Starting to struggle a bit

[ukmartian]

I have been T2 for 20 yrs and just recently (2 yrs since I retired) things are going down hill, I am showing signs of diabetic retinopathy screening is now 6 months feet and fingers feel 'fuzzy' A1c is increasing over the last few years I have just had a full set of bloods ( for a different compliant waterworks ) and I have been summoned lol...i have realised I need to drink a lot more and a pint of juice or sugar free soft drink goes straight down. I haven't finger pricked for year's but I have managed to source a Libre 2 sensor which I am now using to try and educate myself on foods and reactions...today I went from pre meal (5.55pm) of 6.1mmol to post meal (pizza ) to 16 mmol after 2hrs , it is now fluctuating itself downwards and stands at about 15 now 9:15pm. I have never before seen it that high So what now, I know it's only 1 instance so far, and I only have 2 sensors as I scrounged them from a mate who doesn't use the system anymore..what would the next thing be...btw I am 67 yrs young .

 

[Rachox]

I think you need to address your diet. The two things that jump out at me are a pint of juice, is that fruit juice? That is guaranteed to raise blood sugars, some Type 1s use juice to treat hypos. And then pizza, way too many carbs for us type 2s, I hope you understand that all carbohydrates digest down to sugar.

 

[Paul_]

Aside from the juice question that @Rachox raised, pizza can be a lot of carbs too, especially if you eat the crusts. Also depends what toppings you have. Dough products of any form can result in quite high and long spikes in BG, be that a pizza base, bread, pasta etc.

I would recommend the following if you like pizza. Not quite as convenient as supermarket pizza or takeaway, but very low carb and you can't tell the difference compared to supermarket pizza (in my opinion). They also freeze well.

Low Carb Pizza Base - Pack of 4 - Hand Crafted Bread

Introducing the seriously Low Carb Bread range. Who said that Low Carb couldn’t taste delicious? This bread is LOW CARB HIGH PROTEIN and HIGH FIBRE.

handcraftedbread.co.uk

The rolls are also good and low carb, plus they freeze well too:

Low Carb Rolls 4 pack - Hand Crafted Bread

low carb bread roll, suitable for the keto and low carb diet. Suitable for vegetarians

handcraftedbread.co.uk

Free delivery on £20+ orders.

(I'm not affiliated or incentivised by this supplier in any way, I'm just a fan of the products they sell.)

As for "what next", I personally would recommend finger prick testing if you can. Take a reading before your first bite, then 2 hours after. You'll quickly find out what meals are causing spikes and which aren't. It can also help to track meals on a food app, or manually on paper, totting up carb intake per meal and per day in total. Link the finger prick readings to the meal ingredients with the most carbs, then reduce/remove those ingredients as needed until BG readings improve. Takes a bit of time at first, but you'll soon get into the swing of it and it's the best way to tailor your diet to the carb intake you can handle.

 

[VashtiB]

Another one that agrees with previous posters.

I self fund a libra a couple of times a year. I do that to make sure I'm keeping on the straight and narrow. I am because I am very low carb. My levels would definitely spike with Pizza or juice so I'm not really surprised. Are you on any medication that lowers your levels?

 

[Gordontoo]

As the above have mentioned, you will have to take a serious look at your carb intake. I would suggest as a matter of urgency, an extended visit to an Endo and if you can find one ukmartian, you may find a diabetes nurse educator most helpful, along with a visit to an empathetic dietitian.
Diabetes of any description can be a very long, frustrating and lonely road, with too many people within the medical system happy to tell you what you are doing wrong, but remember that you are surely doing a whole lot of things right, so don't beat yourself up, just find a few more supports to help you on your journey and all should be cool.

 

[ukmartian]

I think you need to address your diet. The two things that jump out at me are a pint of juice, is that fruit juice? That is guaranteed to raise blood sugars, some Type 1s use juice to treat hypos. And then pizza, way too many carbs for us type 2s, I hope you understand that all carbohydrates digest down to sugar.

Hi sorry when I said juice I meant sugar free squash....diluted

 

[ukmartian]

Thanks all for the replies a lot to think about loI.
I have been looking at things today and a lot off the things I like are carb related, refined sugar isn't such a problem as they are in treats and easier to ignore, but bread potatoes chips puddings rice snacks seem to be problems and are also my main foods veg fruit and salad foods have never really been a favourite on my menu.
So far I am logging what I eat with the libre 2 to see what readings I get. yesterday a pizza sent it mad for hours..Today a cup of tea no sugar and a couple of oaties spiked to about 11 but it was 9 when I got up yet my dinner fried egg corned beef and chips put it up from 9to 12 before it fell quicky...i am keeping a log of everything, due to see nurse in 2 weeks

 

[MrsA2]

refined sugar isn't such a problem as they are in treats and easier to ignore, but bread potatoes chips puddings rice snacks seem to be problems and are also my main foods veg fruit and salad foods have never really been a favourite on my menu.

Try to focus on what you can eat such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy including cheese, rather than the things you might need to remove. It gets easier, promise!

 

[aylalake]

I used to drink Robinsons no added sugar squash (other brands are available), but discovered that it actually raises my BG. Now most artificial sweeteners do the same, seemingly tricking my brain into thinking I am consuming sugar.
I think @Ashybang had the same result.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Thanks all for the replies a lot to think about loI.
I have been looking at things today and a lot off the things I like are carb related, refined sugar isn't such a problem as they are in treats and easier to ignore, but bread potatoes chips puddings rice snacks seem to be problems and are also my main foods veg fruit and salad foods have never really been a favourite on my menu.
So far I am logging what I eat with the libre 2 to see what readings I get. yesterday a pizza sent it mad for hours..Today a cup of tea no sugar and a couple of oaties spiked to about 11 but it was 9 when I got up yet my dinner fried egg corned beef and chips put it up from 9to 12 before it fell quicky...i am keeping a log of everything, due to see nurse in 2 weeks

"A lot of the things I like are carb related". Join the club. Carbs are addictive by nature. They activate the same areas in the brain some hard drugs do. They're easy/convenient, more often than not, as well as relatively cheap, and make you feel happy. What's not to love? Aside from those things hiking up your blood sugars and demanding more carbs when the peak runs out again, that is...

Check the foods @MrsA2 mentioned. Those you can have to excess, and won't harm your blood sugars. Above ground/green veg's fine too. Most berries. Walnuts, pecans, macadamia's... Olives, proper butter... Bacon and eggs for breakfast, doesn't sound like punishment to me.

Pizza is a diabetic's kryptonite, usually, so you got a rude awakening with that one, but... Kebab without bread's still on the menu...

Hang in there eh. ( https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html might help some, too. )
Jo

 

[Paul_]

I have been looking at things today and a lot off the things I like are carb related, refined sugar isn't such a problem as they are in treats and easier to ignore, but bread potatoes chips puddings rice snacks seem to be problems and are also my main foods veg fruit and salad foods have never really been a favourite on my menu.

There's a little good news and more bad news here. We all love those, but unfortunately diabetes loves them more and if you're going to beat it, those foods need to be limited (not telling you anything you don't know already there).

Let's start with what you can "replace". None of the alternatives/substitutes are cheap, but some are available:

Bread - Waitrose do Livlife bread. It's the closest to normal bread I've found, £2 for a small loaf, but freezes and toasts well. 3.4g carbs per slice, compared to 15-25g per slice of normal bread of any type. In addition, the supplier I linked to in my previous post do this - https://handcraftedbread.co.uk/product/low-carb-400g-tin/ - which is more expensive than Livlife, but lower carb again at 1.4g per slice. Freezes well, but doesn't toast quite as well as Livlife.

Rice - Cauliflower rice is the best alternative I've found to real deal rice. It's not going to fool you into thinking you're eating real rice, but it's decent in my opinion. You can make your own (several experts at that on this forum, but doesn't keep for long), or for longer shelf life and convenience you can buy microwavable pouches from several supermarkets (Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi are definites) - https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/289796703

Pasta - Haven't really found any amazing alternatives unfortunately, but this is about the best of an average down to bad bunch (some very bad, e.g. konjac products) - https://carbzone.co.uk/collections/pasta

Crackers - Olina's Bakehouse, available at Waitrose and Holland & Barrett - https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/olinas-gluten-free-seeded-crackers/829405-791235-791236 and https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/s...ehouse-pumpkin-seed-flatbread-100g-6100001915

Crisps - You're out of luck here, they're all high carb. Some pork scratchings are good alternatives, but check carb values. Beyond that, your best bet is cheese based snacks, such as Cheesies (https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/cheesies-cheddar-snack-6100139854) or Monarchs (https://monarchscrisps.co.uk). Neither are cheap.

Sweet treats - Ketoroma (https://ketoroma.com) are the best supplier I've found for these. They do a low carb range. They're not cheap, but the low carb carrot cake and chocolate cake are good in my opinion. The low carb sausage rolls are ok too, if that's your thing. If it says out of stock, check back a couple of days later, as they have limited production capacity.

I tend to keep the above for occasional treats (birthdays, Xmas etc), or for where I need shelf stable convenient food (days out etc). Other than that, I focus my diet on the options that @MrsA2 and @JoKalsbeek suggested.

 

[Paul_]

I used to drink Robinsons no added sugar squash (other brands are available), but discovered that it actually raises my BG. Now most artificial sweeteners do the same, seemingly tricking my brain into thinking I am consuming sugar.
I think @Ashybang had the same result.

Robinson's NAS apple and blackcurrant doesn't cause me any issues, but I use the minimum amount required rather than a stated serving. We're all different though, so maybe it's just me.

It was discussed in more detail on this thread - https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/from-remission-to-needing-meds.200483/post-2655993

 

[AlexMagd]

There's a little good news and more bad news here. We all love those, but unfortunately diabetes loves them more and if you're going to beat it, those foods need to be limited (not telling you anything you don't know already there).

Let's start with what you can "replace". None of the alternatives/substitutes are cheap, but some are available:

Bread - Waitrose do Livlife bread. It's the closest to normal bread I've found, £2 for a small loaf, but freezes and toasts well. 3.4g carbs per slice, compared to 15-25g per slice of normal bread of any type. In addition, the supplier I linked to in my previous post do this - https://handcraftedbread.co.uk/product/low-carb-400g-tin/ - which is more expensive than Livlife, but lower carb again at 1.4g per slice. Freezes well, but doesn't toast quite as well as Livlife.

Rice - Cauliflower rice is the best alternative I've found to real deal rice. It's not going to fool you into thinking you're eating real rice, but it's decent in my opinion. You can make your own (several experts at that on this forum, but doesn't keep for long), or for longer shelf life and convenience you can buy microwavable pouches from several supermarkets (Tesco, Waitrose and Aldi are definites) - https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/289796703

Pasta - Haven't really found any amazing alternatives unfortunately, but this is about the best of an average down to bad bunch (some very bad, e.g. konjac products) - https://carbzone.co.uk/collections/pasta

Crackers - Olina's Bakehouse, available at Waitrose and Holland & Barrett - https://www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/olinas-gluten-free-seeded-crackers/829405-791235-791236 and https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/s...ehouse-pumpkin-seed-flatbread-100g-6100001915

Crisps - You're out of luck here, they're all high carb. Some pork scratchings are good alternatives, but check carb values. Beyond that, your best bet is cheese based snacks, such as Cheesies (https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/cheesies-cheddar-snack-6100139854) or Monarchs (https://monarchscrisps.co.uk). Neither are cheap.

Sweet treats - Ketoroma (https://ketoroma.com) are the best supplier I've found for these. They do a low carb range. They're not cheap, but the low carb carrot cake and chocolate cake are good in my opinion. The low carb sausage rolls are ok too, if that's your thing. If it says out of stock, check back a couple of days later, as they have limited production capacity.

I tend to keep the above for occasional treats (birthdays, Xmas etc), or for where I need shelf stable convenient food (days out etc). Other than that, I focus my diet on the options that @MrsA2 and @JoKalsbeek suggested.

I really rate Carbzone's pasta products. They are quite rubbery (for want of a better word), but if cooked for a decent amount of time (longer than you would with regular pasta) and mixed with sauce, they do the job. You basically can't overcook them. Their rice product is... OK... but better than nothing (cauliflower's not to my particular taste).

 

[jjraak]

For a low cost, pretty tasty pizza treat..I used this recipe.

Not totally as solid as normal pizza, the triangle into mouth requires a little more support.

But when I was more into the cooking, this recipe hit all the right spots.

Tip: to drain cauliflower once chopped up etc, I simply used one of those cheap 'sandwich' food saver type fridge bags, and simply cut a corner off (leaves it looking like an icing piping bag)

Squeeze & drain, it's important to the final product.

And I used mozzarella that Tesco (at the time) did a cheap version of, & kept ok in the fridge.

One or two for the base, and one for the topping, then it's any veg or deli meat left in your fridge.

I never made & froze, but as I made mine in a rectangular shape, I found that easier to do and fill up the baking tray....and IF I'd frozen one or two that would be easier to stash away in the freezer, I reckon

Missus, non T2 raved about it to friends.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust - Keto Pizza Recipe | Downshiftology

Cauliflower pizza crust is a delicious gluten-free, low-carb and keto pizza recipe. It's a simple blend of cauliflower, eggs, cheese, and a few spices that's flattened and baked into a golden crust.

downshiftology.com