Newly diagnosed & a bit confused

[pixie1]

Welcome to the forum SarahEn,
Great place to start Is usng this forum and yes, its normal to receive conflicting advice amongst the medical professionals.
Congratulations that you bought a meter, I was going to suggest in purchasing one.
Testing lets you know which foods have an effect on your glucose levels and eat to the meter, the fun begins.
The blood sugar diet only kickstarts the system quickly, losing weight, only for short term. It needs to be replaced by something more sustainable for decades to come, as suggested. Lc/HF or keto. Both achieve the same goal without using the crash diets.

The HCA is right about the metformin, it can be done without that medication, its unnecessary, your A1c is only 53, its only over the border, simply dropping carbs would drop it down, without having to suffer crash diets.

Mine was 53, I simply did lchf, reduced to 48, increased my physical activity, even though iWork in a physical environment. 6 yrs on its now 36. Shows how sustainable it is.
I'm not familiar with Thai foods, however follow the advice others who are, sounds fab. Drop carbs, starchy foods and fruit, replace with green veg or salads. Meat and fish can't go wrong.
Good look, but have a think about dropping metformin.

 

[SarahEN]

Had an impromptu appointment with the GP yesterday due to a girlie problem. She was so excited by the weight loss she wanted to retest my blood sugars there & then but quickly realised I needed another month for a realistic result. She was very pleased with my tracking of my BG at home (ranging between 7.3 & 6.6 1st thing in the AM) - even said I may already be in remission. Fingers crossed but am waiting for the official blood test before I get too excited.

Re Metformin - she believes I can come off it after my blood test in a month - so given I have not had any side effects I'm going to stick with it, & as of this week move to the 5:2 version of the blood sugar diet. I still have a significant amount of weight to shift so even though I have already lost 10% I can't just sit back & relax yet.

I am completely resigned to not eating many carbs forever. Except 1 potato at Xmas & a Yorkshire pudding!

A quick question - i fly to Cape Verde on thursday - should I just completely avoid the plane food? I can order a diabetic meal but I've read they are more for T1 diabetics & often carb laden. I can eat prior to the flight, its only 6 hours & we will likely be at the hotel within 90 mins max of landing so am thinking i should just take some nuts & water.

 

[Ceebee2]

Hi. I was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. My HC1A level was 53, which i think is high but not really high? I only found out as a result of the over 40 health check they do (1st time something lime the has been useful!)

My GP was very helpful. She suggested the blood sugar diet, put me on Metformin (which I happily seem to be avoiding the side effects so far on) & said that there was lots of new evidence to suggest you can reverse it if you go on meds early to give your pancreas a break & lose 10% of your body weight quickly.

She also referred me to a new service in my area called BeatDiabetes.

In the last 6 weeks I have followed the 800 cal blood sugar diet 95% of the time, & the rest I've eaten a few more calories, but stuck to the principles. I've lost 8kg so far, need to lose 3 more to get to 10%.

Of I went to the BeatDiabetes clinic a week or so ago. It was at best a complete waste of time, but more than that it was so completely contradictory to the GP advice.

Firstly, the HCA running the appointment said she didn't think is should he on meds with a HC1A count of 53. She also said the blood sugar diet was unsustainable & unproven?!

So, I inclined to continue to follow the advice of the medical professional with 7 years of training rather than that from a HCA, but it is really really worrying to get such conflicting advice. Is this normal?

Also - of I can reverse this what is the long term diet I need to follow. My husband & I are among to thailand in a year which I cam see being a problem consdiering how much of their food has sugar, noodles & rice in it.

Thanks
Sarah

I have been living on & off in Thailand since 2010 and permanently since 2015. Metformin is available in Thailand (500mg tablets prescribed by hospital doctor cost ฿1 each from hospital pharmacy) you may be able to purchase without doctors prescription but will probably cost a lot more so best if you can get off them.
A warning about bringing a UK test meter to Thailand. You will not be able to get compatible test strips here. You might have to buy a meter here at a pharmacy. Test strips are not cheap here. Over ฿500 for 25. Also most meters in Thailand use American units (mg/dl) so make sure you are aware of the conversion to mmol/ml.
Food wise beef is available but not good quality or very expensive imported. Chicken, pork and sea food are plentiful and comparatively cheap.
I am type 2 but I’m metformin and insulin I tend to eat around 100g carbs a day sometimes more and occasionally less.
My control has improved significantly since retiring from work as an engineering contractor in London area. I see a specialist every 3 months in a government hospital and receive excellent treatment my current HbA1C is 5.9%
The thing to be aware of is treatment and medication is quite expensive here. I am lucky that my Thai wife is a retired teacher and as a government employee her husband get treatment and medication free.
If you come to Thailand and need help you can message me. We live near Pattaya (south of Bangkok) but also have a house in my wife’s village in Chaiyaphum about 500km north

 

[Ceebee2]

Had an impromptu appointment with the GP yesterday due to a girlie problem. She was so excited by the weight loss she wanted to retest my blood sugars there & then but quickly realised I needed another month for a realistic result. She was very pleased with my tracking of my BG at home (ranging between 7.3 & 6.6 1st thing in the AM) - even said I may already be in remission. Fingers crossed but am waiting for the official blood test before I get too excited.

Re Metformin - she believes I can come off it after my blood test in a month - so given I have not had any side effects I'm going to stick with it, & as of this week move to the 5:2 version of the blood sugar diet. I still have a significant amount of weight to shift so even though I have already lost 10% I can't just sit back & relax yet.

I am completely resigned to not eating many carbs forever. Except 1 potato at Xmas & a Yorkshire pudding!

A quick question - i fly to Cape Verde on thursday - should I just completely avoid the plane food? I can order a diabetic meal but I've read they are more for T1 diabetics & often carb laden. I can eat prior to the flight, its only 6 hours & we will likely be at the hotel within 90 mins max of landing so am thinking i should just take some nuts & water.

I replied to your original post about Thailand. Are you still planning that trip.
My only experience of diabetic meal on airplane was they think Diabetic means vegetarian (it was on Indian jet air)
Most normal meals are not very substantial anyway so not sure how many carbs are in them and for a one off doubt it would have major effect on your sugars. The stress of check in, security etc probably has more effect

 

[SarahEN]

I replied to your original post about Thailand. Are you still planning that trip.
My only experience of diabetic meal on airplane was they think Diabetic means vegetarian (it was on Indian jet air)
Most normal meals are not very substantial anyway so not sure how many carbs are in them and for a one off doubt it would have major effect on your sugars. The stress of check in, security etc probably has more effect

Thanks for the Thailand info.Very useful. Hopefully I'll be off the Metformin by then & just having annual blood tests. I don't intend to test my BG daily once I've got ir all under control so i can probably take enough strips etc to test twice a week for a year.
We intend to come back once a year for a month to maintain residency & will continue to pay our NI contribution so will be able to access the NHS, such as it is now, to get tests etc done here. I know the hospital in Chiang Mai is well equipped so if necessary can go there.

Re the plane, good point re the quantity of the food. I'll just see what they give me on the normal meal & eat what I can. Or I'll use it as a fasting opportunity

 

[aealexandrou]

You're right! The bsd is all about strict calorie counting and limits, together with other controls. It is difficult to maintain for a very long period of time and people cannot always distinguish between low calorie foods that will spike your insulin and those that won't. At 800 calories a day it's also important to have medical supervision to ensure you have the nutrients your body eats. What happens after the 8 weeks, do you back to your bad diet?
Keto and other LCHF lifestyle choices are easier to practise and more sustainable long term.

I am quite confused at the difference between the blood sugar diet & keto. They seem to advocate the same thing (very few carbs, clean food). Is the major difference the calorie counting in the 1st 8 weeks on the BSD?

 

[aealexandrou]

Be careful with the chia seeds. You should soak them beforehand as they can absorb a lot of water when in your stomach and act like a sponge, which can play havoc with your digestion.

Ok thank you. Sounds like I'm on the right lines. I typically have full fat greek yogurt, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds & flaxseeds most mornings. I often add 50g of blackberries or raspberries but perhaps i should knock them on the head. Thats the only fruit I eat now, except tomatoes, which i limit as well. There are a terrifying amount of hidden carbs in food!

Have been avoiding bacon recently along with all other processed meat but will think about potentially having that occasionally.

 

[SarahEN]

You're right! The bsd is all about strict calorie counting and limits, together with other controls. It is difficult to maintain for a very long period of time and people cannot always distinguish between low calorie foods that will spike your insulin and those that won't. At 800 calories a day it's also important to have medical supervision to ensure you have the nutrients your body eats. What happens after the 8 weeks, do you back to your bad diet?
Keto and other LCHF lifestyle choices are easier to practise and more sustainable long term.

Its a bit of a misunderstanding of the BSD that its just for 8 weeks -( though not helped by the book being called the 8 week BSD diet ). If you still have weight to lose after 8 weeks then the recommendation is to do the 5:2 version. Still low carb, but no calorie counting except 2 days a week where you eat 800 cals low carb - the 2 days should not be together. Once I'm off the Metformim i'll probably use those 2 days as intermittent fast days on a 16/8 basis.

After you reach your goal weight then its maintenance.Thats low carb but no calorie counting at all. Its basically Keto as far as I can see.

Throughout there is emphasis on full fat dairy & olive oil/coconut oil for cooking. Nuts, seeds etc. Its termed the Mediterranean diet & has perhaps more than the 20g of carbs i see alot of people following keto doing.

So, no they definitely don't bill it as a magic 8 week bullet to fix your diabetes, then go back for the diet that made you unwell in the 1st place!

 

[SarahEN]

Yep..learnt that lesson early on lol!

Be careful with the chia seeds. You should soak them beforehand as they can absorb a lot of water when in your stomach and act like a sponge, which can play havoc with your digestion.

 

[Prem51]

Re the plane, good point re the quantity of the food. I'll just see what they give me on the normal meal & eat what I can. Or I'll use it as a fasting opportunity

I have the meals on plane. Apart from anything else it is a bit of a break on a long flight, and a bit difficult to not eat when everyone else around you is eating.
I opt for Indian meals before flight as it's a change from UK food, and I will be eating enough Thai food when I get there. Indian food in Thailand isn't as good as it is in UK.
It will come with rice. I eat everything including dessert, but not the obligatory bread roll. My fbg the next day is usually in the 4s or 5s.

 

[SarahEN]

So did a wee little unintentional test this weekend.
Had a wedding on sunday so I had very little say over food. The meal was basically a disaster for a low carber. Deep fried rissoto balls to start, chicken with sweet potato mash, followed by Eton mess. We were a last minute addition to the day so didn't feel like i could be super picky re the food 3 days prior.

Evening food was halloumi & pork burgers.

To make matters just a tiny bit worse I forgot my meds so missed both my evening & morning dose. Doh!

I ate the salad on the starter, the chicken on the main & ate 2 bites of my husbands dessert - avoiding the meringue & chocolate brownie. But by the time it got the evening bites I was hungry & had drank some alcohol so i ate a pork burger (not even a little bit worth it) . I also ate 1 slice of toast with my breakfast yesterday morning (even less worth it)

I decided not to test my bg yesterday as I had drank alcohol & i know that can artificially lower it. Also, was a bit scared tbh!

Tested 1st thing today & it was 8.1 which is higher than I have seen it since I started testing.

So, bread is definitely off the menu forever. In fairness, as I was eating it I felt distinctly underwhelmed by it.

2 days till I go on holiday, though thankfully its one of those all inclusive places where the food choices are endless so i will be able to low carb quite easily. Keeping to less than 2pg carbs now & I will be very high maintenance at social events from now on!