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Hello & Thank You

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MeeTooTeeTo

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Type 2
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Hello everyone, I’m Dez.

I confess I’ve been lurking on here for a while, reading and learning a lot from many of the posts.

A little bit about me ……

I had been diagnosed as having Impaired Glucose Tolerance over 5 years ago. At my annual reviews I was told that I still had “elevated blood sugars” and advised to include starchy carbohydrates as part of my diet, cut back on the amount of fat I ate and, above all, eat more fruit and vegetables. Like a good boy, I did as I was told and yet at every review my blood sugars hadn’t improved.

Again, and again I was told to cut down on sugary foods, fizzy drinks, sweets and cakes. When I protested that I didn’t eat those sorts of things the response was “oh well, sometimes the pancreas just gives up….”

Following the advice given, I continued trying to eat more and more fruit and veg. Popular wisdom at the time was even suggesting we needed to eat up to 10 fruit and veg a day to be healthy. I did my best to comply!

The hammer blow came in October last year when I was informed that my HbA1c was 53 and I was now officially a Type 2 Diabetic. After a chat with the doc, we agreed that I would try and remedy the situation by a change of diet and lifestyle.

I had never been told or knew much about HbA1c levels, so off I went in search of more info on my old friend, the WWW.

Thankfully I found this site!

Wow, did I learn a lot.

I learned that to understand properly what food was doing to me I needed to test my glucose levels before and 2 hours after I’d eaten. So, I bought a monitor and learned how to use the lancets without making the place look like an abattoir. Reading the posts on here, I found out about carb counting and lots of other things.

I had my follow-up review a couple of days ago and I’m more than pleased to say my HbA1C was 40. So I just had to register on here and let all you wonderful people know how much you’ve helped.

Thank you all so much

Dez :D
 
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Hi Dez, welcome and thank you for de-lurking with your great story! 🙂 So pleased that we have been able to help set you on the right tracks - even if we were oblivious to it! 🙂 You've done a fantastic job getting things under control - such a shame you were given such totally inappropriate advice to begin with.
 
Hi to you Dez,

Lurk no more!

You were "advised to eat more starchy carbohydrates" un- *!**!- believable, except that it is often the type of nonsense given out.
 
Hi Dez, welcome and thank you for de-lurking with your great story! 🙂 So pleased that we have been able to help set you on the right tracks - even if we were oblivious to it! 🙂 You've done a fantastic job getting things under control - such a shame you were given such totally inappropriate advice to begin with.
Thanks Northerner! Sorry for lurking like that. 😳 I really am pleased with my results, but I certainly am not going to sit on me laurels. This is still very much a work in progress and I intend to keep on fighting the good fight.
Dez
 
Thanks Northerner! Sorry for lurking like that. 😳 I really am pleased with my results, but I certainly am not going to sit on me laurels. This is still very much a work in progress and I intend to keep on fighting the good fight.
Dez
No need to apologise Dez 🙂 I'm always pleased to hear that people have learned how to manage things just from reading, it means that our advice is sound and coherent 🙂
 
Hi to you Dez,

Lurk no more!

You were "advised to eat more starchy carbohydrates" un- *!**!- believable, except that it is often the type of nonsense given out.
Thanks leonS. Umm actually I think that should have said "advised to include starchy carbs as part of my diet" :( PSST now that I'm not lurking I nipped back up and changed it.
 
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Advice should have been "reduce the amount of ..." or "take care not to include too many...", but you have already worked this out or your results would not be as good as they are.

Well done you.
 
Welcome and many congratulations on your latest HbA1c. Well done for figuring out how to manage it despite the poor dietary advice.
It is really frustrating that the Health Care Professionals are so often giving incorrect guidance regarding food to diabetics. I too found this forum and it's wonderful members to be invaluable in learning to manage my diabetes.
 
Welcome and many congratulations on your latest HbA1c. Well done for figuring out how to manage it despite the poor dietary advice.
It is really frustrating that the Health Care Professionals are so often giving incorrect guidance regarding food to diabetics. I too found this forum and it's wonderful members to be invaluable in learning to manage my diabetes.

Thanks @rebrascora
Before I discovered carb counting I was eating high carb fruits like grapes, bananas, kiwi and mangoes. When I bought my meter and started testing I was getting really high readings after those. Now I know better!! 😳
 
Hi @MeeTooTeeTwo, I was given much the same 'advice', ie diets sheets that advised eating starchy carbs every day - jacket spuds, pasta, rice - so I thought, Ooh good, yum yum! Result: I put on about 2 stone and ended up on Metformin.

When I found this place I found enlightenment 🙂, much support, good sense, and camaraderie. Welcome to the forum :D
 
Hi @MeeTooTeeTwo, I was given much the same 'advice', ie diets sheets that advised eating starchy carbs every day - jacket spuds, pasta, rice - so I thought, Ooh good, yum yum! Result: I put on about 2 stone and ended up on Metformin.

When I found this place I found enlightenment 🙂, much support, good sense, and camaraderie. Welcome to the forum :D
Yes indeed @Pine Marten.
If we'd known then what we know now . . . . . . .
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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