Again, I hope it's okay that I started a new thread. I can't believe this group is so "HOT"!
I've missed being able to log on "talk" with everyone. I must say that the past month since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has been crazy. I'm scared, confused, and frustrated. I had been checking my sugar every morning as instructed by my nurse practioner but had something weird happen to me so I started testing all through out the day. Testing during the day only mad me more confused. I went on vacation two weeks ago and had a blast. Sweat my butt off checking out some beautiful waterfalls in nothern Georgia, then came back home only to move all my furniture by myself into the bedroom the first day and then into the living room the next day. I was whooped. Well, I'm not a very active person and I think a combination of all that heavy lifting plus flying for the first time might have goofed up my ears. Could all that strenous activity caused my sugar to be all out of whack? I'm not quite sure it was sugar related or not but whatever it was scared me. I was sitting at my desk the day after all this lifting doing my job and I got this weird, cold feeling in my head, like I was gonna faint. All I knew was that I felt that I had to be around someone. So, I went and got a co-worker of mine and we went downstairs and I got some juice and a bagel. Drank the juice, hardly touched the bagel and felt better after about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't test my sugar that morning but whatever happened scared me. Long story short, I had an appt with my doc today and although I've lost 5 lbs since my last visit, my sugar levels are still high. My fasting morning test is averaging 145. My doctor wants me to focus more on diet and exercise.
Ok, here come the questions:
I can have 8-9 servings of carbos, according to the plan I'm following...is that too many? And what about fruit? I can have it but what does it do to my sugar?
How much exercise should I be getting? I certainly don't want to over do it because of what happened last week.
I've been trying to eat every 4-6 hours, is that good? I know that I can't go from 6:30 am to 11:30 am without something, what should I have as a snack? And can I have a snack in the afternoon? It's tough waiting so long to eat, and I know what will happen if I do wait that long, I'll overeat because I'm starving!
Sorry to ramble on and I hope this email doesn't sound too scatter brained, it's been a long day. I've missed you all and now that I'm back online, I'll be visiting more often so my posts won't be sooooooooo lonnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg!
Hi there Luzcious. I'm new to this group. Have had type 2 diabetes for about 2 years, but am only now getting control of it and looking after myself. Congratulations for dealing with yours positively from diagnosis.
To answer some of your questions, firstly, everyone is different with regards to how many carbo servings they can tolerate. I have had my sugars under good control now for around 6 months. I am on WW, what plan are you following? As far as fruit is concerned, I tend to limit myself to small portions of strawberries and that's about it. Fruit and fruit juice tend to make my sugars rocket. I don't know if thats the same for everyone. I try to make sure that I get at least 5/7 portions of veggies a day. I try to avoid the starchy ones, so mainly brocolli, peppers, onions, carrots etc. I do love corn on the cob though, and have that a few times a week.
I don't know if this is hepling you in anyway, as I am not really giving you any concrete advice. I think that you are so recently diagnosed, you will have to test your sugars regularly to get an idea of what affects tham and when. What has your doctor told you to do with regard to testing?
I currently test 4 times a day. I vary when I test. One day, I will test pre meal levels, and the following day, post meal levels.
If you are worried about the exercise, you could test before exercising and then after, to get a picture of what is happening. I walk for 4 miles each mornig and it takes me about an hour. Then in the evening, I try to get in another mile or so. I have been losing weight steadily since adopting this regime. My Bloods have lowered across the board. I say don't be afraid of exercise, it is one of the most significant factors in reducing your sugar levels.
I tend to eat 6 mini meals a day, roughly 3 hour apart. It works for me. I don't think its good to wait until you are too hungry before eating. I tend to overeat and make bad choice if I get into that state.
Anyway, hope some of this helps. I think that they key for you is to keep testing your blood and journaling what you are eating. You can't be expected to get it absolutely right first time. If you keep track of your bloods and carbs, your diabetic team can assist you witha ny changes you have to make.
That would be too many carbs for me, but everyone is different. Fruit is full of natural sugar so that is why fruit and juice raises your blood sugar so quickly. I only use juice for treating lows, and very rarely eat fruit.
I eat breakfast between 8 and 9, so I don't need a morning snack before lunch, but I always have one in the afternoon, about 3 hours after lunch. And if my dinner is going to be later that usual, I sometimes need another one. You really should eat about every 3 hours. You will feel better.
It sounds like you might have had a low blood sugar episode. It was wise to get someone to be with you until you felt better. Next time you should check your blood sugar to see at what reading you are feeling this way. I make it a habit to check my blood sugar often if I'm having a very active day. This way if it is starting to drop, a small snack will bring it back up before I let it get too low. I have learned over the years that it takes a lot less food or juice to bring your blood sugar back up than you think too. My reaction was always to start drinking lots of juice and stuffing food in, then I would always have a wicked high later on.
Try to exercise every day. It's good for you and will bring your blood sugar down too.
I know it's all confusing at first, but you will get more comfortable as time goes by and learn to listen to your body telling you what it needs. Don't be afraid to test often. It helps you learn how your system reacts to food, exercise, and stress.
Monica, Hi and welcome. Your advice is just fine. I need to hear things like that to know that other real people are dealing with this just like me. I've been reading books and tons of articles and that has really helped me alot, but it's just not the same as talking with someone who deals with this disease day in and day out.
The meal plan I'm trying to follow was given to me by the nurse practioner I saw last month. It's a basic meal plan from the Lilly company, a pharmaceutical company. However, I was wondering what everyone thought about the sugar busters program. I mean, that is what I'm trying to do, right? Get the sugar out of my diet. I've been able to eliminate candy and sweets, which is amazing in and of itself. I love to eat me some sweets, as Oprah would say. But, now I'm finding it hard knocking out the hidden sugars/carbos. I don't think I'm going to stick to eating every
4-6 hours, I just can't. I'm so starved when I eat that I overeat. I'm going to try the mini meal thing and see how that goes for me.
Thank you for the advice about walking also. Another question, may be exercise related that anyone can answer, how high is too high? I know what too low is and what to do for it, but how high is too high and what should be done if my sugar get's too high?
Janet, funny you should say not to be afraid to test often, because I am. I don't quite understand what those numbers mean and what I should do about them. I don't want to live my life so focused on a number that I miss out on life all together. My doctor wants me to focus on lowering my sugar, period! Test in the morning and again two hours after a meal, any meal.
Thank you both for your advice. I do feel a whole lot better when I'm with all of you. Knowing there is someone who can help me understand is a wonderful thing.
I don't know anything about the Sugar Buster's program, but maybe someone else can help you out. There may even be a group that does that program here on 3FC.
I think you will feel better with the mini meals.
As for too high blood sugar readings, I'm honestly not sure what is too high if you are testing 2 hours after a meal. My guidelines from my endocrinologist are for pre-meal readings. Maybe your doctor can tell you what range he/she considers too high after a meal.
I'm not much help!!
I agree though, don't miss out on the fun things in life by being afraid of your diabetes. I have found by changing my eating habits and making lifestyle changes with the WW program, such as exercising regularly, that it all works together to help my diabetes control and maintaining my weight loss. Testing and injections are just something I have to do every day, like bathing and brushing my teeth, and I don't dwell on it, just do it and go on with my life. I don't let it keep me from doing things. I do have a healthy respect for diabetes though, and what it has done to me after all these years by not taking care of myself, and I'm doing all I can to take care of myself now.
I guess what I'm saying is, don't let it rule your life, but take care of yourself before you have a chance to develop complications.
My doctor said that 2 hours post meal my reading should be about 140ish and fasting should be about 115. Right now my fasting (morning) reading is averaging 145, sometimes higher, like last night I had popcorn before I went to bed. One of my all time favorites, but this morning my bs was 179.
Would any of you here have a problem if I listed my eating plan with my blood sugars for a while and get some feedback from everyone? I'll start keeping a food journal and posting it, if that's ok with everyone. I don't want to tie up the thread with my food journals. I think that's another thread!
Those readings are about the same as my pre-meal ranges. My fasting is supposed to be 80-120, and all the others 80-140.
I have never had really low fasting BS readings, even with my very vest control. I've had periods of time where it would be in the 90's and 100's, but most of the time would be in the 120's or 130's. My doctor said she could live with that.
Popcorn will run my blood sugar up really high too! And it can be such a low point snack when you air pop it or use the low fat microwave kinds. Not fair, is it!!
Hi. I'm new to this and hope I can be of some assistance. I also am diabetic. I started taking insulin about 2 months ago. Prior to that I was taking oral medication and supposed to be following the American Diabetic Diet.
As far as carbs go, it's my understanding that it depends on the amount of calories you are allowed in a day. Fruit is a carb and should be counted as such. I'm currently on a 1500 calorie diet (as I have allot of weight to lose). This is my meal plan for a day:
8:00 am 40-45 carbs (this includes 2 starches and 1 milk)
ex. 1 cup 1/2% milk and 1 1/4 cup cheerios
12:30 pm 45 carbs (this includes 2 starches, 1 fruit and veg.)
ex. sadwich with wheat bread, 1 oz meat and 1 small apple--most veggies are free)
3:00 pm 15 to 20 carbs.
ex. 8 regular size pretzels (get carb count from package)
6:30 pm 45 carbs (this includes 2 starches, 1 fruit and veggies)
ex. 1 cup rice, 1 cup melon, 6 oz meat
10:00 pm 15 carbs
ex. 3 cups popcorn
I hope this helps you. If the time is too long between meals, you can always hold back some carbs and then use them between breakfast and lunch. I know the dietician suggested that I could for breakfast have 1 cup milk and 3/4 cup cheerios and then later have a small fruit between breakfast and lunch. As I'm not much of a breakfast eater, this didn't matter to me.
Best of luck.
I was told by my doctor that fasting sugars should be between 80 and 120. Then after eating, acceptable range would be anything from 100 to 140. Ideally it should be 100 to 120.
Was it hard to learn to count carbs? And do you adjust your insulin to the amount of carbs per meal? I've been wondering if I would have better control if I did this. I read an article about it once and I've been interested in it ever since.
Hi there Luzcious and everyone else. I have slightly different numbers that you guys have given. I think I should also explain that I am new to testing in mg. I am from the UK and recently moved here to sunny CA. You guys use different measurements than in the UK.
Anyway, here's what I have got.
For "Good Control" you should be aimimg for numbers in these regions.
Pre meal glucose 80-120
Post meal glucose 11/2-2 hrs after eating <180
Bedtime Glucose 100-140
HbA1c 7% or less
You may not have had an HbA1c done yet as you are newly diagnosed. Anyway, according to the American Diabetic Association, and my Doc, reading within these scales are perfectly acceptable as a general rule.
Your morning blood sugar can be elevated slightly. I used to have problems with this before I kicked in with my exercise regime. It has settled now. I cant remember what the explanation was for its elevation. It had something to do with your body being at rest.
Just for your info, I took all my readings today pre meal.
Waking was 111, pre lunch 89, pre dinner 89, pre bedtime 116.
It has taken me quite a while to get my bloods this low. I still occasionally eat chocolate and sweeties. If I do, I have them as part of a meal. That way they are not quite the same shock to my system as if I had eaten them as a snack. Not a good idea.
I don't really stress about my carbs either. What was important for me was learning portion control.
I think you need to relax a little about this at the moment. Its important to take your blood readings in some form of routine. As I said, today I tested pre meal, tomorrow, I may test post meal. I don't know how often you are in contact with your Doc, but if you are anxious about this, why dont you test both pre and post meal for a couple of days.
You are so much further ahead of the game than I was at your stage. It took me 2 years to face up to this and start dealing with it. Take your time, use this as a learning experience about your body. Remember, it is yours and your experience of this disease will not be exactly the same as others.
Thanks Janet for the welcome. I take insulin twice a day. I'm on humulin 70/30. I take 35 units before breakfast and then 5 to 15 units prior to dinner. I'm not too thrilled with giving myself the shots but it sure has helped in bringing my sugar into control. I also take oral medication, Glucophage 1000 mg twice a day.
I have found that the carbs make a world of difference. It is very easy to count the carbs once you get used to it. I'm still learning. I'm allowed things I would never have thought I could have without counting them. The back of packages always breaks down the carbs. As long as you know what to count as a carb, it's pretty easy.
Are you insulin dependant?
Again, thanks for the welcome. I'm just hoping to learn and help out too. Also looking for support. It's been a long hard battle.
Janney, where in Michigan are you? I'm in southwest lower Michigan.
Well, today was a really bad day for me, I'm premenstrual, sorry Jim, and was craving sugar all day. I ate very poorly but am no longer hungry for sweets. I've just got to eat my sweets to get it out of my system or it's all I can think about during the day.
I will not be posting my journal today, since there isn't one to post but will try again tomorrow.
Can't stay long, gotta get some housework done. Have a great night everyone!
Hope you don't mind me throwing in a quick 2 cents.
If anyone is interested in SUGAR BUSTERS we have our own boards here on the 3FC'S site. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
I've been following SB since 3/22/00 and made goal on 6/10/01, to date, I've lost 65.5lbs. I can tell you from experience and many pass attempts on other "diets" that SB DOES WORK, and I thank my lucky stars to have decided to follow this WOE (way of eating). It's easy, makes a load of sense and I can live like this the rest of my life.
Anyhow, please, feel free to visit our boards at the link below. Our most active board is our SB WEEKLY SUPPORT BOARD (we start a new board each week on Monday). We have a wonderful group of women on our board, all ready to answer questions and help out in any way. Here's our link:
I figured there was probably a group here that did SB, but hadn't looked.
Janney, I take up to 4 shots a day, depending on my BS readings. I don't have to take anywhere near the dosages I took before losing weight though!
Before WW I took 50 units lente/20 units lispro in the AM, 10 units lispro at lunch, 20 units lispro at supper, and 50 units lente at bedtime, with up to 20 units of lispro, depending on my BS reading. I know, I was a mess!!
Now I take 3 units of lente/3 units Humalog (lispro) in the AM, and 2 units of Humalog with supper. And I don't always take it with supper, since my BS is always down and I exercise after supper every day. If my blood sugar is over 180 at lunch or bedtime, I'm supposed to take 1-2 units of Humalog, but I rarely have to take those. Now that's quite a change, isn't it! It proves what weight loss and regular exercise can do for you.
Thanks Debelli for the invite. I was checking out the thread the other day. I'll be posting soon. I just bought the book and will be ready to start SB next week. I know it's not good to say I'm going to start something XX day, but my life is really a mess right now and I know I won't be able to dedicate 100% of my time to learning to eat properly and to understand why I'm eating a new way. I want to make sure I read the book thoroughly rather than just jump right in.
One of the many things that I have learned is that my menstrual cycle does affect my BS. I'm about 20 pts higher this week than the past couple of weeks. I had read in a book that will happen. I go for blood tests on Tuesday, not quite sure why, it's only been a month since I've been diagnosed and I'm sure my levels haven't changed much in a month. But, it won't hurt anything to have blood drawn again. I'll fill you all in on what they find.
Well, it's absolutely a beautiful day today and I'm on my way to be in it. Have a great day everyone!
Diabetes #10
I had been checking my sugar every morning as instructed by my nurse practioner but had something weird happen to me so I started testing all through out the day. Testing during the day only mad me more confused. I went on vacation two weeks ago and had a blast. Sweat my butt off checking out some beautiful waterfalls in nothern Georgia, then came back home only to move all my furniture by myself into the bedroom the first day and then into the living room the next day. I was whooped. Well, I'm not a very active person and I think a combination of all that heavy lifting plus flying for the first time might have goofed up my ears. Could all that strenous activity caused my sugar to be all out of whack? I'm not quite sure it was sugar related or not but whatever it was scared me. I was sitting at my desk the day after all this lifting doing my job and I got this weird, cold feeling in my head, like I was gonna faint. All I knew was that I felt that I had to be around someone. So, I went and got a co-worker of mine and we went downstairs and I got some juice and a bagel. Drank the juice, hardly touched the bagel and felt better after about 45 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't test my sugar that morning but whatever happened scared me. Long story short, I had an appt with my doc today and although I've lost 5 lbs since my last visit, my sugar levels are still high. My fasting morning test is averaging 145. My doctor wants me to focus more on diet and exercise. 
I don't want to live my life so focused on a number that I miss out on life all together. My doctor wants me to focus on lowering my sugar, period! Test in the morning and again two hours after a meal, any meal. 
And it can be such a low point snack when you air pop it or use the low fat microwave kinds. Not fair, is it!!
Thanks Janet
