Yep another T2

[Nick2008]

Good morning everyone.
Well a bit about me.
I was diagnosed T2 diet controlled about 2 yrs ago and yeah
I sort of stopped having lots of rubbish then fell off the waggon then back to being a good boy just before christmas ( ha I’m 60 next month ) still over weight which I find hard ish to move.
Well I’ve recently been released from Hospital after being hit hard with the dreaded C-19. And whilst in there I had to have all types of stuff that had tipped me over into T2 so I’m on the pill.
So I’m now very new to this. Ive been given a freebie from the hospital to check my blood glucose 4 times a day and I’m around 6.5 to 8 and they wanted me to be below 10 so I’m getting in that area most of the time.

Hopefully I can pick up tips and tricks to help get through this and try to turn somethings around.
Hope your all safe and well and thank you.
Nick2008.

 

[adrian1der]

Welcome @Nick2008

You have four levers to try and control your blood glucose. First is diet. Have a think about what you're eating and try to lower the amount of carbs you consume. Not just sugar but starchy carbs (rice, bread, pasta, potatoes etc) as well. Carbs are rapidly converted by the body into glucose. So if you like those types of food try for smaller portions or less carby alternatives. Second is exercise. Exercise will help to lower your blood glucose. Even a gentle stroll or some house work will help. Of course, with smaller portions and some exercise you'll find that the third tool, weight loss, will happen naturally. If you need to loose some weight then shifting a few pounds will help enormously. The fourth tool is drugs the most common being metformin for T2s. Do you know what your HbA1c was at your last test?

 

[zuludog]

Welcome @Nick2008

You have four levers to try and control your blood glucose. First is diet. Have a think about what you're eating and try to lower the amount of carbs you consume. Not just sugar but starchy carbs (rice, bread, pasta, potatoes etc) as well. Carbs are rapidly converted by the body into glucose. So if you like those types of food try for smaller portions or less carby alternatives. Second is exercise. Exercise will help to lower your blood glucose. Even a gentle stroll or some house work will help. Of course, with smaller portions and some exercise you'll find that the third tool, weight loss, will happen naturally. If you need to loose some weight then shifting a few pounds will help enormously. The fourth tool is drugs the most common being metformin for T2s. Do you know what your HbA1c was at your last test?

What an excellent summary!

 

[zuludog]

NICK 2008

Adrian1der's post has summed things up very well

If you look through old Threads & Posts, especially in the Newcomers, Weight Loss, Exercise, and Food& Carbs sections you'll see all those aspects discussed more and expanded

Many people take the diagnosis of D as the inspiration or motivation to improve their diet and other things

Nothing in the body acts in isolation; things like blood glucose, weight, blood pressure, and cardiovascular problems are all related, so you usually find that when you change to a diabetic diet and combine it with cutting out processed & junk food, getting more exercise, and all the healthy stuff we hear about, those things will improve as well

Generally you will feel better and livelier; the downside is that you must work at it all the time, though it soon becomes just a new way of doing things

 

[Cherrelle DUK]

Hi Nick,

Just popping in to say hello and welcome! Sorry to hear that you've dealt with Covid and hope you're on the mend. You've got some great advice so have a look around the site and let us know if you have any questions or concerns. 🙂

 

[Nick2008]

HbA1c I'm sure it was right on the boarder at 48- 49 but when in hospital I was placed on steroids due to the covid phunomia, they then started me on insulin injections but then when I was discharged that's stopped and placed on Metformin 500mg.
At the moment exercise just walking short distance really takes it out of me so it's little and as often as I can at the moment.
Food wise yes I'm slowly getting there cutting down on the carbs is fine although yes I do like bread but that's been cut right down as is rice and pots sugar and the nice things have stopped.
Once I can get moving better it's as said diet and exercise should get me back on track it's getting the right balance.

Thanks for that and the bit of inspiration to work through this.

 

[adrian1der]

Sounds like a great start @Nick2008

On the bread front lots of members use Bergen bread which is lower carb than regular.

 

[zuludog]

You can substitute bread with oatcakes and rice cakes

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome to the forum @Nick2008 🙂

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Nick2008

Sounds like you are making great progress, and your BG levels seem to be responding well.

Hope you don't have any long-term reaction to Covid that makes things more difficult for you.

It sounds like you are towards the lower end of the diabetes-diagnosis scale, and that fairly modest tweaks and changes to your menu may be all that’s required to manage your diabetes going forward.

Great that you have been given a BG meter. That can really help you see how your body is reacting to different sources of carbs (everyone is different) and whether there are particular tupes that cause a bigger spike in BG levels than others. Checking BG before eating and again 2hours later to see the ‘meal rise’ can be very informative. Members here tend to aim to see a rise of no more than 2-3mmol/L at the 2hr mark.

In general terms T2s used to be advised to aim for 4-7 before meals, and no higher than 8.5 by 2hrs after meals, and it sounds like most of your results fit within that.

Keep doing what you are doing, and keep asking questions!