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New diagnosis

Arfie

Arfie

Member
Messages
18
Location
Qatar
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi,

Another newly diagnosed Type 2 here. From UK but living in Qatar. 47 year old Obese male.

6 months ago my partner had a mini stroke which caused me to have a checkup. BP slightly elevated but still in range, Cholesterol "perfect" and Blood sugar was high at 135, but as I had just had a large full fat caramel latte and an hour previous had had another coffee with 2 sugars and a large glass of fresh orange juice we were not overly concerned, but was suggested I went back for a fasting test, which of course I didn't! In the meantime though we had reduced salt and most fatty foods as the missus is on DASH diet and I had reduced by around 3KG (from a MUCH higher number) by doing more walking than before.

Fast forward to last week when I had arranged for a free health check in my office for the staff and I had a BS of 146 and BP of 156/105. Bearing in mind the slight weight reduction and healthier eating I was amazed to see such massive spikes. In addition my Cholesterol has gone through the roof too.

While I'm confused how it could have gone so bad, so quickly when doing more, it's kind of irrelevant so here I am with Xigduo+Glucophage+Crestor to help me, an exercise bike due for delivery on Saturday. Can't go outside as it can reach over 50C daytime and 40C at night in summer, though it's not quite there yet so doing some evening walks.

My naive hope is that if I apply myself I will be able to get the Crestor stopped within the next 3 months and with massive weight loss (need to lose about 25% of me just to get done to overweight) reduce the others. In my dreams I would get off meds completely but as I probably need to lose about half my weight to get into normal BMI I doubt that is achievable.

So I'm a bit confused by diet, much of the stuff I can and want to eat that is recommended for diabetics (cheese, man I love cheese) is high in cholesterol, low fat cheese is high in salt which could tip me towards hypertensive! Eggs, great for Diabetes, not recommended for Cholesterol.

I also don't have a BS monitor, I assume I should get one, any recommendations or are they all much of a muchness? As a bit of a nerd I would like the Libre constant monitor as my T1 friend has it and it "changed his life" but they are not selling to new customers and also not to Qatar so I guess a normal one.

Well, I guess that's me. I'll go order a ******* salad :-/

Arfie

Edited by mod for poorly disguised profanity.
 
Hi Arfie and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear of your recent health troubles. First let me tag in @daisy1 for her useful info post.
I was in a similar position to you nearly two years ago. I found this forum and commenced a low carb way of eating, it’s not all salads! And I also got a blood glucose meter so I could see exactly what certain foods were doing to me. I have since got my diabetes under control, lost a shed load of weight and have halved my BP meds. My cholesterol total is enough to worry my health care team but if you look at my breakdown and ratios they are perfect. Most cholesterol is made by our bodies, eggs are infact a diabetics friend. Fat doesn’t make you fat but carbohydrates do, and they raise blood sugar levels, fats don’t!
Have a read around and ask any questions you may have.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.

Eggs are a superfood! Knock yourself out. As Rachox has said, healthy fats do not make you gain weight, carbohydrates driven by insulin can make you gain weight and stop you losing it. Cheese is another great food for those of us with Pre Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes, full of healthy fat and protein which can keep us fuller for longer.
Are you aware that Crestor (Rosuvastatin) may raise your blood glucose levels?
When (not if) you start to lose weight this may skew your lipid markers (cholesterol levels) temporarily but on a low carb high fat (LCHF) lifestyle your markers will improve. Even those with BP problems can see a reduction in meds sometimes.

I wouldn't go mad on cardio excetcise for weight loss, excercise in moderation will be an aid to overall health and it will help to improve your blood glucose levels but cardio excercise can, in some people, raise blood glucose levels even further. All this can be a bit trial and error which is where a glucometer comes into its own. A blood glucose meter will tell you which foods you react well or poorly to and will tell you what excercise level suits you best.

Have a wander around the forum and ask as many questions as you like.
 
Hi @Arfie

You are thinking that to get on top of your health (and you can which is the good thing) you will have to survive off lettuce leaves. Have a look at this thread, lots of great ideas. Some forum members came together last year for a big meet up and for that we pulled together a booklet which is jam packed with hints and tips and lots if recipes. If you would like a copy PM me and I will be happy to share.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/what-have-you-eaten-today.75781/unread
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/success-stories-and-testimonials.43/

Also another good link is to success stories thread:

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/category/success-stories-and-testimonials.43/

This is a great link too.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

A monitor is essential. Best investment I ever made.

You have a very positive attitude. You can and will do this.
 
Cheers guys,

I should point out I was joking about the lettuce, though at times over the last few days of researching it has felt like it.

I'm seriously considering not taking the Crestor and seeing how my cholesterol develops with a change in diet and some exercise. My understanding of statins is they are pretty much for lifetime and if I can get my readings down in the next month it's a better option, along with the fact it's about £15 a month here!

On the plus side I love salmon and avocado so being "forced" to eat more is not a hardship (other than the wallet!)

Continuing looking on the bright side, my liver/kidneys/thyroid are all working fine and I needed a kick up my fat **** to get the weight shifted, so this is a massive kick and I'm off. Loved cycling but stopped as it's impossible here, not just the heat but the drivers are mental and driving massive 4x4s and I also have a pool at home so will start swimming again. Wont be doing to excess but I do enjoy both so it wont be a chore (TV on and pedal away will work for me)

off shopping shortly, for food and monitors.
 
Foods other than salmon and avocado are also suitable and equally effective in lowering blood glucose - a simple stab and suck blood tester will show you what not to eat just as well as a super whizzy device.
My cholesterol levels dropped when eating LCHF when they had not responded to a high carb diet - well they had - they'd gone up - but I was obviously doing it wrong.
 
@Arfie
Hello and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.


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 600,000 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.
 
Thanks all for your feedback, with regards food, there is soo much information :bookworm:for both Diabetes, Cholesterol and BP (I need to keep an eye on that too), much of it conflicting. Also as mentioned above what works for one does work for another which makes it hard to choose which direction to go as a newbie:banghead:. But information = power and making choices then monitoring the effects works with my mentality so I'm sure I'll crack it. In the meantime I'm not stopping everything at once, for example I've massively cut down on coffee at work, having instant with a splash of low fat milk instead of the caramel latte's, stevia instead of sugar or caramel and green tea sometimes along with forcing more water in me (I live in the middle east so I should drink more anyway!). But I have got rid of (given away, not scoffed) all the chocolate in the house, I have no self control with chocolate, I will eat all the chocolate in a sitting if it's there so that simply had to go

Result so far, officially tested on Sunday, dropped 2.4KG already (around 5.5lb) and now weigh less than I did 22 years ago:smug: as I was already losing weight gradually before this. Not done much more than normal, other than when walking, walk a bit faster so I am a bit more breathless and sweaty. Actually looking forward to getting on the exercise bike when it arrives this weekend.

Bought an accuview kit last night and did my first fasting test this morning and down from 256mg/dl on sunday to 206 today, I guess much of that is down to the medication, but hopefully the dietary changes are helping too.

I have decided not to take the statins for now. I realise they do a job and they might well be necessary, but before jumping onto them, I need to know if self control can help bring it back under control, or at least improve things over the next month to 3 months. If I can't improve (either increase or stay the same) then I will reconsider. Not sure my GP will be happy, but he'll get over it.

I'm getting over the confusion/depression/anger and getting excited to have to replace my wardrobe, wait no, that's gonna cost me another fortune :facepalm:

Onward and downwards
 
206 fasting, up to 253 2 hours after breakfast.

That's 11.44 mmol up to 14.

I know the numbers are both way too high, but is that kind of increase within a normal range?
 
Arfie said:
206 fasting, up to 253 2 hours after breakfast.

That's 11.44 mmol up to 14.

I know the numbers are both way too high, but is that kind of increase within a normal range?
Click to expand...
Have a look at this :
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes_care/blood-sugar-level-ranges.html
What did you eat for breakfast? What ever it was is showing a rise of more than 2 mmol/ (36 in your money), so it contained too many carbs for you. Don’t worry though it’s a steep learning curve.
 
Hi Arfie,
You already got very good advise from the other posters. I would like to suggest swimming? I have been to Doha last year and found it just magical to swim in the Persian Gulf! Not too many tourists at all, i found only expats are going swimming? I didn't mind swimming with a kaftan and in cooler month you could go for an early morning walk?

Best wishes from a much cooler London.
 
enzina said:
Hi Arfie,
You already got very good advise from the other posters. I would like to suggest swimming? I have been to Doha last year and found it just magical to swim in the Persian Gulf! Not too many tourists at all, i found only expats are going swimming? I didn't mind swimming with a kaftan and in cooler month you could go for an early morning walk?

Best wishes from a much cooler London.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've got a pool at the apartment but it's under maintenance right now, once it's finished I'll go for a swim most mornings I think.

Arfie
 
Hi @Arfie

What caught my eye was your tendency to go for low fat products. What you need to do is go for low carb foods and increase your good fats to balance out the energy levels. All carbs of whatever variety turn to sugar once inside the system, and the main culprits are rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, pastries, batter and anything made with flour. We also need to be very careful with fruit as it contains a lot of sugar and fructose. Fructose in particular is not a good idea as it is dealt with by the liver, which regards it as toxic. All it does is convert it to fat which then gets deposited round the liver. This causes fatty liver. Fatty liver causes insulin resistance, which leads to higher blood glucose levels.

Have a look at diet doctor's lists of foods that you can enjoy safely, and those that need reducing or eliminating.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodlist
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/foods#foodtoavoid

Your meter will help you make better food choices, alongside a food diary. Testing immediately before you eat and again 2 hours after first bite will show you instantly if there were too many carbs in that meal. You can record your levels alongside the food eaten and look for patterns.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Hi @Arfie

What caught my eye was your tendency to go for low fat products. What you need to do is go for low carb foods and increase your good fats to balance out the energy levels.
Click to expand...

It's kind of sinking in, slowly. My brain hurts :banghead:when thinking about eating full fat, especially when trying to lower cholesterol and my weight. just got to get the sugars and carbs out of my habits.

The Salmon wrap I had earlier reduced my readings to 166 (9.22). :confused:
 
Arfie said:
The Salmon wrap I had earlier reduced my readings to 166 (9.22). :confused:
Click to expand...

The wrap is not a good idea, it is bread by any other name. Try salmon on a plate with half a dozen cherry toms, some mayo and a boiled egg. Some people use crispy lettuce as a wrap. (I don't !)

As I think someone mentioned earlier, our livers make our cholesterol as and when it is needed. If we eat foods such as eggs or prawns that contain cholesterol, this will have minimal effect because the liver will just make less.

Your cholesterol will improve, as will your blood pressure if you reduce the carbs significantly. You should also lose weight. It is carbs that make us fat, give us high BP and skew our cholesterol. The best way to help is to ban all vegetable and seed oils from your menu. Cook with animal fats. Olive oil is fine. Eating oily fish like salmon, mackerel etc and also seeds such as milled flaxseed will give you extra omega 3. Vegetable oils will give you mostly omega 6. Omega 6 is inflammatory. Omega 3 is anti-inflammatory. Our bodies need both, but properly balanced.
 
I stopped eating low fat stuff when I went low carb and aside from getting my HbA1c down to non diabetic, I’ve lost 6 1/2 stone (over 40kgs) my BP has come down and my cholesterol ratios are now normal. I eat full fat Greek yoghurt and extra thick double cream every day!
 
Try taking lettuce leaves - fresh crispy ones, obtained by cutting out the stem so you get whole ones, use the smaller ones, mix your salmon with a dressing, if liked - I tend to use coleslaw, a spoonful in the bottom of the lettuce leaf, then the fish then a splash of dressing, roll and munch - repeat between fork fulls of other salady stuff. Finish off with coffee and cream.
 
Woke up this morning after a night interrupted with an unpleasant bathroom visit, maybe down to the meds?

Weight down again to 125.5 (that's -3kg since the initial screening exactly 1 week ago :woot:)
BS was 193 (10.72) before breakfast (4 scrambled eggs, well 3 1/2 as I spilled half one one on the counter:facepalm:)
BS 2 hours after 151 (8.92)

Sorry for the dumb questions but would this drop be the effect of the meds taken at breakfast combined with low carb breakfast?

I was feeling a bit woolly and a couple of my staff commented that I look tired, but a few blueberries have perked me up a bit.

I can't do the full on LCHF diet just yet, if I do that I will fail and that could be more dangerous than anything else, so I'll have to ease myself into it gradually. Reducing my weight and BS are the main aims at at present both of those are happening with what I'm doing now. As I get further into it, I will revise and adjust.

Arfie
 
Morning all, I would say good morning, but for it to be a good morning I would still be in bed ;)

So I'm still getting to grips with my food,testing before and 2 hours after pretty much everything, fingertips looking like a pin cushion.

This morning I had the same home made bircher muesli (apple, greek yogurt, oats, almonds, walnuts, cashews, milk) as yesterday from the same batch and same portion size in the same bowl but yesterday my BS increased by 13 mg/dl (0.72mmol), this morning by 48 (2.66).

The only difference from yesterday was that before eating I did 15 minutes (sadly all my lungs/legs can manager) on the exercise bike.

Is the exercise likely to be responsible for this difference in readings or can the same food at the same time produce completely different readings? If it is the exercise, will this reduce quickly? I guess my next test will give me a clue.

I hope it's not the food, this is one of the rare meals I enjoyed before being diagnosed that seems to be good now! And I can make a few days worth each time.

8 days since diagnosis and 4.2KG (9.3lb) down, BP is down too, so it's going well.

Cheers
Arfie
 
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