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alexander-v-o

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Hello everybody I would like to introduce myself. :D I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after suffering a severe heart attack in 2000. All has been wonderful up to now with me first controlling my diabetes with a strict diet and in the last few years by diet and medication. I decided to come onto the forum to see how others deal with diabetes as it goes on and what I can expect as I am finding mt sugar levels more and more difficult to control. :?:
 
Hi Alexander and welcome to the forum. Please have a good look round and ask us any questions, there is always someone with an answer.
 
alexander-v-o said:
Hello everybody I would like to introduce myself. :D I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes after suffering a severe heart attack in 2000. All has been wonderful up to now with me first controlling my diabetes with a strict diet and in the last few years by diet and medication. I decided to come onto the forum to see how others deal with diabetes as it goes on and what I can expect as I am finding mt sugar levels more and more difficult to control. :?:
Click to expand...

Hi alexander.
Welcome to the forum. I read your post where you say you have a strict diet. I wonder if this diet is the same one I was put on in 1997 and after my Triple By-Pass in 2004 was again urged to follow, the healthy heart diet ? In the latter part of last year I realised that this healthy diet was basically killing me. With the information gleaned from this website I changed my diet to a much more healthy diet and haven't looked back. Great Bg control, 5 st weight loss, eyesight returned back to the levels where I no longer need glasses anymore etc etc.

All because I was on a diet that wasn't suitable for a Diabetic. I am now !
 
Wow that sounds interesting. I am obviously on a heart health diet but my diabetes nurse has given me another diet plus I have been using common sense. Have you posted details of your experience and your diet somewhere I could have a look. I just cannot seem to get my reading below 12.
 
TALE OF A DIABETIC. DOOM and the Salvation. (Published in a Newsletter)

11/12 years ago I was newly diagnosed as a Diabetic. That came about when I was all gowned up for a knee operation and just before it was due to take place I was asked, “How long have you been a Diabetic ? ” I thought for a minute and then replied, “ Probably about ten minutes !! “

That was my diagnosis. Needless to say the operation took place several weeks later. After that I was given lots of information about diet and saw a Dietician. Given eating plans and went away thinking, this isn’t so bad, I can eat most of the things I was already eating just in smaller portions and eating Brown Rice, Pasta and Bread. Great.

I carried on with that diet for several years and my weight slowly but surely rose till I was nearly 18.5 stone. During this time I got increasingly more ill. High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, you name it I think I had it. My life went downhill, I couldn’t exercise, I had joint problems, and my eyesight got progressively worse. I just thought that whatever time I had left was going to be a bonus. I thought about 6 – 7 yrs !

I carried on like that until 2004. Then I started getting Angina, this was on top of my ever bulging waistline and fat face. After a holiday in France that year I thought I was going to die, could only walk a few yards or so. I ended up having to have a triple bypass heart operation. Felt a million dollars when I came out of Hospital.

Then they gave me the same 'healthy' diet. So off I went and continued in the same way. BP and Cholesterol soared, HbA1c rocketed and I got progressively worse and weight that I had started to lose after the operation came back again. I reached 19.5 stone. I was huge and felt awful about myself. Clothes didn’t fit, walking was again an effort and all the good work the Surgeon’s had done was being rapidly undone. I was on a bucket of medications as well.

Then in January this year I found this website Diabetes.co.uk I trawled the Forum and took on board the advice regarding diet for a Diabetic. I could see that the advice I had previously had was just plain wrong for me. It had made my condition much worse.

I thought at first that a low carbohydrate diet was the way to go but I didn't fancy high fats, especially after having the heart op. So I looked at a low GI diet which seemed just what I needed, I modified it by reducing the carbohydrate intake drastically. Down to around 60g of carbohydrates per day. ! I also added low fat, low salt, and low sugar. Seemed OK to me. Plenty of Fruit, Vegetables, Meats, almost anything I wanted really. I was also put on a drug called Byetta which is injected twice daily, it is not Insulin. It is extremely effective and also helps to suppress the appetite and helps the weight loss. For me it has turned my life around.

What a difference that made. Blood Glucose levels all started going down, weight started falling off, and lipids all began to get close to near 'normal' levels, Cholesterol now down to 3.2. I have managed to lose 3 stone in as many months with this new diet. I have so much more energy and vitality now. Life is just great.

Before it was a chore and I wondered how much longer I had got left. Now I ‘m planning ahead and even starting to exercise. I have some way to go yet but I am now down to just 15 stone 13 lbs. My next target is to get below 15 stone and then set my next target ? It seems achievable and I at least now I have the confidence and motivation to get to that next target.

I would have never achieved this if it wasn't for the help and advice I found on this Forum. There were many good people here who give up their time freely to help and advise people. I have to mention the Moderators, Sugarless Sue, Dennis, and many others whose advice I gratefully took on board. They all helped me in one way or another. All unpaid and unbiased.

That NHS 'healthy' diet for me was totally wrong. It may well be Ok for others but I cannot understand why alternative diets are not thought worthy of a mention ? I for one would have benefited.

One other thing is that most Diabetics are now being told they do not need to test daily, some are told that they only need to test once a week. One person was even told that a Blood Glucose level of 11 mmol/l was OK. That advice is scandalous.

If like me you can keep tight control of your Diabetes by testing regularly you will improve all aspects of your life. By denying Diabetics meters and test strips because of cost the NHS is sentencing many of us to an early grave or at the very least Diabetic complications galore.

Hopefully, as a Moderator I too can do my bit to pass on information, advice and sometimes just support to other members here. If that all ends then so be it, at least I will know that I tried my best.

Anybody reading this, good luck to you. Life can be better.

cugila


Update on this 10/09/2009. I have now lost close to 5 stone and weigh 14st 10 lbs. Still losing, mainly down to the Byetta and reduced carb consumption, without high fats !
 
Then there is this one as well....
Benefits of Reducing Carbs for Eyesight.

Since January of this year I made a concious decision to reduce my carbohydrate intake drastically down to about 60g carbs per day. This was taken after reading everything I could lay my hands on about carbohydrates and Blood glucose levels. I also read all I could on the Diabetes.co.uk website and information posted by many of the members who are now jetting between one place and another.

Back in 2001 I was told after an eyesight test that I needed glasses for driving as part of my job. So I went off to my local Optician who again tested me and confirmed what I had been told. A prescription was issued and I eventually got myself some glasses.

Since that time after following the 'healthy diet' advice pushed by the NHS etc my eyesight got steadily worse and worse, resulting in new glasses virtually every year. Then something strange happened. I found after 3 months on the reduced carbs my eyesight appeared to have improved quite dramatically ? I found that while driving I no longer needed the glasses, in fact if I put them on my vision was worse ! I thought that this meant I was going to end up with more glasses ?

So, my Retinal Screening and Annual Eyesight Test was due in July so I went along last week to have it all done. I told the Optician about my eyesight and he thought I was mistaken. He checked everything out and we examined the pics of my eyeballs and he stated that there was no problems at all there.
Good news.
Then we came to the result of my eye test. He looked at the results and he checked back through all my results since 2001 and said he couldn't understand it ? My eyesight was almost perfect. My eyes were in better condition now than they were before my eye tests in 2001. He wanted to know what had changed ? So I told him how I had reduced the carbs in my diet and reduced daily Bg levels by half to around 5-6 daily. He seemed quite bemused by this. He told me I didn't need glasses any more for driving - the only downside is that my close vision is not as good so I now need to sometimes wear reading glasses for the small print. I can live with that.

So for those who think reducing your carbs is not a good idea ? Here is proof if needed of another benefit to those of us who do.

cugila
 
Thank you very much for that. It is interesting that you talk about daily testing. I was keeping my levels under control and testing daily and when I went to my diabetic nurse appointment and proudly showed her. To my shock she admonished me for testing so often and said it cost a fortune for the strips and that I should only test weekly. After that I actually lost interest and stopped testing all together.

Recently I got flu really badly and was just getting worse and worse going towards pneumonia. I eventually saw my doctor who informed me that the reason the antibiotics were not working was that my sugar levels were sky high 29.8! He then asked me to monitor my levels and gave me an even stronger antibiotic. That is how I came to the forum and started reading many interesting experiences and similar problems to my own. I started monitoring just over a week ago and in spite of watching everything I eat and religiously avoiding all sugars my level has wavered up and down with a best reading this morning before any food or drink of 12.2.

I am basically looking for an action plan to avoid getting worse as my biggest fear in life is to have to inject myself. It might suprise some people but I am so freaked out about it that if I am told I have to inject I really don't know if life is still worthwhile. Thank you for your interesting reply. I am going to scour the site and use it and all the advice and experiences to plot myself a game plan. There has to be a way out of this! :?
 
Here is the information we like to give to new Diabetic's - might help you alexander.

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.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular 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.

Buy yourself a carb counter book 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 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 , but you can but try !!

From what you say you might just have to foot the bill yourself, it is your health we are talking about, but all the HCP's seem to more concerned about cost.
 
Thank you very much for your time and advice. As someone who wants to be in control of my diabetes I need to obviously try whatever I can away from stronger medication or injecting. I am now going to take your advice swat up a but on it and change my diet accordingly. I am determined to beat this and will let you know how it goes. My reading was up to 14.5 again this morning and that is after strictly avoiding sugar like the plague for the last ten days! Thanks again.
 
Hi,

As a Type 2 myself, my quite simple advice would be to cut back on any starchy carbohydrates that you eat - i.e. cereals, bread, potatoes in particular - but also rice and pasta. That usually leads to a quick and big improvent in blood glucose levels.

Best wishes - John
 
Hi wallycorker and cugila and everyone else too,

Wonderful news I have brought my reading to between 8 - 11 which is an incredible achievement seeing I was hovering around the late twenties and got down to mid to late teens with effort. I am still trying to stabilise myself as I sometimes now jump from 8.2 to 12.8 in a 24 hour day(I test myself once a day every morning before eating)I am finding breakfast a problem because I have been having every variation of egg plus Yohgurts that are low sugar and low carb so might just decide to cut it out or just have some fruit. Anyway I just wanted to say thanks a lot for the advice and support it certainly made me feel I was not alone with only my diabetic nurse to get advice from! I am now confident I am going to be 100% under control next time I post! Thanks :D :D :D
 
Hope you are continuing to get on well with your numbers – I don’t know that any of us can realistically expect to be 100% in control but it is good to aim for it.

I would say that it is a bit dodgy to cut out breakfast. :x

If it is through boredom with eggs how about trying a nice piece of smoked haddock with baked tomato or mushrooms. Perhaps a pair of kippers – or just one?
What about grilled bacon with tomato or mushroom; perhaps cheese of some kind or cold meats?

My other half tells me that breakfast is arguably the most important meal of the day! :)
 
alexander-v-o said:
Wonderful news I have brought my reading to between 8 - 11 which is an incredible achievement seeing I was hovering around the late twenties and got down to mid to late teens with effort. I am still trying to stabilise myself as I sometimes now jump from 8.2 to 12.8 in a 24 hour day(I test myself once a day every morning before eating)
Hi.
First of all congratulations on the improvement. A great achievement. Now, I'm going to throw a 'spanner in the works !' Testing once a day tells you nothing at this stage. You MUST test before each meal and then again 2 hrs after eating that meal. That is the only way to see if there really has been in improvement throughout the day. The information I gave you in an earlier post in this thread clearly sets out what you need to do.
I am finding breakfast a problem because I have been having every variation of egg plus Yohgurts that are low sugar and low carb so might just decide to cut it out or just have some fruit.
Not a good idea. Breakfast of any sort sets you up for the day, fuels your body for activity. Miss out breakfast and what may happen is your body will think it is running out of fuel and will 'dump' Glucose into your blood from the liver. That will elevate your BG levels even higher probably than what they may be now !
Click to expand...

I know things may be confusing but it is important that you concentrate on reducing those carbohydrates, forget about sugars. Read the information I posted previously.

I agree with synonym too.
 
Thank you both. I am going to transfer to the Low Carb forum with further news and progress and also my coming diabetes clinic visit. Yep perhaps wise not to skip breakfast and I will change my readings as you suggest Cugila and see what that tells me. watch this space :D
 
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