NO CARBS BUT HIGH READING

shandromeda

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hI,after reading on here that my sugars maybe up because of carbs i cut the carbs out i was 14.7 tested this morning and i was 18.2 !! i'm type 2 and take Metformin twice a day been on these for about a year and just last week nurse added Gliclazide also twice a day,i'm feeling rough bad pains in head and sleepy all the time as well as blurred eye sight,any one got any tips how to get my sugars down,shan x
 

sugarless sue

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When you say 'cut the carbs out' do you mean no carbs at all? No one on the forum ever advocates trying a no carb diet,we all eat some ,in differing amounts.Your symptoms are stemming from your high blood sugar levels.What are you eating ?
 

shandromeda

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Yesteday i had
Morning,poridge with semi skimmed milk
Dinner,scrabbled eggs,tomatoes,2 quorn sausages
tea,mashed swede and carrot,sweetcorn,quorn burgers
snacks;oat cakes,apple,cherrys
i do fancy pancakes with the kids tonight,lol,shan x
 

sugarless sue

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shandromeda said:
Yesteday i had
Morning,poridge with semi skimmed milk
Dinner,scrabbled eggs,tomatoes,2 quorn sausages
tea,mashed swede and carrot,sweetcorn,quorn burgers
snacks;oat cakes,apple,cherrys
i do fancy pancakes with the kids tonight,lol,shan x

All those marked in red are carbs as well so you are getting some carbs.
 

sugarless sue

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I discovered that any oat based product sends my blood sugars soaring.You really need to test before your meal,then two hours after it to see if your Blood sugars have returned to what they were prior to your meal.
 

Dennis

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Hi Shandromeda,
You are obviously having more carbs that you think you are.

shandromeda said:
Yesteday i had
Morning,poridge with semi skimmed milk - porridge is very high carb, milk contains lactose (a sugar)- around 65g carbs in total
Dinner,scrabbled eggs,tomatoes,2 quorn sausages - quorn contains 6g carb per 100g, quite low but depends on what else was in the sausage as a bulking agent (often bread or oats)
tea,mashed swede and carrot,sweetcorn,quorn burgers - swede, carrot & sweetcorn all contain carbs - a typical portion of each would be a total of around 30g of carb.
snacks;oat cakes,apple,cherrys - oat cakes 6.5g each, apple 20g, cherries 10g
i do fancy pancakes with the kids tonight,lol,shan x

So as a very rough estimate that gives you a total of somewhere around 165g carbs over the day (not allowing anything for the milk you probably had in teas and coffees). That is not bad at all, but if your BS is still going up then it shows that it is still more carbs than your body's insulin production can deal with. Which means you may need to reduce it further. A very big saving would be to replace the breakfast porridge with eggs and bacon, or just eggs - how about a cheese omelette? - virtually no carbs and because it is high protein it will make you feel fuller for longer.
 

shandromeda

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Thank you,as my nurse won't give me a meter i'm thinking of asking my doctor for one,i am worried to use the meter i bought very often as i'm worried about running out of test strips.she said she won't give me one because if it reads low i'll eat sugar to bring it back up and being a type 2 it would be a wrong reading !! but so far my reading is always high,
Dennis thanks eatting more carbs than i thought,i'm a veggie so meats out plus i'm on simvastatin for cholesterol so i can't have to much egg,is there a cereal i can eat,shan x
 

ChocFish

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Hello Shandromeda

Its a bit confusing this business with carbs isnt it, dont worry I think we all have made mistakes in the beginning, but dont worry you will get there eventually :)

Re cereals - they are all high carb really, but I think you can get a low carb cereal from the low carb megastore? Have a look there www.lowcarbmegastore.com

Also you are a vegetarian, I suggest you get hold of the low carb vegetarian books by Rose Elliott and Celia Brown, I am vegetarian too, there are some good recipes in there, also look at the recipes in the forum here, you can subsitute the meat with soya based products, tofu, quorn, you can eat cheese, eggs and nuts too.

All the best

Karen
 

phoenix

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My estimate of your carbs for the day would have been lower than Denis's, mainly for the breakfast. How many carbs you eat is dependent on portion size and obviously that varies from person to person. I eat porridge every morning, 40gm oats + milk works out at 38g carbs. With your veg it is the sweetcorn that has by far the highest carb count.(actually you'd probably have a lower count with a few baby new pototatos.)ut The vast majority of veg have lower carb percentages.
Pulses (chickpeas, lentils etc) have between 16 and 20% carbs but they have low glycemic indices and some people find them useful in a veggie diet. (again you need to test to see how they work for you)
Because I take insulin, I weigh a lot of my carbs to get accurate counts, and make good use of carb counting tables. it also makes sure that I don't eat too many extra spoonfulls!
 

hanadr

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Hi shandromeda
If this is an accurate transcription of what your nurse actually said, she doesn't know what she's talking about
and being a type 2 it would be a wrong reading !! A meter aimply tells you BG level, whether or not you have diabetes or what kind
but so far my reading is always high,
Dennis thanks eatting more carbs than i thought,i'm a veggie so meats out plus i'm on simvastatin for cholesterol so
i can't have to much egg It's a myth that dietary cholesterol appears as blood cholesterol. It's carbs that do that.
It's hard being a low carb veggie, but you can probably get some useful ideas from low carb web sites such as "Living la Vida Low carb"
 

Patch

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Eggs are RIDICULOUSLY good for you! (Just another bit of health "advice" that we've believed for years completely disproved!) I love 'em... I'd eat 'em every day if I could. Just scramble 'em with a splash of double cream and throw in a few chopped chives. Bl00dy lovely!

Organic, free range eggs are by far the best. They have much higher levels of Omega 3 than any other egg.

Peace, Love and lots of Eggs!
 

shandromeda

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Thanks Patch i was worried about eggs because i'm on tablets for high cholesterol and its the one thing i've managed to get down(5.2) so i wasn't sure about eating to many, :? shan x
 

Aadrgon

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Hi Shan
If you already have a BG meter just ask the doctor to write you a prescription for your strips and lancets. I brought an Accu-chek Aviva because my nurse " didn't have any meters to give away" and have been getting prescriptions for it ever since.

I've sort of followed the advice in here for the last week on reducing carb by just avoiding high carb foods and my BG has dropped from 13 to 7.5.

Worst thing about it is I no longer fall asleep at work and I've realised how boring my job can be :)
 

samcogle

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Hi, I posted a similar question yesterday (sorry didn't see this one). I didn't realise the amount of carbs I was eating either. Reduced them greatly and have to say I feel a lot better. i don't have any strips yet as I am waiting for a delivery.
Advice too though please as I do eat some rye bread that says it is low GI. Should I believe everything that I read on packets?
p.s I have ordered the collins little gems carb book which has been recommended on here to help if that is any good for you Shan?? I too am a veggie, well a vegan but I am starting to wonder if this may be a bit too strict for me.
 

shandromeda

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i've just bought a book called The pocket fat,carbohydrate and fibre counter by Carol Bateman,i think it would help me but in the last two weeks my Diabetes has made my eyes blurred even with my glasses i can't read the small writting :shock: but i've took advice from here and using it,shan x
 

samcogle

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shandromeda said:
i've just bought a book called The pocket fat,carbohydrate and fibre counter by Carol Bateman,i think it would help me but in the last two weeks my Diabetes has made my eyes blurred even with my glasses i can't read the small writting :shock: but i've took advice from here and using it,shan x
Good luck. My BG is all over the place but I am taking it as trial and error as people have advised on here. I also like you didn't realise that I was eating more carbs than I thought. It's a tricky business this diabetes stuff but I am sure we can rise to the challenge :D
 
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catherinecherub

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Rye bread is low G.I. but you still have to careful with the portion size. I would suggest you make an open sandwich, (one slice) and test to see if it is for you. Burgen soya and linseed is also low G.I. and this also has to be tested. If you could bake your own, there is a recipe for Fergus's low carb bread on the forum. All starchy carbs like bread, potatoes, cereals, rice and pasta have different effects on different people and that is why it is essential to test.
Hope this helps,
Catherine.
 

shandromeda

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Is soda bread ok,think some one said they had it.It is hard to sort out whats ok and whats not,my bg is still high and i can't get it down as yet (14.5) but i'm trying,shan x
 

hanadr

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It'd the grains that contain the carbs, so it doesn't matter what kind of bread if it's based on flour from grain.