Not doing too well with blood sugars

[Neety41]

diagnosed type 2 beginning of may, was a bit obsessive at first but not checked my bm for a while, getting constant water infections and felt unwell yesterday, checked sugars tonight and 13.5 2 hrs after eating curry, then 12.5 now! Highest i have had them grrrr. I know what not to eat but felt so deprived and have eaten pilau rice with the curry tonight, no sweets or biscuits etc tho, i know if i eat salad, meat and other healthy food then they will come down, very frustrating but think i need more exercise too, now i have a sitting down job that isnt helping. BAH!!!

 

[HOBIE]

Welcome Neety ! If I had the choice I would walk & walk & walk to get my blood sugar down. Please do yourself a big favour & work at it. I do know what you mean about curry (nice) I had a green tie curry 4 T. Not much rice 🙂 Good luck

 

[Neety41]

Am not used to my sit down job as imhave always worked on my feet, its finding time for anything these days, by time i get home i am shattered and have stuff to do then i work 6 sometimes 7 days a week, i am a nurse in gp practice then A&E at weekends, i do try to take a day off if i can. I love walking but i just dont seem to get around to anything beyond work at moment grrrr

 

[Alison Carr]

Hi Neety - I was warned at pre-diabetic stage and 'ignored it'; ate what I wanted when I wanted. Result I am now diagnosed as Type 2 diabetic and the doctor wants to put me on Metaformin. I had ear boils, thrush, and I am thinking left foot peripheral neuropathy as my left foot is numbish and my leg feels wood-like. Others get teeth abcesses etc. (immune system not working properly due to high sugar in the blood). Wake-up time for me for sure!

At present I told the doctor I want to try to deal with it myself by going on the HIGH FAT/Low Carb/no sugar 'lifestyle'.

That was 3 weeks ago, and I have the diabetic nurse to see this Thursday - probably not too much of an improvement yet as I gather it takes at least 10 weeks for this diet to really kick in. The helpful people on the forum said to get a meter so I got one. Results tend still to be highish - but are coming down as I reduce the carbs more. However I am still learning what I can/can't eat and how low I have to take the carbs (for me I would say less than 50g carbs per day). Using high fat/products and protein and green vegetables and mostly just fruit berries I think I am beginning to make head-way, but this diet may not be for everyone. There are other diets, or combination of diet and meds I guess (may end up being what I have to do next). I also walk more with my dogs these days, which is helping; others use exercise bikes or rowing-machines for half an hour a day at home. I am not hungry on the LC/HF way of life, but as you say - one is deprived of many pleasurable foods. Ah well I would rather that than end up not being able to walk, or losing my foot! Or having to go on meds if I can avoid it.

Hope you find your way forward to what suits you best. Regards, Alison

 

[Neety41]

Am lucky my feet, eyes etc are all fine, hba1c was only 53 but hope to sort myself out, my gp thinks its more than likely a hereditary issue rather than dietary, i have lost and gained weight all my life like most women, expert at weight watchers etc but i do think we have all been fooled for years with low fat stuff being full of sugar, theres no wonder our pancreas is giving up having been over worked for 30 yrs!!

 

[Alison Carr]

Too right about the wrong approach by Health 'experts' for the last 40 years! It's just this last two years they have begun to see the errors - in the often obese/diabetic increased population worldwide.

I gather that diabetes type 2 has a genetic inheritance factor; but carb intake and exercise can reverse it (I am told, and can but hope at this time). I hadn't the foot neuropathy problem until 2 weeks ago, and am trying to reverse that myself too - as all the doctor said was "well the pulse is better in that foot than the other". Well it wasn't the pulse that was worrying me but the possible nerve damage! I gather peripheral neuropathy is the only side effect of diabetes which can be reversed, but only if it is recognised as such in the early stages!!! "Early identification is critical" to reversal.

The hereditary aspect of diabetes makes us likely to get it; but it is the diet of modern high carbs and hidden sugars which are making it so prelevant these days; yet all one sees in the shops is low fat foods with added sugars (as you say).

Good luck with it love. Regards, Alison

 

[bilbie]

Am lucky my feet, eyes etc are all fine, hba1c was only 53 but hope to sort myself out, my gp thinks its more than likely a hereditary issue rather than dietary, i have lost and gained weight all my life like most women, expert at weight watchers etc but i do think we have all been fooled for years with low fat stuff being full of sugar, theres no wonder our pancreas is giving up having been over worked for 30 yrs!!

I can share what worked for me and wish I was told on day one.
I cut Sugars, including fruit/juice and Starches, including breads pasta rice potatoe etc, I eat lots of low carb/starch veg, moderate protein and full fat everything.

This gives a simple overview to how it works for me. The more carbs I eat the more carbs I want. They don’t give up easy and it’s biochemical. This is for the lay person, you could understand a medical version of this.

an introduction to low carb, no need to pay to see more, there is enough on the net.
http://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb

what to expect the first week, besides being starving hungry for the first 36 hours, then it stops
https://www.verywell.com/getting-through-the-first-week-2242037

 

[KookyCat]

Neety41 have you tried cauliflower rice or brocolli rice with your curry? On a very practical level there are things that can easily be swapped out that make lower carb eating easier and not reliant on salad (which can get a bit boring ). The curry is the main event isn't it, and you don't really taste the rice so a rice alternative is potentially an easy swap. Creamed cauli also makes a nice alternative to mashed spuds. Other "easy" swaps like macaroni and brocolli cheese are good, all the joy of macaroni cheese but with considerably less pasta. There's also the joy that is almond pastry (made with ground almond instead of flour) that makes a very acceptable quiche amongst other things. It takes energy to find the recipes, but once you've built up your arsenal it's fairly straightforward and then you can use your carb allowance for things you really want. I'm not low carb high fat, mostly because I struggle with fat a bit, the irony is that before I was diabetic I got grief for my diet being too high in fat because I've never done low fat either. The reality is I'm moderate carb with a definite whole food low GI leaning, and moderate fat, fairly low protein. That works for me, but I have insulin so I appreciate those without it may have to go lower carb than me. Incidentally I make two giant quiches at the same time and freeze them pre sliced, I cook up a giant batch of aubergine Parmesan or black bean brownies or whatever my latest food project is, freeze in meal size portions then I've got the convenience of ready meals, I find that helps a lot when I'm shattered and don't have the energy to cook 🙂

 

[AndBreathe]

diagnosed type 2 beginning of may, was a bit obsessive at first but not checked my bm for a while, getting constant water infections and felt unwell yesterday, checked sugars tonight and 13.5 2 hrs after eating curry, then 12.5 now! Highest i have had them grrrr. I know what not to eat but felt so deprived and have eaten pilau rice with the curry tonight, no sweets or biscuits etc tho, i know if i eat salad, meat and other healthy food then they will come down, very frustrating but think i need more exercise too, now i have a sitting down job that isnt helping. BAH!!!

Neety - When diagnosed, I interpreted my fingerprick test results as my personalised dietary feedback. The bigger numbers are problematic as you appreciate, so you're faced with three options or a mix of those: cut it down, cut it our or medicate. The choices are yours to consider and deploy.

If rice is one of your big no-nos, then I really do urge you to try cauli rice, if you want the bulky accompaniment rice gives. I mainly just have more curry, but when I have rice, I make it very simply and super-fast. I use the food processor with a grater blade , and "process" a head of cauli in one go. Of course, that's waaaaay too much for one for one meal; maybe even too much for two for a meal, but the grated cauli lasts well in a Tupperware/Klip Top box in the fridge. If Tesco can sell it in plastic containers, I'm just doing it my own way. (Tesco £1 per pot v head of cauli around 85p?).

If you're doing a curry ready meal, check out it's carb content too as they vary, but assuming you slap that in the oven to heat (convection or microwave), I just heat a wok, with ghee/butter or oil of choice and importantly throw in some seasoning. For Indian, I'll use Pilau seasoning. For a Caribbean dish, I'll use Cajun, Creol or Jerk seasonings, and so on. That way your rice really does blend with the rest of your meal and isn't really like cauli any more. I've also done Egg Fried Not Quite Rice like this too. All of those "rice" options take less than 5 minutes to cook and there's only the wok to wash up, once the cauli is batch processed.

Two phrases that keep coming back to me about exercise are: Cardiologist Aseem Malhotra's statement that "You can't outrun a poor diet", and one I can't recall to whom it should be attributed, but it goes something like "For diabetics who are carb intolerant, eating carbs in moderation will lead too the sufferer being moderately poisoned".

Both of those phrases were used at the PHCUK Conference earlier this month, and coincidentally the first of the Conference presentations was posted on YouTube this morning, here:

This presentation is Drs David and Jen Unwin, from Southport. David is this year's NHS Innovator of the year, for his work using a low carb eating programme within his NHS practice.

If you follow that link, you should be able to find the others as they are uploaded.

 

[Neety41]

Think i know why sugars were high all night! Rip roaring UTI, not felt this unwell with them before On antibiotics now phew

 

[trophywench]

Vicious circle Neety - high BGs cause/encourage UTIs, then the UTI send the BG skyrocketing.

Still - you must see enough people suffering peripheral neuropathy and the like, to know exactly why you need to sort yourself out, so you don't need us to tell you.

Just do it - NOW !

 

[Mark Parrott]

I've only tried cauli rice once. Did it in the microwave but found it too watery. May try the wok idea next.

 

[trophywench]

Nooooooo to the microwave! - it literally doesn't need to be 'cooked' - only 'heated' - which cooks it LOL - it's grated, so you do little more than show it to a well-hot pan, with just enough lubrication on its surface to stop the cauli welding itself to the bottom, give it a stir or two, and serve!

 

[Mark Parrott]

Thanks Jenny.🙂

 

[Neety41]

My utis are for a different reason which i wont go into on here, i have a rare tumour and treatments/surgery i had in the past are the problem

 

[AndBreathe]

My utis are for a different reason which i wont go into on here, i have a rare tumour and treatments/surgery i had in the past are the problem

My knee jerk reaction is elevated bloods are often an early warning signal of "something going on" in the body, even for those with tight running tracks. As an example, my bloods, over the last week have been up a smidge, but my body had been fighting off a snuffly nose, achy ear and I had a rash and joint pains at the beginning of the week. My rise is very modest, but many folks find if they have an infection of any kind their bloods elevate. It's a sort of chicken and egg conundrum, unfortunately.

Have you continued to monitor as you work through your UTI and antibiotics?