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Self-introduction & getting to know the members

MikeTheFid

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
In 2001 I saw a sign in the hospital inviting people to a diabetes awareness clinic while visiting my mother and I decided on a lark to go and see. Turned out my level that day was 20+ mmol/L. I was subsequently diagnosed by my GP as Type 2 and I've been controlling with meds, diet and physical activity.

In looking back, I have always been fortunate to have an employer with a drug plan so I've been really disciplined about ensuring my stock of meds and taking them at the prescribed times.

As for the diet and physical activity... (to be rigorously honest) not so much discipline.

Spring of 2017 I found my A1C creeping up and my resolve to be more diligent with physical activity (I like jogging) led to a late summer A1C of 6.4 which delighted both myself and my doctor.

Fast forward to January 19th 2018. I'm sitting in my doctor's office and he informs me my latest A1C is 10.4.

He tells me that he isn't the kind of doctor that panics and offers up three options:
  1. go on insulin
  2. "go crazy with the meds" his words
  3. with a much more diligently carb-controlled diet and regular exercise, see what I can get it down to and go from there
The thought of going on insulin I found to be a frightening prospect. Not knowing what the long term side effects of the current meds are, and not wanting to "go crazy" with them, I naturally I went for option 3.

Now someone reading this with an experienced eye might notice I haven't mentioned BG monitoring.

Yup. Since the 2001 diagnosis, I have had very brief periods where I monitored, but over the span of years to the present, those monitoring periods have been short and rare. I bow my head in deep contrition to say that.

After the disturbing revelation of a 10.4 A1C, and being a computer programmer, I immediately started a spreadsheet log in which I have recorded my BG correlated to the food I eat. I have booked an appointment with a dietitian also.

In addition to monitoring, I am controlling my carbs (I would say it is now a low-carb diet) and I've begun a regimen of walking at least an hour each day. I make sure to include hills and walk quickly enough to have a sustained elevated heart rate.

My current meds are:
Morning: 2 x gliclazide 30mg and 2 x metform 500mg
Bed time: 2 x metform 500mg and 1 x rosuvastatin (Crestor) 5mg



I'm encouraged that, since January 19th, 2018, my average BG (42 measurements total) is 8.4. I have managed to keep it predominantly between 5 and 10.

This is still not where I want to be.

But it is a start.

Final note, I have my beautiful, knowledgeable wife to thank for helping me eat healthy low-carb meals. She is amazing.
 
Hi @MikeTheFid and welcome to the forum. You will find wonderful advice and support here. I will tag @daisy1 who will come along with some information for newcomers to the forum.

If you answer some additional questions we may be able to offer some tips. For example, what do you eat in a typical day? How often do you test?

Many of us test upon wakening in the morning, then before a meal, and 2 hours after the first bite of our meal. That way we learn what foods we should eat, and more importantly, what foods we should not eat.

A word of caution, as you are on Gliclazide you have to be very careful that you do not have a hypo when you drop carbs dramatically on a LCHF diet. Keep a very close eye on your BG readings.

Take a good look at this site, you will find lots of helpful information. I have also found the following sites to be very helpful:
Jenny Ruhl: Blood Sugar 101:
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/
Diet Doctor: How to Reverse Diabetes:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/diabetes
Dr. Jason Fung:
https://idmprogram.com/reverse-type-2-diabetes-the-quick-start-guide/
 

Thank you for your response.

I have been eating one evening meal a day for about 7 years now. I tend eat more often when travelling or visiting with friends and family. But that happens roughly once a quarter.

To be honest, I am having difficulty with the "what do you eat in a typical day?" question. Since my wake-up call on the 19th, I've been avoiding carbs and sticking to vegetables, meats, and legumes.

When my wife and I went to visit my son and his wife yesterday, we went out for burgers (which included the bun) and french fries. Note: I'm using north american terminology. My BG was 11.3 mmol/L an hour afterward, 8.0 by 3 hours afterward, and 6.5 by 5 hours afterward.

As for testing, I've been testing in an unstructured, random fashion, on average 6 times a day. I also keep a diary of the foods and seeing the effects of certain foods on the measurement has been eye opening.

I remember an Engineering Manager telling me early in my career, "son, if you don't measure it, you can't manage it!" As poorly as I've followed his advice with respect to monitoring my blood sugar, that lesson definitely reasserted itself in my mind.

Thanks for the guideline of measuring 1st thing and before and after meals. I kind of knew that, but will be more diligent in future.

I here you regarding the possibility of going hypo, thanks. I will keep glucose tablets with me. My lowest measurement has been 5.0 in the last 10 days and my overall average has been 8.4.

I have been browsing the Diabetes UK site and will examine the sites you recommended.

Cheers,
Mike
 
MikeTheFid said:
I remember an Engineering Manager telling me early in my career, "son, if you don't measure it, you can't manage it!"
Click to expand...
The engineers have been disrupting the status quo in the medical space recently! Engineers like Dave Feldman @DaveKeto and Ivor Cummins @FatEmperor are two that come to mind. They are looking at metabolic dysfunction as a systems problem, and are taking an engineering approach to complex problem-solving/root cause analysis. If this is how your brain functions as a computer programmer then you may already be ahead of the game in terms of figuring all of this out!
Here is the link to The Fat Emperor's blog: http://www.thefatemperor.com/
 
@MikeTheFid

Hello Mike and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

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 235,000 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 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. Most of these are 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.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. You will find good advice here and hopefully make some good friends. I'm curious as to why you are testing 6 times a day when your only eating once a day. Test in the morning first thing to check your fasting blood sugars. Check just before you eat and then 2 hours after you have eaten.
 
Thank very much @daisy1 ! Lot's of really great information.
 
Thanks for your welcome.

I am a testing neophyte. I have come to understand there is a technique as you rightfully pointed out.

The real motivation is really to familiarize myself with how my BG fluctuates during the day and how different foods affect it.

My last A1C was 10.4. and by my measurements, my average BG for the period Jan 19 - 31 was 8.14. It was only in the latter days of the month that I followed your protocol of FBG (1st thing in the am, at mealtime and 2 hours post-meal.)

For what it's worth, here is the chart for that period:


I am pleased that the average has dropped by roughly 2 points, but that is because I am measuring and being diligent about my carb intake.

In addition to the carb-intake awareness, I have also been drinking 2 to 3 litres of water per day and going for a minimum 1 hour walk. I intentionally include hills in my walk to increase my heart rate and build up my stamina.

When the weather turns warmer and the snow is gone, I intend to alternate between running and walking every other day.
 
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