Hello - First-time diabetic...

TheBigRezowski

TheBigRezowski

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Pronouns
He/Him
Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to say hello to you all and introduce myself.

I've been prediabetic for about 12 months, and I finally crossed the threshold at my latest screening. It wasn't a surprise—over the last 2 or 3 months, I noticed some changes/issues that made me suspect I wouldn’t be lucky enough to get into regression.

I’m now prescribed and taking one Metformin 500mg tablet per day and one Empagliflozin (that name trips off the tongue, doesn't it?) 10mg tablet per day.

It's day 2 on my medication, and I’m hoping today goes smoother than yesterday.

I think I’m in that "rabbit in the headlights" phase right now—I’ve never had to take anything beyond Anadin Extra before, and at nearly 52 years old (despite the pre-D warning), I thought I was going to be invincible.
Alas, no... I’m about to dive into the forums to see what’s what with these two medications, as I don’t want to repeat yesterday every day. I also want to make sure I’m taking them correctly (with a meal at breakfast currently). Today, I’m 3 hours in and feeling okay (metallic taste, but no headache, no nausea, and no feeling like I’m moving in slow motion).

Any hints, tips, or pointers towards recipes would be VERY welcome. (Giving up bread is going to be the hardest thing)

Thanks,

Paul (Rez)
 
Hi Paul and welcome
Bit of a shock when you get the news you've joined the club! You didn't say what your HbA1c was but as you've been prescribed 2 medications, I'm guessing it was quite high.
Metformin can have tummy and bowel side effects, but they often subside after a few weeks. If not you can ask for the slow release version. This can be important for a working person who may not have immediate access to a toilet. You are right to take them with a meal, and like you I take mine at breakfast time. They work WITH dietary changes, not as a standalone. Anything ending in "flozin" rids the body of excess glucose through your pee. You are encouraged to drink lots of fluids - I upped mine to 2 to 3 litres a day, as water or peppermint tea, plus a couple of cups of coffee first thing. It does mean you "pee a lot". You also need to be meticulous with your personal hygiene as thrush is a possible side effect of this medication.
You may wish to go down the reduced carb dietary route (less bread, potato, rice, pasta, cereal, pastries, processed food, some fruits). This does not mean NO carbs (virtually impossible) but it is recommended less than 130gm total a day. You can get an app to help you measure your carbs and will also teach you portion control. There are low carb breads but I settled on Warburtons no added sugar 400gm wholemeal loaf at 8.9gm carbs per slice. I have a lot of cauliflower instead of potato, and soy bean pasta instead of wheat pasta. Lots of other substitutes you can make, like celeriac chips, roasted squash, cauliflower rice. I fill up with larger portions of protein and veggies. You'll find lots of ideas in the forum Food/carbs queries and recipes.
I do a lot of home made slow cooker recipes and soups, so I know exactly what goes into them. Soup can be taken to work in a thermos, and slow cookers save cooking when you get home. I batch and freeze. If you snack or nibble a small pot with things like boiled egg, celery sticks, carrot batons, berries.
Bread and cereals are not a good breakfast. Full fat Greek yogurt with a few berries, nuts and seeds is a favourite, as are eggs in all forms - boiled, poached, dry fried, scrambled - with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. This morning I had a couple of boiled eggs, with a slice of toast cut into soldiers. Lunch can be a bit tricky, so I tend to have salads (today) in summer and soups in winter. You can make wraps with a thin omelette or lettuce and fill them with items of your choice. Fruit has a lot of sugar, but my diabetic nurse recommended berries as the best choice, and no more than two 80gm portions a day. I get frozen berries as that makes portion control easy.
This should get you started. Please ask any questions, as nothing is silly and we have all asked them!! Best wishes
 
Many people slip over that threshold because they aren't always given advise about diet that would help. If you know what your Hba1C is that will help determine how much work you need to do, and we can give you some suggestions about that. It is quite unusual to be prescribed 2 medications at the outset without seeing what improvement just metformin and diet or even diet alone will be possible in 3 months.
 
Felinia said:
my diabetic nurse recommended berries ............... and no more than two 80gm portions a day.
Click to expand...
Did they give a reason for that? That's roughly the amount I have with my breakfast.
 
I got diagnosed in 2021, and promptly found this book:


Used recipes from this book for three months, lost 3 stone and blood glucose was normal 3 months later.
I was on 1000mg of Metformin, no side effects.
Now medication free.

Long term I still some of the recipes in this book, but also others as well - and make home made curries but skip the rice and breads. I have reintroduced potatoes & oats into my diet with no issue.
 
Felinia said:
Hi Paul and welcome
Bit of a shock when you get the news you've joined the club! You didn't say what your HbA1c was but as you've been prescribed 2 medications, I'm guessing it was quite high.
Metformin can have tummy and bowel side effects, but they often subside after a few weeks. If not you can ask for the slow release version. This can be important for a working person who may not have immediate access to a toilet. You are right to take them with a meal, and like you I take mine at breakfast time. They work WITH dietary changes, not as a standalone. Anything ending in "flozin" rids the body of excess glucose through your pee. You are encouraged to drink lots of fluids - I upped mine to 2 to 3 litres a day, as water or peppermint tea, plus a couple of cups of coffee first thing. It does mean you "pee a lot". You also need to be meticulous with your personal hygiene as thrush is a possible side effect of this medication.
You may wish to go down the reduced carb dietary route (less bread, potato, rice, pasta, cereal, pastries, processed food, some fruits). This does not mean NO carbs (virtually impossible) but it is recommended less than 130gm total a day. You can get an app to help you measure your carbs and will also teach you portion control. There are low carb breads but I settled on Warburtons no added sugar 400gm wholemeal loaf at 8.9gm carbs per slice. I have a lot of cauliflower instead of potato, and soy bean pasta instead of wheat pasta. Lots of other substitutes you can make, like celeriac chips, roasted squash, cauliflower rice. I fill up with larger portions of protein and veggies. You'll find lots of ideas in the forum Food/carbs queries and recipes.
I do a lot of home made slow cooker recipes and soups, so I know exactly what goes into them. Soup can be taken to work in a thermos, and slow cookers save cooking when you get home. I batch and freeze. If you snack or nibble a small pot with things like boiled egg, celery sticks, carrot batons, berries.
Bread and cereals are not a good breakfast. Full fat Greek yogurt with a few berries, nuts and seeds is a favourite, as are eggs in all forms - boiled, poached, dry fried, scrambled - with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. This morning I had a couple of boiled eggs, with a slice of toast cut into soldiers. Lunch can be a bit tricky, so I tend to have salads (today) in summer and soups in winter. You can make wraps with a thin omelette or lettuce and fill them with items of your choice. Fruit has a lot of sugar, but my diabetic nurse recommended berries as the best choice, and no more than two 80gm portions a day. I get frozen berries as that makes portion control easy.
This should get you started. Please ask any questions, as nothing is silly and we have all asked them!! Best wishes
Click to expand...
Thank you for this—it's a little scary, yes.

My HbA1c is 52, according to my notes from the last reading on the 14th. I believe that I am on the higher side of "just" being diabetic.

I have been reading in other posts since I posted, and the suggestion seems to be that the meds might have been prescribed too early, and that looking at diet might have been the first step.

However, I have been on the pre-diabetes radar for a little while, and while I have lost 11 kg in the last 12 months or so, it doesn't seem to have been enough.

I’m pleased that I am doing the right things—water intake is up to 3 litres a day, coffee (no more than 2 cups), and then tea (maybe).

I am on a high-protein diet—I miss sandwiches already, but that Warburtons bread you mentioned is the one I have settled on this week too, BUT I am limiting it to every other day.

Regarding eggs, my cholesterol is also high (7.2), so I probably need to watch my egg intake as well.

Can I ask about smoothies? I have been having mixed berries with coconut water and oats, and I enjoy them, but I think that might be on the "no" list now. I only eat apples beyond the berries.

I am going to struggle with vegetables—I’m not a fan, and I guess that’s why I am here.
 
harbottle said:
I got diagnosed in 2021, and promptly found this book:


Used recipes from this book for three months, lost 3 stone and blood glucose was normal 3 months later.
I was on 1000mg of Metformin, no side effects.
Now medication free.

Long term I still some of the recipes in this book, but also others as well - and make home made curries but skip the rice and breads. I have reintroduced potatoes & oats into my diet with no issue.
Click to expand...
Oh wow - OK so with some REAL hard work I might yet get back over the fence! Thank you - I will get that recipe book and have a look
 
TheBigRezowski said:
Oh wow - OK so with some REAL hard work I might yet get back over the fence! Thank you - I will get that recipe book and have a look
Click to expand...
If your HbA1C is only 52mmol/mol it seems like a lot of medication to start with as that is a level that many would be given 3 months to head in the right direction with dietary changes only.
With the flosin meds it is advised to be cautious about reducing carbs too much which to me makes no sense to be taking meds that precludes too low carb when that would likely be what is needed to reduce your blood glucose.
The Freshwell program is one which many have found successful, I reduced my HbA1C from 50mmol/mol to 42 in 3 months with no meds. This link may give you some ideas, low carb based on real food. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
 
Leadinglights said:
If your HbA1C is only 52mmol/mol it seems like a lot of medication to start with as that is a level that many would be given 3 months to head in the right direction with dietary changes only.
With the flosin meds it is advised to be cautious about reducing carbs too much which to me makes no sense to be taking meds that precludes too low carb when that would likely be what is needed to reduce your blood glucose.
The Freshwell program is one which many have found successful, I reduced my HbA1C from 50mmol/mol to 42 in 3 months with no meds. This link may give you some ideas, low carb based on real food. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Click to expand...
Thank you... I shall have a look. I will also try and catch my neighbour as she is a diabetic nurse (not mine though) and just ask her about the meds etc.
Over the last 6 weeks or so I have noticed that specifically, my eyesight has gone downhill quickly (I was only prescribed new glasses prescription in September last year) and also the tips of my fingers are a little numb (not all the time)
 
TheBigRezowski said:
Thank you... I shall have a look. I will also try and catch my neighbour as she is a diabetic nurse (not mine though) and just ask her about the meds etc.
Over the last 6 weeks or so I have noticed that specifically, my eyesight has gone downhill quickly (I was only prescribed new glasses prescription in September last year) and also the tips of my fingers are a little numb (not all the time)
Click to expand...
You may have reduced your blood glucose quite quickly with that combination of medication and dietary changes and that can cause issues with your eyes and nerves. I had exactly the same with my eyes, distance was fine but near vision was awful. It is caused by the environment in the eye changing from being 'sugary' back to the more normal 'salty' so the shape of the eye changes. It should settle so you may want to get checked by your optician but don't be persuaded to get new glasses before they settle.
The numbness is changes in the nerves which also should settle.
 
Leadinglights said:
You may have reduced your blood glucose quite quickly with that combination of medication and dietary changes and that can cause issues with your eyes and nerves. I had exactly the same with my eyes, distance was fine but near vision was awful. It is caused by the environment in the eye changing from being 'sugary' back to the more normal 'salty' so the shape of the eye changes. It should settle so you may want to get checked by your optician but don't be persuaded to get new glasses before they settle.
The numbness is changes in the nerves which also should settle.
Click to expand...
My eyesight was/is exactly that with my vision - I felt like my grandad moving things to and from my face to read... The numbness is some days proper pins and needles bad, but most days fine - today it's fine.
I have a hospital appointment for the eyes as a part of this check-up (September), I was going to wait for that then go to the opticians
 
TheBigRezowski said:
My eyesight was/is exactly that with my vision - I felt like my grandad moving things to and from my face to read... The numbness is some days proper pins and needles bad, but most days fine - today it's fine.
I have a hospital appointment for the eyes as a part of this check-up (September), I was going to wait for that then go to the opticians
Click to expand...
That is probably retinal screening and doesn't really test your eyesight as such. I wear varifocals with a high prescription so glasses are megabucks. It felt as if my eyes were in different heads and my eyes didn't really work together. It took several months to settle and then my glasses were actually fine again.
Remember to take sunglasses when you go for your screening as they put drops in your eyes so they are very light sensitive and you cannot drive.
 
TheBigRezowski said:
Thank you... I shall have a look. I will also try and catch my neighbour as she is a diabetic nurse (not mine though) and just ask her about the meds etc.
Over the last 6 weeks or so I have noticed that specifically, my eyesight has gone downhill quickly (I was only prescribed new glasses prescription in September last year) and also the tips of my fingers are a little numb (not all the time)
Click to expand...

Yes. The high blood glucose changes the shape of the lens.

My eyesight changed dramatically the year I was diagnosed, but it returned to normal two weeks after cutting carbs.
 
Martin.A said:
Did they give a reason for that? That's roughly the amount I have with my breakfast.
Click to expand...
It was in 2019 when I was first diagnosed. She said fruit was high in sugar so therefore carbs, stick to berries. By limiting myself to just 2 portions I would not be tempted to have to much fruit (thinking it healthy) and thus too many carbs. Or that was the gist of it.
 
TheBigRezowski said:
Thank you for this—it's a little scary, yes.

My HbA1c is 52, according to my notes from the last reading on the 14th. I believe that I am on the higher side of "just" being diabetic.

I have been reading in other posts since I posted, and the suggestion seems to be that the meds might have been prescribed too early, and that looking at diet might have been the first step.

However, I have been on the pre-diabetes radar for a little while, and while I have lost 11 kg in the last 12 months or so, it doesn't seem to have been enough.

I’m pleased that I am doing the right things—water intake is up to 3 litres a day, coffee (no more than 2 cups), and then tea (maybe).

I am on a high-protein diet—I miss sandwiches already, but that Warburtons bread you mentioned is the one I have settled on this week too, BUT I am limiting it to every other day.

Regarding eggs, my cholesterol is also high (7.2), so I probably need to watch my egg intake as well.

Can I ask about smoothies? I have been having mixed berries with coconut water and oats, and I enjoy them, but I think that might be on the "no" list now. I only eat apples beyond the berries.

I am going to struggle with vegetables—I’m not a fan, and I guess that’s why I am here.
Click to expand...
Oh dear, your surgery has gone thundering in with the medication when you are just into the diabetic range. Metformin is standard but empagliflozin is overkill (in my humble non medical opinion). My enlightened surgery gives everyone with an HbA1c under 60 a 3 month period to first try lifestyle changes only.
I've been having the cholesterol talk only recently with the surgery, and mostly cholesterol is a function of the liver. It used to be the advice to go low fat and cut out eggs, but I don't think that is the case any more. Low fat products actually have additives which up the carb content. When I lost over 3 stone, my cholesterol went up, and I was told that's the way my body naturally functioned. I can't take statins so was advised to take a daily cholesterol lowering drink. This gave me a 17% reduction which I've maintained for several years. I eat plenty of eggs and they don't raise my cholesterol.
Coconut water has 9.3gm carbs per 250ml. 20gm oats is 14gm carbs. A medium apple is 11.8gm carbs. 80gm strawberries is 4.9gm carbs. Put all that into a smoothie machine and you get 40gm carbs!! Surprising isn't it? What I do for a treat is take 100ml of a smoothie mix and blend it with 200ml sparkling water. The mixes range from 10gm carbs upwards. Morrisons do a frozen berry smoothie mix at 10.3gm carbs per 100ml.
I remember a trick for getting veggies into kids is to puree them and stir them into a sauce, like bolognese. I puree my soups and chuck in a handful of chopped chicken - my chickestrone soup!
 
Welcome to the forum

TheBigRezowski said:
Regarding eggs, my cholesterol is also high (7.2), so I probably need to watch my egg intake as well.
Click to expand...
Eggs are fine
www.bhf.org.uk

Eggs and cholesterol

Dietitian Victoria Taylor, explains that its been a while since eggs were considered a cause of high cholesterol and the best ways to have a healthy diet
www.bhf.org.uk www.bhf.org.uk

2024 Jan - cholesterol 7.7, triglycerides 2.4, non HDL cholesterol 5.9 mmol/L
2024 July - cholesterol 4.4, triglycerides 1.1, non HDL cholesterol 3.0

I ate quite a lot of eggs. I used a cholesterol lowering yogurt drink daily, reduced saturated fat, mostly ignored unsaturated fat, and had oats/oatbran as part of my breakfast - https://www.heartuk.org.uk/low-cholesterol-foods/the-wonder-of-oats-
Be aware that some type 2's are ok with oats, but others get BG spikes. Oatbran has less carbs than oats.
 
TheBigRezowski said:
My eyesight was/is exactly that with my vision - I felt like my grandad moving things to and from my face to read... The numbness is some days proper pins and needles bad, but most days fine - today it's fine.
I have a hospital appointment for the eyes as a part of this check-up (September), I was going to wait for that then go to the opticians
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum @TheBigRezowski

Glad you have found us, and great to see you are tackling your diabetes diagnosis head-on with both weight loss and menu tweaks

Hope your eyes and changes in sensation settle down. Some members have experienced temporary changes to eyes and nerves following rapid changes to BG levels, so hopefully yours may resolve in time, or any possible progression may be slowed by your improved BG levels.
 
s'nic said:
I used a cholesterol lowering yogurt drink daily
Click to expand...
Was this Benacol/equivilant, or something else? Good advice - Thank you
 
Felinia said:
I remember a trick for getting veggies into kids is to puree them and stir them into a sauce, like bolognese. I puree my soups and chuck in a handful of chopped chicken - my chickestrone soup!
Click to expand...
Ha - I am a child BUT, this will work! :rofl:
 
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