Hello, T2 needing support

[Babsmp]

Hi
I'm new to this forum and have never posted on one before so a bit nervous.
I was diagnosed with type 2 7 years ago. I have stuck my head in the sand for years and really struggle with my diet. I need to accept that I have this and get my act together. I thought joining this might help. Any tips welcome.
Thank you in advance ☺

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome. Make yourself at home. We mostly don't bite 😉

I have been here 2 years and the support other members have provided has been invaluable. I hope you find the forum equally beneficial.

Can you tell us a bit more about your diabetes and how it is managed (or not as the case may be 😱... don't worry I am sure we can all relate to burying our head in the sand about things and sometimes with Diabetes it can be all too easy until things come to a head). Are you on any medication and if so what? When was your last HbA1c blood test and what was the result.... if you don't mind sharing that info. It gives us an idea of where you are at and helps us make appropriate suggestions.

It is never too late to improve your diabetes management. We are all striving for that. Having the right advice, information, tools and support is key to being successful.

My top tip would be to get yourself a Blood Glucose meter, if you don't already have one and employ the Test, Review, Adjust strategy as outlined in the blog linked below to tailor your diet around your body's individual response to foods. Being able to see what your BG is doing day by day and meal by meal is invaluable in learning how best to manage your BG levels through the food that you eat and apart from injecting insulin, this is the most powerful means of gaining control. Some daily exercise is also helpful.

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Cheapest BG meters to self fund are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2, both of which are available online and are tried and tested by members here. The important thing when self funding is the cost of consumables and in particular the test strips which in the case of the above are £8 for a pot of 50 as oppose to 2 or even 3x that for some other meters (test strips are not universal but individual to each meter)

Anyway, if you need any help or don't understand anything, just ask and we will do our best to assist and support you.

 

[Babsmp]

Hi and welcome. Make yourself at home. We mostly don't bite 😉

I have been here 2 years and the support other members have provided has been invaluable. I hope you find the forum equally beneficial.

Can you tell us a bit more about your diabetes and how it is managed (or not as the case may be 😱... don't worry I am sure we can all relate to burying our head in the sand about things and sometimes with Diabetes it can be all too easy until things come to a head). Are you on any medication and if so what? When was your last HbA1c blood test and what was the result.... if you don't mind sharing that info. It gives us an idea of where you are at and helps us make appropriate suggestions.

It is never too late to improve your diabetes management. We are all striving for that. Having the right advice, information, tools and support is key to being successful.

My top tip would be to get yourself a Blood Glucose meter, if you don't already have one and employ the Test, Review, Adjust strategy as outlined in the blog linked below to tailor your diet around your body's individual response to foods. Being able to see what your BG is doing day by day and meal by meal is invaluable in learning how best to manage your BG levels through the food that you eat and apart from injecting insulin, this is the most powerful means of gaining control. Some daily exercise is also helpful.

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Cheapest BG meters to self fund are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2, both of which are available online and are tried and tested by members here. The important thing when self funding is the cost of consumables and in particular the test strips which in the case of the above are £8 for a pot of 50 as oppose to 2 or even 3x that for some other meters (test strips are not universal but individual to each meter)

Anyway, if you need any help or don't understand anything, just ask and we will do our best to assist and support you.

Hi and welcome. Make yourself at home. We mostly don't bite 😉

I have been here 2 years and the support other members have provided has been invaluable. I hope you find the forum equally beneficial.

Can you tell us a bit more about your diabetes and how it is managed (or not as the case may be 😱... don't worry I am sure we can all relate to burying our head in the sand about things and sometimes with Diabetes it can be all too easy until things come to a head). Are you on any medication and if so what? When was your last HbA1c blood test and what was the result.... if you don't mind sharing that info. It gives us an idea of where you are at and helps us make appropriate suggestions.

It is never too late to improve your diabetes management. We are all striving for that. Having the right advice, information, tools and support is key to being successful.

My top tip would be to get yourself a Blood Glucose meter, if you don't already have one and employ the Test, Review, Adjust strategy as outlined in the blog linked below to tailor your diet around your body's individual response to foods. Being able to see what your BG is doing day by day and meal by meal is invaluable in learning how best to manage your BG levels through the food that you eat and apart from injecting insulin, this is the most powerful means of gaining control. Some daily exercise is also helpful.

Test, Review, Adjust

Managing blood glucose levels for type 2 diabetes. Learning how to achieve long term control by testing and diet.

loraldiabetes.blogspot.com

Cheapest BG meters to self fund are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Healthcare Tee2, both of which are available online and are tried and tested by members here. The important thing when self funding is the cost of consumables and in particular the test strips which in the case of the above are £8 for a pot of 50 as oppose to 2 or even 3x that for some other meters (test strips are not universal but individual to each meter)

Anyway, if you need any help or don't understand anything, just ask and we will do our best to assist and support you.

 

[Docb]

Hi @Babsmp and welcome to the forum. Looks like you have not got the hang of how it works. No problem, see if I can help.

You post things on the forum by typing in the box at the bottom of the page (it has a blue box with an arrow and post reply on it that you click on to do the posting). If you want to reply to a particular post then click on "reply" at the bottom of the post you want to reply to. This will put that post in the box at the bottom of the page with a blue background. What you then need to do is to press enter a couple of times and start typing your reply. That way it will appear with the post you are replying to, and when you click "post reply" it will all appear together on the message board.

Hope that makes sense. Have another go at replying to rebrascora and see how you get on. You are not the first, and will not be the last, who has had to have a couple of goes to get it sorted.🙂

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Babsmp 🙂

You'll soon get the hang of everything. My main two threads are:-

Group 7-day waking average?

OK - full summary of February fasting readings - I ran out of strips on a couple of occasions - 7.8 7.9 8.6 8.3 6.7 8.5 - 4.8 5.2 6.1 6.3 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.0 - - 5.7 5.6 6.1 6.0 5.1 5.7 6.0 6.1 6.0 4.6 6.4 great readings @EllsBells - you must be pleased with those!

forum.diabetes.org.uk

and

What did you eat yesterday?

B - back on 1 Burgen toast and 1 boiled egg. L- 3 small homemade grilled lamb seekh kebabs and salad. T- Grilled chicken salad and 1 spicy lamb chop. Snacks- only about 22 Almonds all day. I think I win on the most repetitive daily food eater and most boring, I can't believe what I used to eat...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[Babsmp]

Hi many thanks,
I am currently on 2 500mg metafotmin in the morning with 1 gliclazide. Then another 2 metaformin at lunchtime.
My bloods were last taken in early Dec 2020 and was around 68. Previously they were taken in September 2020 and were very high at 89 so I was pleased to get them down. I am due to go to the nurse later this month but know they will be high again. I seem to be a bit on self destruct mode. I am attending cbt sessions to try and address it.
I did used to take my bloods daily but became obsessed and stressed about it.
I am walking every day to exercise but its the bread, crisps etc that are the problem. I am hoping coming on to this forum will help. I am currently 12 stone 6lbs.

Hello and welcome to the forum @Babsmp 🙂

You'll soon get the hang of everything. My main two threads are:-

Group 7-day waking average?

OK - full summary of February fasting readings - I ran out of strips on a couple of occasions - 7.8 7.9 8.6 8.3 6.7 8.5 - 4.8 5.2 6.1 6.3 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.0 - - 5.7 5.6 6.1 6.0 5.1 5.7 6.0 6.1 6.0 4.6 6.4 great readings @EllsBells - you must be pleased with those!

forum.diabetes.org.uk

and

What did you eat yesterday?

B - back on 1 Burgen toast and 1 boiled egg. L- 3 small homemade grilled lamb seekh kebabs and salad. T- Grilled chicken salad and 1 spicy lamb chop. Snacks- only about 22 Almonds all day. I think I win on the most repetitive daily food eater and most boring, I can't believe what I used to eat...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

Many thanks @Ditto, I was lookimg your thread on what you eat. Is the popular burgen bread better than wholemeal?
I'll have a look at your

 

[Babsmp]

Oops posted too early. I meant to say your walking thread. Thanks for the advice

 

[trophywench]

Less carbohydrate in the Burgen bread and as it's carbohydrate that we all need to keep an eye on how much we eat, and try to not eat more than our own body can comfortable handle - that's easy to swap to - just the same as reducing the amount of spuds, rice, pasta, bread, pastry, cake etc ..... not cutting everything out in one fell swoop, but cutting down on what you can.

Eg - you know biscuits - well how about buying biscuits with less carb in them - Rich Tea Fingers. They are thinner and smaller than the round ones, so less carbs apiece. Also fairly boring really as far as I'm concerned - hence I'd only eat them if I really needed to. Or eg compare the carbs in a packet of Walkers C&O with the carbs in a packet of Wotsits. Less in a pack of Wotsits so if you really need to bring stuff like that into your house at all, choose the Wotsits.

 

[Babsmp]

Less carbohydrate in the Burgen bread and as it's carbohydrate that we all need to keep an eye on how much we eat, and try to not eat more than our own body can comfortable handle - that's easy to swap to - just the same as reducing the amount of spuds, rice, pasta, bread, pastry, cake etc ..... not cutting everything out in one fell swoop, but cutting down on what you can.

Eg - you know biscuits - well how about buying biscuits with less carb in them - Rich Tea Fingers. They are thinner and smaller than the round ones, so less carbs apiece. Also fairly boring really as far as I'm concerned - hence I'd only eat them if I really needed to. Or eg compare the carbs in a packet of Walkers C&O with the carbs in a packet of Wotsits. Less in a pack of Wotsits so if you really need to bring stuff like that into your house at all, choose the Wotsits.

Thank you @trophywench I'll give that a try.

 

[Babsmp]

Hello and thank you. I'll have a look.

 

[Babsmp]

Hi @Babsmp and welcome to the forum. Looks like you have not got the hang of how it works. No problem, see if I can help.

You post things on the forum by typing in the box at the bottom of the page (it has a blue box with an arrow and post reply on it that you click on to do the posting). If you want to reply to a particular post then click on "reply" at the bottom of the post you want to reply to. This will put that post in the box at the bottom of the page with a blue background. What you then need to do is to press enter a couple of times and start typing your reply. That way it will appear with the post you are replying to, and when you click "post reply" it will all appear together on the message board.

Hope that makes sense. Have another go at replying to rebrascora and see how you get on. You are not the first, and will not be the last, who has had to have a couple of goes to get it sorted.🙂

Hi @Docb thanks for the tips. I have no idea if I'm posting correctly. Can you please let me know if I'm doing this right? Tvm

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi @Docb thanks for the tips. I have no idea if I'm posting correctly. Can you please let me know if I'm doing this right? Tvm

Yes you are @Babsmp

And you’ve already done snazzy things like adding your ‘avatar’ picture, so you are doing well.

If it helps there is a big thread about how to use the forum software here

How to use the Forum

HOW DO I REGISTER? HOW DO I START A THREAD? HOW DO I COMMENT ON ANOTHER THREAD? HOW DO I REPLY TO AN INDIVIDUAL COMMENT IN A THREAD? HOW DO I ‘LIKE’ A POST? HOW DO I ‘REPORT’ A POST? HOW DO I EDIT MY PROFILE? HOW DO I CHANGE THE CAPTION UNDER MY POSTS? HOW DO I SEND A PRIVATE MESSAGE TO...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

But don’t worry about making any mistakes, or putting anything in the wrong place. Our friendly members will give you pointers, and the moderators can always tidy things up or move things into the right place if need be.

The good thing is that you have begun to make connections, and that you have recognised that you need to tackle your diabetes a bit more ‘head on’. And we all want to help and support you in that 🙂

 

[MAC2020]

I seem to be a bit on self destruct mode. I am attending cbt sessions to try and address it.
I did used to take my bloods daily but became obsessed and stressed about it.
I am walking every day to exercise but its the bread, crisps etc that are the problem. I am hoping coming on to this forum will help. I am currently 12 stone 6lbs.

Hi @Babsmp and welcome to the forum.

Don't worry you'll soon get the hang of posting, see you're learning already!

I've made the connection between negative beliefs or self-talk and my eating habits (that's where CBT and coping strategies comes in). When I'm going through some stress my food choices become poor and erratic, my meter picks it up. So for me it's about managing that stress and my response to it with better food choices.

Also the people around me have an impact. Are they supportive or destructive? How do I increase the support? Coming on here is one way!

I've also reduced the number of times I take my bloods. Now down to zero, once or twice a day. Once on waking then again two hours after one of my meals. And that's it as I was also getting obsessed about it and my health!

Exercise is a brilliant way to manage the effects of stress, especially plain ole walking! So do keep that up. Once you see what works for you (for me I need to reduce all processed carbs and walk regularly) you'll see your glucose numbers start to fall which is very satisfying. The knock on effect is that all your high risk numbers, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol etc. will fall and your body will feel different, better for it.

Keep in touch. Let us know how you're getting on.

PS. if you make a mistake on a post or post it early, you can retrieve that post by using the edit button under your post. Ooh and How did you add your avatar?!!

 

[Babsmp]

Hi @Babsmp and welcome to the forum.

Don't worry you'll soon get the hang of posting, see you're learning already!

I've made the connection between negative beliefs or self-talk and my eating habits (that's where CBT and coping strategies comes in). When I'm going through some stress my food choices become poor and erratic, my meter picks it up. So for me it's about managing that stress and my response to it with better food choices.

Also the people around me have an impact. Are they supportive or destructive? How do I increase the support? Coming on here is one way!

I've also reduced the number of times I take my bloods. Now down to zero, once or twice a day. Once on waking then again two hours after one of my meals. And that's it as I was also getting obsessed about it and my health!

Exercise is a brilliant way to manage the effects of stress, especially plain ole walking! So do keep that up. Once you see what works for you (for me I need to reduce all processed carbs and walk regularly) you'll see your glucose numbers start to fall which is very satisfying. The knock on effect is that all your high risk numbers, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol etc. will fall and your body will feel different, better for it.

Keep in touch. Let us know how you're getting on.

PS. if you make a mistake on a post or post it early, you can retrieve that post by using the edit button under your post. Ooh and How did you add your avatar?!!

@MAC2020 thank you for this. Its good to hear that I'm not alone. I really appreciate your support. In the short time I have been on here the support has been great. I'm learning lots. I just need to put it into practice.
Regarding the avatar, I think I just went into my profile and added it. I'll check again and let you know .