Self Medicating With Food...Diabetes, Support?

[73kittycat73]

Hi, I've tried to word/start writing this a few times, so I hope it comes out OK...But, today I have finally realized that I eat junk/sweet food to self medicate.
I have type 2 diabetes and have been 'getting away' with it for a while, but I'm starting to feel the effects of eating sweet food. If I eat chocolate before bed for example, I get terrible cramps in (Mainly my left) calf. Recently I have cut down on chocolate as it was making me feel like crap after eating it. I take depression and anxiety tablets and they make me tired so I thought it was them. However I have really noticed recently that eating it makes me so wiped out afterwards.
Today I was bored so ate a bit of cheesecake. Boy did I feel like shit afterwards. I was still feeling a bit rubbish a few hours later so I decided to dig out the old blood sugar testing kit. My blood sugars were17. In the dangerous category. (A non diabetic person should be between 7.1 to 10.0). It has given me a shake, and a wake up call.
I went to my Sainsburys delivery (Due Sunday.) and have taken all the sweet things out, including Pepsi Max. I drink 2ltrs of the stuff a day (I get 'cotton wool' mouth from the medications I take for depression/anxiety and just water does nothing.). I have read conflicting articles on whether Pepsi Max spikes your insulin so have taken them out my list too. I tried finding a decent drink that wasn't full of sugar or artificial sweeteners, I couldn't find any! So I have ordered some fizzy water and orange squash (With sweeteners.) to have it very diluted for some flavour.
However, like I said, it's only just clicked that I self medicate with food (Sweet stuff being the most.). I know I'll be back to craving even later tonight, or definitely tomorrow, so I was wondering if anybody would like to join me on cutting down on junk food. We could come on when we are craving, or just for some support generally. If you're doing it to loose weight that's fine too.
I hope I haven't gone on...I just wanted to be honest (With myself too.) and start a new, healthier, way of eating.

@73kittycat73 yes, it’s my birthday this week. Daughter has promised to make me a cake! Re the aspartame, I think it’s mostly in soft drinks - which isn’t something I drink anyway, so not much of an issue for me thankfully!

Oh dear @WreckTangled - I hope today finds you a bit brighter!

I am better today thank you made a nice cheese and ham chaffle for lunch, not healthy but not carby and I felt like I needed something indulgent.

What artificial sweeteners do you healthy eaters like best? I am one of those who finds Stevia to have a distinct, slightly unpleasant aftertaste so am going to try others.

I don't like stevia either. I use xylitol in cooking but it's toxic to dogs (we don't have one so I'm happy to use it).

I’ve only used Stevia occasionally in baking, but I’ve not had a problem with it. Gorgeous day today here - had a lovely walk.

Thanks. I’ll try xylitol since we are currently a dog-free family.
Another thumbs up for the cheese scone recipe-so tasty and easy!

Aww, sorry to hear it didn't pan out WreckTangled But a cheese and ham chaffle sounds very posh! I've not heard of one before. Sounds nice though.
Oh, happy birthday to you then PaperMonster! I hope the cake is delicious! Have a wonderful day. How was the walk? It was sunny here too, so much nicer than the grey overcast days we had been having.
Hi Hushpuppy Sorry I couldn't help with your query as I don't bake. Because I'm rubbish at it. Hope you find something you're happy with.

@73kittycat73 thank you! The cake was lovely but I feel a bit sick now!!! Got some lovely presents!

The walk was good, lovely in the sunshine and we saw young deer very close by and they just lay there watching us walk past, so that was nice. The weather’s been a bit overcast for the rest of the week though.

@73kittycat73 it's a waffle made from cheese and egg plus some almond flour

I was doing well today until my sugar level started going low then I ate a brownie regretting it now.

Glad you had a lovely time PaperMonster . Seeing those deer sounds awesome. I love nature. It's good that they stayed still. We had a another sunny day today but apparently it's getting colder again at the weekend. Brrrr....lol
Sounds delish WreckTangled How's things going now? Sorry to hear about the brownie after effects. I pigged out again last night and the night before. I think I go myself into a 'this is a diet' mode. Anyway, I've eaten nearly everything so there's less temptation now!
Have been treating myself today. Bought some perfume, some keyrings, and some bakeware. Sounds boring but it's not! I saw someone mention the rose gold range of cookware on The Range the other day and took a look. I decided I needed some new bakeware (To be fair I could probably do with some.) so got some. It will match the rose gold pan set I got as a gift a few weeks back.

Yep I'm fine if it's not in the house but if it is I will probably eat it. I'm only regretting the brownie because now I want more!

I'm really struggling with this. Covid has left me with a few problems, not just diabetes.

Soooo, carbs and sugars are a no. My numbers Spike massively. Dietician suggested high protein meals, but, I dislike eating more meat, and nuts etc are high fat, another no with 'sticky blood'.

I'm struggling. I can't live on broccoli and cauliflower for the rest of my life.

Please help, by posting your ideal meals, so I may gain inspiration. I'm happy to live without snacks, but I do need breakfast and dinner each day.

Oh, @CaffeineInfusion, that sounds hard work. Have you tried celeriac? I make seasoned chips or mash with it - although most of my meals are meat based so celeriac goes well with them. Definitely look at Lo Dough to make pizzas. Not sure I can offer any other suggestions at the mo. Have you looked at the Diet Doctor website?

Hmm tricky if you don't want more meat, I do eat some veggie foods too though. My staple meals that might be suitable are as follows:

Steak with a side of buttery greens
Birdseye pea protein burger with roasted broccoli and feta
Linda McCartney sausages (any but the Cumberland ones) with cauliflower mash
Chilli (I don't have kidney beans but no issue if you're just lowering carbs) just a big bowl of it
Tuna patties with stir fried veg
Curry (can have with cauliflower rice but I usually just have a big bowl with a couple of popadoms)
Lots of different home made soups
Salad with chicken/bacon/halloumi
Cottage pie made with cauliflower mash

Sorry my mind is going a bit blank. I suppose generally I eat what everyone else does minus the carbs, Bolognese with a big side salad, roast dinner minus the potatoes and stuffing. It must be hard to do low fat too. Greek yoghurt is good, the 0% fat one is lower in carbs than the full fat.

Three bean chili is yum. I've had shakshukah for tea tonight.

Hello everyone. I hope you are all well?
Hi CaffeineInfusion Funnily enough I came across this thread just today, well, about an hour ago. It's low carb recipes for vegetarians. Some of them sound delicious.

@73kittycat73

Thanks for the link, I'll have a look through that. 👍

I think it's harder because I have to cook for the family too. Tonight, we had lamb stew. I've always disliked dumplings, so that's an easy miss for me. But bolognaise without spaghetti? Chilli / curry without rice? I fear a future of sloppy eating is ahead of me😱

My sister is currently following a keto diet, and I'm shocked at the high fat content. So that's not for me. Plus I couldn't eat half a cow.😱😂

You could just have much smaller portions. Everyone each way too much pasta regardless of their dietary requirements. It should be 1/4 of your plate. Or you can get a red lentil pasta which is high protein and meant to be good on blood sugar levels.

You could make courgetti instead of spaghetti? Or get the low carb pasta or rice?

Oh and I tried Biltong yesterday- that stuff is delicious!!

Oh is it? DH has it but I'm too scared to try it

Well, I’ve seen it before but never really fancied trying it but I got a low carb snack box for my birthday and there were a couple of packets in there - tried one yesterday and loved it!

Also if anyone is on FB there is a supportive group I’m in which often has great food ideas, it’s called Low Carb in the UK.

Red lentil pasta?

Now that's new to me.

Off to Google....

Tell me what to think about this.

Ive just tested and 8.8. Is this "normal"? The nurse said to be within 4-7. How?

I haven't eaten today yet. The last couple of days has been all but zero carbs, just chicken with salad / veg (I don't count these)

Yesterday's low was 7.4.

Am I putting too much pressure on myself? I don't know how to feel. Apart from stressed out, stupid and crap.

Ok, firstly eating lower carb can put type 2 diabetes into remission. It can improve blood glucose levels BUT this is not a given, you are not doing anything wrong at all (apart from blaming yourself!). Are you on any medication? It might be that you need something like metformin, or if you're already on it maybe the dose needs adjusting. That doesn't mean you're failing, just think what your levels would be like if you were sitting there eating pizza followed by a massive chocolate bar.

Restricting yourself further won't help (I know you haven't said you're going to do this) keep eating as you are seek advice from your nurse about your next steps.

Also you say you haven't eaten yet but when did you get up? People often get spikes in sugar levels when they first get up, this is known as dawn phenomenon or some people get feet to floor which is where they spike once they're up. There isn't really anything you can do about this it's just one of those things and probably only something medication can fix.

One reading of 8.8 isn't concerning but if it's that every morning then I would suggest speaking to your nurse sooner rather than later.

Sometimes you can do all the right things and it still doesn't work but don't get disheartened.