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Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
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IrvineHimself
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Welcome, it's a great place to learn and get advice. Members cover a wide spectrum of both age and background.
Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself. If you have any questions about your diagnosis, treatment or diabetes in general, knowing what medications you are on, (if any,) will help tailor the advice people give.
Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself. If you have any questions about your diagnosis, treatment or diabetes in general, knowing what medications you are on, (if any,) will help tailor the advice people give.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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Welcome to the forum @Smile
Sorry to hear that covid has left you with a little parting gift
Were you given the results of your HbA1c (a number which will have been above 48mmol/mol)?
Have you been started on any medication?
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
If you would like a good overview of T2 diabetes, to add to the knowledge you’ve already picked up, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually and will give you a solid starting point. Not sure they will have any specific references to Covid-related diabetes as that is so new, but they have offered many members here a helpful starting point.
You might also want to register for the Learning Zone which has heaps and heaps of informative modules you can work through. You can create a free account to keep track of your progress 🙂
learningzone.diabetes.org.uk
Sorry to hear that covid has left you with a little parting gift
Were you given the results of your HbA1c (a number which will have been above 48mmol/mol)?
Have you been started on any medication?
Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations - it’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.
One of the biggest questions when trying to get to grips with your diabetes is often ‘what can I eat’ and while there are obvious things like cakes, biscuits, sweets and sugary drinks that you will want to cut out straight away, you might be surprised how much *all* carbohydrate affects your BG levels, including rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, pastry, grains, cereals and many fruits.
If you would like a good overview of T2 diabetes, to add to the knowledge you’ve already picked up, members here frequently recommend Maggie Davey’s Letter and Gretchen Becker’s book T2 Diabetes, the first year, which you can work through gradually and will give you a solid starting point. Not sure they will have any specific references to Covid-related diabetes as that is so new, but they have offered many members here a helpful starting point.
You might also want to register for the Learning Zone which has heaps and heaps of informative modules you can work through. You can create a free account to keep track of your progress 🙂
Landing Page | Diabetes UK Learning Zone
I am 63 medication been changed so much in 12mths Pioglitazone 30mg was given to me 3 weeks ago and on Sitagliptin 100mg daily my blood results coming back in the 80s and my testing daily on waking I am between 12.2 and 13.5 and can go as high as 19/20.5 throughout day with little food intake so I try not to eat much
IrvineHimself
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
You and me both, my friend.You and me both
From that, I take it that your diabetes is not responding well to treatment?
That's rough!
I myself was only officially diagnosed about 6 weeks ago. I am 66 and had suspected for some time I was diabetic but was in denial. It was only when my symptoms got so bad that I could no longer ignore them that I sought out medical help.... Put it this way, the Docs didn't even wait for the first round of blood tests to return before starting me on 500mg of Metformin. Subsequently, for the first month, I was down at the Docs a couple of times a week, even had a referral to the Hospital at 8 o'clock on a Friday night for an emergency assessment after the first set of bloods came back. When they suggested they might have to keep me in, I was gob smacked.
Believe me, I have learned my lesson. My grandfather died of stroke in 1968/9 brought on from complications due to diabetes. He was only 62. As a result of all this, I have spent the last five or six weeks on a fairly intensive learning curve. I am actually very shocked at how little I really knew about diabetes, as are most of my patrons.
It's one of those things everybody takes for granted and assume they know what it is. It's only when faced with cold hard reality that people suddenly realizes they don't know anything like as much as they thought they did. That is one of the reasons why this forum is such a great resource. The different stories people relate give a real insight into my own condition and help me to ask meaningful questions.
For example: Overall, my symptoms have drastically improved, especially my feet. So, since I am off for my first visit to the Podiatrist tomorrow, normally I would be thinking: "Great, a chance to get the hard skin and fissures cleaned up!"
However, because of being on this site, I recognise the symptoms and significance of peripheral neuropathy. As a result, I am taking the appointment a lot more seriously than I would have at the end of April. (I must remember to wash my feet tomorrow morning. 🙂)
Particularly in your case, even though diet has been a fairly major part of my early studies, I would hesitate to give advice. I do not have the experience to factor in how the fact that your diabetes doesn't seem to be responding should affect your dietary choices. Other members are much more experienced than me and will no doubt chime in shortly.
What I will say is: From my studies, I believe it is more a question of what you eat than how much. From what you say, you seem to have access to a BG meter. This can be a great tool to monitor how different foods affect your BG levels.
Roughly, though I stand ready to be corrected on the exact mechanics, keep a journal with:
- Your BG levels an hour before you eat
- Exactly what the meal comprised of
- Your BG levels two or three hours after eating
- Any additional notes on level of activity in between times
Irvine
Edit: If you have any kind of technical ability, I would go as far as to suggest a spreadsheet for the journal. See LibreOffice for a free, good quality office suite with tens of thousands of hours of instructional videos
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Hi thank you for your input it was good to read , I think it bit of hit and miss with me but sure will get there in end Diabetes is rive in my family my mother died of it 16 year's ago but we come along way since then and it didn't help she use to hide her sweet intake lol thank goodness chocolate and sweet stuff never bothered me just had a lovely beef dinner with plenty of veg will check in 2 hours if blood gone up . I have been doing spread sheet with food and bloods . Hope everything goes well at your foot treatment dont forget to wash ur feet lol
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