Where to start T2

[Allic1971]

Hi All,

My names Alli, I used to live in the Uk - East Yorks but we moved to Australia 5 years ago.
background... I had Pre-gestational diabetes, my dad also had T2 and most of his family members did too. Dad also had high BP bad cholesterol, and heart disease.
I believe I also have PCOS (was asked this by a nurse when I had 2 miscarriages 20 years ago...)

So 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with meniere's disease - had a bad vertigo attack and a fatty liver and IBS, so I changed my lifestyle, cut out the booze for 3 months, change my diet to "clean living" and did aerobic exercises and weight lifting for 1h x 5 days a week, I re-introduced light beer and low alcohol sweet wine just 2 days a week and on special occasions lost 10Kgs (22lbs) have since put 3Kgs (6.6lbs) back on but the doc said I need to lose a further 5.8kgs (12.7lbs) so that would put me at 76kg (12 Stone) just out of the obese weight range and a healthy BMI, I laugh as i'm only in a UK size 12-14 clothes now at 81.8Kgs (180lbs/13 stone) I did find that My fitness pal helped to track sugar/salt/carbs/fiber/calories

But from January this year I have suffered with an infected gum/wisdom tooth and on the 25th may I had enough out it came, great I thought, but 1 week later I started with an acute sinus infection that lasted 5 weeks, it put me in the ER on heavy meds for the pain and 4 lots of antibiotics, I finally went back to the Drs 3rd July to see if I could have anymore as it wasn't shifting, the doctor took my BP which was 160/102 it had been like this for the last 4 times but they blamed the pain meds for this...
I had to have a 24 hour BP monitor which was Friday 5th July and a full blood workup done..

So I get a call to say my BP report had been faxed in to the Drs, I had an appointment on the 17th July I can get the results then I thought, the Cardio Tech said I must make an appointment for before then....ok Alarm bells are ringing. I got an appointment the same day and was told by the doc that I had low Vitamin D, High Cholesterol (5) High Triglycerides (2.5) High BP (average was 150/95 although it did go up to 180/112) and BG of 12.9 fasting level ....where to start with that lot...

So I was booked in to see a Diabetic Nurse, but the waiting list was 9th August, my local community clinic here had a cancellation for Thursday 11th July I had to pay a small fee, but it would put my mind at rest so off I went..

I got a free meter from here, she really didn't offer anything I didn't already know unfortunately, other than my diet is 80% clean, I needed to change from coffee to tea (but I don't like tea and my coffee is powered, weak and milky) my post breakfast of porridge was 13.3 and with a clean diet she said it looks like I shall be going straight to metformin, I'm already taking Micardis for high BP and Crestor for high cholesterol.

I have been testing myself and writing a food diary so I can what my body can and can't tolerate...
My pre breakfast levels range from 10.01 upwards
post breakfast range from 10.9-17.3 (weetabix made with hot water and 1/2tsp of smart sugar os a NO for me from now on)
pre lunch range from 6.9-10.5
pre dinner 9.1
post dinner 13.1
(no more readings at the moment as it's only been 3 days of having the meter)

So I decided to do a little test of what I can eat and not eat, I'm not a big chocolate or desert eater I would rather have cheese. dip or crackers so that helps a little.

But if anyone has any advice or something they have tried that's nice and doesn't really effect your BG level that would be great!
Many thanks
Alli

 

[daisy1]

Hi Alli and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you like and someone will help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

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.

 

[Allic1971]

Thanks Daisy for the info!

Anyone else got any advice?

My BG levels are still high even after low carbing :?

My morning readings are between 10.1 - 12.3 roblem: and before lunch 8.2-10.5 roblem:

Am I heading straight for the Metformin without passing go :crazy:

Thanks
Alli

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Obviously you have more health problems than just diabetes so I can't help on that front, but it seems that focussing on your diet really is the most important thing. For breakfast you might want to avoid the porridge/Weetabix or keep them small and have eggs, bacon etc instead. Set yourself a carb target of, say, 150gm/day or less. Watch out on the obvious carby things such as bread, pasta and rice. Protein is fine and so is some fat (fat doesn't make you fat; it's the carbs). Obviously veg is good but not cooked carrots or some other root veg. My wife tends to cook fish more often now, keeps the potatoes and rice low and does more veg. We have low-fat no sugar-added fruit yogurt. She has lost a lot of weight thru serious low-carbing. Don't worry about going onto Metformin (go for the SR Slow Release version). It's a very safe drug with few interactions and does help with insulin resistance. There are other drugs that can added to aid insulin production.

 

[Allic1971]

Thanks for the reply Daibell!

I have been avoiding the weetabix and porridge and going for the egg's and beans like you suggested :thumbup:

I have swapped everything white for brown, inc brown rice (YUK) but I do like it's weight loss effects :clap:

The doctor yesterday put me on Metformin but not the SR version, I did ask for that but got the regular one? and I was a little worried after reading everything about it on here, but diet alone is not going to help me with high BG levels that I have had as I was a fairly clean eater before this but I did like white crusty bread :eh:

She was quite please as I had lost 1.5KG (3.3 pounds) in just over a week from changing my diet, being really stricted and walking everyday, so hoping that this combo and the Metformin can work for me.

Today is the first day that me post breakfast reading was 8.8 YAY!
Thanks again
Alli

 

[EllisB]

Alli,

In Australia some foods are labelled with the GI Symbol (http://www.gisymbol.com.au/). That is a good guide to what those foods will do to you.