Learn me: Beetus

Ok, the wife unit was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes a little while ago, she's 45.

I have no idea how long she's been living with this undiagnosed because of previous crappy doctors who's answer to why she wasn't feeling well was always "it's because you're a girl and you need to lose weight".

FWIW, she has been a vegetarian since she was a teenager and has eaten small meals or not at all her whole life. I know her history pretty well because we've been together since high school. No matter how well or how little she ate, how much we exercised, she always gained a bit slowly.

I do most of the cooking, I've googled what we should be eating and we're pretty much there already. We cut the processed foods out years ago because they made us both feel like garbage and we've been eating reasonably healthy ever since.

She has a blood glucose monitor and they're getting her meds sorted out. Right now she crashes pretty hard an hour or so after taking the pills but we're managing that with snacks.

The doctor here was not terribly helpful either. She got a quick rundown of what she should be eating and when to take the pills but that's about it. The pharmacist was very helpful, walked her through everything and answered her questions.

I'm hoping that managing this well will help sort out the fatigue, nausea, muscle cramps and other things that have been bothering her for a while now. These are part of the reason we changed our diet and started trying to eat healthier too.

Hoping the hivemind can share any tips and tricks that might be helpful sorting all this out.

Thanks in advance.

Diabetes education.  Period. Ask for it. Ask again.

Every medical group offers is and almost every dang doctor out there seems completely unaware that it exists.

Diabetes educators know more about the subject than any regular family practice MD. Most that I met got into it because they themselves were diabetic and were frustrated by the lack of info they could get from a 10 minute doctors visit.

I was married to a type one diabetic for 20 years. She went for education classes every few years (I tagged along)and every time we learned new things. 

Find a doctor who not only specializes in diabetes but is also a diabetic.  That doctor is going to have a better understanding of the disease.  (Not sure if you have that freedom under Canada's system)  FWIW, I've not been impressed with the diabetic educators I've spoken to.

Hopefully the pills are metformin as it's generally well tolerated.  I wouldn't touch the other, newer pills as they have a lot of side effects and several people I know just gave up on it.

Look into the ketogenic diet for blood sugar control, this group has a lot of information that may help https://www.facebook.com/groups/116102965097116 

She tried the metformin for two weeks but couldn't keep food down.

They have her on something else at the moment. 

Where we live, we're lucky to have a doctor at all and this one actually seems competent so we're sticking with them for now.

I'll look into the diet, thanks.

In reply to ShawnG :

Ask your doc for a referral to and endocrinologist , if you have to drive hours to see one that's ok. You'll learn more in half hour and be dealing with an expert than in multiple visits with most family docs.

Most major city hospitals I've dealt with in Canada will have a diabetes team with a dietician, a trainer, and an endocrinologist.  Sounds like you already have a decent handle on nutrition so you guys have a big leg up on a lot of people.

Type two is a different ball of wax in a way from type one which I have. None the less I would strongly recommend going for a continuous blood glucose monitor set up like the libre. Finger stabbings will give you a scatter plot of what your sugars are doing but a sensor gives you a graph and the direction your sugar is heading in real time. It's tremendously better  if you have insurance and the means to go that route.
 

About 10 years ago my work partner was diagnosed. He was not really an overweight guy, but realistically at t he top end of BMI for his height, about 5'7"/160. He was furious that his doctor gave him one option, medication, and no information on the condition. He was determined not to be on pills the rest of his life and did his own research. He found a protocol that was either in use or study in the UK and followed it. It involved a low calorie diet and getting down the lower end of BMI.
His doctor told him he was nuts, it'll never work, everybody's overweight.

He completed the diet, has kept his weight low and has been free of it since. He never did take any medication. 
 

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/magres/research/diabetes/reversal/#publicinformation

I'll put it this way: Type I sucks so bad, I'd give anything to be Type II. Do whatever you can to stay Type II.

I have had quite a bit of experience with managing pets with diabetes.
 

IME, every case is different in some way. Your GP may be very good, but the advice that you seek some help from someone who specializes in endocrinology is absolutely the most valuable advice you can get.
 

The potential for further serious complications means that you must get her as well regulated as possible as soon as possible.
 

This is not a situation for "set and forget" medicine.
 

Good luck. 

Be careful with the diabetic educators and dietitians, I've heard about some of their diet regimens... way to heavy on carbs and too light on protein.  Experiment with the diet and BS readings and you can get things under control.  Also, don't get freaked out over one or two bad readings, you have time to work out the best path.  Especially, do not take a reading right after exercise.  Exercise releases glucose into the bloodstream to fuel the muscles creating an "artificially high" reading.  It can take an hour or more to drop back down.... most of the time.  I did a 75 mile bike ride and even though I was eating along the way ant the end of the day my BS was 86!

Diet plays a big role. 

We've made great progress regulating cats and dogs by using high protein, low carbohydrate foods. I thought that was well known for managing diabetes in the human population. 
 

Less hashbrown more frittata on the breakfast menu this morning.

Don't lose a foot. 

Mndsm said:

Don't lose a foot. 

I'd only have 2 inches left.

triumph7 said:

Be careful with the diabetic educators and dietitians, I've heard about some of their diet regimens... way to heavy on carbs and too light on protein.  Experiment with the diet and BS readings and you can get things under control.  Also, don't get freaked out over one or two bad readings, you have time to work out the best path.  Especially, do not take a reading right after exercise.  Exercise releases glucose into the bloodstream to fuel the muscles creating an "artificially high" reading.  It can take an hour or more to drop back down.... most of the time.  I did a 75 mile bike ride and even though I was eating along the way ant the end of the day my BS was 86!

I've dealt with half a dozen dieticians through the Canadian medical system and when I used to volunteer doing summer camps with kids with diabetes. I've never met one that wasn't reasonable and willing to work with me/the client. 
At the end of the day type one or type to is best managed by being conscious of what you eat and your activity level. But you can't ignore the medication side, and the best way to get that all sorted is to deal directly with a specialist. 
Just by the fact you said you sugar was 86 I can tell you're south of the boarder. I have about as much experience with diabetes as one could have at my age. The reason I hope to continue to live a long and relatively healthy life is because the Canadian health care system is very good. 

Everyone goes through diabetes differently; what sugars are okay for you won't be good for someone else, and some (like my stepfather) get it from other disease processes like COVID or pituitary gland injury. If you were already eating better I'd seriously push to see an endocrineologist to try and figure out what caused it, because if you've actually been eating well and being decently active for several years something else may have caused it that you (more likely your past jackass doctor) missed. I'm worried that in being vegetarian for years she's actually been missing some crucial dietary components and that's played a role, but it's really just a feeling.

I'd also honestly consider suing that doctor, missing Diabetes symptoms over that span is atrocious and its major symptoms can be seen through an at-home urine screening for sugars and proteins that costs around $10.

I would argue against the Keto diet, because it's purpose was for children with Epilepsy to force their brains to consume ketone bodies for energy, not sugars. There's long-term health concerns with it.

She's vegetarian, not vegan. 

Plenty of cheese, eggs, nuts, etc to make up for whatever might be missing without beef, chicken, pork or fish.