Newly diagnosed

[Brambleberry]

Hi I am new here type 2 diabetic newly diagnosed and in a state of shock. In some ways glad because I have been struggling with weight issues ever since I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia ( and when you have this condition you are really left to get on with it with little support) ,and had to take meds that piled the weight on me and I can never manage to shake...now I find out they can make people insulin resistant and eventually diabetic...so feeling between a rock and a hard place.I am keen to try and lose weight and at least this time there will be supervision from people who understand my history.I have a goal to put the type diabetes into remission as soon as possible.Though I accept getting the meds and bloods right is a bit of trial and error.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Sorry to hear about your Fibromyalgia and now diabetes diagnosis. That is tough! I assume you are on steroids?
My sister has Polymyalgia and has started on Methotrexate to help alleviate the inflammation in order to reduce her steroid doses. She is however very strict with her diet to maintain her weight and she pushes herself to keep active when she can.
Do you know what your HbA1c result is? This is the blood test used to diagnose diabetes and gives us an idea of how far into the diabetic zone your body has strayed. A reading of 48 gets you a diagnosis but it can go up into 3 figures if things have gone badly awry. Hopefully, if you are just over the threshold, it shouldn't take too much to push it back but I was just reading a post from a member who has got their's down from120 to 38 in 6 months mostly through diet and exercise with a bit of help from Metformin, which to be honest doesn't have a huge impact..... anyway, it will take a bit of effort on your part but I found that I used the negative feelings I had at diagnosis to help motivate me to make positive changes and that really worked for me. I knew before my diagnosis that my diet needed to change and I could do with losing a stone but I just didn't have the focus to do it. The diagnosis really catalyzed me into becoming fitter and healthier and slimmer and lighter weight. It sounds like you are of a similar mentality to use this as a turning point. I wish you lots of luck with it and if you need any help or advice or don't understand anything, do shout up and ask.

 

[Brambleberry]

Hi thanks for your reply. Fibromyalgia is not treated with steroids its management is with drugs that can slow down nerve impulses in my case a tricyclic and opiates which in my case work.
My HbA1C was 96. The last one before the lockdown when I wasnt diabetic was 29. My problem is, my diet is pretty good. I eat fish twice a week usually oily. I do a lot of plant based soups. And make plant based curry such as dhal. I also have poultry and when I have red meat its grass fed.I have at least 5 fruit and veg a day and I don't do dairy as it irritates my allergies. I cook most meals from scratch.I only drink water and one decaf a day. My only down fall is the chronic fatigue sometimes makes me too exhausted to even have the brain power to cook. On those occasions we sometimes get take out, but its no often I do this. I like chocolate and try and get high cocoa solids. But quite honestly I think the only thing I may need to cut back on is quantity of carbs ie potato pasta rice ( I like brown rich, but if daughter cooks its white- a bone of contention). But in all seriousness I cannot think of what else it could be and even then I don't have massive portions but having tried to lose weight with certain clubs who have unlimited amounts of these things, probably has muddied the waters to some degree.So I am looking more at portion sizes rather than foods. If I can master that then I will feel entitled to have a few squares of nice chocolate once in a while.
I have given my body a stiff talking to because it seems to have not read any of the text books on how it is supposed to work! My background is nursing, though I now work in health and social care education, so I am fairly savvy about nutrition but all efforst so far since my car accident that caused the fibro have fallen on stony ground until then I was a size 8. I had to work hard to keep it that way, diet and exercise but I managed...but since then the meds and inability to exercise adequately has not helped matters...🙄

 

[Leadinglights]

I wouldn't worry whether the rice is brown or white as they are the same amount of carbs.
Keeping a food diary and estimating the amount of carbs in everything you eat and drink may reveal some things you can cut back on or make some substitutions for lower carb foods.
This link might help you find some compromises. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[Drummer]

Hi thanks for your reply. Fibromyalgia is not treated with steroids its management is with drugs that can slow down nerve impulses in my case a tricyclic and opiates which in my case work.
My HbA1C was 96. The last one before the lockdown when I wasnt diabetic was 29. My problem is, my diet is pretty good. I eat fish twice a week usually oily. I do a lot of plant based soups. And make plant based curry such as dhal. I also have poultry and when I have red meat its grass fed.I have at least 5 fruit and veg a day and I don't do dairy as it irritates my allergies. I cook most meals from scratch.I only drink water and one decaf a day. My only down fall is the chronic fatigue sometimes makes me too exhausted to even have the brain power to cook. On those occasions we sometimes get take out, but its no often I do this. I like chocolate and try and get high cocoa solids. But quite honestly I think the only thing I may need to cut back on is quantity of carbs ie potato pasta rice ( I like brown rich, but if daughter cooks its white- a bone of contention). But in all seriousness I cannot think of what else it could be and even then I don't have massive portions but having tried to lose weight with certain clubs who have unlimited amounts of these things, probably has muddied the waters to some degree.So I am looking more at portion sizes rather than foods. If I can master that then I will feel entitled to have a few squares of nice chocolate once in a while.
I have given my body a stiff talking to because it seems to have not read any of the text books on how it is supposed to work! My background is nursing, though I now work in health and social care education, so I am fairly savvy about nutrition but all efforst so far since my car accident that caused the fibro have fallen on stony ground until then I was a size 8. I had to work hard to keep it that way, diet and exercise but I managed...but since then the meds and inability to exercise adequately has not helped matters...🙄

My Hba1c was a little lower than yours, but I was told how bad that was at diagnosis.
Your diet is, unfortunately not going to reduce your blood glucose levels as whilst meat and fish are good choices, rice, most fruits, potato, pasta and high starch veges are significant sources of carb and are really best avoided.
There are lower carb options which I find I actually prefer. I make cauliflower cheese not macaroni and use swede rather than potato in bubble and squeak and numerous other changes from the diet I was pushed to follow and which made me so ill and overweight. I find that I have so much more energy these days, mentally brighter too.
I make full fat choices as we need fats for so much which keeps up well and active. So much misery has been caused by declaring fats the problem when it was more than likely that it was the carbohydrate, in particular the sugars which has been doing the harm.

 

[Brambleberry]

I totally agree with you about the low fat diets. We fell for these hook line and sinker in the 80s and 90s such as hip and thigh diet. It lost me baby weight great but when I went on the tricyclics for pain that same diet that lost me the weight put on 5 stone doing the same thing! I am reading a book by Dr Robert Lustig from university of California San Fransisco. He is a paediatrician who specialises in endocrinology. The Book 'Fat chance' spells out how bad the low fat high carb diet was...and makes me rather angry that we have all been misled to satisfy the profits of the food industry and revenue of governments. I will have to try subsituting swede, I love it I love all veggies. I grow organic courgettes and when they come back in season will get a spiraliser and make courgettie. I just bought the hairy dieters type 2 cook book, they used swede in their corn beef hash recipe. I love avocado to and believe it is good for blood sugars.

 

[Brambleberry]

I wouldn't worry whether the rice is brown or white as they are the same amount of carbs.
Keeping a food diary and estimating the amount of carbs in everything you eat and drink may reveal some things you can cut back on or make some substitutions for lower carb foods.
This link might help you find some compromises. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

I will have to experiment with white and brown. I thought the slow release from wholegrain would be better. I have red rice too love it.Thankyou for the link I will take a look. So low carb and GI are probably useful I expect? Tonight I had grass fed lamb steaks to use and stewed them with onion carrot and served with 4 oz potato ( size of computer mouse as described on the learning zone!) and cauli and green beans...my appetite has shrunk this last three months and i lost 3kg without trying! First time ever in my life! But felt so ill and nauseous which is why I spoke to GP. So appetite is much smaller than it was. My problem in the past was hypo-glycaemia. I worked in operating theatres at one point and found when I scrubbed I could end up in recovery having fainted an hour after lunch with a BM of 2mm! I was always running low I could tell and would let the students practice BMs on me rarely did they go above 3mm I would be ordred to get a biscuit and would say no! I am trying to lose the weight not put it on....oh the irony!

 

[Brambleberry]

I wouldn't worry whether the rice is brown or white as they are the same amount of carbs.
Keeping a food diary and estimating the amount of carbs in everything you eat and drink may reveal some things you can cut back on or make some substitutions for lower carb foods.
This link might help you find some compromises. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

That is a really good site.Thankyou, and it says the eatwell plate is a disaster! Makes you wonder what our government is doing to the nation. I followed the eatwell plate excepting for my intolerances to dairy.

 

[Leadinglights]

That is a really good site.Thankyou, and it says the eatwell plate is a disaster! Makes you wonder what our government is doing to the nation. I followed the eatwell plate excepting for my intolerances to dairy.

It may be fine for people who are not Type 2 diabetic but if you are looking to follow a low carb approach, it is too high carbs for many to tolerate.

 

[Brambleberry]

It may be fine for people who are not Type 2 diabetic but if you are looking to follow a low carb approach, it is too high carbs for many to tolerate.

Yes and I think that has been the problem all my life perhaps. A body that whilst up til now was not diabetic struggled to metabolise carbs and the rest of my history just exacerbated it.A healthy diet I had but probably the potatoes or pasta or rice quantities not right for me personally. And add in there the occasional treat, or holiday or Christmas...and you have a problem that others do not have nor understand.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Brambleberry

I will have to experiment with white and brown. I thought the slow release from wholegrain would be better. I have red rice too love it.

You’d have to see how they suit you as an individual, these things can be infuriatingly individual . Higher fibre and wholegrain things can absorb a little more slowly, and they are slightly lower carb than white equivalents (maybe 5-10g less on a pack-size serving?)

Yes and I think that has been the problem all my life perhaps. A body that whilst up til now was not diabetic struggled to metabolise carbs and the rest of my history just exacerbated it.A healthy diet I had but probably the potatoes or pasta or rice quantities not right for me personally.

Hopefully with some adaptations, swaps, and by finding the right portion size for you you’ll be able to find a way of eating that helps to bring down your BG levels and which you find tasty and satisfying.

Have you thought about adding some additional blood glucose lowering medication into the mix? Has anything been offered to you?

 

[Brambleberry]

I have 500mg metformin x3 a day and glicazide 80mg daily at present GP wants to increase that in a few weeks once she sees how the BG goes.

 

[Drummer]

If you are taking Gliclazide then low carb is not a good idea even though it is an ideal diet to reverse type 2 - you are in too much danger of hypos.
Perhaps if you discus your intended diet with your GP she will allow you to stop the tablets and no longer need to eat the high carbohydrate rice and potatoes.
Your symptoms of low glucose levels do seem strange for a diabetic though - far more like reactive hypoglycaemia.

 

[Brambleberry]

I presume in my younger years I must have secreted to much insulin . An hour after lunch and fainting with BM of 2 or 3 is very strange. I know scrub nurses stand still for a long time under hot lights but still...
I am doing before and after BMs to make sure I do not go hypo. Yesterday I awakened to 10.3mm following previous day when I made a broth rich in pulses and barley. Yesterday I had oats fruit and coconut yogurt to start, lunch fish with salad and high fat mayo and I added in a slice of wholemeal bread. Dinner salmon with salad and a sweet potato with butter and before bed I had 2 ryvita and woke to a BM of 7.6mm. I had a snack of a few brazil nuts at 4pm. Nurse just advised to have some carbs and monitor BMs.