Autistic with bad diet - just diagnosed with diabetes

Itsdavey

Itsdavey

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
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He/Him
Hi there,

I've got autism along with ADHD anxiety and OCD and my diet is really bad, I literally eat rubbish.

I've just been diagnosed with type 2, my HbA1c being in the 70s (should be below 48) and plasma glucose level is 14.4 (3.0 - 5.4 is normal) across several blood tests. I've been told the old line "you need to change your lifestyle".

Now first thing to mention is I changed jobs over a year ago, and I'm not as active as I used to be, but generally I am active I don't like to sit around too much (minus driving of course).

My diet consists of basically snack foods, such as crisps and chocolate and cakey things - I am known to binge eat this when stressed/anxious, but generally I eat way too much of it, every day. I've cut right down off the old fizzy drinks, thats easy, I can take them or leave them.

Meal wise I eat the following;
Sandwiches (cheese only)
Pizza (cheese only)
Toast with butter
Chicken (either breast or nuggets)
Bacon now and then
Chips, lots of chips
Fish occasionally
Sausage rolls (but not sausages)
Yorkshire puds (on their own)

Thats it. I eat nothing else at all. Nothing healthy, nothing green, nothing fruit and veg.

I have tried over the years but i just can not physically eat these things, I physically gag or otherwise try and throw up. The sensation of these things near my mouth are horrid, I can not overcome it. Even ordering a chicken burger for instance, and it comes with salad bits, or fish and chips and getting peas, these things even on the plate make me feel ill.

Now I'm type 2 I'm basically not eating anything because I'm sick with worry that it's going to all get so much worse, and since all my diet is, is rubbish, if I cut it out I've got nothing else to eat...

I literally don't know what to do.
 
Hello there @Itsdavey and may I be the first to welcome you to the forum...judging by your diet you're in a really bad way.Do you have a Diabetic dietitian and if so what have they said to help you improve your diet?...and what are blood sugar levels?

...
 
Speak to your DSN (diabetic nurse specialist) or your GP don't be afraid
 
ARFID (restricted eating) is a food disorder, but not always classed as one, I don’t think, so you’d have to speak to your GP to see what services are available locally.

Counselling/behaviour therapy can be very successful. There’s help out there and perhaps the diabetes diagnosis will help you get access to it now.
 
Welcome

Sounds like your options are some or all of

1. Adjust portions, eat more of the better foods in your diet and less of the worse foods
2. See if you can manage your diabetes through exercise
3. Speak to GP about managing diabetes with medication to stick to current diet
4. See if you can tolerate one of the meal replacement shakes to do Newcastle diet
5. Enquire about counselling or therapy to improve your ARFID
 
Welcome to the forum. I don't have anything different to add to the wise suggestions people have made buy did just want to say hello.
 
stephenS50 said:
I completely agree with you on this suggestion @Inka.
Click to expand...
If you do decide to try the shakes, do mix them with a stick blender and then let them stand for a few minutes, as that improves the texture a lot. If just mixed they can be powdery and feel dry - even though they are a liquid.
I clean the blended with water and add that to the shake to thin it out a bit.
 
Itsdavey said:
Hi there,

I've got autism along with ADHD anxiety and OCD and my diet is really bad, I literally eat rubbish.

I've just been diagnosed with type 2, my HbA1c being in the 70s (should be below 48) and plasma glucose level is 14.4 (3.0 - 5.4 is normal) across several blood tests. I've been told the old line "you need to change your lifestyle".

Now first thing to mention is I changed jobs over a year ago, and I'm not as active as I used to be, but generally I am active I don't like to sit around too much (minus driving of course).

My diet consists of basically snack foods, such as crisps and chocolate and cakey things - I am known to binge eat this when stressed/anxious, but generally I eat way too much of it, every day. I've cut right down off the old fizzy drinks, thats easy, I can take them or leave them.

Meal wise I eat the following;
Sandwiches (cheese only)
Pizza (cheese only)
Toast with butter
Chicken (either breast or nuggets)
Bacon now and then
Chips, lots of chips
Fish occasionally
Sausage rolls (but not sausages)
Yorkshire puds (on their own)

Thats it. I eat nothing else at all. Nothing healthy, nothing green, nothing fruit and veg.

I have tried over the years but i just can not physically eat these things, I physically gag or otherwise try and throw up. The sensation of these things near my mouth are horrid, I can not overcome it. Even ordering a chicken burger for instance, and it comes with salad bits, or fish and chips and getting peas, these things even on the plate make me feel ill.

Now I'm type 2 I'm basically not eating anything because I'm sick with worry that it's going to all get so much worse, and since all my diet is, is rubbish, if I cut it out I've got nothing else to eat...

I literally don't know what to do.
Click to expand...
Hi Davey
I'm sorry that you now have to deal with Diabetes on top of everything else.
It's not unusual for people with Autism to have issues with some foods, it's not about being picky, they are sensorial issues. It's not a matter of choice or willpower, it's because of the way our nervous system works (I have ADHD).
I believe there are ways to improve your diet, but it's going to take time. It would be a good idea to ask your GP to refer you to a Dietitian with experience of Autism (By the way, if your GP hasn't yet, you may want to ask if you can be tested for nutritional deficiencies as well).
There may be services that you can access or your GP can refer you to but they are not aware of. And it's worth checking if some of the organisations supporting people with Autism have more information, or if there are groups or forums where you can ask question and they can point you to sources of support.
Good luck, I hope you find the support you need.
 
Hi @Itsdavey and welcome to the forum.

The first thing to do is not panic, there is so much help around, on this forum and within your GP's surgery.
We are not medics, but we are all diabetics to a greater or lesser degree and as I have found out, there is a wealth of experienced people here willing to help and we all need help at times, trust me.

Take care and ask as many questions as you need to.

Alan 😉
 
Sorry to hear about the difficulties you are having with your dietary restrictions.

How are you with other forms of carbohydrate apart from wheat-based ones and chips? Eg new potatoes? Or rice?

Do you take vitamin supplements? As it looks like there may well be a bunch of vitamins and minerals that your menu isn’t providing.

I do wonder if the soup & shake diet might help?

The other tactic you have at your disposal, of course, is portion control.

Through experimentation you may be able to find portion sizes of the foods that you are happy/able to eat that your body can efficiently digest and cope with. It may mean re-balancing your plates a bit - eg more chicken breast and only a few chips?

Plus cutting out the obvious junk like cake bars might give your body more of a chance to cope with the restricted meals themselves?
 
Last edited:
Itsdavey said:
Hi there,

I've got autism along with ADHD anxiety and OCD and my diet is really bad, I literally eat rubbish.

I've just been diagnosed with type 2, my HbA1c being in the 70s (should be below 48) and plasma glucose level is 14.4 (3.0 - 5.4 is normal) across several blood tests. I've been told the old line "you need to change your lifestyle".

Now first thing to mention is I changed jobs over a year ago, and I'm not as active as I used to be, but generally I am active I don't like to sit around too much (minus driving of course).

My diet consists of basically snack foods, such as crisps and chocolate and cakey things - I am known to binge eat this when stressed/anxious, but generally I eat way too much of it, every day. I've cut right down off the old fizzy drinks, thats easy, I can take them or leave them.

Meal wise I eat the following;
Sandwiches (cheese only)
Pizza (cheese only)
Toast with butter
Chicken (either breast or nuggets)
Bacon now and then
Chips, lots of chips
Fish occasionally
Sausage rolls (but not sausages)
Yorkshire puds (on their own)

Thats it. I eat nothing else at all. Nothing healthy, nothing green, nothing fruit and veg.

I have tried over the years but i just can not physically eat these things, I physically gag or otherwise try and throw up. The sensation of these things near my mouth are horrid, I can not overcome it. Even ordering a chicken burger for instance, and it comes with salad bits, or fish and chips and getting peas, these things even on the plate make me feel ill.

Now I'm type 2 I'm basically not eating anything because I'm sick with worry that it's going to all get so much worse, and since all my diet is, is rubbish, if I cut it out I've got nothing else to eat...

I literally don't know what to do.
Click to expand...
Are any of the clinicians you're seeing autism-aware? If not, you may want to ask to be referred to whichever local NHS team covers autism specifically. Sensory issues with eating (such as only being able to eat 'beige' food) are very common for autistic people - and nothing to be ashamed of. If you watch Christine McGuiness' video about being diagnosed with autism, she talks about it very well.
 
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