- Messages
- 37
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Piers Morgan
I originally posted this stuff in my introduction post and it was suggested that I move it to here, so if anyone read it there please accept my apologies for the reptition. Please accept my apologies for the reptition.* This is what I originally said, although I've updated the graph:
A year or so ago my doctor advised me that I was slightly over the line for type 2 and put me on Metformin (500mg twice a day) and statins, largely because I am slightly overweight (only about 4-5 stones) and employ staff to take my exercise for me. A couple of weeks ago I had a review and the stats had gone mad, so I was given a testing kit. That gave me some data to play with, and like all engineers I just love playing with data, so out came the spreadsheet...
This showed I was way over the limits, averaging about 14mmol/l for the first few days. The chart above shows my learning journey. The early peaks included discoveries like the evils of watermelon (a hazardous substance which should require a prescription) and the way that bread is mostly carbs, so lunchtime sandwich or baggette is a stupid idea! Then couscous, then pasta (even wholemeal pasta) etc etc - I'm sure you've all been there. Last weekend I discovered the Lidl "Low GI Loaf" and had salad sandwiches for lunch. That's when I discovered that Lidl "Low GI Loaf" is just as carb-loaded as a brace of croissants, so that's now on the banned list as well.
The chart is interesting. Most of the peaks an troughs I can account for through food errors or bouts of exercise, and you can see that there is a general downward trend (helped a little by the doctor adding Gliclazide from lunchtime last saturday) but there are underlying themes that I struggle with. Like why it is that the level sometimes goes up while I sleep, but other times it goes down. Or why I can eat an evening meal followed by a 2 mile brisk walk on one day and see the net level drop and stay down, but precisely the same meal and walk the next day will see a peak before the fall. So any advice/poiters here would help!
Now since I wrote the above things have been steadily drifting down, and I also understand that some of the extreme values are due to testing at the wrong times (I was testing at all sorts of times to try to understand the causes, so I would test before eating and tnen again immediately after eating rather than just 1-2 hours later, and that explains some of the peaks (but not all of them). On the pother hand last weekend I was put on gliclazade as well as metformin, so hat is probably flattering my progress.
My basic problem is this. Although based in Surrey my company has seconded me to a project in the northern wilderness of Warton (near preston), so every monday morning I fly north and every thursday night I fly back south. Between the two I spend 3 nights a week in a Marriott. Of the hotel menu options pretty well the only thing I can sensibly eat is the Caesar Salad (with teak or chicken), which I usually supplement with a pound of grapes (grazed on through the day) and some cashews. I don't eat breakfast. My lunch options are limited because the company cafeteria is on the wrong side of the airfield and there is a deli/sandwich bar instead. Obviously anything in rolls (even wholemeal ones according to my experiences) sends my stats through the roof, but the only alternative is a "chicken tikka salad" from the garage/spar-shop over the road. This gets monotonous! Being in a hotel I can't prepare my own food for lunch or dinner, and I'm getting the feeling that eating a pound of grapes per day may not be a good idea.
Any suggestions?
PDR
*The hesitation and deviation will come at a future date
A year or so ago my doctor advised me that I was slightly over the line for type 2 and put me on Metformin (500mg twice a day) and statins, largely because I am slightly overweight (only about 4-5 stones) and employ staff to take my exercise for me. A couple of weeks ago I had a review and the stats had gone mad, so I was given a testing kit. That gave me some data to play with, and like all engineers I just love playing with data, so out came the spreadsheet...
This showed I was way over the limits, averaging about 14mmol/l for the first few days. The chart above shows my learning journey. The early peaks included discoveries like the evils of watermelon (a hazardous substance which should require a prescription) and the way that bread is mostly carbs, so lunchtime sandwich or baggette is a stupid idea! Then couscous, then pasta (even wholemeal pasta) etc etc - I'm sure you've all been there. Last weekend I discovered the Lidl "Low GI Loaf" and had salad sandwiches for lunch. That's when I discovered that Lidl "Low GI Loaf" is just as carb-loaded as a brace of croissants, so that's now on the banned list as well.
The chart is interesting. Most of the peaks an troughs I can account for through food errors or bouts of exercise, and you can see that there is a general downward trend (helped a little by the doctor adding Gliclazide from lunchtime last saturday) but there are underlying themes that I struggle with. Like why it is that the level sometimes goes up while I sleep, but other times it goes down. Or why I can eat an evening meal followed by a 2 mile brisk walk on one day and see the net level drop and stay down, but precisely the same meal and walk the next day will see a peak before the fall. So any advice/poiters here would help!
Now since I wrote the above things have been steadily drifting down, and I also understand that some of the extreme values are due to testing at the wrong times (I was testing at all sorts of times to try to understand the causes, so I would test before eating and tnen again immediately after eating rather than just 1-2 hours later, and that explains some of the peaks (but not all of them). On the pother hand last weekend I was put on gliclazade as well as metformin, so hat is probably flattering my progress.
My basic problem is this. Although based in Surrey my company has seconded me to a project in the northern wilderness of Warton (near preston), so every monday morning I fly north and every thursday night I fly back south. Between the two I spend 3 nights a week in a Marriott. Of the hotel menu options pretty well the only thing I can sensibly eat is the Caesar Salad (with teak or chicken), which I usually supplement with a pound of grapes (grazed on through the day) and some cashews. I don't eat breakfast. My lunch options are limited because the company cafeteria is on the wrong side of the airfield and there is a deli/sandwich bar instead. Obviously anything in rolls (even wholemeal ones according to my experiences) sends my stats through the roof, but the only alternative is a "chicken tikka salad" from the garage/spar-shop over the road. This gets monotonous! Being in a hotel I can't prepare my own food for lunch or dinner, and I'm getting the feeling that eating a pound of grapes per day may not be a good idea.
Any suggestions?
PDR
*The hesitation and deviation will come at a future date
