what to do

Have you tried testing before and after a couple of meals with no potato or bread or wraps? I can't eat either as they spike me too much. I am looking forward to summer though so I can see if new potatoes are better. I thought I had had an awesome healthy lunch the other day of a wrap with chicken, spinach, tahini and mayo, but no, I went from 5.5 to 9.7 in 2 hours. So wraps are off the menu for me, at least for now.

If you are still having really high BGs despite avoiding spiky carbs, then maybe (guessing here) your diagnosis is not quite right or your meds are not quite right. It's not unheard of to need insulin at the start, depending on your diagnosis and HbA1c level. I've read about people here needing higher doses of Gliclazide than 30mg, as well as another one or two meds. There are many types of diabetes other than T1 and T2, for example. But it's hard to sort all this out in 3 weeks.

Hopefully people with more experience and knowledge than me will post soon and help you out.

moe. said:

Thank you for the reply.
If i eat bacon and egg a get a good result and bean salad but cant live on that.
Do u know at what stage we need to see a Dr in regards to BS i dont know if 17.6 is high or not for somone with typ2
Sorry just a bit scared at the moment i hate not having control

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17.6 is super high I'm afraid. If it doesn't happen very often then it's not such a big issue but if you are going above, say, 10 every day then your doctor or nurse should be trying to help. Ideally the target range to aim for is 4 - 7.8.

[Edited to add: Let's see if you can get your levels down with low carbing over the next few days and maybe you won't need to contact the doctor just yet].

Bacon and eggs are great for breakfast. You can also swap the bacon for high-meat content sausages for a change, and add mushrooms and a small amount of tomato.

There is a huge range of low carb food you can have - check out the low carb subforum, and the thread called what have you eaten today, for ideas.

I eat bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, tomato, full fat greek yoghurt, thickened cream, berries, cream cheese, cheese, chicken, meat, apples, leafy green veges, a little carrot, nuts, seeds, tahini spread, mayo, coffee, sugar free hot chocolate drink, tinned salmon, and more things I am finding all the time. Others will have lots of foods to suggest too.

Have a read of the replies to your first thread, including the post by Daisy1, which has the newbie information all about blood sugar levels and low carbing:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/i-need-help.82569/

Looks like you need to cut out potatoes any type of bread or cereal product completely. I had to do that but now can have some, but never have any in the evening only early in the day before activity.

It sounds similar to my initial findings. I knew even early on (diagnosed with Type 2 in 2010/11) that I was extemely reactive to any carbs, even those supposed to release slowly into the system.

So the improtant thing imo is to keep a diary, it's a pain, but you need to really show the health professionals your history of food/blood sugar levels. Actually get your diary out and point out that time and time again you eat carbs, even with pills its still going up too high etc. Just having a general chat about it in my case was not working, I needed to really hit it home to them,

If you've not come across it yet, but they can do an antibody test from a blood sample, and a low C-Peptide result could indicate what I was eventually diagnosed with....Type 1 Late Onset.

I mention the above not to scare you, but given the condition, getting the right diagnosis and treatment as early on as possible is important.

For me, even though I'd never choose to have this condition, it does have some very big plus points....in that it forces you to watch what you eat, keep a regular eye on yourself, regular checkups with Diabetic Nurses and GPs. It forces you to think twice about junk food and food high in carbs/sugar.....even last night my wife took a pot of icecream out of the freezer...I was super tempted to have just one scoop....and yes, could have taken more insulin, but I resisted and after the urge had passed I was pleased I made that choice....

Personally, I think you should try a couple of weeks of being very strict with your diet, which, if it were me, would be no potato, rice bread products or sugar. So, lots of meat, cheese, eggs, maybe nuts, along with salads, leafy vegetables, courgettes and the like. For fruit, I'd concentrate only on small portions of berries, taken with cream. That way you will have an idea of what you can do, if that's what it takes. That will give your body and the meds a chance to settle into each other.

Ziclaseg appears to be a brand variant of Gliclazide, so that's designed to encourage your pancreas to produce more insulin, to drive your blood scores down, so by taking this medication, plus low carbing, you are making the best of the tools available to you.

You say you don't want to lose weight, but do you have any you could lose without it harming you, as often low carbing does lead to a certain amount of weight loss? What is your current BMI? You can calculate it here: http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

Just as an aside, one of the side-effects of drugs, such as Ziclaseg/Gliclazide is it can lead to weight gain in some people.

I would also make an appointment with my doctor for perhaps mid-way between now and my holiday, so that if I need to see him/her, I'd have something booked. If things settle, you could always cancel, although I might be inclined to keep the appointment anyway, so that I could ask some "what if" questions before going off for a month. By that I mean, "what if I find my bloods going sky high when I'm away? What would I do? He may suggest if certain scenarios arise, you may need to increase your dosage a little until you get back to UK.

Where are you going on holiday? If you have taken travel insurance, please ensure your ensurers know of your diabetic status. It shouldn't make any material difference, but they do tend to get a bit grumpy if they find they don't know stuff, at the point of a claim. And let's face it, that's not the time to be arguing with insurers! That grumpiness could apply for a potentially non-diabetes related claim too. It's called non-disclosure.

If you are travelling in the European Union, please ensure you have an EHIC, and take it with you. This allows some emergency public health care wherever you are, and is a decent back-stop or safety net.

Good luck with it all, but I do feel you have to really give this diet thing a real go now so that you do understand how it might or might not work for you.

Hi. Can you let us know your BMI? Why didn't the Metformin work; was it because of bowel problems? Metformin SR (Slow Release) is much better. 30mg Gliclazide (is that what you meant by 'ziclaseg') is very low. I was on max dose of 320mg for years. If you have excess weight, the Gliclazide may not work whereas Metformin SR will help. The reason is that excess weight will mean insulin resistance and too much insuin in the blood. Gliclazide will prod the pancreas to produce even more which may not he helpful. A low-carb diet is key to all this to start with to redcue any insulin resistance.