'Mild' diabetes

[rebrascora]

Try a 2egg omelette for breakfast/brunch instead of porridge and have it with a nice leafy salad and a big dollop of creamy coleslaw (not low fat version). I have a variety of fillings including any combination of mushrooms, onion, courgette, peppers, aubergine, ham and cheese.
Or
... many of us have Creamy (whole milk) Natural Greek Yoghurt (not low fat variety which is higher in carbs) with a few (half a dozen or so) berries like rasps or small strawberries (half as many larger ones) and mixed seeds and chopped nuts. The fat in the yoghurt and nuts will keep you feeling full for longer and slow the release of the carbs from the berries.

 

[Sparkle]

Thank you again. I think my head might explode!
I wouldn't have gone for full fat anything and always have skimmed milk. When I eat raspberries for example, I could eat a punnet in one sitting. The nurse did tell me to cut down fruit which I thought I had (until I just found out about the apricots) but 'cut down' is a bit vague. What a minefield!
I can't eat salad apart from peeled cucumber or seeds and nuts and quite a few other things but I have seen you can get flax seed meal from Holland and Barrett which is a ground seed powder. That might work for sprinkling on stuff and have the same effect.
I thought things like honey were better than sugar... so much I thought I knew and now need to re-learn!
I am cutting and pasting these bits of advice into word so I can go through it all.
You lot are so knowlegeable and helpful. Thank you.

 

[Sparkle]

The tiredness can often be due to high Blood Glucose levels, particularly when you are newly diagnosed and haven't got them under control, but it can be due to other things too, Getting your diabetes under control might resolve it or rule that out so that you could then ask for further tests. Thyroid problems and anaemia are two other possible causes, but the diabetes would be the most likely culprit since you are newly diagnosed and been eating high carb foods.

Defo not thyroid or anaemia - have my thyroid tested regularly and spent much of Jan and Feb having blood and iron infusions so my blood count is now very good but thank you for the suggestions, I think that helps rule them out 🙂. I literally rolled into bed one night and was asleep before I could even get my ventilator set up so my husband had to wake me and I fell asleep in my chair still holding a drink.

 

[rebrascora]

There is a huge amount to learn and over a year down the line I am still learning and people here with 40 years of diabetes are still learning. Take your time, there is no rush to get it right first time. I bought loads of unsuitable things in the first few months thinking they would be good for me, only to realise how little I understood about diabetes.

A common phrase here is that it is a marathon not a sprint. Make small steady changes that you can sustain. We are all different in what we like and dislike but also what our bodies like and dislike, the way we break down foods due to the different microbes in our guts, our activity levels and even our DNA can play a part. So many factors affect diabetes, it is a real balancing act and it helps to become the expert in managing your diabetes. A BG meter helps you see what works and what doesn't on a day by day meal by meal basis, so that you can tweak things to keep getting better results..... or see the impact of when you have been naughty and promise/motivate yourself not to be so naughty again..... and we are all naughty occasionally! For instance a week or so after I was first diagnosed I ate nearly a whole bag of Jacobs Salt and Vinegar crackers and my BG went up to 27 (it should be between 4 and 8.5) and I spent the whole night drinking pint after pint of water and running to the loo to try to flush it out.... I won't ever be that naughty again, as it could have landed me in hospital!

 

[grovesy]

Thanks for the heads up re laxative effects and the app info.

@rebrascora thank you for such a comprehensive answer, I really do appreciate it. I've read it a few times now and it hasn't made much of an inroad into my brain yet! Oh my goodness, I have so much to learn regarding carbs, sugars and labels! I asked nurse about me checking my own blood and she said it isn't necessary so I don't have a machine. Now I'm wondering why she said that when everyone else seems to have one.

Not everyone gets one prescribed and many self fund.

 

[Sparkle]

Thank you. I will certainly consider this as others have mentioned it too. Diabetic nurse said I didn't need one but I am not sure why - I think I will ask her when I speak to her next and then decide.

 

[SueEK]

Thank you. I will certainly consider this as others have mentioned it too. Diabetic nurse said I didn't need one but I am not sure why - I think I will ask her when I speak to her next and then decide.

I was told it was because people can become quite obsessed about testing. To be honest we probably are a bit when first diagnosed but to find out what does and doesn’t spike us it is necessary to keep testing. After a few months you get a really good idea of what you should have and more importantly what you shouldn’t, eg I can tolerate most potatoes but definitely not pasta and only very little rice. Someone else will be able to tolerate rice but perhaps not potatoes, we are all different. Once you know you can adapt your meals so it is much easier to know what to choose and therefore do not need to test.
You mentioned extreme fatigue and again our symptoms can be very different but I am the same, if I have too many carbs I literally crash out, I find it difficult to get from my dining room to the settee in my lounge, it is that sudden and extreme.
Keep asking questions, make notes and good luck x

 

[grovesy]

I have found over the years what I can tolerate has changed.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Frankly, when poorly controlled diabetes can lead to amputation, loss of sight or needing dialysis, I think a little obsession with good control is no bad thing!

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Frankly, when poorly controlled diabetes can lead to amputation, loss of sight or needing dialysis, I think a little obsession with good control is no bad thing!

If the obsessing does actually improve control. And GPs (and specialists) can point at studies which suggest that home blood testing (in general) doesn't do all that much for people with Type 2 (that don't need to do it; some medications force the issue). (I think there's a real question about whether people who want to do it benefit in the long term. That strikes me as plausible even if randomly selected people don't benefit much. (Though Cochrane does now suggest there's evidence supporting short-term use (I think 6 months or something) of home blood tests.))

 

[NotWorriedAtAll]

Hello @Sparkle
I know exactly what you mean about it being a lot to take in.
I was diagnosed out of the blue but I was so relieved it was 'only' diabetes because the way the GP led up to telling me I thought he was going to tell me I had a terminal illness and only a few weeks to live!!!
It is one way of making the diagnosis less upsetting I suppose.

I'd already been 'eating healthy' according to all the guidelines and then I got my diagnosis so logically I knew the usual advice about eating a low fat diet and having porridge and brown rice and wholemeal bread and lots of fruit was bad for me because that was what got me into this situation in the first place. So I decided to go onto a low carb diet immediately.

But it didn't seem to be doing me as much good as I'd hoped so I progressed quite quickly to a keto diet which is reducing the number of grammes of carbs to fewer than 20 per day.

I go by carbs that can be processed by the body and are available to the body for fuel and don't count carbs that are fibre and basically go straight through without touching the sides - because if they don't get digested then they don't go into the blood stream and won't make any difference to blood sugar levels nor make me put on weight.

I find the best way to find out if something is okay is to check the carbs per 100g and then check the calorie content.
If the carbs per 100g are 4 or lower I am fairly happy to have that in my ingredients repertoire.
If they are zero - I'm delirious - and there are loads of yummy things that are zero - like unprocessed meat and certain cheeses.

If the carbs are high - I check the calorie content and if that is zero then I know the carbs are fibre or something similar and not available to my body and they will probably be okay as an ingredient.

I hope that will be a help while you start out navigating what is likely to cause you grief and what isn't.

Fruitwise - I am okay with berries like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and other fruit like rhubarb and lemon - I think of them as nature's sweeties and eat them sparingly.

My link to my recipes and adventures in low carb and keto cooking is under this comment in my 'signature' you will be very welcome to have a dig around to see what I've got up there so far. Feel free to message me and ask any questions about the recipes and any you may wish to see low carb versions of. I enjoy converting non diabetic recipes to ones that are more friendly.

 

[Sparkle]

Thank you very much

 

[Felinia]

Watch it with lo-sugar sweets - the sweeteners used are often laxative!

I second that: my neighbour got some of the offending goodies, her kids found them, scoffed the lot and spent a lot of time in the loo!!

 

[Felinia]

Thank you again. I think my head might explode!
I wouldn't have gone for full fat anything and always have skimmed milk. When I eat raspberries for example, I could eat a punnet in one sitting. The nurse did tell me to cut down fruit which I thought I had (until I just found out about the apricots) but 'cut down' is a bit vague. What a minefield!
I can't eat salad apart from peeled cucumber or seeds and nuts and quite a few other things but I have seen you can get flax seed meal from Holland and Barrett which is a ground seed powder. That might work for sprinkling on stuff and have the same effect.
I thought things like honey were better than sugar... so much I thought I knew and now need to re-learn!
I am cutting and pasting these bits of advice into word so I can go through it all.
You lot are so knowlegeable and helpful. Thank you.

Last August I was you, and have slowly learned by using this Forum and member's experience. A portion of fruit is 80gm and I was told to stick to one or two a day by my DSN (diabetic specialist nurse): for example I had 40gm blueberries with my breakfast, and will have a small apple with a dollop of full fat Greek yogurt as a snack. I sadly gave away my much loved maple syrup and bought Truvia instead. I no longer feel guilty about having some full fat (yippee real bacon) but as I have high cholesterol, I do watch it. However I still have skimmed milk as I just find semi or full is too rich in tea. I measure out 170ml first thing and use it during the day, so know how many carbs I have from it daily.
There are many apps to help record and measure carbs, sugars, cals etc, and getting one was the first thing I invested in. It gave me a very salutory lesson in portion control, and now I keep digital scales on my kitchen worktop. So anything with carbs gets weighed before it goes on the plate. It may seem a palaver, but it only takes a few seconds each time and keeps me honest.

 

[Sparkle]

Thank you

 

[leonS]

looks like she's using old %age measure. If is a good idea to ask for the units, it is a good check to ensure that we are talking avout the right thing. 9% is 75 mmol/mol if I have got my sums right

 

[Sparkle]

Hello everyone, just had my 3rd phone appt with diabetic nurse. She has decided to prescribe me a meter and I am to test before breakfast and tea every day and she will ring me in two weeks to see what my numbers are.

 

[rebrascora]

Good that you are getting a meter but the testing strategy suggested by the nurse will not help you to tailor your diet to your body's tolerance of carbs and therefore not really help you to manage your diabetes through diet.
Did you manage to confirm your HbA1c reading with the nurse including the unit of measure ie % or mmol/litre etc. I am inclined to think it might be quite high if they are giving you a meter..... or you are very silver tongued!

 

[Sparkle]

🙄😉 She did say she wouldn't usually do it but she was going to pull some strings and put the order through. I think it's because I have many serious health issues and she said something about me needing an indivdual tailored plan so she wanted to see how I am doing over the next two weeks but I can't remember what she said after that. I forgot about the numbers again, oh dear. I had such a long list of questions typed out but the way the conversation went we sort of skipped back and forth between them and I missed that one (and several others) out . I'm not very good at this!

 

[Sparkle]

I just remembered, she said I am looking for to achieve between 7-9