Not really sure what I'm doing.....

[bigredpig]

Hi everyone,

I'm 59 years of age and was diagnosed as type 2 two years ago. After initial hospitalisation with a blood sugar reading of 34, I was put on medication since and have noticed the various other things that effect a male with diabetes, which, to be very honest, I find very depressing. I think I've been in denial and have had good days and bad days in implimenting dietry control. I have recently statrted cycling again a few months back and ride four days a week for an hour or so a day but I ride a circuit at pretty reasonable speed. I'm increasing the training to twice a day whenever possible.

I saw the articles in the papers a few weeks back on reversing diabetes and welcomed them, I was so enthused that I beat my best cycle training ride by two minutes.

After speaking to my GP he has advised me to come off my medication if I want to lose weight, he thinks that it'd be pretty much impossible to do so otherwise. But, he has strong views about the starvation diet of 600 calories a day. His advice is reduce calory intake gradually. I've reviewed my diet and am following wherever possible the low GI diet. I'm on breakfast, lunch and evening meal, with snacks in between.

I've been off my medication for just short of a week, I'd have expected all traces of medication to have left my body by now. My blood sugars are all over the place. If I eat an apple, levels increase, moreso than I would expect for something low on the GI scale.

This morning, I rode 15 miles before (normally after)breakfast, blood sugars went from 14.3 to 14.4. They've gradually dropped to 11.4, before lunch. I'm struggling to control blood sugar levels, I need some regularity/routine in my daily life.

Any suggestions anyone please.........

 

[ClaireG 06]

Hi and welcome to the forum
I know you are not new to diabetes but there is some very useful advice on this link written by Ken and Sue

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088

Any more questions please feel free to ask, there's normally someone who can help. Also have you checked out the diet and exercise areas of the forum ? You may find useful advice there

 

[hallii]

Diet plays a very important part in controlling your blood glucose levels.

There are differing views on what works best on this forum, so, without wishing to argue with anyone I will state my personal experience.

Eating the NHS diet of brown rice, wholemeal bread, fruit, and so on, I was unable to keep my BGs down.

I switched to low carbohydrate some time ago and after about two weeks things started to improve, BGs came down and the end result is that whilst I am on a low dose of Metformin, I managed a 5.2% HbA1c last time. Excercise is good, but it can make your BGs go up as well as down. For me, one thing is sure, to many carbohydates make my BGs go up very quickly.

H

 

[anna29]

Hiya, welcome to us all here, you have a good plan in place , fantastic active lifestyle with all the cycling, [wow, you put me to shame!] been off the meds just a week and following your own choice of diet , with the erratic BS levels I know it can be a pain to tweak things with what works n dosent? could your GP refer you to a dietician where you can talk thro what foods you like and reduce the calorie in take safetly n keep your BS down? As you will see mentioned on here keep testing 2-4hrs after eating then you can see where your levels hit n lie at. Maybe write them down also to show GP/dietician , you have a great positive attitude with your active cycling n eating plans in place, then you can settle into a routine that suits you fine, could it be that you may still need a bit of help with sum meds alongside too? something to ponder over and discuss with GP next time , if despite all efforts your BS remain high. Hope this helps ? Anna.x

 

[NewdestinyX]

Hi Bigredpig,
Welcome to the forum! I too am an avid cyclist post my diagnosis of diabetes. The oral meds and a lo carb diet weren't bringing my numbers where they needed to be. My insulin resistance at 136kilos, no matter how few carbs I ate didn't get my numbers in shape. Though exercise always brough my numbers down it never got me to my goals. Only starting insulin got me under control. At first I used too much of the long acting kind which 'stopped' my weight loss and that's probably why your doctor said certain meds would make weight loss hard. But as soon as I adjusted my insulin so that my 'low number' was before LUNCH and not before BREAKFAST then the weight loss started again. One of the biggest mistakes people make when they start insulin is to try and get that 'perfect' number be the WAKE UP number. That's pretty impossible without overusing the basal insulin since most of us have what they call Dawn Effect where our body fires the liver to dump glucose so we'll wake up. It's a 'human' normal thing. But diabetics don't have good Phase I insulin response so we go higher in the am. If we dose the slow acting (basal insulin) to try and get a perfect waking number we tend to go low at lunch and dinner AND it stalls our weight loss, or worse, adds weight.

So if you haven't tried insulin - maybe it's time to ask the doc if that's an option -- with the important caveat to use 'just' enough long acting insulin to get a reasonably good 'before lunch' number -- and then likely your weight loss on your GREAT cycling regimen can continue AND you can have those better numbers you're hoping for.

Diet modification, exercise increase and oral meds are often the first keys. If they don't work to get the numbers you want then it's time for insulin. I now have lost 29kilos and don't need 'any' slow acting insulin anymore. Diet and exercise are all I need for my 'fasting levels'. I still keep fast acting insulin (bolus) on hand for those times when I want to 'cheat a little more' on my diet. We all need that from time to time. In my experience -- the fast acting insulin, if you 'cheat' sensibly and don't overdo it - does NOT add weight back to you. It's the slow acting insulin, taking too much, that can make you gain weight while on it.

That's probably more info than you wanted - but I figured I'd give you the insulin angle - since your situation sounds a LOT like mine was.

Hang in there. Ask a lot of questions and again, welcome!