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Newbie - Type 2 help please....

S

seanjackdan

Member
Hi,

My name is Sean, I am 43 years old, 6''2 in height, and weigh about 11 stone. (underweight!)

I was diagnosed with diabetes 8 years ago in 2001, as gp said my mmo/l levels were averaging about 14.

Over the last few years my gp changed my meds regularly, and last year I moved from uk to turkey to start a new life with my wife.

Because of a healthier way of life over here, I managed to get my levels down into single figures - some days !!

Over here, I now take 3 x 850 Metformin each day - one after each meal. (sometimes i forget though to be honest - i'm useless!)

....but recently my levels have reached between 24-26 !!!.....and this is scaring me a bit, but the thing that puzzles me is that 2 days ago, my levels were 24.......by the next morning I had got them down to 10......and later that evening they were 26 again....then 8 hours later, 16 !!!!

How can my mmo/l levels jump up and down that dramatically i.e: down 14 whole units in less than a day, and then jump up 16 units in less than a day also ???

This has happened with my levels for years now, and can't puzzle it out, as to why my levels jump up and down so dramatically like a yo-yo all the time !!

I thought most diabetics only have a slight increase / decrease in such short periods of time?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated ......

Thanks....

Sean..... :shock:
 
Hi Sean and welcome to the forum.

It is what you eat that causes blood sugar to increase, nothing else. Your sudden rise to what is a dangerously high level is simply a reflection of what you have eaten.

If you can give us an idea of what your daily food and drink intake is then we can give you some pointers as to what is causing such high levels.
 
Hi Sean.
Welcome.

As Dennis says your food and drink intake is probably the cause of the large fluctuations in Bg levels.

As a T2 the 2009 guideline figures for your Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking)................between 4 - 7 mmol/l.
2 hrs after meals...............no more than 8.5 mmol/l.
Try to stay within those guidelines. You may have to adjust your Diet.

Ken.
 
Hi Dennis / Ken,

I appreciate your comments, and take on board what you have both said, but after 8 years of being a diabetic, I still see no logic at all on the way my levels shoot up and down to that extent in short periods of time, and truth be known, I'm still struggling to accept that I am in fact a diabetic !!

I have a reasonably healthy diet, eating an above average amount of salads, fruit, vegetables, steaks, etc...

The other day, I had a shepherds pie for tea, cereal next morning, then a tuna salad for lunch, and my levels shot to 26 !!!

..other days, I "let myself go", and have a fried breakfast, say burger & chips lunchtime, etc... and a sweet gateau or chocolate as a treat in the evening, and for the next 24hrs, my levels may be between 8-12 !!!

Never any logic at all - EVER - that is why I sometimes doubt that I am even a diabetic, and my wife tells me that I sometimes don't treat it as seriously as I should do, but what else am I supposed to think ??

Any more thoughts - could there be any other reasons for such high sugar levels, apart from diabetes ??

Kind Regards....

Sean.... :(
 
...oh, sorry forgot to mention, only drinks I ever have are water / tea / coffee (no sugar obviously )

...never have "pop", i.e: coke / fanta / squashes, etc...

Alcohol wise, I have a few beers now and then, and these are the days that my levels seem to be lower !!

Sean....
 
seanjackdan said:
Hi,

My name is Sean, I am 43 years old, 6''2 in height, and weigh about 11 stone. (underweight!)

I was diagnosed with diabetes 8 years ago in 2001, as gp said my mmo/l levels were averaging about 14.

Over the last few years my gp changed my meds regularly, and last year I moved from uk to turkey to start a new life with my wife.

Because of a healthier way of life over here, I managed to get my levels down into single figures - some days !!

Over here, I now take 3 x 850 Metformin each day - one after each meal. (sometimes i forget though to be honest - i'm useless!)

....but recently my levels have reached between 24-26 !!!.....and this is scaring me a bit, but the thing that puzzles me is that 2 days ago, my levels were 24.......by the next morning I had got them down to 10......and later that evening they were 26 again....then 8 hours later, 16 !!!!

How can my mmo/l levels jump up and down that dramatically i.e: down 14 whole units in less than a day, and then jump up 16 units in less than a day also ???

This has happened with my levels for years now, and can't puzzle it out, as to why my levels jump up and down so dramatically like a yo-yo all the time !!

I thought most diabetics only have a slight increase / decrease in such short periods of time?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated ......

Thanks....

Sean..... :shock:
Click to expand...

What you need is a medication review and blood tests to check out your diabetic status,going by your profile of being underweight maybe you have been misdiagnosed ,possibly you may be LADA.
However your diet is still very high in carbs and carbs are the main cause of elevated blood sugar.
 
Hi Sugarless Sue,

Thanks for the reply, but I am unsure which of the foods I mentioned in my post are high in carbs...I was under the impression that salads, vegetables, fruit and steaks are good for you !!

Which carbs are good for me then, and which carbs are bad for me - I appreciate your help...

Also, sorry if I'm being naive here, but what is LADA, as you mention I may have this rather than diabetes....

Regards....

Sean !
 
I'd tend to agree that your insulin production is crapping out and you may have been initially misdiagnosed. See if you can get a c-peptide and GAD test, also a full lipid panel. It's also plausible you may be some form of MODY

http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/diabetesgenes/index.htm

Meanwhile try radically dropping the amount of carbs you eat, principally starches. Exercise along with the metformin should help reduce any insulin resistance but DON'T try it when your BG is in double figures, it may make things worse.

Any history of diabetes in the family? Any other endocrine problems like thyroid?
 
seanjackdan said:
Thanks for the reply, but I am unsure which of the foods I mentioned in my post are high in carbs...I was under the impression that salads, vegetables, fruit and steaks are good for you !!

Which carbs are good for me then, and which carbs are bad for me - I appreciate your help.. /quote]
Hi Sean,

From what you mentioned - shepherds pie is topped with potato (a high carb starch food), cereals (extremely high carb) and fruit (most fruits are high in sugar - some worse than others). Beer - extremely high in carbs (unless it is a pilsner type beer where all the sugar is fermented out). You didn't mention bread but presumably you would normally eat some at some point in the day?

You mentioned "letting yourself go" with a fried breakfast - but that is far better for your BS levels than any cereal. Can I suggest that you get yourself a little pocket-size book called the Collins Gem Carb Counter. It costs around £2.50 from Amazon, you can order it online, and I believe they will despatch anywhere in the world. It provides information on the carb content of pretty much anything you would ever want to eat, and it is surprising just where carbs lurk!
Click to expand...
 
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