I am getting help from doctor and nurses but it’s taking time as I have to keep waiting a couple of weeks between appointments.
I'm aspergers, and, if I am not careful, this could become a major hobby horse for me. Despite my chosen life style, and attending a medical practice that most people would want to avoid, I personally am receiving first class quality of care from the Docs, Nurses and my local Pharmacist. I was diagnosed just over a month ago and have been having appointments with Docs at least once a week for blood work, tests and general check ups. The head honcho has even phoned me on three or four occasions with new advice and to enquire how I am getting on. Similarly, during a recent emergency hospital visit, I was treated like a king.
Yet, I am regularly reading on these boards genuine horror stories of people being diagnosed, then subsequently ignored, abandoned or otherwise not getting good quality care. To me, it appears that there is a definite post-code lottery with regard to the quality of care one can expect to receive, hence my impending hobby-horse.
My concerns are regarding high blood sugars and inflammation and pain in my liver.
For a diabetic,
this is potentially serious. Showing early indicators of
nephropathy myself, I am considered to be at risk of developing serious kidney complications. How is your blood pressure and has your urine been checked for
protein loss?
Also, you didn't mention what medications you are on?
The standard medication is
Metformin, (possibly in combination with others). However, for Metformin to be effective, it has to be taken in conjunction with a low carb diet.
Diet advice is a fairly common question for type 2's, so i have been working on a prepared text I can just copy/paste, to which you are the first beneficiary.
Since Type 2 diet guidance is a regular question, I have this prepared text:
The general advice is to cut back on
carbs, they all get converted to sugar. My Doctor gave me a target for my daily carb allowance. Since cutting back too quickly on the carbs can lead to complications, this initial target will, along with your medical history, depend on your previous eating habits. The most important thing to note is that you have to reduce your carb intake in stages.
Get into the habit of looking at the nutritional info on prepared foods, snacks etc and don't be fooled by labels that say: "Healthy Option". They may be healthy, but they can also have a very high carb content. If, like me, you lack the discipline to just have one chocolate digestive, then it is probably best to avoid high sugar biscuits completely. Ditto with packets of crisps, tortillas and the like. Sugar is another no-no: Avoid sugary drinks and, if you can stomach them , use saccharine or some other sweetener in tea and coffee. If not, drink your morning cuppa unsweetened. With respect to soft drinks, note that there is a difference between "sugar free" and "no added sugar". It is the latter which should be your beverage of choice.
In general, you should only have very small,
tiny daily portions of high carb veg, grains and cereals. Basically, cut back drastically on:
pasta (32g/100g), rice (30g/100g), potato (18g/100g), and bread (18g/slice).
Low carb substitutes for the preceding are:
- Potato: Mooli (3g/100g), a type of radish, can be chopped up and cooked with a very small potato and some neeps (5g/100g) or squash (7g/100g). I microwave them together for about 25 minutes or until the mooli is soft to the fork. As someone who traditionally piles on the spuds, I find this surprisingly effective. It is a large root, and I usually get two or three meals out of one.
- Rice: Cauliflower (4g/100g) can be used to make a rice substitute. If you like, you can follow the BBC recipe, but I usually just finely dice it.
- Pasta: Courgettes (2g/100g), can be used to make a pasta substitute. Again, rather than spiralize the courgette, I generally just cut the courgette into thinnish slices, (or even grate it,) to make either a Farfalle or Orzo type of pasta. Then, with a dash of olive oil infused with either fresh garlic or crushed chillies, I microwave it à la dent for about a minute or so.
- Bread: The lowest carbs per slice substitute I have found is Ryvita Crackerbread Original (4g/slice) and for variety Oatcakes (6g/slice). Though, because the latter is 50% higher in carbs per slice, I limit myself to 3 oatcakes per day. (About 18g of carbs, or 7% of my current daily carb allowance)
Another thing to avoid is "most" tropical fruits as they have a high sugar content. Apples and berries have a much lower sugar content, as does fruit which is not fully ripened. Also,
be warned, many legumes, dried or tinned, can have a very high carb content:
Kidney Beans (22g/100g),
Spilt Peas (21g/100g),
Chickpeas (17g/100g),
Butter Beans (15g/100g) .... etc, etc.
Remember, often the carb content can be surprising, at 8g/100g
onions are a mid-range vegetable and at 15g/100g
garlic is up there with potato.
So, take nothing for granted, always check the nutritional info and use much smaller portions where appropriate.
Note: The garlic example was mainly to illustrate how carb content can be surprising. But, a typical clove of garlic weighs about 7 or 8 grams. So, if you like garlic, three cloves/day is equivalent to a slice of Crakerbread. The odd 4 grams of carbs here and 5 grams there can quickly add up!
For snacking, tree nuts:, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts.... are all good. On the other hand dried fruit like raisins and sultanas are full of sugar. (That is why grapes are used to make great wine)
There is a meal planner
here in the main DiabetesUK domain, which may be of use. Along with a search box, the page also has a navigation bar that will allow you to browse a large number of good quality articles on suitable foods, recipes, (including vegetarian,) ... etc, etc.
End prepared text
Anyway, welcome to the forums, and remember: Every day is the first day of the rest of your life. Do not get discouraged and also remember, we have a wide range of background and life experience here, and we are all motivated to offer support and encouragement.
So I’ve joined Diabetes UK in the hope that I can get support, advice and information so I can learn about it and look after myself. I have some strong concerns and not sure if I can post it on this thread or do I have to put it in different sections on forum. My concerns are regarding high blood sugars and inflammation and pain in my liver. I am getting help from doctor and nurses but it’s taking time as I have to keep waiting a couple of weeks between appointments. Some stuff is new and it’s the weekend ggrrrrr. Anyway, hello and thanks,
