Hi
I see we are a similar age and I was diagnosed exactly one year ago. You have done the right thing by joining us here on DUK. These are hard times and things are taking longer with COVID around. So the best things you can do is start to help yourself.
The first thing I suggest you do is start to work your way through the Learning Zone taking it slowly, a section at a time over a period of days, to let things sink in. That will tell you all the things you need to know much more thoroughly that a Diabetic Nurse can get through in a very short appointment time.
Then you need to look at your lifestyle: food, exercise, health. Without knowing your HbA1c I am guessing because you are on Metformin and have a high BP, it was above 60. Some people are way higher than that, over 100. I started at 57, got down to 48 in 3 months, and suspect I have gone up in lockdown.
Taking food first, most people look to reducing their blood glucose by restricting their carbohydrate intake. This is not just sugar, but items like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and all the obvious suspects, like cake, biscuits, sweets, pastries. DUK suggests less than 130gm a day, but many go a lot lower. I experimented but found for me 75gm +- 15gm suited me. But we are all different. It is surprising just how many carbs there are in the most innocent of foods. For example an average apple can contain around 20gm, and even a salad without dressing can be over 10gm. Root veggies are also quite high.
So it can take a bit of planning at first, and I use an app. There are various ones - some just measure food values like cals and gm of carbs, sugars, fats, protein and fibre. Others can also help you record your blood glucose levels. When I started I measured my blood glucose levels manually and used an app called NutraCheck to measure my food. It can be used for monitoring a diet, if you need to lose weight, or purely to show you what you are eating.
For example today, I have had a poached egg on toast for breakfast, using LowCarb bread. I like the Hovis one, but there are others. Sometimes I will top it up with grilled mushrooms and a tomato. At other times I will have a small portion of porridge made with unsweetened almond milk and topped with blueberries. Lunch was mackerel and salad, followed by 80gm frozen pineapple. A fruit portion is 80gm, which is why I get frozen fruit as it is easy to measure. In the winter it will be home made soup. Dinner tonight will be stir fry vegetables with chicken marinaded in 5 spice and soy sauce. On top of that I have 170ml milk for drinks, a Benecol drink to lower my cholesterol, and various vitamins, calcium and cod liver oil. In total, around 90gm carbs for the day without feeling deprived. I do have new potatoes occasionally, but not pasta or rice. However there are substitutes, like courgetti, Bare Naked noodles, cauliflower rice.
Exercise is very important, although difficult at present. It can be as simple as walking, gardening, chair or floor based home exercises, swimming. It doesn't mean pounding away at a gym - if you can find one open! I have restricted mobility so was doing 4 Aquafit classes a week. Now I am restricted at home to Pilates on the bed, and a mini pedal bike for arm and leg exercises. I do credit Aqua in reducing my HbA1c last year.
Food and exercise will benefit your health but you need to be guided about what you can do after your TIA. There are so many experienced people here who will offer you guidance and lots of food ideas to try out. I wish you all the best.
