Feeling Ill for Several days following binge!

[Deanchester]

Hi

I was diagnosed T2 about 2 years ago and keep levels under control with diet and low doses of Metformin twice per day. My average level from my last blood test was 5.8%, typically it's been about 6.2%.

I am not an avid 'watcher' of what I eat and do sometimes go over the top by eating and drinking too much. However if I do this I may feel sickly and sweaty the next day but I'm normally feeling OK by the end of the day. As I said, even with my ' indiscretions ' I keep my HbA1c level at acceptable levels.

Recently I've been away and over eaten and drank over 4/5 days. During this period I felt OK and it's only in the last couple of days I've started feeling 'sickly' and been hot / sweaty. Even though I've ate properly for the last 48 hours I still feel ill. I have been advised by my doctor not to check my levels but I have today been and bought test strips and found my glucose level to be very high.

Has anyone any advice on whether there is anything one can do to give a rapid counter balance to the effects of over indulgence please? i.e. are there things you can do or eat to get quickly back into balance.

Also do you feel it is typical that even 48 hours after I've over indulged I still feel poorly?

Thanks in advance for your comments

Dean

 

[Ardbeg]

Hi Dean,

How high were your readings when you self tested?

I try regular little "tricks" such drinking pink grapefruit juice (I used to squeeze my own, but now buy cartons of the stuff from Tescos - not from concentrate). I also squeeze lemon juice on most foods I eat and also sprinkle cinammon powder wherever possible.

Drinks wise, I usually drink a glass or two of red wine on an evening, or sometimes whisky instead.

This seems to work for me and help keep my BG at an acceptable level - below 7.

 

[catherinecherub]

Hi Dean,
There isn't much you can do as a Type 2 if your levels are high. Upping your intake of water may help to flush some of it out and keep moving is about the only advice I can offer. Keep eating regularly and sensibly and they will gradually go down.

Whilst your HBA1c's are good, it may be that you need to test more frequently so that you can see which foods affect your blood sugars as you are not seeing which foods spike you and also stop that binging. Frequent highs are no good to anyone and could cause damage over a period of time.

Take care,

Catherine.

 

[Deanchester]

Thanks to Ardbeg and Catherine for your replies they are really useful. I don't have any family or friends with diabetese so being able to receive your thoughts is really helpful - Thank you

 

[Synonym]

Hi Deanchester and welcome to the forum.

Even though you are not so newly diagnosed it wil benefit you to follow the advice to newly diagnosed T2s which Ken/Sue post in various places on this site. I guess that all this is part of the learning curve!! :roll:

 

[Deanchester]

Hi Deanchester and welcome to the forum.

Even though you are not so newly diagnosed it wil benefit you to follow the advice to newly diagnosed T2s which Ken/Sue post in various places on this site. I guess that all this is part of the learning curve!! :roll:

Hi Synonym - Tried to find Ken/Sue in user name list to trace their threads with no success. Can you advise a link or user name please?

Thanks very much for giving me your input

Dean

 

[Ardbeg]

Here is Ken’s profile link:

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=15325

Here is Sue’s profile link:

memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1210

 

[sugarless sue]

To save getting eye strain from trawling though our respective posts here is the information that Synonym refers to.

Here is the advice we usually give to newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics.This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

The main carbs to avoid or reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating then two hours after eating you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the affect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.

As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try !!

As a Type 2 the latest 2010 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals......no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do 30 minutes moderate exercise a day. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

Sue/Ken.