worried

Sounds like your getting the good old NHS advice.

Stress, illness, shift work all raise blood levels. The number one thing though are carbohydrates. Drastically reduce the amount you consume and you will bring your numbers down very quickly.

If you haven't already got one, get a glucose monitor (we can give advice on that). Test before you eat and 2 hours after. This will show you what impact your food is having on you.

It is not all doom and gloom. Read around the forum and ask lots of questions. It doesn't have to be progressive, or at least you can slow it down, a lot.

Hi Jan
It seems that your'e going through a tough time. A big hug to you. Firstly, stress can cause sugar levels to rise. Like the above replies, most things seem to make blood sugars rise unfortunately. You haven't said what diet you are on. Could you maybe give us an example of your normal eating plan as that might help people to give you advise. I have been told that statins can also rise blood glucose which you are taking. I also think that when on gliclazide you have to be careful with regards to diet as your blood sugars can go too low, but that does depend on diet. Meanwhile try not to stress too much ( I know, easier said than done) but worry won't change things. Take care x

Hi an,

You are having a rough time.

I agree with everyone else- yes stress can cause your levels to rise. I have a job that is extremely stressful at times and doing regular tests shows me how bad my stress is

Having said that the biggest problem may be the amount of carbs. I'm not on any medication except for metformin so you may have to be careful reducing your carbs but if you do it slowly and do regular tests that may help.

Someone will come by shortly with better advice but in the meantime- hugs and know that you've actually found the best place to get help

jan.steamqueen67 said:

I also said to the doctor i heard that statins can raise blood sugar i was told they have never heard of them doing so but i dont believe that

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Statins can definitely raise BS - atorvastatin well known for doing so. Also, porridge / chips / potatoes all very high carb so might also not be helping your control, however reduced the portions might be. Stress is also a BIG cause of raised BS, whoever says otherwise is talking nonsense. Sending virtual hugs

jan.steamqueen67 said:

I also said to the doctor i heard that statins can raise blood sugar i was told they have never heard of them doing so but i dont believe that

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I had the same response from my DN after my hba1c rose from 48 to 54 when I started taking pravostatin - when I mentioned there was a correlation between increased BS and statins she told me not to believe everything I read in the Daily Mail - her face was a picture when I told her I read it from the drug manufacturers own website! When I came off them due to other sud3 effects my hba1c reduced and is now at non diabetic levels. My GP has also put ‘statin intolerant’ on my notes because we don’t want to take the risk of it happening again.

jan.steamqueen67 said:

Hi I am type 2 and constantly worried about my bloods
i'm due to go for my latest check up in december ( since diagnosis in 2011 )

my blood sugar then was 80 the A!c test since then they have been around 52, 53 60 then went to 53 again but on my last test 3 months ago it was back to 80 not changed any tablets still on 4 metformin a day 2 morning 2 teatime

i have not changed my eating habits except in January this year my husband nearly died started with flu and then had to go to hospital where we found out he had pnemonia and was in DKA

so obcviously its been worrying time, he has also discovered he is type 1 he was 69 when this happened
however i was told that stress should NOT cause blood sugar to go up

i have also been working shifts for the last 19 years and yes i was overweight before diagnosis but i've lost over 3 stone and try to do as i'm told but all i hear is you will go blind and loose limbs

i know the risks but if what i am am doing wont do anything why should i bother, which i will of course but i'm so down i want to get out of shift work but not easy as need a job in debt so cant just leave,

my husband is still in recovery from the dka and pneumonia i'm scared of going to get my test done as i don't know whether the tablets have stopped working or its just the stress of everything

the doctor has put my on another tablet think its glyceride or something like that i am just wondering has anyone else ever felt as if all they do seems in vain and just seems to be one long worry.

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@jan.steamqueen67

I know it's real hard...

BUT please...stop..take a breathe and ...Now .breathe out slowly.

we are here for YOU...honest.

I took the liberty of breaking down your post just so i could pick up each point clearly.

Firstly YOU.

Those scores as much as you are doing what your told,,,could be better
BUT you are now on the best site out there so you can and i hope will look at what others just like YOU are doing to improve that....this is all so do-able it frustrates me it's not the FIRST thing doctors tell us

Carbs MAKE more sugar once inside of us.
So the first thing you need to do is be aware of that.
You need more meds probably because, ...you, as i am are allergic to carbs EXCEPT YOU are maybe eating far too many .

Now you ARE on meds that most probably WILL be of concern IF you drop your carbs to low too quickly
so you need to listen, and pay a little bit of attention what people say.

now i don't mean that to sound rude, honest.

But until you know what the problem IS, you'll be just doing what they SAY is best..
when in fact it is FAR from the best thing for us T2's.

Worry.. stress, shift work ...all CAN cause issues for us.

So lets just Deal with what we CAN and then move on to others that need a bit more thought..

You NEED a job, so that must wait.
husband is iLL so that's a priority.

your a team right..?

So i guess most times he has been strong for YOU.
and now it's your time to be strong for HIM

But how ?
By being as FIT and WELL as you can be, so YOU can look after HIM as best YOU can.

So see above.

to get THIS T2D under as much control as you can you need to.learn that what you WERE doing was not working, and why it wasn't.

take a few notes from those on here of what MIGHT work better...and ask questions, as many as you like.
WE were all YOU once upon a time...Knowing little and thinking doctors knew it all.

Now your husband..Not well ,and seriously not well.

you need help, doctors, Diabetic teams, it's all out there so ask for help..., and you still got us.

Me i'm T2..but others here, much more savvy than me, and who have been doing this for years are T1..skilled, aware and willing to help.

You GOT so much back up, now you've taken that first step.

Chill breathe.
and tomorrow we go again,

...but with a bit more knowledge and hopefully a little less fear

You HAVE to look after YOU,
if you ever want to look after
ANYONE else....Life #101

jan.steamqueen67 said:

Hi Thanks
WIth working shifts the times i eat are at different times but untill this years my sugars have been ok and ive worked shifts now for 19 years so seems the meds are not working like they used to i have a treat every 4 weeks on my long weekend off other that that i have smaller portions of potatoes more veg than spuds or oven chips although small portion, fish, lean meats breakfast cereal or toast or porridge sandwich for dinner likei said i have my treat weekend every 4 weeks i dont drink much wine a bottle can last me a week, but up untill recently results been ok dont understand why bloods are higher and not changed eating habits Jan

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Oh dear - potatoes are high carb - so are cereals, porridge and bread, so they will eventually catch up with you - eating lean meat and low fat things is not a good idea - contrary to what we are advised, we need fat - we need some protein too, it is the carbs which we do not require and should eat in moderation - for me I need to keep the carby foods down to a maximum of 40 grams of carb (starch or sugar) per day. I stick to salad stuff, low starch veges, and small servings of berries a couple of times a week. I use spices and herbs to give flavour and variety, and I used to have two shopping lists which I used alternately to make variations - even now I very rarely have mushrooms and tomatoes in the fridge at the same time, simply because they were on different lists.