Type 2

I'm wondering if someone could help me,
My husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 6 months ago and to be honest he didn't really take it seriously.
He was supposed to be controlling it by just diet and exercise, but didn't do much about it.
Anyway, a good few days ago he started complaining about being really tired, headache, dry mouth, frequent urination.
My mind automatically thought...sounds like your diabetes is playing up.
So he got out the glucose meter and his sugars were 23.3..
I know this high of a reading isn't good, so we went to A&E to get checked.
His urine was tested for keytones and there wasn't any, so we were sent back to the doctors and he was prescribed Metformin,
Yesterday he had a "diabetic blood test" and this morning he was called asking if he could make an appointment with the doctor next week because one of his bloods is slightly out.
He is now sat worrying wheat it could be.
Has anyone had this before and maybe have a clue what it would be about?
I think all this has really shocked him and he is incredibly anxious.
His blood sugars were 7.1 earlier so the meds have helped.
Just don't like seeing him like this.
But I also think this is the wake up call he needed.
I gave birth 5 days ago and I'm feeling all emotional over it all, as I worry about him.
Thank you 😔

Hi,
Thanks for replying.
Our new baby is a girl....faintly after 3 boys..lol..

Before my husband complained of feeling rough,
His typical diet was...basically rubbish.... Takeaways, processed foods and too much of it.
And he used to have LOTS of fizzy pop.

Since this scare he has really cut back and for breakfast he had
A small bowl of cornflakes, and for dinner he had 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with low fat margerine.
I think for Tea it will be beef casserole.

It is a bit of a mine field and he gets confused about what to eat.
He takes Metformin at the moment 3 times a day, this is his 3rd day if taking it and he's had a few issues with diarrhoea.

He's just worried what this blood test has picked up.
I hate to see him so anxious.

Sometimes we do need a wake-up call but it might be the best way to jolt us into action. With a new-born baby this is a great time for the family to talk about lifestyle and to start some healthy habits regarding food and family activity.

Check out the carb content on the corn flakes. And if he's putting sugar in the cereal, consider the carbs there, too (even if he's not, cereal has a lot of carbs on its own). High carb meals make the blood sugar spike and then drop which can make us feel tired, lethargic later on. Check out low-carb recipes. Here's a site that has food discussions: forum.lowcarber.org/

Breakfast can actually be like any other meal with some meat and veggies, dinner leftovers. A typical sandwich with bread can become a lettuce wrap - a piece of cheese, some luncheon meat a dab of mayo wrapped in a lettuce leaf. He can eat three or four of those and his blood sugar will not shoot up. Baked quiche made without a crust - mix slivers of onion, cheddar and some small pieces of broccoli or other vegetable with beaten eggs and bake in a dish till done. This can be eaten right away as a side dish or cut up and then frozen to be eaten later for a breakfast or lunch. Peanut butter with cheddar slices makes a good snack. Any nuts (either no salt or lightly salted), celery and peanut butter or cream cheese. Lots of good ideas for meals and snacks can be found in the sources I gave you or elsewhere online if you Google low-carb recipes.

The problem for us diabetics (and others who want to lose weight) is that carbs keep blood sugar high and will add to weight gain. We cannot metabolize food made with flour or sugar, potatoes or even other root vegetables, rice and other grains (corn is a grain) normally. If my husband and I eat exactly the same meal of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, for example, his blood sugar will react normally but mine will shoot the &%# up. Not fair but it's a fact. So, he will eat that meal and I will not eat the potatoes but I will eat the chicken and just a few green beans and I'll also make another vegetable like broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, bell peppers.

Earlier this week I had lunch out with our daughter and I ordered a Philly sandwich on a plate without the bread, so it was the beef, onions and cheese on a plate for me and I ate it with a fork.

Exercise is a bad word and it seems to imply something we have to consciously schedule for but it should be automatically part of our lives (like in the old days, haha). Taking a long walk after dinner is a very good way to get the metabolism working faster. Since it's fall and cooler, bundle up and the three of you can do that around your neighborhood or even drive to a park and walk. Do it regularly.

Being a guy, your husband has more muscle naturally than you and if he starts with some hand weights and resistance training (which can be done at home, no need for a gym membership), his muscles will be stronger and muscles use more blood glucose just because they are muscles. This works for women, too.

When I was prescribed a blood sugar meter, I was in denial even with diabetes in my family, but I was also ignorant of everything I've written here for you. Now that I understand what the connection is between what I eat and my blood sugar, I have control of it and I only wish I had known this when I was younger. Oh well.

And encourage your husband to join HealingWell and post here. I promise I won't beat him up!

(That's great to have a girl after all the boys! )

I completely understand because I have always been a bread lover. Both my parents are Northern Italian and we ate a lot of bread, rice along with meat and salads but not much pasta.

I think the best approach is a gradual change maybe starting with one meal and follow some of the ideas in the resources I gave you. Instead of a sandwich at lunch, for example, let him eat some lettuce wraps. At dinner, he can have a salad, piece of meat, some vegetables and one bread roll or one piece of bread. In other words, if he used to eat two pieces of bread, now it'll be one piece at dinner. Do you follow what I mean? If it's a gradual reduction of bread, for example, then he'll get used to a different way of eating.

He will see better blood sugar and he will probably lose weight. (Does he need to lose weight?) He also needs to know that if he overindulges in carbs or heavily greasy/oily fried food then he may have stomach problems because of the metformin.

I can tell you that changing to this way of eating has made me healthier now than I was when I was in my 30's.

And as I wrote above, even having a hamburger is ok when it's on a plate, not a bun/bread. Here in the US, I've eaten hamburgers at McDonald's and Burger King but I have them put the hamburger on a plate and I eat it with a fork and knife.

He can do this! Gradual changes...