I just need help!

Hi @rachelc1980 and welcome to the forum

Firstly you have found a great place for advice and support.

The good news is that many of us here have managed to get our HbA1c into the non-diabetic range by changing what we eat - i.e. reducing intake of carbohydrates. There is a great website- dietdoctor.com - which explains all and provides recipes and meal plans, which you can access for free. There’s also a low carb program on this site.

I’m also linking to some information which is intended for those newly diagnosed, but contains lots of detail about how to manage diabetes. Have a good read and ask as many questions as you like:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/

Welcome @rachelc1980 im thinking of you.
It took me a few years too to find the low carb route to improving my health.
I was diagnosed in May 2014 with an hbaca1 of 97 and I didn’t come across the low carb route of lowering and managing my bgs until three years later. Trouble is that Health care practitioners seem to be quite accepting and just a small improvement is celebrated and put down to the meds they give you.
Two and a half years after discovering Low carb I’m no longer on Metformin and my current hbaca1 is 34 I’d really encourage you to look at way you eat and also look at your reactions to carb food by using a bg meter - you learn such a lot. Would also encourage you to look at stress management as the mum of two like me.
It can be done and you’ll feel so much better I can’t believe how much more energetic and myself I feel since I made changes both to the way I eat and to how I manage my stress levels as a carer of an autistic son.
Good luck and hope you manage to make the changes that will benefit your health and impact on your family.

Indeed, the low carb approach helped me reduce A1c from 51 to 36 with no meds at all. Just follow advice on this forum, cut out potatoes, pasta and rice basically and of course cakes and sweet things.

You don't have to go bonkers with it, just be thoughtful to cut out the obvious things, eat plenty alternatives for protein (meat, cheese, eggs) and a bit of exercise helps, but with two kids you likely don't need any more! Mine's 32, she's no bother!

There are plenty folk on here willing to offer help and support, it is a great community with a lot of experience.

Oh, and get a BG meter - despite the NHS's advice to the contrary, it is essential to enable us to work out what is going on, as we're all different in how we react to foodstuffs.

Hi and welcome to the forum.

As @Goonergal said you have found a wonderful place for information, support and. advice- a one stop shop as it were.

My first piece of advice is to get a meter. This is the thing that will give you the information you need to make decisions about what food you should eat. My personal experience is that dramatically lowering your carbs will see a lowering of your blood sugar levels.

It can be a bit of an adjustment t but it is so worth it- you have small kids- they need a mother who prioritises her health (amount other priorities I know)

Good luck and welcome.

Agree with all the advice above, low carb is definitely the way to go, it's working for me and it's surprisingly easy once you get your head around it. Once you have your meter, it might be an idea to keep a food diary so you can see what pushes your readings up, I found it really helped, good luck

rachelc1980 said:

So, I am reaching out because I have been living in denial since being diagnosed 7 years ago but my hba1c has come back today as 73 and I have got to do something about it.

I am 39, with 2 small kids and I have basically continued as I was eating whatever i have liked as i didnt really feel like it was having any impact on me. Stupid i know. Fast forward and i am now in a constant state of fatigue and I feel like I need to sort myself out. I am currently on 2000mg of metformin per day but want some advice on what else I can do to get myself and my diabetes under control.

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https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html <-- this might help a little...

shelley262 said:

Welcome @rachelc1980 im thinking of you.
It took me a few years too to find the low carb route to improving my health.
I was diagnosed in May 2014 with an hbaca1 of 97 and I didn’t come across the low carb route of lowering and managing my bgs until three years later. Trouble is that Health care practitioners seem to be quite accepting and just a small improvement is celebrated and put down to the meds they give you.
Two and a half years after discovering Low carb I’m no longer on Metformin and my current hbaca1 is 34 I’d really encourage you to look at way you eat and also look at your reactions to carb food by using a bg meter - you learn such a lot. Would also encourage you to look at stress management as the mum of two like me.
It can be done and you’ll feel so much better I can’t believe how much more energetic and myself I feel since I made changes both to the way I eat and to how I manage my stress levels as a carer of an autistic son.
Good luck and hope you manage to make the changes that will benefit your health and impact on your family.

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shelley262 said:

Welcome @rachelc1980 im thinking of you.
It took me a few years too to find the low carb route to improving my health.
I was diagnosed in May 2014 with an hbaca1 of 97 and I didn’t come across the low carb route of lowering and managing my bgs until three years later. Trouble is that Health care practitioners seem to be quite accepting and just a small improvement is celebrated and put down to the meds they give you.
Two and a half years after discovering Low carb I’m no longer on Metformin and my current hbaca1 is 34 I’d really encourage you to look at way you eat and also look at your reactions to carb food by using a bg meter - you learn such a lot. Would also encourage you to look at stress management as the mum of two like me.
It can be done and you’ll feel so much better I can’t believe how much more energetic and myself I feel since I made changes both to the way I eat and to how I manage my stress levels as a carer of an autistic son.
Good luck and hope you manage to make the changes that will benefit your health and impact on your family.

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Hi shelly
I was just reading your post and have recently been diagnosed and wondered how many grams of carbs you dropped to each day ?
I have cut to between 40-50g per day
Thanks

rebowe1308 said:

Hi shelly
I was just reading your post and have recently been diagnosed and wondered how many grams of carbs you dropped to each day ?
I have cut to between 40-50g per day
Thanks

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Hi I tend to eat less than 30g per day and often less than 20g. However I did this fairly slowly moving downwards whilst measuring my blood sugars using a meter before meals and two hours later to see the impact. Some people don’t need to go as low as I did it’s very individual- you need to test to see how you are reacting and changing. I was also on medication - Metformin- when I first went low carb so felt I needed to take it slowly. I did the low carb program and reduced carbs and increased fats over about 10 weeks.
Good luck and do consider testing if you don’t already it makes all the difference in determining the right level of carbs for your body and bgs,

Another one on low carb here.

I went fairly slowly by dropping to 100g a day first, which had an immediate impact on my blood sugar, then down to 85g a day - which was low enough for me although some need to go lower.
I bought a meter and joined the lowcarbprogram which has videos, menu plans, recipes, advice - you can get the fee 'prescribed' on the NHS in some areas.

You can avoid so-called keto flu by reducing a little slowly and making sure that as you swap from processed food to low carb you add some salt back in.

There are sites by low carb mothers with lots of recipes - some complicated with unusual ingredients and some simple/quick.

I make low carb cakes and pies with a mix of ground almonds and coconut flour, sweetened with truvia/stevia based sweeteners as these are safer and taste better than most sweeteners. I also make 90 second bread for cheese or ham sandwiches and even a keto mug cake.
Just be careful to follow recipes exactly at first, not only so you can count the carbs but also because coconut flour takes getting used to - it is nothing like wheat flour and needs loads of eggs or flaxseed to hold it together.

If you are tired and/or busy try some of the low carb slow cooker recipes - just throw in the meat or chicken and a little onion plus seasoning/spices and come back to give it a stir, cook some green veg and reheat some cauliflower rice (I make cauliflower rice by grating a whole cauliflower, roasting on 180c for 12 mins then storing in the fridge ready to stir fry or nuke).

Other quick easy meals are omelettes, with cheese/ham/mushrooms, etc and a green salad or broccoli/spinach or a roast, just leave out the potatoes and add in extra green veg.

And I swapped milk from low fat to full fat, using a third of the amount I used to have in coffee and adding in a little coconut milk.

A year ago my blood sugar levels were fairly well controlled, with an HbA1c of around 38. Nevertheless, my T2D and neuropathy was not improving and my background retinopathy incrementally getting worse.
To end that downward spiral I started a low carb high fat diet. I couldn't count calories or carbs, it was just too difficult to do so 24/7. So I just made the conscious decision to simply cut out most of the processed carbs in my meals. I threw out the porridge, stopped eating bread, soft drinks and fruit juices became a fond but distant memory. Pasta, rice, pizzas, and potatoes became a treat rather than a daily food. I then stopped seeing them as a treat and more often than not left on the plate uneaten. My LCHF diet turned into Keto without even planning it and with it the sensation of feeling hungry. My HbA1c is now 23. I have been off all medication for nearly 10 months. My advice, cut out every week an offending food or drink, rather than count out how much of it you can eat or drink. Go wholefood, go old school, eggs, fats, meat, green veg. Stop snacking. If your not hungry then don't eat. Give your liver and pancreas time between meals.
Good luck.

I can relate. I have dithered about getting serious to deal with my T2. I know low-carb works. It has turned around so many people, many of whom share their experiences here. The latest research suggests T2 may be reversible for many or most people, but you need to make a real change. You can do it, and it will work.

I'm doing LCHF with Intermittent Fasting. What that looks like is I rarely eat breakfast, and I skip lunch too several times a week. No eating after 7 pm, and no rice, grains, potatoes, or especially sugar. My fasting readings dropped 2 mol/l in 2 weeks. My BP has dropped 15 points both diastolic and systolic. If you're interested, check out Jason Fung on youtube.

shelley262 said:

Hi I tend to eat less than 30g per day and often less than 20g. However I did this fairly slowly moving downwards whilst measuring my blood sugars using a meter before meals and two hours later to see the impact. Some people don’t need to go as low as I did it’s very individual- you need to test to see how you are reacting and changing. I was also on medication - Metformin- when I first went low carb so felt I needed to take it slowly. I did the low carb program and reduced carbs and increased fats over about 10 weeks.
Good luck and do consider testing if you don’t already it makes all the difference in determining the right level of carbs for your body and bgs,

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That’s great thanks Shelly.

rachelc1980 said:

So, I am reaching out because I have been living in denial since being diagnosed 7 years ago but my hba1c has come back today as 73 and I have got to do something about it.

I am 39, with 2 small kids and I have basically continued as I was eating whatever i have liked as i didnt really feel like it was having any impact on me. Stupid i know. Fast forward and i am now in a constant state of fatigue and I feel like I need to sort myself out. I am currently on 2000mg of metformin per day but want some advice on what else I can do to get myself and my diabetes under control.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Eat sliced cooked Deli meat, ideally Beef and as many greens as you like, although, ideally green leafy vegetables and Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli, 3 meals daily and a piece of fruit, I eat my daily apple - An Apple a day, keeps the doctor away.
I buy frozen greens and then add a bit of water to my liquidizer and reduce the lot.
Then drink it instead of eating it - as I think that all of the goodness in frozen vegetables stays there, whereas cooking them might not.
When I do cook frozen vegetables, I use my microwave to do that, than reduce them as above.
Drink lots of water, as much as you can comfortably manage, I use sugar free cordial to taste, because the water here tastes horrid.
I find I'm not hungry at all and this works for me and has kept my Type 2 Diabetes under control and satisfactory blood sugar readings.
Age has a lot to do with Diabetes management, so I'm told, however I'm 73 now and I've had Type 2 Diabetes these past 20 years or so
I am constantly surprised at how little I need to eat to survive and my shits are awesome, so I frequently wonder where it all comes from.
This diet will knock the weight off and the ideal weight I'm supposed to reach is 97kg and I'm not far off that now.
Everything else - all gone - Carbohydrates, Salt, Sugar, Alcohol, Smoking - need I go on.
We only have one life and how we look after our body determines how long that will be for and hopefully disease free.
I rarely if ever need to see my doctor, except for Prescription renewals.
I don't exercise at all. A couch potato. I suppose I should, but.........
Diabetes is a beatable disease, provided you put the effort and denial into what you eat and drink, to make it work!!
Best Wishes..........

brooker said:

Hi,
Eat sliced cooked Deli meat, ideally Beef and as many greens as you like, although, ideally green leafy vegetables and Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli, 3 meals daily and a piece of fruit, I eat my daily apple - An Apple a day, keeps the doctor away.
I buy frozen greens and then add a bit of water to my liquidizer and reduce the lot.
Then drink it instead of eating it - as I think that all of the goodness in frozen vegetables stays there, whereas cooking them might not.
When I do cook frozen vegetables, I use my microwave to do that, than reduce them as above.
Drink lots of water, as much as you can comfortably manage, I use sugar free cordial to taste, because the water here tastes horrid.
I find I'm not hungry at all and this works for me and has kept my Type 2 Diabetes under control and satisfactory blood sugar readings.
Age has a lot to do with Diabetes management, so I'm told, however I'm 73 now and I've had Type 2 Diabetes these past 20 years or so
I am constantly surprised at how little I need to eat to survive and my shits are awesome, so I frequently wonder where it all comes from.
This diet will knock the weight off and the ideal weight I'm supposed to reach is 97kg and I'm not far off that now.
Everything else - all gone - Carbohydrates, Salt, Sugar, Alcohol, Smoking - need I go on.
We only have one life and how we look after our body determines how long that will be for and hopefully disease free.
I rarely if ever need to see my doctor, except for Prescription renewals.
I don't exercise at all. A couch potato. I suppose I should, but.........
Diabetes is a beatable disease, provided you put the effort and denial into what you eat and drink, to make it work!!
Best Wishes..........

Click to expand...

I forgot to mention, my daily food bill is roughly $20 or less - does wonders to the shopping bill, that's for sure.

rachelc1980 said:

Wow, all really great replies thanks so much. Can I ask, where are people sourcing their low carb info/ideas from?

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www.dietdoctor.com and https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food-and-recipes.html mostly... Though I tend to stick with the simple stuff mentioned in The Thingy I linked earlier. Less work.