Wednesday 2 November 2011

Well it's been quite a while since my last update but I am pleased to say this is a positive post for a change.

I have now started on my new medication and can definitely see a change in my eating habits.  I am not hungry all the time and have virtually stopped snacking between meals which is not like me.  The most amazing thing happened yesterday, I opened a packet of biscuits and ate one biscuit!  I know this probably sounds ridiculous but normally I would eat half if not the entire packet!!

I've been testing my blood a lot more at least three times a day although mainly before lunch time so I just need to start testing in the afternoons and evenings as well.  Best of all when I am testing all of my readings have been below 10mmol/l which is a great improvement for me.

Will have to see if the success continues but keep your fingers crossed!

Monday 8th August 2011

Really bad day today - biscuits for breakfast, McDonalds for lunch, kebab for tea and more biscuits.  No blood tests done :-(

Friday 5th August 2011

Blood sugar first thing was 9.3 but two hours after breakfast had dropped to 7.5.  I'm really pleased at the moment with my post-breakfast blood sugars as they are either less than the first thing in the morning or near to a normal reading.  In the past I would have normal blood sugars before breakfast but then two hours later they would be in the high teens.  I'm not sure what if anything I'm doing differently but I feel it's progress.

My insulin pump ran out at about 1pm at work today and I changed it straight away.

I didn't make it to Slimming World last night and this week I think we have had some sort of takeaway every day. I think it might be the heat but I have just had no energy to do anything when I get home.

So I'm going back to setting myself some goals so here is what I'm going to attempt this week:-

1. Test blood sugars at least once a day every day (try to test at different times of day to get a better idea of what's going on)
2. No takeaway
3. Go to Slimming World on Thursday

Tuesday 2nd August 2011

I left my blood testing kit at work yesterday so couldn’t test first thing this morning, two hours after breakfast though my blood sugar was 11mmol/l so not a good start again.

An hour later blood sugar had come down to 8mmol/l.

Pre-lunch blood sugar was 5.6mmol/l.  I’m really happy with my blood sugar readings at the minute and it is spurring me on to keep in control.  My eating habits however are another story.  I think I am going to try and start going to Slimming World again – there is a class which has started near me recently which would fit in with everything else going on - it's on a Thursday night so watch this space and see if I make it on Thursday.

Monday 1st August 2011

Not a great start to the morning with a blood sugar of 10.4 but tested again at about half 10 and it had come down to 6.7 which is good.

Pre lunch blood sugar was 5.6 which is excellent.  Had a piece of cake this afternoon though.

My insulin pump is just about to run out, now last week I would have disconnected the pump and left it off over night and may or may not have reconnected in the morning, but today I'm changing the pump right now before it runs out.

Saturday 30th July 2011

I've only tested my blood sugar once today, first thing this morning but it was a good 7.4mmol/l.

My food consumption has not been good today.

Tomorrow however is another day!

Friday 29th July 2011

So after yesterdays post I agreed to post my blood sugars on facebook but I figure this is going to become quite boring for those people who don't care.  So instead I thought I would do a little diary for each day with my blood sugars and what I've eaten etc.

So after breakfast my blood sugar was 7.2mmol/l.

At 11.25 I had not had anything to eat since breakfast which for me is an absolute miracle.  I was starting to feel a bit peckish but had a drink of water to hold me off until lunchtime.

My blood sugar before lunch was a fantastic 5.7mmol/l.

I was really pleased with my pre-lunch blood sugar - it just goes to show that no snacking in the morning makes a big difference.  I went to Greggs to get my lunch and got a chicken and bacon sub roll and a lemon drizzle doughnut.  I know I shouldn't have had the doughnut but I'm a bit emotional today so treated myself.  I went to the Greggs website to find out the carbohydrate content for the items and was shocked to find that although they list the calories and the fat content they don't actually list carbohydrate content.  I decided to see if there was anyway of contacting them to ask if they can add carbohydrate content as surely this is part of nutritional information that should be given.

My blood sugar after lunch was 12.8mmol/l a little higher than it should be but I'm happy.

I found the contact details for Greggs and sent them this e-mail.

I was looking at your website today to try and find the carbohydrate content in one of your sandwiches and a doughnut.  I am diabetic so carbohydrate counting is very important when it comes to knowing how much insulin I should be giving following a meal.  I was surprised to find that although you list calorire and fat content for your products you don't actually list carbohydrate content.  It may be that I was looking in the wrong place and if this is the case I would appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.  If it is something that is not currently available I wonder if you would consider adding this information to your website in the future as I am sure all diabetics and others would find this information extremely useful.

Many thanks

I was quite surprised when within a couple of hours I got the following e-mail back.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us about the carbohydrate contents in our food.

I'm sorry that this isn't available on our website and I have passed your comments on to our Marketing team to take into consideration when looking at future changes.

I've attached to this e-mail a copy of our nutritional leaflet which is available in our shops.  I hope this is of help to you.

If in the future you require any information for food that isn't on the leaflet please don't hesitate to contact me and I'll be more than happy to help.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us and we hope to see you in one of our shops in the near future.

I wonder if they really meant that anything from Greggs I can e-mail them about to find the carbohydrate content because although the leaflet they attached is very comprehensive it doesn't actually cover any of the cakes!!

Anyway let me know what you think about this diary style blogging.

Thanks again for your support.

Nxx

Thursday 28th July 2011

So it's been over a month since I last posted and I'd love to say it's because I have been in control of my diabetes but the exact opposite is true.  I've maybe tested my blood twice in that time.  When my insulin pump runs out it is taking me far too long to change it.  I've regained all the weight I lost from when I was ill and there are days when all I do is eat rubbish.

Why can't I get my head around this.  I know what I need to do and can't understand why I can't do it.  It's the same with my weight I know what I shouldn't be eating but I keep shovelling it in.

I'm going to try again but I'm not making any promises anymore I feel like I'm letting people down.  All the support I got initially with this blog has dwindled and I am sure it's because people are thinking for goodness sake this is just the same thing over and over again.  There has been no improvement since I started but then there has been no improvement since I was diagnosed 11 years ago!

All I can say again is that I'm going to try.

Saturday 11th June 2011

I feel like I am back at squre one before I started this blog.  The past week I haven't tested my blood sugars, have eaten loads and loads of crap and done no exercise.  In my defense I have been on the third week of my course and it was the most intensive week so far.  I was absolutely exhausted at the end of every day and quite a few days felt totally overwhelmed by the course content and my ability to put everything I was learning into practice on my return to work.  As is my way when I feel down I turn to food and I am ashamed to admit how much I have been eating but I want to come clean.  I would have breakfast at home and then buy a sandwich and a danish pastry at the train station to eat on the train.  I would have a sandwich, crisps and chocolate for lunch and then on the way home I sometimes got a burger or another sandwich and then ate tea when I got home which the majority of the time was takeaway.  Is it any wonder I have managed to put on 8lb since I started this course.  So I am clearing my conscience by telling you my secrets.  Next week I am back at work, the week after I am holiday for a week with my parents in Wales and then the third week I complete the last few days of my course and then it is back to normal.  So I am wiping my slate clean and starting again.

Next week I will

1. Test my blood sugars at least once a day
2. Get some exercise everyday (I am sure my sister will help me out on this one)
3. Cut down on the amount of food I am eating

I am also going to try and get back to updating here every few days as I feel it helps to hold me accountable.

Thanks for your support

Nic
x