Worried wife of newly type 2 diabetic

his BG is a lot better, you have been doing the right thing
metformin is the safest of the diabetic drugs and has been used since the 1920's, so I will reduce them when the BG is too low..

have you seen these sites?
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14045524.php

As far as diet is concerned, carbs are the answer. For diabetics carbs = sugar as they all turn to sugar once in the system, so the fewer the better. You can't cut them out completely because even good healthy vegetables contain carbs. The main things to watch carefully are potatoes, rice, bread, pasta, pastry and batter. Some people avoid these completely, others drastically cut down. It is all trial and error. You need to test him before a meal then 2 hours afterwards (sometimes at 1 hour and then later at 3 hours) to see which meals are causing the problems. If you find a huge spike after a meal, try it again with smaller portions of the carbs and keep going until there is an acceptable spike or avoid altogether. Also watch the fruit as this contains a lot of sugar, as does milk. It is a long learning curve, so baby steps to begin with.

Have a browse round the forum and look at the links Jack has given you. Come back and ask as many questions as you wish. Good luck.

you may well get his BG into the normal range by then, I cut all grain/product and potatoe with lchf and the bg came right down
what was his chol split? with his next test, his triglycerides should be down and good HDL up..LDL may be similar

Sweet potato is actually higher in carbs than normal potato, so probably not a good choice. Pumpkin is a better choice. Definitely limit bread - flour can be one of the things that really spike people's BG.

Well done on your approach to this so far! Regarding statins, I was prescribed them on diagnosis (with a total cholesterol of 6.9, so higher than your husband's, my triglyceride was also higher) but refuse to take them. I also 'negotiated' to carry on with diet and exercise alone, pending review at my next set of tests next month. This was helped in my case by the delay between diagnosis and seeing the DN during which time I had already made significant progress on BG, BP and weight loss.

I see no reason why if you carry on like this you shouldn't be able to reduce and eventually come off meds. It will take determination though, but that's what we're all about here!

I know, not having sandwiches was really hard for me, but firstly you have to get control so be very strict.You will be amazed at how the levels come down and how quickly, Then you can test to see what different foods do to your levels.

My suggestion - as it worked for me and opened my eyes - was to test regularly (every hour even) for a day and then you can see what is happening, yes it costs money in strips and it's literally a pain, but the value of self knowledge is priceless.

I'm really sorry about this, but your husband's (and yours) life has changed, You are making the right moves, but there's no half way measures, you have to get the levels down to stop any damage and maybe even to reverse any issues that have been developing.

Remember we are all in the same lifeboat, so hang on, it might get a little rough, but calm waters are ahead

But don't worry, soon you will understand it. try http://www.bloodsugar101.com/

Hi one of the best steps you have both taken is to join this group. I have only been a member for a week and I have learnt so much!!! The forums are great for information and so are other members. Ask anything you want I'm sure someone will have an answer or advice.
Good luck for future and welcome to the "family"

LWAK said:

We are now getting blood readings of around 8, this is with a newly installed diet regime (He needs to lose about a stone and a half) and 4 metformin tablets a day.
Do we completely cut of carbs or no carbs after 6 (for instance) Could we see a reduction in medication eventually?
Thanks

Click to expand...

You sound as though you're on the right track. The one thing I've learned after 17 years of being diabetic is that we're all different, we all react differently to different types of carbohydrate, so I'll tell you what I did. I did exactly what the hospital dietician and previous GP had told me not to do, I cut my carb intake. I removed pasta/rice/bread/potato from my diet although I'm down to about 80gms of carb a day and I still have toast at the weekend and sometimes rice during the week. This brought my BG down enough for me to stop taking Gliclazide and Januvia, so I'm just on metformin. That used to be a problem because of severe diarrhea but not now I've removed carbs from my diet. I also lost three stone and an added bonus that I didn't expect was that my cholesterol dropped to 3.5 and gave me the confidence to tell the GP that I didn't want to take statins any more, 17 years of muscle pain, sleepless nights and brain fog was enough. Pleased to say that yesterday my diabetic nurse told me that my HbA1c was 6.4% (46.4 mmol/mol) and my cholesterol was 5.4, a little above what they want but I know that when I get back to regular swimming, both of those numbers will come down.
A lot of diabetics will eat to their meter, testing after eating, sometimes 1 hr, sometime 2 hrs (this seems to vary from person to person because the effects seem to be quicker in some). Basically avoiding anything that makes their BG spike.
Statins affect people in different ways, I actually know somebody who has no side effects whatsoever. Most people I know who take statins experience muscle pain. It's a very personal thing and what's right for one isn't always right for everyone.
In your husband's position I would try to cut carbs and watch your BG. When I stopped eating carbs my BG started to drop and I had to be careful to avoid a hypo which did happen a couple of times. It's not easy for anybody, my advantage was that I was following a severely restricted calorie diet anyway (1600 cals a day). Some people will start introducing a lot of fat when cutting carbs, I didn't, I couldn't, been low fat for too long. As for cutting down on meds, the answer has to be see what happens, any weight loss will help as will cutting carbs.
You might like to ask for a C-Peptide test which will show how much insulin the pancreas has been producing. I had to pay for mine, no doctor has ever considered doing it. It showed that my pancreas is producing normal amounts of insulin, so my problem is more resistance to what I am producing.
Hope it helps, all the best
Graham

Hi LWAK and welcome to the forum

You have already received lots of very good advice and here is more - the information we give to new members which I hope will help you to help your husband. Ask questions and there is always someone to 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 over 100,000 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-and-whole-grains.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 bloodglucose 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.

Lwak your aim isnt to kick out all carbs it is low carb. I have around 30 grm of carb a day to be honest it isnt hard but to go no carb would be difficult/impossible, While going low carb though he needs to go high/er fat
Some folks are 50grm others 100 or 150/day he needs to find his comfort level, this will be for life so needs to be happy on it.
l used this thread as a base to build on and a book called Carbs and Carbs... get the large book not pocket one or the phone app...although l prefer the book.
Make sure lot of water is being drunk with LCHF and as stated his cholestrol end number may change it is the breakdown that counts always get that before agreeing to statins.

If you haven't got a meter get one it is the most important item you can get. Either SD codefree of amazon with cheap sticks or a more expensive one. l contacted Abbot Healthcare and got the Freedom Freestyle Lite. The sticks l am told are 15 +pp direct from Abbot at the moment dr supplies mine. Usually manufactures supply meters free and sticks are cheaper direct from them. Try to get them from your dr but don't hold your breath. As a t2 dont need fancy you just need to read.
Take it just before first bite and 2 hrs later also the odd 1hr check. l use a couple of sticks a day and swap round checks Below is the times and numbers

fasting (getting up in the morning) under 5.5
Before meals 4-7
1hr after meals under 7.8
2 hr after meals under 6.6 (this from sugar 101)<<<< l use this
2 hr after meals under 8.5 (this from nhs)

I have

graj0 said:

You sound as though you're on the right track. The one thing I've learned after 17 years of being diabetic is that we're all different, we all react differently to different types of carbohydrate, so I'll tell you what I did. I did exactly what the hospital dietician and previous GP had told me not to do, I cut my carb intake. I removed pasta/rice/bread/potato from my diet although I'm down to about 80gms of carb a day and I still have toast at the weekend and sometimes rice during the week. This brought my BG down enough for me to stop taking Gliclazide and Januvia, so I'm just on metformin. That used to be a problem because of severe diarrhea but not now I've removed carbs from my diet. I also lost three stone and an added bonus that I didn't expect was that my cholesterol dropped to 3.5 and gave me the confidence to tell the GP that I didn't want to take statins any more, 17 years of muscle pain, sleepless nights and brain fog was enough. Pleased to say that yesterday my diabetic nurse told me that my HbA1c was 6.4% (46.4 mmol/mol) and my cholesterol was 5.4, a little above what they want but I know that when I get back to regular swimming, both of those numbers will come down.
A lot of diabetics will eat to their meter, testing after eating, sometimes 1 hr, sometime 2 hrs (this seems to vary from person to person because the effects seem to be quicker in some). Basically avoiding anything that makes their BG spike.
Statins affect people in different ways, I actually know somebody who has no side effects whatsoever. Most people I know who take statins experience muscle pain. It's a very personal thing and what's right for one isn't always right for everyone.
In your husband's position I would try to cut carbs and watch your BG. When I stopped eating carbs my BG started to drop and I had to be careful to avoid a hypo which did happen a couple of times. It's not easy for anybody, my advantage was that I was following a severely restricted calorie diet anyway (1600 cals a day). Some people will start introducing a lot of fat when cutting carbs, I didn't, I couldn't, been low fat for too long. As for cutting down on meds, the answer has to be see what happens, any weight loss will help as will cutting carbs.
You might like to ask for a C-Peptide test which will show how much insulin the pancreas has been producing. I had to pay for mine, no doctor has ever considered doing it. It showed that my pancreas is producing normal amounts of insulin, so my problem is more resistance to what I am producing.
Hope it helps, all the best
Graham

Click to expand...

I have taken statins for nearly 5 years now and have never had any side effects at all so perhaps I am one of the lucky ones Like you I have cut out the starchy carbs and also like you I am low fat and have been for years so don't see any reason to change that because it suits me but as you say what suits one may not suit another and we all have to find out what works for us

AnnieC said:

I have

I have taken statins for nearly 5 years now and have never had any side effects at all so perhaps I am one of the lucky ones

Click to expand...

Hi AnnieC,
I'm pleased that statins don't affect you, I do know one other person who isn't affected. She's on a low dose whereas I was taking 80mg Atorvastatin so I suppose that goes some way to explain the different side effects. I'm pleased to say that my low carb has improved my Total Cholesterol which gave me the confidence to stop, in fact at 3.5 some might say that that's low. Anyway, please with 5.4.