Diet

[Raymond]

Hi all,

I've been diagnosed for 3 weeks now as type 2 and am on 320mg Gliclazide and 1000mg Metformin per day. My waking readings are between 15 & 20 each morn and can rise to as high as 33 by evening. This is despite me eating what I would believe to be "healthy" foods and walking 5 miles per day. I am aware that portion size is also relevant. My GP has told me to leave it another couple of weeks before going back to him and to take a note of my readings. However this is what I can't get my head around. I have never been overweight. I am 6" and was always steady at 13.5 stone. I have lost 2 stones over the last few months and can't help feeling that I should be trying to get this back on but the more I eat the more my levels go up! Following recommended portion sizes I've read about on the internet would leave any grown man starving!! A thread about public perceptions of T2's has made me think that maybe these articles are only written with the overweight in mind. There is probably a very simple solution to this but at the moment I'm really struggling with the whole diet thing. I've tested after eating and have replaced things that make me spike but I'm left still starving with such small portions that won't elevate my readings and I have to have more.

 

[Northerner]

Hi Raymond, I would suggest that you go back to your doctor now - or preferably get a second opinion from another doctor. You should not be left to deal with levels that are so high and it would appear to me that your medication is not doing the necessary job of reducing your levels sufficiently. From what you have said, it seems likely that it is the high blood sugar levels that is contributing to your weight loss - when levels are so high it means that there is insufficient insulin circulating in your system for you to use the glucose in your blood for energy. When this is the case, your body will burn fat to supply essential energy, and you will lose weight.

I am wondering if there is a possibility that you have been misdiagnosed. There is a type of diabetes known as 'LADA' - Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults. It is a slow-onset version of Type 1 diabetes, where your pancreas is failing to produce insulin because the beta cells are being attacked by your own immune system. Type 1 is generally thought of as an illness of young people, so doctors often make a diagnosis based on age - Type 2 is generally found in those 35 and above. However, there is an increasing number of people who don't fit those categories - I'm one of them, I was diagnosed at age 49.

If you are LADA, or Type 1.5 as it is sometimes known, then the treatment might need to change significantly, with the possibility of insulin. There are tests that can be done to show whether you fall into this category. Please seek further medical advice, because whatever the outcome, you should not be left to cope with levels as high as you are getting.

Another thing to note is that, if you are lacking in insulin, then exercising at levels over 17 will probably cause your blood sugar levels to rise further, so this is something you should test for and seek advice about from your doctor.

 

[Robster65]

Hi Raymond. Have you kept a food diary ?

In general, men need something like 2500 calories per day for an average exercise regime.

If you can get those calories from low GI foods with a good amount of protein and as little saturated fat as possible, and maintain a healthy weight.

I've just checked, and the minimum healthy weight for a 6ft man is about 10.5st, which even I would feel underweight at 😱

I'm 5'10" and maintain about 11st 4lbs give or take a couple of pounds. I would have said you could afford to lose a stone or so but you're by no means grossly overweight.

Research suggests that insulin resistance is a lot to do with the free fatty acids depositing fat around the organs which will take a long time to change I would imagine, so you may not see any real difference for some time. You may need more or different meds to bring your BG down in the meantime, to avoid damage that causes by itself. Once it's under control, you can maintain the healthy lifestyle and the meds might then reduce.

Rob

 

[Mark T]

MY BMI calculator says that at 13.5 stone and 6ft, the BMI is 25.6 ? which is only just into the overweight range!

?Research suggests that insulin resistance is a lot to do with the free fatty acids depositing fat around the organs which will take a long time to change I would imagine, so you may not see any real difference for some time

The studies around the 600 cal diet suggest that specifically this is the free fatty acids floating around the liver and pancreas. However, they started to notice an improvement in the fat deposits within a week of going on a 600 cal diet or having gastric band surgery. So it comes off quicker then you might have been led to think.

I agree with Alan, I?d suspect that you have been misdiagnosed and you should get your Doctor to do some more checks to make sure. Type 1 can come at any age not just under-18s. Even the other rarer forms of diabetes, MODY and LADA can be detected at a range of ages.

It might be the case that the doctor took one look at you and said, oh, you are 40+/50+ you must be a Type 2.

 

[Barb3234]

Raymond makes the point that he has lost 2 stone from his normal 13.5, which I guess means he is now just 11.5, which does seem underweight for his height.

I'm no expert (total newbie in fact) but if I was getting anything close to those readings I'd be camped out on my GP's doorstep!

Hope you get some help soon Raymond.

 

[Robster65]

Raymond makes the point that he has lost 2 stone from his normal 13.5, which I guess means he is now just 11.5, which does seem underweight for his height.

I'm no expert (total newbie in fact) but if I was getting anything close to those readings I'd be camped out on my GP's doorstep!

Hope you get some help soon Raymond.

Sorry, I misread it as 13.5st after loss. In which case, get thee to a doctor !

Rob

 

[grufflybear]

Definitely sound underweight... surely your BMI is now significantly lower than ideal. I was warned to lose the weight steadily and slowly, I am just over 6' and need to come to around just under 13 stone. I was advised that eat about 500 calories a day less than maintenance will lose you about a pound week and mean that you are losing the fat from your "belly". Waist to hip ratio important as indicator that you have got rid of belly fat rather than eroding muscle by losing weight too quickly. Unexplained unexpected weight loss can also be symptom which is not yet controlled. I too am in early stages of assimilating all this information and it can be confusing but please get back to that GP and keep asking questions.

 

[sasha1]

Hiya,

I can only echo what has been said in previous posts ... I think it would be wise for you to go back to the doctors asap, and ask for a second opinion.

Do you have a raging thirst?

Heidi
xx🙂

 

[Caroline]

Another suggestion is to read labels. For example NO ADDED SUGAR means there has been no sugar added (Fruit Shoots are an example) to what's all ready there and things that are marked LOW FAT often have more salt and sugar (a good example is low fat yoghurt). Although fruit is better than a bag of sweets (and often tastier too), it has natural sugar in it which will make a difference.

 

[Raymond]

Hi All,

Sorry for delay in replying. I took everyone's advice and insisted on speaking to my doctor regarding the high readings last Friday. I was given an appointment on the Monday so I called NHS24 and lo and behold my GP called me within 5 mins! He referred me to the local hospital where, as luck would have it, I was seen by a doctor specialising in Diabetes. She was open-mouthed when she was told I had been diagnosed as Type 2 and not referred to anyone with my sugar levels consistantly hitting 30. I was kept in the hospital and placed on a sliding scale drip to get me back down to normal levels. I am now on Lantus and NovoRapide pen injections. I have been seeing my DSN and dietician all week and it has been an enormous help in realising exactly what is happening to me and how I should proceed. Thanks to all who advised me. God knows what I 'd be doing just now had I not insisted on the doctor last week

R

 

[Steff]

Hi All,

Sorry for delay in replying. I took everyone's advice and insisted on speaking to my doctor regarding the high readings last Friday. I was given an appointment on the Monday so I called NHS24 and lo and behold my GP called me within 5 mins! He referred me to the local hospital where, as luck would have it, I was seen by a doctor specialising in Diabetes. She was open-mouthed when she was told I had been diagnosed as Type 2 and not referred to anyone with my sugar levels consistantly hitting 30. I was kept in the hospital and placed on a sliding scale drip to get me back down to normal levels. I am now on Lantus and NovoRapide pen injections. I have been seeing my DSN and dietician all week and it has been an enormous help in realising exactly what is happening to me and how I should proceed. Thanks to all who advised me. God knows what I 'd be doing just now had I not insisted on the doctor last week

R

Raymond,

Im so pleased things are looking up, it should not of took all that effort in the first place, but I hope now your on the right road that things continue to go well x.

 

[Northerner]

Thank goodness you are getting the treatment you should have had from the start Raymond! 🙂 Have they now decided you are Type 1, or are they going to do further tests? (It's not always too clear when first diagnosed, but certainly levels like yours should have received more prompt action).

 

[Andy HB]

Just goes to show that we can't rely on GPs completely and that forums like this really do a good job.

I'm pleased to see you're getting the treatment that you need now.

(and well done to those giving such spot on advice!)

Andy 🙂

 

[Raymond]

I've been diagnosed Type 1 Northener. My DSN is awaiting confirmation but has said she'll eat her hat if I'm not! Either way the treatment for me is Insulin.

Not entirely sure how to equate an HBA1C reading to a blood sugar reading but my HBA1C was 14.9%. How do I calculate what my average blood sugar reading was?

 

[Northerner]

I've been diagnosed Type 1 Northener. My DSN is awaiting confirmation but has said she'll eat her hat if I'm not! Either way the treatment for me is Insulin.

Not entirely sure how to equate an HBA1C reading to a blood sugar reading but my HBA1C was 14.9%. How do I calculate what my average blood sugar reading was?

That's pretty high Mine was 11.8% at diagnosis and I was at death's door. There is a calculator to convert between Average BG and HbA1c here:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hba1c-to-blood-sugar-level-converter.html

Your 14.9% equates to 22.8 mmol/l

 

[Andy HB]

I've been diagnosed Type 1 Northener. My DSN is awaiting confirmation but has said she'll eat her hat if I'm not! Either way the treatment for me is Insulin.

Not entirely sure how to equate an HBA1C reading to a blood sugar reading but my HBA1C was 14.9%. How do I calculate what my average blood sugar reading was?

What's the carb content of a hat?

(Don't look at your notes now, you should be able to reel that info off at a moment's notice!)

Andy 😉

p.s. I was 13.3% at diagnosis and felt pretty grotty. My BG was in the 20's too. But I'm a bona fide Type 2.