Hello Everyone

Welcome Karen. It is late in the UK, where this website is based, but there are quite a few Australian (and other non-UK) members on this site including me (I am in America).

I am tagging @daisy1 who can provide a useful blurb for newcomers.

You have come to the right place. I wish I had known about this website when I was diagnosed with T2 nine months ago.

I am not taking any drugs (controlling T2 with diet-only) so I don't want to try to give suggestions about your drugs. It might help to know what your HbA1c blood test was, at diagnosis three weeks ago.

I am also not self-testing my blood levels. From the little that I know about that testing process, it sounds like you are making good progress, but there are lots of other people who will soon provide better advice than I can.

A diabetes diagnosis is a life-changing event. There are lots of people here who can help.

(By the way my mother was born in Australia and I have several uncles and numerous first cousins in the Sydney area.)

Edited to add: That bit in your post about "carbs are not my friend" is key. Reducing the carbs, for many of us, is the main part of the puzzle.

More work needed .... under 8 far better. Double figures are not but great progress thus far

Diet??

Hi @kas3554 and welcome to the forum. Your reduction in bs levels from 17 to 6-8 in just three weeks is pretty good.
You should be able to reduce it further. The UK NHS recommendations for T2 are 4-7 before meals with a rise of less than 2 two hours after meal. You are getting there.
Your meals sound ok to me, but the oats might raise your bs. I used to have porridge for breakfast and found it spiked my bs to over 10. Some people find porridge doesn't affect them.
I don't know about meds as I haven't needed them. But it's 2.35 am in UK, so most forum members there will be asleep. I expect you will get more replies later.

kas3554 said:

I have cut out bread,rice,pasta etc having lots of salads and meat, fish,chicken for main meal. Oats for breakfast and vita weat biscuits with cheese and tomato for lunch.

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Most of that sounds good (apart from oats, which are high-carb; and I have no idea what Vita Weat is but if it contains wheat, your might consider giving it the chop).

It does help to know where you are starting from -- the HbA1c at diagnosis. (Explanation here: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/what-is-hba1c.html).

Since you have decided to go the low-carb route, it is also important to tailor it to you medications. I am not familiar with that list your provided, but to be on the safe side, you may need to adjust the meds (downwards) as you lower the carbs, to avoid possible complications. There are people on this forum who will be more knowledgeable about this, but your doctor should be the main guide.

If you have not seen them yet, here are two useful links for information on the low-carb diet: http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diet/low-carb-diabetes-diet.html and https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb.

Many of us have had good success with the "low-carb lifestyle" and it is worth a try, if your medical circumstances allow it. You are already taking several drugs, so the "balance" between the various therapies (including diet) is important.

"Low carb diet" is a misnomer by the way. It is more like a lifelong commitment, rather than a short-term crash diet to lose weight or whatever. If it works, the rewards are worth all the hard work.

Good luck, and (again) welcome.

Hi @kas3554, I'm Silvia, and I live in Melbourne, so almost in the same timezone.

I was diagnosed just over a year ago, and I got my BG numbers under control fairly quickly following LCHF.

I started out eating 30g carbs per day but now eat less than 10g carbs per day usually. I track what I eat using My Fitness Pal (the free version).

I have lost 11kg (without one minute's exercise), my numbers are around 4.5 - 5.5 daily, I am off my BP meds and I feel a million percent better than I did 12 months ago.

The quick explanation of LCHF is no wheat or grains, so no pasta, bread, rice, cakes, wraps, biscuits, crackers. No fruit, except for a few blackberries, raspberries or strawberries once your numbers are a bit better. Nothing low fat, so full fat yoghurt, real cream, real cheese. Oh and milk is a no no as well, too many carbs. And obviously no sugar - sweeteners like Stevia or Monkfruit are OK, but you need to test them to see how your body reacts.

Lots of eggs, bacon, meat, chicken, fish, green leafy vegies, salad vegies, cauliflower, olives, gherkins, real cheese.

Don't worry too much about your portion size, or your kilojoules or your intake of salt.

Ask lots of questions here, we have lots of answers.

Hi Karen - Gold coast, Australia. I'm not jealous of where you live.. no honestly, not jealous at all. This is my not jealous face.. Infact, I couldn't be more not jealous if I tried. The very fact that I am not jealous won't affect me in the slightest to welcome you to this fabulous forum, and I am sure there are other members who are not jealous either - infact I am sure they are not jealous 'cos I'm not jealous. If I were jealous, I'm sure they would be jealous too.

Golden sands, hot weather, yup I'm not jealous too

@kas3554

Hello Karen and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like and someone will be able to help.


Basic information for New Members

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 147,000 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

Reduce your 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

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.

Over 250,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - an evidence-based, structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

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
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
・ Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
・ 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
・ Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
・ 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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.

kas3554 said:

Thank you Daisy you are a wealth of information. My numbers have been around 6 for the last couple of days but the last 2 days late afternoon went down to 3.8 one day and 4.0 the next. I felt sleepy and a bit dizzy is this normal?

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What meds are you on Karen? If they are insulin type meds, meds that lower your BG, you might need to talk to your Dr about lowering the dose if you are having lows while on LCHF.

Oh and just a heads up, your Dr. will probably freak that you are following LCHF. They will tell you that you neeeeeeeed carbs or you will die, and the you just cant eat bacon, eggs, butter etc. because you will also die from them. Take no notice.

kas3554 said:

but cannot believe bacon is ok. I have been struggling so much with what to have for breakfast.

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Eggs, bacon, high meat content sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, kippers, Avocado toast and low carb bread/toast are all good for breakfast.

Hello there and welcome to the forum. There's a lot to take in at first so take your time and ask as many questions as you like. As you have already found out, there's always someone here no matter what the time.

Hi Karen, nice to meet you It's a shock isn't it! I was diagnosed in April and am still finding my way around things. My hba1c was 109 back then and by August it was 52. I followed the blood sugar diet for the first 8 weeks (Michael Mosley) ....very tough at 800 cals a day but it really helped bring my blood sugars down. I now follow a low-ish carb diet after lots of ups and downs and struggles with what to eat. I don't eat meat so find the LCHF diet (diet doctor web site) too difficult and I hate coconut and almond flour which everything seemed to be made from!
I eat low carb bread for a treat and I still cut out all fruit juice, pasta, potato, breakfast cereal (I found one I can eat though by testing before and after!) most fruit apart from berries and apple, all cakes and sweets of course....apart from a rare slice of birthday cake!
I am now at the stage where if I go out for a meal/holiday I treat myself and stop stressing. I don't go overboard ever but I also don't stress as much...back to the low carb the next day etc. For me it has to sustainable...do-able... otherwise I'd give up! My BMI is spot on in the healthy range...blood sugars are getting there.
I have to be honest and say I have struggled so much with this very low carb way of eating and find it far too restricting for me. I drink milk....is it really high carb???? I didn't know that See I'm still learning!
Anyway after feeling pretty run down for weeks and weeks I am now finally starting to feel better. Blood sugars are settling to around 5 to 8 and I'm pleased with that....for now! I refused medication and am diet only and my next appointment will be in February apparently so I will plod on and see how it all is in the New Year.
Take care, there is so much to learn! Xx