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Many Questions

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Diabetic-Diver

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I am diagnosed 2 months ago with type 2 and I will finally get to see a diabetic nurse next week. My blood mmol average is 6.2 over a monthis this OK

1. My doctor has said I can combat this with exercise and diet. I have lost 9 kilos but not sure what exactly is right to eat.

2. what do you usually eat for breakfast and also snacks. What is good to prepare and leave in the fridge ready? What size of meal does one consider to be a snack.

3. Is the metphormin necessary my doctor said take 1 a day in the morning but the pharmacisty said take 2.

4. Does anyone on here scuba dive with Diabetes, I heard it is not allowed?

5. Hypoglycemia... signs and symptoms... I get really angry, moody, tired when my blood levels get around 5, they say below 4 is bad but if my blood is around 4.8 should i eat even if I dont want to.

6. Is there anything naughty but safe we are allowed to eat like diabetic chocolate...

7. Cloudy eyes I wake up with cloudy eyes sometimes and it goes after about 30 mins or so... will this go away or do i have this for ever?

Any advice or help is good advice so please fire away!
 
Diabetic-Diver said:
1. My doctor has said I can combat this with exercise and diet. I have lost 9 kilos but not sure what exactly is right to eat.
Click to expand...

If a person is overweight and eating wrongly then fixing those things would be good for anyone. You don't have to have diabetes.

However, when the word diet is used in the context of controlling type 2 diabetes it includes a large element of what you eat and not how much you eat.

Type 2 diabetes means that you are taking on foods that can be converted to more sugar than your body can handle. The result of this is that sugar collects in the blood and an excess of sugar can and probably will cause damage. Foods that produce a lot of sugar in the blood are sugar, flour, rice and potatoes. Other foods provide less sugar but don't think that the four I mentioned are the only ones. They are just the ones that you should probably cut down on. If your meter gives you a high reading (over 8.5) two hours after a meal then review the contents of that meal and change the quantities next time you have it.

Another problem you will encounter is that some processed foods have flour mixed with them as a bulking agent and you and your meter will have to weed these out by trial and error also.

Hopefully someone else will join in and answer your other points.
 
Diabetic-Diver said:
5. Hypoglycemia... signs and symptoms... I get really angry, moody, tired when my blood levels get around 5, they say below 4 is bad but if my blood is around 4.8 should i eat even if I dont want to.
Click to expand...

My symptoms of hypoglycemia are a vagueness with a faint headache, some loss of manual dexterity and low frequency shakes. I understand that next comes passing out and falling down although I have never done that yet.

For me 4.8 would be too high for any symptoms since mine start when I am in the 3's.

You should not have more than about 5 hours between eating for other reasons. For example, if you leave it too long you might get a liver dump. I think that getting angry and moody at 4.8 could have other causes but others might offer an opinion there.
 

Welcome by the way


Diagnosed type II 1998 2 x 80 mg Gliclazide, 4 x 500mg Metformin and 1 x 100mg Sitagliptin - HbA1c - 48 mmol/mol
 
Diabetic-Diver said:
6. Is there anything naughty but safe we are allowed to eat like diabetic chocolate...
Click to expand...
Things like diabetic chocolate belong to a special category of carbohydrates, ones you can eat.

You've already realised that by cutting out buns, biscuits, sweets, sugary drinks etc, you can start to control your blood glucose level. However, these things are not the only foods to add more glucose to your body than it can safely handle. White starches, white bread, mashed potatoes, pasta, white rice etc does pretty much the same for most diabetics. These are often called refined carbohydrates. Many diabetics however can eat the unrefined versions, brown rice, wholegrain flour, wholewheat pasta and so on. YOu need to test before and after meals to discover which ones are OK for you.

Then there is another category, carbohydrates that cannot be digested. You can go to Thornton's chocolates and see a number of choccy bars, sweets, chocolates etc and you can eat them and they do taste good and they won't add to your blood sugar level but the nearly always send you running off to the loo. You don't digest them and they pass right through you. Most people seem to say things like, 'never again'.

You can eat well but you will have to spend time learning what works and what does not work for you. If you exercise daily, you'll probably be able to cope with a bit more carbohydrate than by not exercising. It's worth the effort if you want to eat a little more of what you fancy.
 
Hi. Yes, diet and exercise are the key. You should, of course, follow the GP's Metformin prescription and so should the pharmacist. People are often started with just one tablet per day and that is gradually increased if needed based on your HBa1C. Do review with the GP after a few months. Don't worry about hypos as they are very unlikely with just metformin unless you go for many hours without food. I keep my meter readings above 4 (I'm on insulin) and above 5 for driving. Yes, avoid 'diabetic' chocolate as it is stuffed with polyols which are a laxative and also are partially converted to glucose. Go for 85% normal Dark chocolate such as Green & Blacks.
 
Diabetic-Diver said:
5. Hypoglycemia... signs and symptoms... I get really angry, moody, tired when my blood levels get around 5, they say below 4 is bad but if my blood is around 4.8 should i eat even if I dont want to.
Click to expand...

One thing I forgot to mention is that some people have reported on here that they own meters that read high. The SD codefree reads about 1mmol/l higher than a Freestyle Freedom Lite for example and one contributor had an Accu Check that read 1.3 high when reading a known control solution.

If any of that applies to you then it could be that your reading of 5 might, in fact, mean 4 and that is one possible reason why you show hypo symptoms early.
 
Wow thanks you for the repsonses... Its such a big learning curve.

I use an accu chek aviva to check my blood... its currently 4.9 and I am hungry and I am shaking a bit and craving for something sweet. Had a banana and I am waiting for the urges to pass.

The diet I stared at 105 kilos and this moring i weighted in at 96.1 It is just a low carb diet, very low carb and I am exercising every day between 5 and 25 km on my mountain bike. I am a bit obsessive about the weight loss just now, it is also coming off too fast!.

Thanks for the choc advise I am so gagging for chocolate.

Had my eyes checked a week ago , wow that was quite painful, the muppet of an eye doc did not tell me that I would go blind in sunlight after for about half an hour. Eyes are ok but he has found a problem with the optic nerves. Oh great!

So much to take in, still a long way to go in understanding everything and thank you all for a. not just being in the same boat but also for all your time in typing your comments out. It took me ages just to write this so I am truely greatful.
 
Hi there

Ive had type1 diabetes for 27 years and am a Master Scuba Diver. I Dive at least once a week all year round. As with all things to do with diabetes control is the most important thing. There are lots of useful guides and on the internet for diabetic divers.

Diabetes is not a barrier to diving just an inconvenience
 
I am a master Instructor of 12 years and owner of Divers Ink Stamps and Divers Bling. I thought my life was over when they told me about the diabetes. I so like your comment about it being an inconvenience rather than anything else.

Luckily I do not have to take anymore courses so I do not require approval by a GP to dive. HOwever I will talk to London Hyperbaric about it I think.

Do you have any depth restrictions placed on you?

If you are at dive 2013 look me up it would be great to chat more... sfae diving and thanks your comment really made me smile.
 
I should have watched this forum as i was at Dive 2013. Sorry for the very very late response. I am restricted to 40m. i may see you at Stoney
 
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