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Help..........

M

Mike_Scho

Member
Messages
6
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Hello all.
I was diagnosed type 2 two weeks ago, I'm 51, 6'2" Ans was a very fit and active cyclist before symptoms started. I was an ideal weight of 13 stone 10 but have since lost a stone I need to put back on. Any suggestions would be gratify appreciated.
Also I was given Metformin and basically told to get on with it, I bought a meter and txt daily, problem is I cannot get my readings below 14, my fasting reading in the morning is around 14-15 and it fluctuates up to 18. The tablets don't seem to be working (taking them for 10 days now) also the side effects are wiping me out, fatigue, loose bowels, bad taste in mouth any suggestions. Do I persevere or should seek further help?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
 
Mike_Scho said:
Hello all.
I was diagnosed type 2 two weeks ago, I'm 51, 6'2" Ans was a very fit and active cyclist before symptoms started. I was an ideal weight of 13 stone 10 but have since lost a stone I need to put back on. Any suggestions would be gratify appreciated.
Also I was given Metformin and basically told to get on with it, I bought a meter and txt daily, problem is I cannot get my readings below 14, my fasting reading in the morning is around 14-15 and it fluctuates up to 18. The tablets don't seem to be working (taking them for 10 days now) also the side effects are wiping me out, fatigue, loose bowels, bad taste in mouth any suggestions. Do I persevere or should seek further help?
Thanks in advance,
Mike
Click to expand...
Hello Mike_scho, welcome to the forum,pretty much what i was told by my doc ,take these( metformin)lose weight and see you ............it was finding this forum that has saved me from diabetic complications , since lchf regime,my weight has dropped by 4st,my bs's from 26.8 to 3.8 mmols on average ( now in non diabetic range) but all off this is only possible by putting into practice the advices given here
I would suggest increasing your fats and proteins just a bit more and then keep testing to see how your bs's cope,it does take a while to get our bs's down ,it took me 6 months hard work ( and exersise) so treat your bs's like the invalid they are and introduce changes gradually and see how you go, please keep posting,and let us know if you have any mre questions,clive
 
I would be going back and asking for a test to rule out type one, are you still trying to be active? how long have you been having symptoms?
 
What are you eating?
If you have cut down the carbs, you may not have increased the fat and protein enough to compensate.

But I agree with @Engineer88 I would be asking for the tests to confirm whether you have T1 or T2.
 
Thanks for the replys, I was in hospital for 2 days as my first urine sample showed keytones and they were treating me with insulin on sliding scale. Following quite a few more blood tests the consultant took me off and confirmed type 2. Since then my blood sugar reading have never been below 13.5 and up to 22.
I'm still active but not back on my bike yet, 2 x 1 hour sessions of badminton and weights at moment.
My diet is quite good I thing, poached egg brown toast breakfast, brown bread sandwich for lunch with salad tuna etc. I also have a lot of chicken lunch and evening meals with brown rice pasta etc. No snacks, only as I haven't found any acceptable yet. I also have a few nuts if the wife buys them.
Forgot to say I'm on 2x500mg of Metformin twice a day.
Thanks again for the support
 
That looks like a lot of carbs - and all carbs (brown or white) end up as blood glucose.

It sounds like they handed you the standard NHS dietary advice - brown starchy carbs with every meal? You need carbs for energy?

The only problem is that doesn't really work for T2s, and most of us end up with escalating weight, bg and meds if we follow that advice.

Most of us T2s on here end up cutting back on carbs, especially when we see the effect they have on our blood glucose.

Try using your meter to work out exactly which foods are sending your bg up, then reduce the portions until you find an amount of the food you can tolerate without sending your bg up by more than about 2mmol/l at 2 hours after eating.
Basically test before food, then 2 hours after. If the rise is too great, then cut the portion or eliminate the food entirely.

By doing this, I have reduced my bg to almost non-diabetic levels - so I heartily recommend it.

The ultimate aim is to hit NHS bg guidelines (don't go over 7.8mmol/l at 2 hours after food), but to get there is a steep learning curve on how carbs affect your body, and is rarely achieved by following that Healthy Plate NHS advice!

You will find the forum is full of helpful advice and success stories on how people have done this.
 
Hi and welcome,

I agree with Brunneria above. You do seem to be eating a lot of carbs - bread, pasta, rice are all high carb whatever colour they are and really need to be either reduced dramatically or avoided. Your meter will show this better than I can explain if you do as suggested, test before and 2 hours after first mouthful. The NHS healthy eating advice just does not work for most type 2 diabetics. In fact, it can be quite dangerous!

A little word about Metformin. It works better on people that are over weight, which you aren't. You have a healthy BMI. It isn't a drug that lowers blood sugar levels. It doesn't work that way. It helps to a small extent with any insulin resistance and is an appetite suppressant. It may help you, but there again it may not. You need to discuss this with your doctor.

Have a good read round the forums, test out your normal food and tweak it where necessary, and ask as many questions as you like.
 
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