New here Type2 with High cholesterol.

[Dalsap]

Hello

So I was up all night having to go to the bathroom and really thirsty all the time so I decided to get checked out . Thought I would share my experience and look for some support and answers !

Get my bloods back from the doctors 110 and high cholesterol..

I have been diagnosed with an extreme form of diabetes and high cholesterol.. apparently a heart attack risk .. so not good news to receive on Christmas Eve - but when is a good time ?

I work in sales - high pressure environment..
I was drinking 10 cups of coffee a day with Half a sugar .. but I changed that 3 months ago and have cut down my coffee intake to 2 per day and no sugar , I have been drinking lots of water and eating eggs for breakfast , avocados on toast - I ditched the white bread and switched to sour dough - granary - I was eating plenty of fresh fresh fruit .. Apple ,banana , pear and a couple of satsuma’s each day .. soup and salads for lunch .. with home cooked meals of an evening from scratch! But I guess it was always meat and potatoes and some veg or a pasta dish ! Shepards pie thick potatoes top Etc typical English diet with probably only one fish meal per week etc.. no processed foods - the odd bag of crisps and the odd chocolate here and there .. oh and the occasional chocolate hob knob
so I was quite surprised to be diagnosed with diabetes..
So the doctors want me on statins and metformin - immediately-Which was a massive shock as I don’t think I eat to unhealthy- also I am not massively overweight- 14.5 stone - 5.10 age 53
but I don’t really want to take either either as with Google you see all the scare stories .. so - I have watched some YouTube videos (Dana White)

and listened to some podcasts on diet and Glucose -and I made up my mind that I want to try to reverse this naturally (more recently I watched channel 4s glucose goddess ).

Dispelling the Myths About Carbs, Fiber & Saturated Fat | Dr. Zoë Harcombe

Podcast Episode · The Ultimate Health Podcast · 02/04/2024 · 1h 51m

podcasts.apple.com

So I am trying to do naturally- diet exercise.. etc
Taking moringa capsules 3 times a day .. drinking moringa tea ..

I have ditched the apples and pears , satsuma and I am eating berries - raspberry blueberries etc and eating more avocados and olives as snacks .. and dates .. enjoying these massively and i actually made some filled with peanut butter and nuts dipped in melted dark chocolate..

I purchased a Libre2 (expensive) but I figured that I would do this for a few months so that I could track my sugars 24/7 and until I could get the diet right and lower my A1C count .
Which was A1C 19

I have joined the gym on 2nd January (expensive) but I don’t think you can put any price on health .. what good is money or savings if you are sick or worse dead.. can’t be the richest man in the graveyard.. for clarity I am not rich and these new expenses are going to be tough financially.

So I have cut out all carbs (practically) no rice no pasta no bread (well little) whole grain multi seed sour dough..

I have been to the gym 5 days per week (45 minutes ) rowing and cross trainer and I am walking at weekends and cycling.. 10 miles once a week..
I have found the exercise dramatically lowers my sugars so I am eating dates before I go to the gym as this stops me having a low! - medjool dates as they don’t spike my sugars and if I do eat something that does spike my sugars I eat Brazil nuts as these really lower my blood sugar.

So it’s been a month roughly and I have lost a stone in weight .. I have lowered my A1C count to 5.9 and I am really pleased it’s early days ..

However I am seeing to many lows 3.0 x 4 times a day and also during the night my sugar level drop even to 2.4 so quite worrying..

What foods would you suggest I consume to maintain my sugar levels?

I am eating baked beans - low sugar found the M&S ones to have less chemical and far cheaper than Heinz at 50p a tin ..

Maybe more carbs ?

Suggestions welcome

 

[Leadinglights]

WOW you have really taken things on board in making some changes. I do think the Libre can make people over react to what are natural ups and downs in glucose level. When people get low readings then they are advised to check with a finger prick test as the Libre can suffer from 'compression' lows when people lie on the sensor so those lows may not actually be that low.
Reducing carbs quickly can sometimes make people feel a bit wobbly as the body adjusts to lower levels and although glucose level is not actually that low it can feel as if it is.
If you are cutting out or reducing carbs then making sure you eat plenty protein and healthy fats will help to make sure you have energy and don't lose muscle. Many find reducing carbs lowers cholesterol.
I don't know if you are following any particular meal plan but this link may give you some ideas for low carb which is no more than 130g carbs per day, it is not NO carbs https://lowcarbfreshwell.com//. Good explanation also.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Well done on the changes you have made but do pace yourself. We often say here on the forum that diabetes is a marathon, not a sprint and you have to find a management strategy which is sustainable long term, so do be careful you don't burn yourself out by sprinting off the start line.

As regards the lows you are seeing, Libre can be a bit of a drama queen at both extremes but particularly lows in my experience. If you are not on blood glucose lowering medication like Gliclazide or Insulin then you should not be at risk of hypos. Yes, your levels may occasionally drop below 4 but almost certainly not as frequently as Libre is suggesting, but your own body is perfectly capable of rebalancing this by your liver releasing glucose from it's stores. I tend to think of the liver a bit like a back up battery which kicks in when there is no food releasing glucose.
As well as sometimes over exaggerating drops in BG, Libre is also prone to what we call compression lows, where if you lie on the arm with your sensor on in your sleep for any length of time, it compresses the tissue under the sensor that the filament is sampling and this leads to a false low reading. The tell tale signs are a sudden drop and if you have the alarm on, being woken up lying on that side. However it is not uncommon for BG levels to naturally dip in the very depths of the night and once again the liver will rectify this by releasing glucose and indeed it is also normal for the liver to release more glucose towards dawn (Dawn Phenomenon) to give you energy for the day ahead. In prehistoric days, this was to give us energy to go out and hunt or forage the first meal of the day, so that we didn't starve because we didn't have enough energy to catch that meal. Not so helpful these days when we just need to walk into the kitchen and open the fridge which doesn't take much energy at all!
If you are going to worry about these lows then you should have a BG meter to double check them but if you are not on any medication or just Metformin, then your body is perfectly able to rebalance your levels and bring them up without you needing to eat anything. Treating hypos with glucose or sugar is really only necessary for those of us on insulin and BG lowering meds like Gliclazide where they can take us low faster than our liver can correct it. In essence we have accidentally overdosed on medication usually through no fault of our own, but just a miscalculation of food or exercise/activity or illness or alcohol or a whole host of other factors which impact our BG levels. Anyway, I just really wanted to reassure you that any lows you are seeing are likely not a concern.

 

[Docb]

Hi @Dalsap and welcome to the forum.

My first thought for you is SLOW DOWN. My second thought is that you are in sales and if you are any good at it you will a well tuned bull pooh detector. Make sure it is turned up to 11 when looking at youtube and podcasts, especially when it comes to health, food and related matters. There is no magic method of getting blood glucose under control. Understanding the principles, formulating a plan to suit you, and then implementing that plan recognising it will be a long, not a short term project is more likely to be successful.

Your starting HbA1c of 111 is high but we have many members who have regained control from starting at higher levels.

You have four levers to pull:-

1. Weight. Diabetes correlates heavily with being over weight. By the albeit crude measure of BMI you are overweight and losing the excess is a good bet for getting control of blood glucose.

2.Diet. A big contributor to blood glucose is carbohydrate in your diet. Most find that by reducing carbohydrate they can reduce blood glucose levels. When it comes to food, look at the carbohydrate content on the nutrition label. You will find that many foods marketed as "healthy" might not be quite as healthy as claimed.

3. Exercise. The more the better.

4. Medication. With high blood glucose levels, a good idea whilst pulling the other levers begins to take effect.

When thinking and formulating your plan you have to have in your mind that changes you make will have to be permanent and become part of the way you live your life.

So. my suggestion is to slow down, get some basics sorted and workout a way forward to suit you. If you read around the forum you will find a bit of dogged determination is a common characteristic in those who have turned things round.

 

[pjgtech]

As above all good advice and well done for taking the initiative and forging forward and for the progress you have made so far. But, theres always a but isn't there! As above, maybe slow down a bit, and be wary of online diabetes advice.
TBH the best way to get info I have found is to ask on here, as the members on here have vast real World experience of living with all forms of diabetes, so usually have the answers to any queries.
The Learning zone on here has loads of good info, as does the eatfreshwell website. (lowcarbfreshwell.com)
For recipes see here also, and the freshwell site and also check out the sugar free londoner website. (sugarfreelondoner.com)
As above don't obsess too much about the BG levels, there are many things that can affect BG throughout the average day, so it will naturally go up and down anyway. See attached....
Good luck with your progress and keep us updated.

 

[JimmyBlue]

Hi @Dalsap welcome to the forum and I have to say I am impressed with the changes you have made to your lifestyle, they will certainly help you in bringing down your HbA1c level although, based on my own experience do not take the 'forecast' from the Libre2 as a given. Mine said I would be under 40 and it came back as 47 a couple of weeks ago. That said that was down from 86 on my second test.

Like you I have tried to get my type 2 diabetes under control via exercise and diet as the primary mechanisms and cutting out the big carbs like potatoes, pasta, rice and bread has helped immensely. However, I did over do it at the start and ended up a stone lighter than when I started (13st 8lbs). As @Docb says, take it a little easier and make sure that the reductions are something you can sustain over time.

The forums are a great place for getting advice, support and help from people who understand your situation with many having been their previously. The one last thing I would say is forget about 'how' you ended up with diabetes and focus on the 'management' of diabetes, once that is sorted you can continue to enjoy life with no issues.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Dalsap

Glad you’ve joined us 🙂

Wow! You really seem to have hit the ground running! Hope are you finding things so far?

Libre’s estimate of your HbA1c may not exactly match a lab result (there isn’t a direct conversion possible between the two measures). My Libre estimates were often a little lower than any subsequent check I had done from blood drawn at my surgery. But with Libre’s estimate of 41mmol/mol (5.9%) seems to suggest that your BG levels have fallen substantially as you’ve cut back so significantly on carbs.

Are you pleased with your results so far? Being concerned about the low BG levels you’ve been seeing on your trace is perfectly understandable.

So I am trying to do naturally- diet exercise.. etc
Taking moringa capsules 3 times a day .. drinking moringa tea ..

I hadn’t heard of moringa - it seems to be one of a number of natural products, which seem to offer some modest benefits (in a number of areas), but are not very thoroughly researched.

This summary suggests only a handful of studies in humans, though they appear promising

Review of the Safety and Efficacy of Moringa oleifera - PubMed

Moringa oleifera leaves, seeds, bark, roots, sap, and flowers are widely used in traditional medicine, and the leaves and immature seed pods are used as food products in human nutrition. Leaf extracts exhibit the greatest antioxidant activity, and various safety studies in animals involving...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Diabetes UK advises caution with herbal supplements - just because something is naturally derived doesn’t mean it is safe, and could interact with other meds you may take now or in the future. Herbal supplements aren’t regulated in the same way as pharmaceuticals, so consistency of strength /amount of active ingredients can vary.

DUK have a summary here

Herbal and food supplements

Many people rely on traditional herbal and complementary remedies, which are said to help with blood glucose control. These remedies can be homemade or bought from local shops, and while they may have benefits, they should not be a substitute for your medications.

www.diabetes.org.uk