Hi I’ve recently been diagnosed as Type 2, prescribed metformin starting 1 and risen now to 2 per day. Given details of an app and then left to get on with it.
So what am I meant to do - I understand I need to lose weight but I find this hard, but I’m trying - but have sweet tooth and love pasta & potatoes! I had no symptoms prior to diagnosis but now I sometimes feel weird - shakeup inside is how I’d describe it, wobbly, headache. I have no idea if this is because my sugar is high or low. If it is high - how do I get it down?
What should I be doing - what sort of diet should I be following etc. Can you help this very confused newbie please.
Hi and welcome to the forum. You’ll find a lot of help and support here.
The most important thing for you to do is to reduce your blood sugars. For a type 2 either on metformin or just using diet, the most effective way to do that is to reduce carbohydrate intake. This may also result in weight loss.
The extent to which you need to reduce carbs will be personal to you and the way to find that out is to use a blood glucose meter to see the impact of what you eat. Sounds like you don’t have one so I’ll post some information about them below.
In the absence of a meter, then keeping it simple by cutting out all bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and starchy veg will almost guarantee bringing your sugars down. Also stick to meals and avoid snacking as much as possible.
The website
www.dietdoctor.com is a great resource for recipes and meal plans and a good starting point.
So far as meters go, there are a few popular meters used by type 2s on here. The cost of the strips is important as they’ll be what you spend most on. The idea is to test immediately before eating and then 2 hours after the first bite. Ideally you’re looking for a rise of no more than 2 mmols. Any more and the meal needs adjustment.
The Tee2+ from Spirit Healthcare which has cheap strips (not the cheapest strips but very reasonable):
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-plus-blood-glucose-meter/ with the strips found here:
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-testing-strips/ I got a free Tee2+ by phoning up to order the meter and 10 boxes of strips and they threw the meter in for free. Phone number
0800 8815423
The meter with the cheapest strips is the SD Codefree. Strips need to be bought in bulk using the codes below and the manufacturer is in the process of switching people over to a new model (see below).
http://homehealth-uk.com/product-category/blood-glucose/blood-glucose-monitor/ and here for the extra strips
http://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/sd-codefree-test-strips-to-be-used-only-with-the-sd-monitor/Discount codes for bulk orders:
5 packs 264086
10 packs 975833
Also from Spirit Healthcare, with more expensive strips than the Tee2+ is their Caresens Dual. This can be used for testing ketones too (strips for that very expensive).
https://shop.spirit-health.co.uk/collections/caresens-dual
Home Health have recently brought out a new meter, the Navii, which will eventually replace the Codefree.
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/glucose-navii-blood-glucose-test-strips-50-strip-pack/.
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/gluconavii-blood-sugar-meter-glucose-monitor-starter-kit/
There are also discount codes for when you come to buy more strips - "navii5" and "navii10" will give you 20% off purchases of 5 packs of strips and 25% off 10 packs of strips.
Don’t forget to check the box if to say you have diabetes so you can buy VAT free. (for all meters and strips)
