Hi and help!

[planetsunshine]

Hi, I am 59 and was diagnosed with type 2 in January this year. I do not know what my levels are, but i was put on Mitformin 3 times a day, starting with 1 and then working up to 3. Was ok on the one but when the second was added, i started getting tummy troubles, persevered and added the third, but could not cope with diahorrea and tummy pains. Real pain in my left side which was spreading up to my shoulder. Saw the pharmacist who said see gp. Did see him and he put me on slow release metformin 750 twice a day. That was 2 weeks ago and the symptoms are so bad still i am a mess. Been waiting to see Diabetic nurse since January only to be told this week when my appointment came through she was off sick and could not see her for another month. I have also got very high pressure in one of my eyes which is not linked to the diabetes but i had treatment for eye cancer 2 years ago, and am scanned every 6 months for spread to liver and pancreas (not actually been seen though since July last year). My doctor says stick to the Atkins Diet, but the nurse who has been changing my dressings on my legs says i need some carbohydrate. Saw the optician last week who asked for me to be referred urgently to eye clinic because of high pressure in right eye, yet that has also not been done. The pharmacist says i should not go on metformin anymore yet my gp has told me to try a lower 500 dose now. I am not sleeping properly, lightheaded and still have this awful pain. When the optician asked how i am checking my levels i felt like such an idiot , I dont! If type 2 is as serious as i am reading, then why am i being stranded like this? Someone said there is a standard of care that is expected. What can anyone tell me about this? Thanks and sorry for the rant, but i spent 24 weeks waiting to be referred for my eye cancer, so don't want to get caught out again.

[Twitch_1 Star]

Hi.

There is a standard of care. Go back to your doc. Ask for a blood glucose monitor or buy one. Make your monitor your best friend. Also ask for a Hba1c test to see how your blood sugar has been behaving over the last few weeks.

Any type of diabetes is very serious and it is important that you do your research and go back to your doc armed with the facts and very well informed. Become your own expert. It is your diabetes not your doctors.

How long did it take you to get from one metformin to three? What other meds are you on?

How long have you been on Atkins? Are you seeing results? I am a great fan of Atkins myself but remember that if you are taking meds or are ill you need to be a little more careful with it.

[suramo Star]

planetsunshine

Sorry to hear your story. Real mess.

1) If you can't tolerate metformin ask your gp to replace it with some other medication that you can tolerate. But metformin is the first and very basic effective medication. Three times a day dose is not recommended usually.

2) You have glaucoma. Need urgent attention.

3) Get all the reports related to D done.

4) Keto diet is the best for you. It'll not only help control / reverse D but also be helpful in your cancer. Learn about idm, keto diet and carb counting. If you are a nonveg you would be able to control your D sooner and better.

Good luck.

[Fruitandnutcase]

Buy yourself the book Reverse Your T2 Diabetes by Dr David Cavan, buy yourself a blood sugar testing meter, read the book and do what it says.

Was diagnosed as T2 a year ago. I followed the advice in the book to the letter and was lucky enough to eat my way out of T2 following wing a low carb / high fat diet. I don't eat masses of fat but I'm not scared of it and I eat carbs but I get them from sources other than grains. I got a lot of information on LCHF from Dietdoctor.com and Diabetes.co.uk

I made a spreadsheet on a sheet of A4 paper, tested before and two hours after every meal. Jotted down what I had eaten and gradually eliminated all the foods that spiked my blood sugar. I stuck with foods that didn't spike my blood, I ate loads of food yet lost masses of weight and am no longer T2. So you can do it.

What I did discover was that if I had taken my Diabetes nurse's advice and eaten carbs with every meal I would still be T2 because I discovered that anything involving grains be they good grains or not, spiked my blood sugar so had I followed that advice I expect I would probably taking pills by now. Obviously you might need to take pills but I would certainly get the book and try following the advice given there. You do need to be determined and do exactly what Dr Cavan advises you to do.

[planetsunshine in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

I have ordered the book and a monitor today (18/3). I saw my gp earlier in the week and he would not change my mitformin, so i went to see the Diabetic Nurse on Thursday, and she went and told him it needed changing, as it is not working for me, as he would know if he listened to what i was telling him, and also as i have ulcers breaking out on my leg again. Begrudgingly he has changed my meds. I now take one EMPAGLIFLOZIN in the morning, my other meds are ok with this, but I am now going to question the use of a Statin. I am sticking with the Atkins, as I have always had trouble with rice, pasta etc, and never eaten it except under protest. I have lost some weight, but it is slow. I am not happy with the way the gp has been managing my t2, in fact he has not helped me at all, but i hope that now i may be turning a corner.

Thanks for your suggestions, and I am really grateful for any advice from anyone who can help. Its a journey that we are all on, and only by being on it can you know how best to deal with it!

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to planetsunshine]

I hope you can find some help with the book and monitor. I couldn't understand why I wasn't offered a monitor. I mean how do you know what is happening inside your body if you haven't got one. I had wondered that before I started on the book then once I read that I knew my instinct was correct.

I made a little spreadsheet with

Date. Before After Before After Before After

B/fast B/fast Lunch Lunch. Dinner Dinner

And I left a gap between each Before and after where I literally just jotted down what I ate - no quantities or calories, I lost kilos and never counted a single calorie ever, I just jotted down the type of food that I ate. I cut back on fruit - I used to eat an awful lot of fruit, I tend to stick to berries now - and seriously upped my green leafy vegetable intake.

Diet doctor.com has some very good charts for showing carb contents and they run a good free online weekly course that is worth doing. It covers lots of food groups. Things like it shows photos of vegetables and their carb levels, basically if a veg grows below ground a vegetable will be more carby than if it grows above. There is similar for fruits, there's a huge variation in fruits. I avoid grapes now - I used to eat pounds of the things and generally tend to avoid tropical fruits as they are high in carbs - actually that was one good thing my Diabetes nurse told me.

Good luck with it all. I think we have to do a bit of research take charge of things for ourselves.

I bought David Cavan's recipe book but I can't say I love it. I also got the 8 Week Blood Sugar Diet Recipe Book - it goes with the Dr Michael Mosley book and found lots of recipes I really like. I think if you like the foods you have to eat things are more likely to be successful.

I start the day with an omelette with blueberries / mushrooms or spinach or sometimes for a treat a mashed up very ripe banana and half a pink grapefruit. I eat a lot of unsalted nuts now, Brazil nuts, walnuts, almonds and sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, I usually have a handful for lunch along with home made mushroom soup (or half a carton of Covent Garden Mushroom soup)

Then dinner is whatever I fancy (although I eat a lot of fish) with a pile if green leafy veg and sometimes three or four baby new potatoes - I discovered I can eat them without spiking my bg. I have always had a handful of berries with a dollop of extra thick cream for pudding and I was pleased to discover that a little bit of pavlova had very little effect on my bs although a couple of oatcakes would send it quite high. I was so glad to discover that my T2 cloud does have the odd silver lining.

I also bought a Fitbit and try to do 10000 steps a day, I massively increased my exercise and I think that helps too.

Anyway, I've gone on a bit (a lot!) but good luck to you and I hope it works for you.

[funke in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

Thank you...

[planetsunshine]

You can go on as much as you like, i appreciate all the help i can get, as there is so little support from my gp. The only things i really miss fruit wise are strawberries and bananas, i used to have some pineapple in the morning with yoghurt, but now dont know if i should or not, but once i get my meter i will be able to work out for myself what spikes me and what does not. I gave up sugar in drinks by choice 3 years ago, which has hopefully helped me as at least i am not using any sweeteners or such, i also have an app on my i phone, and am doing about 6000 steps a day at the moment, but that is due to spinal problems and is an improvement on what i was doing which was not a lot.

Keep corresponding, i truly believe that strength comes from support from people in the same boat as you are, and is appreciated.

Have a good day!

[Anjijag in reply to planetsunshine]

Hi

I am doing a low carb,low sugar diet for my type 2,which was diagnosed around 6 months ago. I have also increased my fitness routine and recently bought myself a blood sugar monitor. It is so encouraging to hear of others who are actively following a regime like this. I have lost weight and my blood sugars are slowly decreasing. I still have a way to go. What I have found annoying and confusing is that the nurse records my blood sugars results in one way, and my doctor records them in another way. I find this very confusing . As both are in the same medical practice you would think that all would be recorded in the same way. I refused medication from the outset and was warned of the dire consequences of not taking them. It would have been better if I had been offered the correct dietary advice. As it happens, I went online and found out for myself what to do. I feel better than ever and I intend to keep on with this type of lifestyle. I wish GPs weren't so quick to hand out the prescriptions and more forthcoming with med free solutions to start with. I am off to the doctors today, to find out about a recent urine test result and to ask why the blood sugars are being recorded in different ways and what happened to the result of a shoulder x-ray I had ages ago!!! Wish me luck!

[planetsunshine]

Good luck! I fully understand where you are coming from, 3 separate health professionals in the same practice all give me different advice, i just wish they would all sing from the same song book.