New to this!!

[kbow]

Hi,
I was diagnosed 10 years ago with type 2 diabetes and controlled it well with diet. In August 2011, whilst on holiday, I stood on some glass and cut my big toe. It became infected and got progressively worse and I ended up in hospital with blood poisoning! They managed to save my toe but it caused chaos with my diabetes.
I am now on Meformin ( 4 x 500 ), Glicazade ( 4 x 80 ), Victoza ( 1 x 1.2 ) and Ramipril ( 1 x 5 ). In the past 12 months I have put on a stone in weight and am the heaviest I have ever been. I have always managed to lose weight in the past but now, no matter what I do, it wont shift, in fact its just going on. I joined this forum 2 days ago and read what people were saying about cutting down on the carbs and so that is what I have done. My fiance has lose 2 pounds in 2 days, I've put on 5!
I have spoken to the doctor and my diabetic nurse about how depressed I am with my weight and they offered me anti depressants!! No one seems to be listening to me and I am at my wits end.
On top of that, my feet are constantly swollen so I can't get most of my shoes on. This is causing me to get ulcers on my toes so they want to prescribe me antibiotics! I know that if I could lose some weight, my blood pressure would be better, there would be less pressure on my feet so the swelling would go down and my sugars would be more under control but I just can't seem to shift it. I am getting more and more depressed and no one seems to be listening - they just want to prescribe me more drugs.
I am considering coming off the glicazade as I know that it is well known for putting weight on but wondered if anyone on here has had similar problems and if so, how they dealt with it?

 

[Indy51]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

One suggestion I would make is to have your Vitamin D levels tested. When I was first diagnosed, I'd been trying to diet for about 4 months and wasn't able to lose weight. I was found to be Vitamin D deficient and within a week of starting supplementation, I finally started to lose weight. I also felt heaps better as regards energy levels. Vitamin D deficiency is very common in northern latitudes (and even here in sunny Australia) and also very common in diabetics. It's a simple blood test to have done and if you do turn out to be deficient, it can make a huge difference to overall health.

Best wishes,

 

[daisy1]

Hi kbow and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members which I hope you will find helpful even though you have had diabetes for some time now. Ask all the questions you need to and someone will be able to answer you.


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 30,000 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

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

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

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.

 

[kbow]

Thanks - I have read loads of stuff on here and found it great to read other people's stories and advice. Its nice to hear from people who actually understand where I'm coming from!

 

[Giverny]

Hi Kbow and welcome to the forum. Glad you feel at home here! I'm curious about your first post - have you ever had your thyroid function checked? If you're struggling so desperately to lose weight, it may be that you have an under-active thyroid?

 

[kbow]

Hi Giverny, no never had my thyroid checked although my mum and sister both take medication for that. I've never struggled to lose weight before and I'm wondering if it is the Glicazade as several people have said it causes weight gain. I've had numerous blood tests recently so I assume it would show if I had a thyroid problem?