High sugar levels

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abigailemily13

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Hi I am diet controlled diabetic currently however my sugar levels are 12.3 and am unable to reduce them. Can anyone advise me of what to do. Many thanks
 
Welcome @abigailemily13 What at pre your levels normally? Do you know why they’re high today eg illness, what you ate, etc?

What was your HbA1C at diagnosis? When were you diagnosed?

Generally, keep well hydrated, reduce the carbs you eat, exercise - all these will help.
 
Hi and welcome.

Sorry to hear your BG levels are a bit high but don't panic too much at the moment Whilst long term, levels in lower double figures are not desirable, they are not a cause for panic.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your diabetes diagnosis? ie. What lead to your diagnosis (routine blood test or symptomatic and if the latter what symptoms) and when were you diagnosed. What was your HbA1c at diagnosis and have you had it checked since then?
What dietary modifications did you make to manage your diabetes?
How frequently do you test your BG levels and when did you get that 12.3... ie when you woke up this morning or after breakfast and if so, how long after breakfast and what did you eat..... or is the 12.3 an average over a number of days and if so, how many? What is the highest reading you have had in the last 7 days and the lowest?

Sorry for all the questions but the more information you can give us the better we can understand your situation and make more appropriate suggestions.
Drinking plenty of water may help to reduce levels a bit and in this heat, dehydration can certainly happen and cause levels to be higher than normal. Also illness or impending illness can inflate levels.
 
So I was diagnosed about 4 years ago go and my diet still hasn't been brilliant over this time .however ,
it's only on this blood test I had a month ago that I had a response from the GP via text saying we've had your results back and they are not good please make an appointment for a month's time and the diabetic nurse will be in touch with you. What does that actually mean? I haven't heard anything since and have another blood test to go to at the beginning of August. I have noticed blurry vision and just generally feeling tired and headache I appreciate that could be down to the weather however I probably got myself in a bit of a stew about it. I am keeping hydrated and drinking pints of water at a time. When I see long-term high sugar levels can cause damage what does that mean what is long-term a week monthly year? I also went to have my diabetic eye test at the hospital and they have seen deterioration not sure what that means either but you only get a letter saying if you have any more concerned contact your GP.

I also feel that I don't want to contact the doctor because if nobody says anything or nobody knows then it's not actually happening.

Does that help . Thank you for responding and being so kind.
 
Although I totally get your logic (and your fears), knowledge is power. Diabetes is a pain but it can be controlled. It might simply be that you need some medication eg Metformin (very common) or nurse wants to talk about your diet.

You say your diet hasn’t been the best. In a way that’s good because there are probably lots of ways you could improve it and thus improve your blood glucose.
 
It sounds as if you haven't really made much change to your diet but doing that is going to really help to get your blood glucose levels down. There are different approaches people use as everybody if different in what might suit them. People have success with a low carbohydrate approach but also low calorie or shakes based regime but whatever they choose has to be enjoyable and sustainable long term.
The principals in this link is an approach many find successful. https://lowcarbfreshwell.co.uk/
If your HbA1C blood test result is not too far into the diabetic zone then there is no reason why those dietary changes shouldn't be successful.
 
Ok, so it sounds like you haven't really made many changes to your diet so I am guessing that you have perhaps buried your head in the sand a bit since diagnosis, which may well be why things have progressed and your levels are now higher.
abigailemily13 said:
I also feel that I don't want to contact the doctor because if nobody says anything or nobody knows then it's not actually happening.
Click to expand...
This is not a good a good attitude as I am sure you know.
It is time to take control and put some effort into your diabetes management. It may be that you now need some medication to help as well as making dietary changes but regardless of medication, the lifestyle changes are important and can start now rather than waiting until your appointment with the nurse. Dietary changes can be extremely powerful in reducing your levels, more so than most oral meds if you follow the right advice and we can definitely help you with that here on the forum.
A couple of questions.... Do you have much/any weight to lose?
What sort of things do you currently eat and drink? Ie what is a typical breakfast, lunch and evening meal for you and what if any snacks? This gives us an idea of where you could make some simple swaps to improve things.

There are two main approaches that members here have found work well....

A short term very low calorie diet of 800 calories per day usually involving meal replacement shakes for 8-12 weeks to rid the body of excess fat and in particular visceral fat. You then need to find a way to maintain that weight loss which can be the hardest part, especially if you have a history of Yo-Yo dieting.

The other option is to adopt a low carbohydrate diet and this is a lifestyle change for life. Finding a new way of eating which is enjoyable but low in carbs. Takes a bit of getting your head around when you have spent a lifetime of filling up on bread and pasta and rice and breakfast cereals, but once you adopt new low carb eating habits it becomes progressively easier and what I find amazing about it is that you stop craving those high carb foods once you cut down on them and eat a little more fat.... The fat is important because it makes food more satisying, prevents hunger and provides slow release energy. In fact the focus on low fat foods over our lifetime may well be a contributing factor to our high rates of obesity and diabetes.... exactly what low fat products were supposed to help prevent. So things like having full fat milk and natural yoghurts and mayonnaise and cheese can actually help you to eat less and lose weight providing that you cut down on the higher carb foods. I know it sounds counter intuitive but I eat much less now that I used to and I don't feel hungry or get cravings like I used to, so it isn't difficult to stick to.

Anyway, a good place to start is making an honest food diary for a few days of everything you eat and drink and then see where you can start to make some cuts and substitutions. There is no judgement here as many of us were eating far too much of the wrong things pre diagnosis. One of the simplest things you can do is swap to a lower carb breakfast as many breakfast options are high carb (breakfast cereal/toast... even "healthy" options like a banana, fruit juice and porridge) These will all impact your BG levels to some extent. Making a lower carb breakfast choice can have a bigger impact than any other meal and because we tend to have the same thing for breakfast most mornings, it is an easy new habit to form. Many of us have creamy Greek natural yoghurt with a few berries (berries are the lowest carb fruits) and mixed seeds. I had stewed gooseberries from the garden this morning, with a little artifical sweetener as they are cooking gooseberries. Other times it is stewed rhubarb or raspberries which are my favourite fruit or strawberries or a few blueberries or blackcurrants or blackberries later in the year. The creaminess of the yoghurt takes the edge off some of the tartness of the fruit meaning you need less/no sweetener.

Anyway, that is just one idea but plenty more like scrambled eggs and smoked salmon or bacon and eggs and mushrooms, although I am not recommending people eat bacon or smoked salmon every morning. Eggs are great though and so versatile.
 
Diabetes is a slow moving foe. It is good to meet it's challenge with slow steady changes, so yes, take a few days to think about it and maybe keep a food diary and start to change your shopping habits and work out a plan based on slowly making improvements on your current menu..... but please don't be tempted to bury your head in the sand and hope it will go away. You deserve to be healthy and happy and for many of us, our diabetes diagnosis was the kick up the pants which led to us making changes which have actually made us healthier and probably live longer and with better quality of life, so there have been lots of positives to come out of making those changes.
I still enjoy food and have treats, they are just different treats to those I used to have. As an example, I have double cream in my morning coffee (instead of milk and 2+ spoons of sugar), despite always saying I would rather not drink coffee as drink it without sugar. This is now my little daily luxury. I also sometimes end the day with a glass of red and some cheese or a G& slimline T with some olives... usually also with some cheese. These are low carb and do not impact my BG levels so fine for my diabetes. Just want you to know that it isn't all "sack cloth and ashes" diet from here on in. These things might not appeal to you but there will be others that do. For me it helped me to let go of my old treats knowing that there were new ones I could embrace. Having plenty of low carb treats helped me to transition.
 
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