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Where to start!

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Update:

The nurse did a finger prick test on Monday evening when I had my appointment and was diagnosed. The reading was 23 4.

To be fair I had eaten lots of high carbs that day (my usual diet- croissants, juice and a banana for breakfast, sandwich and crisps for lunch).

Anyway; have been really 100% with keeping my carbs low 119g on Tuesday, 84 yesterday.

My fasting BG this morning was 17, and 2.5 hours after breakfast (berries, yoghurt and 30g low carb/keto granola) its reading 14.5.

I know it's early days- but I'm feeling positive.

My diet before was beyond bad to be fair (I think I have binge eating disorder).
 
Sounds like you are seeing progress already with that post breakfast reading. Well done!
 
Great to see your BGs responding positively to your reduced carb load @tiptoptapper

Keep going!

Some members have found it's gentler on the body to make carb reductions in stages, so that their BG can drift down gently. Don't panic about those high readings and push to reduce them too fast, just let it happen over a gradual curve. Some people can get nerve pain or temporary eye glitches if reducing from consistently high BGs to on-target BGs too rapidly. Give your body time to adjust and adapt 🙂
 
Hi welcome to the forum, I have been diagnosed for less than a month and while my HbA1c was 92 at the start, I am hoping that with the lifestyle changes things are improving. My finger prick tests are showing are showing around 6.5 each morning and while some days my before and after meal measures are all nicely in the 4-7 range before food an around 7-8 afterwards, I do find that the level of work related stress can impact and send them higher than I am comfortable with.

Good luck with your own changes and I am sure that things will improve quickly. Oh and the Chocolate Muffins on the Freshwell app are nice though a little weird if you fancy a sweet treat :D
 
Well I had a 12.5 reading today, first reading out of the teens- very pleased with that as we were high teens at the beginning of the week.
I made a decision to not take the glicazide prescribed and try just with metformin and changing diet drastically (terrified of hypos so wanted to avoid glicazide). Don't know if my nurse will be happy, but it seems to be working so far.
 
tiptoptapper said:
Well I had a 12.5 reading today, first reading out of the teens- very pleased with that as we were high teens at the beginning of the week.
I made a decision to not take the glicazide prescribed and try just with metformin and changing diet drastically (terrified of hypos so wanted to avoid glicazide). Don't know if my nurse will be happy, but it seems to be working so far.
Click to expand...
It is always your decision whether to take the medication and it sounds reasonable to try with just the metformin and dietary changes which you seem to have taken on board.
 
tiptoptapper said:
Update:

The nurse did a finger prick test on Monday evening when I had my appointment and was diagnosed. The reading was 23 4.

To be fair I had eaten lots of high carbs that day (my usual diet- croissants, juice and a banana for breakfast, sandwich and crisps for lunch).

Anyway; have been really 100% with keeping my carbs low 119g on Tuesday, 84 yesterday.

My fasting BG this morning was 17, and 2.5 hours after breakfast (berries, yoghurt and 30g low carb/keto granola) its reading 14.5.

I know it's early days- but I'm feeling positive.

My diet before was beyond bad to be fair (I think I have binge eating disorder).
Click to expand...
Small steps - cut down on the carbs - you have this!!
 
One week since diagnosis. Sticking to low carb- averaging less than 70g a day. BG finger pricks averaging 11 yesterday - today I got a fasting reading of 9.6. I can't beleive how well low carb is working. Taking 1 x metformin every morning- moving onto 2 a day from tomorrow.
Feeling pretty positive.
 
tiptoptapper said:
One week since diagnosis. Sticking to low carb- averaging less than 70g a day. BG finger pricks averaging 11 yesterday - today I got a fasting reading of 9.6. I can't beleive how well low carb is working. Taking 1 x metformin every morning- moving onto 2 a day from tomorrow.
Feeling pretty positive.
Click to expand...
Doing good there - it is probably a good thing you are not taking the Gliclazide if you are going so low with the carbs.
I found that once I got to 8mmol/l after meals (I was going to pause there) my numbers kept on drifting downwards even though I was eating the same meals.
Low carb is powerful - and many people seem to be able to stick to it, which is perhaps the most important thing.
Good luck with the increase in Metformin.
I reacted badly, all I got out of taking it was a professional quality carpet and upholstery cleaner - but I suppose it is an ill wind.....
 
@tiptoptapper well done on your progress. Have to admit the low carb diet is working for me, although I continue to worry about further weight loss, just under 13 stone now and don't want to go further (I'm 6' 2" and male so don't really need to lose weight).

I have found I am struggling on the days I work to keep my numbers down when I have my evening meal (yesterday and today both over 9) but I am hoping that after a few more days this will reduce.
 
JimmyBlue said:
@tiptoptapper well done on your progress. Have to admit the low carb diet is working for me, although I continue to worry about further weight loss, just under 13 stone now and don't want to go further (I'm 6' 2" and male so don't really need to lose weight).

I have found I am struggling on the days I work to keep my numbers down when I have my evening meal (yesterday and today both over 9) but I am hoping that after a few more days this will reduce.
Click to expand...
Would you like to share what you had for your meals as somebody may spot something that may be an issue.
 
On Monday I had a beef stew with broccoli, cabbage and swede mash. I think part of the problem may have been that my wife used flour to thicken the stew. I also had a Freshwell low carb Chocolate Muffin which I suppose could have had an impact as it had some small bits of 70% dark chocolate. That said I was also a bit stressed as the fridge freezer stopped working and a new one was required.
This evening I had 95% meat sausages, swede mash again and broccoli with peas. Again I suppose the sausages could have had some other carbs in.
It is a bit of shame as during the day I manage to stay between 6.5 and 7.5 most of the time. But the evenings always see a push up to somewhere in the region of high 8s or even above 9.
 
JimmyBlue said:
On Monday I had a beef stew with broccoli, cabbage and swede mash. I think part of the problem may have been that my wife used flour to thicken the stew. I also had a Freshwell low carb Chocolate Muffin which I suppose could have had an impact as it had some small bits of 70% dark chocolate. That said I was also a bit stressed as the fridge freezer stopped working and a new one was required.
This evening I had 95% meat sausages, swede mash again and broccoli with peas. Again I suppose the sausages could have had some other carbs in.
It is a bit of shame as during the day I manage to stay between 6.5 and 7.5 most of the time. But the evenings always see a push up to somewhere in the region of high 8s or even above 9.
Click to expand...
On the face of it it doesn't look as if there would be too much problem with those foods but if you are starting before your meal a bit high then even if the meal is OK and causing no more than a 2-3 mmol/l increase then you may end up above 8.5mmol/l after 2 hours.
Check out the sausages as I have been caught out as some are much higher than others, from 1.5g per sausage to 4g per sausage.
 
@Leadinglights thanks for your advice and help. I think the issue, based on my experience today, is that I spend too much time sitting down doing my work and this constricts my blood flow and means I don't burn enough off. However, even though I was about 7.9 this evening a 5k run ended up with me having a level of 3.0 which has slowly started to rise. Not feeling any effects and I will go and make my evening meal and see how I get on. I think starting from a low base means that even with food it won't go up too much.
 
So almost two weeks since diagnosis. Still only on 1 x metformin. Will increase to 2 x a day this weekend.
Finger pricks are now between 10 & 12 with a couple of high 9s here and there. They were high teens - day of diagnosis was 23.
I've lost 10lbs in 12 days. Seems a lot but I do have a LOT to lose.
I'm not starving myself but eating 3 good low carb meals a day and not snacking.
Today I hoovered the whole of downstairs and afterwards thought how amazing it was that I wasn't shattered after. Then I realised that I've not hoovered for two months or more- I've been getting family to do it as I was so exhausted I couldn't face it. Today I've done it without thinking and feel great.
I've realised now how utterly wretched I've been feeling over recent months- it just crept up on me.
The only downsides still are my vision had deteriorated and has not improved much as yet, and I think I have neuropathy in my feet - it keeps me awake at night - I've had this for a while. I will speak to the nurse about it when I go next month.
 
Well done on your excellent reduction in BG and weight and so pleased to hear you feel more energised. As regards your eyesight, many of us invested in some ready readers from the pound shop to tide us over. The fact of the matter is that our BG levels slowly increased over time and the high glucose levels in our blood distributed into the fluids in our eyes and due to osmosis (remember that at school) it infiltrates the eyeball and changes the shape of the lens. This happens slowly over many weeks and months usually, so the muscles in the eyes learn to adjust the focus but when those glucose levels start to change more quickly, the lens changes shape more quickly and it takes time for the eye to readjust to the new and changing focal length, so our vision becomes blurry as out BG levels improve. Hopefully it will eventually rectify itself in 2-3 months once your BG levels become more stable and in range and it is not advisable to get new prescription glasses during this time because they will likely not be correct for you once your levels are in range and more steady, but some ready readers can help during the interim period.

Similarly the neuropathy you are experiencing may be the nerves starting to heal now that your levels are coming down a bit and blood flow improves, so again, hopefully that will be transient during this period of BG improvement.
 
Thank you Barbara.

I wear prescription glasses already (quite a strong prescription) but will hold off getting my eyes tested and new specs until the new year I think.

Is it likely neuropathy may improve ? I'm finding it quite debilitating at the moment.
 
Has it developed since you were diagnosed? If so, then yes it will likely be transient and improve or even completely resolve. The repair of nerves can be as painful as when they are damaged.
 
You should still see some improvement, particularly if it has got worse since you stared managing your BG levels better.
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
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