Hello I'm 65 year old lady was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 8 years ago.Recently I have been feeling so unwell had a blood test last week and my ha1bc is 88 my diabetes nurse has upped my glicazide spelt wrong lol and my trulicity injection to 3mg I'm on 2000 metformin.ive not started to feel any better yet my blood sugars where 17 this morning and after my meal 13 I'm getting a bit scared.
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Hi
- Thread starter Tom cat
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Leadinglights
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- Type 2
Welcome to the forum, It may take a while for the effect of the increased medication to make enough difference to your blood glucose and at those high levels you are probably still feeling unwell.
Did your nurse suggest you test for ketones when your level is high, urine dip sticks would give you an indication if they were high, as if so, that would be making you feel not good.
I wonder also what your diet is like as ideas have changed since your diagnosis 8 years ago as to how powerful a low carbohydrate regime can be in reducing blood glucose.
This link may help you see if there is anything there which you could do to help. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Of course if you are already following a low carb diet and all the medications are not working to manage your blood glucose bear in mind that you may be misdiagnosed and actually be Type 1 or LADA.
rebrascora
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Hi and welcome.
Sorry to hear that you are feeling so anxious about your levels, which is understandable, but many people here have brought their BG levels down into the normal range mostly through changing their diet. Apart from the medication, have you made any adjustment to your diet over the years? What you eat or more importantly don't eat can be more powerful than any of the medication you are taking and the medication alone will unfortunately not manage your diabetes.
Can you give us an idea of the sort of things you typically have for breakfast, lunch and evening meal? And any snacks? Do you have sugar in tea or coffee of soft drinks? If we know what you eat now we can perhaps suggest things you could swap to which would help to bring your numbers down.
Sorry to hear that you are feeling so anxious about your levels, which is understandable, but many people here have brought their BG levels down into the normal range mostly through changing their diet. Apart from the medication, have you made any adjustment to your diet over the years? What you eat or more importantly don't eat can be more powerful than any of the medication you are taking and the medication alone will unfortunately not manage your diabetes.
Can you give us an idea of the sort of things you typically have for breakfast, lunch and evening meal? And any snacks? Do you have sugar in tea or coffee of soft drinks? If we know what you eat now we can perhaps suggest things you could swap to which would help to bring your numbers down.
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Welcome to the forum @Tom cat
Sorry to hear your levels have risen despite your meds having been adjusted.
It does sound perhaps as if your meds and menu aren’t quite in balance? Those high levels can make you feel pretty grim.
Have you had any help and support in tweaking your menu to try to make it a little easier on your blood glucose levels?
Many forum members find that moderating portions of carbohydrates can help their meds deal with their meals more effectively.
It might help to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Noting down everything you eat and drink, along with a rough estimate of the meal’s and snack’s carbohydrate content, so that you can begin to get a feel for which of your meals have the most glucose-raising potential.
Sorry to hear your levels have risen despite your meds having been adjusted.
It does sound perhaps as if your meds and menu aren’t quite in balance? Those high levels can make you feel pretty grim.
Have you had any help and support in tweaking your menu to try to make it a little easier on your blood glucose levels?
Many forum members find that moderating portions of carbohydrates can help their meds deal with their meals more effectively.
It might help to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Noting down everything you eat and drink, along with a rough estimate of the meal’s and snack’s carbohydrate content, so that you can begin to get a feel for which of your meals have the most glucose-raising potential.
Hi I watch what I eat not keen on sweet things anyway I'm vegetarian I'm wondering if this affects my blood sugar my hba1c has been up and down I did get low as 54
Thanks I will try thatWelcome to the forum @Tom cat
Sorry to hear your levels have risen despite your meds having been adjusted.
It does sound perhaps as if your meds and menu aren’t quite in balance? Those high levels can make you feel pretty grim.
Have you had any help and support in tweaking your menu to try to make it a little easier on your blood glucose levels?
Many forum members find that moderating portions of carbohydrates can help their meds deal with their meals more effectively.
It might help to keep a brutally honest food diary for a week or two. Noting down everything you eat and drink, along with a rough estimate of the meal’s and snack’s carbohydrate content, so that you can begin to get a feel for which of your meals have the most glucose-raising potential.
Hi breakfast Weetabix lunch soup evening meal cheese omelette or pasta fruit for snacks bananas oranges grapes
Thanks how do I test for ketones
harbottle
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Some of those foods are quite in carbohydrates, which will end up in your blood as glucose.
Weetabix, pasta, grapes and bananas are probably best avoided if your blood sugar is high.
For breakfast I have some Greek yoghurt, peanut butter and berries. (Keeps me full most of the morning and is low in carbs.)
Eggs/Cheese are fine. I make a lot of mushroom omelettes!
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Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
You can buy ketone urine dip sticks from the pharmacy for about £5 for 50. Instructions and a chart will be on the pot.
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Often vegetarian meals are quite high carb so finding some substitutes will help, edamame bean or black bean pasta, butternut squash rather than potatoes, cauliflower rice are a few things people use.
Breakfast cereals are generally high carb but there are some low sugar granolas, I buy Keto Hana which is only 9g carb per 100g which although expensive when used as a topping for Greek Yoghurt and berries is not too bad.
I believe the Freshwell (https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/ ) program has a low carb veggie meal plan which may give you some ideas.
Home made soups can be low carb if you don't add potatoes.
rebrascora
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You don't mention bread and I am wondering if you don't mention it because you don't eat it or because you think that we will "know" you have bread because everyone has bread? Just wondering if you have bread with your soup and bread with your omelette, as I often used to do before diagnosis?
As others have said, It isn't just about sweet things but all carbs, like bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, pastry, potatoes etc. Unfortunately your choice of fruits are some of the highest (sweetest) fruits. Many of us just have berries like rasps, strawberries, blackcurrants, or blueberries or I have half an apple with a chunk of cheese most days for lunch as out trees produced a glut, but they are quite tart apples. That sort of thing. It takes a bit of getting your head around at first, but once you get into the swing of it, it's quite easy to stick to.
I should point out that I am not saying you should not eat the things I have listed above, but look for lower carb options and reduce portion size and frequency. So for instance for breakfast, I have mostly creamy Greek style natural yoghurt with mixed seed and a few berries and a sprinkle of nutty granola and a dusting of cinnamon. Before I would have had a bowl of the nutty granola with milk. Now a 500g bag lasts me a couple of months, whereas before it would have been gone in 10 days. The thick creaminess of the yoghurt makes it filling and satisfying and the tiny bit of Granola and the seeds just gives it a bit of texture. Lunch is usually half an apple with a chunk of nice cheese and I might have a few nuts and then I make stews and curries or chilli or bolognaise, but I don't have them with potatoes or rice but extra veggies, so I might have the bolognaise on a bed of cooked shredded cabbage or courgettes or broccoli and the curry usually has a lot of vegetables already in it so I can just eat it with a spoon like a stew,... or you can make cauliflower rice by grating it and takes just a couple of minutes to cook (or you can buy ready made cauliflower rice I believe. You can substitute mashed potato for mashed cauli or mashed butternut squash. If you like chips, I sometimes make them but use celeriac instead of potato as it is lower carb. There are lots of tasty things you can try, to replace the high carb stuff.
As others have said, It isn't just about sweet things but all carbs, like bread, pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, pastry, potatoes etc. Unfortunately your choice of fruits are some of the highest (sweetest) fruits. Many of us just have berries like rasps, strawberries, blackcurrants, or blueberries or I have half an apple with a chunk of cheese most days for lunch as out trees produced a glut, but they are quite tart apples. That sort of thing. It takes a bit of getting your head around at first, but once you get into the swing of it, it's quite easy to stick to.
I should point out that I am not saying you should not eat the things I have listed above, but look for lower carb options and reduce portion size and frequency. So for instance for breakfast, I have mostly creamy Greek style natural yoghurt with mixed seed and a few berries and a sprinkle of nutty granola and a dusting of cinnamon. Before I would have had a bowl of the nutty granola with milk. Now a 500g bag lasts me a couple of months, whereas before it would have been gone in 10 days. The thick creaminess of the yoghurt makes it filling and satisfying and the tiny bit of Granola and the seeds just gives it a bit of texture. Lunch is usually half an apple with a chunk of nice cheese and I might have a few nuts and then I make stews and curries or chilli or bolognaise, but I don't have them with potatoes or rice but extra veggies, so I might have the bolognaise on a bed of cooked shredded cabbage or courgettes or broccoli and the curry usually has a lot of vegetables already in it so I can just eat it with a spoon like a stew,... or you can make cauliflower rice by grating it and takes just a couple of minutes to cook (or you can buy ready made cauliflower rice I believe. You can substitute mashed potato for mashed cauli or mashed butternut squash. If you like chips, I sometimes make them but use celeriac instead of potato as it is lower carb. There are lots of tasty things you can try, to replace the high carb stuff.
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Just be aware that you would need to make any adjustments to your menu gradually and in stages by looking at reducing portion sizes rather than dropping the carby elements entirely. The medication you are on assumes you will be having some carbohydrate content with each meal, so I don’t think it would be wise to switch suddenly to a low carb meal and risk a hypo.
Hope you can make some tweaks to get your menu and meds in balance, and gently shift your BG levels towards a more comfortable range 🙂
Hope you can make some tweaks to get your menu and meds in balance, and gently shift your BG levels towards a more comfortable range 🙂
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