Hi!

[Jo2964]

I was recently (Jan 7th) at age 58 was diagnosed with Type 2 and have spent a short while in the land of denial and overwhelmed by the information (and conflicting information) that has been coming at me from all directions. My reading on day one was 22.9 This morning it was 5.8. I am on 2 metformin 500mg morning and evening and currently 1 x 80mg gliclizide. The latter is due to end soon as they only wanted me on it for a month. Its been a scary time.

 

[Leadinglights]

Welcome to the forum
You HbA1C must have been quite high when you were diagnosed, 47mmol/mol and over is a diabetes diagnosis to have been prescribed both those medications to start with. They do act in different ways, the metformin helps the body use the insulin it is producing more efficiently and prevents release of glucose by the liver and the gliclazide encourages the pancreas to produce more insulin so probably has had the effect in reducing your blood glucose quite quickly and that in itself can produce some unwanted symptoms with your eyes and nerves and some some feelings of low blood glucose.
At least you have a monitor to test your blood glucose to make sure you are safe.
Between 4 and 7mmol/l is the range many are aiming at for a morning reading and before meals and no more than 8-8.5mmol/l 2 hours post meal once your levels start to come down.
Have they also advised you on any dietary changes as although many find a low carbohydrate approach successful you need to be cautious when on the gliclazide medication.
But worth discussing dietary changes with your diabetic nurse for when you are not taking it any more.
This link may give you some ideas for the ways in which you could then modify your diet. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/

 

[Jo2964]

I wasnt warned about the vision problems so I did have a mild panic attack - Thankfully my distance vision remains un affected but I cannot read the computer screen unless I tilt my head right back - Im a varifocal wearer - and look through the very bottom of the lens or slide them so far down my nose they almost fall off. I booked an appointment with the optician who said I basically needed an adjustment the equivalent of a +1 in reading glasses. She was hesitant to prescribe this though as she said the sudden change in vision could resolve itself once my blood sugars were brought down and stabilise. A little warning would have been reassuring and I cant find anything to say how long it might take - I would mention that my glasses prescription is not in the standard range - the lenses for my last pair were £400 plus when changed last July so multiple temporary pairs are just not an option

 

[Jo2964]

Diet wise the hardest to change was converting to the three meals a day as I normally ate when I was hungry could sometime eat only once a day or have breakfast and late supper. I wasn't a great sweet or chocolate My sin was biscuits Ive stopped the biscuits, changed white to seeded or wholemeal bread brown rice bulked up veg and cut back on amount of bread and cheese generally. Didnt eat much pre-packaged 'processed' food. Watching portion sizes more carefully. Find some of the do's and dont info on diet contradictory but glad to know strawberries are still 'allowed'

 

[snowball12]

Hi, my Hba1c was 80 at my annual Diabetes check this week. It has been going up over the last 12 years. I take four 500mg Metformin a day. My new diabetic nurse put me on 80mg of Gliclizade twice a day. My morning sugars are now 6.5 as opposed to 12.5. this in only three days. I am worried about a hypo in my sleep. Does anyone think that 160mg of Gliclizade is too much with my metformin. Panicking slightly

 

[Leadinglights]

Diet wise the hardest to change was converting to the three meals a day as I normally ate when I was hungry could sometime eat only once a day or have breakfast and late supper. I wasn't a great sweet or chocolate My sin was biscuits Ive stopped the biscuits, changed white to seeded or wholemeal bread brown rice bulked up veg and cut back on amount of bread and cheese generally. Didnt eat much pre-packaged 'processed' food. Watching portion sizes more carefully. Find some of the do's and dont info on diet contradictory but glad to know strawberries are still 'allowed'

It was only when I read on hear that reducing blood glucose quickly by a reduction in my carb intake to 70g per day bbut no meds. I also wear varifocals, at mega bucks as they are ultra thin and reaction. Distance was fine but near awelul, it took several months for mine to settle but many find it is quicker than that.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I wasnt warned about the vision problems so I did have a mild panic attack - Thankfully my distance vision remains un affected but I cannot read the computer screen unless I tilt my head right back - Im a varifocal wearer - and look through the very bottom of the lens or slide them so far down my nose they almost fall off. I booked an appointment with the optician who said I basically needed an adjustment the equivalent of a +1 in reading glasses. She was hesitant to prescribe this though as she said the sudden change in vision could resolve itself once my blood sugars were brought down and stabilise. A little warning would have been reassuring and I cant find anything to say how long it might take - I would mention that my glasses prescription is not in the standard range - the lenses for my last pair were £400 plus when changed last July so multiple temporary pairs are just not an option

It sounds like you are doing great.
You are well on track.


I buy my glasses on line, goggles4u, there are a couple of other companies I've used before as well.
My varifocals and a pair of single prescription sun glasses cost cost about £55 for them both.
I am a fairly high prescription, around -6 with an add of 2.5, but didn't go for any extra thinning, just 1.56 lenses.
Past lenses have been up to -8, no prisms or anything of that nature, but they can be accommodated online now.

 

[Leadinglights]

Diet wise the hardest to change was converting to the three meals a day as I normally ate when I was hungry could sometime eat only once a day or have breakfast and late supper. I wasn't a great sweet or chocolate My sin was biscuits Ive stopped the biscuits, changed white to seeded or wholemeal bread brown rice bulked up veg and cut back on amount of bread and cheese generally. Didnt eat much pre-packaged 'processed' food. Watching portion sizes more carefully. Find some of the do's and dont info on diet contradictory but glad to know strawberries are still 'allowed'

If you are just on metformin and making changes to your diet then there is really no reason to eat 3 meals a day if that is not what you were used to as long as your meals are within the carbohydrates limits that you can tolerate. It is more that continual snacking is not supposed to be good for blood glucose management. However I expect the concern is that as you are taking the gliclazide that you could get hypos if you are not eating regularly.
I think if dietary managed what you eat is more important than when you eat.
All berries are good options though blueberries are the highest carb. The 'brown' versions of rice, pasta and bread are maybe slower to be converted to glucose they are very little different in the amount of carb so people try to find alternatives like edamame bean or black bean pasta, cauliflower rice, celeriac, swede or butternut squash which are just as good but a lot lower carb.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

We are all different.
A major part of reversing my diabetes was changing my very bad eating habits.
I went from eating mostly in the evenings to working out a good relationship with food, and splitting it into three meals, spaced out over the day.
So less hunger, less glycaemic load, as said above much slower conversion to glucose so much less insulin response needed, generally it worked very well for me, and set good habits that I still carry on with now.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Jo2964

Sounds like you’ve made some great progress in a short space of time, and have seen a really positive change in your BG levels. Well done!

Hopefully you are noticing that you have a bit more energy, and feel better in yourself alongside the improvement in your numbers.

It can take a little while for your eyes to adjust and adapt when you have reduced your average BG levels that significantly. Your levels probably increased gradually over a long period, and the different osmotic pressure in your eyes changed their shape. As your levels return to a healthier range your eyes change shape again, but as this has happened more quickly your brain needs to adjust to the new focal length over a few weeks or months. Some people find it helpful to get some cheap ‘ready readers’ from a supermarket to use in the meantime?

Well done on your progress so far!

 

[Jo2964]

Thank you. I can read if I take my glasses off its just the computer distance which is really causing problems but hopefully it will resolve itself soon

 

[Lucyr]

Thank you. I can read if I take my glasses off its just the computer distance which is really causing problems but hopefully it will resolve itself soon

You could set the computer to a larger font until your sight settles down?

 

[LauraMartin]

We are all different.
A major part of reversing my diabetes was changing my very bad eating habits.
I went from eating mostly in the evenings to working out a good relationship with food, and splitting it into three meals, spaced out over the day.
So less hunger, less glycaemic load, as said above much slower conversion to glucose so much less insulin response needed, generally it worked very well for me, and set good habits that I still carry on with now.

I understand you, I faced the same problem, and even now it is difficult for me to stick to a certain diet and not put my health at risk