Scared of high BS resultstoday

[Halfhybrid]

Hi again Halfhybrid,
I'm sad and sorry to hear your family isn't as supportive for you. Because you don't feel able to explain to them you are now diagnosed diabetic when you have those family meals how about telling them you are going Low Carb to lower your weight? Surly they can't argue or make you feel bad about that especially as they too are overweight, but maybe if you do that they won't push you to eat the rice, pasta etc and maybe they will follow you when they see your weight lower. As has been shown many times with people in this forum the LCHF diet does help lower weight (as it has done for me too) and lower blood test numbers as well, but it really doesn't happen in one day or even one week, but after maybe 3 or 4 weeks you should see a difference not only in your numbers but in your weight. Small losses are the ones that keep the weight off so don't look for huge weight loss straight away.

Also try to remember that stress, anxiety etc also put our numbers up, so try to be calm and patient and enjoy each reduction. We don't judge, we don't criticise but this forum does offer good support for all and if you look around you'll see there is even a section where you can vent as much as you need.

I is very confusing and worrying when first diagnosed but as you can see from your replies you do get used to it once you have made the decision to get those numbers down by changing your lifestyle. It's not easy I agree, but it is doable and you will get used to going without the carbs, plenty of meat, fish chicken, above ground veg, eggs, cheese, full fat yoghurt etc and can have eggs bacon, good sausage for breakfast, eat those type of foods and hunger will be something you don't feel anymore.

Hi Valann. Your advice really clarifies things. I should be able to eat all those things OK. What should I have if I feel hungry between meals and don't know what to have to fill the gap?

I have been really stressed and scared since I did the test and with each subsequent test. The levels are still high. I have made an appointment at my surgery for Friday, to have both my tailbone injury looked at and to have blood tests to investigate the high BS level. I expect the level will come back high and I then dread visiting the Diabetes Nurse as there is one rather unpleasant nurse who did my very first appointment and made me feel like an insect who wasn't worth bothering with as I'd made myself ill (not her words but her attitude said it all).

 

[Resurgam]

Hi Valann. Your advice really clarifies things. I should be able to eat all those things OK. What should I have if I feel hungry between meals and don't know what to have to fill the gap?

I have been really stressed and scared since I did the test and with each subsequent test. The levels are still high. I have made an appointment at my surgery for Friday, to have both my tailbone injury looked at and to have blood tests to investigate the high BS level. I expect the level will come back high and I then dread visiting the Diabetes Nurse as there is one rather unpleasant nurse who did my very first appointment and made me feel like an insect who wasn't worth bothering with as I'd made myself ill (not her words but her attitude said it all).

If you are not eating high carb foods it is very unlikely that you will be hungry between meals, as carbs cause a release if insulin and that will eventually lower levels of blood glucose and that will mean you feel hungry. I suspect that type 2 diabetics respond slower than usual to insulin, and their pancreas keeps on putting it out longer, so there is a time lag which causes problems.
There is an awful lot written and spoken about how good wholemeal etc is for us, but for a type 2 that seems to be untrue, and my gut just takes the slowly digested description as a challenge.

 

[valann]

Hi Valann. Your advice really clarifies things. I should be able to eat all those things OK. What should I have if I feel hungry between meals and don't know what to have to fill the gap?

I have been really stressed and scared since I did the test and with each subsequent test. The levels are still high. I have made an appointment at my surgery for Friday, to have both my tailbone injury looked at and to have blood tests to investigate the high BS level. I expect the level will come back high and I then dread visiting the Diabetes Nurse as there is one rather unpleasant nurse who did my very first appointment and made me feel like an insect who wasn't worth bothering with as I'd made myself ill (not her words but her attitude said it all).

If I'm feeling a bit hungry or just want a snack I tend to reach for some cheese and a few olives (not too many), maybe a slice of ham, beef or chicken, or avocado with some cream cheese or a hard boiled egg. Also a small tub of full fat Greek Yoghurt with a few Chia seeds helped me keep hunger at bay, funny thing is I don't get so hungry now my body is used to Low Carb, i.e. the good stuff. Just because we can't have carbs doesn't mean we can't fill up on good, healthy stuff, and a few nuts help at times too.

Yes at the moment you are feeling stressed and scared, but try to remember that in the end you will control this and then wonder why you got so stressed and scared about it, I am speaking from experience here and can't see any reason why it will be otherwise for you.

Please remember that you didn't ask to be diabetic, it is not something that you have deliberately caused or asked for, even some skinny people get diabetes, so please stop beating yourself up over it. As for that nurse, just ignore her attitude and let her do the tests, hard as it may be try it.

Please keep us informed and it's good you have an appt with your surgery. Remember the Hba1c test is not something done weekly or monthly it's every 3 months, in the mean time use your BG monitor.

 

[Halfhybrid]

If I'm feeling a bit hungry or just want a snack I tend to reach for some cheese and a few olives (not too many), maybe a slice of ham, beef or chicken, or avocado with some cream cheese or a hard boiled egg. Also a small tub of full fat Greek Yoghurt with a few Chia seeds helped me keep hunger at bay, funny thing is I don't get so hungry now my body is used to Low Carb, i.e. the good stuff. Just because we can't have carbs doesn't mean we can't fill up on good, healthy stuff, and a few nuts help at times too.

Yes at the moment you are feeling stressed and scared, but try to remember that in the end you will control this and then wonder why you got so stressed and scared about it, I am speaking from experience here and can't see any reaMy son why it will be otherwise for you.

Please remember that you didn't ask to be diabetic, it is not something that you have deliberately caused or asked for, even some skinny people get diabetes, so please stop beating yourself up over it. As for that nurse, just ignore her attitude and let her do the tests, hard as it may be try it.

Please keep us informed and it's good you have an appt with your surgery. Remember the Hba1c test is not something done weekly or monthly it's every 3 months, in the mean time use your BG monitor.

Do olives have carbs? I thought they were a carb free food.

My big problem is that I try to keep on top of things but if I have family over or visit them, it can be difficult to sustain it. It's easy to have a little bit of rice, pasta etc but then if there is a dessert, I'll have some. I don't have dessert very often mind you. Not when I'm on my own, only in a social situation.

I know I overdid the lager on holiday but I'm back to not drinking during the week again. I would hate to think I could not have lager again at the weekends.

Thanks for your encouragement. It's so helpful and I don't feel so alone.

 

[valann]

"Olives: 3 grams of net carbs, 3 grams of fiber, 6 grams of total carbs" this is from the dietdoctor.com https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables
As you see they are low carb but maybe having a large tub full wouldn't be helpful to you, we're all different and each of us can tolerate different amounts of carbs, as I understand it. Some people can take 100g a day some more like 30g a day, but as you are at the start of your journey I would recommend trying things and testing 2 hours later to see if they spike you.

Good to hear you are not drinking too much now, I very rarely drink but do have the odd glass of wine or small lager especially when celebrating and it doesn't make me spike much. After saying that I only ever have a half pint as I'm not a heavy drinker, much prefer a tonic water (low cal). But as I said test before and 2 hours after the first mouthful and see if it spikes you. Honestly with your numbers as they are I personally wouldn't worry about drinking alcohol of any kind until you get your numbers down a bit. Small steps do make a big difference and cutting down is a big help occasionally we have to cut out some things until we get things more stable, but as I said we are all different.

I'm really pleased you are starting to feel not so alone now, that is a huge step forward

 

[Halfhybrid]

"Olives: 3 grams of net carbs, 3 grams of fiber, 6 grams of total carbs" this is from the dietdoctor.com https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/vegetables
As you see they are low carb but maybe having a large tub full wouldn't be helpful to you, we're all different and each of us can tolerate different amounts of carbs, as I understand it. Some people can take 100g a day some more like 30g a day, but as you are at the start of your journey I would recommend trying things and testing 2 hours later to see if they spike you.

Good to hear you are not drinking too much now, I very rarely drink but do have the odd glass of wine or small lager especially when celebrating and it doesn't make me spike much. After saying that I only ever have a half pint as I'm not a heavy drinker, much prefer a tonic water (low cal). But as I said test before and 2 hours after the first mouthful and see if it spikes you. Honestly with your numbers as they are I personally wouldn't worry about drinking alcohol of any kind until you get your numbers down a bit. Small steps do make a big difference and cutting down is a big help occasionally we have to cut out some things until we get things more stable, but as I said we are all different.

I'm really pleased you are starting to feel not so alone now, that is a huge step forward

 

[Halfhybrid]

Hi Valann, I didn't know that about olives. It's a minefield. Good idea with drink. See how it affects BS levels and whether it spikes. Did you say test after the first mouthful? If I carry on sipping the drink over the space of, say, an hour, won't that be high anyway? I still don't understand how sugar spikes work.

Not having a drinking habit is very wise. I am fine about not drinking during the week (except when I was on holiday) but I do love a drink from Friday night to Sunday night.

Saw the nurse at my surgery today. Luckily, she was a very nice lady and did the blood test and we had a chat. She told me the surgery is there to support me which was reassuring because it has not felt that way with GPs etc since the pandemic. So I guess I'll find out the result early next week. I then have a phone call with the actual Diabetes nurse next Thursday. I dread both these but have to get on track.

 

[valann]

Hi Valann, I didn't know that about olives. It's a minefield. Good idea with drink. See how it affects BS levels and whether it spikes. Did you say test after the first mouthful? If I carry on sipping the drink over the space of, say, an hour, won't that be high anyway? I still don't understand how sugar spikes work.

Not having a drinking habit is very wise. I am fine about not drinking during the week (except when I was on holiday) but I do love a drink from Friday night to Sunday night.

Saw the nurse at my surgery today. Luckily, she was a very nice lady and did the blood test and we had a chat. She told me the surgery is there to support me which was reassuring because it has not felt that way with GPs etc since the pandemic. So I guess I'll find out the result early next week. I then have a phone call with the actual Diabetes nurse next Thursday. I dread both these but have to get on track.

Personally I would just try one drink and test as usual, just before the first mouthful and 2 hours after the first mouthful, hopefully it won't have spiked you. If the reading is no more than 2 full points you should be ok i.e. if before the drink your BG was say 6.0 and after it is no more than 8.0 you should be ok in my opinion. However after saying that you may have to reassess your weekend drinking if you want to get your sugar numbers down, drinking a lot or binge drinking over a weekend won't help you BG numbers at all. It would be a shame to ruin all the hard work done during the week to then drink it all away just because it's the weekend, sorry if that sounds harsh but it is as I see it. Remember alcohol will stay in your blood stream for much longer than a night. We do have to cut down on some things we love or even cut them out at times at least until we are stable.

As for your future appointments with your DN next Thursday don't dread them just think todays appointment went well and next weeks probably will as well.

 

[Halfhybrid]

Personally I would just try one drink and test as usual, just before the first mouthful and 2 hours after the first mouthful, hopefully it won't have spiked you. If the reading is no more than 2 full points you should be ok i.e. if before the drink your BG was say 6.0 and after it is no more than 8.0 you should be ok in my opinion. However after saying that you may have to reassess your weekend drinking if you want to get your sugar numbers down, drinking a lot or binge drinking over a weekend won't help you BG numbers at all. It would be a shame to ruin all the hard work done during the week to then drink it all away just because it's the weekend, sorry if that sounds harsh but it is as I see it. Remember alcohol will stay in your blood stream for much longer than a night. We do have to cut down on some things we love or even cut them out at times at least until we are stable.

As for your future appointments with your DN next Thursday don't dread them just think todays appointment went well and next weeks probably will as well.

Sensible advice thank you. Just been away with family and tried my best to cut down on carbs without them noticing and it was OK. They accepted that I am trying to lose a bit of weight and didn't question it. Had some carbs but not a "normal" amount.#
Got back home and thought I'd check my online surgery account in case the result had come through even though it was only done on Friday - and it has. I have an HBCA1 level of 95. I thought it would be high but I didn't think it would be that high!. OMG

 

[chrisjohnh]

Sensible advice thank you. Just been away with family and tried my best to cut down on carbs without them noticing and it was OK. They accepted that I am trying to lose a bit of weight and didn't question it. Had some carbs but not a "normal" amount.#
Got back home and thought I'd check my online surgery account in case the result had come through even though it was only done on Friday - and it has. I have an HBCA1 level of 95. I thought it would be high but I didn't think it would be that high!. OMG

It is fairly high but should be greatly reducible by taking control of diet in the manner described above. Without control, T2D is a slow but ruthless adversary, and to escape its ravages one needs to combat it with equal ruthlessness. I took that stance literally on day 1, immediately after diagnosis, reducing daily carbs to “low” levels. Although not all here would agree, I also felt the need to watch calories as well and kept these down to well below 1400 - given all the still-unresolved controversies about weight loss tactics I decided to throw everything at this beast, including upping the exercise. Whack it in every way you can, aim to decapitate it in three months or less. Use that meter to observe progress. Your chances of winning are good if you do not falter.

 

[Halfhybrid]

It is fairly high but should be greatly reducible by taking control of diet in the manner described above. Without control, T2D is a slow but ruthless adversary, and to escape its ravages one needs to combat it with equal ruthlessness. I took that stance literally on day 1, immediately after diagnosis, reducing daily carbs to “low” levels. Although not all here would agree, I also felt the need to watch calories as well and kept these down to well below 1400 - given all the still-unresolved controversies about weight loss tactics I decided to throw everything at this beast, including upping the exercise. Whack it in every way you can, aim to decapitate it in three months or less. Use that meter to observe progress. Your chances of winning are good if you do not falter.

That's good advice thank you. You have done pretty well. Well done!

I'm a bit puzzled as to why it reached this high level as I only overdid it while on holiday for a fortnight, not the preceding 2 months. I do love summer fruit and was substituting carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta for a BIG helping of strawberries for example but I thought strawberries were considered a low carb fruit.
I just ordered some low carb bread from CarbZone and it arrived over the weekend. Had a couple of slices this morning. They are on the tiny side but only have 3 carbs per slice so once I've slathered the pate on, it didn't taste any different to a good quality wholemeal with seeds.
I fear falling off the wagon due to just "forgetting" I have this condition at times and then remember I have it and scare myself witless all over again. I don't know if there are any support groups where you can speak to people in person and exchange details about diet and exercise.

 

[chrisjohnh]

That's good advice thank you. You have done pretty well. Well done!

I'm a bit puzzled as to why it reached this high level as I only overdid it while on holiday for a fortnight, not the preceding 2 months. I do love summer fruit and was substituting carbs like rice, potatoes and pasta for a BIG helping of strawberries for example but I thought strawberries were considered a low carb fruit.
I just ordered some low carb bread from CarbZone and it arrived over the weekend. Had a couple of slices this morning. They are on the tiny side but only have 3 carbs per slice so once I've slathered the pate on, it didn't taste any different to a good quality wholemeal with seeds.
I fear falling off the wagon due to just "forgetting" I have this condition at times and then remember I have it and scare myself witless all over again. I don't know if there are any support groups where you can speak to people in person and exchange details about diet and exercise.

Yes, it is hazardous to “forget” our diabetes because, for sure, it does not forget us, but just tightens its grip progressively unless defeated. You question why you had an unexpected high level. There are many here who take the view that carbs limitation is a sufficient and necessary action to bring the condition down towards normality. It may be so, or at least for some people, but I’m not sure the science has yet confirmed it. I didn’t feel confident enough about that to blind myself to caloric considerations, so I factored calorie reduction also into my regimen: lots of weighing and counting, day after day, week after week. I put faith in the original Taylor experiment: lose at least 15kg - or more if that’s required to strip out ectopic fat - and the result is very likely remission. I trusted this science more than I trusted individuals’ claims that “low carbs alone will fix it”. Those claims might have been correct, but I was not prepared to rely upon them without serious underpinning by published soundly conducted scientific trials. But we all have to choose our own tactics. As a matter of interest, what is your waist-to-height ratio, if I may ask you that?

 

[Halfhybrid]

Yes, it is hazardous to “forget” our diabetes because, for sure, it does not forget us, but just tightens its grip progressively unless defeated. You question why you had an unexpected high level. There are many here who take the view that carbs limitation is a sufficient and necessary action to bring the condition down towards normality. It may be so, or at least for some people, but I’m not sure the science has yet confirmed it. I didn’t feel confident enough about that to blind myself to caloric considerations, so I factored calorie reduction also into my regimen: lots of weighing and counting, day after day, week after week. I put faith in the original Taylor experiment: lose at least 15kg - or more if that’s required to strip out ectopic fat - and the result is very likely remission. I trusted this science more than I trusted individuals’ claims that “low carbs alone will fix it”. Those claims might have been correct, but I was not prepared to rely upon them without serious underpinning by published soundly conducted scientific trials. But we all have to choose our own tactics. As a matter of interest, what is your waist-to-height ratio, if I may ask you that?

I agree there are many different opinions about limiting carbs or just limiting intake full stop. Even my last GP said since food is turned into glucose to supply energy to the body, less of it is just better than limiting certain food groups.

Like the strawberries. I love summer berries. Advice for diabetes seems to be that berries are a very good fruit type as they are low in carbs. I have eaten mountains of them this summer. Have they contributed to my high BS?

I have not heard of the Taylor experiment but sounds like I should read up on it.

Re waist to height ratio, I don't actually know as I have never measured it and wouldn't know how to calculate. What I do know is that I am far, far too heavy. I am 8Ibs lighter than this time last year but that is a drop in the ocean when considering how much I need to lose.

I can't afford to lose sight of the goal now.

 

[lucylocket61]

I agree there are many different opinions about limiting carbs or just limiting intake full stop. Even my last GP said since food is turned into glucose to supply energy to the body, less of it is just better than limiting certain food groups.

Like the strawberries. I love summer berries. Advice for diabetes seems to be that berries are a very good fruit type as they are low in carbs. I have eaten mountains of them this summer. Have they contributed to my high BS?

I have not heard of the Taylor experiment but sounds like I should read up on it.

Re waist to height ratio, I don't actually know as I have never measured it and wouldn't know how to calculate. What I do know is that I am far, far too heavy. I am 8Ibs lighter than this time last year but that is a drop in the ocean when considering how much I need to lose.

I can't afford to lose sight of the goal now.

All carbohydrates turn into glucose, as a rule. That's why carb intake monitoring and awareness is crucial to managing our diabetes. Protein can, to some extent turn into glucose but our bodies go for the carbs first when converting food into glucose, and not all of the protein gets converted to glucose anyway.

 

[MrsA2]

Like the strawberries. I love summer berries. Advice for diabetes seems to be that berries are a very good fruit type as they are low in carbs. I have eaten mountains of them this summer. Have they contributed to my high BS?

I do manage berries, which is just as well as I grow a lot of them BUT I do limit eating to 2 -3 strawberries once a day, or 6-10 raspberries or the same of blackberries a day AND I aim to have them with fat being full fat greek yoghurt for breakfast or cream as a dessert.
I've found if I eat hem as a snack between meals it raises my bg more than when eaten as part of a meal.
Generally it's best to not eat between meals at all, and to not eat of an evening. Our dinner is at 6 then I have nothing more until the next day, then it's breakfast if I'm really hungry otherwise I go to lunch time.
My extra berries that I grow get frozen so I have steady daily supply though the winter. I'm still on 2021s harvest, this year's is packed further back in the freezer.
So, if your meter agrees, there can be ways of enjoying fruit, but not "mountains"
(I also grow grapes and this years will be a bumper harvest. I will eat a handful ot 2, then turn the rest into jelly and give it away as Christmas presents)

 

[chrisjohnh]

I agree there are many different opinions about limiting carbs or just limiting intake full stop. Even my last GP said since food is turned into glucose to supply energy to the body, less of it is just better than limiting certain food groups.

Like the strawberries. I love summer berries. Advice for diabetes seems to be that berries are a very good fruit type as they are low in carbs. I have eaten mountains of them this summer. Have they contributed to my high BS?

I have not heard of the Taylor experiment but sounds like I should read up on it.

Re waist to height ratio, I don't actually know as I have never measured it and wouldn't know how to calculate. What I do know is that I am far, far too heavy. I am 8Ibs lighter than this time last year but that is a drop in the ocean when considering how much I need to lose.

I can't afford to lose sight of the goal now.

Waist to height ratio - just divide your waist (in inches, say) by your height. It is generally thought that the result should be less than 0.5 as an indicator that one is not carrying excess fat around the middle, comproming liver and pancreas. Remission is greatly favoured by eliminating such fat. In my case I got my ratio down from 0.58 to 0.43, and have kept it constant ever since.

 

[Outlier]

Of course, weight to height ratio is only a guide that someone thought up, and for body types that hold weight around the middle but are slender/a good weight otherwise, it can be very demoralising when medics treat it as gospel. So for those who are of that type but a sensible size and weight, it should not be considered important. Like everything we say here, we are all different.

Edited to add: this is in no way a criticism of chrisjohn's useful post - simply a reminder that there is a lot more to being the right weight than a random ratio.

 

[chrisjohnh]

Of course, weight to height ratio is only a guide that someone thought up, and for body types that hold weight around the middle but are slender/a good weight otherwise, it can be very demoralising when medics treat it as gospel. So for those who are of that type but a sensible size and weight, it should not be considered important. Like everything we say here, we are all different.

Edited to add: this is in no way a criticism of chrisjohn's useful post - simply a reminder that there is a lot more to being the right weight than a random ratio.

I think you will find there is now quite a lot of evidence in the science journals showing that this metric has good predictive power for propensity towards T2D and also for CVD, although I agree that statistical utility does not map to sure-fire assessment of an individual. But whatever its strength as a predictor it is not something that was arbitrarily posited on a mere whim.

 

[Halfhybrid]

I do manage berries, which is just as well as I grow a lot of them BUT I do limit eating to 2 -3 strawberries once a day, or 6-10 raspberries or the same of blackberries a day AND I aim to have them with fat being full fat greek yoghurt for breakfast or cream as a dessert.
I've found if I eat hem as a snack between meals it raises my bg more than when eaten as part of a meal.
Generally it's best to not eat between meals at all, and to not eat of an evening. Our dinner is at 6 then I have nothing more until the next day, then it's breakfast if I'm really hungry otherwise I go to lunch time.
My extra berries that I grow get frozen so I have steady daily supply though the winter. I'm still on 2021s harvest, this year's is packed further back in the freezer.
So, if your meter agrees, there can be ways of enjoying fruit, but not "mountains"
(I also grow grapes and this years will be a bumper harvest. I will eat a handful ot 2, then turn the rest into jelly and give it away as Christmas presents)

Wow, 2-3 strawberries is hardly anything! I was eating a whole punnet for dinner with cream poured on them. I thought that was OK as they are supposed to be so low in sugar and I'd rather have them than any potato, rice or pasta.

There is so much contradictory advice. One article on the web said "fruit is fine for diabetics as the sugar is natural fructose, rather than the sugar in baked goods". So I thought that's OK then. I love fruit. I'll use it as a substitute.

Then one article says no grapes as they are just sugar water while another article says grapes are good fruit to eat.

I don't eat between meals much - until now. Since I discovered the high BS level, I've cut down on carbs and food in general and have found myself ravenous in between meals and having to ignore the actual hunger pangs which isn't easy. I've had things like peanuts, ham, cheese and salami or sometimes an apple.

Grape jelly? Do you have to add sugar to make it or is there enough in the natural fruit?

 

[filly]

Wow, 2-3 strawberries is hardly anything! I was eating a whole punnet for dinner with cream poured on them. I thought that was OK as they are supposed to be so low in sugar and I'd rather have them than any potato, rice or pasta.

There is so much contradictory advice. One article on the web said "fruit is fine for diabetics as the sugar is natural fructose, rather than the sugar in baked goods". So I thought that's OK then. I love fruit. I'll use it as a substitute.

Then one article says no grapes as they are just sugar water while another article says grapes are good fruit to eat.

I don't eat between meals much - until now. Since I discovered the high BS level, I've cut down on carbs and food in general and have found myself ravenous in between meals and having to ignore the actual hunger pangs which isn't easy. I've had things like peanuts, ham, cheese and salami or sometimes an apple.

Grape jelly? Do you have to add sugar to make it or is there enough in the natural fruit?

Whether you can have fruit is totally an individual thing. For years now I haven't been able to eat it without my weight rocketing. Even if doing low carb elsewhere. As not eating it now can't tell what effect it is having on Blood Sugar. Good Luck.