Help im really confused!!!

[toni french]

Hi everyone, im new to the site... have been t2 for nearly 10yrs now and have never been able to control it... even with weight loss and tight control my best finger prick has been 7, was short lived though!
Cant take metformin and have recently had to come off my meds due to side effects, cant get seen by diabetic nurse until end of the month, drs refuse to prescribe and after new year new start of me trying to grab this bull by the horns and keep a diary of food and blood levels, the drs have just refused to prescribe test strips.... so now im currently unmedicated and no way of testing my blood. Dr said t2 dont need to test as they dont have lo's!!!
from what i have been monitoring before ran out, in the mornings i have been having highs of 14-16mmol and then 2 hours after breakfast it will drop to about 12... Is it normal to have such highs when not eaten for 12-16hrs prior?
am due blood test this friday, howver my last hba1c was 71... please help me understand if these morning highs are normal and any advice on how to help me help myself i would really appreciate. ps am now eating a lchf diet and have cut portion sizes.

 

[Drummer]

Yes that is normal.
Although we are given the advice to lose weight an exercise, the one thing which will - for a type two and with a bit of luck, is eating fewer carbs. That is what is broken. We can't deal with the carbs.
Base your meals on meat fish eggs or cheese, eat stir fries of low carb veges or have salads, full fat yoghurt with a small amount of frozen berries stirred in, or make a sugar free jelly and drop four portions of frozen fruit into it, serve with cream.
Remember to replace the carbs with fats for energy, watch out for hidden carbs, ignore the traffic light system as it is not relevant to diabetes requirements, the real information is elsewhere on the packet.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Unfortunately with those readings it sounds like you might be in line for another high HbA1c.

There are a few things that occur to me that a few questions might answer.....

Are you significantly overweight.... you mention weight loss and getting better BG results... but did you put the weight back on or do you still need to lose more? Weight loss can help but it needs to be quite significant/dramatic rather than just a few pounds and needs to stay off.
Or are you a slim diabetic?

What do you eat?.... Can you give us an idea of the sort of things you typically have for breakfast, lunch and tea. Many of us here on the forum find that it is more beneficial for our diabetes to dramatically reduce our carbohydrate intake rather than follow a weight loss diet. The body very easily converts all carbs into glucose, not just the sweet, sugary items, so we cut out quite a lot of high carb foods and/or substitute low carb foods for them.

 

[rebrascora]

As regards self testing many Type 2 members of this forum self fund their BG meter and test strips. The NHS no longer fund unless you are on medication which can send your BG too low and require you to test before driving to be safe on the road.
The SD Codefree BG meter and the Spirit Tee2 meter are the cheapest on the market for Test strips. The Meters cost about £15 to buy and the test strips are £8 per pot of 50. I believe they are available on Amazon.
What was your regime for testing? Were you just doing random tests or a fasting test in the morning? Here we recommend people test before food and then 2 hours after eating. If the second reading is more than 2-3mmols higher than the pre meal reading then the meal contained too many carbs and you need to reduce portion size or substitute a high carb item for something low carb.... like swapping mashed cauliflower for mashed potato.

 

[toni french]

Hi,
Yeah very overweight! Menu now...
Typical breakfast
Crumpet avacado bacon and egg.
Lunch mushroom and cheese omlette
Dinner fish homemade sauce of toms/peppers/onion with fried cabbage and 2 new potatoes xx
I am trying to keep carbs as low as I can and will be joining gym to try shed some weight.
I love pasta so find it super hard had begun to test first thing then 2hrs after breakfast lunch and dinner... have a contour next meter and just checked the strips are £25 for 50!

 

[Drummer]

Maybe try a Tee 2 meter, from Spirit Healthcare as it is cheap to use. You sign up on their website, respond to an email and you can then order free of VAT.
Personally I avoid any bread, potatoes, grains in general, including sweetcorn, root vegetables, as well as sugary things.
I do have a lot of roast veges and stir fries, quite a bit of salad even in winter, along with hot cooked meat or fish as a separate thing. I have a cut off at 10 percent carbs for just about all foods

 

[toni french]

Thanks for the advice!!
Any tips on good snacks for after dinner???

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for the advice!!
Any tips on good snacks for after dinner???

Nuts are my go-to snack. Several folks here also like an occasional square of dark chocolate melted on the tongue for a great ‘chocolate-hit-to-carb-ratio’

But tbh the easiest thing(!) is probably to try to stop/interrupt those regular snack moments in the day. Over the years I’ve found that my snacking is largely habitual, and it generates its own hunger through repetition, which makes it hard to break. But when I’m occupied, or out, or otherwise distracted... the moments pass and I don’t miss not eating that handful of whatever it was.

 

[rebrascora]

That menu looks pretty good apart from the crumpet which will be made with highly processed white flour and possibly the potatoes depending upon size although obviously a small portion of carbs at least once a day is not unreasonable, even on a low carb diet.
How long have you been following such an eating regime? It may take a little time to start having an effect or it may be that you have another form of diabetes other than Type 2.
It will be far cheaper for you to ditch the Contour Next and self fund a new cheaper meter and test strips as @Drummer suggests. I am quite surprised that the GP funded strips for the Contour Next at all. Mine won't and I am Type 1 and should have the choice of which meter I use but the Contour is not on their approved list.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I think the SD Codefree has pretty cheap strips too?

 

[rebrascora]

For snacks, I like a chunk of cheese or a few olives or nuts or if I am really naughty a packet of pork scratching but as Mike says, snacking can become a habit.... particularly if you are sat at the computer or watching the TV, so irt is probably best avoided, particularly if you have a lot of weight to lose. Maybe try a cup of tea or a glass of something low carb..... I use diet drinks to flavour water, so I have an inch or two of low cal bitter lemon or diet coke in a glass and then topped up with tap water, or a good dash or balsamic vinegar in a glass of water or a squeeze of lemon and a sprig of mint/lemon balm. Something which gives it a little more flavour than just plain water.

 

[toni french]

Wow, thanks for your help, to be honest my diet only started a week ago so pretty much going cold turkey on the carbs, compared to what I used to eat!!! I’m just very thankful eggs are a good staple, will look into getting new meter so despite bad advice from dr saying no need to check, I will get a better understanding of what works for me xx

 

[rebrascora]

Oh and boiled eggs for a snack are great.... I boil a dozen at a time (I keep chickens) and have some with a big plate of salad and cheese coleslaw and others on their own as a snack. They are really filling, full of goodness and pretty low carb.

Most GPs discourage self testing. Partly that is down to funding and partly because some people can get a bit fanatical about it but mostly it is because they do not understand the individual nature of managing diabetes through diet and how carbohydrates can affect people very differently, because we all have a slightly different gut biome and so break down foods differently and of course we also have different tastes in food. The really big thing is that health care professionals seem to believe that a low carb diet is somehow unhealthy..... partly because in order for it to be lifelong sustainable you need to increase fat intake and they have spent their whole careers telling us to eat low fat because fat causes obesity and cardiovascular disease, when in fact excess carbs can do that..... and the more carbs you eat, the more you want.
Hopefully after a few weeks of eating low carb, you will find it much easier to continue with it but it does take time to break your body of the carb habit it has enjoyed for many years. Fat keeps you fuller for longer and gives you slow release energy rather than the sugar rush from carbs, so you should be less likely to crave snacks in between meals after that.

 

[toni french]

Oh and boiled eggs for a snack are great.... I boil a dozen at a time (I keep chickens) and have some with a big plate of salad and cheese coleslaw and others on their own as a snack. They are really filling, full of goodness and pretty low carb.

Most GPs discourage self testing. Partly that is down to funding and partly because some people can get a bit fanatical about it but mostly it is because they do not understand the individual nature of managing diabetes through diet and how carbohydrates can affect people very differently, because we all have a slightly different gut biome and so break down foods differently and of course we also have different tastes in food. The really big thing is that health care professionals seem to believe that a low carb diet is somehow unhealthy..... partly because in order for it to be lifelong sustainable you need to increase fat intake and they have spent their whole careers telling us to eat low fat because fat causes obesity and cardiovascular disease, when in fact excess carbs can do that..... and the more carbs you eat, the more you want.
Hopefully after a few weeks of eating low carb, you will find it much easier to continue with it but it does take time to break your body of the carb habit it has enjoyed for many years. Fat keeps you fuller for longer and gives you slow release energy rather than the sugar rush from carbs, so you should be less likely to crave snacks in between meals after that.

I too have chickens, only 6 of them, however they are freeloading at the moment due to moult poor things x I get really confused with the lack of continuity at the go surgery with one telling you to manage one way and then another telling you that’s wrong and should be doing xyz I now know I need to test to find what works for me... will also get meds sorted ASAP.... have always been scared when people suggest insulin and have steered away from it when nurse suggested, however im told I am limited of what to try???

 

[Toucan]

Hi Toni
Yes indeed, the advice from different sources can be very confusing, and can add to the stress.
There is much excellent information from the forum, and it sounds as if you are now sorting out a good plan forward.
It is not an easy journey, but there are many of us following it, and many of the strings will show how people are finding good solutions and coping.
I hope you will stay in touch, and keep asking questions and let us know how it is going.

Don't know much about chicken keeping, but I hope they start producing again soon, it must be really great to have lovely fresh eggs available.

 

[trophywench]

Well - if they prescribe insulin they'll have to give you a meter and prescribe strips for it!

 

[rebrascora]

I too have chickens, only 6 of them, however they are freeloading at the moment due to moult poor things

What breeds do you have? 2 of my young pullets started laying just before Christmas and I have a third that is far to flighty and is taking longer to develop because she is easily scared away from the feeder. Mine are mostly farmyard mutts now with legbar, marans, welsummer and leghorn in their heritage, so I get some very interesting coloured eggs. One of the new girls is laying a beautiful sage/olive coloured egg. Some of my older girls were laying until a couple of weeks ago when I found a secret nest they had with 30+ eggs in it.....the joys of free ranging.... little monkeys! Thankfully most passed the float test and got boiled and eaten and the cats and chickens got the rest scrambled. Since then I haven't had any from the older girls so either they are being sneaky somewhere else or they are sulking now I have spoiled their fun.... combs are drier and less bright so it is probably the latter, but at least I am getting an egg or two from the youngsters now.

 

[toni french]

Well - if they prescribe insulin they'll have to give you a meter and prescribe strips for it!

I have ordered a sd monitor as suggested and strips so I can monitor myself until the surgery decide if and when they will treat me!!! X

 

[toni french]

What breeds do you have? 2 of my young pullets started laying just before Christmas and I have a third that is far to flighty and is taking longer to develop because she is easily scared away from the feeder. Mine are mostly farmyard mutts now with legbar, marans, welsummer and leghorn in their heritage, so I get some very interesting coloured eggs. One of the new girls is laying a beautiful sage/olive coloured egg. Some of my older girls were laying until a couple of weeks ago when I found a secret nest they had with 30+ eggs in it.....the joys of free ranging.... little monkeys! Thankfully most passed the float test and got boiled and eaten and the cats and chickens got the rest scrambled. Since then I haven't had any from the older girls so either they are being sneaky somewhere else or they are sulking now I have spoiled their fun.... combs are drier and less bright so it is probably the latter, but at least I am getting an egg or two from the youngsters now.

Wow!!! I have 2 warrens, a blue belle, a black rock, a skyline (olive egger) and well she is meant to be a leghorn however she doesn’t lay white eggs so I’m not sure??? Have only been keeping chickens 2 years and wow, I wish I had more space I would have loads more!!! They really are like little dianosaurs.... and when you give them sardines!!!! Watch out!!! Hahaha love them!!!!

 

[rebrascora]

Disappointing about not getting white eggs from the "leghorn". I had some exchequer leghorns (black and white speckled chickens) about 8 years ago and they laid pristine white eggs. Sadly I lost them to someone's dog. I got a replacement 2 years ago and her eggs are a very disappointing cream and she is a poor layer and doesn't have the personality of my previous leghorns.
It sounds like you have a lovely mixed flock though even if you don't get a white egg. I have never had warrens but I know they are wonderfully friendly and curious. Mine get leftovers but sardines have not featured in their list of treats yet!