Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I’m 43, I live in Ontario Canada. I was having blurry vision for about 10-15 years and it progressively got worse, so 6 months ago finally had an eye exam. I thought I would just have to get glasses and I’d be on my way. Boy was I wrong. The eye doctor wanted me to get my blood pressure checked, so I went to the hospital as I didn’t have a family doctor at the time. My blood pressure was off the chart and so was my blood sugar. I was told I had type 2 diabetes. I ended up having to stay in the hospital for 8 days. I now have a family doctor and a diabetes educator. My diabetes educator thinks I have type 1.5 diabetes as I’m not overweight and live a fairly healthy lifestyle. I am on ramipril, metformin, levemir and novorapid. It’s been a huge struggle and am still fighting to get things under control. I don’t feel any better then before being diagnosed, if anything I feel worse. And to be honest, other than the novorapid, I don’t think any of the other medication is working and making me feel more tired, stressed.
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- Thread starter Conrad74
- Start Date
Resurgam
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- 10,152
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
How are your blood glucose levels?
Bluetit1802
Legend
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Master
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- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Diet only
- Dislikes
- Poor grammar, bullying and drunks.
Hello and welcome. Diagnosis can hit us hard, sometimes we may blame ourselves which proves to be self defeating. Higher than optimal blood glucose levels can cause fatigue but so can depression so I would suggest that you speak to your health care professionals about how you are feeling physically and mentally. Best wishes.
daisy1
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- Tablets (oral)
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@Conrad74
Hello Conrad and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting. Ask as many questions as you want 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 235,000 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:
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 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
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
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. Most of these are free.
Hello Conrad and welcome to the Forum
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting. Ask as many questions as you want 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 235,000 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
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 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
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
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. Most of these are 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.
Thanks for all the great info. Yes it was a little bit of a shock when I found out, but then when I thought about it, I did have warning signs. I have always been very thirsty and drinking and peeing a lot, for at least the past 10 to 15 years. I always thought it was because of being very active. But since I started my treatment I am never thirsty, now I have to force myself to drink water. Am still having a hard time getting my blood sugars under control. I keep my meals to under 30 carbs, I take my medication. I don’t think they have me on the right medication. Novorapid seems to work, but not sure about the rest. Levemir doesn’t seem to matter if I take it or not, my fasting readings are the same. In 6 months I have only had 2 fasting readings under 6. One was 5.1 and the other was 4.6. Every time I talk to my doctor or diabetes educator I just get told it will get better, give it time. It’s been 6 months, and it’s getting worse slowly, not better.
Alexandra100
Well-Known Member
Hello Conrad, I am probably LADA (1.5) too but haven't been diagnosed yet. You might like to read this page on LADA by one of my gurus, Jenny Ruhl.
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/18382053.php
It will explain why Metformin won't be helping you much if you are LADA. As well as testing your fasting bg you could test just before meals and one + two hours after to see how much your meals spike your bg. Then you might like to try reducing your carbs per meal and seeing if that helps. It may not if you are producing almost no insulin but IMO it's worth a try. Good luck!
