I am new to this site, and to Diabetes really. I'm type 2. Taking Metformin. My nurse started me on 1 x 50mg per day. Just before Christmas my sugars went haywire (highest reading was 23 - scary). Since then my nurse has told me to take 2 x 50mg in the morning and again with my evening meal. My question is should the reading go up or down with food? I wasn't aware that the sort of food I eat makes a difference. Obviously, I try not to eat too much sweet stuff. I am also trying to lose weight, so eating lower carbs, higher proteins. Since I have been taking 4 tabs daily (well, most days - I sometimes forget the evening meal time ones) my sugars have been under 10 - sometimes as low as 6.8, but mostly around 7.8 - 8.2. Nursey, wasn't impressed by this, but I thought it was a good level..................... am I wrong?
Food effects
- Thread starter Lynsababe
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mo1905
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7.8-8.2 seems Ok to me ! I think ideally they say between 4 and 7 but you're pretty close. The change in diet will help to ! These things don't happen overnight and looks like you've made great progress so far ! Not sure why your nurse would be unhappy ! Maybe she was having a bad day. Ask her what she expects of you !
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you say the nurse wasn't impressed - why not? Non diabetics have a relatively constant BG between 4 and 7, so for you to be below 10 is very commendable.
Was it the method she objected to? You may find she isn't impressed with a low carb approach. Quite a few of the nurses aren't because they are out of date,following NICE guidelines on what a good plate of food should look like. NICE are as up to date as some other countries eg in Europe, America, Australia that recognise we are eating far too much carbohydrate and that fat is not the enemy. Total calories in a more balance proportions has been the key for me.
Don't take any dressing down from the medical staff, ask them to explain why - then you can look it up and decide for yourself.
Was it the method she objected to? You may find she isn't impressed with a low carb approach. Quite a few of the nurses aren't because they are out of date,following NICE guidelines on what a good plate of food should look like. NICE are as up to date as some other countries eg in Europe, America, Australia that recognise we are eating far too much carbohydrate and that fat is not the enemy. Total calories in a more balance proportions has been the key for me.
Don't take any dressing down from the medical staff, ask them to explain why - then you can look it up and decide for yourself.
Yorksman
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Daisy will be here shortly with her wonder links to carbohydrates etc but in the interim, I'd say your readings are not that bad but could be better by 1 to 2 points. They key is probably that you are eating some foods which you think are OK but which you ought to be avoiding. White bread is the biggest culprit but there are others and you'll get an idea when daisy has finished milking the cows in Switzerland.
There are quite a lot of foods people think are harmless but which raise BG levels. Also, you can improve your sensitivity to insulin by losing weight and, separately, by taking exercise. Exercise stimulates various hormones and enzymes which help insulin and losing weight seems to help what insulin you do produce to work more effectively. The combination of avoiding some foods, exercise and weight loss will most likely get you down further. Exercise and weight loss by the way are said to be more effective than Metformin so they are goals worth persuing.
There are quite a lot of foods people think are harmless but which raise BG levels. Also, you can improve your sensitivity to insulin by losing weight and, separately, by taking exercise. Exercise stimulates various hormones and enzymes which help insulin and losing weight seems to help what insulin you do produce to work more effectively. The combination of avoiding some foods, exercise and weight loss will most likely get you down further. Exercise and weight loss by the way are said to be more effective than Metformin so they are goals worth persuing.
daisy1
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Hi Lyn and welcome to the forum 
The cows are all milked now - early morning 5am and later in the evening, and I've had a good lunch :clap: As Yorksman said, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Carry on asking questions and you will get some good answers.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
The cows are all milked now - early morning 5am and later in the evening, and I've had a good lunch :clap: As Yorksman said, here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Carry on asking questions and you will get some good answers.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Hi. Sounds like nursey isn't very knowledgeable? Your sugar readings are now right in the good range so you have been doing all the right things and have nothing to worry about. As someone else has suggested ask the nurse what she doesn't like. Many NHS professionals are following dated and poor dietary approaches by worrying too much about keeping fat down and not worrying about carb intake and portion size. This forum offers some good and up-to-date advice that is proven to work for many diabetics. Have a look at the recent NICE Diabetes Pathways document on the web which was updated in Oct 2012. It is very sensible and is inline with much of the advice on this forum.
This has been sooooo useful to me, I printed it off, and have kept it as a constant reminder in a folder until I got used to what I was doing, and Nursey is very happy with me now. It did seem for a time that she was offering different advice to my husband who has also been recently diagnosed. Thank you to Daisy and everyone else who offered advice.