My name is Elaine, I've had diabetes for years with little interest or advice from my GP. It is spiralling out of control and now as I'm getting older I really need to take more control of it. I'm hoping with all the info on the website and support I can make it happen!
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Hi, I'm new on here...
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rebrascora
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Hi and welcome.
Diabetes is a condition that really rewards you if you put effort into it and are proactive so it is great that you have come to the forum looking for support and motivation. You can't change what has gone before but only what happens from now on and whilst you may need some support from your GP or nurse in respect of medication, many people find that lifestyle changes are far more powerful than most Type 2 meds and the biggest factor in managing their diabetes well is knowledge. One of the most invaluable tools in helping you gain knowledge about your particular diabetes (and it can be highly individual) is a Blood Giucose home testing kit.... ie. a BG meter as this will enable you to see the effect different foods have on your BG levels and help you to tailor your meals to what your body can cope with. Most GPs have no idea of the power of adjusting your diet to manage your diabetes and sadly many of their patients are not engaged with their diabetes diagnosis and don't want to change their diet or have tried to lose weight and failed or put it straight back on again, sometimes because they were following normal healthy eating NHS advice, which isn't always helpful with diabetes.
Anyway, my advice would be to invest in a BG meter and test strips as this will enable you to "see" your diabetes and what eating certain foods does to your BG levels and that can be really motivating. Let's face it, it is easy to stick your head in the sand, especially if you are not experiencing any obvious symptoms. It is also really motivating to start seeing success when you change your diet as well as scary to see what some foods do to your levels. So encourages you to "be good" as well as discouraging you from being "naughty". 🙄
What has been a revelation to me is that once I figured out how to follow a low carb way of eating and make it enjoyable, I no longer crave those high carb foods and I feel like I can maintain this way of eating for the rest of my life. Moreover, there have been significant other benefits from changing my diet that I did not expect.... For me this has included no more migraines, significantly reduced joint pain to the point that i can run down steep hills now whereas before I was hobbling at walk and in pain. My skin is less dry and I have so much more control over my disordered eating issues and I sleep really soundly..... and made a load of virtual friends here on the forum.... and my diabetes is under control.... so lots of benefits. In fact I feel that I will probably live longer with a better quality of life as a result of the changes I have made and I would not have made those changes without my diabetes diagnosis, so I actually feel that I am healthier as a result.
If you decide to get a BG meter the two most recommended by people who self test here on the forum for economy of use and reliability are the Spirit Tee2 and the Gluco Navii. The kit is about £15 to buy but you will need extra pots of test strips as the kit just comes with 10 and you will go through those very quickly, so I woud recoomend you get an additional 2 pots of test strips at least.... if there is an offer on get 4.... as you will need to do a lot of testing in the initial few weeks/months but once you get to know which foods are your nemesis and which you can get away with and in what portion size, you can cut back on the testing and just test new meals or foods as you introduce them. It sounds quite complicated at first but once you get the hang of it it almost becomes second nature.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask and best of luck with your journey in taking control.
Diabetes is a condition that really rewards you if you put effort into it and are proactive so it is great that you have come to the forum looking for support and motivation. You can't change what has gone before but only what happens from now on and whilst you may need some support from your GP or nurse in respect of medication, many people find that lifestyle changes are far more powerful than most Type 2 meds and the biggest factor in managing their diabetes well is knowledge. One of the most invaluable tools in helping you gain knowledge about your particular diabetes (and it can be highly individual) is a Blood Giucose home testing kit.... ie. a BG meter as this will enable you to see the effect different foods have on your BG levels and help you to tailor your meals to what your body can cope with. Most GPs have no idea of the power of adjusting your diet to manage your diabetes and sadly many of their patients are not engaged with their diabetes diagnosis and don't want to change their diet or have tried to lose weight and failed or put it straight back on again, sometimes because they were following normal healthy eating NHS advice, which isn't always helpful with diabetes.
Anyway, my advice would be to invest in a BG meter and test strips as this will enable you to "see" your diabetes and what eating certain foods does to your BG levels and that can be really motivating. Let's face it, it is easy to stick your head in the sand, especially if you are not experiencing any obvious symptoms. It is also really motivating to start seeing success when you change your diet as well as scary to see what some foods do to your levels. So encourages you to "be good" as well as discouraging you from being "naughty". 🙄
What has been a revelation to me is that once I figured out how to follow a low carb way of eating and make it enjoyable, I no longer crave those high carb foods and I feel like I can maintain this way of eating for the rest of my life. Moreover, there have been significant other benefits from changing my diet that I did not expect.... For me this has included no more migraines, significantly reduced joint pain to the point that i can run down steep hills now whereas before I was hobbling at walk and in pain. My skin is less dry and I have so much more control over my disordered eating issues and I sleep really soundly..... and made a load of virtual friends here on the forum.... and my diabetes is under control.... so lots of benefits. In fact I feel that I will probably live longer with a better quality of life as a result of the changes I have made and I would not have made those changes without my diabetes diagnosis, so I actually feel that I am healthier as a result.
If you decide to get a BG meter the two most recommended by people who self test here on the forum for economy of use and reliability are the Spirit Tee2 and the Gluco Navii. The kit is about £15 to buy but you will need extra pots of test strips as the kit just comes with 10 and you will go through those very quickly, so I woud recoomend you get an additional 2 pots of test strips at least.... if there is an offer on get 4.... as you will need to do a lot of testing in the initial few weeks/months but once you get to know which foods are your nemesis and which you can get away with and in what portion size, you can cut back on the testing and just test new meals or foods as you introduce them. It sounds quite complicated at first but once you get the hang of it it almost becomes second nature.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask and best of luck with your journey in taking control.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Esy
Sorry to hear your diabetes is getting a little uppity lately. Hopefully with a few tweaks to your management strategies you’ll be able to get it to behave itself again.
Have you been taking any meds over the years? And have they suggested reviewing what you are taking?
How have you known that things are spiralling? Have you got symptoms of high BG levels (eg thirst, increased urination, blurry vision, thrush, UTIs)? Or has it been spotted through your blood tests?
Can you remember your most recent HbA1c?
And what changes have you been making to your menu?
There are lots of different strategies and styles of management. There isn’t one approach that will work for everyone - so it can be a question of trying things out and seeing how they fit with you, and how your diabetes responds.
Good luck with it, and keep firing away with questions 🙂
Sorry to hear your diabetes is getting a little uppity lately. Hopefully with a few tweaks to your management strategies you’ll be able to get it to behave itself again.
Have you been taking any meds over the years? And have they suggested reviewing what you are taking?
How have you known that things are spiralling? Have you got symptoms of high BG levels (eg thirst, increased urination, blurry vision, thrush, UTIs)? Or has it been spotted through your blood tests?
Can you remember your most recent HbA1c?
And what changes have you been making to your menu?
There are lots of different strategies and styles of management. There isn’t one approach that will work for everyone - so it can be a question of trying things out and seeing how they fit with you, and how your diabetes responds.
Good luck with it, and keep firing away with questions 🙂
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