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Help please

M

MAM nee MAB

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I have Type 2. No one in the family has had it. I eat a healthy diet. And I have never been over-weight, 10.5 stone when diagnosed 3 years ago. Had really bad reaction to Metformin - lost 1.5 stone in 5 months. Changed to Forxiga, which controls my blood sugar well, but the weight is still dropping - down to 8st 3lb now. if I eat more, to stop weight loss, my blood sugars go up. AND NOW I have Necrobiosis Lypoidica on both lower legs - so painful! Any helpful suggestions welcome!
 


hi MAM nee MAB welcome to the forum,

It would be helpful if you could describe what is your healthy diet please?
 

Hi. Not sure what a "healthy diet" means...and, frankly, neither are many health professionals...
Like you, I had never been overweight, no sign of diabetes in the family and I thought I ate healthily.
I got my diabetes from steroid treatment (ie. Steroid Induced Diabetes) following a transplant I needed due to an inherited kidney condition.
Ignoring the general advice about healthy diets and going instead by what I read on this site and found in my own research, I soon realised that "healthy" eating depends very much on the individual...and that generally eating the kind of carbohydrates recommended by lots of "experts" is not only a bit dodgy but wholly unnecessary. A Type 2 looking to reduce blood sugar really needs to take on board the fact that carbs effectively turn to sugar in the blood and a wise move would be to avoid them or at least substantially cut your intake. It is, however, really important to make sure you are eating enough of the right kinds of fats at the same time as well as fibre, protein etc. We need to know what your diet is.
 
Hi @MAM nee MAB, welcome
After reading your post, I read the posts from a couple of other members in response....
I must say that I agree totally with them
I was only diagnosed type2 in March.... totally in denial for a few months, but luckily, I've got a great Diabetes Nurse (Diabetic 20+ years) and she told me in a friendly chat (ie. not official NHS) tat I should aim for 100g max of carbohydrates per day, and to join the forum.... so glad I have done as suggested!
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia Syndrome in 2014, so I understand what living with chronic pain is like
on the bright side... I started acupuncture treatments in July, and a drastic change to my diet too.... as a result of both, I am starting to feel the benefits
Stress is not good for us at all.... find something you can do to help relax/distress as much as poss.... I know it's difficult, and budget might not run to fancy treatments, but there are free courses out there (in UK) to try out what suits you best
This forum... and there are many threads to follow, will offer you support and advice, thru their own experiences. I find the posts help me understand my conditions a bit better. I believe my own type2 caused by stress and lack of sleep... not thru my diet, but that probably was an underlying factor too!
I hope that was not too long-winded! Good luck with everything
 
thanks for the replies. I do know, and try, not to eat too many carbs. But need to know what I can eat to stop (even reverse?) weight loss .... high fat diet means I'll have high cholesterol next! I eat fish, chicken, all meat; grow my own veg; eggs, cheese. No added sugar. No cakes/biscs. Very little fruit as it spikes blood sugar..... strawbs, rasps ok. I eat loads of nuts as snacks too.
Also, is there anyone else out there with necrobiosis? It's hard to treat (apparently), so has anyone had successful treatment?
 
I suggest you read more about the myth of cholesterol that’s we’ve been brainwashed with for the past 50 odd years. Cholesterol is a good thing produced by the liver to keep arteries in good condition. Eating lots of fat won’t cause high cholesterol in itself. But if you combine fat with carbs - think pastry, cookies, chips etc then you will damage arteries. Then cholesterol will try and repair the damage and eventually clog it up. Keep carbs low and stop worrying about cholesterol.
 

A low carb diet with the right kinds of fats ( eg. oily fish, avocado, nuts) usually increases the HDL (or "good" cholesterol), so if it does out your overall level up that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad news. Your diet does sound pretty good but it sounds like you do need a little more fat (ie. "good" fat.)
 
And adding more fat to your diet will ensure you get enough calories to correct your weight loss. Think cream in your coffee instead of milk, butter on your vegetables and steaks, eat the crispy skin on chicken and fish, don’t cut the fat off meat, eat more avocados. And pink Himalayan salt to season everything. When you stop processed food which has loads of added salt in, you can become deficient in salt, causing headaches, lethargy amongst other health issues. Mankind has always known the value of salt. We’ve been brainwashed to avoid it since the 1960’s
 
Sounds like your diet is fine so keep up with that. I had the same problem I lost weight I didn't need to and became my doctor said underweight so I have try not loose more so I do eat some nuts. olives and lots of avocados and I use good oils like olive coconut and rapeseed oil rather than eat high saturated fat which I don't really like anyway.. I have stopped loosing weight now and even gained a couple of pound .I do have raised cholesterol many say high fat did not raise theirs but it did mine when I ate more saturated fat and full fat stuff and some others have said the same and had to lower the amount of full fat the ate
 
Hi @MAM nee MAB .. and welcome
Sorry, I can't help with your Necrobiosis but I'm sure that others will. That aside, you have certainly made a good move coming here. Since joining this forum, the folks here have given me so much info, advice and support that I am now much more confident about the journey ahead. So ask your questions and be assured that you will receive the answers that you need. It can all seem uphill to start with but, in my experience, it gets easier .. very quickly.

The key point to take on board now is that managing and controlling your diabetes through exercise, diet and testing your blood glucose seems to be the best way forward for many people. For me, committing to an LCHF (Low Carb High Fat) lifestyle and testing 3-5 times a day seems to be working and you'll find that there is a wealth of info, relevant advice and positive support about LCHF on the forum ..

I have tagged @daisy1 for you and I suggest that you read up on the valuable information that she will soon be sending to you. You might also find the discussion on the Low Carb Diet forum helpful .. together with the following Diet Doctor websites, which will give you all the info that you need on what and what not to eat ...
Low Carb Intro and Information and Low Carbs in 60 Seconds

Unless you are prescribed one by your Doc or Nursie (unlikely), it is a top priority that you get yourself a test meter and, for this, the following websites might help:
https://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/
for the SD Codefree meter, which costs £12.98 or:
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/
who distribute the TEE 2 meter, which is free.
I have both which I alternate for comparative purposes and I have never found any significant difference between them.

The costs of testing comes down to the ongoing charges for test strips and lancets. Make sure that you tick the appropriate box on the on-line order form and you won't pay VAT on your meter or strips.
For the SD Codefree, the strips are £7.69 for a pack of 50 and there are discount codes available for bulk purchases:
5 packs x 50 use code: 264086 .. cost is £29.49
10 packs x 50 use code: 975833 .. cost is £58.98
For the TEE 2, the strips are £7.75 for a pack of 50 .. but there are no discount codes currently available

I'm testing 3-5 times a day which works out at around £10 to £12 per month for either of the two packages above but, more importantly, I now know what my BG levels are .. and I can now manage them

Hope this helps
 
@MAM nee MAB

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope it will be useful to you. Ask more questions 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 250,000 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 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week 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.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.
  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
This is probably what you know already, but I knew nothing about your skin condition
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/conditions/necrobiosis-lipoidica-diabeticorum.html
I see that there is advice to improve your glucose control as a possible alleviation.

The use of cortisones and steroids by diabetics is possibly not a good choice since it is reported as affecting bgl and even linked to causing T2D.

I note your diet description seems to be high protein intake, and it is known now that proteins get converted to blood glucose much like carbs, so these may be pushing your bgl up even if doing low carb. As others have said, high fat does not lead to bad cholesterol, and in fact can improve the numbers. The damaging cholesterol is now seen to be the triglycerides (Trigs) level, not TC, HDL or LDL numbers. The figure for trigs should be less that 1.0 for best protection apparently.
 

Agreed..except on the salt. The added salt in the processed foods has caused problems, particularly in renal function...I would not avoid salt as deficiency as you say can cause issues too but I would not add much either as it upsets the sodium balance which results in the kidneys having to work harder (if is too often it can lead to kidney disease). As someone born with kidney disease, I am pretty sure that I managed to stave off renal failure until my fifties by taking certain measures (such as no added salt and plenty of fluid) where others with the same condition required dialysis or transplants at a much earlier stage. This was advice I received from quite a number of renal specialists over the years. I wouldn't be too casual about salt intake if you have any condition (including diabetes) which can lead to problems with renal function. The rest though - cream, butter etc...bang on.
 
If you are not eating processed food which contains lots of salt in everything from bread and baked goods to sausages and tinned food to make it taste better and be more addictive, and are not now adding any salt to your diet the chances are that are not getting enough salt unless you aren’t being strict about LCHF. Where is your required salt coming from?
 
I understand that people starting LCHF are advised to increase their salt intake in the early days, while the low carbs cause weight loss that is mainly water excretion while the glugogen stores are used up. But it is not a recommendation when the weight loss plateaus. Generally a ketogenic diet may require a slightly higher salt intake, but not much more than usual. This need is due to increased liquid intake so only add more if drinking more seems a good rule to apply.
 
Thanks guys!
A lot of info there I personally found useful, as a relatively newbie to the forum (mid-July)
Salt..... I've tried to go low salt as poss since late '70's when I went veggie (now pescatarian)
I've tried to drink at least 3L of water every day for many years, way before any health issues
I used to eat salty snacks (nuts usually) in the past, but since diagnosed type 2 in March, with high BP, I've cut those out too
I try to avoid processed foods (1980's onwards) and usually only add salt (if ever) to my plate, not to the cooking process
I usually find that eating food out is generally too salty for my taste
my new diet, dairy free and GF with some fish, and low carb (under 100g per day) is helping me to lose weight, lower my BG and my BP is starting to look better too
My DN (also a diabetic 20+ years) has been great! She advised me low carb diet and to join the forum.... best moves I've ever made!! Thanks for all the support, advice and answering queries pronto!!
 
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