Struggling with blood sugars

[GMR]

Hi – I’m hoping somebody might be able to help.

I am a bit baffled with blood sugars I was diagnosed type 2 diabetes Jan/Feb and I have been prescribed metformin.

I had 2 blood tests HbA01c – 1st was 103 then 2nd98. – both within a week of each other.

Since then I have been monitoring what I have had to eat and have been measuring blood sugar before and 2 hours after meals. Blood sugars initially 20 and now seem to be generally around 8 – 9.

However this seems to be still too high. Will my blood sugars come down gradually or should they be in direct response to foods that I am eating.

Despite keeping a food diary results seems to be quite erratic with same foods having different readings at different times.

Am I over thinking this and numbers will keep reducing or do I need to make some more changes. I have lost about 1 ½ stones so far and reduced carbs dramatically.

I asked about 800 cal diet but I have been advised my tests need to be lower. I have also been referred to dietician who also discharged me advising me to get tests lower and then ask to be referred back.

If anybody has any advice on what I should be aiming for with blood sugars, how quickly they should be reducing and what I can do to help this along it would be really helpful.

Thank you

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi – I’m hoping somebody might be able to help.

I am a bit baffled with blood sugars I was diagnosed type 2 diabetes Jan/Feb and I have been prescribed metformin.

I had 2 blood tests HbA01c – 1st was 103 then 2nd98. – both within a week of each other.

Since then I have been monitoring what I have had to eat and have been measuring blood sugar before and 2 hours after meals. Blood sugars initially 20 and now seem to be generally around 8 – 9.

However this seems to be still too high. Will my blood sugars come down gradually or should they be in direct response to foods that I am eating.

Despite keeping a food diary results seems to be quite erratic with same foods having different readings at different times.

Am I over thinking this and numbers will keep reducing or do I need to make some more changes. I have lost about 1 ½ stones so far and reduced carbs dramatically.

I asked about 800 cal diet but I have been advised my tests need to be lower. I have also been referred to dietician who also discharged me advising me to get tests lower and then ask to be referred back.

If anybody has any advice on what I should be aiming for with blood sugars, how quickly they should be reducing and what I can do to help this along it would be really helpful.

Thank you

You say: I have also been referred to dietician who also discharged me advising me to get tests lower and then ask to be referred back. This seems a bit odd as you would think it is now you need the dietary advice, however you will find lots of helpful ideas if you look around the forum threads and look at the learning zone.
You have been doing something right in that your blood glucose has come down, reducing carbohydrates is the key and trying to increase exercise.
Some people find reducing their blood glucose too quickly can cause some vision problems so don't worry if you think it is taking too long as long as it is going in the right direction.
Testing before you eat and after 2 hours should give you a good idea if that meal was too carb heavy if you are seeing more than 3mmol/l increase, initially your results may be higher than you would like them to be and maybe a bit erratic but you are looking for a trend.
If you give a bit of information about a typical daily menu, people may be able to make some suggestion for where you can make some changes for lower carb alternatives.
The thread 'What did you eat yesterday' may give you some ideas for foods that people have.

 

[GMR]

Thanks - I struggled with dietician as I also thought she would be best source of help, she has referred me back to GP who I am due to see again next month. I feel that their focus is on medication - though i am hoping this will change.
my typical food day is
Breakfasts tend to be either cooked breakfast – bacon/eggs and tomatoes or porridge with blueberries.
Lunch – mackerel, slice sour dough bread and salad – this is most days.
Dinner – tonight salmon and salad, but usually meat and salad or veg – I have avoided pasta/potatoes and rice.
If I need a snack – usually cheese on a Ryvita rice cake.

I am going to look at the what did you eat pages. I need inspiration but I am aware that I also need to lose weight

 

[Leadinglights]

Thanks - I struggled with dietician as I also thought she would be best source of help, she has referred me back to GP who I am due to see again next month. I feel that their focus is on medication - though i am hoping this will change.
my typical food day is
Breakfasts tend to be either cooked breakfast – bacon/eggs and tomatoes or porridge with blueberries.
Lunch – mackerel, slice sour dough bread and salad – this is most days.
Dinner – tonight salmon and salad, but usually meat and salad or veg – I have avoided pasta/potatoes and rice.
If I need a snack – usually cheese on a Ryvita rice cake.

I am going to look at the what did you eat pages. I need inspiration but I am aware that I also need to lose weight

That all looks pretty sensible and not particularly carb heavy, I know some people can't tolerate porridge and blue berries are higher carb than some of the other berries but if you test you will know if this is OK for you. Instead of the porridge you could have Full fat Greek yoghurt with the berries and maybe some seeds or nuts.
Eggs in any form are pretty good for breakfast.

 

[DaveB]

Hi. You seem to be doing the right things to get both weight and BS down so keep going with the lower carb diet. The dietician's advice to come back later is quite bizarre and rather silly. Personally I have little time for dieticians as so few seem to understand their subject. Also I would ignore the 800 Calorie diet as our problem is the Carb food group and not Calories which seem to have little basis in science as a food input measure for diabetics. As another poster has said, porridge is not the best breakfast food for us. If you do have it, keep the portion size down or just have the eggs & bacon.

 

[Nick Cliff]

Hi @GMR and welcome to the forum.
To me, it looks like you are making great progress and have achieved a great deal over a short time period. Getting Type 2 under control and managing it is a long-term process so by continuing what you are doing you may see further improvements. I assume that you should soon have another HbA1C test, and that will provide a clearer picture of your progress than the daily finger-prick tests, which are a great guide, but not as reliable.
Seems like the dietary advice you have received so far has been helpful, given your progress. To cut the dieticians some slack, if you read this forum you'll see there's no "silver bullet" diet as we're all different. Just principles to follow - reducing carbs, especially if you are overweight and cutting out stuff with added suger, or which are naturally sweet (bananas etc) and reducing or eliminating alcohol. In time you'll find out the foods which are better/worse for you and achieve that balance.
Regular exercise is also important.
Keep up the good work!
Nick

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Sounds like you are making brilliant progress @GMR

Don’t worry about trying to force your BGs into a non-D range all of a sudden. You started well into diabetes territory, and have more or less halved your BG levels by the looks of things.

Allowing your average levels to come down gradually seems to be easier on the fine blood vessels, which can help your eyes and kidneys will thank you for.

Quite a few members over the years have begun with fairly rapid improvements, and then seen the improvements slow and take a while longer. But this isn‘t necessarily something to stress about, as ling as you keep gradually seeing the right direction of travel 🙂