Where do I start?

0067808

You know something - I think that $23 would be money well spent - you could test yourself and your husband.......get him to contribute half of the cost; $11 might give you some peace of mind or help you decide if you need more medical advice. Particularly if you've noticed some unusual symptoms just this weekend; my mum used to send family members out to buy bottles of her favourite Club Orange soft drink (which has quite high sugar levels) - one night she drank six bottles in a row and we knew there was something wrong; next day her speech was slurred and we had to get her straight to the doctors who diagnosed diabetes. So don't ignore unusual symptoms or changes in your 'normal' - get someone to fetch a testing kit from Walmart if you can't leave the house easily. Good luck and God bless.

ahavoc

I posted in a different post you posted, (say that quickly three times), but I'll say it again here. High fiber carbs do not produce the same amount of blood sugar, so eat high fiber carbs, as in spaghetti and bread.

Home cooking is cheaper than the processed foods and better for you. Get chicken bones and beef soup bones from the meat department at your grocery store. They have them. You can make bone broth, (which is so healthy for you), for cheap. (I get grass fed beef bones from Whole Foods. A bit more expensive, but healthier, but whatever you can find is better than the garbage in the cans and cartons.)

Simmer in a pot all day, or put in a slow cooker. Make sure to add a tablespoon of vinegar, (apple cider vinegar is the bomb). The vinegar helps to leach the calcium and minerals out of the bones. You don't taste the vinegar when you eat the broth, but it's done it's magic.

With chicken, bring up to a simmer for two hours, remove the meat from the chicken bones and save the meat for chicken salad, and other meals. Beef bones don't have enough meat to remove, but if you like marrow, go for it. Beef you need to simmer for 12-24 hours, but it's worth it, it's so awesome.

Strain the broth either way and let it cool and freeze cups of it in plastic bags, so you can grab a measured amount out for your freezer for cooking. Or if you want, put a larger amount of the broth in canning jars in the fridge. You can make a quick soup with frozen vegetables or deglaze a pan, use if for that extra bit of liquid when you're cooking.

Homemade soups and stews cook themselves, just make them with no added carbs - this is key, so keep your rice, potatoes and pasta separate. Use the bone broth for liquid, or some of the liquid. Don't put peas or corn in either, cook those separately too and add later. Keep it simple! Get a food scale and measure. Let everyone add their choice of carb after.

Stevia doesn't increase blood sugar, so get the liquid type, (kind of expensive, but it lasts a long time), and use it in your coffee or tea.

Although you're on a budget, you're going to have to invest in your health. Fresh veggies, i.e. cooking greens, salad fixings and fruits are a lot cheaper than bags of crap. Processed foods are high sugar, high sodium, and low fiber. Don't eat them! Slowly change your cooking habits and you'll be slowly adding healthier foods to your diet.

Whether or not you are pre-diabetic, these are just some choices that are better for you based on what you've described as your diet of choice presently.

All of us here have heard all the excuses, so when it comes down to it, you just have to decide to do it.

SergeantSausage

Self-diagnosed diabetes mellitus.

*NOW* I've finally heard everything

Cherimoose

OP - ignore the rudeness. It's the internet.

In addition to the tips i posted about making gradual dietary improvements, i wanted to add that doing daily, vigorous exercise tends to improve mood and outlook. And of course it burns calories, so it's a win/win. Try doing 5 minutes of cardio every hour.. like dancing, jump rope, DVDs, or just walking up & down stairs with headphones on. Anything that gets the blood pumping.. and repeat hourly.

The A1C test is a good idea to rule out diabetes.

Keep us posted..

pinkteapot3

I'm not going to comment at all on the diabetes - others have said it all.

How to start? Don't try to radically change your diet all at once. To start with, simply log every single thing you eat and drink in MFP to get a sense of how many calories you're eating a day. Then, start off by cutting back portion sizes of your current food to reduce your calories. Then gradually swap in healthy alternatives. You'll want to as by eating junk food you'll get tiny quantities of food each day within your calorie limit. You'll start looking for things you can eat instead that fill you up more for fewer calories.

Exercise really does help enormously with mental health, and I am speaking from experience here. Again, start small - the post above mine had good tips.

If at all possible (I appreciate it may not be with agoraphobia), try to do a brisk walk outdoors each day, even if it's just for 30 seconds to start with. If not, indoor exercise works just as well from a calorie-burning perspective. Outdoor exercise has been shown to help lift mood a bit more, that's the only reason I mention it. It's fine if you can't do it.

CaptAwesome77

You could always check it out on Webmd. Last time I tried that, based on my symptoms it said I might be pregnant.

Merkavar

reginab1984 wrote: »

What does mental illness have to do with seeing a doctor to possibly diagnose diabetes?

That's what I was thinking. I would think of anything having a mental illness would make it easier to see a doctor about other illnesses

Zedeff

Call a doctor who does home visits. They exist, regardless of the misperception out there that says otherwise.