Hi all, I was diagnosed type 2 in 2020 by chance as I was experiencing chest pain so attend A&E thinking I had angina or mild heart attack! ECG normal, but bloods showed that my HbA1C was 64, they gave me a script for metformin and said a GP would be in touch, which they did over the phone to just give me a routine of how often to take to eventually take the 2000mg per day, no need to test my blood sugars????? even though I was feeling pretty awful. A colleague at work was type 2 and did have a monitor and did check my BM which was 28mmol...... no wonder I felt rubbish, phoned Gp back to let them know of high Bm, but told to continue with the plan of taking metformin. I felt so unwell that went off sick, with no idea how to control anything other than take my meds and all will be fine. A week later a GP randomly called to say I also had Hypothyroidism and required more meds and as I was still feeling rubbish gave me Empifaglizone 10mg too. Eventually I started to feel much better with the added bonus of loosing weight, I made a few adjustments, but seemingly not enough as I once again feel really ill, I have got a monitor now and constantly running high no matter how careful I watch my carbs and sugars. Just started Glycizine 40mg, but having no effect on the symptoms I'm experiencing, having more bloods tomorrow to see if Type 1, although GP feels I will probably require Insulin anyway. I'm feeling pretty low, scared of eating anything in case my sugars become too high and increase the awful spaced out dizziness and fatigue, but still constantly hungry even after I've had food. Yes I try to have protein, fibre, fruit/veg with each meal, no processed sugars either...... what am I doing wrong?(sorry for long post, I'm a rambler!).
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Type 2 since sept 2020, but still feel like a fish out of water!!!!
- Thread starter DW24
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Leadinglights
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Those various medications work in slightly different ways, metformin helps the body utilise the insulin it produces more effectively, Empifaglizone removes excess glucose from your system via urine so it is recommended to drink plenty 3 litres a day, the consequence is frequent loo visits, glyizine encourages to pancreas to produce more insulin. But it is also important to make dietary changes to reduce carbohydrates in your diet. The symptoms you describe are constistent with high blood glucose.
You may be having more carbs than you think so it would be a good idea to keep a food diary adnestimate how many carbs you are actually having. a low carb approach is less than 130g per day so you can see how close to that you are . As you have a monitor you could test some of your meals by testing before your eat and after 2 hours and if the increase is more than 2-3mmo/l then your meal is too carb heavy.
You may be having more carbs than you think so it would be a good idea to keep a food diary adnestimate how many carbs you are actually having. a low carb approach is less than 130g per day so you can see how close to that you are . As you have a monitor you could test some of your meals by testing before your eat and after 2 hours and if the increase is more than 2-3mmo/l then your meal is too carb heavy.
gll
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I'm glad they are testing for t1 to start with.
Did they give you a means of testing keytones? If not, you can pickup some keytostix from the chemist for a fiver (urine ones) just to keep checking them. They aren't as accurate as blood test strip ones but GPs seem to be okay with them being used as a tool for checking them that way.
The immediate concern with running high is keytones which can point to you going into DKA which needs immediate attention.
NHS - DKA
(not sure if it was explained to you so just adding link in case it wasn't)
All you can do with food is to keep things low carb and still cut out the more obvious things like sugary things. You still need to eat 🙂
Totally understand where you are coming from. Having a bit of a nightmare myself so totally sympathise with the crappy feeling running high all the time.
What are your readings like at the moment on average? Still up around 28?
Did they give you a means of testing keytones? If not, you can pickup some keytostix from the chemist for a fiver (urine ones) just to keep checking them. They aren't as accurate as blood test strip ones but GPs seem to be okay with them being used as a tool for checking them that way.
The immediate concern with running high is keytones which can point to you going into DKA which needs immediate attention.
NHS - DKA
(not sure if it was explained to you so just adding link in case it wasn't)
All you can do with food is to keep things low carb and still cut out the more obvious things like sugary things. You still need to eat 🙂
Totally understand where you are coming from. Having a bit of a nightmare myself so totally sympathise with the crappy feeling running high all the time.
What are your readings like at the moment on average? Still up around 28?
Thank you for replies, I have been keeping a food diary and testing before meals and 2 hrs following, it's hit and miss really, have managed to get blood sugars down at one point to 9.3 mmol, was absolutley starving and felt just as bad as when they are much higher!, thankfully they havn't been higher than 18mmol for the last 2 weeks, although this morning post breakfast was 17.9mmol 
, which was 2 weetabix, berries,0% greek yog with soya milk, no sugar. I usually either have this or porridge or just the berries, yog and a sprinkle of chia seeds. I'm not one for cooked savoury things in the morning apart from a boiled egg,( I keep a bag in the fridge), I usually just don't have the time. I've stopped having sugar and white bread, rice and pasta, although I would often have these in wholemeal anyway, I cook from scratch, have other foods and use a smaller plate for portions. I use fruit, nuts/seeds, eggs or chicken/ham to snack on and try to have more veg on my plate. I was a big cake and biscuit eater, but have stopped this too, lost 17kg since 2020 was 86kg now roughly 66kg. I know my diet since xmas hasn't been great which has led me to where I am now, I don't drink alcohol and usually drink at least 4 litres per day, often more when very thirsty. I've looked at lots of diet/feeding plans, feeling a bit overwhelmed with them all. Trying to be low carb, looked at keto, 800 and mediterranean diet and probably taking a bit from each one, looking at packets and trying to work things out. I do test urine too, only had a trace of ketones which now gone, hopefully get blood reults through soon and some answers. I know I obviously need to look more closely at what I eat to find any correlation, thank you for the replies and support, it's hit me harder this time than when I found out!
, which was 2 weetabix, berries,0% greek yog with soya milk, no sugar. I usually either have this or porridge or just the berries, yog and a sprinkle of chia seeds. I'm not one for cooked savoury things in the morning apart from a boiled egg,( I keep a bag in the fridge), I usually just don't have the time. I've stopped having sugar and white bread, rice and pasta, although I would often have these in wholemeal anyway, I cook from scratch, have other foods and use a smaller plate for portions. I use fruit, nuts/seeds, eggs or chicken/ham to snack on and try to have more veg on my plate. I was a big cake and biscuit eater, but have stopped this too, lost 17kg since 2020 was 86kg now roughly 66kg. I know my diet since xmas hasn't been great which has led me to where I am now, I don't drink alcohol and usually drink at least 4 litres per day, often more when very thirsty. I've looked at lots of diet/feeding plans, feeling a bit overwhelmed with them all. Trying to be low carb, looked at keto, 800 and mediterranean diet and probably taking a bit from each one, looking at packets and trying to work things out. I do test urine too, only had a trace of ketones which now gone, hopefully get blood reults through soon and some answers. I know I obviously need to look more closely at what I eat to find any correlation, thank you for the replies and support, it's hit me harder this time than when I found out!Hi @DW24
I expect you already know that 2 Weetabix contain a lot of carbs , as does porridge. Though some Type 2's can handle a breakfast of porridge or even Weetabix, there are many who (like me) can't. We wouldn't dream of having more carbs for breakfast than are in a handful of berries for breakfast.
I expect you already know that 2 Weetabix contain a lot of carbs , as does porridge. Though some Type 2's can handle a breakfast of porridge or even Weetabix, there are many who (like me) can't. We wouldn't dream of having more carbs for breakfast than are in a handful of berries for breakfast.
Leadinglights
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If you are going to have cereals for breakfast then choose a lower sugar one like All Bran or a granola like Lizi's but only have a reduced portion with Full fat Greek yoghurt as that will fill you up for longer and some berries, strawberries, raspberries or blackberries are the lowest but blueberries are Ok as long as you watch the portion size.
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Sounds like you have made some really positive changes @DW24
Are you keeping a note of the rises you are seeing, and trying to reduce the carb portions where you see rises of more than 2-3mmol/L?
Many T2 forum members seem to favour more of a yoghurt and berries based breakfast, with a sprinkling of granola or seeds, which reduces the amount of cereal involved.
Thank you for the advise, really appreciated and have taken on board all suggestions. Have had a call from GP to say I am type 1 (LADA)? seeing diabetic team tomorrow to start insulin! I am quite worried about managing everything, hope they explain everything like I'm 5 yrs old? Will they give me a pump early on? I'm still trying to watch my carb intake, sort of using lots of Keto principles, avoiding sugars, processed foods and starchy foods. Still feeling unwell, so hoping once I start the Insulin I will feel better.
Sunshine81
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Don't worry, they should talk you through it, but even if they don't, the forum is a great place for advice. I was diagnosed 3 months ago, but just confirmed as type 1 today, although been on insulin pretty much from the start. I think the best advice I was given, is not to try and get your sugars down quickly. Give your body and yourself time to adjust and learn. The second best piece of advice I was given, is that diabetes likes to change the goal posts. You can eat exactly the same food, do the same amount of activity and get completely different blood sugars. Its just how it is, so try not to get upset of you have a day or a few weeks of thinking "I've got this nailed" and then for your sugars yo be all over the place. Its just the nature of the beast.
Sunshine81
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They won't I've you a pump straight away, but will likely give you a continuous glucose monitor, like Libre2. I love mine. It saves your fingers and you can set high and low blood sugar alarms to keep you safe, especially when asleep or driving. Although, I've stopped using the high sugar alarm, cos it was annoying and I'm slightly obsessed with checking my levels every hour, out of poor curiosity and treating myself like a science experiment!
gll
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So glad they got your type sorted @DW24.
Take a pen and paper and if you have questions you can think of, write them down before the appointment.
Take notes too during the appointment.
Make sure you have contact details to call them with any questions after you get going but I would suspect they will call you frequently to make sure you are getting on okay and to start adjusting your dose.
There are plenty of videos on youtube on injecting if you feel a bit overwhelmed tomorrow and don't take it all in but its super easy.
Your team should be calling you frequently to make sure you are getting on okay.
At this point, staying low carb is a choice and not a necessity.
You will need to pickup some hypo supplies.
Fast acting carbs (15g carbs) - dextros, lift tablets, mini cans of coke (not diet) or jelly babies are solid choices. (chocolate is too slow to hit the bloodstream to be effective)
slower acting carbs (15g carbs) - nature valley protein bars is what I have in my bag. I'm sure others can suggest more.
Probs better to pickup while you are out tomorrow so you are prepared and its one less thing to worry about.
Let us know how you get on tomorrow.
@Sunshine81 glad you got your type confirmed too
Take a pen and paper and if you have questions you can think of, write them down before the appointment.
Take notes too during the appointment.
Make sure you have contact details to call them with any questions after you get going but I would suspect they will call you frequently to make sure you are getting on okay and to start adjusting your dose.
There are plenty of videos on youtube on injecting if you feel a bit overwhelmed tomorrow and don't take it all in but its super easy.
Your team should be calling you frequently to make sure you are getting on okay.
At this point, staying low carb is a choice and not a necessity.
You will need to pickup some hypo supplies.
Fast acting carbs (15g carbs) - dextros, lift tablets, mini cans of coke (not diet) or jelly babies are solid choices. (chocolate is too slow to hit the bloodstream to be effective)
slower acting carbs (15g carbs) - nature valley protein bars is what I have in my bag. I'm sure others can suggest more.
Probs better to pickup while you are out tomorrow so you are prepared and its one less thing to worry about.
Let us know how you get on tomorrow.
@Sunshine81 glad you got your type confirmed too
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