Advice on today's journal, please!
lamourlady
Posts: 14
I am so confused. I must first say that I went for my 2 hour fasting blood work last Feb. of 2012 and I never heard back from my doctor and so I assumed it was all good. In the meantime, I just lived my life. I ended up emerg feeling like I was dying and they did heart checks and such and told me I felt horrible because my blood sugar was at 18. Deep down I knew that I am more than likely a type 2 diabetic, as it runs in my family and being Native is also a given. I still did nothing as I was not diagnosed by my doctor. Now, lately I have noticed that I am feeling poorly from my food. So, I called my doctor and made an appt with a nutritionist and am treating myself as if I were a type 2 until I can get another fasting test done. So I have begun this fitness pal and for a week now have completely changed what I am eating and begun an exercise program. I am 46, started out at 265 lbs, I am a smoker, but don't want to quit until I've lost some more weight.
So, please bear with me, I am so new to this but I am so serious about changing my lifestyle for the permanent and better. I hate that every time I eat I feel horrible. I feel horrible right now after eating thinking it would make me feel better. So, here is my journal entry for you all to help me see what I am doing wrong.
Felt good this morning. And I think my bad feelings after eating is most likely low blood pressure. Advice seems to state having lots to drink before I eat and maybe adding a bit of salt which raises blood pressure. So confusing. I ate a 1/4 cup of my chili before bed to keep my blood sugar normal while I slept because I feel so poorly when I wake up and instead felt awful, so I had a tsp of soy sauce and was okay. It's horrible to have my body so out of zinc like this and trying to keep it healthy and working well. The thought that my eating is destroying my body scares me so that I was literally afraid to eat the more I learned. Still so much to learn.
Wow, about an hour and a half after eating my lunch I was hungry and tired. This after having did my treadmill. That was at about 12:30, I ate my lunch right after and now it is 2:30. I ate the rest of my salmon mix with the left over spinach and added some jalepenos and bit of cheese. I don't know if this is right or not. I thought I was supposed to feel energy and wellness from eating right. Or is this just my body getting used to eating good foods? Is it just symptoms of my body craving and wanting bad foods???? I just don't know but will address this with my dietitian next week.
Just wanted to add that this prickly feeling all over my body is getting worse. I feel it most in my left calf and usually more at night time. Here I am feeling it today every where else. Again, I am getting confused with why I am not feeling great. lol. Sometimes I think it is this journal writing and being sooo aware of every minute detail of my food and how my body feels. I am sure it will get better!
Just adding that after eating that salmon and spinach I feel so light-headed and horrible. I almost would just rather eat nothing any more. I need help. Is this the low blood pressure thing again? What can I do to stop this horrible feeling?
So, please bear with me, I am so new to this but I am so serious about changing my lifestyle for the permanent and better. I hate that every time I eat I feel horrible. I feel horrible right now after eating thinking it would make me feel better. So, here is my journal entry for you all to help me see what I am doing wrong.
Felt good this morning. And I think my bad feelings after eating is most likely low blood pressure. Advice seems to state having lots to drink before I eat and maybe adding a bit of salt which raises blood pressure. So confusing. I ate a 1/4 cup of my chili before bed to keep my blood sugar normal while I slept because I feel so poorly when I wake up and instead felt awful, so I had a tsp of soy sauce and was okay. It's horrible to have my body so out of zinc like this and trying to keep it healthy and working well. The thought that my eating is destroying my body scares me so that I was literally afraid to eat the more I learned. Still so much to learn.
Wow, about an hour and a half after eating my lunch I was hungry and tired. This after having did my treadmill. That was at about 12:30, I ate my lunch right after and now it is 2:30. I ate the rest of my salmon mix with the left over spinach and added some jalepenos and bit of cheese. I don't know if this is right or not. I thought I was supposed to feel energy and wellness from eating right. Or is this just my body getting used to eating good foods? Is it just symptoms of my body craving and wanting bad foods???? I just don't know but will address this with my dietitian next week.
Just wanted to add that this prickly feeling all over my body is getting worse. I feel it most in my left calf and usually more at night time. Here I am feeling it today every where else. Again, I am getting confused with why I am not feeling great. lol. Sometimes I think it is this journal writing and being sooo aware of every minute detail of my food and how my body feels. I am sure it will get better!
Just adding that after eating that salmon and spinach I feel so light-headed and horrible. I almost would just rather eat nothing any more. I need help. Is this the low blood pressure thing again? What can I do to stop this horrible feeling?
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Replies
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You need to set your food diary privacy setting on public so that others can see it.
A really good resource is bloodsugar101.com
It sounds like you are hypoglycemic. Hypoglycemia is the flip side of the same coin as diabetes. You are most likely insulin resistant. Your body over produces insulin because your cells aren't responding normally to insulin. Then you have too much insulin in your system and your blood glucose crashes. This is a precursor to type 2 diabetes. Eventually, your body will no longer be able to produce enough insulin. That raised blood sugar after eating, excess insulin response and then crash, up and down will make you feel awful.
Your plan to eat like a diabetic is a very good plan. Do work on smoking cessation as cigarette smoking acerbates diabetic complications.
The My Fitness Pal settings for carbohydrates, protein and fat is not appropriate for diabetics. You can adjust them by going to Home, Goals, Change Goals. Most recommend a setting of 40% carb, 30% protein, 30% fat. I would advocate for no more than 20% carb and no less than 60% fat.
A good low carb diet to start out with and to learn from is the "South Beach Diet". You can pick it up from Amazon, just about any book store and your library.
You will feel horrible for the first 3-5 days as your body withdraws from sugar. Drink lots of water. Increase your sodium intake - broth is helpful when you feel dizzy. And eat plenty of fat - olive oil, butter, avocados, full fat dairy.
Don't eat anything packaged as low fat, reduced fat or fat free. Most of those products have added sugar to compensate for the flavor.
Don't worry about calories or weight loss right now. Get through the carb/sugar withdrawal and get your blood sugar regulated first.
I would also recommend trying a gluten free diet for at least a week to see if that doesn't get rid of your pins-n-needles.
You can do this. And you can feel better.0 -
Can you switch doctors?? It seems like yours dropped the ball. My fbs was a lot lower than yours and my doctor called me in right away, started me on metformin and told me to decrease my carbs until I could see the nutritionist. (my hospital dropped the ball here as they made me wait 2 months to see the nutr/diabetes educator). I ended up going to this site and found a lot of helpful info: http://www.bloodsugar101.com/.
18 is a pretty high number (7.8 is 140 the goal # to try and be under) and I think you should have gotten some kind of medication to help lower your bs levels. The prickly feeling could be neuropathy which is nerve damage from the high sugars.
You said you have a dietician appt next week but if you can get into see someone else - a diff doctor before then.0 -
Can you switch doctors?? It seems like yours dropped the ball. My fbs was a lot lower than yours and my doctor called me in right away, started me on metformin and told me to decrease my carbs until I could see the nutritionist. (my hospital dropped the ball here as they made me wait 2 months to see the nutr/diabetes educator). I ended up going to this site and found a lot of helpful info: http://www.bloodsugar101.com/.
18 is a pretty high number (7.8 is 140 the goal # to try and be under) and I think you should have gotten some kind of medication to help lower your bs levels. The prickly feeling could be neuropathy which is nerve damage from the high sugars.
You said you have a dietician appt next week but if you can get into see someone else - a diff doctor before then.
I didn't realize that "18" was referring to the "other scale". LOL! Yes, that is very high.0 -
It sounds like you haven't yet gotten your hands on testing supplies, and my first worry when I read your post was "how high or low are the sugar levels?" If your nutritionist appointment is soon (like in a few days soon), then they should give you a meter and somes strips. If not, then your doctor CAN call in a script for you so you can start testing even before you get in. If you're testing in the 100's, even if it's high hundreds, then you have some time to play, but if you're testing in the 300's or 400's, you should be on some meds, possibly even insulin, to get the sugar down FAST, and then diet/exercise may be able to sustain it. Truth is, it takes 3 months to get all new blood levels, so if it's really high, you will still feel sick for months unless you have some med help.
Sorry! I was diagnosed at a 10.9 with a fasting blood sugar of 300. I was testing within a day and on insulin within a week. Now I can happily say that I'm testing at 5.1, but for the first 3 months, the Dr. insisted on insulin and said the sugar has to come down fast. It's okay to give yourself permission to get well quickly, and then maintain, but you do need a medical team that's willing to take this as seriously as they need to.
Good luck! You can do this, keep plugging!0 -
I thank all of you for your advice. I didn't know about the settings and it is on public, so if any of you would like to look through my profile I'd appreciate it.
I did think about asking my doctor for a meter so I could see for myself where I am at. I thought I would have to wait until next Wed, which is my appt. Another symptom which clues me in is my eyes. They go blurry and I get very sharp pains in them. All of these physical symptoms have me on a very scary edge. I will also change my percentage settings for my food.
I am so glad all of you are here. I feel very alone in all of this.0 -
Laura, could you please tell me how to change my percentages on the carbs, proteins and fats?0
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Laura, could you please tell me how to change my percentages on the carbs, proteins and fats?
Click on FOOD, then GOALS, then toward bottom the green box that says change goals.
Good luck on getting this all figured out and under control.0 -
Thank you, I changed it to 40 carbs, 30 protein and 30 fat. I hope that is good.0
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Thank you, I changed it to 40 carbs, 30 protein and 30 fat. I hope that is good.
Give it a try...and change as needed. Sometimes it seems to be "trial and error".0 -
Thank you, I changed it to 40 carbs, 30 protein and 30 fat. I hope that is good.
Give it a try...and change as needed. Sometimes it seems to be "trial and error".
So I've been told!
Thank you! A1c test done today so maybe I can go forward in my healing! 
to all of you! 0
