To eat or not to eat?

jaykay said:

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...

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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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I'll admit that the fifteen foods may not be suitable for the OP (primmers) or other type 2's, but to say a 'diabetic' would find themselves in trouble eating these foods is simply not true. I eat apples, oranges, pears, beans, lentils, pasta, sweet potato, porridge and All Bran without any problems, being a type 1 I simply match my insulin to the carbs I consume which keep my bg within the recommended guidelines. As ever it is up to the individual to rule out what foods they can or cannot tolerate.

Nigel

A Snickers bar is a low GI and we wouldn't eat that.
You have to test and see what low GI foods you can personally eat. I follow a low GI diet with no problems as the frequent testing in the beginning is what determines what is personally acceptable to you.
The G.P. could have given better advice and recommended testing.

Did you get the 'wobbly legs' feeling before you started taking Simvastatin? I only ask because these can do strange things to some people's legs (mine included!) although many people are fine on them. If your triglycerides are high but the rest of your lipids are in an okay range it's worth going to the HCP and asking them to explain properly, please! particularly if you have another condition that affects your blood lipids. And tell them about the wobbly legs - doctors are there to answer questions.

My 'need food' sign tends to be light-headedness - but we're all different. I too don't eat for at least 1or even 2 hours after doing my am fasting check, which I do as soon as I get up, before coffee. More often than not my bg has gone down a little by the time I do my pre-breakfast test.

Look up 'dawn phenomenon' - this may be what you're getting, as a Type 2. I think it means you've gone a bit low overnight so your liver has compensated. Nothing to worry about. I find it frustrating because it means my fasting levels (as seen by the doctor) are always higher than my during-the-day levels; eg I can be 6.5 at 08:30 but 5 or lower by mid-afternoon. It's my next discussion point when I see the nurse.

Such a lot to learn! I find this forum a great help.

Viv

primmers said:

OK, another question here. Used my monitor for the first time this morning at about 9.20 but it was nearly 50 minutes later before I got round to eating my breakfast. Obviously I next test at 12.10. Is it important that there was a relatively long gap between the 'fasting' test and the meal?

I'm planning on recording pre meal, two hour, food eaten and how I was feeling physically. Is there anything else that might be useful to me in working out a pattern?

By the by, legs have got that wobbly not quite right feeling this morning, even before I ate, so it sort of confirms that what I have taken as a signal that I need food isn't, the overnight BM was 7.4. Or is that a false assumption too? :?

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First off, when testing in the early days it is best to test immediately on waking. Get your fasting (waking) level. Then if you don't plan to eat for a while do another test immediately before you eat your meal. That will tell you if any activity between waking and pre meal has increased or decreased your Bg level.

Test 2 hrs after meals which should show the effect that certain foods have had on your BG levels, normally/hopefully it will have gone down to almost pre-meal levels. Some people time it from the start of eating, others from after eating.....just be consistent whatever you do. I time it from after as sometimes meals can take a couple of hours and I wouldn't

You can also test at the 1 hr interval which will show a spike from any quick acting carbs. However........if you have had a food that is high in fats or slower acting carbs then you could find that the level increases much later so testing after that type of food would show a peak at 3, 4, 5 hrs or more ! The so called 'Pizza Effect.' Get's confusing doesn't it ? Once you are aware of these things then you can test accordingly.

Whatever you do NEVER assume anything........you may be feeling 'odd' and assume you are low and need food. Use your meter to tell you what your BG level is. React to THAT and how you feel. Feeding more carbs to an already elevated level is just going to make things worse. So test........

Hope that's helped a bit.

Whatever the guidelines are be they SIGN in Scotland or NICE in the rest of the UK try some gentle persuasion.......they can either say yes or no.....if you don't try you won't get

SIGN guidelines were changed not so long back but that's something you will have to look into it. We do have them somewhere but it's late.......I do know that they say "not routinely" offered to T2's unless on Insulin.......I would argue that doesn't mean that when initially diagnosed you don't get any help by SMBG........give it a try ! :twisted:

Have a read here for some tips how to go about getting them prescribed.

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Just sticking my head above the parapet with this one, ready to duck the bullets . . . I don't change my lancets very often. Maybe once a week.

I wouldn't dream of advising anyone else to do it, though!

Viv

No problems there Val.......what we SHOULD do and what we DO do is a matter for each individual. I change my drum of 6 lancets every week too........it's not really an invasive procedure.

I change my lancet very infrequently - less than once a month.

Can I ask those of you that do change 'em regularly:

Do you change 'em to minimise risk of infection, or:
Do you change 'em for fear of inaccurate BG results?

I change mine because a sharp one hurts less. When I get bruises on my fingers it's time to change. I don't change them very often though. That reminds me - better change it now :lol: