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Salliebean

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Type 2
Hello!
I’m Sarah and I’ve signed up today. I was diagnosed in November 21 and honestly I’m struggling. I’ve had no support from my gp/nurse so hoping I’ll be able to find answers here. Can’t wait to chat to everyone. Have a fab day
 
Hi Sarah. How do you manage the diabetes at the moment?
 
Not very well. I’ve recently lost my mum so the diet side is out the window. Medication wise I’m on 2 different tablets.
It’s the diet side I need help with. The can & cannot eat etc. My Dad was diabetic but he passed 5yrs ago but I’ve forgotten everything we did
 
Sorry to hear about your mum @Salliebean That must be very hard for you.

What tablets do you take? What are your blood sugars over an average day?
 
What about your diet? If it's carb heavy that'll keep your BG high.
 
Salliebean said:
Glucophage & Linagliptin. My sugars are very high all the time
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Understanding what the medications do as that helps, Glucophage is a form of metformin which helps the body use the insulin it produces more effectively and reduces the glucose released by the liver and the Linagliptin encourages the pancreas to produce more insulin if it is able BUT they will only be effective at reducing blood glucose if dietary changes are also made to reduce intake of carbohydrates so that is a important part of your diabetes management.
Many do find a low carbohydrate approach is successful and that still gives options for filling tasty meals as it is definitely not NO carbs but restricted to no more than 130g per day as a good starting point.
Have a look at this link to help with ideas for modifying your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
As soon as you can start to reduce your blood glucose then you will hopefully start to feel better all round as high levels affect all sorts of things from your mood, eyes, feeling tired, no energy etc.
As you should have a monitor and strips prescribed because of the medication you are taking then you could do some strategic testing to see if you are tolerating the meals you are having by testing before you eat and after 2 hours when you would be aiming at no more than a 2-3mmol/l increase. The aim would be 4-7mmol/l fasting/morning and before meals and no more than 8-8.5mmol/ 2 hours post meal.
 
It’s the dietary side that’s my issue. I know what to stead clear of and what to have more of or include I can go from there.
When diagnosed I was given a testing kit and sent on my way. Nothing else. My Dad had a list of foods/fruits etc to avoid because of high sugar content. I need something like that so it’s on my fridge and I can see it when doing my shopping.
Is there such thing as a dietary list?
 
Salliebean said:
It’s the dietary side that’s my issue. I know what to stead clear of and what to have more of or include I can go from there.
When diagnosed I was given a testing kit and sent on my way. Nothing else. My Dad had a list of foods/fruits etc to avoid because of high sugar content. I need something like that so it’s on my fridge and I can see it when doing my shopping.
Is there such thing as a dietary list?
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The problem is that everybody is different in how they tolerate carbs. Some people can tolerate something like a 20g carb slice of bread but not 20g of carb if it is rice or pasta.
The general principal is keep portions of foods like potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, starchy veg and fruits except berries small whilst cutting out cakes, biscuits, pastry, tropical fruits, sugary drinks and fruit juice and basing your meals on meat, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy, veg, salads and fruit like berries.
People find they need to make their own list which they can determine by testing as I suggested.
Ideas have changed in how best to manage diabetes with the standard NHS Eat Well Plate not being too helpful for Type 2 diabetics as it is too high carb.
The Freshwell link should also give you some clues about what to avoid or only have in limited amounts.
 
Salliebean said:
Thank you. I’ve downloaded the info and will
Go from there
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At least you have something to test with - unless it is urine dipping sticks. I never got a single flicker of colour change with them.
I made a little booklet with a list of things low carb from the fruit and veges aisles and took that shopping, sticking to things below 11% carbs - though these days I also eat things which are below 11 gm of carbs per serving, but only a couple of them a week at the most.
 
Hi @Sallie and welcome to the forum
Do I understand correctly that you have a blood glucose monitor with up to date test strips?
- If so that's great since it's an unbiased guide to which food your body handles well and which it doesn't do so well with.
The main sources I used for carbohydrates in foods were Google (obviously) but note the UK ones from the US ones since Fibre (note the UK spelling) is already subtracted from Carb total for UK sites, whereas Fiber (note the US spelling) is not subtracted for US sites and so needs subtracting.
The other site is www.dietdoctor.com (it is UK style) and I just used the free portions of the web site to help me sort out the basics.
 
Salliebean said:
Not very well. I’ve recently lost my mum so the diet side is out the window. Medication wise I’m on 2 different tablets.
It’s the diet side I need help with. The can & cannot eat etc. My Dad was diabetic but he passed 5yrs ago but I’ve forgotten everything we did
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Hi @Salliebean Sarah, and welcome to the forum 🙂

We're so sorry to hear about the loss of your lovely mum, please do reach out should you need to talk about this.

The forum is a really welcoming community, as the previous threads show - we're all here to support you through this and we would like to wish you kind thoughts at this time.

You may find this free resource from the Diabetes UK shop is useful for some information on diet - feel free to take a look here: https://shop.diabetes.org.uk/products/eating-well-with-diabetes (you can order it printed for free, or download it as a free PDF).

As well as this, the orange tab at the top of the page labelled 'Learning Zone' can be a really helpful resource for finding out more about type 2 as well.

We also have a Food + recipes thread on the forum, which can be really good for unpacking the personal nuances of eating with diabetes and what does and does not work for various people (for example, oats are often fine, but for some people oats may cause a spike in their sugar levels) - you can find the thread here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/forums/food-carb-queries-recipes.4/

Hope this helps you to know - there's no question too small or 'silly' (we always say there's no such thing as a silly question!) and we are always happy to help 🙂
 
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Welcome to the forum @Salliebean

Sympathies on the loss of your Mum. Grief can make self-care quite difficult at times, so be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to adjust and adapt. One of the benefits you may find of improving your BG levels, is that it can improve your mood. High BGs are associated with low mood and feelings of lethargy, exhaustion, and fuzzy-headedness, so improving your levels can help you feel better emotionally as well as physically and gove you a clearer mind and more energy.

Alongside the helpful advice you’ve already been offered, You may also like to use your BG meter to help you fine-tune your meals. Those ready-made lists are all very well, but you may not respond the same as the ‘example person‘ that the list is built on - so the list might suggest limiting something you love and that your body copes well with… while also suggesting you eat something ‘safe’ that your body hasn’t read the textbook about and responds with a sharp BG rise. :D🙄😱

You can use your meter to check your individual response to meals or snacks by taking a reading immediately before eating something, and again 2hrs later. The difference between the two numbers shows how your body coped with the carbs involved. Ideally you’d want the ‘meal rise’ to be no more than 2-3mmol/L.

It can help to double-check a meal or food to make sure the same results happen both times before you decide something is ‘safe’ or better reserved for special occasions. There are other things that affect BG other than food, so a one-off result might mislead you.

Where you see bigger rises than 2-3, you can look at the carb content of the food(s) and consider a reduced portion, or perhaps swapping to a different source.

After a period of experimentation you may find your general BG levels are reducing, and you’ll want to aim for 4-7 before meals, and ideally no higher than 8.5 by 2hrs after.

Just be careful to make changes gradually and carefully, as you are on meds which could drop your levels dangerously low if you suddenly reduce your carb intake dramatically 🙂
 
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