i cannot eat ANYTHING

How soon after rising do you eat breakfast? Also do you test as soon as you get up and if so what are those results?
Personally, I can't eat porridge with skimmed milk as it would produce that same effect as you have noted

Hi Lilla, poor you, it must be so frustrating. I find my numbers fluctuate when I am feeling stressed, or at my time of the month or if I am under the weather (its so sensitive) I am still running a bit high after having a virus last weekend. But 8 two hours after eating is not so bad. How about if you try 2 rashers of bacon and an egg for brekkie tomorrow and see what that is like. That is virtually carb free so should not have an impact on your BGs. If you are still high it might be that you do need meds to support you in the short term.

Do you take cinnamon? Its supposed to lower your BGs and I notice mine are higher when I forget to take my cinnamon supplements (you don't need supplements you could mix a teaspoon of cinnamon into yog but I just find the capsules are more easy for me to take with me)

Try not to beat yourself up, you've been through a lot. 8 is less than the NICE guideline of 8.5 two hours after a meal and well on its way to 7.8 which is what most people here recommend. It might take some time to stablise, and you are trying to take on a lot at the mo with giving up smoking too. Give yourself a break

No, it is good that you test as son as you wake. This way you can see if your liver has dumped glucose to set you up for leaping out of bed. Its called dawn phenomenon (DP) and as far as I know there is no way of preventing this other than going to bed on the highish side, especially if you are a heavy sleeper; but I could be wrong as I'm no expert
For my situation, I eat within 1/2hr maximum of rising or I will get that DP which will upset me for the day. I also lean towards low(ish) carb diet without cutting fats down, so its whole milk for me in my tea and coffee. I do eat one medium red spud with my meat & veg, but that is well roasted in beef dripping until it has a good crisp coating. Boiled is no good for me as it will give me a spike within 1/2hr of eating. I soon found that cooking with fat (fried or roasted food) my diet can be more varied without giving me high readings. I even fry my daily onion in butter so that it goes golden quicker, and of course it tastes divine :wink:

I do admire you for trying via diet only, but that didn't work for me and within six or seven months they started me on the meds, but then I was obviously diabetic long before a change of GP told me I was.

Hi. Sadly you may need to go onto first level meds such as Metformin which shouldn't worry you as it's a very safe drug with very few side effects and will reduce you sugars a bit. Let us know if you are quite young and not overweight as the type of diabetes you have would then need discussion with your GP. Don't be surprised by your sugars going up and down unexpectedly as mine have always done this and in Winter they do rise on average. Keep up the good work on the diet as this will always be the best first approach before starting meds

Daibell said:

Metformin which shouldn't worry you as it's a very safe drug with very few side effects and will reduce you sugars a bit.

Click to expand...

Metfartin has very few side effects?? Agreed, but its main one is a bit .. :lol: :lol: :lol: :wave:

However, :arrow: it is a lot kinder in its slow release form :wink: .. :thumbup: :clap:

Lilla poor you. I sympathise as I went through much the same thing. I personally have given up a fasting test first thing - it's always high 6.5 - 8 . I eat the moment I get up, coffee pot on and porridge in microwave. I use Dr Patrick Holfords recipe which worked for me the first time I tried it (and porridge is so comforting on cold mornings isn't it?). I take 2 chromium Picolinate and then have porridge and coffee. Two hours later never more than 7 . Here's the porridge recipe

40g of porridge oats
2tsp of oat bran
I tsp ground cinnamon
150 ml water
150ml milk

Whiz in microwave until cooked and then I drizzle a teaspoon of agarve nectar on it.

Have a look at the book by Holford called Say No to Diabetes, he advocates a low glycemic load diet which is different to low carb or low glycemic index. It took me 5 months to get to try his tactics, (low carb worked but then I plateaued weight and BG wise) so I decided to try his method. It works for me and you can only try things to see how it works for you. Best of luck and let us know how you get on. :thumbup:

Oh dear Lilla, ok, you have found out that porridge is a bit of a monkey, everyone used to tell me that porridge is good for people with diabetes because it keeps blood sugar levels steady, and how true that is, at first it causes you a spike, but then that stays and stays keeping you very steady on high levels indeed. I have found the same thing happening with other foods, its so annoying.
But as I have said before you are still learning, you are still finding out what works and what doesnt, so you do need to be patient for a little bit longer.
Obviously you dont want to be in the kitchen all the time, what with food preparation and clearing up and testing and all that, so you need to stop and think and prepare, cook ahead, make a soup in double quantity, a lovely shepherdspie topped with cauliflower mash, etc, a quick meal could be an omelette filled with cheese, or ham or mushrooms, etc
Try to bake a loaf of lower carb bread, see the latest recipe in the recipe section, the oatbran bread, I have had a lot of positive feedback from people about this bread, so you have your bread ready, you can have quick snacks, bread butter and cheese or bread and pate, bread and soup, its all there for you and fast.
Cereals, yes well, I find they make my bg go through the roof, but you might be ok, however now you found that porridge has caused such a spike, how about making up a bag/container of IanD's almond porridge, if its ready mixed, all you do is all your milk or cream, sprinkle with a little cinnamon sugar or just sugar (I mean sweetener not real sugar) and there you have it, instant porridge in a flash.
Have yogurt and berries in the house, you can make a quick berry yogurt as a snack.
Its true you have to have a bit of a rethink on what you have done before, but once you are settled into your new routine and you prepare ahead you will find that its not any more work than it was before.

Almond porridge has no oats in it at all. It consists of 2tbsp ground almonds, 1 tbsp each of coconut flour, ground linseed and oatbran, mixed together, heat your milk or milk and cream or cream, pour into dry ingredients, stir and enjoy, its wonderfully comforting and makes normal porridge boring. My 9 year old and her schoolfriends cant get enough of it, they come to our house asking for 'special porridge'.
Prepare a bigger quantity of the dry ingredients then all you need to do is heat the milk/cream in the microwave for a minute or so.

Hi,

It does get easier I promise. It is a new routine that none of us was expecting but in time you will find that it becomes second nature. You will know what you need to buy food wise, will get to grips with food choices that you can tolerate, how to include more exercise in your day, the list is endless.

It would be simple if there was a blueprint of menus that suited all of us but it does not work like that. We have to make our own, incorporating our food choices, our likes and dislikes, our fitness levels and any other things that can cause us stress from time to time.

The good thing about cooking from scratch is that you will eat healthier and that will pay dividends. As for eating on your own many of us have found that we can still manage our diabetes and as an added bonus we do not have to take other people's food choices into account so we eat our choices.. I find with the fat issue, high low or in between, I accept everything in moderation works for me.

We can all suggest things for you but we are not with you 24/7 to see how our choices will affect you.

Try and relax as much as you can because a few weeks getting it right is worth it and don't forget that stress plays havoc with blood sugar levels.

Liver dump and Dawn Pham is two totally different things..

A Liver Dump,
is where the liver dumps it's glucose into the blood stream, triggered in response to a low blood glucose, it can happen at any time of the day or night, most common when you've been sleeping, because you sleep through the first set of symptoms that prewarn you of low blood glucose levels and you need to eat! So the body triggers the liver to bail you out of trouble..

Dawn Pham

This is a normal reaction of the body, where your liver increases the amount of glucose to get you up and going, most people don't notice any impact due to the increase isn't much, however some myself included find their is a very noticeable impact with BG's rising high and quickly if it isn't curtailed.

How to tell the difference between the two

The easiest indicator is, a liver dump doesn't happen every night, but Dawn P does..

Another indicator which isn't as easily identifiable in T2's is how you actually feel when you wake.

DP's really doesn't produce symptoms apart from raised BG levels. However the liver dump can, remember it's triggered by the blood glucose becoming low, you've had a hypo! This is were for the T2 it becomes harder to identify, as the dump would be triggered a lot quicker than the T1 diabetic, but waking up when your liver dumped can very similar to waking up with a hang over! In my case it felt like I'd been on a massive drinking binge, and my eyesight shot, it was like looking through a very thick and dirty net curtains!

Going back to the OP breakfast problem

In the mornings most diabetes find that they are more insulin resistant than at other times, insulin user with have a higher Carb/insulin ratio than at other times of the day..

It maybe that due to this insulin resistance, that carbs that you tolerate well the rest of the day, such as bread etc.. The impact is just to high for the morning, it might be that you are better off changing to a breakfast that is more protein based than carb based.

Whitby, Roy here !

Like the sound of that 'special porridge' just what I need, 'cos I really have a problem fancying anything for beakfast, no hunger but I do appreciate that something first thing is probably desirable in our fight.

EDIT : The other day I ground up some peanuts added double cream to the consistency of porridege and the added Colemans mustard, nearly blew my head off but by golly what a taste !

Hope that you are on the mend and perhaps home now ?

Give the nag a kick ( PAT ! ) from me and tell said horse to be more careful next time !

With your recipie I think we could mix it up and then store in plastic container and use as necessary, Terrific !

All the very best to you Judith

Roy

I occasionally have bad days so Itry an Atkins Fat fast. fFor me it works. Basically it's small portions of carb free foods, eg Camembert cheese or a piece of avocado.or a scrambled egg, 4 meals in a day. It sorts out my BG pretty well. You can google for it
Hana

Lilla

What are you having for super or are you missing it!

Two things you could try if you think it's a liver dump.. Dependent on what's your preference on carb intake.

If you are having a supper, look at what you'll having if it's carb based already then perhaps adding more protein to it, will help to steady the BG's overnight..,

If you not having supper a combination of carbs and protein, or sometime just protein such as a chunk of cheese, slice or two of meat helps avoid the liver dump..

Hi. Don't forget that you CAN have 85% Dark Chocolate! It is low carb and good for you in many ways. I have Green & Blacks 85% and they put it on special at the supermarkets every so often when I stock up. Yes, carot sticks are excellent but be aware that boiled carrots aren't so good

lilla... I'll throw my two pence worth in. As many have said, the fasting reading can be unpredictable and while it is a baseline for the start of the day it can be effected by a restless nights sleep, too much of the wrong food the night before etc. I tried and tried to make use of Bergen bread when I first started trying to find what worked and what didn't... best I can do is a half a slice. Oat porridge and cereal have been replaced with my own recipes.. both use milled flaxseed and cinnamon. As others have mentioned, cinnamon appears to have an effect on my BG readings so I tend to use it where ever I can.... I works well sifted over sweet potato and baked in the oven. You mentioned exercise. That too, depending on the duration and intensity can cause your levels to go up or down depending. Oh yes.... stress. That can mess your levels up alot! After you test long enough and take note of your life, you will see your levels track your mood. The food schedule is difficult as you said because it seems like you are always thinking about food or testing but it does get easier as you figure out what works and what doesn't. You are doing all right and sounds like you understand what you need to do... give yourself some time to experiment. It took you a while to get here... give yourself a little while to figure it out and adapt to your new life... At the end of the day, if you need meds, you need meds. I personally am doing all I can to prevent that but if I find that I can't manage... meds it is. Hang in there... lots of support here all the time.

This is my porridge:
4 tablespoons of Milled Flaxseed, 2 Packets of Truvia (stevia) sweetener, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and milk. I heat it in the microwave. Allow for a 'thinnish' mixture because flax tends to soak up the milk and get *****. Anyway, low in carbs, high in omega3 and tastes pretty good to. I also make a dried cereal out of flaxseed and psyllium that works well in milk.

If you like peanut butter and chocolate I have another thing that I like... 50gr natural organic peanut butter and 15 gr of nutella.. mix them up into a nice creamy consistency and eat with celery..... for me that is a low reaction ummmm!

Kenny