New Type 2 and struggling to understand!

You are in a great place to get help and guidance. This forum was my saviour when I was diagnosed 14 months ago. It’s brilliant that you have a monitor. Test just before your first bite - and then 2 hours afterwards. If your reading has gone up by more than 2, your meal had too many carbohydrates. Weetabix has too many carbs - that’s why you have seen the spike after breakfast. Try eggs, mushrooms, bacon instead? The last figure to find down is your waking level. Don’t worry about it at the start - just focus on keeping your meals on track so that you they don’t increase your level by more than 2. You’ll soon get the hang of it. Loads of folks ready to help with any questions here.

Louise746 said:

Hi All
I was diagnosed just before Xmas over the phone by G.P. My blood test result was 55 I think, from memory. The doctor said he would give me six months to change my diet, lose weight and do more exercise, then they would test again.

That was about it!
I had gestational diabetes 11 years ago, but I can’t remember much! I have bought a monitor and am recording and monitoring (but struggling to make sense of the results).
Please can someone advise me:
1) when testing after a meal, is it one hour, or two, and is it from the start of eating or the end?
2) how much will lack of sleep affect my readings?
3) After 2 weetabix with milk and blueberries, my bs went from 7.8 (fasting) to 16.8! But then dropped down to 5.6 one hour after lunch....is this bad?
4) my bs on waking is always 7.8 - 8.4....any tips on how to get this down please?

sorry for all the questions! I feel so lost!
Louise

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Hi Louise,

Yay, you have a meter! A lot of people here start out flying blind, but you can see exactly what's happening. Like with the weetabix. (Not a good idea, that stuff, and now you know.) But yeah, let's go through your questions one by one. First thing's first though: you're going to be okay. Okay? Right. On to the answers!

1: When testing around a meal, test before you start and 2 hours after the first bite. You're looking for a rise of no more than 2.0 mmol/l, and preferably less.
2. Lack of sleep can impact your readings quite a bit. Waking in the night can kick start a liver dump, starting the Dawn Phenomenon a bit early. Nightmares, waking often, or not sleeping at all, can all raise your blood sugars.
3. You don't want your blood sugars to go over 8,5 or thereabouts. That's where damage starts to happen. Blood sugars fluctuate throughout the day, what you want is to keep them in the normal range as much as possible, between 4 and 7. (And that is more doable than it sounds right now, I promise!)
4. Your fasting blood sugars are the last to come down. It's because your liver dumps glucose in the morning, and it tends to think the high numbers you're running are normal, so it'll keep pumping out glucose to get you to what it erroneously thinks you should be. Plus, your liver has glucose stores that take a while to get depleted. The thing to do about that is just make sure you get your blood sugars down the rest of the day. If you manage the no-more-than-a-2.0mmol/l-rise-after-eating, the dawn phenomenon should quiet down some too, but it'll take a few months. (Half a year for me).

So, how do you get your blood sugars to behave? Change your diet. Duh. You already knew that! The professionals didn't bother to tell you how though, I assume...? Otherwise you would've known to stay away from the weetabix. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/ should help. It's as easy and quick-start-ish as I could make it so you aren't wandering around the supermarket for 2 hours and come home with nothing but a new dishcloth the next time you go out for groceries. There's a world of information out there, so it's only the top of the iceberg, but it's a place to begin anyway.

Again, you will be okay. You have a meter. You rock!
Jo

Hello & Welcome @Louise746 . Jo's nutritional thingy link is a very good starting point along with testing - many of us here have started out on higher numbers than yourself (mine was around 86 I think) and have managed to get our diabetes under control with low carbing ... have a look at my signature ... you know what you have to do ... Good Luck!

Louise746 said:

I have a lot of weight to lose, and I think that will be key in getting this under control.

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For most people who need to lose weight it’s because they have insulin resistance and that’s why they gain weight. NOT like the popular belief you get type 2 because you are over weight. People are usually insulin resistant long before being diagnosed type 2
Eat low carb/keto till you are full and it will be easier to lose weight because you don’t have excess insulin. (Very simple way of looking at it.)

Louise746 said:

Thank you all! It is so nice to have these helpful replies.
I thought weetabix would be a healthy choice....shows what I know....will stick to eggs from now on!
I have a lot of weight to lose, and I think that will be key in getting this under control.
Thanks also for the testing info...it’s good to know about the before and after routine to check the increase.
I will check out the link...at the moment I’m a bit frightened to eat anything, especially when my reading is higher than it should be!
Thanks again, I am genuinely touched by these helpful responses x

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Again, the weight loss will help if you have a lot to lose - personally I have lost over 5 stones and if I can do it anyone can - I loved my food - still do just different food and smaller portions!

Louise746 said:

Thank you all! It is so nice to have these helpful replies.
I thought weetabix would be a healthy choice....shows what I know....will stick to eggs from now on!
I have a lot of weight to lose, and I think that will be key in getting this under control.
Thanks also for the testing info...it’s good to know about the before and after routine to check the increase.
I will check out the link...at the moment I’m a bit frightened to eat anything, especially when my reading is higher than it should be!
Thanks again, I am genuinely touched by these helpful responses x

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Like @Hotpepper20000 said, the weight came on because you were developing T2, not the other way around. If your blood sugars get back into the normal range, you'll lose weight. And that, in turn, will help with your insulin resistance. It's a lot of give and take, but once you're on the right path, it'll be easy.

Hello. I was in a similar situation (diagnosed out of the blue, told over the phone to take Metformin and loose weight) 6 months ago. I spent a couple of months with various low calorie attempts, then got a meter and went to low carb then keto. I have seen my blood glucose drop down to nearly non diabetic levels and lost 20% of my body weight. My fasting levels were the last to move down and are still a bit of a work in progress.
Don't panic and try not to stress too much. Others have covered testing and diet basics. I found that finding a few easy, low carb meals that I really liked was key, so I could fall back on something other than a sandwich. Fried mushrooms and spinach with egg or bacon, a tuna salad, or a steak and homemade coleslaw worked for me. From there i could be a bit more experimental with finding other meals and testing results. For me I personally find it more relaxing to just not eat high carb foods rather than figuring out daily quantity in detail.
Good luck, you can do this.

I'm another who finds it easier just to eat food with v very low carbs- lots of them around- meat, fish, cheese, cream, eggs

I think it is handy to have a few go to meals for when you are busy and tired.

It can be a steep learning curb but as you have already seen there are many here who are happy to help.

ianf0ster said:

The biggest effect on reducing our Blood Glucose for most in these forums (my belief - no statistical study) is from cutting carbohydrates rather than from extra exercise or from weight loss.
Having a Blood Glucose meter and testing before and after each meal you can see what that meal has done to your blood sugars - the effect is immediate, long before any weight is lost.

The great side effects of eating Low Carb (rather than calorie counting) are:-
1. No hunger, so the will-power required is less than with a conventional calorie restricted diet. Can eat almost unlimited amounts of low carb food (like I did over Xmas)!
2. The resultant reduction in the Insulin produced by the body mean that weight tends to drop (though not for everybody).
3. High blood pressure tends to drop to normal.
4. Symptoms of inflammatory diseases tend to reduce (because insulin is inflammatory).

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I broadly agree, though I do see a difference in blood sugar on equivalent (low carb, not no carb) meals depending on excercise. Doesn't need to be loads but definitely has an effect for me.