New boy to the world of diabetes

[Adehem]

I was 11 and half stone then lost 2 and half stone - skinny man. My HBA1c was 115 it is now 97. I am on a low carb diet - 40 carbs per meal or less. Just seem to be cutting out more food that I used to eat. The nurse told me to eat protein & fat but it is not easy to put weight on. I was 8.12 stones when I first weighed myself I have been up & down 9.00 to 8.09 stones. I only went up to 9.00 when I went all inclusive for 2 weeks on holiday. There I had 3 meats an 2 fish dishes each lunch and evening. My wife cannot put a spread on for me at home like that.
I am now on 3 metformin tabs, I think it may because my HBA1c is so high that I cannot put on weight. Oh and this boy is 60 years old!!!

 

[Ljc]

Hi @Adehem , welcome to their forum.

Sorry for all the questions its just that A little more info will help us to give you the right advise.
How did you come to be diagnosed.
also we’re you losing weight for no reason before dx (diagnosis) ?

Snacking between meals on healthy fats may help , things like nuts and other suitable high calorie foods.

I am going to tag one of our more experienced members who hopefully will be along soon @Northerner .

 

[Adehem]

Hi @Adehem , welcome to their forum.

Sorry for all the questions its just that A little more info will help us to give you the right advise.
How did you come to be diagnosed.
also we’re you losing weight for no reason before dx (diagnosis) ?

Snacking between meals on healthy fats may help , things like nuts and other suitable high calorie foods.

I am going to tag one of our more experienced members who hopefully will be along soon @Northerner .

Hi Lin, I started to loose weight I think around Christmas I should have gone to the doctors but never did. In June on holiday I had an accident and had 3 stitches in my hand, I had to have them out at home. When I saw the nurse I told her about my weight loss and she took a blood test. What caused my diabetes is as you get older things start to wear out - my pancreas!! I also abused sugar. I had 7 hot drinks per day with 2 spoons of sugar in each that was 14 spoons of sugar a day. When I had porridge that was 2 spoons of sugar. Biscuits cakes etc in fact nearly everything has sugar in it so I was getting a good sugar overdose everyday. I am a healthy eater as I grow vegetables and used to eat lots of fruit. I just need to put on weight and it is difficult. Every thing you read about diabetes is about loosing weight. I would love to have contact with any other skinny diabetics.

 

[Drummer]

Ah - I do low carb and have a maximum of 40 gm of carb PER DAY - but that is to get a Hba1c which is almost normal.
You might find some help in Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution from 2003, as the final stage of the way of eating is maintenance, and there are lists of foods and menus as well.
If you reduce carbs then you need to get the calories from protein and fats - they are the essential foods and maintain muscle mas and the brain and nervous system, plus all the endocrine and other necessary systems.

 

[Adehem]

If you are doing low carb and want to consume more calories but still maintain the low blood sugar you can add more cheese, double cream, butter, olive oil. Plenty of low carb calories there.. If you force yourself to have dessert after meals, fatbombs will soon sort out the weight loss and become weight gain.
You have to watch those extra pounds though. All fat.

Hi Benny,
Yes I have those things but also want to keep an eye on my cholesteral. Even low carb foods mount up when you have a 40 carb per meal limit. That is high for some people on low card diets.

 

[Adehem]

Ah - I do low carb and have a maximum of 40 gm of carb PER DAY - but that is to get a Hba1c which is almost normal.
You might find some help in Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution from 2003, as the final stage of the way of eating is maintenance, and there are lists of foods and menus as well.
If you reduce carbs then you need to get the calories from protein and fats - they are the essential foods and maintain muscle mas and the brain and nervous system, plus all the endocrine and other necessary systems.

Hi Drummer,
Thanks I will look at that.

 

[Ljc]

Hi Adehem. TBH since I read you’re first post I’ve been wondering if you may not have T2, hence my questions. Their are several types of diabetes, all are perfectly manageable once diagnosed and on the right treatment . If I am right T2 meds’ may not work or will only work for a time.

Your weight loss before diagnosis is a clue.

Though I could be totally wrong about you having another type . That’s why I wanted someone with more experience than me to advise
@mikeyB can you help please.

 

[mikeyB]

Hi Adahem, welcome to the forum.🙂

It may well help if you test what your blood glucose levels are doing. I assume you have been told you don’t need to test, just follow the rules and check the HbA1c now and again.

This is all bollards. If you don’t test your BG you will never be able to know which foods send your BG high, and which don’t. If your doctor or nurse won’t give you a meter, have a look at the cheap and cheerful Codefree meter on Amazon, and the equally cheap Codefree test strips. If you test when you wake up, then before food and two hours after, then bedtime. Do that for two or three days and you’ll start to see a pattern. If you do that, and report your research here, we’ll be able to utilise our gathered experience to help you on your journey.

All the best for your further adventures in Diabetesland🙂

 

[Adehem]

Hi guys, I have now been diagnosed as Insulin deficient. The nurse gave me a meter -Hush Hush - and put me on Gliclazide 2 off per day, reducing my Metformin to 1 a day. The Gliiclazide tabs are doing something. The finger blood sugar testing figure is dropping. I am testing 4 times a day and for the first 4 days each day it has gone down. I still cannot put on weight but when these tabs have got my BS down the nurse said we can then see what we can do. I do like doing the testing, data collection is King. It is great to see my BS going down, it does go up as well after a meal but the trend is down - happy days. Thank you for all you input it is nice not to be alone.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

Some drugs for Type 2 (and Gliclazide is one, I think) can cause hypos. I presume patients taking those would need a meter.

 

[grovesy]

Some drugs for Type 2 (and Gliclazide is one, I think) can cause hypos. I presume patients taking those would need a meter.

Yes it is one that can cause hypos.

 

[HOBIE]

I was 11 and half stone then lost 2 and half stone - skinny man. My HBA1c was 115 it is now 97. I am on a low carb diet - 40 carbs per meal or less. Just seem to be cutting out more food that I used to eat. The nurse told me to eat protein & fat but it is not easy to put weight on. I was 8.12 stones when I first weighed myself I have been up & down 9.00 to 8.09 stones. I only went up to 9.00 when I went all inclusive for 2 weeks on holiday. There I had 3 meats an 2 fish dishes each lunch and evening. My wife cannot put a spread on for me at home like that.
I am now on 3 metformin tabs, I think it may because my HBA1c is so high that I cannot put on weight. Oh and this boy is 60 years old!!!

Carbs do the damage. Loosing weight really is good . Well done & welcome 😉

 

[Adehem]

As I have said recently I have been put on Gliclazide and was given a test meter. I have got to record 4 times a day in a little logbook. I also do a food diary on A4 paper per day, breakfast, lunch, evening meal and any evening snacks which I have mixed nuts. I put a date on each sheet which match up to the date on the logbook. This way I can see what carbs I was consuming and what my blood sugar readings were on each day. I am doing this recording until 19th December 2018. This is giving me 21 days of data. I can use this then to plan how many carbs I can eat without raising my BS. These Gliclazide tabs are bringing my BS down, it came down 10 points in 4 days! I thought in another 4 days I will be in hypo!!! When I am getting low I will slightly increase my carb intake so testing is vital. The nurse told my it is not likely I would have a hypo on these tabs not like I could do on insulin.

 

[Ljc]

It’s good to hear you are recording everything, it really will help you
Back in a mo

 

[Adehem]

Guys, I get emails from www.healthline.com it is an american site. Today a mail came headed Defining type 1.5 diabetes. It is Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA). Guess what I tick all the boxes!!