Not so new newbie....

[Tillagirl]

Hello all, this is my first week on this site. I was diagnosed ten years ago with Type 2 and promptly put my head in the sand, telling the doc I would lose weight and sort it. So here we are. I have lost weight (but not enough) and my blood sugar rose to the giddy heights of 20.2 in the morning. I felt rubbish. I went back to the doctor (I avoid doctors if at all possible so it must have been bad). He put me on Metformin, one in the morning and one in the evening. After three weeks I couldn't leave the house, sometimes couldn't get up. I was depressed, had the galloping explosive trots and stomach cramps, dry eyes, headaches, panic attacks, palpitations and generally wanted to throw myself off a tall building. A friend suggested I stop taking them. My blood sugar had dropped to around 10-11 in the morning. Its still at that sort of level three weeks after stopping the pills. I get occasional spikes. I am desperate to lose more weight and get my b/s down. Trying low carb but not losing weight (not gaining either). Looking forward to help, inspiration and camaraderie!

 

[Flakie]

Metformin isn’t the be all and end all as you’ve discovered. You’ve halved your sugars which is great so that’s a good start. You say you’re eating low carb so just check that nothing you think is ok is actually not - specially things like fruit which has a lot of sugar in it. You’re not putting weight on which is another plus so I would say just checking the carbs would be a good start.
Check out the food part of the forum and ask questions there and try and step up the activities , though that isn’t always easy.
Are you testing? It’s the only way to check your food tolerances.
Welcome to the forum anyway and keep asking questions - much more savvy people than me know a lot more and will be along soon.

 

[CathyB]

Welcome Tillagirl, as @Flakie has said, you are certainly heading in the right direction. Have you been assigned a diabetic nurse? I find mine easier to talk to than the doctor, it might be worth talking about your Metformin reaction as there are other possibilities that might help you. You say you are trying low carb, what have you cut out? The key foods to avoid are rice, pasta, potatoes and bread, a lot of us eat Burgen bread which is a low carb soya and linseed option, nice for toast or a sandwich. I chose to cut these carbs out completely and it has made a huge difference, my bg is now within normal range and my weight is dropping nicely. The other difference I made was to borrow a neighbours dog and go for a walk whenever I can, that helps with both keeping the bg lower and of course with weight.

 

[Tillagirl]

Thanks for the suggestions - I don’t eat bread rice pasta or any starchy veg. I am basically following Atkins - I am now trying intermittent fasting. I do walk my dog a lot - at least three times a day. Thinking of starting swimming again. I like my diabetic nurse but of course want to go back shouting ‘ta da’ with perfect b/s!