hi im theresa 53 and recently diagnosed with t2 and fm double whammy lol
i am just having a nose around here, so i thought i would introduce myself, looking forward to having chats and asking questions on here, not got my head around this at moment but i will,
so hi to all who read this xxx
Hey Theresa,
Changing your diet
could help both issues: from what I understand, the ketogenic diet also can have a positive impact on FM. (Maybe google it?) So it wouldn't just get your bloodsugars back into the normal, non-diabetic range in all likelyhood, but help with those symptoms as well... Normally I'd suggest going LCHF to start with, (low carb, high fat) but keto has an entirely different threshhold, and I don't know if LCHF would hit the spot for FM. So this is just a suggestion, but may be something to look into. I know keto made a difference for my foodintolerances, obesity and fatigue, as well as my depression/anxiety, so for something as relatively simple as a diet, it does go a long way. Just keep in mind I'm not a medical professional. You might want to check out the books by Dr. Jason Fung, and the dietdoctor website. I'll give a quick rundown about keto in short, and you can decide whether you think it might be workable for you. If it's not, hey, LCHF works for a lot of diabetics (no idea what it does for FM), and if that isn't an option for you, meds are still a viable one. Only drawback of those is that they don't usually put you in remission, diabetically speaking, and diets do. Anyway... Information overload up ahead:
Keto is eating 20 grams of carbs a day or less. If you do that, your body becomes fat-adapted. That means it stops using carbs for fuel (carbs is what diabetics can't process, and what gives us high blood sugars), and instead switches to burning fat. While we detox we can experience carb-flu, but it lasts for a few days/up to 2 weeks, and can be mitigated by drinking bone broth or coconut milk: just keep your salt and electrolytes up. (Potassium; it's in avocado if you don't like taking supplements. Don't go for bananas!). In any case... 20 grams of carbs a day can be ingested in a variety of ways... Start the day with a tea or coffee, and leave it at that, or add 3 eggs, bacon, cheese and cherry tomatoes or mushrooms. Or maybe a bit of full fat greek yoghurt with a few berries, walnuts, some coconut? Lunch might be leafy greens with a can of tuna, mayo, avocado, capers and olives. Dinner? Meat, fish, above-ground vegetables. I found cauliflower rice and broccoli-rice to be quite versatile. (I add bacon and cheese to mine, and a variety of herbs) Snacks? Extra dark chocolate, cheese, rashers, olives, walnuts, pecans, such low carb things... Always in moderation. Key is enjoying what you eat, and not going hunrgy. It's easier to stick with a diet that you'll probably commit to for a lifetime, if you enjoy it rather than experience it as punishment.
As stated, us T2's can't process carbs, and all carbs, once ingested, turn into glucose. So the fewer carbs you eat, the lower your bloodsugars will be. That's also why new members are usually advised to get a meter. NHS won't fund them when not on insulin, but without it, you won't know what foods agree with you and which don't. If you test before a meal and 2 hours after first bite, and it didn't go up more than 2 mmol/l, then that meal was excellent for you and can safely be repeated. So what are carb-heavy foods which are to be avoided? Bread, rice, potatoes, cereal, pasta, corn, oats, fruits save for berries in moderation... That inclused the brown stuff, because whether it's white bread/rice/pasta, or brown, doesn't much matter for us diabetics, sadly.
I see you're on meds, so if you try a diet, please don't start it if you don't have a meter; you need to know what's going on. (Not sure metformin can make you hypo, I keep forgetting because I don't use it anymore myself. I lived in the loo when i was on that stuff. It got me looking for alternatives actually; that's when I found diet as an option!) And having medical guidance is nice, but doctors tend to be a little bit behind on the times. Mine is using me as a guineau-pig, as I'm the only one in her practice who's gone down this road... And I am in remission. I dropped meds 3 months into diagnosis (including the statins) while on LCHF, and I've been in the non-diabetic range since. My weightloss stagnated and that's when I switched to keto, losing more weight, and to my surprise, suffering from my rheumatism much less as a bonus. I also added intermittent fasting to the regime, which for me simply means skipping breakfast.
But all in all... I'm giving you a load of information when you're already struggling to get your head around things, so the most important thing for you to take away from this... Diabetes CAN be controlled! It doesn't have to control you.
There's hope. You're not doomed to have complications and whatnot... It'll be okay.
Good luck,
Jo