I am Jenny from Sussex

Hi
I am Jenny from Sussex. I have two adult sons and live with my husband, Bernard, and his teenage son. Bernard also has an adult son. We also have a small dog and a kitten. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes February 2006 and control it with Metformin and diet. I also control blood pressure and cholesterol levels with tablets. As I am thin (after losing a lot of weight before diagnosis). I feel better now and my brain is not so foggy as it was, either, now my blood sugar is under control.

Hi Jenny! Welcome to my new board. How often do you test your blood? They haven't given me a test kit yet although I have one left over from when I was gestationally pregnant almost 5 years ago.

Hi
If you are new to testing I would suggest you test just before breakfast and then 2 hours afterwards, and the same for your evening meal, and test before bedtime so that you get an idea of how the food you eat raises your bg levels, on a different day you could test just before lunch and then 2 hours afterwards, and after snacks. After a while you could reduce this but still test to make sure your bg levels are still OK. Being ill can cause your bg to become raised so test then and if you take tablets don't miss meals as this can make you go too low. When people have had high bg levels for a long time the body is used to having high levels and people can have hyp symptoms when their bg levels that are 'normal' for non diabetic people. Read about diabetes generally now and then as it is a lot to take in at first. Aim for less than 7 mmol/L before meals and less than 9 mmol/L at first and after a while it is best to have lower than this, and bg over of 5.5 mmol/L before bedtime.
When I was first diagnosed the doctor referred me to the practice nurse and she said that I should try diet first but when another nurse referred me to the doctor because my BP was higher than it should be although I was taking tablets the doctor said I should be taking tablets and should test my blood sugar. I bought a blood glucose meter and was told that the surgery would provide prescriptions for test strips and lancets, which they did, but when I had my review (originally at every 9 months) the nurse said that I did not need to test my blood glucose levels as I was taking Metformin. I found out later this is most likely because some Primary Care Trusts are following guideline of the NICE report (although I read in the Diabetes UK Balance magazine that the government has not recommended a blanket ban) suggests that people on Metformin do not benefit from testing. I found I benefitted, especially at first when you have no idea what food spike your blood glucose levels. Also in the summer (although not so much this summer with the awful weather) I go for extra long walks with the dog and I have had hypos. At first I had hypo like symptoms of trembling and my legs feeling like jelly when gardening at 5.0 mmol/L, even before being diagnosed with diabetes. I thought I was unfit. But having got my HbAc1 down from 16.0 mmol/L when diagnosed to 6.0 mmol/L last June I had a hypo at 2.9 mmol/L so the nurse suggested I start seeing the dietician again. I decided to eat some toast with a smear of jam with the bowl of Cheerios I have for breakfast (I really need to eat this as I have IBS) and to buy the strips myself. There is another reason why I like to test is that I noticed the bg levels went up significantly for what seemed no reason then the following day I came down with a cold. I have read that if your bg goes beyond 17 mmol/L when you have a fever and you take Metformin you should inform the nurse. Well how can you if you don't have a bg meter? I have written to my MP and PCT to tell them that I feel that people should have a choice of whether to test, or not. I know myself - and if I don't test I know that I will tend to think 'oh this won't do any harm' because I can't see the result. Lots of those 'won't harm you' end up accumulating. To keep eating the same things everyday is boring so like to try new things now and then. I do tend to spend more on things to compensate. When I go in the health shop, or farm shops, that is when I resent the diabetes because I see the nice drinks, jams and homemade style sweets. I have read that dark brown sugar doesn't raise the bg as much as white granulated sugar, I don't know if that is true. I also miss the orange juice.
Jenny

Hi Jenny
I feel it's important for me to test my blood, so I will make a real fuss if they don't let me have the equipment... and I mean a real fuss! I also feel that it will make me more careful in what I eat if I can test myself. I love walking and gardening also and I have definitely had strange sweaty, cold feelings - with blurry eye-sight sometimes over the past few years if I have done too much physical activity without eating enough, I guess that is why I am a "picker" when it comes to food so that I don't go too low. I guess underneath I felt it was diabetes, but I kept putting it off.
I have read that BG should be between 4 - 6 mmol/l before meals and below 10 2hrs after.
Blood pressure should be below 130/80 (mine was just 120/79). I take felodipine and losartan.
Cholesterol should be below 4 mmol/l (mine is 5.2).
I have IBS too! I really suffered with it a while back then gave up Pepsi Max which I used to drink a lot of and it went away!!! I am worried now I am resorting to fake sweateners that symptoms may re-appear.
Orange Juice - I had some a few days ago (just a glass full) and felt very wobbly and strange, though didn't test myself. So that's out the window!!! I don't think I'll miss it as much as butter though!!

Have you heard anything about low-carb diets and diabetes? I did Atkins a few years ago and both Richard and myself lost 2 stone (and I felt GREAT)... but I was wondering whether it was safe now?

Thanks for coming on and your great messages.

Hi
Thanks for your message. It is nice to have someone to chat about diabetes with.
Blurry vision is due to high blood glucose levels, as is thirst. I remember being on a coach, before being diagnosed, and although we had a flask of coffee I became so thirsty it was unbelievable. Everywhere was shut when we got off the coach because it was late so I couldn't wait to get home and have a drink of water.

With blood pressure I find that there is a difference in the USA and the UK. In the USA they recommend that all people with diabetes keep to under 130 systolic but in the UK they recommend keeping below 140 systolic unless there are other problems such as heart disease, kidney disease or certain eye problems. I take 2.5 mg of Bendroflumethiazide, 80 mg Valsartan and have just had the Amlopidine reduced from 10 mg to 5 mg for blood pressure. I also take 20 mg Simvastatin for lowering cholesterol which was 4.0 at my last review. I take 30 mg of Q10 as it was recommended that Q10 should be taken with statin by the Harvard School of Medicine. I have a thing about ginger at the moment and eat gojo berries as it is said these help blood glucose levels and have a lot of other health benefits as well. I know liquorice and lavender can increase blood pressure if over done and with taking tablets for BP and Metformin I am careful about what I take. I am highly sensitive to aspirin, and am sensitive to other chemicals. I have noticed that there are a number of people on Chemical Sensitivity forums that are diabetic also and wonder how many people with diabetes are affected this way.

I purchased the book 'Type 2 DIABETES - answers at your fingertips', by Dr Charles Fox and Dr Anne Kilvert (in association with Diabetes UK) and found this book very useful for answering questions people newly diagnosed may have.

With regards to the Atkins diet my personal opinion is that carbohydrates do increase blood sugar but we have to eat something and as well as controlling blood sugar we also have to watch out for fat and trans fat and people with diabetes can develope kidney disease so that is wise not overdo protein foods either.

I can only state these are my personal opinions based on the knowledge I have gleaned so far.

All the best for managing your diabetes.

Jenny

Thanks for that, Jenny. Food for thought! Been scratching my head recently and I'm hoping it's to encourage the grey cells and nothing else!!!