Struggling with type 2 , I have had diabetes for 10 years and managed on diet only till now, but feeling unwell for a couple of months now and thinking it was the effects of covid i had, only to find that my hb1ac was 59 . I also have epilepsy and had a servere seizure 2 days ago could they be connected. I have now been given metformin which makes me feel I have failed. Any advice I would be very grateful for.
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Hi everyone, Please advise
- Thread starter suebrad
- Start date
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Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Welcome @suebrad 🙂 I hope you’re recovering ok from your seizure. Taking Metformin doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Some people need medication and it’s no fault of theirs.
An HbA1C of 59 isn’t horribly high. I’m sure you can improve that now you have the Metformin to help. I’d doubt the increased HBA1C was anything to do with your seizure.
Can you give us an idea of an average day’s food for you? I’m sure you know that you need to watch the amount of carbs you eat - all carbs not just sweet ones. What would really help you is to get a blood glucose meter as then you’ll be able to see the effect certain meals/foods have on you, and adjust your diet if necessary.
An HbA1C of 59 isn’t horribly high. I’m sure you can improve that now you have the Metformin to help. I’d doubt the increased HBA1C was anything to do with your seizure.
Can you give us an idea of an average day’s food for you? I’m sure you know that you need to watch the amount of carbs you eat - all carbs not just sweet ones. What would really help you is to get a blood glucose meter as then you’ll be able to see the effect certain meals/foods have on you, and adjust your diet if necessary.
Hi Inka ,Thank you for getting back, my average day consists of porridge oat made with half water half lactose milk. Lunch could be a sandwich or mc Donald's, bag of chips or maybe pie from pound bakery. Evening meal always rice or pasta or potatoes with fish or chicken. On reading my message back I can see what's happening, up till now it dosnt seem to of bothered my bloods . Is it possible to get a monitor on prescription as I'm on disability benefits.
Dave_Z1a
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Chips, pasta, rice, pastry?? Would all be instant disaster to me, you have done very very well if your only 59 mmol/mol after those items being part of your regular diet! It looks like an easy fix to me without taking metformin by cutting down or out some of these items. Loads of info on here about lower carb eating, Don't lose heart, am convinced you can fix this easily, I could explain more but others on here are far more knowledgable than me and it would be like chineese whispers, I got my knowledge from them!
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Ok @suebrad Well, the good news here is that you can see lots of possible changes that you could make to your diet. Your sandwich/McD/pie could be replaced by meat/eggs and salad or a homemade soup. Cut the rice or pasta out or reduce it to a small amount and fill the space with green veg.
You could ask your GP for a meter but they don’t usually provide them for Type 2s. Give me a few minutes and I’ll find the links to a couple of cheaper ones that are popular here.
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Here we are @suebrad :
The most affordable meters people here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £10 for 50 (some strips can cost more like £30 a pot!).
The most affordable meters people here have found are the SD Gluco Navii or the Spirit Tee2 - which both have test strips at around £10 for 50 (some strips can cost more like £30 a pot!).
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I don't think in any way you should think of yourself as a failure because from the foods you mention as being typical it looks as if you haven't had the best dietary advise. I know things have changed in ideas on how powerful diet is in managing blood glucose since your diagnosis but with some changes there is no reason why you should not be able to get improvement.
Have a look at this link which will give you some ideas for substituting some of those very high carb foods you mention. It is a low carb approach with some explanation and ideas for menu choices to suit different tastes and budget.
lowcarbfreshwell.com
I totally agree getting a blood glucose monitor as that will both enable you to see which foods you can tolerate as well as the ones you should avoid or cut down on portion size.
Have a look at this link which will give you some ideas for substituting some of those very high carb foods you mention. It is a low carb approach with some explanation and ideas for menu choices to suit different tastes and budget.
Freshwell Low Carb Project - Home
lowcarbfreshwell.com
Martin.A
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Fortunately the fix is plain to see. Cutting things out or reducing portion size will help and there are some low-carb swaps you could make. Riced cauliflower is a good substitute for rice, mashed cauli or mashed celeriac are good substitutes for potatoes, and there are some non-grain pastas you could try. If you decide to go for a BG meter you'll find it invaluable in managing your diet.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi and welcome from me too.
As others have said, it shouldn't be too difficult to bring your levels back down by adjusting your diet. All 3 meals you have mentioned are still quite high in carbs. I know porridge is considered healthy and slow release but unfortunately it isn't slow release for all of us and it is still a high carb food being made from grains (oats) so just changing your breakfast to something lower carb could make a significant difference. Many of us here have full fat Greek style natural yoghurt with a few berries and mixed seeds or chopped nuts. Fat provides slow release energy and will keep you feeling full without raising your BG levels. Obviously the McD is not a good choice with fries or even without and sandwiches are also quite high in carbs as is most bread unless you buy lower carb options like LivLife bread. I gave up on bread as it spiked ,my levels too much. It is a bit mind boggling imagining no eating bread as it is such a convenient carrier for so many foods and part of our culture but once you get your head around it, you don't really miss it. What about having an omelette for lunch. They are quick and easy to make and you can vary the fillings and use up whatever is left in the fridge. I have mine with a large side salad and a big dollop of coleslaw instead of bread. Other days I have half an apple with a chunk of cheese and perhaps a few nuts. Evening meals I try to cook from scratch and also try to pack as many vegetables into them as possible but avoid the starchy carbs as much as possible. So I make a cottage pie but top it with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potato and of course I have a liberal sprinkling of cheese on the top because cauli loves cheese as much as potato does and I love it too. I serve that with broccoli and/or cabbage and butternut squash, all of which I cook in the microwave in a matter of a few minutes, usually with a knob of butter. Last night I made a lovely curry with cauliflower and halloumi and chick peas and butternut squash and served it on a med of cooked shredded savoy cabbage instead of rice. I like large platefuls of tasty food because I don't like to feel hungry, but just choose lower carb foods instead of the high carb ones. It has been an interesting journey finding new foods to replace the old ones that were not doing me any good. There are lots of other food suggestions if you want to know more so just ask.
As others have said, it shouldn't be too difficult to bring your levels back down by adjusting your diet. All 3 meals you have mentioned are still quite high in carbs. I know porridge is considered healthy and slow release but unfortunately it isn't slow release for all of us and it is still a high carb food being made from grains (oats) so just changing your breakfast to something lower carb could make a significant difference. Many of us here have full fat Greek style natural yoghurt with a few berries and mixed seeds or chopped nuts. Fat provides slow release energy and will keep you feeling full without raising your BG levels. Obviously the McD is not a good choice with fries or even without and sandwiches are also quite high in carbs as is most bread unless you buy lower carb options like LivLife bread. I gave up on bread as it spiked ,my levels too much. It is a bit mind boggling imagining no eating bread as it is such a convenient carrier for so many foods and part of our culture but once you get your head around it, you don't really miss it. What about having an omelette for lunch. They are quick and easy to make and you can vary the fillings and use up whatever is left in the fridge. I have mine with a large side salad and a big dollop of coleslaw instead of bread. Other days I have half an apple with a chunk of cheese and perhaps a few nuts. Evening meals I try to cook from scratch and also try to pack as many vegetables into them as possible but avoid the starchy carbs as much as possible. So I make a cottage pie but top it with mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potato and of course I have a liberal sprinkling of cheese on the top because cauli loves cheese as much as potato does and I love it too. I serve that with broccoli and/or cabbage and butternut squash, all of which I cook in the microwave in a matter of a few minutes, usually with a knob of butter. Last night I made a lovely curry with cauliflower and halloumi and chick peas and butternut squash and served it on a med of cooked shredded savoy cabbage instead of rice. I like large platefuls of tasty food because I don't like to feel hungry, but just choose lower carb foods instead of the high carb ones. It has been an interesting journey finding new foods to replace the old ones that were not doing me any good. There are lots of other food suggestions if you want to know more so just ask.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @suebrad
Well done for keeping your diabetes in check for a decade - that’s great work!
Please be kind to yourself as you seek to adjust and amend your diabetes management alongside Metformin. Some people’s diabetes just changes over time - it’s not necessarily because they are acting differently - but sometimes their diabetes just needs a slightly different approach.
Hope you are able to find a new balance between meds and menu, which gives you a flexible way or eating you enjoy, and also offers the BG results you are looking for 🙂
Keep asking away with any questions too!
Well done for keeping your diabetes in check for a decade - that’s great work!
Please be kind to yourself as you seek to adjust and amend your diabetes management alongside Metformin. Some people’s diabetes just changes over time - it’s not necessarily because they are acting differently - but sometimes their diabetes just needs a slightly different approach.
Hope you are able to find a new balance between meds and menu, which gives you a flexible way or eating you enjoy, and also offers the BG results you are looking for 🙂
Keep asking away with any questions too!
Hi Dave,thanks for your reply ,I so don't want to take Metformin if possible , so as from tomorrow I will cut out 50% of those items and see if I can get back to normal. I haven't a clue what to replace them with so am going to check the site out ideas. Thanks again .
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Have a look round at some of the posts and links and hopefully you will find things that appeal that you can make swaps.
Initially until you have a plan just start by finding which are the bit hitters on carb and reduce by half.
I found the book (there is and app) Carbs and Cals really useful as it has the carb value of different portion sizes of a whole range of foods. But looking on packets, tins etc for the total carbs in the nutritional information or look for food X on the internet and total carbs which will help you make some better choices.
Initially until you have a plan just start by finding which are the bit hitters on carb and reduce by half.
I found the book (there is and app) Carbs and Cals really useful as it has the carb value of different portion sizes of a whole range of foods. But looking on packets, tins etc for the total carbs in the nutritional information or look for food X on the internet and total carbs which will help you make some better choices.
Nayshiftin
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Do you think everyone type 2 that takes medication has failed ?
So get rid of that yard stick.
Yes I speak bluntly but its really wrong to make diabetes your fault.
No one cam make themselves get diabetes anymore than they can have any other condition.
No one asked their mother as a baby why did you give me type one. Sane as an adult did you fail and get type 2 . Are you saying those tgat cannot control by diet is their fault?
Time to think about positive ways to get healthy.
Blame leads to shame and it is wrong.
So get rid of that yard stick.
Yes I speak bluntly but its really wrong to make diabetes your fault.
No one cam make themselves get diabetes anymore than they can have any other condition.
No one asked their mother as a baby why did you give me type one. Sane as an adult did you fail and get type 2 . Are you saying those tgat cannot control by diet is their fault?
Time to think about positive ways to get healthy.
Blame leads to shame and it is wrong.
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