Another newbie!

[Pete1956]

Hi

I took advantage of a free health check (an age offer!) and was diagnosed about two months ago with Type 2. I had the impression that the surgery were just ticking a box and they have put me on tablets. No real advice as my diet was deemed to be good, cholesterol was good and I don't drink or smoke! It was just one of those unfortunate things! The medication seems to be having no effect in that I don't notice a difference. Am I meant to notice a difference in my well being given that I felt well enough before the health check? is medication the only answer or can 'alternative therapies' be useful?

Its all a bit confusing and any guidance would be much appreciated as nothing much is coming back from the surgery!!

 

[Eddy Edson]

Hi Pete - Welcome to D-world!

Probably some tweaks will be the big thing, but can you let us know what meds you're on and what your blood sugar levels are?

As to feeling better: if you weren't often tired, thirsty, peeing a lot etc before, and you haven't changed your diet much, then I'd doubt that you'd notice any huge change this quickly.

FWIW, 6 months after diagnosis and with blood glucose under much better control, but mainly I think from eating better, I certainly feel a lot better than I did before.

 

[CathyB]

Welcome Pete, what sort of diet do you have? If by good they mean low fat healthy eating, then you won’t see much difference to your blood glucose levels. Most of us type 2s follow a low carb high good fat diet, so cutting pasta, rice, potatoes and bread as these will all push our sugars up. Testing is also key, it’s how you learn what foods your body tolerates or not, keeping a food diary mapped to your results will help.
Do take some time to read through posts and ask any questions you might have.

 

[Pete1956]

Hi
Thanks for the responses.
My meds are 3xMetformin 500mg a day. Blood sugar levels am are between 5 and 7 and in the evening between 8 and 10. My diet is mainly vegetables with some meat but no huge amounts of pasta and only limited bread. The reading of 10 followed an evening meal which included mash potatoes.
As you imply I am going to need to tweak the meals to identify those elements that impact upon the readings. It’s clearly a learning curve and I really appreciate the input. I will scroll through the comments on the forum to improve my knowledge,
Thanks again

 

[Martin Canty]

Welcome, Pete, I didn't really notice any change on Metformin, my biggest change was based on diet.

 

[Pete1956]

Welcome, Pete, I didn't really notice any change on Metformin, my biggest change was based on diet.

Thanks Martin. I suspect I was anticipating a dramatic change!

 

[Drummer]

These days I maintain normality by eating low carb foods such as cauliflower rather than potatoes - after almost two years I am totally adapted to eating low carb - I get loads of frozen cauliflower from time to time, normally I steam it and then add mayonnaise of coleslaw - sounds strange but I find it good. Modest amounts of beetroot, peas, onion, the midrange veges and lots of salad and low carb of all kinds.
I struggled through 5 weeks of Metformin and a statin - it took me a year to recover from that. The diabetes was long gone.

 

[CathyB]

Hi
Thanks for the responses.
My meds are 3xMetformin 500mg a day. Blood sugar levels am are between 5 and 7 and in the evening between 8 and 10. My diet is mainly vegetables with some meat but no huge amounts of pasta and only limited bread. The reading of 10 followed an evening meal which included mash potatoes.
As you imply I am going to need to tweak the meals to identify those elements that impact upon the readings. It’s clearly a learning curve and I really appreciate the input. I will scroll through the comments on the forum to improve my knowledge,
Thanks again

Ah.....mashed spuds are the worst for carbs 😱 a good alternative is mashed cauliflower, I mash it with a bit of butter and a dab of whole grain mustard 😛
Sounds like you have quite good control of your bloods, shouldn’t take much to give you a bit more leverage

 

[Eddy Edson]

Hi
Thanks for the responses.
My meds are 3xMetformin 500mg a day. Blood sugar levels am are between 5 and 7 and in the evening between 8 and 10. My diet is mainly vegetables with some meat but no huge amounts of pasta and only limited bread. The reading of 10 followed an evening meal which included mash potatoes.
As you imply I am going to need to tweak the meals to identify those elements that impact upon the readings. It’s clearly a learning curve and I really appreciate the input. I will scroll through the comments on the forum to improve my knowledge,
Thanks again

I'd say those are pretty good levels & that you don't need to stress about making any big radical changes super-urgently. Just as an indication, the general UK recommendation is to get HbA1c down to 48 or below, which corresponds to an average daily BG level over time of 7.8. It sounds like you're probably not far from there now. I found this chart very useful for getting my head around things:



I'd say you've got plenty of room to sort out what works for you for the long-term. Everybody's different!

I'd also say that from these levels, from my reading it's probably more of a priority to get your blood pressure and cholesterol into line if they're not already. From the studies I've seen, CVD is generally a bigger risk than anything else BG-related, from where your BG levels seem to be now. Probably it's the best route to noticeable feel-better also. But yr doc will obviously have the best advice.

Good luck!

 

[Pete1956]

Thank you all for your positive responses and advice. It does seem that potatoes have a significant impact on my blood sugar levels so it’s bye bye to chip butties!! Cauliflower it will be from now on.

 

[KARNAK]

Sorry Pete just came across your post 🙂, the thing is we are all different what works for one is not necessarily working for others. If you read through the forum 99.99999% will advise you to self test your blood sugar levels, (BGL) to ascertain what works for you. Mashed spuds I don`t think so😱, read and learn, we have all been there at sometime but with the vast knowledge of this forum you will be able to control your diabetes, take care.