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Help and advice needed

R

rachelc1980

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all

I am new to the forum, and by reading some of the posts, I see that there is a lot of wisdom, so hoping if I share my story, you may be able to offer me some advice/recommendations.

I was diagnosed with type 2 in August 2012, and I have pretty much never changed anything about my diet or lifestyle since...I think I may have been in denial!!

I am on metformin 2g slow release daily, and dont do any monitoring at all. i am 34 years old and about 14 stone, only 5' 4" so BMI dangerously high.

I am starting to realise that the denial thing is not going to reverse some of the damage I may have already done to myself. I still eat a lot of carbs, and eat chocolate/cakes whenever I want.

I feel like i am at the point where I need to face this head on as my vision is not as good as it was, i now have fybromyalgia, aches and pains everywhere, feel awaful and tired on most days, suffer with massive amounts of anxiety and panic attacks and generally feel like I am killing myself.

I have spent a lot of time researching and come across the various diets etc... but it just confuses me as the messages are so different.

I guess what I am looking for is the bible for type 2 to help me feel alive again, to feel like I can wak up in the morning and enjoy life, without the fear of how many years/months I have before i give myself a heart attack or end up with neuropathy.

I carry on a normal life and hide things quite well, work full time as a professional and I also have a family but just so sick of feeling like I am dying everyday if anyone can understand this.

Anyway, sorry to go on and hope to hear from some of you soon

Rach xx
 
rachelc1980 said:
Hi all

I am new to the forum, and by reading some of the posts, I see that there is a lot of wisdom, so hoping if I share my story, you may be able to offer me some advice/recommendations.

I was diagnosed with type 2 in August 2012, and I have pretty much never changed anything about my diet or lifestyle since...I think I may have been in denial!!

I am on metformin 2g slow release daily, and dont do any monitoring at all. i am 34 years old and about 14 stone, only 5' 4" so BMI dangerously high.

I am starting to realise that the denial thing is not going to reverse some of the damage I may have already done to myself. I still eat a lot of carbs, and eat chocolate/cakes whenever I want.

I feel like i am at the point where I need to face this head on as my vision is not as good as it was, i now have fybromyalgia, aches and pains everywhere, feel awaful and tired on most days, suffer with massive amounts of anxiety and panic attacks and generally feel like I am killing myself.

I have spent a lot of time researching and come across the various diets etc... but it just confuses me as the messages are so different.

I guess what I am looking for is the bible for type 2 to help me feel alive again, to feel like I can wak up in the morning and enjoy life, without the fear of how many years/months I have before i give myself a heart attack or end up with neuropathy.

I carry on a normal life and hide things quite well, work full time as a professional and I also have a family but just so sick of feeling like I am dying everyday if anyone can understand this.

Anyway, sorry to go on and hope to hear from some of you soon

Rach xx
Click to expand...
hi rach I'm new here type 2 also fibromyalgia and many other illnesses here if you wanna chat x
 
rachelc1980 said:
I still eat a lot of carbs, and eat chocolate/cakes whenever I want.
Click to expand...

Yes I think I see the problem and I think you do too. Carbs, chocolate/cakes cause your blood sugar to rise and it would be a very good idea to cut down on them. If you don't have a meter then get one so that you can see what effect the various foods have.
 
i have a meter and test daily but I'm stuck on ways to change my diet tbh
 
Hi Rach
What was your last HbA1c - we get an idea of your diet from your post - not great for control of diabetes I am afraid that there is no type 2 bible. If I was you I would think about doing the following

1. Get a BG Monitor and test and record what your pre-meal, 1 hour and 2 hour readings are throughout a typical day along with what you eat and what exercise you do.
2. As you have a "dangerously high BMI" I would suggest you look at following the Newcastle diet for 2 months and then move to a sustainable low to mediium carb lifestyle.

The Newcastle diet will do wonders at reducing your BMI as well as your BG levels. It is then a lifestyle decision. But changing your food habits will break the degenerative cycle you seem to be in.

Good luck with whatever approach you decide on as it is yours. If you are going to do the Newcastle I would suggest you talk to your GP and get his support in monitoring you - that will provide you with an incentive to see it through eif the D isn't enough and he can make sure it is medically safe
 
As has been said there is not bible, no one true way, but I think most of us do agree on some points.

First get a meter and start testing, before and 2 hours after each meal (more frequently if you think it might help you understand your glucose intake and uptake)

Secondly reduce your carbohydrate intake. Don't just look at sugar, look at the total carbs you are consuming each day. You might find it worth keeping a diary of what you eat in a day and then spend some time on the internet and work out just how many carbs you have eaten. You then need to look at where you can reduce them and by how much. As far as I know the recommended daily carb intake is about 250 - 300g per day, before I started reducing it I was at about the 250g mark. I have settled at about half that, 80 - 120g per day which is working well for me. Others have reduced it far more, down to about 30g per day. Only you and your meter can decide what is right for you.

Thirdly, increase you fat intake a little. Change on to full fat variant of milk, butter etc. As you reduce your carbs the extra fat will help prevent you from feeling hungry and will slow the uptake of the carbs into blood glucose.

Fourthly, you already realise that you need to lose weight. Whether you go for a fast specialised diet or just go for slow loss is your decision but it has to be a diet that you can stick to. Like you my BMI was dangerously high but by reducing my carbs and eating to my meter I have lost 2 stone in about 6 months and it is still coming off slowly. I still have to loose a few more stone to be where my BMI indicates I should be.

On a personal note, I have noticed that too many carbs make me feel, sleepy, irritated, depressed and emotional, too many and I start acting like a stroppy 3 year old who doesn't want to go to bed at bedtime. Now I am controlling things more my moods have settled down, I am far more awake and with it and probably a far better person to live with (although my husband is too nice to say so). Hopefully if you can find the right carb level for you, you will also start to feel better in yourself.
 
Hi Rachel,
You have come to the right place for help. I've only been testing my bloods for a short period of time and cutting down on the carbs and already I can see the benefits. Not only am I more in control of my blood sugars, I am loosing weight without feeling hungry and more importantly I feel better, less guilty about what I am eating and the damage I was doing to my body.

I still have a long way to go, but I have recently returned from a holiday in the USA having lost another 5.5lbs even though I ate what I wanted including dessert. I no longer crave and binge on all the bad things - cutting out the carbs have helped me with that.

Give it a go it takes a bit of will power in the begginging but I promise you it's worth it, and you'll find lots of support on here.
 
If you are looking for a bible... I think you are looking for knowledge that will enable you to control your condition. If you know the reasons for certain diets then it helps you maintain control.
You could take a look at the website of Bloodsugar 101. It's an American site but put together by a very knowledgeable diabetic. Google it.
As for books, I relied heavily on " Type 2 Diabetes, the First Year" by Gretchen Becker. Amazon have it on kindle, but I prefer a paper back because you can keep flicking back to check things.
I know you say you have been diagnosed for two years, but you also say you have been in denial, and it takes a while to come to terms with a life altering condition. So you can start from scratch, as if you were diagnosed last week, and start learning now how to live well and healthily with diabetes.
Many people on here can tell you that they are healthier and stronger now, after coming to terms with their illness, than they had been for decades.
 
Hi @rachelc1980 and @Mazzle2512

There is an e-book that you can download that will answer a lot of your questions and help you decide what you can and cannot eat. It is not about sticking to a rigid diet that someone else uses but try and get an eating plan together that you are happy with because it is the only way to get things under control. Diabetes is a self managing disease and you will need a meter and test strips as this is the only way to see your personal responses to what you eat.

http://www.diabetes-without-borders.org/FreeTiger.pdf
 
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