Hi! Andy HB, Shelly here.
I was diagnosed with type 2 about 2 years ago and have finally stopped messing around, being in denial and being angry and have accepted my lot. I am hoping to get to the stage where you are at where you do diet and exercise. I lost 3 and a half stone last year, still a fat bloater but now go regularly to the gym or do other exercise. I feel fab!
but Its taken me a long time to get to a diet that suits me and keeps my sugar levels at a stable nil ( I do wee test strips.) First of all when you talk about testing, do you do blood testing with those little meters or the same as me, if you do not mind me asking?
Secondly, I did not know that you can eat different carbs and test to find out how they affect your sugar levels. How do you do it?
I'm on a mixed diet following low gi and mediterranean, with plenty of fresh veg and a small amount of fruit, carbs like whole grain (Sphelt flour bread and cereals) I make my own bread so that I know what goes in it. Just been to the dietician who was pleased with my progress and was very encouraging but....
In two to three years time my partner and I want to sell up, buy a motor home and go round Europe exploring longterm and not come back to Blighty for at least 6 - 8 months.
It is essential that I fine tune my diet for me to be able to do this. At the moment I am on Metformin twice a day and Glamiparide once a day, with a cholesterol tablet. (dont know why im on that as my cholesterol level is very good.) and simvador for blood pressure. Is there hope for me at the end of the tunnel?
Hello Shelly,
I have a Bayer Contour blood glucose meter and have found that really easy to use. I have never used urine test strips on the basis that if my bg is OK I shouldn't be passing sugar (but that is still tested when I go for my HbA1c check - it hasn't been that long since I was diagnosed). I'd suggest that the blood meter is much more useful if you want to know how food affects you. The ideal bg ranges that I was told are 4-7mmol/l before meals and 7-9mmol/l 2hrs after.
I didn't test for specific carbs (but some people do here, they can advise you). I just ate normally (i.e. three meals a day --> unlike before diagnosis!) and did a single test each day (changing the time from day to day). If any given reading was too high, I went for a 30min walk and retested.
Now this approach is fine if things are generally under control. If they're not then you'll probably have to test more frequently. When I stopped the metformin I tested myself before every meal and 2 hrs after every meal. Some people also recommend testing at 1hr after a meal (this is more likely to give you the bg spike reading for some types of carb). The problem with this approach is that the test strips are quite expensive (mine have been 50p a pop!). On that basis, your gp might not be too amenable to giving them to you on prescription. However, if you explain what you intend to do and how, the gp might be helpful (maybe!?).
Your diet sounds stonkingly good to me and your weight loss sounds excellent too (I am half way behind you there!). I have been very lucky with my diabetes, in that losing 1.5stone has improved my insulin resistance so much that I'm off the meds and my bg was just 4.7 yesterday morning, before breakfast. I cannot say whether you'll be the same, but losing weight is definitely a good way to improve diabetes control. Oh, by the way, I've found that exercise has also improved my blood pressure and resting heart rate (BP has dropped to 123/86 from 150/?? and resting heart rate is now just 53 from 80+).
My only problem is my liver (non-alcohol induced fatty liver) and cholesterol (last reading was 6.2). Interestingly I have avoided the statins, but will probably be under pressure to take them if it hasn't improved in a week or two when I go to see them next. But, I am confident that I'm getting to grips with this too (well we'll see about that one!).
There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel (and it doesn't necessarily have to be an oncoming train!
). It just takes a little consistent effort (which you already seem to be putting in).
Hope that helps and I hope anyone will correct any factual errors in my missive.
Andy
