Peony50 - Learning to live with Type 2

Hello All,

I hope you don't mind me starting a new thread but I didn't wish to derail others' threads with my ramblings.

A very little background information about me, I am 50, about 3 stone overweight and have had fibromyalgia for many years and diagnosed type 2 in August 2014. My levels are not bad, so the idea is for me to manage it through diet and exercise. Sadly, I have not got a handle on this, the nurse thinks I am in denial, I don't know about this?

My concerns are with the fact that my mother suffered a severe stroke in 2012 which has left her disabled, and my grandfather also had a stroke and he too had type 2 diabetes. My mum was very fit and healthy prior to her stroke, not overweight like me. I feel like I need to get control now, especially as the years pass I am likely to become the carer for my parents.

I am on a number of different medications, three for high blood pressure that I have had for 21 years, Atorvastatin, Vit D and calcium, Amitryptyline for the fibromyalgia.

So, to help me understand more what is going on I invested in a meter and I have been taking readings:

Today's are as follows:
Waking: 8.7
Breakfast: Before 8.3 After 8.7
Two slices Vogel toasted

Lunch: Before 7.4 After 7.2
200g Chana dhal

These numbers don't seem bad to me, but should I be aiming for 5's to 6's?

Any tips will be appreciated.

DeejayR said:

Hello again! Those numbers are not bad at all and well done for your commitment. Have patience. Perhaps you feel hemmed in by your meds and fearful to do anything that will make things worse. So please take it easy and remember that you are not your dear mum or anyone else in your family, and you can start on your road to wellbeing straight away.
If you want to try a low-carb diet, do it gently. Exercise in whatever way you can. Test first thing in the morning, before every meal and two hours after the first bite. You will get a pattern, plus some hiccups which we all get and we can set your mind at ease about those.
If you have a sympathetic GP or nurse who will support you with this regime, terrific. Probably you won't, but don't worry, we can help.
You can find the kind of food we eat in the various postings here and I promise it doesn't have to be repetitive or boring. My imagination is kept at full stretch when making my shopping list and my dear missis kindly eats it all. She seems pretty healthy and so do I.

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Many thanks for your kind words. It certainly does help having this forum and all the experiences of people on the same path.

I am certainly finding it interesting to see the effects that different foods have. My readings for today have been:

Waking 8.7
Breakfast Before 8.3 After 8.7
Lunch Before 7.4 After 7.2
Dinner Before 6.0 After 7.8

One thing, my hubby has noticed that my hands are trembling, which they can do, sometimes it is difficult to get the fork safely to my mouth without dropping all the food everywhere! Any ideas if linked?

Off to explore some nice LCHF recipes

Thank you all for your helpful posts.

DeejayR, how did your body react to the cheese on toast? I haven't had cheese on toast for a while, trying not to think about it too much

Daibel, I went low carb in June 2012 when first diagnosed with pre diabetes and did well, losing 18 pounds within 2 months. Then with mum's stroke and me comfort eating it all went by the by. Now is the time I knuckle down and get on with it.

Ruth, many thanks for your advice. I think the trembling tends to occur before, during and just after eating, but I will keep an eye out for it to see if occurring more frequently.

One thing I am noticing is that my numbers often seem to be better after eating at the 2 hour stage than before eating. Does this mean that my body is processing the carbs/sugar efficiently?

My breakfast was not low carb, it was 41g All Bran with 111g not too ripe banana with full fat milk. Before I was 8.4, After 8.0.

Just had a low carb lunch of bacon and egg and before was 7.6, after was 6.0 which I am happy about.

Finding testing fascinating! One question, do you find it easy to arrange disposal of the lancets and test strips? At the moment all mine are in an old coffee mate tin! Not sure whom to contact to arrange disposal, and also do they need to be disposed off within a certain time frame?

Morning all,

Here is to a new month!

Thanks RRB, I need to see my doctor soon for a HBA1C test so will mention it. Also, must mention that my one foot has been feeling strange, numb heel. I don't think my blood levels are bad enough to have affected my foot though, so perhaps it is the fibromyalgia ?

Thanks dingdong for the advice, silly I know but it was the disposal of the items that was making me anxious, now I feel ok about it.

Today we should be receiving a pair of bathroom scales so it will be 'interesting' to see what I weigh, it will not be pretty. Today is also the day I will start adhering to LCHF principles. For breakfast it will be bacon and egg. Lunch will be ? Dinner will be fish pie that is already in the house but I will scrape off the mashed potato.

I will need to go food shopping very soon and buy in more friendly food.

BBL

Brunneria said:

Hi,

@Mike D had trembling hands, and I think they improved when he stopped with statin, but maybe he will pop in and explain.

- no idea if you are on statins, but it could easily be some other drug or similar. I get the shakes and hand trembling from 2 things, too much cofee, and when I hypo. But a doc visit is always advisable.

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Thank you for this. Interesting as I am on Atorvastatin 20mg for high cholesterol. Had high cholesterol for many years but I did not go on a statin until after mum's stroke, so been on them since August 2012.

Not wishing to appear like a hypochondriac but do any of you get extremely itchy lower legs since being diagnosed with type 2? Sometimes my skin is so itchy It drives me to distraction, thing is it can disappear and I forget all about it.