Hi Everyone

Phil-1 said:

Second week after being told my blood sugar was 27. Started on Metformin that day and am now also on Gliclazide.
Stopped all sugary drinks and foods, BS is now 12 this evening. Still waiting to see the nurse and have so many questions.

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Hi @Phil-1

Firstly welcome to the forums.

If you're on Metformin and Gliclazide then I assume you're a Type 2.

Sugar is in the carbohydrate food group. The bad news is that all carbohydrates turn into glucose once consumed so cutting out sugar may not be enough in itself.

Try keeping track of your carb intake in potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals and bread and see (in the first instance) if you're above the government recommended intake of 250g per day.

Then see where you can cut down. We have many members consuming much less than the government recommended levels.

Hello and welcome,

I agree with urbanracer above- if you are a type 2 you will need to reduce all carbohydrates not just sugar. This will include potatoes, corn, flour (white or brown), pasta, rice...

It can be very overwhelming at first BUT since you have found this site there is a loti of information and support as well.

It is a lot to take in so read around and ask questions. There is a a link below that I have tried to paste which has some basic information for new people. Have a read- it is worth it

Newly diagnosed: what you should know

Good luck and welcome.

Phil-1 said:

Still waiting to see the nurse and have so many questions.

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Firstly, you’re amongst people here who’ve got a shared reason, purpose in being present. Secondly, to your Nurse, ask those questions! And thirdly, if those questions aren’t answered, and they won’t be, come here and repeat those very same questions. I can assure you that even then you’ll have further questions, believe me, I did . So, ask away.

Since 20 September where my HbA1c hit 89 (yikes!) I was prescribed by my lovely GP the NHS “JAZZ” blood testing kit, to monitor my BG. I’ve now collected, collated some nearly 300 BG Data points, and the food I’ve consumed, into a Spreadsheet. This means I can immediately view just how my Endocrine system is coping on an hourly/daily basis. Using this “tool” I can readily observe just what food is running amuck through my body. For me, it’s the Carbohydrates food groups that can keep punching-up my numbers. I love bread, potatoes, pasta and rice, but to drive down my BG I’ve taken the radical approach, decision to totally irradiate ALL these from my diet to achieve a comparable lowered long term HbA1c. Already my BG numbers have plummeted from 18 to a lowering, single sustaining number-trend downwards. I’m now regularly getting 9 down to 7 and have hit 6.7 and 6.3 on two occasions.

Best regards - E

Phil-1 said:

Second week after being told my blood sugar was 27. Started on Metformin that day and am now also on Gliclazide.
Stopped all sugary drinks and foods, BS is now 12 this evening. Still waiting to see the nurse and have so many questions.

Click to expand...

Hi Phil,

Sorry about the diagnosis. Have to agree with the others though, cutting down on sugar isn't the only thing you can do to get your bloodsugars lower. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested, so that rules out spuds, bread, cereal, rice, corn, pasta, underground veggies.... You get the idea, I'm sure. Only thing is, you mention you've been put on gliclazide. If you cut those carbs right out, the gliclazide will still be upping your insulin production. That means you'll hypo if you lower your carb intake and still have the glic wringing insulin out of your pancreas, as it'll be more insulin than you need. So don't make any changes to your diet until you have a meter, and make sure you have hypo treatment handy (dextro energy, jelly babies, juice boxes, whatever). Since gliclazide can cause hypo's your practice should be providing you with a meter, also because when on hypo-inducing medication you're not exactly allowed to drive when you're under a 5.0 mmol/l, you'd be uninsured if something happened. It's all a lot to take in, I'm sure, but.... I know I had hypo's on glic (I didn't know that could happen, and worse, my endo didn't know either!), and they're not pleasant at all. Thing is, if you can get your bloodsugars under control, you could well be off all medication in no time at all.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ might help (let me know if the link doesn't work, sometimes it doesn't, no clue why), as well as dietdoctor.com, this place's website, diabetes.co.uk (not .org!) and Dr. Jason Fung's The Diabetes Code. But again... Don't make any changes unless you have a meter to keep an eye on yourself eh.

The good thing about all this being, you can get your numbers back into the normal range and you could quite likely get rid of the medication after a while... I've been medication and compliction free for 3 years now. If I can do this, and a whole lot of others here with me, then so can you.
Good luck!
Jo

Phil-1 said:

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome

It’s still a bit of a shock. I wasn’t feeling unwell, just went to the GP for a checkup and left 30mins later after blood tests and medication.

Checked my BS this morning and it’s 9.8 so feeling a bit more positive today.

@Jo the link didn’t work.

Phil

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Here's another go then. And I can imagine you were left reeling after all that... I'm so sorry. But you can tackle this, and you won't have to do it alone. We've got you.

THE NUTRITIONAL THINGY

There’s a few things you should know.

1. Practically all carbs turn to glucose once ingested, so not just straight sugars, but starches too. Food doesn’t have to taste sweet to make your blood sugars skyrocket.

2. A meter helps you know what foods agree with you, and which don’t. Test before and 2 hours after the first bite. If you go up more than 2.0 mmol/l, the meal was carbier than you could handle. (It’s easy to remember, as you’re a T2: all 2’s, all over the place!)

3. In case you didn’t know already, this isn’t your fault. It’s genetics, medication, decades of bad dietary advice, and basically all manner of things, but nothing you can actually blame yourself for.

4. Diabetes T2 is a progressive condition, unless you (also) change your diet. So you have options. Diet-only, diet with medication, or medication only. But that last option will most likely mean more medication over the years. (And there is more than just metformin, so if it doesn’t agree with you, there’s lots of others to try). So even if going really low carb isn’t for you, you might consider moderately low carb an option, with meds to assist.

5. Are you overweight? 90% of T2’s are. Yeah, that means 10% are slim and always were.* If you did gain weight, it was the precursor of this metabolic condition. We make loads of insulin, but become insensitive to it. So carbs we eat turn to glucose, and normally, insulin helps us burn that glucose for fuel. When it doesn’t, that glucose is stored in fat cells instead. When those fat stores are full, the glucose remains in our bloodstream, overflowing, into our eyes, tears, urine, saliva… And then we’re T2’s. So weight gain is a symptom, not a cause. This also means that “regular” dietary advice doesn’t work for us. The problem lies in our inability to process carbs. And most diets focus on lowering fats and upping carb intake. Which is the direct opposite of what a T2, or prediabetic, for that matter, needs.

6. There are 3 macro-nutrients. Fats, protein and carbohydrates. Those macro’s mean we get the micro-nutrients we need: that would be vitamins and minerals. So… If you ditch the carbs, you should up another macro-nutrient to compensate, to make sure you don’t get malnourished or vitamin deficient. Carbs make our blood sugars rise. Protein too, but nowhere near as bad as carbs do, so they’re alright in moderation. Fats however… Fats are as good as a glucose-flatline. Better yet, they’ll mitigate the effects of any carbs we do ingest, slowing down their uptake and thus the sugar-spike. Contrary to what we’ve been told for decades; fats are our friends.

7. Worried about cholesterol? On a low carb diet, your cholesterol may rise a little as you start to lose weight. That’s a good thing though. (Believe it or not). What was already there, stored in your body, is starting to head for the exit, and for that it’ll go into your bloodstream first. So when you have lost weight and it stabilises, so will your cholesterol. And it’ll probably be lower than what it was before you started out.

8. You’ll lose weight on a low carb diet. Weight loss will help with your insulin-resistance, and not only that… Going low carb might help with other issues as well, like non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and depression.

9. Always ask for your test results. You don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you’ve been.

10. Last, but certainly not least: If you are on medication that has hypoglycemia listed as a side-effect, like Gliclazide for instance, do NOT attempt a LCHF diet without a meter nor your doctors’ knowledge/assistance. You can drop blood glucose levels too far, too fast, if your dosage isn’t adjusted accordingly. This could mean a lower dose in stages or even stopping medication completely. Never do this without discussing it with your doctor first!


So what raises blood sugars? Aside from the obvious (sugar), starches raise blood glucose too. So bread, and anything made with grain/oats flour, rice, potatoes, pasta, corn, cereals (including all the “healthy choices”, like Weetabix and muesli), most beans and most fruits. So you’ll want to limit your intake, or scratch them altogether.

Which food items remain on the shopping list? Well, meat, fish, poultry, above ground veggies/leafy greens, eggs, cheese, heavy cream, full fat Greek yoghurt, full fat milk, extra dark chocolate (85% Lindt’s is great!), avocado, (whole) tomatoes, berries, olives, nuts, that sort of thing… Meal ideas? Have a couple:

Scrambled eggs with bacon, cheese, mushrooms, tomato, maybe some high meat content sausages?
Eggs with ham, bacon and cheese
Omelet with spinach and/or smoked salmon
Omelet with cream, cinnamon, with some berries and coconut shavings
Full fat Greek yoghurt with nuts and berries
Leafy green salad with a can of tuna (oil, not brine!), mayonnaise, capers, olives and avocado
Leafy green salad with (warmed goat's) cheese and bacon, maybe a nice vinaigrette?
Meat, fish or poultry with veggies. I usually go for cauliflower rice or broccoli rice, with cheese and bacon to bulk it up. Never the same meal twice in a row because of various herbs/spices.

Snacks? Pork scratchings, cheese, olives, extra dark chocolate, nuts.

Of course, there’s loads more on the web, for people more adventurous than I. (Which is pretty much everyone). Just google whatever you want to make and add “keto” to it, and you’ll get a low carb version. There’s a lot of recipes on the diabetes.co.uk website, as well as on www.dietdoctor.com where you’ll also find visual (carb content) guides and videos. And I can wholeheartedly endorse Dr. Jason Fung’s book The Diabetes Code. It’ll help you understand what’s going on in your body and how to tackle it, whilst not being a dry read. Not only that, but you’ll know what to ask your doctor, and you’ll understand the answers, which is, I believe, quite convenient.

*If you can't afford to lose weight, do NOT go for Intermittent Fasting/One Meal A Day. Sticking with three meals a day, 3 snacks a day, all low carb, high fat, moderate protein, should keep your weight up to par while keeping your bloodsugars in check.

Hi Phil-1, I'm new to the forum too tho I've been a T2D for bang on 15 years. Actually, this may sound strange but it is probably a GOOD thing you've been DX'D. Now you can get on with getting it under control with changes to your nutrition plan and have a regular exercise regimen. I believe the stats say that 50% of diabetics don't know it yet!

There's lots of good information in the other posts. I personally, have recently stopped eating meat. I have seen significant beneficial results and halved my medication.

Good luck and keep checking in on the forums.

Anyone taking Gliclazide should be issued with a testing meter and strips on prescription - and should not drive - or maybe operate machinery without testing to see that they are safe.