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Recently diagnosed.

S

sue3098

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
HCP
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi, I have been recently diagnosed with RH. I am confused to say the least!
Is RH recognised as a form of diabetes? I have trouble keeping my bm above 3.6, I have symptoms at about 2.9 so I'm constantly checking my sugars. When I do get sugars about 5, they remain there for short periods of time, if I do activity, even only cutting the grass, I become symptomatic and have to drink lucozade! I follow diet as best I can, but I can't seem to maintain a normal level. Any input would be appreciated
 

Hi and welcome to the forum!
The obvious question to ask from me is what diet are you on?
Did you read the newbies sticky thread in the RH forum?
Have you an endocrinologist?
What sort of symptoms do you have?

I will answer your questions more when I have a little more information.

There is a lot of information on the forum and the site.
And welcome to our forum again have a look around, and ask more questions, I'm sure you have loads.
 
Hi and thank you for the welcome and for replying. I have been watching/avoiding my sugars, eat low carbs. I eat plenty of fresh veg and work hard on not spiking my sugars.
I was seen in a&e about 2 months ago with bm of 2.1 they kept me in overnight, I had a fasting 4 hour blood glucose test the following week to confirm the RH. The endo wasn't very helpful if I'm honest, just said keep jelly babies and lucozade with me at all times.
I have been referred to dietician, apt is tomo at 09:30. Am looking forward to that, finding out what they have to say.
I have had left sided upper abdo pain for 2 years which I haven't got any answers for, ct and endoscopy showed no reason for pain. I fear it's my pancreas but consultant dismissed this as unlikely!
I have hypothyroidism and a full hysterectomy at 38, been on Hrt since and I'm now 44.
Sorry if I've bored you!!
I have been reading the posts about RH here and they are very informative.
Today, breakfast bran flakes, no sugar, hour after bm 9.1 (waking bm 5.1) an apple, cup of decaf tea. After house work, bm 3.4, feel shaky. Reach for the lucozade.
Long reply.. Hope I've covered what you asked
 
Forgot to mention, have BAD sweats, that's when I know my bm is going low
 
I
Hi again,
I'm back at work after this post, but just to start.
Probably because most specialist endocrinologists and dieticians are under orders to insist you have carbs is the answer you are looking for.
Do attend your appointment, but have an open mind about the advice.
Basically, I stay away from carbs and sugars all the time, they trigger your insulin and its the insulin that causes the hypos.
What happens is you eat the foods that trigger your insulin response, you spike, then hypo because your insulin keeps being produced as an overshoot.
If I eat very low carbs and don't trigger the insulin response, I don't hypo later.
Eat often every three hours, small meals, and stay away from sweets and lucozade if you do hypo, I have a rich tea biscuit and a cuppa with no milk and no sugar. You need to up your blood glucose levels up slowly, not a quick sugar fix.
We are different in the diabetic family, is that it still is a metabolic endocrine condition. Also RH does mimic T2 symptoms in some ways especially if you have insulin resistance.
What you should be aiming for is normal blood glucose levels most of the time, normal hba1c levels, because that is when you will feel better. If you don't spike you don't hypo.

So first, ditch the cereals, they are full of carbs and sugar.
I can eat fruit but eat half or a small one, what do you have in your tea? if anything have full fat milk or cream. You can have butter but no spreads, eat fresh meat nothing processed, eat protein, full fat not low fat, and so on.
When you have read the rest of the forum, read the low carb forum, there is some great ideas and recipes and alternatives to the carbs and starchy vegetables.
To finish, have you a monitor because you need to learn, discover, experiment what you are tolerant to and what you are intolerant to?

You might not like what you have to give up, food wise, but if you can avoid what I call the baddies, you will genuinely feel fitter and healthier.
You may even find that your thyroid problems may alleviate, there has been posters with thyroid problems and diabetes and doing very low carb has worked for them.

You see, I do long replies as well!
It is vitally important that you learn all about the condition so that you can control it.
Control is the key to unlock future health and well-being.

I'll come back later.
You've got some reading to do!

Best wishes.
 
Hi and welcome!

When I was hypoing daily, like you are, it was because I started the day with cereals, just like your bran flakes.

I'm willing to bet if you started the day with scrambled eggs, or a couple of 97% meat sausages, you wouldn't hypo later. Just don't have bread or toast, or anything carby with those eggs or sausages...
 
Hi Brunneria,
Thanks for reply. That's very helpful, I will ditch the bran flakes and go for the eggs. I'm off to see the dietician soon for the first time so I will ask lots of questions!
 
Hi sue, how did you get on?
 
Hi nosher8355,
I'm still finding my way around here and should have posted here instead of the personal message I sent!
I had a bad day yesterday, I suppose working shifts isn't helping my RH although I don't work nights anymore which can only be a positive.
I'm not going to be eating 'crackers' as suggested by my not so interested dietician yesterday.. I'm ditching the spuds as you suggested and see if that helps, keeping a note of everything I eat and the reaction I get.
I have been reading posts on here which is great to read about others experiences..
Just a question to you, do you feel better if you eat breakfast or skip it? When I am on an early shift I sometimes don't have breakfast and wonder if that's a bad move.
Hope you have a good day
 
I feel better sometimes when I don't eat in the morning, afternoon or evening!
That doesn't help for you to make a decision but I have done fasting for quite a while now, I have just the last couple of months experimented fasting at work and I have not had a bad reaction to it!
The reason I fast is because of my hospital tests, one was for a 72 hour fasting test.
It actually lasted 80 hrs. But the fast taught me one thing that my blood glucose levels go nowhere and stay in the normal zone. Weird but true. So I fast intermittently.
Which means I only eat three meals a day at 3pm, 6pm, 9pm.
Another reason is it cuts down on my caloric intake.
It also helps in the weight loss figures.
And you can get bored with meals, so a rest is ok for that.
And if you haven't got much money, it helps with the shopping budget!

Always drink plenty of water and watch out for your salt intake m especially in the warm weather, even though we haven't had a summer yet!
 
Hi Sue3098 and welcome to our forum.

I haven't been around for a while but was just having a read of your posts. I'm not going to give advice as Brun and Nosher have that covered and are the masters of all things RH! I just wanted to say keep positive and things will get better.

I was in your position 12 months ago. I was afraid to eat, afraid not to eat and didn't have a clue where to start in sorting the whole mess out! I waited weeks for an appointment with the dietician, only to come home feeling disappointed, disheartened and even more confused. My GP and Practice nurse know nothing about RH, so this forum and the Internet was the only source of information and help.

The guys on here really know their stuff and will happily guide you through. To give you hope, I now feel pretty good, far better than I ever thought possible. I'm lucky that I can tolerate a few carbs (around 100g spread throughout the day), but I only worked that out through experimenting and testing. It has taken months, but I got there and you will too.

Some of the best advice Nosher gave me (aside from dietary) was to overcome my anxiety about RH. It messes with your levels and makes control so much more difficult. Easier said than done, but he was so right.

Good luck with it all. Keep asking questions, we're all here to help.

Best wishes
 
 
Oops, it posted the quote and not what I wrote. I'm just getting used to this app lol.

I feel the same way. I am afraid to eat, afraid not to eat. I have no idea what I'm doing. I am newly T2D. What is your weekly groceries list/food diary, Kaz, if you don't mind me asking?
 
You have to shop, eat, record to your particular tastes and preferences. As long as it is low carb enough not to spike you two hours after eating then you can have anything you want, but, experiment with ideas and recipes from the low carb forum.

For instance, you could have bacon and eggs for breakfast.
Salad for lunch with protein of your choice.
Fish for tea. With appropriate vegetables.
Some Greek yogurt and dark chocolate for supper.
Berries and nuts are good for a snack.
There is a lot of options.

Or a vegan approach.

There is always something like soups, curries, stews and good vegetable meals, all homemade, it is what suits you!

The hard part is temptation!
It's always after you!
 

Hi melliemars, as Nosher has said we're all different so experimenting and testing is the only way to determine what suits you.

Have you got a bg monitor as that will help you greatly? I'm not diabetic but have RH so my needs may vary slightly to yours but firstly I cut out all refined sugar. I then looked at the carbs I was eating, both quantity and type. Many on this forum follow the lchf diet and get excellent results. My advice would be to reduce your carbs slowly and drink plenty of water. There's lots of ideas in the low carb section of the forum.

I guess a typical day for me is:
Breakfast - full fat Greek yogurt with a few berries, a sprinkling of muesli (no dried fruit), almonds and cinnamon with black decaf coffee. Sometimes I might have eggs, bacon, mushrooms etc if I have time.

Morning snack - very small apple

Lunch - salad with some protein or omelette

Afternoon snack - nut/seed protein bar (Nature Valley do one with peanuts and sunflower seeds that doesn't affect my bg)

Dinner - varies really. Meat or fish with veg or salad. Homemade curry, chilli, soup etc. Try to choose above ground veg.

Supper - milky decaf coffee and a square of 80% dark choc.

I can tolerate a small amount of carbs with each meal and personally feel better for it. These include whole grain basmati rice, wholewheat pasta, very small jacket potato, a couple of small roast/boiled potatoes etc. Celeriac is also a good alternative to potato if you like it as its lower in carbs. I don't like it mashed, but it's nice roasted and I make oven chips with it.

Other good snacks are sausages, cheese, nuts, meat, small pieces of fruit (if it doesn't spike your bg).

Please don't be afraid to eat. Even small changes can make a difference. Try to cook everything from scratch if you can so you know what you're eating. There's lots of hidden sugars in processed food. If you have to eat ready made food, check the label. You need to look at total carbs not just sugar. Something can be fairly low in sugar but high in carbs and carbs will raise your blood sugar levels.

I hope this helps a little.
 
My consultant suggested I try porridge for breakfast as its slow release. That didn't work well for me either. Took me a while to work it out but I spiked fast and dropped around the 2 hour mark. I think it was Brun who suggested dropping the carbs at breakfast. For me, Greek yogurt and berries provides a much better start to the day and I don't feel I need to spend the whole day eating to correct my levels anymore. I still try to eat every 2-3 hours but that's just little snacks (sometimes I can go a long as 4-5 hours as I just don't feel hungry). I never thought I'd reach this stage but I have
 
Hi Kaz, A dish full of porridge puts me into double figures after one hour and I hypo after two. I normally have two fried eggs in olive oil and a few berries and yoghurt and I keep in 6's.
regards Derek
 
scrambled egg for breakfast, with cheese.. Nuts as snack, whole grain rice with cheese, chicken, olives, broccoli for lunch. Small Apple as snack.. Bm 6.7... Hour later crashed to 2.7... Hideous.
Been doing so well all week.. No explanation, hadn't done any strenuous activity.
Quick fix digestive biscuits, but this time took 45 mins to get to 4.4
Was sent home from work.. This was out the blue and I'm gutted
 

It was almost certainly the rice and the apple, I am sorry to say.

The only other culprits would be (for me) stress or high levels of activity - and you say you didn't didn't do anything strenuous.

Sorry you had the hypo. They are horrible.
 
This is caused by not eating after a couple of hours after your meal and I think you ate too much at that meal. Eat small meals regularly to offset the hypo!

I have a theory about what has happened here.

Because you didn't do much, the hypo was probably caused by the rice or Apple but if she done even a walk after eating, I'm sure that her hypo would not have happened.

I believe a less strenuous activity helps enormously with setting blood glucose levels, I have no evidence, just my experience.

But you must eat regularly.
 
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