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To eat or not to eat?

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primmers

Well-Known Member
Messages
175
Hi, I've just been diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic and am looking for a bit of advice about figuring out whether I need to eat or not.

One of the things that is puzzling me at the moment is how to interpret physical sensations. I have always, if I left it long enough between meals, found I had a tendancy to get a bit feak and weeble - wobbly legs etc. I always took that as a sign that I should hunt down some food and eat it PDQ and when I did the feeling passed and I was quickly back to normal.

When I had my Glucose Tolerance Test a couple of weeks ago I was surprised to find that the sensation I experienced in the aftermath of the glucose dose was the same as the one that I had previously interpreted as extreme hunger. I was very weak and wobbly legged but with a blood sugar level of 11.4 certainly wasn't hypoglycaemic. That feeling didn't pass for the rest of the day; despite me taking some low GL food later on, I felt rough right through to bedtime.

Since then I have often found that I felt weak and wobbly in the immediate aftermath of eating. It doesn't seem to make any difference whether I have had sensibly spaced meals or there's been a delay and I am mostly eating green spot food with not much orange spot and no red spot. (Spots being low, medium and high Glycaemic load foods from the Collins Gem book)

Today I had a sensible breakfast, didn't get lunch until 5 hours later when I had a wrap with salad, avocado and a couple of falafel in it, a banana and water to drink. Immediately after that I felt full but about an hour later I was in a bookshop and felt very wobbly. Previously I would have taken that to mean I needed more food but today I simply didn't know what to do for the best. I plumped for coming straight home and having a cup of tea, I have subsequently had a slice of wholemeal bread with marmite. I still feel rubbish but don't feel stomach hungry if you know what I mean.

At the moment I am on a three month trial of controlling my blood sugar by diet modifications. This means I don't have a blood sugar monitor and so can't just check as I go along to try and figure out what's happening. So, how do I know when to eat if my previous hunger signals seem to have a dual meaning?

Thanks.
 
Hi Primmers

Welcome to the forum!

You seem to have something of a problem there! I'm fairly new myself, so I can't help you very much, but there'll be someone along soon who knows more than I do and will be able to help. Have a good look round, read the advice to newcomers and maybe have a look at the diet forums. I'm low-carbing myself, as I have a lot of weight to lose, but others follow other diets, so there's plenty of advice.

I would really try to persuade your HCP to let you have a monitor. You can't find out how you are reacting to foods without monitoring, before each meal and 2 hours after, and you may be eating things that don't suit you - I can't take bananas or too much bread, for instance. Tell your doctor or nurse that you really want to take control yourself, and that a monitor would really help. I'm lucky - in my local practice the first thing they do is give a newly diagnosed diabetic a monitor, no matter whether type 1 or 2.

If they won't give you one, it's worth buying one yourself and taking a diary of your food and test results with you whenever you see the docotor or nurse, to convince them you are serious about it.

You sound very positive about it, which is great. Don't let it get you down! Everyone on here is very supportive.

Viv
 
Primmers,
knowledge is power, empower yourself, and if he objects, your GP's ignorance is your bliss :twisted:
It's YOUR body, learn, tweak, improve, . :D
 
Hi primmers and welcome to the forum, as others have said you DO need to get a blood glucose meter and do some testing regardless of what your GP has said, is he/she diabetic? I'm guessing not :roll:

There is a lot to take in when your first diagnosed and it can be a steep learning curve but the good news is it does get easier and the fact that you are currently diet only means that there is a real chance that you can get a handle on this and keep it well controlled, BUT YOU DO NEED A METER to be able to do this, sorry to shout but I do feel strongly about this :wink:

The fact that you are feeling wobbly after eating means it is very unlikely that you are going hypo, most type 2's on diet only will never experience a true hypo anyway as your liver will kick in and release glucose into your blood to counteract this happening, it could be you are just very tense following your diagnosis and are looking for symptoms that aren't really there, possibly the symptoms you feel could be the result of high blood sugars, but you aren't going to know that until you test your blood sugars.

Have a read of the information posted HERE (click on this link) by the forum monitors SugarlessSue and Cugilla it is a very good place to start your journey :D
 
If you follow the methods shown on this site, your BG results WILL improve.

Make sure that you tell your doctor that the reason your BG has shown such an improvement, is because you have done lots of research, and found what works for you. Don't let the Dr. believe that the blanket information they gave you (I'm guessing you've seen/will see a dietitian, and will be given the usual leaflet set...) which often includes recommendations to eat slow release carbs - which a lot of us have found WILL increase your BG, not help keep it down.
 
I'm afraid that my path to a diabetes diagnosis hasn't been very encouraging. I first attended the surgery with all the symptoms I have now last September (including exhaustion and thirst). They did lots of blood tests except any relating to blood sugar, on the back of that I was discovered to have high triglycerides and referred to a Cardiac Clinic at the hospital. The hospital did a fasting blood sugar on me, which came in at 6.9 and requested that my practice do a GTT. When I phoned for the GTT result I was told that it was fine and had been filed. Out of curiosity I asked what the readings were (7.1 fasting, 11.4 two hour reading) I had previously looked at the Diabetes UK web page on GTTs and knew they were both above the limit (albeit not much) so I queried that and got a GP appointment a week later

GP gave me a photocopied page from Update magazine dated September 2006, with a list of 15 low GI foods, 9 medium GI foods and 8 high GI foods and recommended I use that as a guide to what to eat. I am due to see the practice nurse in a fortnight to have my cardiac bloods repeated as I was started on Simvastatin by the hospital and he said I should get a HbA1C done then and get the diabetes bloods repeated in May when he expected to start me on a mediction such as Metformin. I'm hoping that the practice nurse is able to give me more information and support.

I have a co-existing medical condition that probably accounts for the elevated triglycerides. As I am not apparently in a risk group for Type 2 diabetes (I am marginally overweight, reasonably active and have followed a wholefood veggie diet for the last 30 years with sweet stuff as an occasional treat)I asked whether the diabetes might be linked to my other condition. He said No, and that was that.

I'm not wanting to sound like a whinge but...

I'm more than happy to play my part in managing and ameliorating the condition but I hadn't expected that I was going to have to do quite so much work on my own. Feeling a bit overwhelmed if the truth be told.
 
You're not alone - we're here, and we're all in this together :)

In my (limited) experience, there are people on here who know a lot more about diabetes than some HCPs. I emphasise 'some'! :wink:

Viv
 
Cheers Doll :)

It was a bit of a whingy post, oops...

Off to investigate blood monitors, though I see from another bit of the message board that the strips are not available over the counter and some GPs don't like to prescribe to diet controlled Type 2s. Fingers crossed that that's not a bridge I have to cross (be positive primmers)
 
primmers said:
Cheers Doll :)

It was a bit of a whingy post, oops...

Off to investigate blood monitors, though I see from another bit of the message board that the strips are not available over the counter and some GPs don't like to prescribe to diet controlled Type 2s. Fingers crossed that that's not a bridge I have to cross (be positive primmers)
Click to expand...

Test strips ARE freely available OTC VAT free to Diabetic's.......or on the net from sites such as Ebay at less cost.

Downloadable VAT Exemption form :

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/vat-exemption.html

You may be required to provide proof that you are a Diabetic.

This also may be of help to you.......

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088#p155405
 
Hi everybody
I'm new to diabetes too and i'm going to read everything i can! I'm hoping to learn lots on this forum and hope to learn how best to control it and what i can eat etc etc! I'm not living in the UK and where i do live its very hard for me to get up to date info from doctors/hospitals. I believe everybody is telling me a different story.
Anyway, sorry to hijack your question primmers.....but i'm enjoying the answers, it all helps!
 
Hi jiggle and welcome to the forum :) Since you are new to diabetes I think you will find this basic guide for newly diagnosed diabetics useful. Have a good read around then ask as many questions as you like. Here is the link to the information put together by the Forum Monitors:


viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17088

This was in fact posted earlier on this thread but this is in case you didn't see it.
 
Thanks Daisy, I'm working my way through the pinned messages and they are helping. I've got a metre now and will start monitoring tomorrow. Can't say I'm looking forward to the continual pin sticking but I think I will feel better for being more in control.

Just for the record, the fifteen foods the GP advised me to eat are apples, oranges, pears, peaches, beans, lentils, pasta, sweet potato, sweetcorn, porridge, custard, noodles, All Bran, Special K, Sultana Bran....

Nom Nom Nom :)
 
primmers said:
Thanks Daisy, I'm working my way through the pinned messages and they are helping. I've got a metre now and will start monitoring tomorrow. Can't say I'm looking forward to the continual pin sticking but I think I will feel better for being more in control.

Just for the record, the fifteen foods the GP advised me to eat are apples, oranges, pears, peaches, beans, lentils, pasta, sweet potato, sweetcorn, porridge, custard, noodles, All Bran, Special K, Sultana Bran....

Nom Nom Nom :)
Click to expand...


:shock: :shock: :shock:

Most of the foods that you have been told to eat are not going to be good for somebody on diet only !
Masses of carbohydrates which WILL convert to glucose in the blood stream, leading to high blood glucose levels.......

Frankly I wouldn't touch hardly any of them ! Have you read the advice that Sue and I post for newly diagnosed. That is good advice ......which is more than can be said for the Dr's, probably well meaning, but flawed advice........not a way for ANY diet only Diabetic to gain good control....... :(

I'm on medication and I would be in BIG trouble trying to eat all those things.
 
That's disappointing cugila, I had been looking forward to Special K and Custard for my diabetic breakfast :lol:

The Diabetes UK site has info about glycaemic index, I have had glycaemic load recommended (which seems to be glycaemic index modified for probably portion size)

What do folk here think and do?
 
Diabetes UK........ :shock: How dare you mention them here. :lol:

I have used the GI AND the GL method, still do. People say low GI on it's own doesn't work.......that's why I added the low GL method, now THAT does work.

Portion control is VERY important and it allows me to have SMALL portions of the things that many would find difficult to tolerate. My regime is also low fat and low carbs at present but previously I just reduced carbs to around 60-80g per day. Now it is less than 40g per day. Temporary, then back to normal soon.

As for the GI.......this website is where I started out.......

http://www.glycaemicindex.com/
 
Just for the record, the fifteen foods the GP advised me to eat are apples, oranges, pears, peaches, beans, lentils, pasta, sweet potato, sweetcorn, porridge, custard, noodles, All Bran, Special K, Sultana Bran...
Click to expand...


O...M...G..! Seriously guys, this seems to me bordering on criminally ignorant. A diabetic just taking this kind of advice could find themselves in real trouble. :shock:
 
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