Hi everyone

[Jane16]

Hi there ,

Just saying hi, just diagnosed with type 2 and feel pretty overwhelmed , already have MS and anxiety/depression so had plenty to deal with already. Been given metformin and am dreading starting that tomorrow (hate medication). Hey ho x

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Jane and welcome.

I am sorry to hear you have other health issues to deal with as well as now having to get your head around diabetes. Yes, it is very overwhelming in the first few months but you will soon get the hang of it. Changing your diet will help along with the medication if you are able to. Significantly reducing your carbohydrate intake is the most important thing and that means not just the obvious sweet stuff but also fruit and most importantly starchy foods like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes and breakfast cereals and even porridge. It may seem like there is not much else to eat, but meat and fish and eggs and dairy and mushrooms and Mediterranean veg like courgettes and aubergines and tomatoes and peppers and leafy greens like cabbage, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts and cauliflower and broccoli are all good and brazil, walnuts or pecan nuts or olives if you like them, make great snacks. A low carb diet can actually be quite enjoyable once you get your head around it. I was a sugar addict and a heavy bread and potato consumer. I love the fact that I have now got my addiction under control. I no longer eat bread and very small portion of potatoes occasionally but I eat really well. I have lost 1.5 stones in weight and feel so much better for it and best of all I no longer suffer from migraines which were a chronic problem pre diagnosis. I can even enjoy a glass or two of red wine, which was the main trigger without a problem, so there have been several positives come out of my diagnosis.

Tip of the day is to ensure you take the Metformin with a substantial amount of food and take it mid meal as it has a bit of a reputation for causing digestive upset. The tummy upset usually settles down after a few weeks but if it is unbearable, there is a slow release version which is usually well tolerated.
What was your HbA1c at diagnosis if you don't mind me asking? The number is usually somewhere between 48 and 150. This number gives us an idea of where on the diabetic scale you are and helps us to give you more appropriate advice, so someone with a reading of 50 might only need to make minimal changes, whereas a reading of 100 suggests more significant cuts would be advisable. Some people are able to get their reading back down into the normal range with just diet alone whilst others struggle even with medication and strict diet. Everyone's diabetes is different and there is a lot of trial and error involved in figuring it out, which leads to a bit of a roller coaster ride, particularly in those first few months. We are here to support and advise you, celebrate your achievements with you and sympathise when things don't quite go to plan or you just want to have a good rant at life, the universe and the Diabetes Fairy (DF) who is most definitely mischievous to say the least.

Good luck

 

[Jane16]

Thank you Barbara

Unfortunately I am reliant on ready meals and things that can be tipped in a bowl and eaten as I dont have the energy to prepare and cook fresh food and cant stand and supervise things that are cooking, I fee like I am pretty much stuffed food wise,I do feel like there is not much I can eat or drink have no idea how I am going to manage to be honest I am on my own, housebound with no support.
Also the whole medication thing is a problem , dont trust medics (long story), I am having a real debate with myself about this drug but dont have an appointment to see the nurse til next friday.
I think my count was something like 68 I had lost the plot by the time he got there so I might not be right about that , I will take a note book when I see the nurse.

Thank you for your helpful reply, sorry to sound so down on everything

Jane x

Hi Jane and welcome.

I am sorry to hear you have other health issues to deal with as well as now having to get your head around diabetes. Yes, it is very overwhelming in the first few months but you will soon get the hang of it. Changing your diet will help along with the medication if you are able to. Significantly reducing your carbohydrate intake is the most important thing and that means not just the obvious sweet stuff but also fruit and most importantly starchy foods like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes and breakfast cereals and even porridge. It may seem like there is not much else to eat, but meat and fish and eggs and dairy and mushrooms and Mediterranean veg like courgettes and aubergines and tomatoes and peppers and leafy greens like cabbage, kale, spinach, brussel sprouts and cauliflower and broccoli are all good and brazil, walnuts or pecan nuts or olives if you like them, make great snacks. A low carb diet can actually be quite enjoyable once you get your head around it. I was a sugar addict and a heavy bread and potato consumer. I love the fact that I have now got my addiction under control. I no longer eat bread and very small portion of potatoes occasionally but I eat really well. I have lost 1.5 stones in weight and feel so much better for it and best of all I no longer suffer from migraines which were a chronic problem pre diagnosis. I can even enjoy a glass or two of red wine, which was the main trigger without a problem, so there have been several positives come out of my diagnosis.

Tip of the day is to ensure you take the Metformin with a substantial amount of food and take it mid meal as it has a bit of a reputation for causing digestive upset. The tummy upset usually settles down after a few weeks but if it is unbearable, there is a slow release version which is usually well tolerated.
What was your HbA1c at diagnosis if you don't mind me asking? The number is usually somewhere between 48 and 150. This number gives us an idea of where on the diabetic scale you are and helps us to give you more appropriate advice, so someone with a reading of 50 might only need to make minimal changes, whereas a reading of 100 suggests more significant cuts would be advisable. Some people are able to get their reading back down into the normal range with just diet alone whilst others struggle even with medication and strict diet. Everyone's diabetes is different and there is a lot of trial and error involved in figuring it out, which leads to a bit of a roller coaster ride, particularly in those first few months. We are here to support and advise you, celebrate your achievements with you and sympathise when things don't quite go to plan or you just want to have a good rant at life, the universe and the Diabetes Fairy (DF) who is most definitely mischievous to say the least.

Good luck

 

[Docb]

Hi Jane. I'm guessing your problems with medics have got something to do with your MS story, no need to explain. Diabetes is very different. Diagnosis is straightforward and clear. Dealing with it is easy to understand and the pills generally do work. More than that, a simple blood test tells you how you are doing and it is quite possible to get your blood glucose back to "normal" levels. I'm hoping your diabetic nurse is a good 'un and gives you the support you need to get on track.

Controlling diabetes by diet is all about the carbohydrate you take in. Not just sugars and sweet stuff but the starch that comes from wheat, grains and some veg. The disadvantage of eating a lot of ready meals is that they may contain starchy stuff to make up volume. There is a big advantage though, the nutrition label on the packet will tell you exactly how much carbohydrate there is in the meal so you can choose those with lower carb levels.

Getting your food right will be a bit of a challenge given your limitations but it should be possible. There are a lot of people on here who can give you some ideas. What sort of things do you eat now?

 

[Jane16]

Hi there,
Thank you for your post and saying Hi,
My probs with medics are deep rooted and go back to a childhood experience unfortunately, plus my experience is that they are very quick to diagnose you with something and then tell you to go off and get on with it 🙂. My GP is lovely and does his best , the practice nurse is going to be looking after my Diabetes and I do trust her so hopefully the support on this is going to be a different and better experience - trying to stay hopeful on that.

Thank you for pointing out something positive about the ready meals situation I didnt think of that, was just oh hell I need to change my diet and cant what am I going to do. I have cut out as much sugar as I can since this all kicked off a few weeks ago so my current typical day is grape nuts cereal with no fat plain greek yoghurt and fruit, usually blueberries, lunch bacon roll, diner ready meal or if too tired a take away (trying hard to cut these out but its not easy due to the fatigue I have down to one every couple of weeks though so that is an improvement on 3 a week) . I have a lot of problems with appetite with the MS and just being too tired to eat properly I often feel the only thing I can face is a bacon roll, its my fall back lifesaver and the thought of that being gone is freaking me out. I was drinking a lot of fizzy drinks so have cut those back, I was drinking the cawston press fizzy water with rhubarb and apple which has no added sugar but from reading more it seems they too might be off limits, so no idea what I can drink now other than water.

Hopefully things will be manageable its early days so got to give myself a chance to come to terms with my new situation I guess, most important to me currently is getting some psychological support as I was already not coping and I am worried this might be the straw that breaks the camels back. 24 hours at a time for now.
Thanks again
Jane x

Hi Jane. I'm guessing your problems with medics have got something to do with your MS story, no need to explain. Diabetes is very different. Diagnosis is straightforward and clear. Dealing with it is easy to understand and the pills generally do work. More than that, a simple blood test tells you how you are doing and it is quite possible to get your blood glucose back to "normal" levels. I'm hoping your diabetic nurse is a good 'un and gives you the support you need to get on track.

Controlling diabetes by diet is all about the carbohydrate you take in. Not just sugars and sweet stuff but the starch that comes from wheat, grains and some veg. The disadvantage of eating a lot of ready meals is that they may contain starchy stuff to make up volume. There is a big advantage though, the nutrition label on the packet will tell you exactly how much carbohydrate there is in the meal so you can choose those with lower carb levels.

Getting your food right will be a bit of a challenge given your limitations but it should be possible. There are a lot of people on here who can give you some ideas. What sort of things do you eat now?

 

[Docb]

A couple of things to think about.....

Next time you buy yoghourt check out the nutrition label and you might get a surprise. The low fat versions tend to have more carbohydrate than the straight stuff and so I use the straight stuff all the time. Message is that "low fat" in big writing on the front of the packet does not necessarily mean its OK.

Some can get on with blueberries but they gave me a horrendous spike. Fruit in general is a problem area since different people can react very differently to the same fruit.

Bacon roll yummy but the carbs are all in the roll and so a bacon sarnie made with low carb bread would be better. Never come across a low carb bread roll, but there are some low carb breads you could use. Must admit I tend to eat slices of seeded wholemeal from a small loaf. That way I eat less bread and so cut the wheat based carbs without searching out low carb bread. If your sarnie does not look big enough, slap in an extra rasher of bacon or some coleslaw rather than having a thicker slice of bread.

Takeaways can be OK if you are smart. Pizza is out - all that carb heavy bread. Indian is perfectly possible, just don't order any rice or bread, go for the veg based side dishes instead. Chinese, keep away from the rice and noodles. Fish and chips is OK if you get a very small portion of chips.

Dumping the fizzy drinks is basically good but check out the carb content of your fizzy water and fruit juice. Maybe OK if you do not drink it by the gallon! There are two ways of consuming less carbs. Change what you consume or consume smaller portions of the things you really like and make up with something with fewer carbs.

You will soon get used to carb checking on labels. My advice is not to get obsessive about it. Just be aware and thank whoever you thank, for the nutritional labels on the backs of packets. No hype, and they tell you all you need to know. You will find out all sorts of interesting stuff, like ALDI chicken and mushroom soup has less carbs than their chicken soup and a lot less than their veg soup.

Keep posting and let us know how you get on.

 

[rebrascora]

A great post by @Docb above.
All I would add is that if you are limited to ready meals then perhaps leave some of the more obvious carbs like pasta/potatoes/rice but buy side dishes like carrot and swede mash or cauliflower cheese or creamed leeks or possibly braised cabbage to bulk out the meal. Checking labels really is important and can be quite an eye opener! I had some packet soups in the cupboard when I was diagnosed and sugar was the second highest ingredient in one of them!
Watch the fruit and swap for nuts like walnuts or brazils or veggie sticks and a sour cream and chive dip. Grapes are pretty high in sugar and it is easy to just keep eating them until they are gone, so just have 2 or 3 and then put them away. A kiwi is not a bad choice or some berries like rasps or strawberries or blackberries. If you are going to eat a banana, have half one day and the other half the next to reduce the impact and interestingly, having it with cream can slow the digestion of it down, so it can make you spike less. Half a banana with some cream and ground almonds is one of my treats. Also cheese.... Full fat dairy has very little carbs, so full fat milk, cheese, cream and creamy Natural yoghurt are all pretty good choices for many of us and have less carbs than the low fat alternatives, even the ones with no added sugar. Lidl do a really nice Creamy natural Greek yoghurt in a 1 litre bucket, which many of us here use and it is the lowest carb yoghurt I have found so far. Add in a few frozen raspberries and some chopped hazelnuts and you have a tasty dessert. @Drummer whips it into Sugar Free jelly and adds some chia seeds to make a lovely pudding.
As regards drinks, many of us have coffee with cream instead of milk as it has less carbs. I use diet cola or diet bitter lemon and maybe fill a glass a third way full with it and then top it up with water, so you get some flavour and sweetness but not too much. I alternate this with water and always have a slice of lemon in it or a sprig of mint from the garden or a slice of cucumber. Once you stop eating sweet stuff, your taste buds become much more sensitive to other flavours. If you really need a sweet treat then Aldi do a Gluten free chocolate and sea salt Nut Bar which only contains 5.9g carbs (that is really low). It comes in a box of 4.
Hopefully that will give you some other ideas.

 

[Jane16]

Thank you all so much, you have given me some great ideas and some hope , I was feeling pretty down tbh,

One thing I would say is I have no idea what low carb really is, so when I am checking the carb content it might as well be in russian to me, ordered a carb and calorie book that should help. The drinks I like are 5.7 g is that high, low, medium I have no idea aaargh 39 g in a can of coke so I guess 5.7 is quite low in comparison. People with MS are generally advised not to drink diet drinks because of the artificial sweeteners being not great for us, but I am not a fan anyway so no loss there LOL ,
Thanks again for your messages
Jane x

 

[rebrascora]

Pleased we were able to lift your spirits a bit. I have struggled with stress and depression for a lot of years and I know some days the simplest things seem impossible to achieve so I get that being hit with this Diabetes diagnosis will knock the stuffing out of you and make kife seem even more difficult. Hope is a wonderful thing in shining light on the way forward.
What most of us do is allow ourselves a daily allowance of carbs and keep a mental tally of what we have had throughout the day. Keeping a food diary helps with this until it becomes second nature. Most consider a low carb diet under 150g of carbs a day but many of us go much lower in order to control our blood glucose.... A BG testing meter helps us to figure out which foods cause too much of a spike to be worth eating within that allowance but generally sweet or starchy foods are what we avoid or find alternatives for. Labels usually express the carb content as so many grams per 100grams ie as a percentage, so if you only eat 50g of the product you consume half that number of carbs.For example I have some Ella Nutty Granola that I sometimes have for breakfast. It has 48.6 g carbs per 100g, which is near enough 50%, so I weigh out 30g which will have about 15g carbs in it and I have it with a dollop of creamy Greek yoghurt and 5-6 raspberries and that comes to about 20g carbs for my breakfast. Other times I have a mushroom omelette with a side salad which probably has 5-10g carbs if I have cherry tomatoes with it.
Carbs are sweet or starchy things so you don't need to worry about the carb content of meat and fish or leafy veg because it is negligible.

If you buy a multi pack item of ready to eat product like a pack of the Nut Bars I mentioned or cans of fizzy drinks, they will give you the amount of grams of carbohydrates in the individual bar or can as well as the g/100g info. If your drink is 5.7g carbs per can/bottle, that isn't too bad if you just have one or two a day but a kiwi fruit would give you the same number of carbs as one of them and provide you with dietary fibre and lots of other trace nutrients/vitamins, so it is a bit like having a set amount of money and figuring out what is best to spend it on. Maybe try diluting those drinks with a little water, so that they go further.

 

[Ditto]

Hello Jane and welcome to the forum. 🙂

 

[Jane16]

Thank you @DittoJan x

 

[Drummer]

Perhaps you could get somewhere to sit down and cook organised - an induction hob on a table and a box in the fridge with bacon eggs mushrooms and tomatoes in, plus a cutting board and knife would greatly reduce the amount of standing you'd need to do.
I have a Tefal Actifry which has a timer, so I can just set it and leave it to get on with it, also a Halogen oven - one with a hinged lid which can be set for up to an hour cooking time, and has temperature control, and a grill which has got multiple options and a changing colour indicator for the done-ness of the food. There is a small dish washer which is run every couple of days - in hot weather I do a rinse cycle on days it is not doing a hot run.
I feel so much better and more energetic when eating low carb, and my diabetes is under control too.

 

[Jane16]

Thank you Drummer x
Yes I was thinking of a dry fryer, I have a slow cooker so cook up a big portion of something and freeze in smaller bits is something I do when I have the energy, Ms is a challenge as it is not just standing that the problem it is being awake enough to prepare food and eat it, hard to explain a bit like walking through mud, my anxiety means I find it hard to leave the oven etc unsupervised still early days for me so for now 24 hours at a time cut the sugars first, get on the drugs and see the nurse next week to see what fun and games are next,.
I would say that since I have cut the sugars a few weeks ago, I have felt better other than my anxiety which is through the roof. It is going to be all about finding a balance for me I think.

I was freaking out but a wise friend has said to me that at least something can be done about this(not like MS where everyone just scratches their head) I just have to try to buy into it an do my best.

Jane x

Perhaps you could get somewhere to sit down and cook organised - an induction hob on a table and a box in the fridge with bacon eggs mushrooms and tomatoes in, plus a cutting board and knife would greatly reduce the amount of standing you'd need to do.
I have a Tefal Actifry which has a timer, so I can just set it and leave it to get on with it, also a Halogen oven - one with a hinged lid which can be set for up to an hour cooking time, and has temperature control, and a grill which has got multiple options and a changing colour indicator for the done-ness of the food. There is a small dish washer which is run every couple of days - in hot weather I do a rinse cycle on days it is not doing a hot run.
I feel so much better and more energetic when eating low carb, and my diabetes is under control too.

 

[Jodee]

Hi Jane, welcome 🙂

I felt the same initially about Metformin, but I find my body doesn't mind it so much at all.

 

[Jane16]

Thanks Jodee,

I am scared as I am on my own and worry about being really ill and alone, but I am going to start it tomorrow and give it a try x

Hi Jane, welcome 🙂

I felt the same initially about Metformin, but I find my body doesn't mind it so much at all.

 

[TheClockworkDodo]

Hello @Jane16 and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your combination of illnesses - I'm juggling multiple conditions too, and I know that sometimes you just have to make the best compromise you can - as you say, it's about finding the right balance. I have ME, which is another one where everyone just scratches their head, and diabetes is a lot easier to deal with.

I know the issue with preparing food (and also the walking through mud feeling, I often describe it as being like trying to plough treacle) - other people's idea of an easy meal to prepare is very often my idea of an extremely difficult one. If I weren't lucky enough to have a partner who cooks I'd live on microwaved baked potatoes and tins of fish. I can't eat ready meals, as I have too many food intolerances, but as it happens I've been looking at the nutritional information on quite a lot of different ones lately on behalf of a friend of my Mum's who's just been diagnosed prediabetic, and there is quite a range in terms of grams of carbs per portion - from about 20g, which is very good for a whole meal, to about 60g, which is very bad. If you can stick as much as possible to the ones under about 45g you'll be doing well, I think. Wiltshire Farm Foods seem to do quite a few which are in the 30s, and Waitrose own brand ones seem to be better than Sainsbury's. Tins or pots of soup are likely to be relatively low compared with ready meals, and you could also get things like bags of salad in place of things like chips.

Herbal and fruit teas are good, if they are suitable for you. Fruit drinks generally are to be avoided (especially fruit juice, which is will spike your blood sugar very quickly) but fruit teas are pretty much carb-free. The little bit of fruit sugar in your flavoured water is fairly minimal though - it isn't exactly good for you, but eating a pizza would be a lot worse!

Good luck starting the Metformin. It should certainly help with your blood sugar, but as Barbara says, if it also upsets your insides there are alternatives, so don't worry - there's a slow release version which is gentler, and there are other meds type 2s can try as well, so it's not your only option.

 

[Jane16]

Hi Juliet,

Thank you for your message, sorry to hear about your ME it is tough when people dont get it but I always think why should they really I probably wouldn't if I didn't have it 🙂, but it is tiring explaining why things cant be done.
Thank you for the info on the ready meals I will look out for the ones in the 20's/30's and see how I get on, I m just struggling for what to do instead of potato/rice/pasta at the moment. As I say it is early days and I have to stop rushing myself.
The help here has been wonderful tho and already lots of good advice.
Thanks for the advice about drinks you have reminded me that I have some cold infuse teas and just checked the content and guess what carbs - 0, fantastic result, cold drink problem solved!!!

Took my first Metformin this afternoon so far so good...
Thank you again and stay well
Jane x

Hello @Jane16 and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your combination of illnesses - I'm juggling multiple conditions too, and I know that sometimes you just have to make the best compromise you can - as you say, it's about finding the right balance. I have ME, which is another one where everyone just scratches their head, and diabetes is a lot easier to deal with.

I know the issue with preparing food (and also the walking through mud feeling, I often describe it as being like trying to plough treacle) - other people's idea of an easy meal to prepare is very often my idea of an extremely difficult one. If I weren't lucky enough to have a partner who cooks I'd live on microwaved baked potatoes and tins of fish. I can't eat ready meals, as I have too many food intolerances, but as it happens I've been looking at the nutritional information on quite a lot of different ones lately on behalf of a friend of my Mum's who's just been diagnosed prediabetic, and there is quite a range in terms of grams of carbs per portion - from about 20g, which is very good for a whole meal, to about 60g, which is very bad. If you can stick as much as possible to the ones under about 45g you'll be doing well, I think. Wiltshire Farm Foods seem to do quite a few which are in the 30s, and Waitrose own brand ones seem to be better than Sainsbury's. Tins or pots of soup are likely to be relatively low compared with ready meals, and you could also get things like bags of salad in place of things like chips.

Herbal and fruit teas are good, if they are suitable for you. Fruit drinks generally are to be avoided (especially fruit juice, which is will spike your blood sugar very quickly) but fruit teas are pretty much carb-free. The little bit of fruit sugar in your flavoured water is fairly minimal though - it isn't exactly good for you, but eating a pizza would be a lot worse!

Good luck starting the Metformin. It should certainly help with your blood sugar, but as Barbara says, if it also upsets your insides there are alternatives, so don't worry - there's a slow release version which is gentler, and there are other meds type 2s can try as well, so it's not your only option.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the forum Jane from a fellow T2.

One thing I would say is I have no idea what low carb really is, so when I am checking the carb content it might as well be in russian to

It doesn't really have a firm definition. My advice is to look at what you're already eating, and dropping it a bit from there as a start.
You could try self testing. This will allow to see what affect food had on you blood glucose (BG), along with any changes you make. Hopefully you'll be able to see a pattern.

 

[Jane16]

Hi Ralph,
yes that is my plan for now, I have to slow down as I will get overwhelmed so your suggestion makes sense completely.
I dont want to get into self testing if it can be avoided as I have extreme anxiety and ocd so there is a danger that could become an obsession for me, if I have to at some point I have to I guess but early days

Thank you so much again

Jane x

Welcome to the forum Jane from a fellow T2.


It doesn't really have a firm definition. My advice is to look at what you're already eating, and dropping it a bit from there as a start.
You could try self testing. This will allow to see what affect food had on you blood glucose (BG), along with any changes you make. Hopefully you'll be able to see a pattern.

 

[Martin9]

Hi @Jane16 , another T2 just saying hello, can’t offer any better advice than you already received above, but wish you the best.
Martin.