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Need Some Support / guidance

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C

Cokecan

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hi All
Just been for my annual diabetic review and didn't recieve the news i was hoping for! They have decided to increase my Metformin from 2 tablets a day to four tablets daily. i thought my BM's were ok, as the Gp said it was fine (averaging 6-9mmols) and had lost weight dropping 2in from my waist - even though the scales didnt reflect this 😡

i was having two banana's for breakfast, which i thought was ok as i hadnt eaten breakfast regularly in 14 years, then i was told i shouldnt have them for breakfast! then i said if i get hungry of an evening i have some special K - which was wrong again! I also said a dietician advised low fat / diet yoghurts - again a big NO. I was told i needed to give up my daily latte (semi skimmed milk), so now i feel like theres nothing left.

So basically i came out feeling totally dispondant, even though the nurse was lovely - i felt close to tears! As a 35 year old man this is not good.

Part of me feels like giving up and just accepting im a walking disater lol!

Can anyone offer any good advice or recommend any good easy read books as not a big reader.
i dont understand any of this counting carbs and generally look for low sugar food items in the supermarket.

I understand people might think im moaning but im just not sure where to go from here and feel like im being newly dianosed all over again.

Paul
 
Not at all, it sounds like you've had some very conflicting and confusing advice :( I would recommend getting The GL Diet for Dummies for a good guide to a diabetes-friendly approach to eating well 🙂
 
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience at your review.

Regarding food - the key is carbohydrate content, not just sugar content. For foods like fruit and veg that don't come with labels, you would probably find it useful to get a guide eg many users of this board recommend Collins Gem Carb Counter- see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Gem-Counter-Carbohydrates-Everyday/dp/0007176015 It's full of tables, not lots of words, so it's not really a reading book.

Why on earth were you told to give up daily latte, assuming you don't have sugar in it?
 
I'm afraid this is a common story. If you give up now then you will be a walking disaster, you need to take control of your complaint. have a look here:http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/

There are lots of sites on the web which give the carb value of various foods. Bananas are not very good and certainly not 2 at a time. I have grapefruit for breakfast, but you have to watch your portion control. Having breakfast cereal in the evening isn't a very good idea 1 cup of special K is roughly equivalent to a banana in terms of carbs but will probably be converted slower (special K is certainly better than a lot of cereals if you like it). Try having Special K for breakfast and say some carrot if you feel peckish in the evening.
I don't see anything wrong with coffee with milk as long as you don't have sugar.
There seems to be a common mistake, in my view, of confusing a diet that will help your diabetes and one for maximum health benefits. So it could be your GP is telling you to cut down on the fat in your Latte!
 
.... and the general trouble with 'low-fat' anything, is often there are more carbohydrates in em than their 'full fat' equivalents.

As it is with semi-skimmed and skimmed milk, having MORE carbs than full fat milk, potty as that sounds!

You do have to start reading labels on anything that has a label. Mind you I've always been an avid reader and I appreciate you might not be, but you can I'm certain pick up a branded packet of something and a supermarket own brand of the same product and stand there and compare - one says it has X grams of carb per 100g and the other has Y grams per 100g. Where you like either equally well - just choose the lower one. If it's got eg 99g of carb per 100g weight - go EEEEK then immediately replace it on the shelf and walk away from it resolutely with your head held high !
 
trophywench said:
As it is with semi-skimmed and skimmed milk, having MORE carbs than full fat milk, potty as that sounds!
Click to expand...

Presumably because the fat level is less and so the percentage of carb is correspondingly increased.

Andy 🙂
 
Paul,

One thing I learned is to use the medical guys as a source of information to inform your decisions.

Most of the time I followed their advice because it was sound and the results I was getting proved it to be so. However, there were also times when I took control and achieved equally good results (if not better!).

The point is, don't feel you have to become a monk in order to get on top of diabetes. Yes, keep control of your diet on a long term basis but if there are things which you want to keep (and I can't see why a latte can't be one of those) then keep having them .... just so long as they don't compromise your longer term goals.

Initially this means that you may have to be a little 'anal' about what you eat and drink. But that eventually becomes second nature and you will know what is good and bad for you without all the squinting at small nutrition information panels (well in my case, it's squinting!).

Good luck with it all,

Andy 🙂
 
Sorry to hear you have lost all the things you like. Keep a record of how you are doing and you'll find there is room for a treat. I aim to have a treat day on a regualr basis or I'd go mad. It is just a question of working ut what you can eat without going too hig or too low.
 
Paul - Not sure from your post whether you have a blood glucose meter? Any suggestions made by your GP, or anyone here for that matter as to what food might be better for your BG levels are just guesswork if you don't test before eating, then an hour or two after.

Sadly, many Drs are obsessed with 'low fat' as research in general population suggests this might help the heart. Unfortunately the same advice is trotted out to people with diabetes (even more so because of the already increased risk) but that advice does not focus on good BG levels and there is nothing 'heart healthy' about high BG.

It's about finding a diet that is balanced, enjoyable and BG friendly - and the only real way to do that is to test what foods do to *your* BG levels. Everyone is different!
 
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