• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Hi from Fife

D

doncraig

Member
Messages
6
Location
Glenrothes, Fife
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi All,
I am 77 years old and live in Fife, Scotland.
I am a keen wood turner mostly making pens but I also do some Scroll saw work and some Pyrography.
My sister insisted I joined here so here I am, complete with problems.
I don't know when I was diagnosed with Type 2 but seemingly it has become increasingly worse. On the 12th June 2017 the doctor advised me to double my Metformin dosage from 1 x 500mg to 2 x 500mg daily. Since then I have been plagued with sleepless nights, wakening up during the night sometimes 2 or 3 times to go to the toilet, every time I wake my mouth is like the Sahara Desert. Also some days I have terrible diahoerra (who knows how to spell that ??).
My sister told me to get a monitor and join diabetes.uk so here I now am. I received a CodeFree monitor and all the bits and pieces that go with it yesterday and settled down today to try and get back control of my life.
My stat. readings fromthe monitor today were
pre brekkie 12.5 post brekkie 13.5
pre lunch 9.3 post lunch 10.6
pre tea 10.3
I will need to wait until 7.30 this evening before getting my final reading for the day.
I have been told to do this monitoring for a week before I start changing my diet and I am happy with that, we will see what a week brings.
So that is my first day in and I am sorry to have rambled on a bit, but hey ho.

take care
Don W
 
Hi doncraig welcome good to have you on board any questions ask away someone will be along to give you some advice good luck.
 
Hello Don and welcome.
 
Thanks for the Welcome. I am beginning to understand what is happening.
I need to get my blood sugar levels down to 4 - 7 mmol/l before meals and under 8.5 mmol/l 2 hours after meals.
I should achieve this by dieting/eating the right type of foods. The recipes on here ( and DietDoctor ) will help me achieve that.
This has been as a low carb/high fat diet and if I am eating high fat how do I get rid of it ?? Exercise ??
I will keep in touch.
 
Hi @doncraig ,

Welcome to the forum!
It's great you have a meter & finding your way around the site picking up on the information.

Your sister seems the sensible sort. Glad you're here!

Feel free to ask any questions...

Good luck.
 
Hi @doncraig your plan is a good'en. Not sure why you would have to wait a week, this will just add an extra week before you achieve your best.

You might want to investigate with your Doctor slow release Metformin to assist with the tummy issues.

In most cases the "good dietary fat will not add to your fat. I used to work in Scotland, so know walks would be beautiful.
 
Thanks for that. I was only waiting a week to settle in and try and understand the difference between what I am eating and what I should be eating. But it still is a bit confusing.
Sometimes I have a meal and my bg will go from 11.6 mmol/l down to 8.4 mmol/l and at others it will go from 7.5 mmol/l to 14 mmol/l. These are the figures I am finding this week. So I suspect I can eat plenty of the first meal ( corned beef salad and cheese) and try and avoid the second meal (weetabix with added raisins, milk, cup of tea with milk and 2 sweeteners and 1 slice of brown bread toast with margarine and marmalade)

thanks all
Don W
 

Hi Don. I'm in Central Scotland. I did live out towards Fife before...Kinross way. Looks like you know what you intend to do anyway. I would advise you record your pre and post meal readings along with times and the food you eat; that will really inform you as to what is to be avoided. Bottom line really is - avoid bread, cereal, pasta, rice, spuds. Aim at foods that are no more than 10g carb per 100g...see if you can sustain it. Avocados, oily fish and asparagus are generally a good idea. Keep your fluid intake up. I hardly ever exercise mainly because I am bone idle physically but I have never had an issue with weight. Steroid treatment was responsible for my Type 2. Through sustaining a low carb diet, I have managed to keep my levels pretty well controlled..and stopped taking the meds early on. Just record what you do and see what works for you. Anyway, this site/community is excellent..lots of expertise. Good luck.
 
If I was trying to design a meal to put up my BG, I would find it hard to come up with a more effective combination then your 2nd meal while keeping to what most people think are "healthy foods"!

I would say for now on stop eating
  • bread
  • weetabix
  • any other food that contains processed wheat/grains
  • raisins (they have lots of suger in them)
  • marmalade
Eggs are a good option for breakfast.

As to "burning off the fat" most people find that if they eat slowly there body will tell them to stop eating before they have had too much fat provided they are not eating a lot of carbs. Carbs seems to make people want to eat more. If you have weight to lose, then the fat can come from your own body, but once you get to the weight you want, you may have to add fat to meals to keep that weight.
 
Thanks for all your help. I think I have the idea now.
I find the Lidl Protein roll a great thing. A 1/2 roll on butter with an egg sets me up for the day.

take care
Don W
 
doncraig said:
Thanks for all your help. I think I have the idea now.
I find the Lidl Protein roll a great thing. A 1/2 roll on butter with an egg sets me up for the day.

take care
Don W
Click to expand...

I generally buy a pile of them and freeze them...I take two out to thaw and they are fine for the next three days or so. Smoked cheese slices (some are 0 carbs...try Sainsburys) on a whole roll works for me if my waking level is ok...but I do often just have half. It has been known however for a small amount of Shreddies to sneak into my system and b@gger up my plans.
 
Welcome to the forum @doncraig. Don't worry, though the readings are high, there is a low variance between pre and post meal readings. Aim for >7 to keep you safe. Good luck with the extra metformin, hope it goes well.
 
Welcome,Don,you have had some excellent advice already from the forum.I have found this forum invaluable.In Scotland there is a good resource for diabetics called my diabetes my way.You can access this on line and it will,after registering give you details of all your results.I have found this really useful as a tool to encourage me on my way.You just have to take with a suitable pinch of salt the advice about diet, forward thinking in some ways but one step back in others.The site itself is excellent for presenting and explaining results,and has won an award.My GP surgery didn't have any details surprise surprise, but I gather that all Practices in Scotland have been sent a poster to display!!I expect ours got lost in the post!Hope this helps.
 
@ Glenmac, my young sister advised me about that website and I have signed up with them.
I think I am understanding this diabetes thingy a bit better now.
For the past week my bg has varied between 5.3 and 7.2 and I am happy.
I don't seem to be getting any lower results than 5.3, will this improve as the longer I continue 'eating the right things' ??
 
doncraig said:
I don't seem to be getting any lower results than 5.3, will this improve as the longer I continue 'eating the right things' ??
Click to expand...

5.3 is a perfectly excellent base figure. Well done, that is an amazing improvement in under a month.
 
Welldone!Those are excellent results.Youve achieved great results very quickly.
 
Hi @doncraig . I'm just "across the water" in Central Region. Hope you are settling in to your new eating patterns now and that your tummy trouble had settled too. You will get lots of help, support and information here. Welcome to the forum
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…