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I am not doing well enough

C

carol43

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,198
Location
South Nottinghamshire
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
A few weeks ago I managed to get a reading of 6.6 but since then all my figures have been in the 7s. Yesterday I had:-
Breakfast
2 low carb pancakes with lemon juice.
Lunch
Half Lidl protein roll with ham and a small chunk of cheese. A slice of low carb sponge cake.
Dinner
Salmon, 2 large mushrooms and a small helping of peas. A handful of blueberries, 2 strawberries, walnuts and double cream.
6 cups of coffee made with single cream.

What am I doing wrong?
 
You're not doing m,uch wrong and readings in the 6s and 7s are good. I would just continue to keep the carbe down and see the GP to start some tablets if the blood suagr goes up. See what your next Hba1c test result is; I suspect it will be quite good.
 
Are you T2 or T1? If T1 you might just need a small correction dose.

Oh from above post looks like you are T2.
 
I'm T2 on Metformin 500mg twice a day. I get my Hba1c results on Friday. I just keep thinking how bad I would be if I followed the NHS guidelines. I just wanted to get my readings lower.
 
carol43 said:
A few weeks ago I managed to get a reading of 6.6 but since then all my figures have been in the 7s. Yesterday I had:-
Breakfast
2 low carb pancakes with lemon juice.
Lunch
Half Lidl protein roll with ham and a small chunk of cheese. A slice of low carb sponge cake.
Dinner
Salmon, 2 large mushrooms and a small helping of peas. A handful of blueberries, 2 strawberries, walnuts and double cream.
6 cups of coffee made with single cream.

What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

How long have you been eating lower carb? Do you carry any weight? (Sorry to be so direct.)
 
I've been low carbing since the end of May when I found this site before that it was NHS **** advice. I have never been thin and at my current weight for many years, in fact I can still get into my wedding dress (40 years in 2016).
 
carol43 said:
I've been low carbing since the end of May when I found this site before that it was NHS **** advice. I have never been thin and at my current weight for many years, in fact I can still get into my wedding dress (40 years in 2016).
Click to expand...

It sometimes takes a while for the numbers to reduce, but by reducing your carbs, you're doing at least some of the right things. If you carry any weight around your tummy/midriff area, it is likely your overall situation would improve. Well, apart from your wallet of course (new clothes).
 
You're a little lady :)

But, honestly (I'm not asking you to disclose your weight at all), but as I trimmed up a bit, my numbers improved. I don't think I'm alone in finding that.
 
I don't think you need to be concerned over your levels at all. If you're not going over 8.0 after meals then you're still well within recommended type 2 post meal levels.

All sorts of things can affect your readings: illness, stress, the weather, and "carb creep", so be aware of them and make allowances. And please DON'T compare the results you get with anyone else's - you're not them, and some forum members are pre-diabetic so may well be doing better than we can ever manage.

If you want to fine tune things, are you keeping a food diary, as well as recording your glucose levels? That will tell you if there are currently any foods you're eating that are causing you bigger spikes than normal, but I can't actually see very much wrong with what you've been eating.

Robbity
 
Thank you all for your words of encouragement. I tend not to have spikes as I've worked out what I can eat. My husband does not like me having cream and butter because he still believes that you shouldn't have fat. Will find out on Friday if my cholesterol has gone up, I hope not so I can say told you so.
 
Robbity said:
I don't think you need to be concerned over your levels at all. If you're not going over 8.0 after meals then you're still well within recommended type 2 post meal levels.

All sorts of things can affect your readings: illness, stress, the weather, and "carb creep", so be aware of them and make allowances. And please DON'T compare the results you get with anyone else's - you're not them, and some forum members are pre-diabetic so may well be doing better than we can ever manage.

If you want to fine tune things, are you keeping a food diary, as well as recording your glucose levels? That will tell you if there are currently any foods you're eating that are causing you bigger spikes than normal, but I can't actually see very much wrong with what you've been eating.

Robbity
Click to expand...
Love your advice but what is carb creep?
 
carol43 said:
Thank you all for your words of encouragement. I tend not to have spikes as I've worked out what I can eat. My husband does not like me having cream and butter because he still believes that you shouldn't have fat. Will find out on Friday if my cholesterol has gone up, I hope not so I can say told you so.
Click to expand...

Sometimes you'll find that your cholesterol may go up before it comes down. But what matters is how the total is broken down; so you should expect and hope for lower LDL (bad cholesterol), and higher HDL (the good stuff), so ask for this information.

And tell your husband you must eat more fats and oils on low carbohydrate diet, as these are used to provide energy that your body is no longer getting from the carbohydrates you've excluded from your new diet. If he's not happy, spend a tenner of Trudi Deakin's "Eat Fat!" book and make him read it!! :D

@timerich: "Carb creep" appears to be the name given to the unintended process of increasing your carbohydrate intake, so you're actually eating more of them than you think you are. :wideyed: It's easy to do unless you're very careful about quantities and portion sizes.

Robbity
 
I also think that you are doing very well. Normal (non-diabetic) post-prandial level is up to 7.8 mmol/L, and well-managed T2 up to 8.5.
Fasting blood glucose should be between 3.9 and 5.5 for non-diabetic levels, and that is much more difficult to achieve, as it's not just a simple question of low-carbing. LC plays a role, but it also takes losing visceral fat and generally improving the function of both the pancreas and the liver to see better FBG results. Sometimes the pancreas has been too damaged/weakened by undiagnosed diabetes in the past that it seems it cannot recover completely, but as I understand it, research is ongoing.
 
Robbity said:
Sometimes you'll find that your cholesterol may go up before it comes down. But what matters is how the total is broken down; so you should expect and hope for lower LDL (bad cholesterol), and higher HDL (the good stuff), so ask for this information.

And tell your husband you must eat more fats and oils on low carbohydrate diet, as these are used to provide energy that your body is no longer getting from the carbohydrates you've excluded from your new diet. If he's not happy, spend a tenner of Trudi Deakin's "Eat Fat!" book and make him read it!! :D

@timerich: "Carb creep" appears to be the name given to the unintended process of increasing your carbohydrate intake, so you're actually eating more of them than you think you are. :wideyed: It's easy to do unless you're very careful about quantities and portion sizes.

Robbity
Click to expand...
Thanks, that probably explains a couple of oops moments:oops:
 
I'm not sure if coffee just affects a Type 1 diabetic like me but I always have to give an extra unit or two when having coffee because it increases my levels - and I know others on the site have experienced the same. So it could be that?
 
I've just Googled coffee and diabetes and guess what, all the experts do not agree. Some say it's good and others not, other say it's the caffeine but I drink decaffeinated. I will admit that I do have one cup a day of 'proper coffee'
 
I don't believe that there are actually any carbs in coffee - it's more likely that any additions, e.g. milk, sweetener/sugar, or alcohol:wideyed:, could be a glucose raising culprit. .AFAIK it's chemicals contained in coffee that may or may not have benefits for diabetics that the experts disagree over - see http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/coffee-and-diabetes.html

Robbity
 
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