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Newly Diagnosed but making progress

T

thetallerpaul

Well-Known Member
Messages
158
Hello all,

First post on here but your site helped me go to the doctor on Friday. I think there is a good chance I've been diabetic for some time but the thirst and leg cramps were the last straw. BG was 23.3 so got booked in for proper tests (assume to work out this HC something measure that I don't understand but I'm sure will be a big part of my life).

I'm not one to hang about though so bought a self testing kit on the way home and switched to low carb dinner straight away. Fasting BG next morning was 16.8. Low carb diet from then on in (never even heard of Quinoa till now!) and I got 13.2 fasting BG on sunday and 11.4 this morning! At this rate I'll not even get diagnosed diabetic! Although that might be a bad plan so hopefully they will take my readings.

The big challenge for me is going to be calories. I'm not overweight (in fact verging on underweight) and have always eaten bucket loads to maintain my weight (although long term Insulin resistance might have been part of that). With carbs now out of the way I'm struggling to figure out what I can do to maintain my weight without the fat/salt intake giving me a heart attack. I'd love to hear from anyone on this, same boat or not.

Thanks and hello again,

Paul
 
Hi. I'm also underweight. I wouldn't worry too much about the fat and salt thing. Obviously unsaturated fats are fine e.g fish etc and even saturated fats are OK in sensible quantities. Most of us are on statins so that helps keep the circulation unclogged anyway. The current low fat/low salt diet fad will pass. I await the next diet fad and perhaps it will be low carb/high fat at last!
 
Hi Paul

Have a look at the Sticky Threads section - the diet I use is on there - Viv's Modified Atkins Diet . As posted, it is a weight loss diet, but it gives you a basic list of foods you can eat that contain minimum carbohydrates - quantities unlimited if you don't need to lose weight!

Then get yourself a carb counter book (eg Collins Gem Carb Counter), and add in additional carbs to your liking, from those that are lower carb and Low GI. You can find the Glycaemic Index lists of foods on the web - I think you can even get an App, these days.

Dr Atkins would be turning in his grave to hear me recommend his diet to keep your weight up, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work, eating a high calorie but controlled carb diet, to keep your weight on. You really can't do it without eating fat, though - just make sure it's good quality, unprocessed, and as natural as possible. No baked goods, limited ready meals. Always read labels. You may be able to tolerate some bread every day - Burgen, or multi-grain wholemeal. Grazer, one of our regular posters, can manage Shredded Wheat for breakfast without spiking his blood glucose too much. Some people can cope with porridge.

I might add that my blood pressure and cholesterol readings have never been better than when I'm eating 'Atkins'. My BGs are now rarely out of non-diabetic ranges. But I do still have plenty of weight to lose.

The main thing is, eat to your meter. For now, test before every meal and then 2 hours after. If the food is "safe" for you, the second test should be pretty much in line with the first.

It should be worth a try!

Viv 8)
 
Thanks for the replies. Daibell I'm not on any medication and my Blood Pressure and Cholesterol are OK just now so don't think I will need to. Just don't want to go on them if I can avoid it through diet control. Thats why I'm after tips to avoid saturated fats.

Viv, thanks a lot for the advice I'll check it out. I've not got enough test strips just now so not sure about what foods are good or not. I'm only testing every morning to see where I am. I had porridge this morning as I was told it was a good thing to have! Hope it does not spike me too much but I've not got the monitor to check as first day commuting to the office and its a lot longer day.

One other newbie question? Should I drink a lot of water or not? I'm still thirsty a lot but not sure if thats contributing or helping to drink?

Paul
 
I try to drink 2 litres a day, but some of that is in coffee - one or two cups a day. If you're still thirsty, drink!

Viv 8)
 
Viv,

Thanks for that I'll stop drying myself out! I think I will end up being medicated unfortunately though as yesterday was my first day in the office and I had Porridge for breakfast to get me though and my BG spiked back to 15.8. If I can't handle that small amount of carbs I don't think I'll make it as diet controlled alone.

:thumbdown:

Paul
 
Hi Paul,

I got a similar result with porridge, so I don't eat it anymore, I find I can't handle any carbs in the morning, so my usual breakie is omlette, sliced ham, bacon, philli mushrooms, toms (any combination of these)

So, don't despair that you may not be able to do it by diet alone, you just need to find out which food (carbs) you need to eliminate.

Breakfasts are the hardest for me, I USED to love toast - not anymore
 
Stress can raise blood glucose levels too - if it was your first day in the office, that may not have helped.

Commuting stresses me out too :shock: .

I have a two-egg omelette every morning for breakfast, which sees me through to lunch time pretty well. Protein and fat keep you satisfied for longer.

Viv 8)
 
Viv,

Thats my normal breakfast as well with a bit of bacon! Works well for me. Its lunch and my sweet tooth that does for me. I love chocolate and sandwiches. Or at least I did. That and a drink. Its my birthday this weekend and would love to have a drink but not sure thats a good idea.

Paul
 
Hi and well done on your progress! I had the same problem with weight, but keep a steady BMI of 22 now, AND good BG, by grazing on loads of nuts. Loads of proteins but low GI and don't affect my BG. Avoid cashews ( they're not really nuts); walnuts are great.
 
Grazer,

Why not Cashews I thought they were OK? Them and pinenuts are what I'm banking on. Had my family over for my birthday yesterday and had loads of food including a slice of rye bread (first bread since diagnosed) and low sugar crumble (my mum getting on the diabetic bandwagon) and my BG was down at 8.9 at the end of the day. Thats the lowest I've had yet so not sure what that means. I had a couple of chip shop chips and fried fish the other day and that gave me a low reading (for me, you all seem to be in normal limits all the time).

I need some proper complete diet advice but sounds of all of you on the forum that is not going to happen unless I am very lucky with the Medical Practice in my area. Looks like will need to make do with snippets from all of you and trial and error.

Paul
 
Hello all,

Update is that my blood draws confirmed me as diabetic and was prescribed Metformin 500mg as per the standard. However an hour after that I got a call from the Doc to say she now thought it was Type 1 and I needed to go back for more tests. Very confused just now but been back in for more draws and urine tests.

Paul.
 
Good luck with the further tests - whatever the outcome, at least you'll know!
Cashew nuts - they aren't actually nuts at all. they are part of the seed pod of the cashew tree. They are actually poisonous unless they are cooked. You will see that they have the highest carb content of all the "nuts" AND a high GI as well. Lots of people won't have peanuts either, but I find them OK. Walnuts are really good as are hazelnuts - and most others in fact! Just cashews which aren't great for us diabetics.
 
Hi Paul

Yes good luck with the tests. btw you haven't picked up the PM message I sent the other night. Look at the top of the page you should see it says 1 new message!

Let us know how you are getting on.
 
JaneFrazer said:
Is drinking essential? my best friend got diagnosed, so I'm trying to get some knowledge..
ty
Click to expand...

Sorry Jane, don't get the question. Is it essential to drink what? Lots of water? Rioja? Not being sarcastic, just not sure what you're asking.
 
xyzzy,

Thanks for the message and the advice to even look for it!

I have got my GAD and Islet Antibodies test back negative so apparently confirmed Type 2 and starting on Metformin 500mg as per standard. Having said that I found out this morning that the person I spoke to about this was the receptionist who, on me calling up, gave me the results with the note "Treatment as planned". I thought it was a practice nurse. Have now put in for Doc to call me just to make sure that is what was meant to happen!

Paul
 
Hello all,

Back again with my trials and tribulations. 3 weeks in now nearly and still all we are agreed on is that I am diabetic. Still no word on what type or what treatment to take. Yesterday was called and told to stop Metformin and go onto Insulin so back to doc I go. More tests reveal BG 5.7 (come on!) but Ketones so want to give me insulin but scared of hypo. Upshot is that I am packed off to A&E. 6 hours later the medic tells me Ketones and low BG were because I was too hungry (waiting in the docs and A&E will do that to a man).

Long story short, discharged without treatment, or treatment plan and I'm back to go wait in the hospital on Wednesday.

Still no idea whats going on or what we are going to have to live with. Good news is though that £60 odd quids worth of prescriptions later I can cover any eventuality!

Paul
 
Hello all,

Another update on my twists and turns. It turns out the GP receptionist read my blood results wrong (not sure why she was doing it anyway!) and I'm now being told type 1. My GAD was 377 vs a reference range of 1-5. Does anyone know what that means as info on that on the web is sketchy at best. I will put a question up on it as well I reckon.

My liver function is still not ideal so weekly monitoring on that to see if will go back down or if I need more investigation. Overall I'm pretty happy now I've got my diagnosis as the Insulin pens are not at all scary or a hassle as I feared. I've got quick and slow acting pens to add into my routine but so far so good. I had some readings of 5.0 over the last couple of days and a general level around 7 or 8. Still work for the team to do with my dosage but a big step from being in the 20's all the time.

Hope all are well and I'll keep you posted.

Paul
 
My god paul you're going through it

good luck with getting some sort of definitive diagnosis.

Mary x
 
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