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to day what l had to eat

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rosie1

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
this morning l had weetabix, followed by crossant, lunch l had noodles and pork thing at staff canteen, 4.00 tea time had banana, but by 4.30 was feeling sick again ,burpin .feeling wosey. am l not eating enouth we only get 3 breaks at my work, l cant leave the floor in between, sorry to ask for help again😱
 
this morning l had weetabix, followed by crossant, lunch l had noodles and pork thing at staff canteen, 4.00 tea time had banana, but by 4.30 was feeling sick again ,burpin .feeling wosey. am l not eating enouth we only get 3 breaks at my work, l cant leave the floor in between, sorry to ask for help again😱
Lets see, carbohydrates for breakfast, carbs for lunch with pork, carbs at tea time.

That lot will be pushing your blood glucose levels up nice and high - which could be making you feel ill.
 
Bannanas is what marathon runners eat to bring there bg back up ? Have you got a blood tester ? Like mark i would say you could be high. Where you thirsty ? I feel ill when high. Good luck sorting 🙂
 
Has anyone explained what carbohydrates are, what they do, and what foods you need to avoid/reduce?

If your doctor or practice nurse hasn't already referred you to a dietician, it would be a good idea to ask.
 
Exactly - if every meal is carbohydrate based (or entirely carbohydrate) your diet is probably neither balanced nor hardly suitable for a diabetic.

Sorry, but there you go. We have a condition where the body can't process carbs very well, whether we are T1, T1.5, T2, MODY, LADA, Gestational or steroid induced, so it's not the best thing to immediately overload it with carbs, is it?

I think if you did test, you'd be staggered at your blood sugar. In my opinion, it's high blood sugar that's making you feel so horrible.

1 Weetabix and semi-skimmed milk - that's 18g. But most people have 2 ! 36g.

Smallish croissant, another 20g assuming you did not have jam. Big one, probably 35g or so.

Noodles could be anything from 50g upwards. Unlikely to be less.

Banana - another 20 or 30g.
 
Things I've learned to avoid most of the time:

White bread of any sort including croissants. Seedy and wholegrain is generally OK in moderation.
Pasta, including noodles: wholegrain/brown is usually OK in small portions, same goes for rice.
Most of us have serious issues with cereals, I'm OK with oatmeal but some folk aren't.
Potatoes and veg such parsnips which have a high starch or sugar content.
Fruit is very iffy, fruit is full of sugars. Things like bananas, pineapple and mango are a no-no unless you're running low or having a serious hypo. I've found however, that I can get away with small helpings of berries like raspberries, blueberries and the occasional green grape.

The only way you're going to learn what foods you can eat, what you can't eat ever and what you can have occasionally is through testing your blood sugars. If your doctor/nurse won't let you, it would be worthwhile buying a meter and strips for yourself. Then you can keep a food diary to record what you eat and what happens to your blood sugar level as a result. You can then adjust your diet to contain foods that won't raise your BGs too much.

There's a book you could get from Amazon that is an excellent guide to the early days as a T2. You may find it helpful.

As has been suggested, you should ask for a referral to a dietician who can explain things for you.
 
well that wasnt called for

l feel l been told off,? wow dont think l asked for that, one my doctors dont have a dietrichen, 2 l work like on a shop floor & cant leave to have a snack,3 no no one has told me about carbs,how meny of you work full time, it is very hard when you travel up to london, thanks alison l will look up that book.
 
l feel l been told off,? wow dont think l asked for that, one my doctors dont have a dietrichen, 2 l work like on a shop floor & cant leave to have a snack,3 no no one has told me about carbs,how meny of you work full time, it is very hard when you travel up to london, thanks alison l will look up that book.

Hi rosie, sorry if you feel you've been scolded, sometimes things can come across that way on the internet but it's rare that people mean it that way (on here, at least!) Actually, it's your doctor or nurse that should be told off for not telling you the basic facts about diabetes - they shouldn't need to leave it to a dietician, whether available or not. It can be tricky getting used to avoiding carbs, especially for snacks, as most of our culture is based on snacks = carbs.
 
Hi Rosie, sometimes this is a difficult form of communication and it can sometimes feel like a scolding. No one here means to come across that way. It is your doctors surgery who needs a ticking off for most giving you more guidance. All my doctor managed to do was give me a list of what I felt were negatives.

Read through others posts and see what has been said about different things and please feel free to ask questions, as many questions as you like. I find if I feel someone is scolding me it pays to go away and come back later and read through again because I know everyone is trying to help and there is nothing malicious (sorry probably wrong choice of word but if someone thinks of something better or a better phrase, please ammend)

I hope you manage to get things sorted and you feel better soon. Many of us find it takes a little time to get it right, and some of us are still exploring and experimenting.
 
northner &caroline

thanks for both replys, but l do think people should think before they write or speak , l would be interested do you both work as l feel more hungry on work day than rest day like to day🙂
 
Hi Rosie, I work full time and I work in a library so it is difficult for me to snakc between meals.

I have days where if eating was an olympic event I'd win gold medals. I try to plan my meals so that I have a little of everything although I find it very hard to avoid over loading with carbs.

Is there a staff resteraunt where you work? what is the menu like? sometimes if there is a good chef they can help with special dietry requirments. Our staff eatery is rubbish and they wouldn't know a healthy diet if it wa slaid out in front of them.
 
The trouble with having diabetes is this - your bodily cells can't get hold of what you are eating, and they need to get hold of it in order to function. The body converts food to glucose, and it's glucose the cells need to stay alive and function.

It works kind of like this.

The cell doors are locked so the glucose can't get in.

The brain tells the pancreas 'Here comes some food - we need to open the cell doors, so send the keys along please'

The pancreas responds by sending along some insulin.

Insulin is the key that opens the cell doors.

When you get Type 1, the bit of the pancreas that produces the insulin has died, so no insulin is available, so we have to inject it instead.

When you get Type 2, usually something else goes wrong whereby the pancreas is still doing it's bit by sending along the insulin, but the malfunction is stopping it working. If you like, has it's foot against all the cell doors to stop them opening, even when they are unlocked. This is called Insulin Resistance.

Whatever, the cell doors stay locked so the cells stay hungry.

And that's the message you get - I'm hungry! Please feed me! So you do - but it only improves things for a short time and then the cells get hungry again. And you are hungry again.

Meanwhile, because your food is still being converted to glucose but it can't get into the cells, the glucose stays in your blood and it circulates round the body till it eventually gets to your kidneys from where it passes into your urine and you pee it out. But the kidneys weren't actually meant to deal with so much glucose. Basically they act like a sieve, and the glucose molecules are too big to go through the holes, but eventually they make the holes bigger and they do get through. Because the holes get bigger, then any number of other things that shouldn't get into your kidneys also can get in, and kidney damage results.

Also, the glucose in your blood gets into your liver. This is fine under normal circumstances because the liver has this nice little mechanism where it converts it to Glycogen, which is your body's emergency supply of energy for when you need it in desperation (to run away from a murderer or whatever) But it can't store very much Glycogen so when it's full, it stores what's left over as BODY FAT. Especially the sort that gets round your internal organs. Not good.

So .... the net result is, uncontrolled diabetes makes you feel hungry even when you've had more than enough to eat.

The body converts carbohydrates to glucose much quicker (2 times) than it converts protein or fat (9 times) but if you continue to eat loads of carb, all you do is keep overloading your blood with glucose in trainloads.

But if you slow the process down, by eating less carb and more protein and fat - then your body should have a chance to catch up a bit.

Plus, protein keeps you fuller for longer anyway (with or without diabetes) - so you win all round.

A T2 friend of mine tried to cut out LORS of carb straight away. This was a mistake for her, because it made her feel worse than she started off. Do it a week at a time or something - this week, I'll cut 10%, next week another 10%.

Once you get it in control it may be possible to add some of the carbs back in, but it's unlikely you'll want them all back, by then.

And yes - you really DO need to get a meter whatever your flipping nurse or doctor says. How will you know what's OK for you to eat and what isn't so good, if you don't?

Finally we are all different - LeeLee may be able to eat this or that, Pav may be able to eat different things to LeeLee and be OK. The only way to find out what's good or bad for you, is to TEST.
 
I found really trying to change what I eat has helped and I also bought a meter and tested..... Have been pretty lax testing for a while but have an idea what works. For instance I can tolerate a yoghurt with some oatmeal for breakfast. You might find that actually having a cooked breakfast makes you last much linger as being carb free ( leave out the toast) keeps your blood sugar even. Mid morning if I'm good it's fromage frais, naughty it's some oatcakes but my blood sugar tolerates this quite well....
I've found tesco do a really nice 6 grain loaf that I can tolerate a bit of for a small sandwich. These days I rarely eat potatoes or pasta... Bolognese sauce is usually on some veg...
It's a question of seeing what your body is happy with and what it isn't .... But it does seem horribly overwhelming at first.....
 
Hi Rosie,

Sorry if you feel you've been scolded, although I'm sure no-one has intended to do that.

The issue is you appear to have been let down quite badly by your care team who haven't done their job properly. That is not your fault at all, but it does mean that we are going to have to go right back to basics. You could of course make appointments to see dieticians etc. but as someone else who works full time in central London, I know just how hard it can be to get an appointment at a time that doesn't clash with work.

That means you're going to find the people here are the best source of advice for you. In fact, that probably goes for all of us. But the flipside of that means that many of us are going to find that things we are doing to manage our diabetes might not be quite right. It's REALLY important not to take this personally. Everyone has different ways of managing their diabetes but there are a few fundamental truths behind everything with D. And at the moment, it looks like your care team haven't taught you these yet. Again, this is NOT your fault at all. But it will then mean certain aspects of your treatment regime are going to be challenged, because parts of them (an all-carb diet and you choosing not to take your medication) are bits that violate those fundamental truths.

No-one is telling you off. Everyone is helping you understand when you make mistakes and even better, actually offering practical advice on how to avoid making them again.

Others will jump in with advice, but here's some bits from me about working in central London with diabetes with limited abilities for breaks.

1. You don't necessarily need snacks. As a T2 who is on Metformin, you're very, very unlikely to have hypos. So you don't need to worry if you can't snack regularly.
2. Prepare your lunch the night before. The night before I go into work, I prepare my own lunch to take in with me. Usually it's a handful of blueberries, greek yoghurt (as I eat breakfast when I get into work) and then a salad with a lot of good protein - bacon I've cooked the night before, strong cheese, maybe ham, maybe chicken, maybe prawns. The protein is important because protein and fat are what make you feel full. Leftovers from last night's dinner can also be good too if you have a microwave at work or it's something you can eat cold. You can't beat a good thick bit of leftover gammon or pork with some cheese or hardboiled eggs.
3. Make sure you've got lots of good ingredients at home that you can use to quickly make dinner when you get back as if you get home late, it's a real pain to cook. I always keep some chicken breasts in the freezer that I can defrost in the microwave quickly and then chuck in a pan with some stir fry veg and soy sauce. That'll give you dinner in less than 15 minutes - less than 7 minutes if it's fresh chicken.
4. Pick foods that have strong flavours and bit of chew or crunch in them - they're more satisfying to eat.
5. Good snacks (if you do really feel the need to snack) are things like carrot sticks, biltong (not jerky, which is surprisingly loaded with sugar), nuts, Babybels, salamis, hardboiled eggs. Avoid crisps.

The trick for all of this is preparation. Initially it's a slog but once you have all the bits in place, life gets a lot easier and you will feel a lot better. It also is far cheaper!
 
Also, planning a week's meals before you go to do the supermarket sweep so you only buy what you will use and NEVER go food shopping when you are hungry! - cos you get sidetracked by junkfood snacks!
 
As another newbie Rosie, just wanted to say hello.
Due to lack of / differing advice from local surgery, came here to get some input from people in the same boat as me.
People have been very generous with their time. Very supportive and informative and it's been an extremely positive experience - one that I hope continues.
My status is only known to the surgery and my WeightWatchers lady, as no one else knows - not work, family or friends. I've only recently started testing and it has proved difficult, particularly at work, to do, privately.
But I've taken on board what advice I've been given here and really applied myself and I'm already seeing great results.
I know when you type something, it may not come over to the reader, via plain text, how you said it in your head. Though you feel you have been 'told off', far from it - from my brief experience, the members here are keen to offer support and advice, due to the obvious lack of you have received already. I've been there, literally, that's how I ended up here! I've been very low recently and my D status has dragged me down...but I'm trying to turn it round and being on here is helping, immensely.
Browsing (all) the forum and reading all the suggested reading material has been a BIG plus for me - can't stress that enough - so take some time to look at the posts / information available and you'll see and pick up on things that will hit a nerve, which apply to your situation.
It can be / is all very daunting, but try and say postive,
HelenHanfe
 
Helen

If you don't mind me asking, why do you keep it to yourself?

There's certainly no shame or blame for diabetes.
 
I can't speak for Helen of course. But I think we might be in a similar situation. I was ashamed and felt guilty. I had a friend here this week from Spain who didn't know until Wednesday - and I was diagnosed two years ago.
 
Helen

If you don't mind me asking, why do you keep it to yourself?

There's certainly no shame or blame for diabetes.

i do understand why people dont tell
i am very open about it ...and then usual explain that what you read in the media is such a load of twoddle ....

Rosie i have read your posting and really know where you are coming from working until recently in retail (charity)
Retail is hard work mentally and physically with very little pay, poor working conditions and a public that wants everthing as cheap as possible when a management seems to be blind to the recession and just shout TARGETS all the time.
Im not sure how far your commute is but I am sure...having done it a few years ago its very expensive and stressful
and having T2 is tough specially as the medical profession will rarely suggest a T2 test, when what you really need to do is try and find out what makes you spike high sugars.

Basically the first thing to do is simply cut out all obvious sugars from your diet. If you crave stuff... have a small amount don't deny yourself but be kind to yourself...one step at a time in taking control...

the next stage is to try and find out about non obvious sugars ...ie in fruit root veg, bread, pasta. rice etc and now you will be more aware, you can start to restrict them.

This in my opinion is when you really need to start testing as we humans are complex and very individual, unfortunately the general sheets and guidance given out are 'one size fits all' ...it is much more personal than that ...by testing you can work out what food stuffs to avoid, eat moderately ..or totally pig out on !!!!

good luck have a good look around and remember no question is regarded silly here ...x🙂
 
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Hi trophywench,

At the time, was going through a very difficult patch with my mother being seriously unwell. All my focus was on that and I thought my feeling so unwell was stress, when I had a 'eureka' moment. I said something out loud and it instantly reminder me of my father, who was diabetic and it all just clicked into place, so off to the doctor I went, with a pot of pee and asked him to confirm what I already knew.

My father passed away some years ago (at a relatively young age) and it's still a difficult subject and with my mother being so unwell at the time, I couldn't risk her finding out - she would blame herself, I know and it would obviously hit a big nerve.

I have a large-ish family and for that reason, didn't say anything - my choice not to tell my mother and I'd be mortified if she found out from anyone else.

Following on from that, a colleague at work was diagnosed and was actually hospitalised as a result. Such a personal matter was made 'public' to all in the work place - and out of the work place, for that matter - and to date, is a source of amusement to some people within the work place. To see how they have been openly treated, in such an appalling manner, I'd be an idiot to offer up that I have the same condition.

It's not through shame, or guilt - I can honeslty say, it would help to talk about it openly, because I do find it hard and have struggled...but going on 2 years now, there seems little point in telling people.

That's why just being able to 'talk' on this forum is such a relief....I'm talking to people who have some idea of what this is all about and how frustrating / stressful it can be....before you even start to talk about feeling unwell, on an ongoing basis.

So, my choice - just family circumstances really. Not ideal, but hey ho.

Helen
 
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