Coming off the meds

[Spenny]

Hiya
Newbie to the forum and not long diagnosed with type 2. I was diagnosed and sent to see the DN back on the 22nd. May this year. Put on 1 metformin 500mg twice a day and given a booklet to read up on, so not much help from her. Once home done my own research and settled on life style changes, a very low carb diet and lots of exercise. I bought some cheap second hand gym equipment and a mountain bike to get me going.
I was back with the DN last Friday for a review after having another set of bloods taken and my results were -
Bloods down from 70 to 34 mmol/mol
Cholesterol down from 5 to 3.4
weight down from 102Kgs to 74Kgs
The nurse has now taken me off the meds to see if I can control my sugar levels without any medication and I'm more nervous now than when I was first diagnosed as I don't want to undo all the work I've put in to get this far.
During the week my breakfast was a bowl of porridge (to help with the cholesterol) mixed with some berries but now I'm off the meds I'm worried about my bloods spiking. Most of my working day is spent sat on my bum driving up and down the country and start all stupid hours of the day so could anyone recommend a quick and easy breakfast (I tend to be up and out with 30 minutes) that's not going to affect my blood levels to much?
Sorry for the long post 🙂
Cheers

 

[Docb]

Keep doing what you have been doing! Its worked brilliantly so far so stick with it I say, just make sure your weight stays where it is.

 

[Spenny]

Cheers
Just worried the mix of the carbs from the oats and the fact I'll be sat on my backside with little to no exercise and no meds is going to cause some big spikes in my blood levels.

 

[Docb]

I guess the real trick is not to slide back into your old patterns. You may be driving about all day but maybe you could ban eating/snacking in your vehicle except at predetermined meal times. Whenever you stop, get out and take ten minutes for a walk. As I say, if you can keep your weight down, then is as good a guide to you keeping on track as any. Good luck mate!

 

[Jodee]

I would stick with what you have been doing and maybe invest in a blood glucose monitor so you can be self assured what your BG is doing before and 2 hours after food. You may fine the oats is ok and anything else you eat. Exercise does help bring the blood glucose down so keep doing what you have been doing there too.

If you have breakfast on the go when at work, Eggs, Bacon, tomato, mushrooms etc is ok

If you want egg for breakfast at home, get some Burgen bread in so you can have poached, scrambled or egg soldiers with toast. If having this in a cafe, go for wholemeal bread rather than white.

Best wishes

 

[Spenny]

I would stick with what you have been doing and maybe invest in a blood glucose monitor so you can be self assured what your BG is doing before and 2 hours after food. You may fine the oats is ok and anything else you eat. Exercise does help bring the blood glucose down so keep doing what you have been doing there too.

If you have breakfast on the go when at work, Eggs, Bacon, tomato, mushrooms etc is ok

If you want egg for breakfast at home, get some Burgen bread in so you can have poached, scrambled or egg soldiers with toast. If having this in a cafe, go for wholemeal bread rather than white.

Best wishes

Cheers for the advice fella

 

[rebrascora]

I would just like to say a huge "CONGRATULATIONS" on the progress you have made in such a short time! That is amazing!

I would have been inclined to ask the nurse if you could gradually reduce the Metformin rather than just stop abruptly. I found it helped as an appetite suppressant and whilst it did not help as regards my diabetes, it did help me to gain control of my diet. I no longer take it but I did find that it helped to come off it slowly rather than just stop taking them. There are also supposed to be heart benefits to being on Metformin.

I sometimes have a Nature Valley Protein Bar (Salted Caramel or Peanut and Chocolate) for an on the go breakfast which is just under 10g carbs or as others have suggested, stop and get a cooked breakfast occasionally, but avoid bread/toast, beans and hash browns. Also the quality of the sausages at your average "Greasy Spoon" will be low and contain quite a bit of rusk (carbs) so limit yourself to just 1 or avoid the sausage and have more mushrooms. You could cook yourself an omelette the night before and reheat it the next morning or take it with you and eat it cold. I like mushrooms, onion, courgette peppers and cheese in mine and sometimes a bit of ham. I have it with a salad but obviously that is a bit trickier to eat out and about or if you are in a rush.

Good luck with maintaining your great progress. I think if you stick to your healthy eating and exercise regime you will manage fine without the medication. Don't forget to increase your fat intake when you reach a weight that you are happy with. This makes eating very low carb more enjoyable and therefore long term sustainable and will stabilise your weight.

 

[Spenny]

I would stick with what you have been doing and maybe invest in a blood glucose monitor so you can be self assured what your BG is doing before and 2 hours after food. You may fine the oats is ok and anything else you eat. Exercise does help bring the blood glucose down so keep doing what you have been doing there too.

If you have breakfast on the go when at work, Eggs, Bacon, tomato, mushrooms etc is ok

If you want egg for breakfast at home, get some Burgen bread in so you can have poached, scrambled or egg soldiers with toast. If having this in a cafe, go for wholemeal bread rather than white.

Best wishes

Thanks for the tips. Never heard of Burgen bread. I'll have to take a look at that

 

[grovesy]

I have never had the appetite suppressant affect of Metformin.

 

[Spenny]

I would just like to say a huge "CONGRATULATIONS" on the progress you have made in such a short time! That is amazing!

I would have been inclined to ask the nurse if you could gradually reduce the Metformin rather than just stop abruptly. I found it helped as an appetite suppressant and whilst it did not help as regards my diabetes, it did help me to gain control of my diet. I no longer take it but I did find that it helped to come off it slowly rather than just stop taking them. There are also supposed to be heart benefits to being on Metformin.

Good luck with maintaining your great progress. I think if you stick to your healthy eating and exercise regime you will manage fine without the medication. Don't forget to increase your fat intake when you reach a weight that you are happy with. This makes eating very low carb more enjoyable and therefore long term sustainable and will stabilise your weight.

Hiya
thanks for the tips. I did ask the DN if i could reduce the metformin and stay on 1 tablet a day as we've got a lot of work on at the minute and I'm going to be doing some long long hours and spending most of it on the road so I might struggle to keep to my fitness plan for the next month or so. I can't think of worse time for me to try and come off the meds TBH but she said I don't need them. Could be me just worrying but the last thing I want to do is take a backward step after coming so far.

 

[Drummer]

Try scrambled eggs with grated cheese and a finely sliced tomato - it is fast to make - and satisfying too.
Metformin doesn't do anything to control your blood glucose in the way that insulin or gliclazide does, so as long as you don't eat high carb foods you should be just fine.

 

[CathyB]

I’m also off my meds now and had exactly the same fear! My work life is similar to yours with early starts and lots of driving. I switched from Burgen bread to LivLife, lower in carbs and to be honest, tastier, not s dry, my quick breakfast is two slices of toast with peanut butter, quick and easy. I take a small pot of mixed nuts in the car for a Snack attack and can now tolerate two small apples if I space them out to one mid morning and one mid afternoon. On the odd occasion I am organised I will make a quiche without the pastry, then grab a couple of slices instead of the toast or for lunch.

 

[Spenny]

I’m also off my meds now and had exactly the same fear! My work life is similar to yours with early starts and lots of driving. I switched from Burgen bread to LivLife, lower in carbs and to be honest, tastier, not s dry, my quick breakfast is two slices of toast with peanut butter, quick and easy. I take a small pot of mixed nuts in the car for a Snack attack and can now tolerate two small apples if I space them out to one mid morning and one mid afternoon. On the odd occasion I am organised I will make a quiche without the pastry, then grab a couple of slices instead of the toast or for lunch.

I always take a small amount of mixed nuts as well as a mini cheese with me. It's a long time from having breakfast at 4.30 in the morning till lunch time. I tend to eat them mid morning to see me through to lunch time but that is the only snack i allow myself throughout the day. I'll have to check the LivLife bread out too as I haven't heard of that one either. I've tried the dr. almond bread mix but it's bloomin expensive and I wasn't that keen on it. A sandwich is the one piece of food I miss the most

 

[CathyB]

I always take a small amount of mixed nuts as well as a mini cheese with me. It's a long time from having breakfast at 4.30 in the morning till lunch time. I tend to eat them mid morning to see me through to lunch time but that is the only snack i allow myself throughout the day. I'll have to check the LivLife bread out too as I haven't heard of that one either. I've tried the dr. almond bread mix but it's bloomin expensive and I wasn't that keen on it. A sandwich is the one piece of food I miss the most

I get mine from Waitrose, not sure what other supermarkets sell it, I know Tesco & Sainsbury’s don’t.

 

[Pine Marten]

I get mine from Waitrose, not sure what other supermarkets sell it, I know Tesco & Sainsbury’s don’t.

Yes, I get mine from Waitrose - I don't think it's available anywhere else.

Burgen is more hit and miss, sometimes our nearby Morrisons has it, sometimes a Sainsburys has it, but quite often it goes awol for no apparent reason.