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Taking Control!

studio95

studio95

Active Member
Messages
29
Location
Norwich
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hello,

I was diagnosed with Type 2 about a 12 - 18 months ago and put onto Metformin, initially 1 x 500mg (am) and 1 x 500mg (pm). More recently I have been upped to 2 x 500mg (am) and 2 x 500mg (pm) , however this has caused havoc with my stomach and have had tummy troubles for the past few months. This had got beyond a joke so I have now requested the SR version of Metformin which I started today 1 x 1000mg (am) although am a little confused as I have now gone from 2000mg daily to 1000mg daily?

I haven't really monitored my bloods other than my annual check up at the doctors but of recent weeks I have noticed more symptoms like pins and needles in my arm when I awake the morning and more frequent peeing and just generally feeling run down so requested a test kit and strips.

I have only been testing for a few days but can already see a trend of having low readings first thing in the morning but average during the day but quite high in the evening so wondered how I should best approach this.

Readings for the past 3 days are as follows


Sunday
07:30 = 5.1
12:00 = 6.2
18:00 = 7.1
22:0 = 9.3

Monday

07:30 = 5.4
12:00 = 6.6
18:00 = 7.3
22:0 = 11.3

Today
07:30 = 5.5
12:00 = 6.8
18:00 = 7.4
22:0 = 9.1
 
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Welcome to the forum, The reason for testing is to see what certain foods do to your blood sugar levels. Carbs and sugars are notorious for spiking you. So the recommendation is to have a low carb diet as well as a reasonable amount of exercise. We test before meals (fasting) and two hours after. Because two hours will give a better average than 1 or 3 hours. If you can tell us what you eat and ask any questions we will try and answer them. Also have a look around the forum and learn about how to control the condition. Once you have control and your diet suits you, you will feel better and then maybe you can lower the meds.
Let us know how your doing.
 
Hi, and welcome!

How many strips did they give you? Are they rationed?

Ideally, I would test just as you are starting to eat, then 2 hours later.
If the blood glucose has risen by more than 2 mmol/l then something (carbs) in your meal has caused the rise.
Then it is a matter of reducing portion size, or avoiding that food altogether. But you never need to go hungry because there are a lot of foods out there that have virtually no impact on BG, and you can fill up on those instead (meat, fish, eggs, quorn, soya, almost all veg (except starchy root veg) and less sweet fruit, like berries.

So, for example, I find that wheat spikes my blood glucose (BG) much higher than potato. So whereas I might be able to eat half a portion of chips at a meal, I would only be able to eat half a slice of bread. The potatoes are bigger, but they have a roughly equal effect. But I fill up on salad or veg alongside the smaller potato portion.

I don't know what your normal breakfast is, or whether you eat cereals, but a lot of us have found that eggs, or Greek yog with a few berries has much less impact on BG that shredded wheat, or porridge.

Good luck, and please pop back and let us know how it's going. :)
 
Thanks Nosher..

I normally start my day with a juice for breakfast consisting of 2 x carrots 2 x Celery 1/2 Lime 1/2 apple and 100g Kale.. for lunch I try to have a soup of some sorts and perhaps some wholemeal \ granary bread, however I must admit my diet over the past three days has seen me have carb heavy evening meals which I guess accounts for my high evening readings.. I was a little worried at them being as high as they were tho.
 
Thanks B,

I cant have dairy as I am completely intolerant to it no milk in coffee, defiantly no yoghurt and whilst I can eat cheese I soon know about it if I eat too much.. I never have cereal it is mainly just the juice mentioned and on occasion a banana for breakfast which normally sees me through to lunch. if I need to I try to snack on almonds..

I am going to cut out carbs as best I can from my diet for a while and see how that goes
 
Yes it does seem that you are having too many carbs especially in the evening. I would personally ditch the bread and spuds, rice, pasta or anything that spikes me. As brunneria has said there are plenty of other foods that if you get the balance right would satisfy you and keep you in control. I would also rethink your juicing as there are a couple of fruits that are liable to spike you.
Keep posting
 
TBH, I think you are having too many carbs,I would stop fructose because T2 self make fructose at upto 10x a non diabetics
the Dr may add the other 1000 when the first tab settles in, with a fasting 5.5 you don't sound insulin resistant and I would keep an eye out for late onset T1

these sites helped me
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf it’s a long page and a video

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbliving/a/Food-Cravings.htm For me, the more carbs we eat the more carbs we want. they don’t give up easy.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarb101/a/firstweek.htm

http://www.lowcarbdietitian.com/blog/carbohydrate-restriction-an-option-for-diabetes-management


blood testing
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php

food counting
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/


Newcastle diet aims in 8+ weeks to mimic the rate of ~70% remission, for surgery T2
“It is now clear that Type 2 diabetes is caused by abnormal fat storage. Research on how this may be reversed is available. “click that link on this page http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2010/mar/weight-loss-surgery-and-type-2-diabetes.html


American diabetic association ( http://www.professional.diabetes.org/)
http://www.professional.diabetes.org/admin/UserFiles/0 - Sean/dc132042 FINAL.pdf

Evidence is inconclusive for an ideal amount of total fat intake for people with diabetes;
therefore, goals should be individualized; fat quality appears to be far more important than quantity.
In people with type 2 diabetes, a Mediterranean-style, MUFA-rich eating pattern may benefit
glycemic control and CVD risk factors and can therefore be recommended as an effective alternative to a lower-fat, higher-carbohydrate eating pattern.
 
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It'll be interesting to see whether your juice sends you high at 2 hours, or not.

I drink green smoothies but never juice, because I want the fibre. So I've no idea what the difference will be. A smoothie made with those ingredients would be fine (for me).

And if I were you, I would test the banana. They do horrible things to me. The riper they are, the more sugary...

Do you use nut milks? And soya yogurt is delicious.

Are you a vegetarian?
 
studio95 said:
Thanks B,

I cant have dairy as I am completely intolerant to it no milk in coffee, defiantly no yoghurt and whilst I can eat cheese I soon know about it if I eat too much.. I never have cereal it is mainly just the juice mentioned and on occasion a banana for breakfast which normally sees me through to lunch. if I need to I try to snack on almonds..

I am going to cut out carbs as best I can from my diet for a while and see how that goes
Click to expand...
Funnily enough I don't do dairy either, I'm not intolerant just can't stand it!
My one exception is Greek full fat yoghurt. I love it and with a few berries of strawberries make a filling breakfast and supper.
 
Hi B,

I will post test results 2hrs after juice tomorrow. We mainly juice as my wife has recently been treated for eye cancer and we are looking to juicing to aid the fight in prevention of any secondary going to her liver, I am mainly having the juice to support her but find them very filling and satisfying myself.

I will drop the banana also as I have just read a couple of articles on them. had no idea they were so sugary!

Tried Almond milk once and didn't really like it, will give the Soya yoghurts a try. thanks

No not vegi, although don't eat a large amount of meat, if we do its mainly chicken, sometimes pork and on rare occasions a nice steak
 
there is some that say that carb/sugar feeds cancer, [partly based on what seems is the radioactive glucose pet scan] either way a ketogenic LCHF diet can't make it worse
 
jack412 said:
TBH, I think you are having too many carbs,I would stop fructose because T2 self make fructose at upto 10x a non diabetics
the Dr may add the other 1000 when the first tab settles in, with a fasting 5.5 you don't sound insulin resistant and I would keep an eye out for late onset T1

Apparently I am insulin resistant, if that is the one where your body cant react to remove the glucose from your system. I didn't realise type 2 could become type 1
Click to expand...
 
Thanks buddy. Low carb it is.. will be interesting to see how my readings are affected.

I appreciate I have only been testing for three days so a long way to go yet.. lets hope I can keep my mornings low
 
you will see a big difference straight away, have eggs bacon and fresh mushrooms or tomatoe for breakfast [no cereal or toast] and test 1 and 2 hr after,
 
I'm so sorry to hear about your wife's cancer!

And I can quite understand why you are going for the best food choices. I would be too.
 
My reading 2 hours after Juice was 8.0 and now 4hrs after is 6.1 all I have had since the juice is 2 x black coffee (no sugar) and will have my tomato soup with wholemeal bread at 12\12:30
 
Bloody doctors!

As mentioned on Monday I was swapped from 2000mg a day of standard metformin to 1000mg of SR Metformin to be taken with breakfast which didn't seem right so I have contacted my diabetic nurse today to query and she confirmed I should be taking 2 x 1000mg SR with my evening meal !

Bloody good job I checked.


Oh and I have also now established that my HBA1c is 68 so have some work ahead to bring that down!
 
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