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Type 2 and blue

M

MrPeek13

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
So, here I am. By no means a newly diagnosed Type 2, I was diagnosed around 9 years ago. So what has brought me here? Why now? For the 9 or so years since my diagnosis I have more or less completely ignored the fact I am diabetic. I take my meds occasionally, I attend my retinopothy appointments occasionally, I attend my diabetic nurse appointments occasionally. All the while I have continued eating and to a lesser extent drinking whatever I like and unfortunately I have the sweetest of sweet teeth. Cakes, biscuits, chocolate, you name it and I have gorged myself on it.
Yesterday, following my latest blood test (Hba1c of 104) I have been told I need to go onto insulin. This has really shaken me to be honest, not the thought of injections or anything like that but the progression and worsening of my condition. It was absolutely inevitable considering the disregard I have thus far treated shown for my condition but still difficult to shake the feeling of self-loathing. I have read the sticky on this forum and it resonates loudly with me. If I want to acknowledge it's within my control to improve and treat this condition then I have to accept the fact it is because of my own actions I am where I am.
Whilst I battle that little head-fudge I am resolved, for now at least, to do better, to live life like a diabetic should. Eating in a responsible manner, taking this as serious as it actually is. Perhaps I've never taken it seriously because there are no obvious symptoms, no shadows on a scan, no x-rays to look at, nothing outwardly visible only numbers on a screen. If I ignore it, it'll go away, right? Nope!
Perhaps the biggest thing I am trying to educate myself on is food and what to eat. At the very best of times I am an incredibly fussy eater and my palette is bland and very limiting. If I take away the diabetic no-no's then I'm left with so very little I can eat and this I'm finding a little over-whelming. I am sure this website and forum is going to be and absolute gold mine for someone like me trying to decipher information. If nothing else, just typing all this out has been fairly cathartic.
I'd be interested to hear how others coped with their diagnosis and if my reaction rings true with anyone else?
I need to find my cake/biscuit version of methadone!! Suggestions :)
 
Hi MrPeek13 and welcome to the forum.
First let me post a link to our useful info post for newbies, I know your not new to diabetes but with your new resolve to kick Diabetes into submission, if you haven’t already seen it, I hope you’ll find it helpful:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/basic-information-for-newly-diagnosed-diabetics.17088/
Secondly many of us have achieved control by cutting carbohydrates as well as sugar in our diets. I’ve definitely found a few things to be my ‘methadone’ as I have always had a sweet tooth, not so much nowadays though! How about strawberries or raspberries and cream, sugar free jelly and cream, dark chocolate, including dark chocolate coated nuts? Savoury foods that don’t annoy blood sugar levels so much, meat, fish, eggs, cheese, nuts, olives?
Here’s a link to low carb eating info:
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb
However I must just qualify this low carb approach by saying that you would have to be very careful not to hypo if you have already started on insulin.
 
Hello and welcome,

Your post certainly resonates with me. I also am a picky eater with a v very sweet tooth. I'll be completely honest. First the help and advice on this site has made all the difference. Without this site I would not be coping. Second, when I was first diagnosed and read the advice on this site and knew what I had to do I cried- for weeks. I have followed the LCHF way of eating and my blood sugars bare completely under control- that's the good news. I've lost some weight- also good news. Do I like the food- well honestly no. I am slowly becoming more tolerant of it but I'm still a sweet tooth. I've only been doing it for 4 and a bit months and my tolerance for the food has improved, so it's not completely bad news. I just accepted that my body is carb intolerant. That is just the fact. I went really low carb and have vague hopes that at some stage I can increase the carbs a bit- but - to be honest- I know I will never be able to increase them to the level I'd like. I like having my eyesight and limbs a lot more (well at least some more) than carbs so this is just the way it is.

My lightbulb moment about exercise came a few years ago- tried many forms never found one that I loved- then someone said- it's like making your bed- you don't have to love it you just have to do it-well that's how I feel about LCHF- I don't love it but I do it. The actual carb cravings are now a whole lot less- it's now just in my mind- not in my body. I find very low c arbs probably easier than having more- like an alcoholic- one chocolate is too much and one chocolate is not emough.

Good luck- keep posting and reading
 
Welcome to the forum MrPeek13,
You will find that most of us take our Blood Glucose levels very seriously, in that we have bought (self-funded if necessary) a BG meter and initially used a lot of test strips in order to find which foods spike our Blood Glucose the most and how much of our favourite foods we can get away with eating.
Though if you are prescribed Insulin then you will get a BG Meter and strips on prescription.

One good food I regularly eat that Rachox didn't mention above is Avocado, in fact I find most fruits known as vegetables (except Tomatoes in my case) are very useful: Avocado, Cucumber, Courgette, Aubergine. I also tend to use Cauliflower and/ or Broccoli instead of rice, pasta or potatoes.

Most in here follow Dr David Unwin's patients and do Low Carb, but there are as many Low Carb diets as there are dieters, and many of us don't actually go hungry at all - eat more protein and traditional fats to make up any initial calorie deficit. However once the body is 'fat adapted' then it has a huge internal energy supply from its own internal body fat and the calorie intake can be reduced without hunger and without slowing the metabolism (the curse of crash diets).

Depending upon your unique circumstances you may find other methods suit you better than Low Carb:
Intermittent or longer Fasts such as skipping Breakfast, One Meal A Day, or Fasting for several days at a time (with caution).
Severely Calorie restricted Diets such as the Newcastle Diet or Dr Michael Mosely's 'Blood Sugar Diet'.
 
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