• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Newly Diagnosed

I

ian180

Member
Messages
6
Hi

I am male. 45 years old. 6' 3" 83kg

Was recently diagnosed whilst out in Asia back in March. Hospitslized with a flesh eating bacteria of the foot. Had a toe and part of my foot amputated (overall a horrendous experience)

The day after being admitted I was asked how long had I been a diabetic, to which I replied I am not.

My blood reading was 95 !!!

Totally shocked.

Currently on Metfirmin 4 x500 mg twice a day.

And 1 empagliflozin 10mg x1 a day.

I never smoked or abused my body. Rarely drank alcohol. But did have a very sweet tooth.

My cholestorol reading over in Asia was 3.8

Fast forward to now. I am still on the Medication. But my latest blood results are

May 2019 it had reduced to 70

August 2019 it hascreduced to 53 (with a cholestorol reading of 3.2)

Ive had zero alcohol since March (but hardly drank alcohol anyway)

I have 1 bar of dark chocolate on a saturday night.

My diet mainly now consists of less portion sizes and sweet potatoes/steamed vegetables. With some form of meat or fish.

I am hoping to come off the Medication eventually. But not sure if this will be possible?
 
Hi Ian180 and I just have to say that my own journey into diabetes began like yours .. with my Optician asking if I was diabetic and me emphatically denying such a suggestion and, like you I was a non-smoker who rarely drank. I am so sorry to hear what has happened to you! It must have been a terrible shock but at the same time it put you on the right track to get as well as you can now. Good luck You are already getting great results!
 
Alcohol is not really a problem, it is the things it comes with and the carb heavy meal at the end of a night out.
Watch those sweet potatoes as they are higher carb than ordinary ones, eat tiny amounts if any at all. A big stir fry of low carb veges is a lot better idea, as you can eat protein and fat - that part of the process is not a problem.
 

Thanks. And yes, it came as a shock as I had no symptoms. Was still exercising/jogging/walking for miles at a time/swimming etc. On holiday a few times walked the 18 floors to top of my condo for exercise.

I did have a very sweet tooth though, im guessing this was a contributing factor.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

You have had a torrid time of it all. Food is much more the problem rather than exercise- exercise can help but it is the food you eat that makes the levels go high.

The good news is that eating the right things can help your levels go down. There are stories on this forum of people who either reduced their medication or in some cases came off them completely.

Have you got a meter? I'm assuming you do since you are on medication. If not my strongest piece of advice is to get one.

Good luck.
 
May be better to have a couple dark squares of dark chocolate each night rather than a whole bar at once.

Some alcohol can affect bloods but others don’t.
Be careful with sweet potato.

I take it you haven’t got a meter to test before and after meals...?? This is the only way to find out which foods / drinks raise your bloods.

Sorry you have had such a dreadful ordeal with amputation. Hope you are healing now.
 
Yes I have a blood glucose check. I check on average twice a week (was advised I dont need to check all the time by district nurse as its type 2).

It was 5.3 earlier today just before my lunch.
 
Well I disagree with the nurse about how often you should check your levels- at least initially. Without checking you don't know how certain foods effect you so you can't make decisions on what you should be eating. The constant testing doesn't last forever once you have an idea of what you can eat.

My personal view is that the possible consequences are too big for me not to have the information I need. Having already suffered the health issues you have your need to maintain good control over your levels is also high.

I really can't understand why health professionals don't encourage people to have more information rather than less.
 
ian180 said:
Yes I have a blood glucose check. I check on average twice a week (was advised I dont need to check all the time by district nurse as its type 2).

It was 5.3 earlier today just before my lunch.
Click to expand...
But what was it after eating? (two hours from beginning the meal is the usual time)
Without checking that you are eating the right sort and size of meals but testing at random is just about useless.
 
Did the before and after. Prior to evening meal it was 5.3 .... then for evening meal I had mushroom stir fry with tabasco sauce over it. Oven cooked fish with butter and pepper over it, also a bit of cheese overvthe top of meal .... took my blood exactly 2 hours after abd it had actually come down to 5.2 .... having said that there was zero carbs in the meal or sugar.
Resurgam said:
But what was it after eating? (two hours from beginning the meal is the usual time)
Without checking that you are eating the right sort and size of meals but testing at random is just about useless.
Click to expand...
 
Well you've had a success. That gives you one meal that maybe after testing one more time you can safely eat. That is a victory. It's always good to have some safe meals that are easy to prepare.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…