find a REALLY strict low GI diet and stick to it to the letter for a while - get yourself used to replacing essentially everything with a low GI alternative before you consider taking it on for yourself. there is so much that isn't great from a low GI perspective that would otherwise be deemed to be really healthy!
google GI tables and check everything that you eat on there. simple changes to things can help heaps. if you can't entirely give up something from your diet (for us, we eat dishes with rice quite a lot), change the variety you use to the lowest GI you can. it might cost a little more BUT, you're cutting down on portion sizes, so there is a balance there.
ummmmmmm, try and eat small portions (really small) frequently rather than larger meals. once you start eating during the day, your insulin goes up, and may not drop off in line with your sugars - high insulin and low sugars, as they drop, tend to cause that horrible nausea/tiredness/dizziness that is bordering on a hypo feeling. if you can try and stop the sugar highs and lows, and keep it stable through the day, you'll tend to feel better.
avoid fatty food as much as you can - with the extra metformin, you will be almost guaranteed to have an upset stomach - and fat will make it worse. be prepared for it to get worse before it gets better as your body adapts to the low GI eating habits and the impact of the metformin on your system
ETA your insulin levels being very high this time may have been an isolated thing, so don't stress on that one number - yes, it's high - but what you ate the night before could have impacted it. i have been told by an endocrinologist that a single reading shouldn't be looked at in isolation - if there is concern about your levels, there is perhaps a need for a full GTT with insulin levels so it can be observed in a more controlled situation. the increase your GP is talking about with 3000mg of metformin a day sounds VERY high and i'd be reluctant to do it based on fasting tests. i'd be asking for referral to someone like an endocrinologist to have more tests done, rather than doubling the dose like that
Last edited by briggsy's girl; November 1st, 2011 at 04:00 PM.
I would go and have a look at Diabetes Australia website they have some very good fact sheets that you could follow to eat a better diet. Really it is just a mixture of what your Dr has suggested eating the right foods, smaller sizes, excercise and drinking water.
Hon that is a high level, are you sure the testing was correct? different labs have different measurement testings, the reason why I say this is my Ob was confused about my results and one said I had it and the other said I didnt, they read the readings wrong as it was from a different lab. If it is correct, BG has some great suggestions! I used to take metformin 3 times a day also. I found that cutting out all high GI foods and eating mainly low GI with a few medium GI mixed in help start to get things moving, The lower the GI food the less symptoms you will get as side effects from the metformin also, I found if I ate high GI when taking metformin I spent all day attached to the bathroom. Also walking 30mins each day will help too if you can do it? Can your GP give you a referal to a bulk billed dietician that can make a low GI diet for you? I saw one and it was an excellent guide. It was Low GI and also portion side control.
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