Weight watchers and type 2

[Grandmasuep]

Hi all.....New to this so I apologise for mistakes
I have had type 2 for 15 years and have basically buried my head in the sand until now.
I have been following the weight watchers app suggestions for meals etc and have managed to loose 5kg in 2 weeks...which is really good for me. Eating very little carbs apart from those in foods is I am having very little bread potatoes rice and pasta
I am on 2x1000mg of metformin a day combined with dapagliflozin 5mg, sitagliptin 100mg.
I do not have my gallbladder.I
This week i have had terrible stomach pains, runs and cramps.
I have not been told to monitor my sugar .
It seems to me that my doctors are just happy to keep me on high doses of medication.I go to a very large practise and my twice a year visits are to different doctors each time.
I am 63 retired.
Is this normal or should I be taking charge of what I need

 

[xfieldok]

Yes it is normal and yes you should be taking charge.

You need a meter to see how your food affects you. WW and SW are in no way qualified to advise T2 on diet. We can help with all aspects if you want. Welcome to the forum.

 

[VashtiB]

I completely agree with @xfieldok .

Hello and welcome,

As you are on medication I can't really give much advice except that the first step you should take is to get a meter. This is the thing you will need to manage your blood sugar levels and will tell you how foods effect your body. So that step is the first.

The second thing I suggest is to keep a food diary. This will give you the ability to see patterns. The food diary should track the amount of carbs in each meal- believe it or not the calories just don't matter.

I haver done every diet known to man (except the 'fad' diet known as keto) prior to my diagnosis. I can count calories with the best of them. No one believed me because I went low calorie and didn't lose as much weight as they thought I would if I were honest. Now that I've gone very low carb I've lost a fair amount of weight and still losing. I'm not hungry and I don't count calories so eat pork belly (with the crackling) I eat the skin of a roast chicken (not all of it lol).

The medication you are on will mean that maybe just very gradually lower the carbs in what you eat. It's all carbs- fruit and other' healthy' food which are high carb are all not great for us type 2s. You will also need to test regularly. Others who have been on medication will be able to provide better advice,

Good luck and welcome.

 

[HSSS]

I do not have my gallbladder.I
This week i have had terrible stomach pains, runs and cramps

If you have increased fats this might be the issue. (Although following ww I don’t expect that’s the case thinking about it). Without a gallbladder you have no bile storage and increasing fats means until you ramp up Bile production to cope, the fats don’t get dealt with efficiently. Adding them in more slowly and across the day often solves the problems. I also find any change of eating pattern takes me in a while to adjust the output shall we say As I am also with a gallbladder.

ignore the advice not to test. It’s either because of the cost therefore if they recommend it they should fund it and can’t so don’t. Or it’s because they don’t understand the value in it for a type 2. It can show you very quickly and clearly the effect different foods have on your levels.

 

[Tophat1900]

Based on what you have stated. It seems to me that you're the only one interested in your health. A lot of people here take charge of their own health and make outstanding progress once they do. The advice to not test your blood glucose levels is appallingly ignorant and detrimental advice. You need to be able to know what your levels are doing. A meter allows you to see what foods affect you the best and worst, and to track your own progress over time. You wouldn't try driving a car blindfolded. Not testing means you don't know what your levels are at any give point. Which means you are blind as to what is happening without one. Your glucose levels are important data.

What you eat plays a major part of blood glucose control. If you are interested in low carb diet, as you are eating very few. This link below is a great piece for diet and in particular, what to avoid. https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

Welcome aboard!

 

[Grandmasuep]

Thank you all for the replies. It is good to know that people are reading and thank you for all the advice.
I am still doing weight watchers but only through the online app which is good.
I have lost 1 stone in 4 weeks. I have purchased a meter and sticks and my morning measurement has been between 7.5 and 6.2 depending upon how much fruit i ate the day before. The weight watchers all allows you points and a lot of food is zero points including fruit which I realise is heavy on carbs so this week onwards my diet will contain all the points i can have but I am limiting the carbs to a very small amount so no bread pasta rice pots and only a small amount of fruit each day.....wish me luck on and I have been walking more 3 7km walks this week

 

[Pipp]

Well done @Grandmasuep .
Only thing I can add to advice already given is that if you want fruit, berries are better. Tropical fruit and particularly bananas, are heavy carb.
Also the best way to know how various foods affect your blood glucose levels is to test before eating and again two hours after. Keep accurate records of what you have eaten, and your blood glucose levels and you will see patterns emerging.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I am on 2x1000mg of metformin a day combined with dapagliflozin 5mg, sitagliptin 100mg.
I do not have my gallbladder.I
This week i have had terrible stomach pains, runs and cramps.

Welcome to the forum.

I might not be a doctor but I am someone who has experienced taking Metformin, unlike most doctors. Twenty three years ago when I was first diagnosed the GP was so adamant that there was no connection between my frequent bathroom visits and the starting of taking metformin that I went for all sorts of 'procedures' checking for bowel cancer. Basically, in my case it was the metformin. Since then there has been the introduction of Metformin SR or even Metformin XR (sustained or extended release) which seem to have a beneficial effect if you're suffering from Montezuma's revenge.

I have also noted that in my case the lowering of carbs (down to < 50gms per day) has also had a beneficial effect and metformin hardly upsets me at all these days.