turkey drumstick 700g 1.99 (offer), Lidl. Iceland diced frozen beef steak 454g £2.50. If you have a freezer Grassingtons 6oz Angus Beef beef burgers 10 pack £10 so £1 each and 1.5g carbs per burger and 95% beef. Princes corned beef/reduced salt corned beef 340g £2 (offer). Tesco.

Eggs.. Iceland 10 Class A large eggs £1
 
Just do your best with what you have. You can't do more, and try not to be downhearted. Your assessment of your situation sounds realistic and you're not blaming the world, just telling it the way it is. See if you can get some goals sorted out and look for ways to reach them. Especially achievable things you enjoy.
 
Celeriac said:
I'm sorry to read that you have back probs, might I suggest that you ask GP for physiotherapy in the form of hydrotherapy, aquarobics or something like that ? The water supports your weight and you can build up your muscles to help strengthen your back - just a suggestion.

I'm going to prove to you that you can eat well for less.

Firstly, you need to look at www.dietdoctor.com/lchf as previously mentioned and make a note of the kind of real foods that you can eat like fish, meat, chicken, eggs, butter, nuts, vegetables, milk. Real food. Use that as your basic shopping list.

There's no reason why you can't eat canned or frozen fish, provided they aren't in carby sauces. Poundland has Fontinella wild pink salmon 213g £1 and Ocean Wave tuna flakes in brine 70g 3 for £1. Iceland has Young's Scottish kipper fillets with butter 170g £1. (If you don't have a freezer, just buy it the day before you want to eat it and let it defrost in the packaging, in the fridge). Poundstretcher has Princes Tuna Flakes 160g 49p and Oceans Best tuna flakes 3 x 165g for £1. Tesco sardines in oil or brine 120g, 40p. Tesco 6 frozen wild Alaskan salmon fillets 600g £5

Vegetables.. Amore Italiano canned peeled plum tomatoes 400g 25p each in Poundstretcher, Heinz canned chopped tomatoes 400g 3 for £1, Poundland. Oaklands fresh cherry tomatoes 250g 29p (offer), Lidl. Large flat mushrooms 250g, 59p, (offer), Aldi. Red bell pepper, 29p (offer), Lidl. If you have a freezer - Iceland frozen curly kale 1kg £1.50 Iceland frozen sprouts and bacon 600g £1 Iceland frozen ready to cook onions 650g £1.Iceland frozen broccoli florets 900g £1. Iceland frozen cauliflower florets £1,Iceland frozen sliced green beans £1 Tesco frozen sliced mixed peppers £1

Cheese.. full fat soft cheese, 200g, 49p, Aldi. Farm Vale mild white Cheddar 200g,£1, Iceland. (If you have a freezer, try and pick up some cheap yellow-stickered hard cheeses in supermarkets, and freeze for cooking).

Meat.. Birchwood Farm fresh pork belly slices 500g £2.15 (offer), Lidl. Birchwood Farm turkey drumstick 700g 1.99 (offer), Lidl. Iceland diced frozen beef steak 454g £2.50. If you have a freezer Grassingtons 6oz Angus Beef beef burgers 10 pack £10 so £1 each and 1.5g carbs per burger and 95% beef. Princes corned beef/reduced salt corned beef 340g £2 (offer). Tesco.

Eggs.. Iceland 10 Class A large eggs £1
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Thanks for all your advise. I'm off to go see a neurosurgeon on saturday to see what he recommends.
 
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