Tips to lower blood sugar

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Ruth.Day

Member
Messages
11
Hi,
Hope this works as never used the forum before. I need advice, I was diagnosed with type 2 last September. I am now on max dose of metformin a day and my sugar level is still in double figures. I have cut out on chocolates, puddings, sweets in fact most things with sugar in it but the levels still wont reduce. Was ill over Christmas and new year when levels rose to a staggering 18. I have started testing myself first thing in the morning before eating, even though my doctors dont agree with self testing but i am at my wits end. I want to stabilise and control my blood sugars because i dont obviously want to end up with the bad side effects.
Help
Ruth :(
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Well-Known Member
Messages
645
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
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People who lie , animal cruelty , boredom and pineapple !
Hello Ruth, sorry about your figures . Have you tried cutting right down on starchy carbs as well as sweet things ? Many health officials tell us to eat starchy carbs but for an awful lot of people, myself included , starchy carbs have proved to be my enemy . Its worked for me , figures have come down , cholesterol is down and I feel better . If you look in the Low Carb section, there is an intro and very good advice x
 
H

hanadr

Expert
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Ruth
It isn't only sugars that contribute to blood glucose, in fact for every molecule of table sugar, one molecule of glucose is formed. However with starches( which the medics usually tell you to eat plenty of) 100% of the starch molecule turns to glucose, which might be a factor of thousands. I once made a model of a starch molecule from models of glucose and it went 3 1/2 times around my laboratory( i was a teacher).
Hence you need to control the amount of starch that you eat. Even at maximum dose Metformin can't reduce your sugar by much. Only 1 - 2 mmol.
Are you testing your own blood sugars? If not, get hold of a etester and strips. If your doctor won't let you have them, the suppliers will often give a meteer free, but you have to pay for strips if you can't get a prescription. If this is your situaation, I ccannot recommend Abbott Diabetes Care too highly.
The amount by which you cut your carbs is personal to you. I prefer to go really low, ie <30per day.
If you look around this forum, you'll find loads on contrrolling carbs and how to do it, plus alternatives.
Hana
 
R

Ruth.Day

Member
Messages
11
Thankyou for saying to try a low carb diet. Tried really hard yesterday and this morning my BG was 8.9. Has not been that low for a while was 11.9 the day before. Just need to find the things and the variety of things that I can eat and enjoy now. :D
 
Ardbeg

Ardbeg

Well-Known Member
Messages
654
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Self serving politicians
Ruth,

I'm trying really simple things like eating grapefruit and squeezing lemon juice over my food every day; which I find quite pleasant but appreciate that won't be the case with everyone.

I also drink at least a pint of water a day with a capful of apple cider vinegar in it (again, not everyone will be rushing to try that one).

As a busy guy, always on the go, I need quick and easy "fixes" and these seem to do the trick. :D
 
S

Sweet enough

Well-Known Member
Messages
50
Ruth.Day said:
Oh dear, spoke too soon, levels back up again 10/11 first thing in the morning. I must be doing something wrong.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily Ruth! I'm on 3 Metformin, I low carb, I'm exercising on a cross trainer for 30 minutes per day, I walk my dogs 3 miles per day,(slowly admittedly and divided into 6 1/2 miles) have an intense exercise class every Monday and my morning bloods are rarely below 9 and usually around 9.5. Ive been on meds for 4 months and slowly wondering where my next drop in morning BG is going to come from.
 
N

nopudanymore

Member
Messages
10
I was diagnosed in January, so have now spent a month on a low carb diet and my fasting bg levels have come down from 17.7 to 7.5. (I've also lost a bit of weight too!) I've been keeping tabs on what I eat and alcohol intake. The acohol does't appear to make much differece to levels; the biggest difference is definitely carbs. However, I don't seem to have the energy levels I used to have (I exercised much more before I was diagnosed). My question is do i introduce a few carbs back in (even though my bg is still a bit high) in order that I can exercise more?


Type 2
diet only
 
D

Dobbs

Well-Known Member
Messages
182
hi Ruth,
my advice is: be patient! You've already seen the difference reducing carbs can make, so I'd stick with it if I were you. The effect of running much lower blood sugar levels over a longer period of time is greatly to be welcomed.
There's still all kinds of wonderful things you can eat even without bread, rice, potatoes or pasta.
 
L

LittleV

Member
Messages
21
Hello, not sure what is allowed and not allowed as links but assuming something from the American Diabetes Association is ok, I was put onto this by a friend of mine from the USA, where cinnamon is used a lot to aid people with Diabetes type2.

The tablets were quite hard to source, you cant have them on prescription, altho my diabetes nurse tried hard to get them for me, and yes, they have had a positive effect on my levels, despite my own appalling habits, (my nurse did a blood test before and after 2 months of taking them) so have a read, of this article, and make up your own mind
http://diabetes.about.com/od/whatsonthe ... nnamon.htm

From my own point of view, a natural product that in studies lowers both bg and cholesterol levels, cant be a bad thing. I got mine online, just under £12 for 3 months supply, so if anyone is interested, feel free to message me and I will give you a link to the site :)

p.s forgot to mention, click on the link at the bottom of the article for the more in depth study by the american diabetes association
 
S

Synonym

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,384
Dislikes
Having no energy as this is so limiting.
Hi Ruth and welcome to the forum. :D

It all takes time. :? Will be interested to hear how your next hba1c stacks up! :)
 
S

Synonym

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,384
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Having no energy as this is so limiting.
Hi LittleV and welcome :D

I use the original cinnamon and mix it into my food – it is lovely in yoghurt for example. Costs much less. 8)
 
C

carbjunky

Member
Messages
5
Ruth

Stop beating yourself up! It may be that you need to try different approaches to stabilising your blood sugars - depending on how much insulin you are still making yourself and how insulin resistant you are, you may need different treatments. Some people manage stable BS's with diet alone, others with diet and metformin, others need diet and metformin and other drugs too.

Read and read on this forum - it is full of lovely helpful people with mcuh greater knowledge than me who will help you to find out what works for you :)
 
L

LittleV

Member
Messages
21
I use the original cinnamon and mix it into my food – it is lovely in yoghurt for example. Costs much less.

Ty for the welcome... and yes I would too ^^ just one problem, I hate cinnamon!! :D
 
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