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I eat Green & Blacks 85% cocoa, but I don't like any milk in my chocolate so it's no hardship for me to eat the really dark stuff
I do also eat their mint chocolate sometimes though, and that's 70% cocoa.
It sounds to me as though you need to be testing your blood sugar to see how different foods effect you - you obviously can't just drastically cut carbs the way a lot of type 2s do because of your other conditions, so you need to know which foods really spike your blood sugar and which you can get away with. The HbA1c will show if you're doing OK overall, but it won't show if (for instance) your blood sugar spikes up to 20 every time you eat porridge, if the rest of the time your blood sugar's a nice 5 and that's keeping the average down; nor will it show if your blood sugar doesn't spike at all when you eat porridge; or whether it's better to eat those pieces of fruit as a snack or as part of a meal, and so on.
Do you have a meter? I'd really recommend getting one if you don't - if you can see what your blood sugar is doing before a meal and then 2 hours after the meal you will feel much more informed and much less as though you're tiptoeing through a minefield. Doctors don't seem to give them out to type 2s very much, unfortunately, so you're unlikely to get one on the NHS if you don't have one already, but a lot of people here get this one - https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/ - because it has cheaper test strips than most of the others (you'd need to get more test strips with it, but most people re-use lancets at least a few times). If you decide to get one, you can get it VAT free because you have diabetes, and you need to make sure you select mmol/L.
I've taken your advice and ordered a tester with extra needles and strips. I would be interested to see my levels before and after exercise, as I feel so tired. Many years ago I know a young man who played table tennis for England and he tested himself before every game he played.
You’re doing so much with exercise & weight loss that’s brilliant. I’d recommend a monitor (I’ve got code free) as you may be avoiding foods that don’t affect you. Also definitely avoid high carb beige foods but also do consider sustainability too as that’s important. I couldn’t eat lots of meat & fat & didn’t do that for long so chose gut friendly lower carb path with help from Michael Mosley books. (My cholesterol is normal & after a year). I still have mash & chips but make them with swede or celeriac. Good luck
You’re doing so much with exercise & weight loss that’s brilliant. I’d recommend a monitor (I’ve got code free) as you may be avoiding foods that don’t affect you. Also definitely avoid high carb beige foods but also do consider sustainability too as that’s important. I couldn’t eat lots of meat & fat & didn’t do that for long so chose gut friendly lower carb path with help from Michael Mosley books. (My cholesterol is normal & after a year). I still have mash & chips but make them with swede or celeriac. Good luck
Thanks. I'll see how I get on with the monitor. I have carrot and swede mash, or roasted squash wedges, which are both a pretty decent substitute. There are some things I really can't stomach - avocado and celeriac being two!! But I make a nice spiced squash and red pepper soup which will be good in the winter, also a chickestrone soup, with chicken instead of pasta!
Thanks. I'll see how I get on with the monitor. I have carrot and swede mash, or roasted squash wedges, which are both a pretty decent substitute. There are some things I really can't stomach - avocado and celeriac being two!! But I make a nice spiced squash and red pepper soup which will be good in the winter, also a chickestrone soup, with chicken instead of pasta!
You're doing well and you're making good positive steps,don't worry about the needle it's hidden within the pen, you can't see it and it's quick and just a little nip,you will soon get used to it.
You're doing well and you're making good positive steps,don't worry about the needle it's hidden within the pen, you can't see it and it's quick and just a little nip,you will soon get used to it.
How do you dispose of used needles please? When I had to inject myself daily with blood thinners, I had to order a Sharps Box and arrange for it to be collected when the course was finished.
How do you dispose of used needles please? When I had to inject myself daily with blood thinners, I had to order a Sharps Box and arrange for it to be collected when the course was finished.
I use the Codefree too, and I put the used strips and needles (not that I change them very often 😱) in the previous little pot and put it in the general bin.
I use the Codefree too, and I put the used strips and needles (not that I change them very often 😱) in the previous little pot and put it in the general bin.
I've taken your advice and ordered a tester with extra needles and strips. I would be interested to see my levels before and after exercise, as I feel so tired. Many years ago I know a young man who played table tennis for England and he tested himself before every game he played.
High blood sugar could be making you tired, but I noticed you're also on Doxazosin, which could also be making you tired - my Mum's been given that recently and she keeps falling asleep. But if you exercise when your blood sugar's high it can just make it go higher, which seems counterintuitive, you'd expect exercise to lower it.
I put my lancets in a sharps bin, but then I'm on insulin so I need one anyway for my needles. The lancets I get have a little plastic cover you twist off before you put them in the bodger (technical term there!) ready to prick your fingers, so when I've finished with a lancet I stick the plastic cover back over the sharp bit of the lancet. I don't know whether the lancets you're getting are the same style, but if they are and you can do the same it will protect anyone who handles your rubbish from spiking their hands on them.
My bodger has a dial with different depth settings, so you set it to 1 for pricking children's fingers, and 4 for pricking tough builders' fingers, and 2 or 3 otherwise - if yours is the same I'd try it on 2, you want it on the lowest number you can draw blood with and then it will be less likely to hurt.
The other thing is to make sure you only spike the sides of your fingers - alongside (but not too close to) the nail, never the pads of your fingers as spiking the pads will hurt a lot (as will spiking down the side of the nail!). And you can use both sides of all your fingers and your thumbs, so long as you only use the sides and not the pads - using all 20 available sides will mean you're much less likely to get sore fingers.
High blood sugar could be making you tired, but I noticed you're also on Doxazosin, which could also be making you tired - my Mum's been given that recently and she keeps falling asleep. But if you exercise when your blood sugar's high it can just make it go higher, which seems counterintuitive, you'd expect exercise to lower it.
I put my lancets in a sharps bin, but then I'm on insulin so I need one anyway for my needles. The lancets I get have a little plastic cover you twist off before you put them in the bodger (technical term there!) ready to prick your fingers, so when I've finished with a lancet I stick the plastic cover back over the sharp bit of the lancet. I don't know whether the lancets you're getting are the same style, but if they are and you can do the same it will protect anyone who handles your rubbish from spiking their hands on them.
My bodger has a dial with different depth settings, so you set it to 1 for pricking children's fingers, and 4 for pricking tough builders' fingers, and 2 or 3 otherwise - if yours is the same I'd try it on 2, you want it on the lowest number you can draw blood with and then it will be less likely to hurt.
The other thing is to make sure you only spike the sides of your fingers - alongside (but not too close to) the nail, never the pads of your fingers as spiking the pads will hurt a lot (as will spiking down the side of the nail!). And you can use both sides of all your fingers and your thumbs, so long as you only use the sides and not the pads - using all 20 available sides will mean you're much less likely to get sore fingers.
Many thanks - that is extremely helpful advice about the lancets and how to use them. I was feeling very tired before the diagnosis, and it's not improved in 6 weeks of following the eating and exercise plan. Intuitively I do have breakfast before I exercise, and the classes are at 9.30am and 11am. I've had 2 classes this week and the last 3 afternoons I've laid down for a couple of hours. I do fear that means the glucose levels are not coming down. I did mention it to my GP but she said it was a combination of my medication (I guess she meant the Doxazosin) and diabetes. All my many blood tests were otherwise normal. I've tried various BP medications and these 3 are the only ones without strong side effects. We'll see what the HbA1c says and if I monitor before and after exercise.
As well as doing a few tests before and after exercise, you can also do a few before and after different foods, so you get an idea of which things spike you and which don't. You may get some surprises (the food which spikes me more than any other is ... eggs! They're carb-free, so they're perfect for most diabetics, I just have a slight intolerance to them and that means they send my blood sugar into the stratosphere so I had to stop eating them.)
Having breakfast before you exercise is sensible - if you don't eat in the morning the chances are your blood sugar will just go up and up anyway, because your body is putting out stored glucose ready for the day. You may just need to tweak the timing or the amount of your breakfast a bit so it fits in better with your exercise, or think about having something different for breakfast if you find that what you are having spikes you a lot.
I think my Mum had the same thing with BP meds - she's tried several different ones and kept going back to the GP because she had side effects - she seems to get on better with the Doxazosin too, apart from the tendency to sit down after lunch and nod off.
I used to like fruit and Greek yogurt for breakfast, but the dietitian assigned to me told me to never eat fruit with a main meal, just as a one off mid morning or mid afternoon snack. So I've been having porridge or poached eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes. It will be interesting. On a different track entirely I know loads of non diabetic people my age who have an afternoon kip - that included my dad and my friends. It never used to be me!!
Well, my Mum is 91, so at her age it's not entirely surprising she's started to need an afternoon kip!
I am still baffled by your dietician's fruit advice Poached eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes sounds a really good breakfast for a diabetic though, wish I could eat something like that, but I'm (thanks to also juggling diabetes with other conditions) stuck with porridge!
Well, my Mum is 91, so at her age it's not entirely surprising she's started to need an afternoon kip!
I am still baffled by your dietician's fruit advice Poached eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes sounds a really good breakfast for a diabetic though, wish I could eat something like that, but I'm (thanks to also juggling diabetes with other conditions) stuck with porridge!
My juggling acts are Diverticular Disease, Hiatus Hernia and Gastritis, which cut out lots of foods, or otherwise I suffer within 8 - 12 hours!! Tomorrow for the first time in years, I'm trying chopped nuts with my porridge, which I make with 50/50 water/almond milk. I've nothing planned for 48 hours, so can stay close to the little girl's room!!!!! I hadn't had a poached egg for years but when I was diagnosed I treated myself to one. It's been a really good buy.
Tomorrow for the first time in years, I'm trying chopped nuts with my porridge, which I make with 50/50 water/almond milk. I've nothing planned for 48 hours, so can stay close to the little girl's room!!!!!
I eat Green & Blacks 85% cocoa, but I don't like any milk in my chocolate so it's no hardship for me to eat the really dark stuff
I do also eat their mint chocolate sometimes though, and that's 70% cocoa.
It sounds to me as though you need to be testing your blood sugar to see how different foods effect you - you obviously can't just drastically cut carbs the way a lot of type 2s do because of your other conditions, so you need to know which foods really spike your blood sugar and which you can get away with. The HbA1c will show if you're doing OK overall, but it won't show if (for instance) your blood sugar spikes up to 20 every time you eat porridge, if the rest of the time your blood sugar's a nice 5 and that's keeping the average down; nor will it show if your blood sugar doesn't spike at all when you eat porridge; or whether it's better to eat those pieces of fruit as a snack or as part of a meal, and so on.
Do you have a meter? I'd really recommend getting one if you don't - if you can see what your blood sugar is doing before a meal and then 2 hours after the meal you will feel much more informed and much less as though you're tiptoeing through a minefield. Doctors don't seem to give them out to type 2s very much, unfortunately, so you're unlikely to get one on the NHS if you don't have one already, but a lot of people here get this one - https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/codefree-blood-glucose-monitoring-system-mmoll-or-mgdl/ - because it has cheaper test strips than most of the others (you'd need to get more test strips with it, but most people re-use lancets at least a few times). If you decide to get one, you can get it VAT free because you have diabetes, and you need to make sure you select mmol/L.
Hi Juliet
Well I've taken your advice and got the monitor you recommended. Then I spent an hour yesterday trying to get it set up. I don't think I'm stupid, but this really had me flummoxed! I worked out how to insert the needle and prepare for pricking - it worked fine on a setting of 2. I tried the set up on the monitor and got it for date and time OK. I didn't want it to beep 2 hours after a meal, as that's when I'm in the swimming pool doing Aquafit, so ended the setup there . I worked out how to put in the strip and let it absorb the the blood OK. Then the display showed 2 - 3 and I haven't a clue what that means. I've clearly done something wrong as I was expecting some kind of mmol reading. I phone my GP surgery and they offered me a phone consult which is worse than useless as I couldn't explain the problem over the phone - I thought they needed to see it. Reluctantly I have 10 minutes with a non specialist nurse next week. In the meantime have you any advice please? I'm just off to Aquafit but I'll be back after lunch. Many thanks.
Hi Juliet
Well I've taken your advice and got the monitor you recommended. Then I spent an hour yesterday trying to get it set up. I don't think I'm stupid, but this really had me flummoxed! I worked out how to insert the needle and prepare for pricking - it worked fine on a setting of 2. I tried the set up on the monitor and got it for date and time OK. I didn't want it to beep 2 hours after a meal, as that's when I'm in the swimming pool doing Aquafit, so ended the setup there . I worked out how to put in the strip and let it absorb the the blood OK. Then the display showed 2 - 3 and I haven't a clue what that means. I've clearly done something wrong as I was expecting some kind of mmol reading. I phone my GP surgery and they offered me a phone consult which is worse than useless as I couldn't explain the problem over the phone - I thought they needed to see it. Reluctantly I have 10 minutes with a non specialist nurse next week. In the meantime have you any advice please? I'm just off to Aquafit but I'll be back after lunch. Many thanks.
I've just checked with my GP surgery and I've been allocated to my own diabetic specialist nurse, so if you are unable to advise, at least I know I'll see someone who knows what they are talking about!!!!
I've just checked with my GP surgery and I've been allocated to my own diabetic specialist nurse, so if you are unable to advise, at least I know I'll see someone who knows what they are talking about!!!!
Is that the coded free monitor, that is the error code that you get when the blob of blood isn't large enough so the blood doesn't go all the way up the little strip to be read by the meter that's what happens.
There has to be enough blood if you look at the strips when you place it in a spot of blood you will see it travel upwards on the strip if there isn't enough blood in volume it doesn't travel far enough up resulting in the error code,I often can't capture enough blood,people say it helps if your hands are warm and you rub them together for a little while,I'm sure people will follow with more tips
Hi @Felinia, did you follow the manual instructions to set it up? I found I had to follow them quite slowly, and I didn't bother with the pre and post meal beeps. There are some YouTube videos showing how to take a reading including this one, if it helps:
Is that the coded free monitor, that is the error code that you get when the blob of blood isn't large enough so the blood doesn't go all the way up the little strip to be read by the meter that's what happens.
There has to be enough blood if you look at the strips when you place it in a spot of blood you will see it travel upwards on the strip if there isn't enough blood in volume it doesn't travel far enough up resulting in the error code,I often can't capture enough blood,people say it helps if your hands are warm and you rub them together for a little while,I'm sure people will follow with more tips
Hi @Felinia, did you follow the manual instructions to set it up? I found I had to follow them quite slowly, and I didn't bother with the pre and post meal beeps. There are some YouTube videos showing how to take a reading including this one, if it helps:
