'Beer saved my Life!' - T2 Newbie

[cpb353]

Evening all, glad to be here!

Discovered I was T2 Diabetic around 4 weeks ago, after a challenging couple of days following a 'beer brewing' event. Drank more than I should (I rarely drink, but it would have been rude not to get involved. . . ). Felt 'strange' for a couple of days and then began suffering with an unquenchable thirst, and trips to the little boys room every 40 minutes . . .

A trip to the local walk-in medical centre revealed a Fasting blood sugar level of 23.2. Put on Metformin straight away, starting with 1 a day and increasing to the 4 a day I am now on.

Trip to the Diabetes nurse today and had a Hba1c of 79 - pretty much confirms it then. . .! Have learnt a lot myself over the past 4 weeks but was glad to see them. Got my free prescription forms filled in and my referrals for Retina Scan and Lifestyle, so just waiting for those to be sorted out now.

Have been very good with my diet for the past month - enjoying the low carb way to be honest. My favourite new meals are Trout, Roasted Veg and CousCous or Tandoori Mixed Grill, Dal Tardka and Chapatti 🙂. Still finding my way diet-wise but my BS for the past week or so has been a max of 8.3, but generally around 7 - happy with that!

No real issues health-wise over the past 4 weeks, although my vision had got blurry when reading or using screens. Have to wear my glasses all the time now instead of just sometimes. Hope it will get better, but if not, thats the way it goes.

Ultimate plan will be to lose loads of weight and get a string of Hba1c tests of 'normal'. If I don't get there, what will be will be - but confident all the same 😎

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum
You have made a good start on tackling your high blood glucose and seem to be seeing some positive benefits. The issue with your eyes is likely to be as a result of falling blood glucose. When you reduce blood glucose quite quickly the shape of the eye changes as the environment in the eye starts to return from what had become sugary to the more normal salty. It should settle down, some people it will return to normal fairly quickly others it takes that bit longer.

 

[cpb353]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum. Pleased to see that you have things moving in the right direction with your blood glucose and that you're enjoying your low carb way of eating (I love my low carb diet, too). The only thing I would say is be mindful of couscous (23% carbohydrate) and chapati (a 6" chapati has15g ).

I had issues with my eyes, too. I even had to wear my reading glasses to watch tv, but once they'd settled down I found that my near vision had actually improved to the extent that I no longer need them.

Martin

Thanks for the advice - saw that Chapatti was considered one of the 'better' breads but appreciate your comment 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @cpb353

And congratulations on such a determined and positive attitude.

When it comes to managing your diabetes, it can be best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt. As others have said, the changes in your eyesight are most likely temporary as your body adjusts to more regular glucose levels.

The really tricky thing about adjusting your menu, and trying to aim for more BG-friendly meals is that blood glucose responses to various foods are highly individual, and it can be impossible to say which types and amounts of carbohydrate will ‘spike’ your BG without checking for yourself.

If you would like to assess your diet to find what works for you as an individual, you can use a BG meter, taking a reading before and again 2hrs after eating, to see what the differences are from the meal. This will help you identify any carbs that seem to be spiking BG (initially in a way the numbers themselves matter less than the differences between them). Ideally you would want to see a rise of no more than 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark. Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing portion sizes of the carbs where you see bigger rises. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.

Over weeks and months of experimentation you can gradually tweak and tailor your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline, your budget and your BG levels - and a way of eating that is flexible enough to be sustainable long-term. 🙂

If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50

Let us know how you get on, and keep posting away with any questions as they arise. 🙂

 

[cpb353]

Welcome to the forum @cpb353

And congratulations on such a determined and positive attitude.

When it comes to managing your diabetes, it can be best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually - partly because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt. As others have said, the changes in your eyesight are most likely temporary as your body adjusts to more regular glucose levels.

The really tricky thing about adjusting your menu, and trying to aim for more BG-friendly meals is that blood glucose responses to various foods are highly individual, and it can be impossible to say which types and amounts of carbohydrate will ‘spike’ your BG without checking for yourself.

If you would like to assess your diet to find what works for you as an individual, you can use a BG meter, taking a reading before and again 2hrs after eating, to see what the differences are from the meal. This will help you identify any carbs that seem to be spiking BG (initially in a way the numbers themselves matter less than the differences between them). Ideally you would want to see a rise of no more than 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark. Once you can see how you respond to different meals you can begin experimenting with reducing portion sizes of the carbs where you see bigger rises. You might find that you are particularly sensitive to carbohydrate from one source (eg bread), but have more liberty with others (eg oats or basmati rice) - It’s all very individual! You might even find that just having things at a different time of day makes a difference - with breakfast time being the trickiest.

Over weeks and months of experimentation you can gradually tweak and tailor your menu to find one that suits your tastebuds, your waistline, your budget and your BG levels - and a way of eating that is flexible enough to be sustainable long-term. 🙂

If you need to self fund your BG meter, the most affordable meters members here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £8 for 50

Let us know how you get on, and keep posting away with any questions as they arise. 🙂

Thank you, this is awesome advice and much appreciated! I have a monitor that I purchased when my eyesight blurred a couple of weeks ago - my surgery were no use (nobody available to listen to my concerns) and I bought one to see if I did have high readings.

I am keen to use a BG monitor, but don't want to go over the top with using it all the time. By the same token, I do want to get to grips with Carb control and discover what causes the greater spikes etc.

Going to do a new post for advice on practical use, without going overboard, if that makes sense.

Thanks again 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I am keen to use a BG monitor, but don't want to go over the top with using it all the time. By the same token, I do want to get to grips with Carb control and discover what causes the greater spikes etc.

Great news @cpb353 - let us know how you get on 🙂

 

[Mrs Mimoo]

Thank you, this is awesome advice and much appreciated! I have a monitor that I purchased when my eyesight blurred a couple of weeks ago - my surgery were no use (nobody available to listen to my concerns) and I bought one to see if I did have high readings.

I am keen to use a BG monitor, but don't want to go over the top with using it all the time. By the same token, I do want to get to grips with Carb control and discover what causes the greater spikes etc.

Going to do a new post for advice on practical use, without going overboard, if that makes sense.

Thanks again 🙂

How to check your blood sugar levels

Knowing your blood sugar levels helps you manage your diabetes and reduces your risk of having serious complications – now and in the future. On this page:

www.diabetes.org.uk

I bought one myself and i use it every few days to see I am still under control - on waking, 2 hours after and then before and 2 hours after meals. I also use it to test foods to see if it sets me off.

I have got to an ok HbA1C through weight loss and am slowly continuing the weight loss to ensure i've shed 15kg.