Out of control.....
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kvsmith59
Posts: 26 Member
So, I've had type 2 for around 6 years now. When first diagnosed, I did the carb counting, testing, etc. I was and probably still am in denial since I've never had any of the problems associated with diabetes like nerve pain, blurry vision, etc.
Like an idiot, I would slowly stop testing and would start eating like I did before I got diagnosed. Every year I would get my a1c tested, the results would freak me out and I'd go back to testing and eating right, then slowly go back to the cycle of no testing and eating what I wanted. In 2013 my a1c was 7.5, 2014 it moved up to 8.8, and just a week ago it came back at 9.8 ! Needless to say I need to get my act together. Doctor wants me to start insulin shots which I don't want to do. We agreed that I would try to get it under control within the next 3 months and re-evaluate, but to call her in a month if my daily blood sugar isn't dropping.
I honestly don't know much about the insulin shots, but I do know that I have always hated shots and am not sure if I can actually give myself one. I'm also worried that if I do go the insulin route that I will use it as a crutch to continue my poor habits.
So....the first couple of days after getting the 9.8, I got back on mfp and started tracking everything and also started testing my blood after waking up in the morning. I noticed the following:
1. Carb intake over the first 3 days was over 200 with my corresponding blood sugar count ranging from 218 to 249 (!).
2. Seeing this, I drastically cut down on the carbs for the next three days:
carbs BS
94 180
158 195
139 221 ! this morning
After reading some posts here, I understand that different foods will affect people differently and that I should probably test throughout the day to see which foods are affecting me adversely. It's difficult for me to do that as I spend a lot of time out in the field meeting people, driving, etc. Also, I'm what I call a "grazer" . I like to munch on stuff throughout the day and especially at night. It's nothing for me to have a snack at 11pm right before I go to bed. That is probably the first habit I need to break.
I've never been a "good" eater and now that needs to change. For example, I've always had a bowl of cereal at night that I classified as my desert. Of the 139 carbs I had yesterday, 67 of them were from a bowl of cereal last night @ 8:30pm and a few almost zero carb candies. I'm guessing the 221 reading this morning was from the cereal (duh). The day I only had 94 carbs, I skipped the cereal, BUT I still had a reading of 180. That seems high for the small amount of carbs I ate the night before.
Sorry for rambling. Any suggestions on how to get my act together? I really don't want to go the insulin route. What has worked for my fellow carb addicts? Stop eating after a certain time at night? Doctor wants me to stick to 45 carbs per meal and 15 per snack. How many snacks are you allowed? 2? I'm trying to keep the carbs under 165 per day, but apparently that doesn't work and it has to be per meal, but I'm finding that difficult to do......
Like an idiot, I would slowly stop testing and would start eating like I did before I got diagnosed. Every year I would get my a1c tested, the results would freak me out and I'd go back to testing and eating right, then slowly go back to the cycle of no testing and eating what I wanted. In 2013 my a1c was 7.5, 2014 it moved up to 8.8, and just a week ago it came back at 9.8 ! Needless to say I need to get my act together. Doctor wants me to start insulin shots which I don't want to do. We agreed that I would try to get it under control within the next 3 months and re-evaluate, but to call her in a month if my daily blood sugar isn't dropping.
I honestly don't know much about the insulin shots, but I do know that I have always hated shots and am not sure if I can actually give myself one. I'm also worried that if I do go the insulin route that I will use it as a crutch to continue my poor habits.
So....the first couple of days after getting the 9.8, I got back on mfp and started tracking everything and also started testing my blood after waking up in the morning. I noticed the following:
1. Carb intake over the first 3 days was over 200 with my corresponding blood sugar count ranging from 218 to 249 (!).
2. Seeing this, I drastically cut down on the carbs for the next three days:
carbs BS
94 180
158 195
139 221 ! this morning
After reading some posts here, I understand that different foods will affect people differently and that I should probably test throughout the day to see which foods are affecting me adversely. It's difficult for me to do that as I spend a lot of time out in the field meeting people, driving, etc. Also, I'm what I call a "grazer" . I like to munch on stuff throughout the day and especially at night. It's nothing for me to have a snack at 11pm right before I go to bed. That is probably the first habit I need to break.
I've never been a "good" eater and now that needs to change. For example, I've always had a bowl of cereal at night that I classified as my desert. Of the 139 carbs I had yesterday, 67 of them were from a bowl of cereal last night @ 8:30pm and a few almost zero carb candies. I'm guessing the 221 reading this morning was from the cereal (duh). The day I only had 94 carbs, I skipped the cereal, BUT I still had a reading of 180. That seems high for the small amount of carbs I ate the night before.
Sorry for rambling. Any suggestions on how to get my act together? I really don't want to go the insulin route. What has worked for my fellow carb addicts? Stop eating after a certain time at night? Doctor wants me to stick to 45 carbs per meal and 15 per snack. How many snacks are you allowed? 2? I'm trying to keep the carbs under 165 per day, but apparently that doesn't work and it has to be per meal, but I'm finding that difficult to do......
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Replies
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Hi @kvsmith59 My A1c was 11+ and my doctor also let me wait on going to insulin. I did some research and found most diabetic nutrition sites do reccommend the carb levels your doctor gave you. I have found that I had to go below 40 carbs per day before my readings started to go down to more normal (for diabetics) levels. Hopefully you can try it for a while and it works for you. I think you will find once you go that low, you won't crave the carbs as much anymore.0
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wow. that's like Atkins level huh? Once you got the numbers down were you able to slowly add more carbs in until you got to the level the doctor felt was right? Thanks for the response
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Look on YouTube:
Reversing Type 2 diabetes starts with ignoring the guidelines | Sarah Hallberg | TEDxPurdueU
Great starting point, she really turned my life around.
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Are you currently on medication at all?0
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wow. that's like Atkins level huh? Once you got the numbers down were you able to slowly add more carbs in until you got to the level the doctor felt was right? Thanks for the response
I'm newly diagnosed so I am still keeping carbs low. I feel much more energetic and have lost 20 lbs so far so I think staying Low Carb is the best route for me. I may add in some fruit once I feel more stable.0 -
in january my a1c was 11 ...last week it was 5.0 ...i'm down 106lbs and off my meds
I concur with alot that was already said here
1) The disease is very individual. heavy testing on the front end to self-educate is important. When my father was diagnosed oddly enough fried seafood was a major trigger for his glucose. For me white bread was deadly, etc
2) Alot of people I've talked to have had great success with various low-carb aproaches, atkins, paleo, lchf. My magic number is 100g/day ...i stay under that and my numbers are predictable and managable. I go over that and it takes about 3 days for fasting BGL to get back to normal.
3) The 'faster' the carb the worse it is. So my first, biggest, most important change was no more liquid sugars, no juice, no soda. Eat only fruits that I consume with the skin on (more fiber, slows digestion of sugars).
the one thing noone has mentioned yet that has been a big part of my journey was the exercise.
Doc's suggestion was start doing something, anything, 30 minutes per day every day. Add 5 minutes every 2 weeks until you get to an hour.
Rational was like this:
Diabetes is a problem of glucose efficiency. Your digestion system gets the glucose into your bloodstream just like anyone else. But then either you don't produce enough insulin, or your cells have become insulin resistant. So it doesn't get out of your blood and into your cells very quickly. So it creates a backlog in the blood and the excess does damage to all your other organs as it floats around and around waiting to get used. 99% of all usage of glucose for fuel in cells requires insulin to move glucose from outside to inside. So using it to heat your body, divide cells, produce chemicals, etc. All require insulin.
Muscle cells on the other hand have a back door! They also use glucose to fuel expansion and contraction. But they store more internally (as glycogen) than other cells because they tend to need alot in a short period. AND when glycogen runs low muscle cells have a different mechanism for absorbing glucose from the bloodstream. A mechanism that DOES NOT INVOLVE INSULIN. So your diabetes has no effect.
So a great way to 'burn off' the backlog in your blood is exercise. Especially endurance cardio. High intensity aerobic and strength training are also beneficial. But endurance cardio is the best for this purpose. So Running, Walking, Cycling, Rowing, Swimming, etc.
For me swimming ended up being my exercise of choice. My larger bodyweight made it easier to start instead of harder (unlike most forms of exercise). It is easy on my joints. It has a very good 'burn rate' compared to many other forms of exercise. I can do it more or less on my own schedule (no need for classes, teams, spotters, etc). Minimal equipment investment. And the HUGE selling point for me is when I am done swimming I feel cool and clean (and tired); instead of being hot, sweaty, and dirty(and tired).0 -
stephenrhinton-excellent explanation for the exercise component!
I had Gestational Diabetes with both of my pregnancies and when I wanted pizza I knew that meant my pregnant butt had to get out for a nice 20-30 minute walk afterwards!
My magic number is also around 100g of carbs per day. I (like many others) have a harder time tolerating carbs in the morning hours. Dinner is when I seem to be able to process them the best.
I've been having some trouble with my fast glucose. I can't get it under 100 and yesterday and today it was in the 120s. I'm not sure what is going on but I'm playing around with evening snacks to see what has an impact. Tonight my evening snack was no carb-just protein. It's frustrating me because my testing results throughout the rest of the day are really great.
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Thanks! I am taking a lot of meds, but my crappy eating habits are overriding them. I drink nothing but black coffee, water and unsweetened ice tea. That's one thing I was able to change with no problems other than "drink boredom". I'm 5' 10.5 and 175 lbs so weight isn't an issue. I walk several miles a week and golf once or twice a week. Thought most people were exercising more for the weight problems some have. Didn't realize it actually helps lower your blood sugar so guess I need to up the exercise.
What is "fasting BGL" and how does it work? Sounds like something I might need to do to get this under control quicker....thank you everyone for the advice. I will also check out that YouTube video0 -
So, I've had type 2 for around 6 years now. When first diagnosed, I did the carb counting, testing, etc. I was and probably still am in denial since I've never had any of the problems associated with diabetes like nerve pain, blurry vision, etc.
Like an idiot, I would slowly stop testing and would start eating like I did before I got diagnosed. Every year I would get my a1c tested, the results would freak me out and I'd go back to testing and eating right, then slowly go back to the cycle of no testing and eating what I wanted. In 2013 my a1c was 7.5, 2014 it moved up to 8.8, and just a week ago it came back at 9.8 ! Needless to say I need to get my act together. Doctor wants me to start insulin shots which I don't want to do. We agreed that I would try to get it under control within the next 3 months and re-evaluate, but to call her in a month if my daily blood sugar isn't dropping.
I honestly don't know much about the insulin shots, but I do know that I have always hated shots and am not sure if I can actually give myself one. I'm also worried that if I do go the insulin route that I will use it as a crutch to continue my poor habits.
So....the first couple of days after getting the 9.8, I got back on mfp and started tracking everything and also started testing my blood after waking up in the morning. I noticed the following:
1. Carb intake over the first 3 days was over 200 with my corresponding blood sugar count ranging from 218 to 249 (!).
2. Seeing this, I drastically cut down on the carbs for the next three days:
carbs BS
94 180
158 195
139 221 ! this morning
After reading some posts here, I understand that different foods will affect people differently and that I should probably test throughout the day to see which foods are affecting me adversely. It's difficult for me to do that as I spend a lot of time out in the field meeting people, driving, etc. Also, I'm what I call a "grazer" . I like to munch on stuff throughout the day and especially at night. It's nothing for me to have a snack at 11pm right before I go to bed. That is probably the first habit I need to break.
I've never been a "good" eater and now that needs to change. For example, I've always had a bowl of cereal at night that I classified as my desert. Of the 139 carbs I had yesterday, 67 of them were from a bowl of cereal last night @ 8:30pm and a few almost zero carb candies. I'm guessing the 221 reading this morning was from the cereal (duh). The day I only had 94 carbs, I skipped the cereal, BUT I still had a reading of 180. That seems high for the small amount of carbs I ate the night before.
Sorry for rambling. Any suggestions on how to get my act together? I really don't want to go the insulin route. What has worked for my fellow carb addicts? Stop eating after a certain time at night? Doctor wants me to stick to 45 carbs per meal and 15 per snack. How many snacks are you allowed? 2? I'm trying to keep the carbs under 165 per day, but apparently that doesn't work and it has to be per meal, but I'm finding that difficult to do......
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Your story is like mine. I was also told to get it together or take insulin shots. There are basil insulin and meal insulin. Its a route I don't want to go for many reasons, least of all, it doesn't address the root of the problem which is insulin resistance. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND to go straight to Amazon.co and order this book:
The Glycemic Load Diet by Dr. Robert Thompson MD. He knows his stuff and is ALSO a diabetic. You need to take control-- education is key.
My BS are slowly coming down after eating the RIGHT Carbs as well as LOW Carbs and beginning regular exercise, You must do both,
Good Luck,
mdp
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gaelicstorm26 wrote: »stephenrhinton-excellent explanation for the exercise component!
I had Gestational Diabetes with both of my pregnancies and when I wanted pizza I knew that meant my pregnant butt had to get out for a nice 20-30 minute walk afterwards!
My magic number is also around 100g of carbs per day. I (like many others) have a harder time tolerating carbs in the morning hours. Dinner is when I seem to be able to process them the best.
I've been having some trouble with my fast glucose. I can't get it under 100 and yesterday and today it was in the 120s. I'm not sure what is going on but I'm playing around with evening snacks to see what has an impact. Tonight my evening snack was no carb-just protein. It's frustrating me because my testing results throughout the rest of the day are really great.
Look into what is called "The Dawn Phenomenon" - it explains high fasting BS numbers.
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What is "fasting BGL" and how does it work? Sounds like something I might need to do to get this under control quicker....thank you everyone for the advice. I will also check out that YouTube video
'Fasting BGL' isn't something you 'do' its just a measurement. It means your Blood Glucose Level after at least 8 hours without food or drink (usually measured first thing in the morning after sleep). Testing your BGL throughout the day, before and after meals gives you an idea how your body reacts to certain foods. Your 'Fasting BGL' gives you some idea how your body is doing with sugars longer-term between meals.0 -
gaelicstorm26 wrote: »stephenrhinton-excellent explanation for the exercise component!
I had Gestational Diabetes with both of my pregnancies and when I wanted pizza I knew that meant my pregnant butt had to get out for a nice 20-30 minute walk afterwards!
My magic number is also around 100g of carbs per day. I (like many others) have a harder time tolerating carbs in the morning hours. Dinner is when I seem to be able to process them the best.
I've been having some trouble with my fast glucose. I can't get it under 100 and yesterday and today it was in the 120s. I'm not sure what is going on but I'm playing around with evening snacks to see what has an impact. Tonight my evening snack was no carb-just protein. It's frustrating me because my testing results throughout the rest of the day are really great.
Look into what is called "The Dawn Phenomenon" - it explains high fasting BS numbers.
I've been reading about it and I believe this is what my problem is. I'm not exactly sure how to combat it though, besides playing around with that evening snack. This morning my fasting number was 111. Lower than yesterday, so I'm going to continue with a protein snack before bed for a few days to see if that number continues in a downward trend.
When I had GD with my second son I had this problem and I was given glyburide to take before bed to bring those numbers down. I really don't want to add any more meds so I want to do this by controlling diet if at all possible!0 -
stephenrhinton wrote: »in january my a1c was 11 ...last week it was 5.0 ...i'm down 106lbs and off my meds
Rational was like this:
Diabetes is a problem of glucose efficiency. Your digestion system gets the glucose into your bloodstream just like anyone else. But then either you don't produce enough insulin, or your cells have become insulin resistant. So it doesn't get out of your blood and into your cells very quickly. So it creates a backlog in the blood and the excess does damage to all your other organs as it floats around and around waiting to get used. 99% of all usage of glucose for fuel in cells requires insulin to move glucose from outside to inside. So using it to heat your body, divide cells, produce chemicals, etc. All require insulin.
Muscle cells on the other hand have a back door! They also use glucose to fuel expansion and contraction. But they store more internally (as glycogen) than other cells because they tend to need alot in a short period. AND when glycogen runs low muscle cells have a different mechanism for absorbing glucose from the bloodstream. A mechanism that DOES NOT INVOLVE INSULIN. So your diabetes has no effect.
So a great way to 'burn off' the backlog in your blood is exercise. Especially endurance cardio. High intensity aerobic and strength training are also beneficial. But endurance cardio is the best for this purpose. So Running, Walking, Cycling, Rowing, Swimming, etc.
For me swimming ended up being my exercise of choice. My larger bodyweight made it easier to start instead of harder (unlike most forms of exercise). It is easy on my joints. It has a very good 'burn rate' compared to many other forms of exercise. I can do it more or less on my own schedule (no need for classes, teams, spotters, etc). Minimal equipment investment. And the HUGE selling point for me is when I am done swimming I feel cool and clean (and tired); instead of being hot, sweaty, and dirty(and tired).
Stephen, you've referenced this "back door" more than once. I've tried a couple of time to find info but I've struck out. Do you have any links or sources? Most of what I can find on glucose metabolism is similar to this:
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/pancreas/insulin_phys.html
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Here are some articles that reference the parallel glucose uptake mechanism in contracting muscle tissue. The first two just confirm it's existence. The last actually explores the mechanism in greater detail, but the main conclusion seems to be that we don't entirely understand it yet.
http://www.diabetesforecast.org/2011/jun/understanding-insulin-resistance.html
http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/438374
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/iub.179/pdf0 -
Thank you. Gotta prep for a day of daycare for my grandkids but I'll read it later.0
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I have some additional dumb questions.
1. My morning routine is usually something like this: Wake up, have a couple of cups of coffee(black) test my blood, eat something, take my meds. Should I be taking my meds before testing?
2. How many times per day should I be testing my blood? I've only been doing it in the morning.
3. Also, I'm self employed, work at home and on the road so I don't have a "set" lunch or dinner time. Time before meals can be short or long which I assume might skewer the results if I start testing more than once a day?
4. Doctor said I need to keep carbs down to 45 per meal and 15 per snack. So if that means 3 meals per day plus 2 snacks that's a max of 165 carbs per day which I'm trying to stay under. I'm starting to think I shouldn't worry about the "carbs per day" number and just worry about the "per meal" number. Which leads me to another question. If its per meal, is 2 snacks a day the limit? I am a grazer and have always snacked on something throughout the day, sometimes only an hour or so between snacks especially when I'm driving.
Thanks again for your help!0 -
1) in theory you should test before anything in the AM ...the 'fasting' BGL number is supposed to give you an idea of how your body is behaving with your digestive system basically shut down. But in practical terms there are so few calories in black coffee, and meds take long enough to metabolize that it just doesn't matter that much.
2) Testing once per day is good (in my opinion) if your in the 'monitoring' phase and have your routine and habits down. It sounds like you are in the learning phase when most would encourage much more aggressive testing so you can understand how your body reacts to different foods/habits. My doc's first recommendation for learning phase was 3 times/day. Fasting (first thing), then twice two-hours after a meal usually lunch and supper. I've seen many many recommendations that you test before, and then after. Sometimes 30 minutes and 2 hours after so that you get some idea of how quickly glucose enters and then leaves your bloodstream. Also before and after exercise to see how that affects blood glucose. Now if you follow ALL of those recommendations you end up sticking yourself a dozen times/day. So another approach i've seen is to have a baseline of once fasting and once post-meal. Then each day pick a meal/food/exercise to learn more about. So like on Monday I'm going to test first thing, then before supper, 30 mins after, and 2 hours after and I'm going to carefully measure supper portions and ingredients so I know how many calories/carbs/sugars/fibers, etc. Tuesday I'll test first thing, once after lunch, but I'm also going to monitor my exercise with a before and after and make sure the type of exercise has a good way to estimate effort/calories, etc. And so on ...Over time you learn things like ..anytime I eat a baked potato I am FUBAR for the rest of the day (or maybe not). Or My BGL crashes with exercise I need to eat a small carb snack before my workout. And again it's not forever, it's just till you learn what works for you and establish habits.
3) I would probably tie your testing times to your meals rather than set times per day.
4) Diabetics digest sugars, fibers, and carbs just like anyone else. But then getting them OUT of the blood is where our bodies are inefficient. So we are much more prone to sudden spikes or drops of glucose levels in the blood. So the reason your Doc wants you to limit carbs per meal and per snack is to smooth out the 'averages' ...not to dump too much into the blood at once, or to go too long without any. In that sense small snacks with small amounts of carbs are good. Any chance you can alter your grazing habits to include less starchy snacks? Cheese, Nuts, and Jerky are good. Raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers, celery, radishes are awesome, tho sometimes less appealing. Fruits are ok ...but the more concentrated the sugars the worse. So try to avoid dried fruits, or liquid fruits. Fruits where you eat the skin are generally better than those where you don't (more fiber). Chips, Pretzels, Crackers, cookies, pastries, and desserts are all not so good ....but again diabetes is a very individual condition ...maybe you can handle these where I can't.0 -
One other odd thing to note is that glucose in the blood doesn't JUST come from things you eat ...that is where it mostly comes from. But the body will release stockpiles of glucose into the blood under various conditions as well, most noticeably when your BGL drops too low too quickly. And also the 'Dawn Phenomenon'. I had a few days early on when I knew I had been especially good about my carb intake, and yet my levels were way high ...Takes your body some time to adjust to new habits and levels as well.0
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Thanks so much for the advice. Helps a lot!
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