Madness?

rosco 2 said:

This site is just impossible...replying to people is doing my head in finding how to reply.
Newcastle diet?? Can I make an un PC joke? I thought that would be chips and kebabs washed down with pints of newky brown. Ok, I apologise...
Mmmm. Well, had no carbs today. Had none yesterday except the kidney beans in my chili and some xylitol in the lemon juice I made.
Actually had no food so far today except cups of coffee with semi skimmed. Xylitol clearly affects my guts in an interesting way.” Thinking” ...I could try binge eat loads of junk, shove some xylitol down my neck and assume a day on the loo
as I dump all the junk. Could be a plan. Lay in a large supply of sudocrem and hope for weight loss. Equally I could just be an adult and use willpower. I guess option 2 is the one.

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Could also be the metformin... caused me great problems in the toilet dept... I.e, couldn’t be more than a few feet away from it. Hence gave it up pdq.

rosco 2 said:

Taken me 10mins to find a reply box. This really is a tedious site to navigate.
Ok, metformin, possible GI tract issues
Statin, possible GI tract issues
Xylitol known GI tract effects.
It’s fair to say I have always been a tad sensitive to chemicals which is why I tend not to indulge unless crucial.
The joys of shovelling **** into your system. Still, could be worse, constipation would be a nightmare.

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Statin? why?

@rosco 2

Hello Rosco and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it interesting and useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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

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 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. 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.
  

rosco 2 said:

Presumably because my cholesterol level is also of concern. Being an arrogant bunny, I basically believed that despite being a nurse, own best interests not necessarily served by engaging with medicine. Unless of course you have an issue of import.
Ok, I retired over 4 years ago. Pill and problem free. I am very lucky. 6yrs about I gave up full fat cola (yum) because I thought 8 might be pre diabetic. This did the trick. 19/12 ago I gave up the fags (double yum) cold turkey strategy. That has been pretty difficult but I have managed. Put on weight as you do, about 7kg I reckon. Certainly less active than I was when working. Ms slug does not believe in meaningless activity.
So I imagine those factors combined to create the prefect storm. So I guess I am working on a hypothesis of can I reverse this by subjecting myself to some love.

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Are you concerned about your cholesterol level? Statins have been known to raise blood sugar levels and are also believed by many (me included) to have little if any benefit to anyone aside maybe from those who have already had a cardiac event. As you haven't mentioned anything like that I can guess that you aren't on them for that reason. Do you have a full lipid panel breakdown or did your GP (like many before them) just say oh you have Type 2 take these pills?

I fear you about to descend into the rabbit hole that many of us have of the realisation that our GP's know very little about quite a lot of the things that they write prescriptions for.

bulkbiker said:

I fear you about to descend into the rabbit hole that many of us have of the realisation that our GP's know very little about quite a lot of the things that they write prescriptions for.

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It's scary.

dbr10 said:

It's scary.

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It most certainly is...

bulkbiker said:

It most certainly is...

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And just what I needed on top of the diagnosis. Nearly pushed me other the edge.

Hi. You are in the right place. Don't give up on this site. I found it a bit funny at first but on a desktop it works OK and you get used to it. Sounds like you are trying to find some direction and are thinking about all the right things. I'm new to this as well (7 weeks in) and making progress, but for the first couple of weeks I was in a bit of a whirlwind and just cutting down on carbs a bit was all I could manage. Then I started to think more clearly - read on this site loads, worked out what would work for me and what wouldn't. Testing regularly has been a big help - I feel more in control now. If you can't make a plan for life then make one for next week, then for the week after. You'll get motivation from us and from your own progress.

Welcome to the forum @rosco2 If you get meaningful dietary advice from your GP then you will be luckier than many of us on here. Keep it simple. You have a meter so use it and keep a note of what raises your bg level more than 2 after you have eaten. Keep a food diary and the patterns speak for themselves, I use a spreadsheet and soon spotted that it was not only carbs but anything containing grain products I needed to avoid. I also use the spreadsheet to keep a note of body measurements, weekly weight and daily exercise. Exercise can be anything from Spring cleaning to gardening to marathon running. When you feel more in control set yourself a target and see if you can raise sponsorship funds for your favourite charity, it is a wonderful motivator to keep going. Remember we are all different and to some extent we must all find our own way through. It is fascinating to suddenly be forced to take an interest in your own body, which has been taken for granted for xx years. Good luck with your journey