Newly joined

[Trish Bellringer]

Hello. I’m Type 2 diabetic, diagnosed about 3 years ago. On Metformin 500mgBD but not terribly well controlled. Need to put more effort into diet and exercise! Any tips welcome

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the the forum Trish, from a fellow T2 who's 5 1/2 years in.

 

[silentsquirrel]

Welcome Trish from another ringer. (i am assuming from your name you are a bellringer.) Hand, tower or both? Read around the forums and you will pick up tips, and ask any questions you have.

 

[Toucan]

Hello @Trish Bellringer and welcome to the forum.

There are many T2s on the forum and if you have a browse around you will find some relevant items under discussion.

Have you been following any particular type of eating plan? Many of us on the forum find that reducing carbs has a significant effect on our blood glucose levels.
Do you currently use a blood glucose tester to see how you are doing and what foods might particularly effect you?

I will give you some links to some information if you want to find out a bit more:

If you want to know more about the Low-Carb way of eating then Maggie Davey's letter, shows how this lady approached the problem.
If you need to get a meter then SD Gluco Navii is one that many people use, and test-review-adjust gives information on how to go about testing.
Also the Learning Zone link at the top of this page has some useful information.

There is though no one-size-fits all, and it is worth taking the time to find out what works for you and is sustainable.
Hope this helps.

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Welcome Trish from another ringer. (i am assuming from your name you are a bellringer.) Hand, tower or both? Read around the forums and you will pick up tips, and ask any questions you have.

Hello Silent Squirrel- actually Bellringer is my real name! I know they suggest you don’t use your real name for confidentiality reasons but I’m happy to use mine. We do have a connection however, in that I spend a fair amount of time at the moment chasing squirrels off my bird feeder A few people have kindly posted tips already, so much better to have personal tips and advice rather than wade through general literature. I must confess that although I am a nurse myself, I have been a bit ‘head in the sand’ about managing my diabetes, but the recent news about the risks around the virus have made me take myself in hand and be more vigilant about monitoring my blood glucose levels, and about diet and exercise.

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Hello Silent Squirrel- actually Bellringer is my real name! I know they suggest you don’t use your real name for confidentiality reasons but I’m happy to use mine. We do have a connection however, in that I spend a fair amount of time at the moment chasing squirrels off my bird feeder A few people have kindly posted tips already, so much better to have personal tips and advice rather than wade through general literature. I must confess that although I am a nurse myself, I have been a bit ‘head in the sand’ about managing my diabetes, but the recent news about the risks around the virus have made me take myself in hand and be more vigilant about monitoring my blood glucose levels, and about diet and exercise.

There was a smiley face after the comment about squirrels! I’ve realised they don’t show on the message, which somewhat alters the tone!

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Hello @Trish Bellringer and welcome to the forum.

There are many T2s on the forum and if you have a browse around you will find some relevant items under discussion.

Have you been following any particular type of eating plan? Many of us on the forum find that reducing carbs has a significant effect on our blood glucose levels.
Do you currently use a blood glucose tester to see how you are doing and what foods might particularly effect you?

I will give you some links to some information if you want to find out a bit more:

If you want to know more about the Low-Carb way of eating then Maggie Davey's letter, shows how this lady approached the problem.
If you need to get a meter then SD Gluco Navii is one that many people use, and test-review-adjust gives information on how to go about testing.
Also the Learning Zone link at the top of this page has some useful information.

There is though no one-size-fits all, and it is worth taking the time to find out what works for you and is sustainable.
Hope this helps.

Thank you Toucan.
I have recently acquired a blood glucose monitoring kit. Until now I’ve not been good at managing my diabetes, have tended to take my meds and rely on 6 monthly HbA1c checks (not good, particularly as I am a nurse myself so should know better!) My recent regular readings have given me a bit of a shock so I’m committed to improving my diet, and managing diet and exercise. Thanks

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum Trish
Glad that you have found us. You have had lots of advice above, so I will just encourage you to come back with any questions that you have.

 

[Caroline2020]

Hello. I’m Type 2 diabetic, diagnosed about 3 years ago. On Metformin 500mgBD but not terribly well controlled. Need to put more effort into diet and exercise! Any tips welcome

Hi Trish - I’m a newbie to all this. Been dieting by tracking what I eat on My Fitness Pal snd sticking to 1200 calories a day. It gives you the carb and sugar count of all the foods you log to keep an eye on those and make “good choices”. Good luck

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Hi Trish - I’m a newbie to all this. Been dieting by tracking what I eat on My Fitness Pal snd sticking to 1200 calories a day. It gives you the carb and sugar count of all the foods you log to keep an eye on those and make “good choices”. Good luck

Thank you Caroline. How frequently do you check your blood glucose levels? I’ve been too relaxed about it in the past but I don’t want to go the other way and become obsessive! I’m not very good at calorie counting. I’m not too much overweight (probably could lose about 10lb) but I know losing weight itself will help, I’ve got a really good cookery book by Phil Vickery for diabetics - I definitely recommend it- and I’m simply banning any ‘bad’ snacks and using nuts and dried fruit instead. Also trying to do 10k steps a day! I feel well motivated by the obvious risk from the virus, but I know I should have been doing this before. Good luck and thanks for your advice.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Trish and welcome from me too.
You might want to snack on something other than dried fruit if you are interested in managing your diabetes by diet. Nuts are ok, as you mentioned in small portions and olives or boiled eggs are great and a few raspberries or strawberries or stewed rhubarb (with Stevia) with some creamy Greek natural yoghurt (best to avoid low fat yoghurts as they are much higher in carbs) works well. "Berries" (but not grapes) are some of the lowest carb fruits, so the best choice. I made the same mistake when I was first diagnosed but if you start testing and keeping a track of the carbs you eat, you will soon see that the dried fruit is not the best choice..... I even sometimes use them as a hypo treatment now because they spike my BG pretty rapidly.

The problem with eating carb dense foods is that they spike your BG and then you need to produce insulin to counteract it. Typical Type 2 diabetics are insulin resistant because their body has started to "ignore it". The more insulin you make, the less sensitive your body becomes to it, so by cutting out those high carb foods, your body doesn't need to produce so much insulin and has the chance to become more sensitive to it again as well usually resulting in you losing weight. It is similar with your taste buds with sugar. Once you stop eating all the sweet stuff and reset your palette, you can detect sweetness in things which where previously sour.

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Hi Trish and welcome from me too.
You might want to snack on something other than dried fruit if you are interested in managing your diabetes by diet. Nuts are ok, as you mentioned in small portions and olives or boiled eggs are great and a few raspberries or strawberries or stewed rhubarb (with Stevia) with some creamy Greek natural yoghurt (best to avoid low fat yoghurts as they are much higher in carbs) works well. "Berries" (but not grapes) are some of the lowest carb fruits, so the best choice. I made the same mistake when I was first diagnosed but if you start testing and keeping a track of the carbs you eat, you will soon see that the dried fruit is not the best choice..... I even sometimes use them as a hypo treatment now because they spike my BG pretty rapidly.

The problem with eating carb dense foods is that they spike your BG and then you need to produce insulin to counteract it. Typical Type 2 diabetics are insulin resistant because their body has started to "ignore it". The more insulin you make, the less sensitive your body becomes to it, so by cutting out those high carb foods, your body doesn't need to produce so much insulin and has the chance to become more sensitive to it again as well usually resulting in you losing weight. It is similar with your taste buds with sugar. Once you stop eating all the sweet stuff and reset your palette, you can detect sweetness in things which where previously sour.

Thank you, that’s excellent advice! I will definitely cut out the dried fruit (which was normally mixed in with nuts) and go for the bags of nuts only (in moderation!) I love olives and berry fruits and Greek yogurt, and have plenty of rhubarb in my allotment! Any advice on a glass or two of wine?! I really appreciate the time people are taking to give each other advice on this forum. Thanks again.

 

[trophywench]

This is when to test - https://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html

If you aren't going to review and adjust where necessary - don't bother testing!

 

[Trish Bellringer]

This is when to test - https://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/test-review-adjust.html

If you aren't going to review and adjust where necessary - don't bother testing!

Thank you. Definitely no point in testing if I don’t then review and adjust! One question that arises from reading the attached thread- does anyone know why the advice to ‘not flinch’ when using the lancet makes a difference? Is it because any slight movement will affect the sensation/pain likelihood? Also does anyone have any experience to whether it’s better to have the lancet depth set lower but pressing more firmly on the finger, or whether to set the lancet depth higher but just test gently on the finger? At work, where I regularly have to test patients CBG levels with a device that does not have an adjustable lancet, I have found that the key to reducing pain is not to press the lancet into the side of the finger, but just rest it lightly, without pressure. I don’t think the ‘skewering nurse’ had discovered this!

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Trish

Red or dry white wine or spirits with or without low carb mixers may actually have a slight effect of lowering your BG because with any alcohol the liver gets busy dealing with it as a toxin and stops or reduces trickling out glucogen whilst it is otherwise distracted. Beer and cider and medium/sweet wine contain carbs so the overall effect may be that there is a rise in BG possibly followed by a slight drop later.
The thing to bear in mind is that whilst the spirits and wine contain no real carbs, they do contain empty calories so if you need to lose weight (and bearing in mind that weight loss will impact positively on your diabetes) then it is probably not a good idea, but in my opinion the odd glass of wine is not going to cause you much of a problem and I certainly enjoy one every now and then.... like last night with a nice chunk of cheese. 🙂

As regards lancing fingers, I prefer to have it set at full depth and not need to squeeze too much..... or have to lance a second or third time.... but then I have thick dry skin which is often split so any squeezing is usually far more painful than a jab with a lancet.
think it is a different matter when you are testing other people as part of your work as you don't have time to figure out how thick or thin their skin is, so it is best to set at max depth for everyone than have to have x number of attempts as you dial up the depth from a min starting point. I found I can get away with a lower setting on my ring and little finger than my fore and middle fingers but I just leave it on max setting for all. I sometimes test as many as 10-12 times a day and I don't have a problem with sore fingers from the lancet on max settings although occasionally I will get one that is significantly more painful than the majority. I assume I just hit a nerve ending on those occasions.

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Hi Trish

Red or dry white wine or spirits with or without low carb mixers may actually have a slight effect of lowering your BG because with any alcohol the liver gets busy dealing with it as a toxin and stops or reduces trickling out glucogen whilst it is otherwise distracted. Beer and cider and medium/sweet wine contain carbs so the overall effect may be that there is a rise in BG possibly followed by a slight drop later.
The thing to bear in mind is that whilst the spirits and wine contain no real carbs, they do contain empty calories so if you need to lose weight (and bearing in mind that weight loss will impact positively on your diabetes) then it is probably not a good idea, but in my opinion the odd glass of wine is not going to cause you much of a problem and I certainly enjoy one every now and then.... like last night with a nice chunk of cheese. 🙂

As regards lancing fingers, I prefer to have it set at full depth and not need to squeeze too much..... or have to lance a second or third time.... but then I have thick dry skin which is often split so any squeezing is usually far more painful than a jab with a lancet.
think it is a different matter when you are testing other people as part of your work as you don't have time to figure out how thick or thin their skin is, so it is best to set at max depth for everyone than have to have x number of attempts as you dial up the depth from a min starting point. I found I can get away with a lower setting on my ring and little finger than my fore and middle fingers but I just leave it on max setting for all. I sometimes test as many as 10-12 times a day and I don't have a problem with sore fingers from the lancet on max settings although occasionally I will get one that is significantly more painful than the majority. I assume I just hit a nerve ending on those occasions.

Thank you so much again. So useful to have advice gleaned from experience 🙂

 

[trophywench]

Trish will you please come and test my blood whilst the two of us fight rebrascora off?

I'm B glad you're not a HCP Barbara - what a nasty thing to suggest! The HCP is absolutely NOT the important person here - it's eg me, the patient!

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Haha! Don’t want to start a battle here! I think the point is that often in a health care setting the lancets that are used are not adjustable, they seem to be set at maximum, so I’ve learned from experience and feedback that without knowing the individual sensitivity of the patient, it’s best to just test the primed lancet on the side of the finger without putting pressure on. It’s only rarely happened that this doesn’t produce enough blood, and I think the patient would prefer to have to have a second attempt than to push firmly on the first attempt and have them a) go through the roof, and b) be forever nervous about having the procedure done. I recently did a teaching session at work around the rationale and technique of monitoring a patient’s CBG, and feedback has been that that tip about not putting pressure on the finger with the lancet was one of the most helpful parts of the session! Hope that helps at least one person 🙂

 

[Trish Bellringer]

Haha! Don’t want to start a battle here! I think the point is that often in a health care setting the lancets that are used are not adjustable, they seem to be set at maximum, so I’ve learned from experience and feedback that without knowing the individual sensitivity of the patient, it’s best to just test the primed lancet on the side of the finger without putting pressure on. It’s only rarely happened that this doesn’t produce enough blood, and I think the patient would prefer to have to have a second attempt than to push firmly on the first attempt and have them a) go through the roof, and b) be forever nervous about having the procedure done. I recently did a teaching session at work around the rationale and technique of monitoring a patient’s CBG, and feedback has been that that tip about not putting pressure on the finger with the lancet was one of the most helpful parts of the session! Hope that helps at least one person 🙂

test should read rest...

 

[Trish Bellringer]

I think rebrascora was talking about testing herself? I appreciate both your feedback. This is a very helpful forum 🙂