Type 2 Control

Salamitou · Mar 14, 2012

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes about 12 years ago and my prescribed medication has gradually increased to the present 4 Metformin 500mg tabs a day and 4 glyclacide 80mg tabs. No symptoms, felt fine. Then for the first time in months, I took a reading last November 2011 and was horrified at the reading of 24 mmmol/l. I have behaved foolishly for years - one choc biscuit can't do any harm principle and the roast potatoes were lovely! My GP's diabetic nurse wanted to me to start immediately with injecting insulin. Decided at once to move onto the Montignac low GI diet and also take natural medication (Chromium tabs and Polyzyme Forte) for at least 4 to 5 months so that the HbA1c readings would truly reflect the situation. IT HAS WORKED. My instant readings are now in the range 7 to 11 mmmol/l and I think will slowly reduce further. I suppose what I am saying is that diabetes is controllable if one is prepared to make the effort and not be a fool to oneself. I must admit my wife is the one who suffers, she has had to adapt her cooking methods. I have also lost a stone and three-quarters and feel a whole lot better. I suspect it is a solution open to many.

xyzzy · Mar 14, 2012

Hello Salamitou and welcome to the forum.

I'm sure Daisy will be along soon with the official welcome pack but it sounds like you are well on the way to getting your blood sugars under control so well done :clap:

Many of us on the forum have also found the benefit of a reduced carbohydrate diet especially starchy carbohydrates like rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, cereals and anything else made with flour. I'm sure if you reduced yours just a bit more you would find your blood sugar levels back in the "normal" 4 to 7 range quite quickly. Rather than following a specific diet plan many forum members simply count carbs i.e how many grams of carbohydrate a day they eat or effectively do a similar thing using portion control. Most find a good place to start has been around 120 to 150g / day and then by testing with your meter you can adjust up or down accordingly.

Everyone's tolerance to carbohydrate is different and everyone's willingness to take diabetic drugs differs as well. I just take bog standard Metformin and have adopted a quite low carb diet of around 75g / day and nowadays never much see a reading above 6.5. Others eat even less carbs and take no medication at all and other members eat more carbohydrate but take stronger drugs and achieve the same BG levels as me. Either way is fine as it just a personal choice in the end.

Again well done on how you are doing and keep asking questions if you need to.

daisy1 · Mar 14, 2012

Hi Salamitou and welcome to the forum You seem to have made a lot of progress in your diabetes care. I think you will find this information interesting and helpful - it was written for new members. Ask as many questions as you need to as there is always someone here to answer you.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

Reduce your carbohydrate intake

Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l

2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l

2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l

2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review

self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
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Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/

Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.

Type 2 Control

Salamitou

Newbie

xyzzy

Well-Known Member

daisy1

Legend

Type 2 Control

Salamitou

Newbie

xyzzy

Well-Known Member

daisy1

Legend

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