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hello need some advice

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maltman43

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Hello I'm new to all this forum stuff so please bear with me, my mum was diagnosed with type 2 about 2 years ago. I have checked her blood with her wee machine just now after tea, she doesn't do it very often, but her reading is 17.5 which I know isn't good but how bad is it and how can I help her. Many thanks Nicola
 
very high that i was diagniosed at 18.1 , could i ask whats she eaten today as a general guide thanks x
 
Hi Nicola and welcome.

These are the NICE guidelines used by the NHS for type 2 diabetics

Fasting and before meals between 4 and 7
2 hours after a meal under 8.5.

These guidelines are a bit outdated now. Most of us aim for under 6 before meals/fasting and under 7.8 at 2 hours after meals.


It sounds very much like she needs help with her diet, as it is the food she is eating that is making her levels high - and 17.5 is very high. Please don't panic. It can be sorted if she changes her diet. Can you tell us what a typical days food and drink is for her, and if she is overweight?
 
Thanks for the replies. Mum doesn't have a great diet, in my opinion she does not eat enough and doesn't like much fruit and veg. Today she has had breakfast frosties with milk and cup tea, lunch tomato sandwich (2 slices white bread & butter) cup tea, 2 glasses of water with dash of lime, dinner mash potatoe, 3 v.small roast potatoes, grilled chicken fillet, peas & turnip, tomato sauce & glass diet coke. She is overweight by about 2 stone.
 
How old is your mum, get her to test before breakfast, before tea and 2 hr after lunch and tea for a few days to get an idea. She may be able to do it with just diet or she may need some meds as well
Get her to join the forum
Ideally the bread and potato should go
 
most of that i avoid like the black death food wise , cerael bread spuds all ways . is she open to changing her diet by little things there are so many alternatives to what she eats that would help her xx
 
Thanks for the replies, mum is 70 years young. As mum is a very very plain eater it is hard for us to get her to eat a varied diet. The family jokes that her weekly shopping consists of loaf of bread, bag of potatoes, milk, tomatoes and grapes.
She is active, line dances etc but has been told to start walking as exercise. She finds walking difficult due to breathlessness but we are going to start her walking small distances this week. Any other advice would be grateful but will definitely have to work on her diet. Thanks
 
maltman43 said:
Thanks for the replies. Mum doesn't have a great diet, in my opinion she does not eat enough and doesn't like much fruit and veg. Today she has had breakfast frosties with milk and cup tea, lunch tomato sandwich (2 slices white bread & butter) cup tea, 2 glasses of water with dash of lime, dinner mash potatoe, 3 v.small roast potatoes, grilled chicken fillet, peas & turnip, tomato sauce & glass diet coke. She is overweight by about 2 stone.
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As the others have said, your mum's diet is rather carb-y and would benefit from some modification. If she's anything like me (and a lot of others) she can probably still have the carbs, but just in much smaller quantities. Can your mum test her own blood sugar? If she can, she could eat some of those carbs (I'd just eat potatoes or bread, but don't mix them for the purposes of this "experiment"...and check her blood glucose at 1 and 2 hours afterwards. Bluetit posted the 2 hour expected values above and whilst there seems to be some debate on the 1 hour values, anything that spikes my blood glucose over about 7.5 has me feeling uneasy. I'll eat the food again, but try a smaller amount next time. I'm gradually realising how much of these things I can eat. And of course, we're all different, so what works for one of us might not work for another. If you/she can test and eat accordingly, she'll get much better control. I suppose the question is though, what level of control does she really need? being 38, I'd be looking for a greater level of control as there's lots of time for complications to develop...if I was in my 70's or 80's, I might think differently.
 
Hi. Yes, the diet could be tweaked a bit but some meds may be needed as well. The Frosties will be high-carb. Mash is not the best potato as the starch cells will be broken down. The turnip will be high'ish carb as a root veg. White bread is best replaced by multi-grain wholemeal. So, her diet isn't bad but could be improved. I suspect she could benefit from being on Metformin so do ask her to see the GP to discuss
 
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