HI there - a couple of questions!

[Lolavegas]

I was diagnosed with Type 2 a week ago...and yes it was a shock but I'm determined to be as positive about it as possible, I figure I am 47 years old and have smoked and eaten badly for all that time...now its time to pay for that! An enforced healthy lifestyle can only be a good thing! I'm still right at the beginning and have been told to concentrate on increasing the Metalin doses and not eat sugar until I see the Doctor again this week. They wanted to give me a little time to accept it...

So I have the normal NHS diet sheet, also because my cholesterol tested high I also have a Lower cholesterol diet sheet...they both contradict any diabetes diet discussion I can find...its the Carb thing. Now during my research it seems people find the best diet by self testing and trial and error...have I got that right.

Firstly can I have some input from members re which diet they follow and how they picked that one...GI, low carb or normal NHS recommendations...which one has worked for you? This information would be really useful.

Next...ok its only been a week but from the moment I was told I have been an A GRADE student!!!! I have been incredibly careful with food, I feel the sooner I get used to it the quicker it will become a way of life...

However, my orginal symptoms were the obvious, raging thrush, thirst etc and also a cyst on my back became infected which I have extra strong penicillen to take...a week on the symptoms are still here, there has been no improvement and I feel a bit downhearted.

Am I being unrealistic expecting to START feeling better in a week?
I need success stories from you...I need people to tell me how now they feel fabulous now its all under control, how they lost weight and got fitter, how long it took.

I can only find stories about people struggling and there must be another angle...anyone? Someone?

 

[Northerner]

Hi LolaVegas, welcome to the forum 🙂 In reply to your questions, I think the best answer is that it will take time to understand what works best for you, and it will also take time before your symptoms are alleviated. Diabetes is a very 'individual' disease, in that it will affect each person differently. There are some guidelines that you can use to set you on a healthy eating path, but you need to learn through trial and error what compromises you may need to make in order to manage your blood sugar levels well. For some people, this compromise entails reducing their carb consumption quite drastically, for others, they find that they are able to tolerate more carbs in their diet - there is no one answer, because it depends on what you personally are happy with whilst managing your diabetes.

So, low carb works well for a lot of people, but how much would it affect your quality of life if you had to make drastic and permanent changes to your diet? Is there some other plan you can follow that means your diet is more varied and flexible? The only real way to find out is to test before and after eating to find the foods that raise your levels the most, and those that don't. Personally, I try to follow the GL (Glycaemic Load) diet, a more sophisticated version of GI.

Once you start to get your levels under control your symptoms will start to go. In my case, this took several months before I stopped rushing to the loo, feeling thirsty and dehydrated etc. A week of being good is a start, but you shouldn't expect huge improvements in that time - your body will take time to adjust as it has probably been used to high levels for some time before diagnosis - but it will happen if you continue to work at it! 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

Well, welcome to the forum.

I was diagnosed in October, 2009 and was put on gliclazide initially (stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin) and once my levels were more acceptable I moved on to metformin (helps the insulin produced to work better and restricts the liver from releasing glucose into the blood when it feels like it)

Like you, it seems the diagnosis was the kick up the pants that I needed and I made complete changes to my diet and incorporated daily exercise in one form or another into my lifestyle.

It's difficult for me to lay out precisely what I eat, because I simply eat anything and everything (that is healthy). On occasion, I also let the leash off and have something unhealthy too. The important thing for me was portion control. Anyway, since October, I have lost nearly 41lbs and the effect of that is that I am now off the metformin too (my choice more than the medical profession's, but my reasons were sound and my last HbA1c was 5.9).

As to feeling better in one week? Well, yes, that is an unrealistic expectation. It will probably take several months for you to really feel good 99% of the time. In my case, I felt the benefits of losing weight and eating properly within a couple of months. However, there were times when I still felt a little grotty. But, right now? I have to say that I haven't been as healthy as I am now in decades. Where previously I would walk my bike up a hill, I'm now breezing up it. Where I used to dread cycling into town to do my shopping, I'm now cracking along (and am now wishing I had more gears available!).

I can go on, but I think that I'll give others a chance!

But one last thing I'll say is that a positive attitude, even in the face of minor set backs, is soooo important. Without it, it is so easy to fall back into the old patterns. So, well done you for such a positive start yourself.

Andy 🙂

 

[Andy HB]

Oh, I will just mention my average daily nutritional intake over the last three weeks or so (some of the numbers are higher than I'd like because they have been bumped up after a few days holiday a little while ago!):-

Cals :- 1,827
Protein :- 84g
Carbs :- 253g (of which sugars 97g)
Fat :- 53g (of which sat fat 20g)
Salt :- 5.4g

Andy 🙂

 

[Cliff]

Hi Lolavegas and welcome to the forum.

So I have the normal NHS diet sheet, also because my cholesterol tested high I also have a Lower cholesterol diet sheet...they both contradict any diabetes diet discussion I can find...its the Carb thing. Now during my research it seems people find the best diet by self testing and trial and error...have I got that right. Firstly can I have some input from members re which diet they follow and how they picked that one...GI, low carb or normal NHS recommendations...which one has worked for you? This information would be really useful.

You'll find that diet is probably the most contentious issue there is amongst diabetics although I suspect all would agree that understanding carbohydrates is key, regardless of what dietary approach you adopt. On the one hand you want to think about cholesterol and other blood fats and so a low fat diet would seem to make sense. On the other hand, you know that it's mainly carbohydrates that raise your blood glucose and so a low carb diet would seem to make sense. You see the dilemma?

In my case, I was fortunate in that following a relatively low carb diet, I've managed to get control of my blood glucose levels while at the same time, my cholesterol and other blood fats have fallen back to normal levels (in fact, lower than your average individual). Those carbohydrates I do eat tend to be low GI so the pasta, rice, potatoes and bread have largely gone from my diet because they raise my levels too far too fast. For me, controlling blood glucose had the effect of bringing my cholesterol into line without meds and without worrying too much about saturated fats.

If you haven't already done so, get yourself a meter and test strips and test test test. Find out what various foods do to you and work out your meal plan from there.

Next...ok its only been a week but from the moment I was told I have been an A GRADE student!!!! I have been incredibly careful with food, I feel the sooner I get used to it the quicker it will become a way of life...

That seems spot on to me. It does take some getting used to but once you have it cracked, it's not too bad. I spent the first 6 months scrutinising food labels but eventually you get to know what works, and what doesn't work, for you.

However, my orginal symptoms were the obvious, raging thrush, thirst etc and also a cyst on my back became infected which I have extra strong penicillen to take...a week on the symptoms are still here, there has been no improvement and I feel a bit downhearted.

Hopefully, these will start to settle down soon but it might depend on how well your pancreas is working and how much insulin resistance you have. Some can achieve good control by diet and exercise alone and keep it that way - others need help with medication and there's no shame in that - as I mentioned above, it depends on how cooperative your pancreas is being and how much insulin resistance you have. In my case, I found weight loss helped significantly, but probably not as much as the change in diet.

Am I being unrealistic expecting to START feeling better in a week?

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules here. Once your blood glucose levels are in control, however you achieve that, you should start to feel better. It's a matter of finding the right way of doing that. You don't mention what your levels were at diagnosis - if they were very high, you might find that meds straight away is the way to go to achieve control quickly - if they weren't that far above normal, diet and exercise might work for you. The one thing to remember is that we're all different.

When you mention metalin, do you mean metformin? I suspect you do and from what you say, your dose is being gradually increased. That's quite normal to avoid the windy side effects that many have from metformin. Your GP will want to review how you are getting on with this as your dosage increases, but you can do this yourself by testing. I found it a positive encouragement to see my levels gradually reduce.

You also asked for success stories. There's plenty of those on here to inspire you, and plenty of great people to help out when you need help. In brief, I was diagnosed in October last year. I weighed 17st 6lb, borderline overweight/obese, and had the usual symptoms of uncontrolled diabetes. I now weigh 13st 4lb which is the middle of healthy range for me. My blood fats were off the scale, now normal range. I couldn't have done it without the advice I received on here. I remain diet and exercise controlled, no meds. Unfortunately I suspect I was undiagnosed for quite a while and I have some loss of sensation in my feet and some non-serious diabetic eye changes (lenticular astigmatism). Remaining well controlled hopefully means that these should not progress. I no longer have the dry mouth, the raging thirst and all the trips to the loo - I feel great, better than I have in years.

Do keep posting and let us know how you get on.

 

[Lolavegas]

Many thanks for the informative replies....I just hoped maybe ONE of the symptoms would ease slightly!!! I have lost 6 pounds in weight so I must be doing something right...mind you that was inevitable I WAS keeping Caburys in business!!

I want to get to the stage when managing the diabetes is second nature...during these first stages its all I can concentrate on, but thats fine.

Another question...do you find at Christmas you get given lots of Diabetic confectionary by 'well meaning' relatives?????

 

[Lolavegas]

Thanks Cliff...yes I DO mean Metformin!! What the hell is metalin??? Its sitting right next to me as well...

 

[Andy HB]

Many thanks for the informative replies....I just hoped maybe ONE of the symptoms would ease slightly!!! I have lost 6 pounds in weight so I must be doing something right...mind you that was inevitable I WAS keeping Caburys in business!!

I want to get to the stage when managing the diabetes is second nature...during these first stages its all I can concentrate on, but thats fine.

Another question...do you find at Christmas you get given lots of Diabetic confectionary by 'well meaning' relatives?????

I did last Christmas. But if it happens again, it's going straight into the bin. Everyone in my family is now quite aware of what I think about it!

Andy "Lucky to get anything next Christmas" HB 🙂

 

[am64]

hi welcome to the forum ...i was dx nearly 2 years ago and i now take only 1x500mg metformin instead of the 3 that I started on ...my HbA1c is stable at 6.4 and has been for a year ...i am trying to drop my colestrol without meds ..i was originally on statins but taken off them after 3 months ...still need to lose another stone ..but slowly and surely no quick fix diets for me ...my main advice is moderation in everthing ... as for the diabetic stuff tell themthat non D can eat them as well and then watch them run to the loo !!!
at christmas i go and buy the darkest and best chocolate i can ONLY FOR ME !! and then savour the odd piece over the odd glass of sloe gin 😱 and tell the non D that it will turn them green if they try it !!

 

[Steff]

Hi there cant add much to what has been said already just wanted to welcome you onboard X

 

[RachelT]

Hi and welcome!

Nice to see somebody was keeping Cadburys going over the last two years, coz i was also contributing heavily to their profits before september 2008. ;-)

There are several reasons you might be feeling rough.

Antibiotics can do that to some people, or it might be the infection getting you down.

Metformin, as has been said, is notorious for upsetting stomachs, especially when you first take it. My first experience was explosive to say the least. It should get better though, if you're still suffering badly after a couple of weeks see your GP and get him to swap you to alternative meds.

Diabetes is an annoying disease, you no doubt have just been told to change your diet completely and have been bombarded with horrific warnings about heart attacks, kidney failure and neuropathy. It's enough to bring anybody down.
My initial symptoms disappeared right away with treatment, but i was on a drip for several hours, i got rehydrated and the itching stopped so i guess my suspected urinary infection was just sugar in my urine irritating me. My eyesight went back to normal, thankfully.
I went back to work two weeks later and my workmates asked me if i was "feeling better". The answer was pretty much no. I hadn't felt that bad in the first place, it was the scarey blurred vision that sent me to a doctor, and forced me to admit that i really had better investigate the itching. There was nothing that actually made me feel "ill" as such, i just felt run down and sluggish. I still felt sluggish, and now i had a new medical condition that wasn't ever going to go away and responded badly to confort eating. I was deffinately not feeling better.
That was nearly two years ago, and gradually things have improved, i don't think about diabetes all day everyday, i've had more energy lately, and i don't feel so very different to everbody else.
Saying that, some days it still comes back to haunt you (today being the case in point, hot, angry, dopey, resentful, frustrated, fat, sugar craving and a blood sugar that would not drop below 10....grrrr, spent an hour on the phone with my mum bewailing the fact that i'm rubbish...a bad day), but the days get further and further apart.
I'm afraid i'm not much help on the dietary advice, i'm not very good at that myself. I find the whole carbs vs fats vs sugar confusing. I've given up sugary food for the most part, and i stopped eating chocolate coz i'm afraid i don't have the willpower to eat "just a bit", but it is very likely that i'm over-doing it. I think it's just a matter of eating a healthy, balanced diet, and not being too strict on yourself or cutting everything out right away. If you do chose to cut carbs, then do it slowly.

Don't feel like you have to feel better right away, it can take time and everybody is different.
Rachel

 

[Lolavegas]

[QUOTE
I still felt sluggish, and now i had a new medical condition that wasn't ever going to go away and responded badly to confort eating. I was deffinately not feeling better.

''Saying that, some days it still comes back to haunt you (today being the case in point, hot, angry, dopey, resentful, frustrated, fat, sugar craving and a blood sugar that would not drop below 10....grrrr, spent an hour on the phone with my mum bewailing the fact that i'm rubbish...a bad day), but the days get further and further apart.'

Thanks so much Rachel for your honest and realistic response! This will be me!! I'm worried about those 'time of the month days' when lets face it...I'm fat, sad and craving comfort food and will fight anyone to get it. I'm hoping to get involved in this forum specially to help those days...maybe we should have a special 'FAT AND CRAP' thread to moan on ..one of those nice girly things where women can berate themselves and whine and then feel better.

Because its early days I'm thinking 'I shall keep some Green and Black chocolate in the cupboard and have ONE SQUARE on hormonal days'...hahahaa...if i end up actually HAPPY with that I will think I have been replaced by aliens!

And I love the seven dwarves that visit you Rachel...Angry, Dopey, Resentful.......frustrated dwarf seems to be visiting me at the moment!