Fell off the wagon

[Bonnie23]

Hi

Please be kind about this one. I'm not even sure if I'm looking for advice or tips or just needing to vent.

I've been diagnosed T2 for three weeks. I was doing really well with readings around 8.4 on average but today I binged on foods I shouldn't have had from a baguette to chocolate cookies and now I feel terrible both mentally and physically.

My BG is spiking at 23, higher than when I was diagnosed, I have an awful headache, I feel exhausted and lethargic and I've been thirsty all night and it is all down to the fact of being fed up and wanting a treat, a treat I took too far.

Tomorrow i plan on doing a lot of exercise and getting my BG down again and under control.

I think this binge has taught me a lot about my limits and what I can and cant do and it's made me realise that I need to take this a lot more seriously. Until now I dont think I realised what impact and how important what I put into my body meant. When I was first diagnosed I was determined to get it right and today it just slipped out of control and I'm so angry with myself.

I'd anything I would like to ask about your tips on avoiding any binges and how you curb your cravings?

Thank you
B x

 

[SueEK]

Vent away Bonnie, I think just about all of us have one of those days when you just think ‘sod it’. Personally I don’t think I really believed I even had diabetes, was sure they must have got it wrong. I think this in one way has been helpful to you, it has shown you that you do need to take this seriously and secondly that you are human like the rest of us, failings and all. You are very early into your diagnosis so don’t beat yourself up, although your reading of 23 is very high and you need to avoid getting to that again at all costs. Unfortunately when you have had lots of carbs a headache and feeling extremely tired are very common.
I keep some Lindt 85% dark chocolate in the fridge and I have two chunks each day and that is my little bit of sweetness each day but I do my best to be careful as much as I possibly can.
Just try to do your best and you will have weak times but if possible make them small ones, a common phrase on here is ‘this is a marathon not a sprint’.
Take care and remember these are big changes you are making but for the good of your health - we all know how very difficult it can be but at the same time we also know how much better we feel once we get a routine in place.
Keep posting Bonnie x

 

[Lisa66]

Hi Bonnie

Sorry to hear you had a tough day and are feeling rotten. As Sue says, it’s early days for you and it’s quite a learning curve. It’s good that you have a meter and can see the impact certain foods have on your blood sugar levels. You’ll probably find that your tastes will change quite quickly and soon you’ll look back at the foods you binged on and not fancy them at all.

Yesterday is done with, you can’t change it. Please don’t beat yourself up, put it behind you and start again tomorrow ...wake up with a new positive attitude🙂.

 

[Leonora]

I've been there Bonnie and for much longer than a day. Once I lost it for 3 weeks and ate everything I could get my hands on - so tasty! It didn't take me long to pull myself together so relax, forget about it, and don't beat yourself up.

 

[Drummer]

I suppose I might be a bit strange - but when people go on about 'treats' I do not think of high carb foods.
Perhaps it is just what you get used to, but slow cooked meat with lots of tasty veges is my idea of a treat - or perhaps salmon, or even a piece of cod from the fish and chip shop.

 

[bakebeans]

I hope your feeling better today. It’s hard. I’ve only been diagnosed since May I’ve not had my first set of results back yet so I don’t know if what I’m doing is working and going to get me the results I’d like so I can’t give you any advice but there’s plenty of advice and support here from people who are doing amazing things.

Look forward don’t look back there’s no point we can’t change anything. The only thing I will say is the next time you want bread, chocolate, sweets whatever it is and you manage to walk away without having it give yourself a little high five and feel happy about the choice you’ve made and things will get easier

 

[Jodee]

Hi Bonnie,

I find it helps if I have a pack of choc biscuits in and sometimes a bar of that dark chocolate. Then its just disciplining yourself just to have one, max two biscuits or squares of choc a day. Because I have it in I don't get cravings, it must be psychological. Having said that I am not much of a fan of the dark chocolate so less likely to take a square of that, I am with the milk chocolate all the way and am hard pushed not to exceed my max of 2 biscuits a day sometimes.

The thing about my biscuit treat is, I am so sure they have made the sugar content addictive but I love it 😛

Sometimes I can manage an alternative snack like half an apple of a handful of nuts, or even cheese and cracker with a bit of beetroot chutney. They say its best not to snack between meals but find after 2 hours and checking BG I tend to have a snack as its usually another hour or 2 before the next meal. But its an individual thing and its if your BG levels are holding ok.

So sorry yours went so high, I hope you can get it back under control in no time, let yourself have the occasional treat or alternative snack between meals in that way you are not depriving yourself and also helping your BG level.

The dietician will tell you no diet is any good if you feel deprived, best to find something that works for you (and your BG levels) and something you can stick to long term.

Best wishes

 

[Ditto]

The only problem with having 'a bit of what you fancy' is if it's chocolate, biscuits or sweet stuff it'll make you hungrier. Abstaining altogether might be best. If you find an answer to this pigging-out problem Bonnie let me know please. 🙄 I've been pigging out since I was 12 and I'm now 66.

 

[KARNAK]

Well done Bonnie, at least you realised some of what happened is down to your own feelings. We are all different and sometimes and too be frank sh*t happens, glad you can come to the forum and discuss a problem, thankyou for sharing we are here for you.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Bonnie. I did a similar thing in the first few weeks and hit a large packet of Jacobs salt and vinegar crackers. I went up to 27 and like you felt really unwell. Like @SueEK says, it can be beneficial because it really brings it home to you that you cannot afford to do that to yourself anymore and this whole Diabetes thing is real and serious.
I have found treats that are low carb that I can more safely binge on if I get into that mind set. A wedge of a favourite cheese.... who knew blue cheese would become my new fad or a pack of olives or a bag of brazil nuts. I also have dark chocolate in the house which I use as an occasional treat and I also was a milk chocolate lover but I don't feel any compulsion to over indulge on the darker stuff..... Lidl do a nice 70% one with raspberries or salted caramel. Pork scratchings are my guilty pleasure in place of a packet of crisps, but I make sure it is just a very occasional treat. This is for life, so you need to find different foods to enjoy rather than hankering after the ones your body can no longer tolerate. I have had one or two minor slips since that bad binge but the past couple of months it just doesn't seem to bother me anymore, as long as I have substitute treats that I can indulge in.
Nature Valley protein bars (Peanut and Chocolate or Salted Caramel) are just 9g carbs so if you need an occasional biscuit, they are quite good to have on hand. They will still spike you but not nearly so high as normal biscuits.

Anyway, hopefully, you will learn from your mistake as I did and be much more prepared with safer alternatives when you feel like you are losing control and need to binge next time. In the mean time, drink plenty of water to flush that glucose out of your system.

 

[J Phelan]

Dear Bonnie,

Firstly, it is unwise to exercise with a high blood sugar as, for some reason, it can raise them further. Secondly, you just made a mistake is all. Having had former food issues (on various levels) I am probably going to get shot down in flames by others with the following suggestion. I used to make a slightly diluted sugar free jelly. Therefore, it was forever in the fridge. I used to cut up one apple (bearing in mind that an apple is 10g carbohydrate and, to me anyway, works quite quickly into the blood sugars) and have half of the pint of set jelly with it. It felt like a feast to me back then and, even now, if my sugars are high then sugar free jelly is my favourite.

Apropos of nothing, foods that contain zero or a tiny amount of carbohydrate are eggs, cheese, meat and green salad stuff. As a child, I was on a seriously strict time and carbohydrate regime (was really hard for everyone) but, if I was really hungry, my Dad used to make me a cheese omelette. Back then (good God, I sound about a hundred!), it was 8am (30g cho), 10am (10g), 12pm (40g), 4pm (10g), 6pm (40g), 8pm (20g) - my mother weighed out exactly 4 oz of potatoes (20g), a slice of bread (15 g), a slice of bread no crusts (10g) etc etc. There was no chance of altering the regime at all. It was like a boot camp I think! But, it was a lot easier (in my opinion) to how matters are done nowadays.

 

[Ya Sham]

It is ok this is how we learn what our body can take and what causes more damage than we think..
I just try to find snacks that won't cause so much damage like almonds covered in dark chocolate which is not harmful for me..

 

[Bonnie23]

Hi, Bonnie

Just wondering if you're back on track?

Martin

Hi
Yes I'm back on track with more exercise than before but I'm still struggling with my BG. No matter how little I eat, or eat no carbs I cant seem to get my level below 11 which is really frustrating.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi again Bonnie

Well done for getting back on the straight and narrow. Can you give us a breakdown of what you ate yesterday to see if we can pinpoint what may be causing your increased BG. I thought I had cut out almost all the carbs but didn't realise that my breakfast porridge was causing the problem. It was only after I cut that out and replaced it with an omelette that my BG started to come down into the normal range.

Sometimes not eating can also cause your BG to rise as the liver releases glucose into the blood stream when it thinks the body is starving or needs a boost, like Dawn Phenomenon.
If it is any consolation I am currently stuck in the 10s and even with insulin my BG is remaining stubbornly high at the moment. Try not to get too discouraged or anxious about it as that just makes it go higher. Gentle exercise is often better than aerobic/cardiovascular for bringing it down, so the type of exercise you are doing may also have a bearing.

 

[Bonnie23]

Hi again Bonnie

Well done for getting back on the straight and narrow. Can you give us a breakdown of what you ate yesterday to see if we can pinpoint what may be causing your increased BG. I thought I had cut out almost all the carbs but didn't realise that my breakfast porridge was causing the problem. It was only after I cut that out and replaced it with an omelette that my BG started to come down into the normal range.

Sometimes not eating can also cause your BG to rise as the liver releases glucose into the blood stream when it thinks the body is starving or needs a boost, like Dawn Phenomenon.
If it is any consolation I am currently stuck in the 10s and even with insulin my BG is remaining stubbornly high at the moment. Try not to get too discouraged or anxious about it as that just makes it go higher. Gentle exercise is often better than aerobic/cardiovascular for bringing it down, so the type of exercise you are doing may also have a bearing.

Thank you for your kind words.

Yesterday I had a salad which had lettuce, red cabbage, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, tuna mayonnaise and a small amount of salad cream.

For a snack I had a pot of sugar free jelly

Dinner was chicken (oven cooked) with a similar salad and a few sweet potato fries

My desert was strawberries and black currents with single cream.

I just drank water throughout the day.

I’ve started to exercise more because I need to lose a lot of weight. I’m currently 17 st and want to lose a stone by the end of October at least. I’m a teacher and it’s th holidays so I’m not as active as if I were at work.

On Monday I took the dogs (my parents) for a four mile walk which included some big hills. Yesterday I went to the gym as above and took the dogs for a 50 minute walk (not sure how far) but I did 10,000 steps throughout the day not including the gym.

I’m not on any meds, my doctor offered me metaformin but I wanted to see if I could do it on diet alone but I’m really struggling with my BG and don’t know whether to try the metaformin. If I do would I be on it for life?

 

[SueEK]

Hi Bonnie, sounds like your diet is very good. Other than the sweet potato fries it is very low carb. I would maybe suggest you rethink the Metformin as if your levels are still around the 20 mark and they are not reducing on that sort of diet and exercise it would be foolish not to take it. I was on them for 7 months and my bg has reduced considerably. Give it some thought. All the best x

 

[merrymunky]

Don’t be ashamed. It was one day. I had a two month wobble. Now I’m pregnant and worried that I’ve done the damage to baby already. I lost at 16 weeks last year and the likely cause is undiagnosed and uncontrolled diabetes. I’m kicking myself now for that two months off plan.

We all do it though. Diabetes is hard. Facing the rest of your life unable to indulge in everything you enjoy is cruel. It’s bound to result in these ‘stuff it’ moments.

You’ll get back on it and move on.