Hi all. I would have put this up on Fergus's "Success Stories" but I see no-one has posted there for quite some time. I have been posting here for a while, mostly whingeing about being diabetic (Type 2 for around 8 years) and finding problems dealing with it (apologies for all those who had to listen to me and who tried to support me). My husband and I went on holiday in July, and I knew it would be a boozy, food-laden holiday, and I promised myself that I would be good once we got home. Well, amazingly, that is what happened. Without making a song and dance about it, on the Monday I stared eating a low-carb diet, and my blood sugars plummeted. I had been on fasting BS of about 12, and two hours after meals my BS would be around 18. Two weeks after starting, my fasting BS are around 4-5, and two hours after meals they are around 8. I have reduced my insulin from 80 units a day to 50 and dropping. I have discovered a great website for low carb products - Avidlite - so don't find I miss anything (except alcohol, but I will introduce a little bit in a few weeks). I am an evangelical low-carber now and would recommend anyone with diabetes to adopt this way of eating. The only way I can see a non-low-carb diet working is if someone is really physically active - if not, the BS levels will be high.
I know I am just two weeks into this, but I can't see me going back to my old ways. My long distance vision, once fuzzy and really poor, is now perfect. My numb feet are getting better, the stabbing pains in my feet and legs have stopped. I no longer get cramp. My joints have improved, as has my concentration. I used to get bad tempered for no reason - no longer. The mild depression I used to suffer has gone completely. I don't get night sweats, and I am sleeping better than I have for years. Why would I go back?
It makes me so cross that so-called experts in diabetes in the UK still insist that much of one's diet should be made up of carbs ... I am living proof that carbs in whatever form cause a rise in blood sugars. My brother, also with Type 2 diabetes, is now facing a life with insulin because his doctor still insists he eat brown rice, wholemeal pasta and wholewheat bread - all high carb, no matter how "healthy" they sound.
Thank you all for your support. I love this website, and all the support that people give each other. Best of luck to everyone, and I hope we can all keep the complications of diabetes at bay for as long as possible.
I know I am just two weeks into this, but I can't see me going back to my old ways. My long distance vision, once fuzzy and really poor, is now perfect. My numb feet are getting better, the stabbing pains in my feet and legs have stopped. I no longer get cramp. My joints have improved, as has my concentration. I used to get bad tempered for no reason - no longer. The mild depression I used to suffer has gone completely. I don't get night sweats, and I am sleeping better than I have for years. Why would I go back?
It makes me so cross that so-called experts in diabetes in the UK still insist that much of one's diet should be made up of carbs ... I am living proof that carbs in whatever form cause a rise in blood sugars. My brother, also with Type 2 diabetes, is now facing a life with insulin because his doctor still insists he eat brown rice, wholemeal pasta and wholewheat bread - all high carb, no matter how "healthy" they sound.
Thank you all for your support. I love this website, and all the support that people give each other. Best of luck to everyone, and I hope we can all keep the complications of diabetes at bay for as long as possible.
