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Sleepy

DavyG

DavyG

Active Member
Messages
39
Location
Norfolk England U.K. G.B.
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
all vegetables except potatoes and beans
Is it just me? I know I haven't adjusted completely to my metformin just yet. And although my BG has lowered (I'm not sure if it has dropped too quickly, if that is bad or good??) my readings always jump past 10 after meals, and ones that spike higher (14 and over... pasta and potatoes) tend to make me sleep. I do not mean a sleep like when I used to have a huge meal then slowly nod and blink then nap on the couch, I mean, I eat and within 2 hours I feel fatigued then I don't even recall falling asleep and wake 6 to 8 hours later. It doesn't matter if I've had 8 hours sleep already, I can sleep then eat, sleep then eat. Would walking after eating help, or just tire me out quicker?
 
DavyG said:
Is it just me? I know I haven't adjusted completely to my metformin just yet. And although my BG has lowered (I'm not sure if it has dropped too quickly, if that is bad or good??) my readings always jump past 10 after meals, and ones that spike higher (14 and over... pasta and potatoes) tend to make me sleep. I do not mean a sleep like when I used to have a huge meal then slowly nod and blink then nap on the couch, I mean, I eat and within 2 hours I feel fatigued then I don't even recall falling asleep and wake 6 to 8 hours later. It doesn't matter if I've had 8 hours sleep already, I can sleep then eat, sleep then eat. Would walking after eating help, or just tire me out quicker?
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You should avoid pasta, potatoes, and other carb rich foods.
 
It won't be the metfomin, it will be the pasta and potatoes. Pre-diagnosis, I could sleep standing up after eating major carbs.
 
Yes, I agree with the others. Metformin won't make you sleepy, but starchy carbs will because they raise BS levels to the extent your body is fatigued. Try to cut out the pasta and spuds, and you will notice the difference.
 
Keep starchy(rice,pasta,potato etc) 25% of ur plate and 50% greens with nuts.
 
what do I replace the carbs with? I need something to fill me up... a stew for me used to be 8 ounces of meat, 3 to 4 suet dumplings (each the size of a tennis ball) 1 and a half pounds of potatoes a tin of peas in gravy mixed with a tin of oxtail soup... now it is 4 ounces of meat, peas and a few potatoes (2 cut into 2 or 3 bit sized pieces) but I hate vegetables... I am losing weight and the metformin has suppressed my appetite but when I don't feel full I always think I should be looking at dessert...

All my life 70% of my diet has been pasta, potatoes, bread, rice and sweets... the rest is meat and cheese I'd look at an atkins diet but I have acute acalculus cholecystitis (similar to gall stones... high fat = chronic agony) maybe I should get my gall bladder removed... but I've grown kind of attached to it :) but I guess it would let me increase fat intake.
 
The stew I had the other day was about 50% meat and the rest was veg and pulses - celeriac, butternut squash, a few carrots, leek, turnips and cannellini beans. It was lovely - I made a HUGE pan full and I've frozen more than half in individual portions for my husband to take to work with him.
 
That all sounds great.... apart from the veg and pulses - celeriac, butternut squash, a few carrots, leek, turnips... I do like beans though :)
 
What is more important to you, potatoes or your health? The consequences of Type 2 diabetes are severe but ultimately avoidable with good control. Good control comes from diet and will only happen once you get your head in the right place.

You do not need to eat excessive fat especially if it causes you pain . There are many many different veggies that are D friendly. There is bound to be something you like.
 
DavyG said:
what do I replace the carbs with?

hi DavyG i replaced with extra large portions of veggies. so a curry is served on a bed of cabbage covering the whole plate ! i find the key is to cook veggies for less time then I would have previously so it has a slight bite to it. Same goes for stews and roast meats, just have a very large portion of veggies and omit the carbs. It has the virtue of still eating the stews and curries that I have with everyone else
Then i have started adding intense bits of flavour to the veg, so cauliflower served with a dollop of mustardy creme fraiche or grated cheese, or garlic fried with chili and then added as a garnish
And fruit is the enemy that dieticians seem to overlook, I used to love pineapple, mangoes and other tropical fruit, I tend to stick to vegeteables nowadays
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It's very difficult to understand when you like something that others find quite revolting but I can assure everyone I have tried every vegetable ever put on my plate AND in different ways, from boiled, roasted, barbecued and fried... but they are the most vile things on earth... I have reduced my potatoes to 2 per day or 1 if it is as big as my hand. I limit whole grain bread to 2 slices per day and pasta is a tiny amount rarely...

I did speak to a nurse but the healthy options that she mentioned do not seem to be focused on diabetic patients, more for general healthy options. I am going to see a nutritionist to see if there is some solution for this.
I am going to monitor the effects that the small quantities of bread and potatoes have on me, but I'm not sure restricting my diet to just meat, eggs, cheese, almonds and mushrooms will lead to a happy existence.
 
DavyG said:
I have tried every vegetable ever put on my plate AND in different ways, from boiled, roasted, barbecued and fried... but they are the most vile things on earth...
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Diabetes is one of those things that doesn't give a monkey's cuss about anybody's likes and dislikes. Carbohydrates are not doing you any favours whatever way you look at it. If ALL vegetables cause such a problem then perhaps a hypnotist might help. Vegetables come in all shapes and sizes, can be cooked in many numbers of ways and have different tastes. It's hard to imagine all of them being vile. I'm tempted to ask the question "How did potatoes (a vegetable) get through the vetting program", oops I did ask the question.

All the best.
 
If you truly can't eat veg and carbs are out then that really only leaves one choice meat have you thought of joining NoCrbs4Me on his regime of eating only meat he seems to have been OK on it for a long while.
 
Tastes can always evolve, and change.

I can't imagine there are many people who thought their first sample of 85% cocoasolid choc, dry red wine, cigars or sauerkraut were delicious. Yet after a while, returning to Dairy Milk, alcopop or Low Tar coffin nails becomes inconceivable.
 
@DavidGrahamJones I'm tempted to ask the question "what separates potatoes from other vegetables?" :) and by answering that question, we'll know why my body likes them and not others....

I have never had any difficulty understanding why some people dislike things I like but others always struggle to understand why I dislike the taste of vegetables and often think it is just an attitude similar to that of a spoilt child... I can assure you it is not. Imagine something revolting (i.e. rotting fish heads) and imagine telling me to try rotten salmon head if I find rotten mackerel head too horrible. And that would give you some understanding of my situation... no amount of people telling me to eat rotting fish heads is going to make them any more appealing to me.... even if they are an eskimo delicacy ;)

@JohnEGreen I have increased my meat portions, I have no problem with meat, anything from snake to panda.... I hope nobody ever survives a ship wreck with me because I'll be force feeding them vegetables while imagining an apple in their mouth :)

But back to topic, I was wondering whether anyone else gets sleepy after eating? today even after 10 hours sleep I ate ham and eggs for breakfast plus 1 slice of whole grain toast and was yawning with in an hour and napping shortly after... so I am assuming it might not be my diabetes but something else, I have been feeling a little unwell and perhaps that is the cause of my tiredness.
 
DavyG said:
I have never had any difficulty understanding why some people dislike things I like but others always struggle to understand why I dislike the taste of vegetables and often think it is just an attitude similar to that of a spoilt child... I can assure you it is not.
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I fully understand as I've seen experiments where they can tell genetically whether a child is going to hate their greens or not. Small children have a genuine aversion to greens because the taste is more intense at a young age. In most children that hatred of vegetables tends to go away, but not all.

Sadly it makes your choices or lack of them rather difficult.

By the way, I have also seen experiments where people are taught to imagine rotten fish heads when eating chocolate, to help them avoid eating chocolate. The hypnotist might come in handy to help you "un-imagine" or "de-program" what your head is telling you and imagine something else, something more tolerable.

I don't think I'll be trying Kæstur Hákarl any time soon. No matter what the Icelanders say.
 
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