Laryngitis and type 2 diabetes

What does your diet look like @annie012 ? .. and yes, a GP visit is highly recommended

Hi Annie, well done with the smoking - great effort. Sounds like you have lots of willpower but sometimes we all need a bit of a lift. So, yes, go and have a chat with the doc. Don't be afraid to keep posting, hopefully you'll find sympathetic ears and sensible advice on here.

annie012 said:

hello, this is my first post, I am sort of shy and nervous about posting something in the right area. I have been diagnosed type 2 diabetes about 32 months ago. The reason for posting now is because my pin prick test is normally 15.5 to 25.5 . The first time the nurse at our surgery took my bloods I was 28.1. I am on 2 metformin twice a day, and 2 Giliclazide once a day. I have just turned 63 in August. I stopped smoking a year ago this month. My husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's 2 years ago. My newest problem is having Laryngitis since Sunday past. Struggling to cook and eating food, my husband can't help. Should I go to the doctor? Today I was 10.5 lowest in a long time. I am not eating loads of rubbish just struggling .

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I saw teresa may struggling yesterday and found her tweet picture helpful. With sugar free lozanges and numbing spray for very very sore throat. Covornia cough med, even sugar free can interfer with a person on blood pressure tablets thou, I'm led to believe.
What are you taking to relieve your suffering?
Sugar free meds are hugely available now. If you carnt get out ask your gp practice for a med to be sent to your chemist which normally delivers? Do you currently use that service? Both of you could qualify for delivered meds.
Call gp practice today as they will be closed all weekend, well mine is.
Act now.
Wishing you well and comfort.

You have come to the right place here and you will find people very nice and helpful. I am so sorry to hear that you are feeling under the weather. Going by your diet, you are eating a lot of carbs. As you are struggling to eat your BS levels have gone down, so this proves that it can be done. I like you have had some wonderful advice on here what to eat, what is good for me to eat,and what people suggest not to eat has helped me so much. We usually eat around under 20 grams of carbs a day. This we have found has lowered our blood sugar levels and some on here have a very good BS level control and have had for years on the low carb diet. I am sure somebody on here will come along and advise you. Stay with this forum it can change your life. x

annie012 said:

Thanks Mike D for reading my post. Breakfast is either 2 shredded wheat or small bowl of porridge, no sugar.
Lunch time differs... tuna sandwich or poached egg on mostly nutty bread, occasionally I will take white if that's all at hand.
Dinner is the hardest part for me.
At one stage I thought I was eating a healthy diet but then realised I was eating too much potato. I struggle with evening meals as I have a neck injury from an accident on a snowmobile in 2006 and by evening my energy is at a low. I am on medication and wonder if that is making things harder for me.
Yesterday my blood sugar was 10.5 first thing. Today it is 9.5... first time below 10 in months...

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The breads and the wheat @annie012 won't be helping those numbers ... which aren't tragic by any means but aim for lower figures and check which foods spike you. Good luck !

annie012 said:

hello, this is my first post, I am sort of shy and nervous about posting something in the right area. I have been diagnosed type 2 diabetes about 32 months ago. The reason for posting now is because my pin prick test is normally 15.5 to 25.5 . The first time the nurse at our surgery took my bloods I was 28.1. I am on 2 metformin twice a day, and 2 Giliclazide once a day. I have just turned 63 in August. I stopped smoking a year ago this month. My husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's 2 years ago. My newest problem is having Laryngitis since Sunday past. Struggling to cook and eating food, my husband can't help. Should I go to the doctor? Today I was 10.5 lowest in a long time. I am not eating loads of rubbish just struggling .

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Hi @annie012 ,

A warm welcome to the forum.

You are indeed in (& have posted) the right place..

Do see your GP..
On the subject of being a carer for someone with Alzheimers.. (Unsung heroes.)
My dad had dementia & mum was his full time carer, with my help.
You can get a "home help package" to support your husband & yourself?
Our GP referred this for my mum at the time.
Hope this helps!

Hi @annie012

I am going to tag in @daisy1
She has a nice collection of information that will set you on the right path.

I am glad you have goth through to the docs. Have they said/done anything to help?

I do need advise on what to eat.[/QUOTE]

There is a pretty extensive food and nutrition section on here Annie, may give you some inspiration.

@annie012

Hello Annie and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask questions when you need to 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 250,000 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

Reduce your 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 free 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

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

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. They're all 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.

annie012 said:

He has given me Amoxicillin 500mg 3 times a day. Also Vocalzone throat pastilles which are horrible but they do work.

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annie012 said:

He has given me Amoxicillin 500mg 3 times a day. Also Vocalzone throat pastilles which are horrible but they do work.

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Have you noticed that your tongue is sore while you have been on Amoxicillin? This most certainly could be the reason. Amoxicillin can also cause thrush of the tongue. I know that you said it is not thrush but maybe the onset. Let your GP know he may change your antibiotics. I am so sorry to hear of your husband's condition, you certainly have your work cut out for you. Bless you. I have been advised that 20 grams of carbs per day help with BS levels. All veg above ground as these are lower in carbs. Root vegetables are not really recommended as a rule of thumb, but some on here will have a small portion of carrots,Celeriac. We eat mainly Cabbage Greens broccoli sprouts green beans and any other veg that grows above ground. We do omit potatoes rice pasta of any kind as these tend to be high in Carbohydrates and raise blood sugar levels. We also eat full-fat cheese cream eggs bacon 90% meat sausages salads such as lettuce spring onions cucumber radishes peppers. We eat berries such as strawberries raspberries. I have heard Kiwi can be acceptable to some people. If you read on this forum you will learn no end of information. I have learned so much from people here. I tried everything to lose weight and the weight would not come off no matter how small the portions of carbs were. Now I have lost quite a lot and my BS levels are down. We do not eat bread,but you can buy protein bread from the supermarkets and have a sandwich with that now and again. Do you use a BG meter, as we test after eating to see what we can eat without it affecting our BG levels. I have more energy and my arthritis seems to eased not gone completely but so much better since I have been eating this way. Anyways you will get plenty of help here wishing you well. Oh and we eat any kind of meat that we wish : )

annie012 said:

Derry you have helped me already, I didn't understand that some veg aren't good, we had carrots two days in a row... I have been slow to get involved here but I feel it is the way ahead .

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You are welcome. I am learning myself from the good people here. I am getting the hang of it all now though. Good luck with your low carb journey... Read here and read again. It is all very helpful : )

Definitely go to a doctor, most people with diabetes really struggle with illness. It seems as though your numbers improved while you were ill, which is helpful, but I think a doctor could certainly help both with the laryngitis and general diabetes management. Keep posting here too, there are lots of helpful folk around and plenty of support. Hope you're feeling better soon!

A word of warning about eating low carb - it is very effective and you are taking medication which lowers blood glucose and also prevents your liver from making normal adjustments - you need to monitor how low you are dropping if you cut out the foods which are causing your high readings.
I have found it perfectly possible to lower my test numbers to normal without any medication, just low carb and using my meter to find out where I needed to make changes.
I have premade salads, fresh in the fridge and frozen mixes of fruits and of vegetables - the lowest carb ones I can find. Look on the back of packaging to find the number of carbs rather than the front with the traffic light system as it only counts sugar, which is no use at all to us.