Newbie needing advice!

[ChrisT2D]

Hi everyone

New to the forums however I have been type 2 for about 3 years. Here’s my current health profile:

Age 30
Weight 19.4 stone (lost 2 lb this week)
Height 5ft 11
Meds 2X1000mg metformin slow release currently taking morning with breakfast and evening with dinner
60mg lisinopril 20mg 3 times a day
10mg amlodopine taken with breakfast.
BP is now around 130/95 (diastolic still too high)
Started to do some light walking for exercise as I’ve been advised not to go to a gym until my BP is under control (meeting with the doc on Tuesday to see what she says)
Still awaiting my latest hba1c as my bloods were done last week. This probably isn’t going to be pretty

Unfortunately I have only just started taking my condition seriously as when I went for my recent eye screening there had been some blood vessels that had burst. Thankfully no treatment is require yet but it’s given me the kick up the backside to do something.

My current strategy is to get the BP and blood sugars under control whilst trying to lose weight. I had been eating high sat fats proteins and high carbs in the past however this week I have changed that following a telling off from the nurse for not taking it seriously. I have tried to change what I eat changing bacon butties, hash browns and KFC for porridge at breakfast, soup and a slice of whole meal bread at lunch, handful of basmati rice with dinners of fish or chicken etc. Snacks of a bit of fruit or a snack a jack. My blood sugar meter readings have been all over the place, as high at 19 and the lowest of 9.9. Today I thought I would try some of this low carb diet strategy. Today so far

4am 9.9 (thought I’d try a cheeky night reading whilst doing the newborns bottle)
9:30am 9.9
Breakfast omelette 2 eggs mushrooms and a slice of ham (taken my metformin and bp meds)
11:30 9.8

I just can’t seem to get the meter reading below 7 and I’m not sure if it’s my diet my meds or what? Hopefully I’ve given an accurate picture of where I’m at and any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Mark Parrott]

Hi Chris & welcome to the forum. It can take quite a few weeks to get our BG's under control, especially if they have been high for a very long time. A lot of people on here choose the low carb route as the most effective as all carbs raise our blood sugars. I see that you have a meter. What you need to do is test before food & 2 hours after. You are looking for no more than a rise of 3mmol. Waking BG's are the hardest to get down & generally take the longest. Don't worry abut this too much, it should come down in time.

 

[CathyB]

Hi Chris, I am doing the low carb approach and have found it really helpful, it’s brought my bg down from 22 to a steady 5.5 ish. I cut out all potatoes, rice and pasta, the only bread I eat is Burgen, a soya & Linseed that I use for toast or a sandwich. What I have found is that I don’t eat as much as I used to so my portion sizes have naturally become smaller. My go to snacks are nuts, almonds, walnuts or pistachios, with the occasional apple, fruit just doesn’t sit well with me, even a few raspberries spike my numbers Greek yoghurt with a splash of sugar free caramel or sugar free jelly is my evening treat. Walking has also been key for me, makes a visible difference to my bg on the days I walk, only need about 30 mins to do it.
Stick with us and read as much as you can, ask anything you like, no such thing as a stupid question

 

[Martin Canty]

Hi Chris, I agree with Mark.... it take time & effort to get BG under control, you will likely be all over the place for a while. My advice is to look for the long term, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

One strategy which will help you from becoming discouraged is to log your progress, FBG (Fasting Blood Glucose, i.e. when you wake up in the morning), weight, exercise, BP.... Eventually you will see trends in the right direction.

As for mealtime testing, use that as a guide to see what affects your BG so you can adjust your diet accordingly, we are looking to see a 2-3 mmol rise or less, if more then some detective work is required to find the culprit