Hi and help

[JITR]

My blood glucose levels went down to normal soon after the diagnosis as I was eating no more than 50 gm of carbs a day.

@Drummer,
I think the sentence I have quoted from your post is a gem, "My blood glucose levels went down to normal soon after the diagnosis" as "I was eating no more than 50 gm of carbs a day".

That was my experience too. I followed a real food version of Prof Taylor's Newcastle diet which is both low cal and low carb - and rather demanding. My levels came down in 7 days, just like the responders in his ground breaking Counterpoint study in 2008. How soon was soon for you?

@Andy84
This low carb route (protein and vegetables) could be worth a try for a week or two to see what happens to your blood glucose. It's a potential DIY alternative to the NHS Soups & Shakes regime without its rigours. You would have to discuss it with your GP/DN as you may need to stop gliclazide.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sorry to hear you’ve been having a tough time finding the right balance of meds and menu (though the A1c in the 50s suggests you’ve made good progress at times).

Those reactions to different meds sound horrendous and must have been having a significant negative impact on your quality of life

Good luck with your switch to a lower carbohydrate approach, to see if that suits you better. When it comes to managing your diabetes, it’s best to make changes to your menu and activity levels gradually (especially if your levels may have been running high for some time). Partly this is because they need to be sustainable long term, but also because very rapid and sudden changes to blood glucose levels are harder on the fine blood vessels, and changing things more gently will give your body time to adapt.

If you are interested in trying a lower carbohydrate approach there is a meal plan here that might give you a few ideas

Low-carb diet and meal plan

Eating a low-carb diet means cutting down on the amount of carbohydrates (carbs) you eat to less than 130g a day. But low-carb eating shouldn’t be no-carb eating. Some carbohydrate foods contain essential vitamins, minerals and fibre, which form an important part of a healthy diet.

www.diabetes.org.uk

 

[SB2015]

I’ll be honest, my next plan is to go full protein diet. Meat, eggs, fish, avocado etc and see if that works

An important thing to consider is to choose a way of eating that you can sustain.
Some people find it easier to do swaps rather than a massive change.
For example I switched to Edamame and or black bean pasta father than the usual ones. This gives me a sizeable portion to ‘carry’ my bolognaise, with just 9g of carbs, whilst my OH tucks into a similar size portion of wholewheat pasta which is about 30g carbs. An easy swap and carbs a lot lower.
This might be easier to sustain rather than a total change in your diet.

However the important thing is to work out what works for you.
The more carbs in a meal the more glucose in your system, as you found with your meal out and pud. The meter will help you to see what happens to you with specific foods, and help you to make changes.

 

[JITR]

@Drummer,
I think the sentence I have quoted from your post is a gem, "My blood glucose levels went down to normal soon after the diagnosis" as "I was eating no more than 50 gm of carbs a day".

That was my experience too. I followed a real food version of Prof Taylor's Newcastle diet which is both low cal and low carb - and rather demanding. My levels came down in 7 days, just like the responders in his ground breaking Counterpoint study in 2008. How soon was soon for you?

@Andy84
This low carb route (protein and vegetables) could be worth a try for a week or two to see what happens to your blood glucose. It's a potential DIY alternative to the NHS Soups & Shakes regime without its rigours. You would have to discuss it with your GP/DN as you may need to stop gliclazide.

@Andy84
Your full protein diet may be equivalent to this, depending on what your 'avocado etc' amounts to. Either way it would be interesting to know how your blood glucose comes down week by week.

 

[Drummer]

@Drummer,
I think the sentence I have quoted from your post is a gem, "My blood glucose levels went down to normal soon after the diagnosis" as "I was eating no more than 50 gm of carbs a day".

That was my experience too. I followed a real food version of Prof Taylor's Newcastle diet which is both low cal and low carb - and rather demanding. My levels came down in 7 days, just like the responders in his ground breaking Counterpoint study in 2008. How soon was soon for you?

@Andy84
This low carb route (protein and vegetables) could be worth a try for a week or two to see what happens to your blood glucose. It's a potential DIY alternative to the NHS Soups & Shakes regime without its rigours. You would have to discuss it with your GP/DN as you may need to stop gliclazide.

The Metformin and Atorvastatin tablets I took for 5 weeks really blasted my brain and body - I was very ill - so I am not quite sure of dates - and it was almost 8 years ago now, but blood glucose went from just over 17 at diagnosis down to 8 mmol/l after meals in a couple of weeks maybe. I was not told of the diagnosis for almost 2 weeks after the results came back, but 2 months of low carbing reduced my HbA1c of 91 down to 47.
Having always struggled to follow the 'healthy' diet sheets handed out, eating low carb was such a relief, I did not do low calorie so it was a bit of a shock to realise how much weight I'd lost when my clothes started sliding south. It was all off my waistline, I thought the elastic in the waistbands had failed.

 

[JITR]

The Metformin and Atorvastatin tablets I took for 5 weeks really blasted my brain and body - I was very ill - so I am not quite sure of dates - and it was almost 8 years ago now, but blood glucose went from just over 17 at diagnosis down to 8 mmol/l after meals in a couple of weeks maybe. I was not told of the diagnosis for almost 2 weeks after the results came back, but 2 months of low carbing reduced my HbA1c of 91 down to 47.
Having always struggled to follow the 'healthy' diet sheets handed out, eating low carb was such a relief, I did not do low calorie so it was a bit of a shock to realise how much weight I'd lost when my clothes started sliding south. It was all off my waistline, I thought the elastic in the waistbands had failed.

I am with you on diet sheets if that includes meal plans. Much easier for us to buy foods we can eat then prepare and cook them as we like. As well as a reduction in calories, low carb also allows more time for 'burning fat'. More so on your one or two meals a day. Thanks.

 

[Drummer]

I am with you on diet sheets if that includes meal plans. Much easier for us to buy foods we can eat then prepare and cook them as we like. As well as a reduction in calories, low carb also allows more time for 'burning fat'. More so on your one or two meals a day. Thanks.

The crazy thing is that I was eating fewer calories on the high carb low fat diet but I had no energy, my temperature was always slightly lower than average, I tended to catch every bug going around and I could not lose weight - I was almost spherical. My waistline was enormous. I lost a whole 12 inches off my waist in the year after diagnosis.