One month in

Hi
Don't worry the people on this forum don't bite.
The metformin might be making you tired. It does cause vitamin b12 deficiency. I cannot take it.
You could also be suffering a bit from carb flu as you adjust to life without high carb.
If you want treats have a look at dietdoctor website. Tom Kerridges book Dopamine diet has some nice puds.
You said you are not testing. You really need to. It helps work out what carbs upset you. I can eat some potato but cous cous throws me over a cliff.
It does take some getting used to eating fat but after 2 months my Hba1c has gone down from 53 to 47.
Do you know what your figures are?

Hi and welcome,

Well done on plucking up the courage to post - there is no need to be nervous. We don't bite. And well done on being proactive about your diagnosis, going LCHF and losing weight.

Most doctors tell us not to test and give a variety of reasons, but these aren't reasons, they are excuses for not prescribing meters and strips due to cost. Most of us just ignore that bit of the conversation and buy our own. Meters are essential if you want to control this. Without one you are working blind and have no idea what your food choices are doing to your levels.

The fatigue may be because you haven't found the right balance between low carb and high fat. The lower your carbs are the higher your fat must go, like a see-saw. You lose energy by cutting carbs so need to replace it with fats. Perhaps you could try adding a little more to your diet? Extra cheese and extra eggs might work.

Please keep posting and never be afraid to ask questions.

Hello and welcome. It sounds like you are doing all the right things, take your time to settle into your new lifestyle.
Do you have a meter. My GP won't supply one but I bought my own. It's a great incentive when you see your numbers coming down. The SD CodeFree or the Tee2 are the cheapest for strips.
There is no need to miss out on treats. There are some fabulous low carb recipes. Just google the keto or low carb version of what you want. These are all fab !
http://www.diabeticgoodbaking.com/2015/01/chocolate-mousse.html
https://www.verywell.com/lemon-cheesecake-2241741
https://low-carb-support.com/dark-chocolate-truffles-low-carb-sugar-free/
and loads more here
http://www.diabeticgoodbaking.com/
.

Well done! doing the research, going low carb, sticking to it... well done indeed.

Regarding your energy levels, and low carbing, you may still be in the transition phase where your body is learning to adjust to low carbing.

How low are you? 'low carbing' covers quite a range of carb intake, varying from no carbs at all, up to about 130g carbs a day. Depending on where you are on that range, it can affect how much 'carb flu' you experience. Some people get none, some are over it in a day or two, and some take a full 6-8 weeks before they have fully adapted.

That adaptation can vary depending on whether you are aiming for ketogenic eating (usually less than 50 g carbs a day) or just low carb, where you run dual fuel, on carbs and fats and switch between the two.

A couple of other things that may be affecting your energy levels, is how much magnesium and potassium you are getting on your new way of eating (are you getting enough salt, and are you drinking a cup of broth a day?). PErsonally, I feel very much better if I supplement with magnesium and potassium, both of which make my muscles feel much better.

Also, are you going low calorie too? Consciously, or by accident? IF you want to lose weight, then this may be what you want, but the calorie short fall means your body will have to be working harder to generate energy for exercise, especially if that exercise is hard work, and demanding on the muscles.

Hope that helps.

Hi and welcome,
You mention being sick is that nausea or tummy problems, I have been told by friends who have taken Metformin that they too experienced nausea, the high dosage VitD could be adding to the problem of nausea.
I take it you don't have a meter to test with, if not I would recommend you get one so you can test how your food is affecting your numbers, if your self funding both the meters below have reasonably priced strips as its the cost of the strips that make the difference there is a voucher code for the codefree so you can buy in bulk and save even more.
CODE FREE STRIPS PROMO CODE : 264086 5 TUBS 975833 10 TUBS
https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/
http://spirit-healthcare.co.uk/product/tee2-blood-glucose-meter/

hca said:

Hello. I was diagnosed as type 2 just over a month ago. After the initial shock I decided to take control, after all it's my life.
GP put me on metformin 2 x 500mg a day and gave me a diet sheet for type 1 diabetics, he also put me on a high dose of vit d as I was low in that area. Needless to say I was very sick (literally) with the Med. My second appointment was a bit bizarre as he had forgotten why I was seeing him. To cut long story short melds are staying the same and he told me I had no need to test.

Since these appointments I have gone Lchf and already lost 8 1/2 lbs and everyone says how much better I look. Yesterday I had my eyes tested ( just waiting results) and on Tuesday I am seeing the diabetic nurse. I don't know what my bs levels are but do know that they were originally 18.3 when last tested prior to diagnoses using the works machine.

I do have the odd moment when I think the diet is too hard and really miss the odd treat, however husband and son have enjoyed every meal so far, it still feels odd cooking with butter and eating full fat cream and yogurt etc.

The only real problem now is my energy levels which seem very low, even 5mins on the cross trainer exhausts me.

Any ideas on boosting my energy levels would me much appreciated as I used to be very active.

Anyway this is me and my first ever post (it has taken me since diagnosis to pluck up the courage to post after much reading on this site, as I am a very nervous person)

Click to expand...

a lot of people do have a flu like feeling when getting used to the low carb diet for many it disapears very quikly in my case after a less than a week ... but please keep on maybe take a few days on almost now carb so your body maybe will get started in producing ketones which is an alternate kind of brain fuel when glucose is low... many have never switched onto that kind of fuel producing as many in modern life grass all day and night on food and treats, it will also help you if you start fasting from early evening untill next day late close to lunch...

one of the problems in type 2 diabetes is a very raised level of insuline very often 7-10 times the normal level of insuline, but our body will not let the insuline work the right way where it leads the glucose into the muscles cells so therefore our body keeps signaling to produce even more insuline and as long as insuline is raised we can not switch onto fat-burning.

fasting for quite some hours every day is the most effective way to lower insuline so therefore it is a very fine way to help type 2 diabetics to get more average healthy levels of insuine and also if low enough in both insuline and carbs be able to also burn bodyfat..

preferably under 100 grams of carbs a day

Hi again, just to add when your ready to buy your meter remember to tick the "I am a diabetic" box on the site so you don't pay vat......

@hca

Hello Hca and welcome to the Forum To complement the excellent advice you have already received on this thread, here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope it will help you. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to answer you.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 147,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

Brunneria said:

Well done! doing the research, going low carb, sticking to it... well done indeed.

Regarding your energy levels, and low carbing, you may still be in the transition phase where your body is learning to adjust to low carbing.

How low are you? 'low carbing' covers quite a range of carb intake, varying from no carbs at all, up to about 130g carbs a day. Depending on where you are on that range, it can affect how much 'carb flu' you experience. Some people get none, some are over it in a day or two, and some take a full 6-8 weeks before they have fully adapted.

That adaptation can vary depending on whether you are aiming for ketogenic eating (usually less than 50 g carbs a day) or just low carb, where you run dual fuel, on carbs and fats and switch between the two.

A couple of other things that may be affecting your energy levels, is how much magnesium and potassium you are getting on your new way of eating (are you getting enough salt, and are you drinking a cup of broth a day?). PErsonally, I feel very much better if I supplement with magnesium and potassium, both of which make my muscles feel much better.

Also, are you going low calorie too? Consciously, or by accident? IF you want to lose weight, then this may be what you want, but the calorie short fall means your body will have to be working harder to generate energy for exercise, especially if that exercise is hard work, and demanding on the muscles.

Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

Great post