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Type 2 Pigged Out And Confused

DnB

DnB

Member
Messages
10
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all, I've been diagnosed with type 2 for about two and a half years now and take 500mg of metformin, twice a day. Initially I lost a lot of weight, 19 stone down to 13 but I put on 2 stone over the last year. My nurse told me I should be eating more carbohydrates, I told her I would put on weight and she disagreed. A bit silly really but I thought I'll prove a point, so I relaxed my normally tight eating habits and ate more bread pasta ect, albeit wholemeal, and inevitably I put on weight. However, my HBA1C has stayed between 35 and 40 during the last year( tested 3 times). My nurse said the metformin is working but I'm sure I read it only equates 1-2% reduction in HBA1C which considering my initial reading was 72 doesn't seem right.
Saturday night I had a mad moment, I had a lot of cake, I read the box after and it said 14grams of sugar per fifth of cake. I easily ate 3/5ths, at least 40 grams of sugar. Which made me quite anxious, I thought I'd get a headache, feel tired or generally ****, none of which I felt. Two hours after eating I tested (now I don't know what my level was before but I had eaten a meal beforehand and normally it's 5-6) I tested 6.5.
I don't think I'm really in denial but I'm confused with the low readings I have been getting, the only one being high was the initial one. 2 months after the 72 reading I was 35. Any opinion or advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks
 
I guess you have two choices - keep on eating the way you are, continue to put on weight until you reach your own personal visceral fat threshold for diabetes and end up exactly where you started from. Is that what you really want?

If you haven't already read @Pipp's thread, I'd suggest it's a cautionary tale worth considering:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/five-years-after-newcastle-diet.102937/

Do you really feel well after these carb binges of yours? Personally the last thing I'd ever want to do is go back to the lack of energy I used to feel back in the days before my diagnosis. I was so tired I would go back to bed after eating a "healthy" carb breakfast. No thanks :eek:
 
DnB said:
Hi all, I've been diagnosed with type 2 for about two and a half years now and take 500mg of metformin, twice a day. Initially I lost a lot of weight, 19 stone down to 13 but I put on 2 stone over the last year. My nurse told me I should be eating more carbohydrates, I told her I would put on weight and she disagreed. A bit silly really but I thought I'll prove a point, so I relaxed my normally tight eating habits and ate more bread pasta ect, albeit wholemeal, and inevitably I put on weight. However, my HBA1C has stayed between 35 and 40 during the last year( tested 3 times). My nurse said the metformin is working but I'm sure I read it only equates 1-2% reduction in HBA1C which considering my initial reading was 72 doesn't seem right.
Saturday night I had a mad moment, I had a lot of cake, I read the box after and it said 14grams of sugar per fifth of cake. I easily ate 3/5ths, at least 40 grams of sugar. Which made me quite anxious, I thought I'd get a headache, feel tired or generally ****, none of which I felt. Two hours after eating I tested (now I don't know what my level was before but I had eaten a meal beforehand and normally it's 5-6) I tested 6.5.
I don't think I'm really in denial but I'm confused with the low readings I have been getting, the only one being high was the initial one. 2 months after the 72 reading I was 35. Any opinion or advice would be gratefully received.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Test more frequently.

The only way to tell how you are responding to foods is to test before, 1 hour after, 2 hours after, and (if hour 2 is higher than hour 1), at 3 hours [or on the half hour, if you're really obsessive]. That will capture the spike (generally around 1 hour), and give you a better idea as to your body's insulin response/resistance.

It may be that your body's response has changed - in which case you're lucky. My own tolerance is no higher than 7.8.

After losing 65 lbs, and - more to the point - following the Blood Sugar Diet + intermittent fasting - I moved from diabetic to prediabetes. I can eat more carbs, but generally I choose not to because I don't want to move back to being diabetic.

As to your nurse's advice - my personal opinion is that it is hogwash. Predictable hogwash, but hogwash nonetheless. People with diabetes don't process refined carbohydrates in a healthy manner because of insulin resistance, decreased insulin secretion, or both. The only reliable method I am aware of for halting progress is limiting carbohydrates. (Losing weight works for some people, different dietary restrictions work for another subset, but limiting carbohydrates works for pretty much everyone I know with T2 diabetes until it progresses to the point where your body stops producing insulin, or produces insufficient insulin to handle the glucose sent into the bloodstream b ythe liver.) My limit is around 20 net grams in a 2 hour period.
 
HI. I think you know the nurse was giving you bad information and helps explain why there are so many obese people around stuffing themselves with carbs. Carry on keeping the carbs down to control your weight and hopefully your blood sugar will stay down and your diabetes will stay at a low level. The Metformin will be helping a bit but never has that much effect on blood sugar.
 
@DnB
Well done on the weight loss and achieving good BG ontrol. Please beware the carb feasting. I too seemed to think I could get away with it, and seemed to for 5 years. I have recently had a wake up call. It scares the hell out of me, but was a wake up call, I am galsd to have had.
Don't be lulled into a false sense of security. Also, I don't believe Metformin or other meds are a good solution for bad diet choices.
 
Hi, losing 6 stone is fantastic, you walked the walk and I truly believe you are your own expert on your body. Might I respectfully suggest you go back to what worked for you. :)
 
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