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T2 - Still feeling really confused

James.Kapherr

Member
Messages
15
Location
United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hey all,

I've mentioned before that I have been diagnosed as T2 only a few weeks now, and in that time i've made massive changes to how I eat and exercise.

I'm coming across several problems...

Set the scene... I am 43, 21st (294lb), 6' tall. I'm relatively active - walk 11mi at a time. I'm about to start my round of 2 x 500mg Metformin in the morning and 2 x 500mg in the afternoon.

I am looking negatively at eating now. Seeing food as an enemy. I have dropped down from over eating / eating bad stuff to struggling to eat more than 1000 calories. I am lacking appetite. The doctor told me not to eat bread, pasta, potatoes etc. The leaflet that he gave me says I can eat it. I look online and people tell me to eat low carb. Conflicting information from all angles. My breakfast consists of 2 egg omelette with a bit if cheese. At 09:45, my have terrible stomach pains and spend the next hour dashing to the toilet with a bad stomach. My lunch is 4 whole-wheat crackers with nothing on them. Dinner I would have chicken and veg. Snack would be a ramekin size portion of popcorn and an apple.

I've started going to the gym 3 days a week too. In the last 3 weeks, I've only lost 6lbs. I am pretty sure I am under eating. Even so, someone my size should be losing more.

I have 2 freshly ground cups of coffee a day - no sugar, splash of milk. Rest of the time water.

I am having no faith in our local doctor. Heck, even the Kirklees NHS altogether - received my letter from DESMOND for my referral - but they left out the link to register or any contact details on where to go to start this course. I feel left in the lurch.

On top of that, I am still arguing with my wife as she's as confused as me when it comes to what I have - stating that the booklet the doctor gave me says I can have pasta, bread and potatoes but in a small quantity. I'm also sure the portions in the book aren't taking into account someone my size.

I am really limited to what I eat - can't have seafood / fish - things like cauliflower rice or courgette noodles make me gag. So already my choices are becoming limited. I'm told to stay away from processed food like sausages, bacon, beef mince etc - then other people are telling me that is fine!

I just came back from shopping and was looking at every thing and going "can't it that, or that, or that, or that, or that, or that - oh can have that, but that is gross, can't eat that".

I'm meant to go camping at the weekend and I have no idea what I can take or eat there.

My levels are fine - between 5.4 and 7.1 - highest 9.8 but I know what caused that.

Just feeling tired and frustrated at the moment.
 
I hope this link inspires you! https://josekalsbeek.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-nutritional-thingy.html
 
You made me smile because I see a lot of me in your post, no need to be conflicted as it’s very simple, carbohydrates = bad, sugar is a carb, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, blah blah blah are carbs, eat less carbs = have lower numbers.

Food is not the enemy, the wrong food is though, food is energy, us clever hoomans decided it should taste lovely, not just keep us alive, you should try rethinking this for a while, eat enough to keep you alive and healthy, once you get that right, you can introduce the healthy and tasty stuff, thankfully fat is yummy too along with loads of other things but think eating to stay alive while you figure that out.

Diabetes = Booooooooo

Best of luck
 
sausages bacon and minced beef are all fine - we have been eating them for a long time and then someone decides they are bad for us - like saturated fat - I mean, you'd not want to eat just those, but totally avoided is not necessary.
Metformin played the very devil with my insides - I was really suffering, and all for no reason - I got so bad I threw them away and then found that I never needed them.
The inclusion of crackers, an apple and popcorn but limiting your other food seems contrary to the idea of avoiding carbs to lower blood glucose and reduce the stores in your liver and muscles. They are not a huge amount of carbs, but the popcorn and crackers have little nutritional value.
I have three eggs scrambled, with more than a bit of cheese, and with a bit of salad or a tomato - but then I don't eat again until the evening - my blood glucose is best when I eat at 12 hour intervals.
When you have been eating low carb for a while you might be able to add in starches - but there are no essential carbs, and grain is not all that good for use, even without diabetes. flour often has things added to increase the mineral content, but if we eat plants - salad and above ground veges, or berries we get a lot more vitamins and minerals.
 
Your dr is talking more sense than the leaflet. As you have a meter the way to see for yourself is to test before and 2hrs after a meal. We aim to have as small a rise as possible and definitely keep it under a 2mmol rise.

I’d agree you are undereating and seem to be taking bits of all the differing advice and ending up with little to eat. Neither are sustainable or helpful really. I would say carbs drive hunger hormones so possibly a lessening of appetite is normal but you still need sufficient fuel to avoid metabolic slow down. As far as type 2 is concerned the single biggest thing that will raise your levels is carbs. Any type any colour. The more you have the higher the levels will go. It’s that simple. Some of us tolerate more than others but the basic premise is still true.

High meat content sausages, bacon and mince are just fine from a carb/diabetes point of view. The advice not to eat them will be about saturated fat which doesn’t raise glucose levels and is seriously being called into question (regarding heart and cholesterol outcomes) by more and more medical and research papers and experts and there’s lots of discussion about this to be had if and when you want to and have got get your head around the diagnosis.

There’s a couple of links below this post that have loads of info and yet more links. Take some time to read widely and test and you’ll soon see why we advocate the low carb, not the low fat, message.
 
First off, 6lb of weight loss is great. If your loosing more then 2 to 3lb per week your loosing it too fast. I was exactly where you are now a couple of years ago, and i stuck at it and 12 months later i was in a healthy BMI and have been since. (2lb per week for a year is 7 stone gone in a healthy sustainable way)

If you do it by crashing you will end almost inevitably end up putting it back on.

For a cut, some one your size should be on at least 1800 calories a day, just make up the difference with extra veggies and protein.

Personally, I went with lowish carb, but allowed some fruit and cut all "simple carbs like sugars, pasta, rice, bread. But i found things like Bulgar wheat was fine. I find my blood control now is excellent and i have a little flexibility to have treats without it raising my blood sugars - i just aim to keep my weight in tolerance and my diet mostly sensible.

Simple way to find out, is to test your bloods after meals and see what works for you.

But simply, extra calories and bulk can come from protein and veggies
 
Thank you all - I appreciate all the advice. I am starting to take readings before and 2 hours after a meal.

When I woke up this morning, my reading was 6.2mmol/L - I ate some whole-wheat and raisin Shreddies with a splash of milk and just tested myself 2 hours later and my reading was 5.4mmol/L! So it had dropped.
So I am guessing I am not impacted by that whole-wheat?
I've seen similar with whole-wheat pasta - where I am getting zero rise. Whereas if I have french fries, it jumps massively.
 
You could be missing the spike.
Carbs digest easily, so when eaten alone their effect might be seen at half an hour rather than two hours later. Fats lengthen the time required for digestion in the stomach, so you see the effect with pizza, but it has been and gone with the shreddies and you see a low level as you have - in the usual type two manner, slightly overdone the insulin requirement.
 
Agreed. I’ve seen it in the past. I indulged in something I know isn’t good for me and instead of a high got a lower than normal level. An overshoot of insulin is the reason as we as type 2 are rubbish at insulin dosing. And an overshoot of insulin might right now bring levels down but it also means you have a huge amount circulating. That means increasing resistance to it, it hinders fat burning too and long term contributes to all the other metabolic syndrome conditions.
 
While it is quite common to have a lower BG reading 2hrs after first bite of breakfast than just before , it is usually because a low carb/no carb breakfast stops the liver dumping glucose into our bloodstream in the assumption that we need energy to go hunt/gather our breakfast like a cave dweller. There is fuel in the lc breakfast so no need to keep dumping glucose!
But as the earlier posts say, a lower reading after a high carb breakfast (even brown whole grain) is more likely to be the tail end of a spike up and a big insulin reaction driving it down again - not a good thing!
 
@James.Kapherr
If you are having trouble testing regularly enough (and in my early days that was 12-14 times a day, but that was in lockdown when I had nothing else to do!) then you might find a wearable monitor worthwhile. The most common and cheapest is a Libre from Abbott. Costs £50 for 2 weeks, but they often give the first one for free. Sends readings to your phone and you can see graphs of ups and downs. Very interesting and informative but also addictive. I now limit myself to 4 a year for Christmas and holidays
 


I think the main thing is the price; I'm exempt from prescriptions but they won't prescribe test strips or test machine for type 2. Or at least they didn't offer. 50 test strips for my tester is £13.

Deffo can't justify £100 a month for an auto tester
 
You don't need to use them continually, just for learning initially then as often or not as you like. I have mine as birthday presents
 
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