Medication problems.

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope you can find a med or meds that works for you @brettr

And like @Proud to be erratic I have not found insulin to be independently associated with weight gain, it’s only when I am eating too much (and the insulin is facilitating the metabolism of the carbs involved) that I gain weight.

I’ve been taking insulin for over 30 years and my weight has remained roughly stable.

I wonder, perhaps, if insulin’s reputation for weight gain is because people go onto insulin because their metabolism cannot deal with the menu they are eating, and some of the energy involved can’t be processed and stays in the bloodstream causing havoc. By adding insulin those carbs can then be absorbed, so people observe weight gain when they have not changed what they are eating - but in reality it’s only that the body now has access to absorb the energy into cells that was previously ‘stuck’ in the bloodstream (causing damage).

Just a theory - but it ties in with T1’s being unable to gain weight, and often dramatically losing weight until they are given insulin to help process the food energy that was unavailable to them.

 

[Nayshiftin]

Hope you can find a med or meds that works for you @brettr

And like @Proud to be erratic I have not found insulin to be independently associated with weight gain, it’s only when I am eating too much (and the insulin is facilitating the metabolism of the carbs involved) that I gain weight.

I’ve been taking insulin for over 30 years and my weight has remained roughly stable.

I wonder, perhaps, if insulin’s reputation for weight gain is because people go onto insulin because their metabolism cannot deal with the menu they are eating, and some of the energy involved can’t be processed and stays in the bloodstream causing havoc. By adding insulin those carbs can then be absorbed, so people observe weight gain when they have not changed what they are eating - but in reality it’s only that the body now has access to absorb the energy into cells that was previously ‘stuck’ in the bloodstream (causing damage).

Just a theory - but it ties in with T1’s being unable to gain weight, and often dramatically losing weight until they are given insulin to help process the food energy that was unavailable to them.

My cousin who had an Hs attack is on insulin and has never gained weight.
I however am afraid to say I know the heartache of medication not being easy to tolerate . Its a rough one.
i dread the diabetes too and the weight I have
I however know stickiing with low carb is pain but it works and when you see the sugar coming down and your weight coming down its a tough rollar coaster ride. Its not easy but great satisfaction
I would try and make a few changes at first and see how it does change blood sugars . Try one day and see how your blood sugars and weight reacts. Everyone is different
A low carb omelette that can be three eggs and a huge grating of cheese omelette for breakfast. Made with melted butter too. You are hungry if large so feed to your size do not starve . i learnt the hard way .
Lunch can be soup but make with carb vegetables you can add cream its yummy and filling. Ypu can make fathead bread rolls or low keto bread or try without.
Dinner could be chicken curry snd cauliflower rice.
Thats just s hungry says meal but i do not gain weight in that and i lower Bs or it stays same.
Look at all the low carb recipes on Freshwell site or Diabetes UK
This is your journey though and they help you here.
I cannot thank all enough fir the support i have.
Good luck
.Sorry cannot say which meds as that between you and the medics but mine did work better on lower sugars.
So i encourage you to try snd eat low carb as its easier to see blood sugar rise if you eat loads of carbs.

 

[Leadinglights]

I think you are getting the wrong end of the stick with regard to carbs and you seem also to be keeping to low fat which is likely why you are feeling hungry.
The mayo I have (not low fat) is only 3.4g carb per 100g so a good dollop with your tuna would be very few carbs anyway and you could have some hard boiled eggs or grated cheese. Even with a couple of ryvita it would still be under 20g carb for your meal.
As we have said low carb is not NO carbs and even with my adopted regime of 70g carbs per day I still have 20-25g carbs at a meal.

 

[trophywench]

By the way when I have Ryvita I butter it. With actual butter. On the side with the craters ....... helps whatever protein salad etc I pile onto it, stay put!

 

[askeelsepttype2]

Since following a low carb diet my blood glucose has dropped to 8.4 (latest reading) I know that is still too high but a vast improvement compared to 14.7 before starting diet. I try to keep my carbs to 50g per day and that includes my daily porridge (19g) carb free lunch, egg ,cheese, or fish salad. That leaves me 31g for dinner but frequently have less. Yesterdays after dinner test was 9.4. I am slowly loosing weight and bringing down my sugar levels.

 

[Tdm]

Insulin does not cause you to gain weight. But in my experience low carb does help you lose weight

 

[brettr]

My cousin who had an Hs attack is on insulin and has never gained weight.
I however am afraid to say I know the heartache of medication not being easy to tolerate . Its a rough one.
i dread the diabetes too and the weight I have
I however know stickiing with low carb is pain but it works and when you see the sugar coming down and your weight coming down its a tough rollar coaster ride. Its not easy but great satisfaction
I would try and make a few changes at first and see how it does change blood sugars . Try one day and see how your blood sugars and weight reacts. Everyone is different
A low carb omelette that can be three eggs and a huge grating of cheese omelette for breakfast. Made with melted butter too. You are hungry if large so feed to your size do not starve . i learnt the hard way .
Lunch can be soup but make with carb vegetables you can add cream its yummy and filling. Ypu can make fathead bread rolls or low keto bread or try without.
Dinner could be chicken curry snd cauliflower rice.
Thats just s hungry says meal but i do not gain weight in that and i lower Bs or it stays same.
Look at all the low carb recipes on Freshwell site or Diabetes UK
This is your journey though and they help you here.
I cannot thank all enough fir the support i have.
Good luck
.Sorry cannot say which meds as that between you and the medics but mine did work better on lower sugars.
So i encourage you to try snd eat low carb as its easier to see blood sugar rise if you eat loads of carbs.

Thank you for your great reply.

I am not happy that I have put weight on when I had lost over 19 pounds previously, I got down to 19sstones 6 pounds, just by changing my diet, which surprised the hell out of me at the time, this was before last xmas.

After the shock of my BG going to 32.7mmols recently, it jolted me back into eating better again, and yes, it is damn tough to deal with. I have just been reading that total cards a T2 diabetic like myself should be eating a day is 50-80g I am assuming that this means all the food I am going to eat in that day. It also stated that if I could stick to 50 carbs a day, it will make a huge difference to reducing my BG back to normal levels.

I have the Carb & Calorie counter book, and took a look earlier at some of the foods that I currently eat and never realised a 2 or 3 egg omelette was only 2g of carbs, luckily I love eggs, but I can't be stupid with them regarding eating too much.

I take on board what you say about being on the larger side with weight, feed to my size, don't starve. I get hungry again after 2 hours, sometimes I ignore it and drink lots of water, other times I can actually feel sick, think I need to take a look through the book I have and find something really low in carbs, that is filling. I realise now that trying to cut carbs out completely is all but impossible.

The people on here are a godsend, I understand more from the messages I get on here that I do seeing my diabetic nurse.

My bugbear about meds is that I have recently found out that the 2 meds I was tried on that didn't, One, the Flozin meds, is that there are 3 others in the same group. I know I might upset people on here going on about hypo's etc, but as long as there is an alternative to just being told I will have to either take insulin or something similar for the sake of cost, then It's not happening, the other 3 Flozin meds will be similar, but their drug makeup for each one is slightly different, regardless of some of the side effects. It's the same with statin meds, there are 4 that are used in the UK, simvastatin being the cheapest and most widely available, I can't tolerate that one, so am on Atorvastatin, which I have no problems taking, slightly different drug makeup but still does the same thing.

I am promising myself that I will eat lower carbs. Tonight's evening meal for me was a medium piece of Basa Fish Fillet with cabbage. I will take a look at the recipe's you mentioned on both sites and take suggestions from there. There are certain foods that I won't eat, such as avocado or prawns etc, but there will be an alternative to those.

Thank you.

 

[brettr]

By the way when I have Ryvita I butter it. With actual butter. On the side with the craters ....... helps whatever protein salad etc I pile onto it, stay put!

As it was shopping day with my mum today, I took a look at the sesame seed Ryvita and found that per slice they are only 6.0g carbs, so 2 would be the max I would be having of them, which is also one portion. Your suggestion of which protein to put on them, once buttered make them more filling. Tuna, cottage cheese, sliced egg, salad, tomato and cucumber etc, all make for excellent fillings and help keep me fuller for longer.

 

[brettr]

Insulin does not cause you to gain weight. But in my experience low carb does help you lose weight

For some people it does ! That information is from the NICE guidelines, PDF file that I printed from a link on here. I am not saying it will do that to everyone, but some will be susceptible to gaining weight. I will be consulting the carbs and calorie counter book I have to look at lower carb foods that I can eat, mostly for getting my sugars down, but to lose the weight I have as well.

 

[brettr]

Since following a low carb diet my blood glucose has dropped to 8.4 (latest reading) I know that is still too high but a vast improvement compared to 14.7 before starting diet. I try to keep my carbs to 50g per day and that includes my daily porridge (19g) carb free lunch, egg ,cheese, or fish salad. That leaves me 31g for dinner but frequently have less. Yesterdays after dinner test was 9.4. I am slowly loosing weight and bringing down my sugar levels.

I recently looked at the box of porridge oats that I bought I while back and almost fell on the floor, the carbs are 69.1g and this is just basic porridge oats. I thought porridge was supposed to be really good for you ? even if I only had a 30g mix, which is quite a lot, and even though it's a slow acting carb, surely that's going to drive my BG through the roof ?

I wish my BG was 8.4 at this moment rather than the 15.8 it was earlier. I realise that it's going to take me a bit of time to bring things back down again, and I am determined to sort myself out. I didn't know that having salad has no carbs at all, so it's always a good thing to have in, good fibre, but no carbs.

I take it that the 31g of carbs you have available for dinner would include all the good things that you want to eat, either salad or veg with whatever meat or other protein source you may want ?

 

[brettr]

I think you are getting the wrong end of the stick with regard to carbs and you seem also to be keeping to low fat which is likely why you are feeling hungry.
The mayo I have (not low fat) is only 3.4g carb per 100g so a good dollop with your tuna would be very few carbs anyway and you could have some hard boiled eggs or grated cheese. Even with a couple of ryvita it would still be under 20g carb for your meal.
As we have said low carb is not NO carbs and even with my adopted regime of 70g carbs per day I still have 20-25g carbs at a meal.

You made me realise something with your words, it's with regards to the Xpert diabetes course I went on earlier in the year, your mentioning about the low fat and feeling hungry, reminded me that the ladies who did the course recommended full fat, but less of it for the point of leaving you feeling fuller for longer.

The tuna, cucumber, tomato and celery mix plus the full fat mayo was just the right thing for me, I felt as though I had eaten something very good and wasn't cheating. I will remember the cheese or boiled eggs as an alternative for another day. I did good not having the Ryvita too, but the fact that it's roughly 20 carbs or under even with them is a surprise.

I have now taken on board from what most have said, regarding having low carbs, trying to cut them out completely is not going to work, so thank you all for reminding me not to be a fool when it comes to doing the right things regarding the food I need to eat to reduce my BG and lose my weight.

 

[Nayshiftin]

Hi me again .
I will spell wrong type wrong get all the words in the wrong grammar but i will rant on.
1. Do not diet.
2.Do not go keto or too low carb unless you want to.
3.Steer your own journey. Eat if you need to eat don't eat when you feel sick.
For me i was crying as hungry. So got told why not eat . So don't snack but have something if you cannot get to the next meal . This for me is usually 4 o'clock or bedtime. Not everyday but i do get a day harder than others.
So you can eat lumps of cheddar . i start with a march box size Shops do them in packets or cut your own of the block.
Nuts Almonds. Walnuts macadamia
Natural yoghurt i use the lactose free as it settles my tummy.
Others will give more but those are my go too.
Never think thats too much dinner Eat what you
think is right and don't go over 130 carbs a day.
I cant eat that much as I'm not keen to go high however its amazing what is low carb.
i hated meats but can eat them now.
i don't like shellfish or avocado and lots i say no too. Eat what you do like
There is diets here in the main directory for type two.
this might be the link but look there is lots of info on insulin if you search through the main site .
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/meal-plans/low-carb
To be honest do not be scared of insulin or hypo’s as so many
cope here however it is always a decision for type 2 . Type 1 get insulin always .
For me low carb really did amaze me when i got rid of trying to loose weight.
I used to starve but not now my Blood sugar is more important.
So weight loss is a great bonus.
i cope well on Empaglioflozin and the diet but do not have anything else.
Statins hurt my arthritis so I refuse those although she said we will check next time which is next June.
i came down from 108 to 49 . HbA1c
its wavering at the moment as i have tried other things.
We like lunch out and that in the summer with salads was fine but not so much in winter. Soup has been good but i cant find anything in Costa. The best is s ham n cheese toasty but for carbs only half so i guess not going to enjoy going there.
its all trial and error inside I'm good but eating or getting something like a bar is not easy .
Some cope with bars but i have not got thise that help me.
test test test and see.
However my sugar dumps a lot still so i have a long way to go to remission but I am going to try.
Keep me posted.

 

[askeelsepttype2]

I recently looked at the box of porridge oats that I bought I while back and almost fell on the floor, the carbs are 69.1g and this is just basic porridge oats. I thought porridge was supposed to be really good for you ? even if I only had a 30g mix, which is quite a lot, and even though it's a slow acting carb, surely that's going to drive my BG through the roof ?

I wish my BG was 8.4 at this moment rather than the 15.8 it was earlier. I realise that it's going to take me a bit of time to bring things back down again, and I am determined to sort myself out. I didn't know that having salad has no carbs at all, so it's always a good thing to have in, good fibre, but no carbs.

I take it that the 31g of carbs you have available for dinner would include all the good things that you want to eat, either salad or veg with whatever meat or other protein source you may want ?

I use Flahavans porridge it is 64g per 100g but I have a measured portion of 30g which is 19g of carbs. Dinner yesterday was chicken in creme fraiche sauce with mangetout and mushrooms, no carbs used .Blood glucose level, 3 hours later, was 7.8. Funny thing is that my BG on waking was 8.1. I had nothing to eat between the 2 readings except my medication.

 

[Martin.A]

I use Flahavans porridge it is 64g per 100g but I have a measured portion of 30g which is 19g of carbs. Dinner yesterday was chicken in creme fraiche sauce with mangetout and mushrooms, no carbs used .Blood glucose level, 3 hours later, was 7.8. Funny thing is that my BG on waking was 8.1. I had nothing to eat between the 2 readings except my medication.

The difference between those numbers is well within a meter's margin of error though, so to all intents and purposes they're the same.

 

[brettr]

Hi me again .
I will spell wrong type wrong get all the words in the wrong grammar but i will rant on.
1. Do not diet.
2.Do not go keto or too low carb unless you want to.
3.Steer your own journey. Eat if you need to eat don't eat when you feel sick.
For me i was crying as hungry. So got told why not eat . So don't snack but have something if you cannot get to the next meal . This for me is usually 4 o'clock or bedtime. Not everyday but i do get a day harder than others.
So you can eat lumps of cheddar . i start with a march box size Shops do them in packets or cut your own of the block.
Nuts Almonds. Walnuts macadamia
Natural yoghurt i use the lactose free as it settles my tummy.
Others will give more but those are my go too.
Never think thats too much dinner Eat what you
think is right and don't go over 130 carbs a day.
I cant eat that much as I'm not keen to go high however its amazing what is low carb.
i hated meats but can eat them now.
i don't like shellfish or avocado and lots i say no too. Eat what you do like
There is diets here in the main directory for type two.
this might be the link but look there is lots of info on insulin if you search through the main site .
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/meal-plans/low-carb
To be honest do not be scared of insulin or hypo’s as so many
cope here however it is always a decision for type 2 . Type 1 get insulin always .
For me low carb really did amaze me when i got rid of trying to loose weight.
I used to starve but not now my Blood sugar is more important.
So weight loss is a great bonus.
i cope well on Empaglioflozin and the diet but do not have anything else.
Statins hurt my arthritis so I refuse those although she said we will check next time which is next June.
i came down from 108 to 49 . HbA1c
its wavering at the moment as i have tried other things.
We like lunch out and that in the summer with salads was fine but not so much in winter. Soup has been good but i cant find anything in Costa. The best is s ham n cheese toasty but for carbs only half so i guess not going to enjoy going there.
its all trial and error inside I'm good but eating or getting something like a bar is not easy .
Some cope with bars but i have not got thise that help me.
test test test and see.
However my sugar dumps a lot still so i have a long way to go to remission but I am going to try.
Keep me posted.

Hi,

I have learnt not to look at eating less food as being on a diet. I don't personally think Keto is good for diabetics, the risk of going into Ketosis is the problems there I feel. I am happy to eat less carbs, realising the max per day is 130g. My problem with feeling so hungry it makes me feel sick, I end up feeling faint, so have to eat something.

I buy packets of nuts to help compensate, as well as the fact they are good fats to eat, as long as I am not eating the whole packet. I am starting to realise just how many foods are low carb, luckily some of them I enjoy, but like yourself, Avocado and seafood are well off the menu. I like chicken and fish, mainly tuna, but will eat a proper piece of fish.

I took a look at the link you provided and mostly they were great, except for a few that I would not eat, simply because I don't like certain foods that are in there, and they all included snacks as well, such as yogurt and fruit etc.

For me, it's not a case of being scared of insulin, but the main point is, if I don't need to take it, I don't want it ! I will not just be told that it the only alternative I have when I know that is not the case and that there are alternatives to just being told that is what I will have to do, I don't care if they moan about costs. It's a case of "why fix something when it's not broken". There is also the point of I used to work for the NHS as a dialysis nurse, did that for 18 years, and the one thing I was told about is that it's the "Patient's Choice", as to what does or doesn't go in their body, or what medications they can use, what is available to them etc.

Having had the recent shock of a high BG reading of 32.7, that shocked me back into pulling my finger out of my backside and sorting myself out with regards to my diabetes and health, if I only lose 2 pounds a week, I will be happy with that.

I found taking statins at night gave me really heavy legs, so took it during the day instead, I don't have a problem now with that, I was gutted that the Empaglifozin didn't work for me, but as there are 3 alternatives, I am going to ask about those, I don't care if they take a bit longer to work, I am willing to try them.

My biggest difficulty is cutting bread down, but I have also realised with that, that if I have only one slice of the sourdough bread I use, it's 22g of carbs out of the max of 130 a day, so it still gives me the chance to have a decent breakfast if I have the one slice of toast and have 3 eggs scrambled, which is only 2g of carbs, yes, I realise that slice of bread is going to raise my carbs, but hopefully it will be a bit slower with having had the scrambled egg as well.

my next HBA1C is in December, so I will be happy to see how eating less carbs has affected that from this point.

It's like the food I have eaten today, I had 2 slices of Ryvita (sesame seed 6.0g carbs per slice, buttered with 2 slices of tomato, which was a total of 14g carbs, my evening meal was a 3 egg plain omelette 0g carbs and a 200g plastic carton of baked beans (no added sugar) 19.5g cards, so up to this point I have had 33.5g of carbs in total, I will be making something for my supper, but it will be mostly low in carbs, I will work out what amount from either my book or from what is stated on the foods themselves.

I want my BG down to a decent level. I need to sort myself out.

I will keep in touch.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi,

I have learnt not to look at eating less food as being on a diet. I don't personally think Keto is good for diabetics, the risk of going into Ketosis is the problems there I feel. I am happy to eat less carbs, realising the max per day is 130g. My problem with feeling so hungry it makes me feel sick, I end up feeling faint, so have to eat something.

I buy packets of nuts to help compensate, as well as the fact they are good fats to eat, as long as I am not eating the whole packet. I am starting to realise just how many foods are low carb, luckily some of them I enjoy, but like yourself, Avocado and seafood are well off the menu. I like chicken and fish, mainly tuna, but will eat a proper piece of fish.

I took a look at the link you provided and mostly they were great, except for a few that I would not eat, simply because I don't like certain foods that are in there, and they all included snacks as well, such as yogurt and fruit etc.

For me, it's not a case of being scared of insulin, but the main point is, if I don't need to take it, I don't want it ! I will not just be told that it the only alternative I have when I know that is not the case and that there are alternatives to just being told that is what I will have to do, I don't care if they moan about costs. It's a case of "why fix something when it's not broken". There is also the point of I used to work for the NHS as a dialysis nurse, did that for 18 years, and the one thing I was told about is that it's the "Patient's Choice", as to what does or doesn't go in their body, or what medications they can use, what is available to them etc.

Having had the recent shock of a high BG reading of 32.7, that shocked me back into pulling my finger out of my backside and sorting myself out with regards to my diabetes and health, if I only lose 2 pounds a week, I will be happy with that.

I found taking statins at night gave me really heavy legs, so took it during the day instead, I don't have a problem now with that, I was gutted that the Empaglifozin didn't work for me, but as there are 3 alternatives, I am going to ask about those, I don't care if they take a bit longer to work, I am willing to try them.

My biggest difficulty is cutting bread down, but I have also realised with that, that if I have only one slice of the sourdough bread I use, it's 22g of carbs out of the max of 130 a day, so it still gives me the chance to have a decent breakfast if I have the one slice of toast and have 3 eggs scrambled, which is only 2g of carbs, yes, I realise that slice of bread is going to raise my carbs, but hopefully it will be a bit slower with having had the scrambled egg as well.

my next HBA1C is in December, so I will be happy to see how eating less carbs has affected that from this point.

It's like the food I have eaten today, I had 2 slices of Ryvita (sesame seed 6.0g carbs per slice, buttered with 2 slices of tomato, which was a total of 14g carbs, my evening meal was a 3 egg plain omelette 0g carbs and a 200g plastic carton of baked beans (no added sugar) 19.5g cards, so up to this point I have had 33.5g of carbs in total, I will be making something for my supper, but it will be mostly low in carbs, I will work out what amount from either my book or from what is stated on the foods themselves.

I want my BG down to a decent level. I need to sort myself out.

I will keep in touch.

If you are feeling hungry then a slice of cheese on your ryvita and add some mushrooms, bacon or veg to your omelette. the high protein or Kvarg deserts are low carb and quite filling. So you could include those with some berries.

 

[Martin.A]

My evening meal was a 3 egg plain omelette 0g carbs and a 200g plastic carton of baked beans (no added sugar) 19.5g carbs.

One of our favourite omelettes is smoked salmon and spinach served with a salad, but there are a host of things you can add to an omelette that barely add any carbs to it.

 

[Leadinglights]

One of our favourite omelettes is smoked salmon and spinach served with a salad, but there are a host of things you can add to an omelette that barely add any carbs to it.

I had never thought of smoked salmon in an omelette but it was on offer as a pub lunch choice and it was very nice and we have made it since and added broccoli but will try spinach as that sounds good.

 

[RBZ5416]

You won't like this but I'd urge you to reconsider insulin for four reasons:

• Your fears of weight gain are likely unfounded.
• Your fear of losing your driving licence is completely unfounded.
• It should help you control your levels quicker than oral meds alone.
• It isn't necessarily a life sentence.

I was started on both basal & bolus insulin in May last year. After 10 years of good control on Metformin, Covid sent my levels into overdrive & I ended up in A&E with DKA. That was with an HbA1c of 117 & I suspect you may well over that, so definitely keep an eye on ketones.

By December I had weaned myself of the bolas completely with the reintroduction of Metformin & addition of Empagliglozin. I'm still on a small daily dose of basal but that really isn't a chore. Notwithstanding that we're all different, I've experience two hypos in that time.

So an initial hit with a bolus/basal routine while you experiment with oral meds could get you back on track. Hopefully with a similar reduction in insulin that I experienced as the oral meds took effect. You would almost certainly be started on very conservative doses, both to see how your body reacts & to minimise the chances of hypos.

You don't need to respond as I won't be pushing it further, but do at least be prepared to discus it with your DSN.

 

[brettr]

I use Flahavans porridge it is 64g per 100g but I have a measured portion of 30g which is 19g of carbs. Dinner yesterday was chicken in creme fraiche sauce with mangetout and mushrooms, no carbs used .Blood glucose level, 3 hours later, was 7.8. Funny thing is that my BG on waking was 8.1. I had nothing to eat between the 2 readings except my medication.

I am quite shocked at some of the foods I have looked at for carb content alone, although having a measured amount is the right way to go.

Todays carbs, which, to be honest is a first for me, didn't have breakfast, as I can't always face food first thing.

Mid afternoon I had 2 sesame seed Ryvit, buttered with 2 slices of tomato on each one, that came to 14g of carbs.

Tea time had 3 egg omelette and a 200g carton of baked beans (no added sugar). 19.5g carbs

Supper time I had 1 standard can of tuna, 1 tomato quartered, 1 medium piece cucumber cut into 4 and quartered, 1 stick of celery sliced small and 3 tablespoons of mayo to bind and 2 slices of Sesame Ryvita. 16.5g carbs.

I had to use my carb and calorie counter book, or take the readings from the food information labels, to in total I have eaten only 50g of carbs today, granted I won't be eating the same things all the time, so will have to watch the difference in carbs/g of what I chose to eat.

Have found counting carbs easier than I thought it would be !

I am really missing bread at the moment, but am determined to hold off, unless I really want something like cheese on toast, even I see that it's not good to deny yourself everything you may want, as long as it's one slice of bread and I ensure I count that as a carb, then I am not fooling myself or lying to others about it.

The nearest thing I can have to a sandwich now is 2 slices of Ryvita, with some meat and salad, or cheese and salad etc.

My BG readings are still up and down as I am trying to get my body back into a routine for lowering the glucose levels and maintaining a better response from what I eat.