Hello All.

[Anastasia]

:smile: Hello everyone.Just to say I am a T2 on tablets and diet since 2000,my husband is also a diabetic type 2 but is now on insulin and tablets.Hope we can help a bit as we have amassed a lot of information over the years.:smile:

[princesslinda]

Welcome to DF! Can you tell us more about yourself? What medications do you take to control your diabetes? What are some unique situations (if any) that you have encountered due to the fact that BOTH of you are diabetics?

Again, welcome!

Linda

[Keezheekoni]

Hi and welcome to the board! Glad to have you here. :D

My husband is a type 2 and I'm a type 1. It is so nice having someone who understands me! :D

[sweetcheeks]

im type 2, and we are in the process of finding out if hubby is diabetic or not....i'll be so glad to have an excercise buddy and that can understand me aswell lol

welcome to the forum!

[ladytaz]

Hi Anastasia :ciao: Welcome to the DF family! :)

[Anastasia]

Hello here I am back again,sorry for the delay.Well thanks to you all for the kind welcome,and I hope to be able to help answer your questions.Lovely to see that this is such a vibrant forum as I have never posted on a diabetic forum before now.
Well my husband was diagnosed about 15 yrs back as a type 2 then.Since then he has been on all the meds in tablet form until the last going off he was on Avandamet and Glicozides and glicazones (sorry about the spelling) well this cocktail was terrible for him,and did not reduce his BSL at all,he was always around 15+.
My husband called BOB born in 1943!! never knew his mother as she left him at 3yrs of age.Then quite recently, out of the blue he found out that his mother had died quite young from Kidney failure due to diabetes,and that he also has 3 half sisters who were also Type 1.His grandmother was also diabetic and injected daily,so this would have been back in the early 1900's.
Eventually after bad side effects from the above tablets,he was given insulin by our new modern hospital we have just down the road.They have a Diabetic unit with their own specialist Doctors and nurses.They told him that he should have had insuklin a long time back,so we do not really know now,if he was type 1 all along or a type 2 as we thought.The tablets have given him terrible oral problems,ulcers and sore gums that go then re appear overnight,he is seeing an Oral consultant for this.He is also having Kidney stones removed this coming week.
Now as for myself --how I am a diabetic I do not know as there is only 1 cousin in my family that suffered from this.About 8yrs back I asked Bob to take my sugar reading on "his" meter.It read 8,and it floored me slightly,but I just ignore this and forgot all about it.Hoever in those days we were standing at Antiques fairs all over the place, and I used to get so tired and drained,and I constantly walked about with a bottle of water in my hand.The other dealers used to laugh at me with my water.
Through a case of cystitis (I always had cystitis!) the practice nurse found my blood sugar to be 17.Immediately alarm bells were ringing and over the next couple of weeks I was diagnosed diabetic.I had blurred vision,tummy pains,inner trembling,cystitis etc. My GP put me on Metformin 500mg x 3 daily when my reading went up to 26.I immediately stopped all sugars and completely changed my diet. My weight dropped a LOT! I was so strict that the Nurse used to worry about me getting too thin.She told me I was their **Star** pupil :) as I did it all on my own. Whereas Bob would not eat and still will not eat what I do,I feel that if he had,then his Blood sugar would be far more controleable now than what it is.I also walked about 4miles cross country every day.My sugar readings were excellent always below 6-7.
After a hysterectomy in 2003, my BSL's went haywire,it was terrible.I believe quite strongly that the HRT patches caused this.Hypos were a regular occurence..I stopped the patches last Spring (April 2006)as I could not cope with the Oestrogen depression and mood swings.YES,I know these patches are supposed to stop mood swings but they made me worse.I put back on 2 stone in weight since the Hysterectomy.
After stopping the HRT I developed a very bad case of Gout,and Arthritis attacks.I noticed the Arthritis came on post 2003,but at that time I could still walk my mountain!.Since last Summer,even though I eat like a Saint and include daily Cherries,Blueberries,Strawberries,seeds etc.,my arthritis in my legs and feet have sadly curtailed my walking.Now I can only manage about half a mile in our woodlands we have here.I take glucosamine extra strength,and even though I noticed my BSL did rise a bit with this,it settled back down after a month.
Bob still regularly has readings over +12 -16,he has paid the price for still eating what he likes,my readings are still low,but I am inclined to get hypos in the mid morning if not careful.For these I take sultanas and fruit like a Banana - whereas Bob eats Jelly Babies!
Since Bob has been on the insulin he has not had any hypos,as he was having bad ones on Glicazides and Avandamet.Also whoever said that you cannot get Hypos with metformin are talking rubbish - I get them on Metformin as mentioned above.The one thing that really sends the message home to me to STOP - ie., if I want to eat something with sugar in it,is the thought of losing my precious eyesight.This is the one thing I know above all that keeps my diet on an even keel.
I know that fruit,especially Oranges has lots of sugar,but this does not stop me from eating loads of it as I notice that my BSL soon come back to normal unlike manufactured sugar..I do know that fruit,especially berries and cherries cleans out and purifies the blood.I still only take 2 x metformin daily,initially I was on 3 daily.I do put this down to the way I eat and I cannot emphasise this point more to the newly diagnosed Diabetics,PLEASE EAT wholewheat,Wholemeal bread,all grains and seeds,plenty of fresh fruit,white meat,probiotic yoghurts (at least 2 daily) or greek yoghurt but PLAIN not fruity.When you feel like being naughty think of fruit instead.Don't counteract your hypos with sweets or chocolate - just substitute with currants or fruit or even a wholewheat biscuit.If home drink a glass of milk and eat a banana with it.Far better than stuffing yourself with sweet cakes and chocolate.
A Diabetic diet is the most healthy diet you can have,it is just getting out of the habit of reaching for a chocolate bar!.

Sorry for the long post but I feel that so many newly diagnosed Diabetics could steer themselves into good long term BSL readings quite easily,as long as they stick to the rules.Better to have a good pair of eyes than a daily chocolate bar!
Anyway I had better post this now,as it is sounding preachy,I just feel so concerned about the newly diagnosed and their diets.
Love to you all
Annaxxxx

[June91]

Just wanted to say HI! I probably say your name about 100 times a day - as I have a four-year old Anastasia :)