Hi, I've had type 2 diabetes for 11 years and new to this forum. I have lost a lot of weight and not gone into remission its the complete opposite as yet another medication is being added soon that makes 3 all together. I'm not overweight anymore it's just progressing for some reason.
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Hello
- Thread starter Tigergirl
- Start date
- Status
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi and welcome
If you have not changed your diet since diagnosis, then I would be inclined to suggest you try a low carb diet, which means not just cutting out sweet stuff but also dramatically reducing your consumption of starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereal including healthy porridge even and fruit, especially fruit juice and smoothies. If you are a normal BMI then increasing your fat intake with the likes of cream and cheese and nuts and olives and avocados etc will help to keep you full, provide energy and stabilise your weight.
If a low carb diet and the oral meds you are on still does not keep your BG/HbA1c in range, then I would suggest that you are likely LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) or Type 1.5 and not Type 2 and would be wise to be asking for testing to clarify the diagnosis. An HbA1c of 48 gets you a diabetes diagnosis and if you are not a child or young adult (and particularly if you are overweight or have a bad diet) then you are assumed to be Type 2, but there is no specific diagnosis for it. Many GPs are unaware that adults can develop Type 1 later in life or that there are other types like LADA/Type 1.5 or even Type 3c, so they assume you are type 2 because of your age and raised HbA1c. There is specific testing which will look for raised levels of antibodies which attack the part of the pancreas which produces insulin and another test which shows how much insulin you are producing. Many (but not all) Type 2 diabetics over produce insulin, but Type 1 or LADA (1.5) struggle to produce enough and eventually may be unable to produce any, so injecting insulin is the only way to survive.
Many members of the forum self fund Blood Glucose meters which are relatively inexpensive @ approx. £15 plus the on going purchase of test strips which, if you buy a Spirit Health TEE2 meter or an SD Codefree meter and have the cheapest test strips on the market, are £8 for a pot of 50. This will enable you to see how much certain foods or meals spike your BG and tailor your diet to your own body's response to the carbs you are eating.
If you have not changed your diet since diagnosis, then I would be inclined to suggest you try a low carb diet, which means not just cutting out sweet stuff but also dramatically reducing your consumption of starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, breakfast cereal including healthy porridge even and fruit, especially fruit juice and smoothies. If you are a normal BMI then increasing your fat intake with the likes of cream and cheese and nuts and olives and avocados etc will help to keep you full, provide energy and stabilise your weight.
If a low carb diet and the oral meds you are on still does not keep your BG/HbA1c in range, then I would suggest that you are likely LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) or Type 1.5 and not Type 2 and would be wise to be asking for testing to clarify the diagnosis. An HbA1c of 48 gets you a diabetes diagnosis and if you are not a child or young adult (and particularly if you are overweight or have a bad diet) then you are assumed to be Type 2, but there is no specific diagnosis for it. Many GPs are unaware that adults can develop Type 1 later in life or that there are other types like LADA/Type 1.5 or even Type 3c, so they assume you are type 2 because of your age and raised HbA1c. There is specific testing which will look for raised levels of antibodies which attack the part of the pancreas which produces insulin and another test which shows how much insulin you are producing. Many (but not all) Type 2 diabetics over produce insulin, but Type 1 or LADA (1.5) struggle to produce enough and eventually may be unable to produce any, so injecting insulin is the only way to survive.
Many members of the forum self fund Blood Glucose meters which are relatively inexpensive @ approx. £15 plus the on going purchase of test strips which, if you buy a Spirit Health TEE2 meter or an SD Codefree meter and have the cheapest test strips on the market, are £8 for a pot of 50. This will enable you to see how much certain foods or meals spike your BG and tailor your diet to your own body's response to the carbs you are eating.
Hi Tigergirl, I would just like to caution you that if you really are still Type 2 and have been eating starchy veg, grains or fruit. Then if you go on a Low Carb 'way of eating', it could have a dramatic effect on your Blood Glucose numbers. It depends which medication you are taking, but if you are taking more than just Metformin (e.g. Insulin or Gliclazide) then it may need to be reduced to match the lower Blood Glucose figures you get from Low Carb.
So this is not something you should try without :
A). A Blood Glucose Meter
and B) If you are on Insulin or Gliclazide other Blood Glucose lowering medication you will need the cooperation of your Health Care Professionals.
Generally exercise makes much less difference to Blood Glucose than does what you eat (and when you eat it). So if Low Carb doesn't work there is areal chance that your Insulin production has dropped and that you aren't a simple Type 2.
So this is not something you should try without :
A). A Blood Glucose Meter
and B) If you are on Insulin or Gliclazide other Blood Glucose lowering medication you will need the cooperation of your Health Care Professionals.
Generally exercise makes much less difference to Blood Glucose than does what you eat (and when you eat it). So if Low Carb doesn't work there is areal chance that your Insulin production has dropped and that you aren't a simple Type 2.
Drummer
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
You are yet another one who seems to have been kept in ignorance that your problem is most likely to be the starch and sugar you are eating.
It is positively cruel for the lose weight advice to be given, whilst not passing on the information about how to lower blood glucose levels.
It is positively cruel for the lose weight advice to be given, whilst not passing on the information about how to lower blood glucose levels.
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