How to manage Blood Sugar/High Blood Pressure & High Cholesterol?

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FitatFifty

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Hi please can someone help me? I am type 2 diabetic and have been mainly ignoring the diagnosis since being told I was pre-diabetic. My blood sugar is 50 so officially type 2 diabetic and also have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

I honestly don't know what to do - what to measure, what the numbers mean, what is the most important of those to track and focuscon to change! I have made and am making changes - cut out majority of the junk i was eating - including evening daily chocolate and bisuits - and haven;t lost any weight at all!. I need to walk and exercise more and am focussed on that this month. Massively upped my fruity and veg, and trying to drink more water - i am really bad at that.

Dr asked if i wanted to go on medication and I said no - not sure if that was sensible? i am tired all the time. I'm a 50 year old women so also pre menopausal.

I honestly don't know what to do or where to start - pls help with any advice. it's all gotten too overwhelming! I'm also embarrassed about it and feel ive caused all these avoidable issues by being fat and inactive :(

thank you so much in advance x
 
Hello and welcome to the forum!

I'm not going to give you any specific advice, that will come later, and from other people
Instead here are a few general comments and (hopefully!) encouragement

Firstly, much as we might like to, we cannot turn back the clock, so try not to feel guilty or start thinking 'if only ....' -- It saps your energy and ultimately will send you crazy
Instead look to what you can do in the future and how to change things

Nothing in the body acts in isolation, everything affects everything else.
As you treat your diabetes you will almost certainly find that your weight, cholesterol, energy, blood pressure improve, but this treatment will require exercise, a change of diet, and so on
But all this has a sort of rolling or combined effect - as you improve so you can do more, so you can do even more, and so on

Have a look at the Learning Zone, the red tab at the top of this page; and the various headings on diabetes UK Home Page about understanding diabetes, living with diabetes, and so on ; there's lots of advice about losing weight, diets, etc.

Read previous Threads on this forum, especially Newcomers, Food, Weight Loss, etc. There is lots of advice, and your questions will have been asked before

Take some comfort from the fact that you are not alone in this position - many people have been there, but have improved, often mainly by their own efforts

It would help if you had -

a blood glucose meter; see if your doctor will supply one, otherwise you'll probably have to buy your own. Ask again for advice about that if you need to

A blood pressure meter. It's less likely that you would be prescribed one, but they're not that expensive

A decent set of bathroom scales. You can get a digital one switchable from stone to kilograms for about £20

Finally, nothing on here is silly, we've all been in your position, so if you have any questions, ask away!

Best of luck and let us know how you go on
 
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Thank you so much for your replies - feel better already. Will spend some time in the learning zone and get my head around this!

I bought a blood pressure monitor a few weeks ago and not used it yet - think I'm scared to - which is crazy! I will get that out today - and try to understand what I'm actually looking for or need to track?

Doctors advised not to use a home diabetes meter - said it results will fluctuate too much?

I have the bathroom scales so can get weighing - trying to do daily just to understand my body and fluctuations better.

Thank you x
 
FitatFifty said:
Doctors advised not to use a home diabetes meter - said it results will fluctuate too much?


Thank you x
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They always say that but you won't find many on here who'd agree.

Random testing won't tell you anything meaningful - you need a testing regime and you then stick to it, ie

Test on waking (not literally, although some have done so) - this is a fasting test as you won't have eaten or drunk anything overnight. Test as soon as possible after getting up, and don't eat or drink anything until you've tested. The target range is to be between 4 and 7.

Test just before eating and then again 2 hours later. The target range for pre-meal is also to be between 4 and 7, and the target for post-meal is to be below 8.5 and no more than 3 higher than pre-meal. This will tell you how well your body coped with what you had to eat. Above 8.5, or more than 3 higher, indicates that whatever you ate was too high in carbs and a cut in portion size might be in order, or in a worst-case scenario don't have it again.

It also pays to keep a food diary and record what you've eaten and what your pre- and post-meal readings were. This is how we sort out our diets. My food diary has so many entries in it that I no longer test after some meals as it would be a waste of lancets and test strips.

Your HbA1c of 50 is only a step over the line so you should be able to turn things around through a combination of diet, weight loss and being more active. Many us were diagnosed with an HbA1c in 3 figures but have still managed to bring it down, in some cases into normal range.
 
You have already had plenty of good advise but can I point you in the direction of looking at this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/ which I found super helpful and made perfect sense.
I followed the principals rather than the meal plans and reduced my HbA1C from 50mmol/mol which is where you are, to 42 in 3 months and to 38 in another 6 months. I found it a very easy approach and it is my new way of eating and we are nearly 3 years on.
Many find that reducing carbohydrates with help with cholesterol and blood pressure as well as blood glucose.
Keep an eye on your blood pressure as if high can be confused with symptoms of high glucose.
The BP monitors are very straightforward to use and it is worth taking an average of 3 readings taken twice a day for several days to check on trends.
 
welcome to the forum , i can totally relate to your post as when i was diagnosed i had no clue and for 2 years just took the medication given to me by GP no advice given to me at all anyway for me my levels went up again . I decided then to try to get to grips with it but not knowing where to start i looked on the internet and i joined diabetes UK and completed the learning zone , you have a meter that's great ,i find testing every 3 hours just to see if my body can tolerate what i have just eaten , if its too high then i try to reduce the portion size next time and test that same meal again again . Look at carbohydrates if you eat them i still eat them but i have smaller qtys when i do i.e. boiled potatoes i might only have 2 or 3 small ones but bulk plate out with greens . look on the forum for ideas about meals and about hidden sugars in some foods .Try not to get overwhelmed i know its not easy just try to learn as much as you can about the condition talk with people on here and ask away i'm sure everyone reading can offer some advice . my advice go slow just make small changes to your diet these can have a big impact on sugar levels . I've seen my levels fall from high 7s mostly down to 5s and 6s putting me in the pre diabetic range now since xmass .for me its been about diet changes and walking more i don't go to the gym but i do go on a bike or do walking and this helps with controlling sugar levels
 
Thanks so much for the detailed reply Martin. That's a really helpful breakdown and something for me to follow.

A pharmacist recently recommended getting the medication as most people never do make enough of the changes needed to stop the damage so suggested controlling it via meds first and then work to go into remission.

Would it make sense to check blood pressure and blood sugar a the same time?
 
Leadinglights said:
You have already had plenty of good advise but can I point you in the direction of looking at this link https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/ which I found super helpful and made perfect sense.
I followed the principals rather than the meal plans and reduced my HbA1C from 50mmol/mol which is where you are, to 42 in 3 months and to 38 in another 6 months. I found it a very easy approach and it is my new way of eating and we are nearly 3 years on.
Many find that reducing carbohydrates with help with cholesterol and blood pressure as well as blood glucose.
Keep an eye on your blood pressure as if high can be confused with symptoms of high glucose.
The BP monitors are very straightforward to use and it is worth taking an average of 3 readings taken twice a day for several days to check on trends.
Click to expand...
Thank you.
Have cut down carbs a lot but plenty more work to do to find the not obvious carbs!
 
richard.m said:
welcome to the forum , i can totally relate to your post as when i was diagnosed i had no clue and for 2 years just took the medication given to me by GP no advice given to me at all anyway for me my levels went up again . I decided then to try to get to grips with it but not knowing where to start i looked on the internet and i joined diabetes UK and completed the learning zone , you have a meter that's great ,i find testing every 3 hours just to see if my body can tolerate what i have just eaten , if its too high then i try to reduce the portion size next time and test that same meal again again . Look at carbohydrates if you eat them i still eat them but i have smaller qtys when i do i.e. boiled potatoes i might only have 2 or 3 small ones but bulk plate out with greens . look on the forum for ideas about meals and about hidden sugars in some foods .Try not to get overwhelmed i know its not easy just try to learn as much as you can about the condition talk with people on here and ask away i'm sure everyone reading can offer some advice . my advice go slow just make small changes to your diet these can have a big impact on sugar levels . I've seen my levels fall from high 7s mostly down to 5s and 6s putting me in the pre diabetic range now since xmass .for me its been about diet changes and walking more i don't go to the gym but i do go on a bike or do walking and this helps with controlling sugar levels
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Thank you Richard, and well done!
Can I ask what’s the high 7s and 5/6s numbers?
HbAC1 is in double digits and testes quarterly ideally - I think
So is the 5-7 a daily reading range?
 
Hi and thank you ,
yes my daily baseline numbers before eating at the moment are well within the 5-7 daily reading range normally on waking under 6.0 and before bed around the same ,ive tested myself and am just about to have breakfast an example at the moment my reading is 5.0 ill check it again in a few hours before lunch. Sometimes for me depending what i eat my blood glucose can stay high for a few hours and takes a while to drop an example would be porridge or pizza I've seen high numbers for hours after if i eat these so i tend to only have these now and then but not regularly its taken a bit of educating myself and learning what my body can handle without being to much of a struggle .Everyone's different i'm sure that you will find what works best for you in regard to meals etc , for me i have my go too meals that i know i can tolerate , breakie normally something with eggs scrambled eggs on whole meal toast works for me or Greek yogurt and berry's its , lunch i make home made chili in a batch on a weekend no rice though just chili powder and herbs with loads of beans in etc ,or home made baked beans on toast or a veggie casserole then for dinner normally something with salad , i make my own dressings so to give the salads a bit of taste and i cook a lot more instead of just buying processed food . If having a treat ill often get a house special satay or omelet if having a takeout meal its just what works for me like i say everyone's different , keeping a food diary if your testing is great and you can find out what works just take things slow and good luck on the journey 🙂
 
richard.m said:
Hi and thank you ,
yes my daily baseline numbers before eating at the moment are well within the 5-7 daily reading range normally on waking under 6.0 and before bed around the same ,ive tested myself and am just about to have breakfast an example at the moment my reading is 5.0 ill check it again in a few hours before lunch. Sometimes for me depending what i eat my blood glucose can stay high for a few hours and takes a while to drop an example would be porridge or pizza I've seen high numbers for hours after if i eat these so i tend to only have these now and then but not regularly its taken a bit of educating myself and learning what my body can handle without being to much of a struggle .Everyone's different i'm sure that you will find what works best for you in regard to meals etc , for me i have my go too meals that i know i can tolerate , breakie normally something with eggs scrambled eggs on whole meal toast works for me or Greek yogurt and berry's its , lunch i make home made chili in a batch on a weekend no rice though just chili powder and herbs with loads of beans in etc ,or home made baked beans on toast or a veggie casserole then for dinner normally something with salad , i make my own dressings so to give the salads a bit of taste and i cook a lot more instead of just buying processed food . If having a treat ill often get a house special satay or omelet if having a takeout meal its just what works for me like i say everyone's different , keeping a food diary if your testing is great and you can find out what works just take things slow and good luck on the journey 🙂
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Thank you! Im literally eating scrambled eggs with veggies and salmon for brunch as I read this! Great advice re food and eating Trying intermittent fasting for a couple of weeks to see if it kickstarts any weight loss.

Took my daughter to dentist this morning and walked around the car park while waiting - so trying to make small changes that will stack up
 
Thanks @zuludog - found my machine today and just tested
Will do this daily in the mornings - picking up blood glucose monitor later so will do both daily from tomorow and track

Thank you!
 
might sound silly but try to drink more water ,have it with ice and a slice of lemon this helps , the intermittent fasting should make a difference how long are you going for without anything to eat ? Green tea is good as well either hot or cold to me it doesn't taste of anything but i have it now and then it seems to work in diets
 
don't get caught up in the numbers too much at first just see where you are at with them and just do lots of research look at other posts on here complete the learning zone . Cutting down on plate sizes and looking into portion sizes helps , i check a few times a day just to see where i'm at , if my levels are higher than i like before a meal ill normally wait 30 mins or more then have sum thing . Learning zone is really good .also have a look at the nhs https://app.changinghealth.com/ theres a section where you can log your glucose results and even a built in food diary might be worth a look
 
richard.m said:
don't get caught up in the numbers too much at first just see where you are at with them and just do lots of research look at other posts on here complete the learning zone . Cutting down on plate sizes and looking into portion sizes helps , i check a few times a day just to see where i'm at , if my levels are higher than i like before a meal ill normally wait 30 mins or more then have sum thing . Learning zone is really good .also have a look at the nhs https://app.changinghealth.com/ theres a section where you can log your glucose results and even a built in food diary might be worth a look
Click to expand...
Thank you, I finally realised I need to treat it like a proper proper project and look into and do the research and the work so lots of learning ahead.
Won’t tell you how long it look to get the blood pressure cuff on right

Filled up a jug of water and kept it with me today while working so working on the water drinking.

Fasted from 9.30 last night to 12 today so not a huge one but just decided this morning drink water and then eat later.

Will be aiming for 16/8 with the fasting - any advice is welcome

Thank you for your support x
 
diabetes is an education and i'm still learning myself , if you can eat good healthy wholesome meals most of the time then you will see improvements, i have times where ill have treats like everyone else and being more active just moving more doing gardening or just going around the shops its all walking and all counts as moving move ,totally agree with the post above and no need to starve yourself whatever changes you make must be sustainable and its a life long thing so eat what you enjoy but try to keep it as heathy as you can make it , exercise do things that you enjoy and that you will keep on doing , ive done the gym thing and it didn't last but i love gardening and walking around the shops even cycling , anyway good luck with this and your very welcome 😉
 
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