Totally confused

dingdong said:

Diagnosed 3 years ago with T2 and and didn't really change diet that drastically as I had no health affects from T2.
8 weeks ago my thirst became unquenchable and I realised I'd lost 2 stone.
Went to GP for blood tests and BG was 26, got called to hospital at 12.30am. GP was confused as to why I didn't show any other health problems normally associated with diabetes and BG at this level.
Having trawled the net for info, I am more confused than ever. Never heard of LADA and possible autoimmune problems.
Dietary advice is so divided, you're left bewildered as to what you can eat eg. no fruit, really? As for carbs, no root vegetables, no flour based product, no pasta or rice, these things are the staples. GP told me to have porridge for breakfast, but then I read that's not allowed either.
Have been on metformin for 3 days and severe diet but BG still in 20's.
Sorry if this seems a rant but I'm still totally bewildered as to DX, meds and dietary information.

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For those of us with T2, the key to control, and treatment is what we eat, how much (and when) we move around, and medication. You don't say if you have taken any medication since diagnosis, although you are now taking Metformin.

My stats are in my signature below, and I have managed this by diet and being active alone. I'm don't, and never hve taken any medication.

My approach was to tackle the carbs I was eating as logic told the scientist in me that if my body has a problem processing sugars, I should go easy on them - the same way as I would go easy on anything my body couldn't cope with. So, I cut back on carbs. I also bis tan testing my bloods, via regular finger prick tests. That told me the impact of what I was (and am) consuming. So if my numbers were low, that food could be eaten. Anything causing a significant upward spike could be reduced or given up. I gave up all sweet things ( never faves of mine anyway), and severely limited processed foods. As I also would ideally trim up, I didn't increase my fats to make the calories up. I trimmed up, fast!

In terms of activity; I walk a bit more to local shops or close by errands, and when in the sunshine, I swim every day. I don't do gym. I don't run marathons or anything too strenuous.

Where medication is concerned, I've never taken any, but a word or clear warning, and that is that Metformin will only lower your blood scores a bit. It is extremely unlikely to reduce your scores from the 20s to safer levels. Metformin must be used in conjunction with diet.

There are many ways to skin this cat, but what I did worked for m, and many others have done similar things.

Good luck with it all.

Hiya, welcome. It's certainly confusing at first, but you're in the right place on this forum. It's possible the NHS experts will eventually decide I'm LADA too. In the meantime I don't plan to hang around waiting for medical science to get a grip so I'm working my way back to good BG values with the help of the real experts on here. Hope you stay with us.

dingdong said:

Thanks.
I have seriously twisted my melon on Google today. That's the way it seems on the net these days, for all the info for, you can find equal against.
I'm not a big meds fan and so when I here metformin is not that good at reducing BG, I'm concerned.
Clearly something has happened to my system in the last 8 weeks with the thirst and wieght loss (not overwieght before), and that my diet hasn't changed in the past 8 weeks either.
As you say, hopefully I will gain usefull info on here.
Many thanks

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Metformin does impact on your sugars, but it isn't a silver bullet. It also helps with insulin resistance (which tends to be a big issue for T2s), and can suppress the appetite; again many T2s could do with trimming up a bit, so that all helps.

Of course, some of us are healthier than others, generally speaking, at diagnosis. Some have damaged beta cells in their pancreas. I don't believe I do.

Have you read anything about reversing T2?

I'm not saying you should be turned on by the prospect of reversal; although you should be open minded enough to at least read about it. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal.htm

Have you been testing your bloods daily? Do you actually know your bloods shot up eight weeks ago, or did the thirst start then?

Bottom line is that whatever "brand" of diabetes you have, it will be helped by reducing carbohydrates. If you are LADA, or even T1, if you are eating lots of carbs, you would need lots of insulin to reduce the numbers. Surely, better to try to keep the scores down, rather than drive them up, then have meds to bring them back down?

Before the last 8 weeks, what were your bloods running at?

dingdong said:

Never had blood tests till this week and I booked them due to concerns with rapid weight loss and thirst, I didn't link this to T2 at that time.
Self tested about 6 months ago and it was 7, so I'm suprised BG has risen so high in a seemingly short time, although GP says this can happen.
Certainly going to sort out my diet over meds.

Ah just had phone call from GP, apparently they've found something else in Blood tests, but didn't say what.
That will make for a relaxed weekend then.

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I think it's quite a leap of faith to assume a rapid change when your last test was 6 months ago, but neither of us will really know.

Do you have a blood glucose test meter, for home testing? That is key to prompt progress, in my view. You will quickly learn which foods impact you. Although a cream bun is likely to be obvious, some things aren't so. We can all react differently to similar foods; both just the foods, but also portion size.

Are you carrying any weight?

dingdong said:

Not carrying any weight now, lost 2 stone in the last 8 weeks.
I have been given a monitor and BG has gone down from 26 on thursday to 14 today, mainly due to having no suitable food in house and too ill to shop.
Being a single parent with two children I realise shopping and cooking is going to have to change a lot now.
Hey ho.
Thankyou for your reply, much appreciated.

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Yes, shopping takes on new meaning, in the early days of this thing. A quick supermarket sweep becomes a voyage of label reading adventure, so please try to allow extra time, initially anyway.

Most people find their cooking regimes have to change a bit, at least, but once you've sorted out a few things you can eat it needn't be much more labour intensive. For most, ready meals have to go, for a while at least, but in winter many of us have got into slow cooker/casserole batch cooking and freezing.

How old are your children, and do you intend they eat the same foods as you?

Hi. Sounds like you may be LADA as a proportion of T2s are mis-diagnosed T1s when they are slim and probably young. Hopefully your GP has been doing the two tests for LADA i.e. GAD and c-peptide. If you are a LADA the Metformin will have little effect and tablets such as Gliclazide and Sitagliptin may be needed at first to stimulate the pancreas

There is no definitive answer regarding diet what suit me may not suit you, the answer is to test with your meter what you eat and either not eat it or have a smaller portion.

When I first started testing I would do a test immediately on waking then one before breakfast one two hours after the first bite and then before and after lunch and dinner and one just before bed this way I could see what if anything had put up my numbers, having done it a few times with a particular meal and if needed adjusted content and size of portion, I could then be reasonably sure I would be ok with that meal and so not test for it, the four tests I do as standard are 1st thing then before lunch then before dinner and before bed. however if eating something new I do the 2hr after test. How much and when you test is up to you
You may need to turn your testing lance machine down to make it easier on your fingers.

Hi and welcome.

You've had great, sensible, workable advice above.

Testing is a pain, but you will be amazed how quickly you start to spot the foods that send you high. And then you may want to ease off a bit.

Is your lancet adjustable? If so, have it on the lowest setting that will still yield a small blood drop, and rotate your test sites.

I use each side of the fingerprint on each finger which gives me 20 tests before I revisit the same spot.

Hope that helps.

dingdong said:

The immediate issue is wading through all the contradiction regarding diet.
The LCHF one. No root vegetables, so carrots,parsnips, swede and sweet potatoe, although others say they are ok, especially sweet potatoe.
LCHF, NO fruit, ( really) no cereal, including porridge, no bread ( including wholegrain ), no milk (others say A2 and full fat not skimmed), no natural honey, and then there's the debate on artifical sugars.
I have no prob changing diet and I get the carb thing, but if only it was easier to find a definitive answer on the rest.

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Don't be overly put off by the apparently difficult restrictions. Many of the LCHF guidelines are more about minimising those foods rather than necessarily avoiding them altogether. The basic idea is to have a total carbohydrate target, a target that works for you, and then you decide which of those foods you can eat and still stay within your target, and which you will forego.

I drink milk for example. It's about 5g carb per 100mL. If I drink 400mL a day then that's 20g of my total 60 to 80g target. Same with fruit, I have one piece or some berries most days, and that's about 12 to 15g carbs.

It would help if you start out by listing the typical foods that you have been eating up to this point, and getting a feel for about how many grams of carbs you have been consuming and where the biggest cuts (and by that I really mean exchanges for other foods) can be made with the least amount of pain. Say for example you're currently eating 300 grams of carbs per day, then you may find you can get massive improvements with only a fairly modest low carb target.

Another thing to consider is have you been trying to stick to a "healthy' low fat diet? I know that I used to do so. Now I believe it was my biggest mistake and probably resulted in my diabetes being substantially worse than it otherwise might have been (possibly even being the cause of my diabetes). It is genuinely hard (actually impossible) to truly go low carb unless you remove the taboo on fats and start replacing carbs with healthy fats (including saturated fats). Plenty of healthy fat and low carb vegetables (eg eggplant cauliflower tomatoes and other salad vegetable to name a few) are the key to a successful (and healthy) low carb diet.

dingdong said:

carrots,parsnips, swede and sweet potatoes

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Hi & Welcome, yes it is mainly the veg from above the ground, but sweet potatoes seems to be OK and definitely for me Swede I have lots, Carrots not so good and Parsnips which I have very small portions.

As for fruit, I started eating fruit and honey and making sure I had cereal when I was diagnosed with Pre Diabetes, that diet pushed me to borderline T2, once I came here and realized what I should be eating, then now, I'm out out of the diabetic range for blood sugars, but more than 1/2 an apple will send me high.

Neil