Good Morning Chickies,

Still feeling tired even after a fairly good nights sleep, but I remember in the new book Atkins Made Easy that is really normal. I just think that the one day eating off Monday and having the stomach virus or whatever didn't help.

I ended up only eating 2 meals (breakfast and late lunch) and a snack. My snack was about 2 oz of the free range chicken and a handful of mixed nuts. I only ate that to take my pills. Interesting thing I learned when researching the potassium yesterday was that the pill I take at night that I thought was just a mild diuretic is actually a bp med and it has to be taken with food in the morning. :?: I had been taking it without food and at night. I will start taking it with my breakfast tomorrow morning or even later in the day. I don't want to take it at the same time I take my regular bp med. I don't even know if I should. So for precaution, I will not. I stay up late so I could even take it at suppertime. Does my doctor even know what I've learned. I know he knows some things because he is good about warning me about things. However, it makes me wonder, do these pharmaceutical companies tell these doctors anything about these meds they dish out to us? We really have to read and stay on top of this ourselves. Thank God for the websites where we can learn these things.

I remember, when Tony was going to the urologist who did his surgery, how he set in front of us with his laptop and pulled up WebMD and read info that I had read at home. Is this the way they keep up? The same way we do? That has always been one of the reasons that I trust WebMD. Bless their hearts, they know about as much sometimes about the meds they give as they do about nutrition. They just blindly follow what they are told by the AMA. I say that because I'm still shocked to know the doctor at our church who has experienced so many surgeries and complications as a diabetic. I am shocked to have learned that he was the diabetic expert for this area and he obviously still believes the crap the ADA spouts about diets and eating all those carbs. I seem him on Sunday morning eating donuts for breakfast at the church cafe before breakfast and I want to scream at him... THOSE CARBS ARE YOUR PROBLEM!!! Sad so sad. Sorry that is my rant for today.

I am thankful that my doctor does let me find my own way with diet etc. I know my A1c won't be good this time because of the 2 1/2 months of higher readings. Might be in the high 7's, I hope not in the 8's even lower. I had told him how it would be if I had to eat the carbs during trip. And he knows I know my body so he will accept it whether he understands or not.
My FBS was 112 this morning and my weight remained 221.6 so I'm thankful for that. Hopefully I can keep the fbs below 120's everyday between now and bloodwork. Might even have a weight loss. If I can keep that going down, I might at least get back down to the 219 I saw when I got home from the trip. Would be nice to have the loss when I see the doctor.

So I guess all in all this has been another learning experience. I'm not exercising right now. The new Atkins book says not to exercise during the 1st 2 weeks while your body is adjusting to switching to burning fat for energy. I'm just waiting for the energy surge your supposed to get from lowcarbing to hit and then I'll go ahead and start adding it back into my plan.

I posted earlier, but it wouldn't post. :( I probably said too much anyway. LOL

Trish, I don't know what could be causing your fatigue. There are so many things. The only time I felt real fatigue was when I had blocked arteries and needed a stent procedure.

If you don't mind my asking, what BP meds are you taking that don't interact with potassium. Maybe that's why the DR did not prescribe Potassium with your diuretic, but you did say he knows your taking it over the counter. Doctors have Reference Books and bulletins that are updated regularly and have seminars available to update their knowledge. It's up to each of them to make use of these. I don't know if there are any requirements that they have to do. I know Shannon is busy with her moving, but she would probably know more about their requirements. It pays to research each med that is prescribed to you. I feel badly for elderly patients who blindly do what the doctor says. I have heard of many people who are found to be taking meds they don't need, meds for duplicate therapy, and meds that interact. The pharmacies are supposed to be set up to catch things like that. The best person to talk to about your meds are your pharmacist. They specialize in that and the doctors are not as well informed since their education covers a much broader spectrum.

I agree with your feelings about the diabetic from church who eats donuts. Even the ADA and diabetes educators do not recommend eating donuts or other baked goods. The carbs they recommend at least contain nutrients. There are so many diabetics who continue to eat their old diet and expect their meds to fix it. They are the ones who end up with complications. Complications do not get better if you improve your diet. Once the damage is done, it's done. All you can do is stop it from progressing. Look at the ADA website. You will not see donuts on their list of acceptable foods. It makes me angry, too, Trish.

I think at the worst your A1c might be in the 7s. When I was getting readings in the 200s, 300s and at least 1 in the 400s my A1c was 9.7. I know mine will be higher next time because I am not being as diligent as I was before, but I have only had 1 or 2 readings over 200. My FBG is never under 100, but my readings throughout the day are good as long as I stick to low carb. There are so many factors that can cause FBG to rise. My doctor never asks about FBG, as long as my A1c is below 7.

I have to make an eye exam soon as I have not had one since 2011. I am afraid they will take away my drivers license. I have the hole in my macula of the left eye. It doesn't effect my vision over all...only if I cover the right eye. I guess the right eye take up the slack. Recently when I was driving I noticed that all of a sudden I was right on the bumper of the car in front of me. It was as if my depth perception was off. It was scary. If he had stopped suddenly I would have rammed right into him. DH drives most of the time, but I don't want to lose my privilege to drive if necessary.

Carol Sue I guess I didn't make it clear, but I am not supposed to take potassium with my Lisinipril and I couldn't find anything for sure on the other pill. I did find that DH is not supposed to take potassium with his bp medicine either. I stopped taking it.

I just read the symptoms of reactions to the lowcarb diet in the book The New Atkins Made Easy. Fatigue is one of the symptoms on Induction and it means not enough salt. I had forgotten that you are not supposed to take diuretics on Atkins. Probably because I had not thought of myself as doing AI, but I seem to be doing it automatically. Since the doctor didn't volunteer to give me the diuretic, but I asked for the mild diuretic I take, I probably should stop taking it while on Atkins since lowcarb is a natural diuretic on its own. I was originally supposed to only take it as needed. On Atkins, I obviously do not need it. According to the book if I eat enough of the recommended veggies they have plenty of water, fiber and some natural sodium, and then drink enough water, the symptoms of fatigue should go away. I'm just not good at using my salt shaker. I only use it when cooking for DH.

I know I don't have any heart problems as he always checks my heart and talks about how strong it is. So I'm good there. So glad to know what is going on. That means in a few days of being sure to eat right on this and I should have energy even better than before.

I haven't had any 200 FBS reading in a long time and I still have not had readings that high even after meals. So that is good. I think my highest reading in the past 3 months even after meals was maybe one around 170's or 180's. But I did have several in the 140's and 150's there for a while. I am so glad that I seem to have it going down since I'm seeing some readings under 120 now.

I am so relieved to learn that the fatigue isn't unusual and how it can be corrected. Thanks Carol Sue for thinking this through with me. Hope all goes well with your eye test.

Trish, I thought you were on a diuretic such as Lasix. I think that's what I misunderstood. Either way, it's good that you know to stop the potassium. I cannot take Lisinopril because it is an Ace Inhibitor. Well, my doctor took me off it because I had a cough and he thought it was from the Lisinopril, but the cough continued and I don't think it's from the BP med. I think it's because of my hiatal hernia.

I received this info in Email. You might want to read it.

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/featur...0yNm4PCC9sE%3d

Dgramie, this might show you the difference between the growing season in KY compared to ours here in PA. We picked our first red tomato today! There are a few more almost ready to be picked. We planted 8 plants and one died. We have a lot of tomatoes on them, and if the hot humid weather continues, they will start coming faster than we can eat them in the next few weeks. Sometimes I can them if I have enough and sometimes I just give them away. My son plants a big garden. He cans tomatoes and also makes home made salsa, all from tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos and herbs he grows himself. He learned this from his friends, not from me. I didn't start canning tomatoes until he taught me how. Our zucchini plants did not get 1 zucchini. I think we had too much very very hot weather earlier in the summer. The flowers came, but they dropped off without producing zucchinis. I used to get a lot of zucchinis from the neighbors but now no one plants them anymore.

Carol Sue Thanks for the link. I think the potassium and the diuretic is the problem. I think I'm going to add some fruit to my diet too. I have to go to the store to get milk tomorrow so I think I will pick up some yogurt to eat with my frozen blueberries.

#1 I haven't been eating quite as healthy as I should and #2 I'm not exercising. The link says diabetics need to exercise to have energy and I haven't been doing that.

I will keep an eye on how I'm feeling and if I'm not better by the time I go to see my doctor, I'll discuss it with him then.

I hope you're feeling better, Trish.

I had a very good food day yesterday. I would say perfect for me. To start with, I got up late. DH made scrambled eggs and he doesn't put veggies in them like I do, so that was different. Since I had a late breakfast I didn't eat any lunch. For dinner I cooked chicken on the grill with baked potatoes, and DH grilled some corn on the cob. I ate the chicken without the skin, a small baked potato topped with Greek Yogurt and 1 ear of corn. Normally the potato and corn would not be a good idea, but somehow my blood sugar only went up to 135 at 2 hours...below 140 as recommended, and this was with only Metformin, no Glimiperide. I made sure I ate my chicken first. That really seems to help me with blood sugar spikes. My meal was so satisfying that I had no thoughts of eating again the rest of the evening! At bedtime my BS was at 87. Very rare for me to be under 100. You know how I am...I get scared if my bedtime bs is that low, so I ate a piece of cheese. I don't know why I can't break myself of that. BS this morning was at 147. I know I can't eat at bedtime. But I consider yesterday to be a success and will try to do the same today. One thing I like about making baked potatoes at home is I can use a very small potato. In a restaurant, I have to cut off a small piece, and I hate to waste food, so I end up eating more. I think I am learning how to fit small portions of starchy foods into my diet. It's about time! LOL I think I will enter my food in Fitday and see how many calories I actually reached yesterday.

EDIT: 1242 calories. Right where I want it! Most important, I felt satisfied, not deprived at all!!

I am feeling much better today. Did not take the diuretic last night and no potassium yesterday. I don't remember if I explained or not but the Lisinopril is supposed to keep the potassium levels balanced so I probably was overdoing it. Was nice to get up and not feel like I had to push myself.

I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store. I did notice that when I the heavy bottle items from the checkout counter to put in my basket that it was very tough on my muscles. I couldn't tell if it was because the angle I was in to pick them up or what. But after reading the link you shared Carol Sue and other things I've read about diabetic's muscles, I think I better start my exercises again today. I have some regular weights that I use when riding my recumbent bike so I think even 15 minutes would be better than no exercise at all. I just don't think that I can wait until 2 weeks into this way of eating. I sure don't want my muscles to atrophy.

I haven't been eating enough meals especially veggies. I also saw from the Atkins book that I need to be eating more veggies. I've been bored with cooking and with salads. Although Atkins book says no diuretics, it also stresses the importance of having carbs from veggies which have water and fiber in them. So I'm getting my act together today and eating more healthy, balanced meals.

I did decide to eat more lowfat (2%) since I don't think my body likes a lot of fat. Like you said one day Carol Sue we do get enough fat in hamburger meat etc so as not to have to add any. At my age I think it is important for me to get my calcium from dairy products. I usually drink 1 glass of milk each day and I bought yogurt to have kind of a yogurt/blueberry shake for a snack.

I am contemplating having a homemade hamburger today and put 1/4 - 1/2 avocado on it. I read somewhere that makes it a really healthy burger. I think I will start eating a salad each evening with EVOO and ACV for my dressing instead of regular dressing. I just can't drink ACV water either but I can use it as a dressing and it does lower my FBS. Richard Simmons and other low calories diets like his allows 4 bread exchanges for 1400 calories, so I think eating only 2 just might work.

Hopefully this will keep my calories and carbs in check and give me some more energy.

Carol Sue Great on the calories yesterday and good food plan.

My FBS was 115 this morning. I know less than 100 is best, but if I could just keep it under 120, I'll be happy. My bp was 128/73 which I consider to be good to and weight was down to 221.2 down another .2 lbs. Hopefully by adding my exercise back into my plan and keeping my calories between 1200 and 1400 (MFP allows over 1500 I prefer less) maybe I can keep the fbs under 120.

Have a great day.

Trish, it sounds like you are getting things worked out. That's good. You know you have to do what is best for you in the long run.

I finally got on the scale today and I had a 3 lb whoosh! I was so shocked! I am still above my previous low of 193, but it's going in the right direction. I forgot to mention that I also increased my water yesterday, so I'm sure that helped. I am just taking this one day at a time. I will try to stay OP today, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. I was reading a lot about Dukan recently. I think the plan I am on now is a good one for me, but I did pick up some tips from reading about Dukan. My plan has always been my own, reinforced with things I have picked up here and there from many different eating plans.

Carol Sue YEY!!!:carrot: for the 3 lb whoosh. I too increased my water and I also switched to the decaf tea. I will also be weening myself off of regular coffee and switch to 1/2 and 1/2 coffee.

I ended up doing 30 minutes on the recumbent bike instead of 20. So I ended up with 40 minutes of exercises for the day. I will end with 1360 Calories, 90g Net Carbs, 74g Fat and 64g Protein. I am happy with the way this is going today. I too am going to take this one day at a time.

Hi strangers. I just got back today from spending the last week with my parents. We had a potluck family reunion and a few to many meals eaten out of the house. I'm more than a little afraid to get on the scale in the morning. I did have some good exercise days though while gone. But not being home for a week did a number on my tummy. I'm bloated and 'full' from not being able to 'go' properly while I was gone. Hopefully that straightens itself out now that I am home again.

I'm all caught up on the reading but I doubt I will do any personals tonight. I am glad to see everyone talking about potassium levels. I just grabbed my test results and I see that mine was good. I've also learned to ask for hard copies of any blood work done. I don't like hearing that things are normal. Normal for me may not be normal for you or some random lab. Like my thyroid. I feel much better if I run on the low side of normal and not the high. Took my doctor a long time to get that through her head.

So tomorrow I'm back on the scale. Then I have a little housework to get done. The husband doesn't make much of a mess really but he also doesn't clean anything while I'm gone. Then I'm off to the grocery store to stock back up on fruits and veggies for the weekend.

The kids don't start back to school until September 2nd here in Michigan. I cannot wait to get back to a good routine instead of the free for all we've been having this summer.

Still alive....friday is last day before movers come....still packing old house and prepping in new house

Yesterday I made tacos and we had our first tomato from the garden. Very juicy and good after all the store bought tomatoes I've been buying. Now there are 2 more on the window sill and a couple more turning red on the vine. Have to start eating them!

Hi Zinke! I'm glad to hear you had a good time. It's always nice to get away and also nice to get back home. I wouldn't worry about any gain, it was a vacation..not a time to be watching every morsel you ate. If you get right back on plan it will come back off.

My thyroid is weird. It was always in the 2.4 range. One day last year I felt so terrible with an irregular heart beat and spiking blood pressure. They did tests and said everything looked good except my TSH was 7.9 and advised me to go to my PCP. I called him, and instead of seeing me or doing more tests he just put me on synthroid. I was good for about a week then I felt terrible again. I quit taking the synthroid, the DR tested in a month, and my thyroid was back to "normal." Lately it has been creeping up again, like to 3.7 but doc says it's still normal. I have heard that it's a sign that the thyroid will eventually go hypo. Guess I'll just wait and see.

I will have to start asking for hard copies.

Thinking about you Shannon! Hope you have good weather for the move and all goes smoothly!

Trish, hope the changes you're making work well for you. We will find our nitch!

Hi Dgramie, Ruthie, Donna!

Where are you Bonnie, Mad, And all the others MIA?

FBS was 116 and weight has been 221 area for 4 or 5 days. So changed my ticker. FBS has been under 120 for about 4 days. So I'm happy with the way that is going. Woke up and ready to get up this morning so I am feeling better.

Had a banana/blueberry yogurt smoothie for breakfast. Planning wings for lunch and have my eggs for dinner tonight. So will have around 1000 to 1200 calories today. I've switched to 1/2 and 1/2 coffee. Making my own right now with regular and decaf. Maybe I will finally just go to decaf. Not sure. Will see how this goes for now.

Zinkie Glad you are home and had a good time. I had my doc check my thyroid because my dad and mama had to take thyroid meds. I guess am always at the low end of normal because they say I'm borderline. I don't think they even check it unless I ask plus I've heard that there are to things to check for and at this time can't remember the 2, but I read they don't really check the one that should be checked. AMA doesn't think it is necessary to check the other.

I have noticed the past few mornings that I have had dry mouth really, really bad which I makes me think that I almost dehydrated myself terribly. No wonder I was so fatigued. It was better this morning, but still dry mouth. I think I caused that because I was drinking caffeinated coffee and tea, taking the mild diuretic and eating lowcarb. I didn't think about stopping the diuretic and never really worried about drinking caffeine even though every lowcarb diet I've seen says "Do not take diuretics and drink decaf coffee/tea". Atkins goes so far in the newer books to say "Do not take any diuretics a week before starting the diet". So I think it was crazy for me to not heed the advise of the lowcarb diets. It was my fault. Thus I will switch to all decaf drinks if I have to. Fatigue is part of the symptoms of switching to fat burning lowcarb diets, but the diuretics/caffeine combination made mine extreme.

Carol Sue Thanks. I already feeling better and really believe that I will continue to feel better each day as lowcarb becomes my normal way of eating. I've been reading more on the Dietdoctor.com and he has helped me to see that the modifications I'm making to my way of eating are good healthy changes. The carbs that I'm keeping such as a small amount of fruit, the dairy in my diet and occasional grains will not hurt me. It might slow down my weight loss a little, but I really believe that at my age the benefits out way the speed of weight loss.

Shannon Glad you checked in. Hope the move goes smoothly. Soon you'll be in your new home and this will be behind you. Look forward to when you can post regularly again.

Bonnie, Rennie, Ruthie, Mad We miss you and would love to hear from you.

dgramie, Donna and anyone else I missed :wave:

Have a good day/weekend.

Edit: Did the 20 minutes using the Kettlebell. Boy that makes me sweat. LOL Also have the energy today to get some much needed housework done that I haven't felt like doing this week. YAY!!!

Trish, I bookmarked Dietdoctor.com. I did breeze through it a little bit and I have read some things on some of those stories. The one about the woman who stopped craving sweets and carbs by eating LCHF hit home. I do not eat HF, but after I started eating all the vegetables I no longer was interested in sweets so I can relate to that.

I had heard about Statins causing high blood sugar, but I googled mine and it is not one of the ones that causes high blood sugar. I have been on it for a long time. It's one of the older ones. A couple times my PCP wanted to switch me to a newer one but my cardiologist is satisfied with the results with the one I am on and realizes that I need generics because I cannot afford the copay on brand.

Well, I know what caused the diarrhea. It is curcumin/turmeric that I've been taking. I didn't take it for a while and started it back up last week. Took it out a few days and got better. Took one today with lunch and it hit me again. I read up on 2 things today. Lactose intolerance and curcumin. Some of the symptoms of lactose intolerance were what I was experiencing, but I'm sure it was the curcumin. It says while there are usually no problems when cooking with turmeric, that some people can not take it in pill form. So at least I know where all this is coming from. While I'm sure it is the curcumin and won't be taking it, I am going to lay off of the dairy for a few days as well just to give my digestive track time to really heal.

Y'all have a great weekend.

Trish, I'm not surprised that it's the tumeric. You really have to watch with those supplements. I'm glad it wasn't something worse.

I slept straight thru for 5 hours last night. I'm surprised because I usually wake up every couple hours. It must have been deep sleep too because I feel rested this morning. I know I should get more than 5 hours, but for me, that's good. Sometimes I can fall back to sleep but today wasn't one of those days. I have gotten into the habit of taking a Benadryl tablet at bedtime for sleep. Sometimes I don't take it, but I put it on my night stand and if I wake up during the night and can't fall back to sleep then I take it. Many nights I don't need it. I don't want to become dependent on a sleep aid but I know I need my sleep. When I was in the hospital and I asked the doctor for something to help me sleep he said No, but he said he would give me Benadryl, so I figured that must be safe. I do have allergies, so I have 2 reasons to take it. Next time I am at the pharmacy I will ask the pharmacist if it's safe to take it long term. It's one of the ingredients in Tylenol PM. I don't want to get into the habit of taking Tylenol on a regular basis.

My step-daughter ate milk on cereal all her life growing up, but now she says she gets a belly ache. I don't know if that's really true, because from when they first got married she told me her husband eats cereal without milk and she might not have wanted to buy milk just for herself. She does eat yogurt and ice cream though. I don't have any food intolerances, unfortunately. LOL I have to watch fatty fried foods because of my hiatal hernia, but I don't like greasy foods anyway. My mother fried everything when I was growing up and DH loves fried foods, but I got away from it once I moved out of my mother's house.

I guess today is a busy busy day for Shannon! We miss you girl! Hope everything is going well!

This move has started off badly but I am not the least bit surprised. I warned my husband we shouldn't use this moving company because of bad reviews. The movers themselves are perfectly fine but the owner gave us alot of wrong info on the phone and supplied the wrong size truck (though we conformed the sise with her mutiple times). We are now looking at having to do two trips with this smaller truck. Of course the owner is conveniently not answering her phone. I'm really excited to get everything in the new house (though I've now decided all our furniture is old and ugly against the backdrop of the new pretty house, lol!) but I am just sick over how much stuff I will have to come back to continue packing nd moving. I did as much as I could but hubby hurt his kneee three weeks ago moving that washing machine and has not been able to do much plus with working all day there hasn't been much time for him to help anyway. I estimate I will spend the next week coming back everyday to move stuff out....by myself with a 4 yr old who will have absolutely nothing to do in an empty house. I was doing that in the new house all of this past week but .i had TV hooked up and toys there that I had moved in already. So, I am just dreading it. I am in love with my new house though. Having spent this week moving boxes into it and cleaning it, I love it even more than when we put the offer in. We had a painter come and turn Olivia's room pink....it looks like bubble gum now, lol! Anyway, just thought I'd drop a line while waiting on the movers....can't really do anything til they get the truck loaded. Hope to be back soon. Have been eating out 3 meals a day for a week....turning into a quarter pounder....

Good to hear from you Shannon! You know things NEVER go as planned. It will be over soon. We moved ourselves and the truck we got was too small. Had to make 2 trips, but we were only 10 miles away. I wanted all new furniture too, but it took a while before I could do that. I'm excited for you and would love to see pictures if you want to share. Is it on Zillow?

Shannon So sorry about the movers screw up. This move has been a trying of your patience dear girl. So glad you have fallen in love with your new house. One thing for sure, there will be a day this will be behind you and lessons learned if you ever have to move again. I know I learned a lot when we had this built and moved. The contractor was a relative of DH 1st wife's brother's wife. I learned that my Mama knew what she was talking about when she said "Don't do business with family". So many things were not up to what we asked for. #2 If I ever am blessed to have another house built, I will have an architect and legal papers drawn up to hold the contractor to my specifications. One of the movers stole what I'm sure he thought was a real pistol. It shot bbs. Hope the old saying "Bad start good ending" works for your.

Carol Sue I am learning about supplements. I looked up some of the other new ones I'm taking too. I'm slowly doing away with most of them except what the doc said for us to take.

I've been sleeping pretty good. Still wake up to go potty but not as often as I used to. I'm glad you are going to check about the Benadryl. I had forgotten it would help me sleep until my friend took it last night and mentioned that she got a good night sleep. I had just told her this morning that when I didn't get a quick response from her this morning, I figured she was sleeping in because she took it last night. I don't like taking sleeping pills, but I realized that I could take a Benadryl when I need help to sleep. However, I've kind of learned that on days that I get enough exercise I sleep really good that night.

When I read about lactose intolerance, it said that some people can eat cheese and yogurt although they can't drink milk or eat ice cream. I do know that when I eat a whole lot of dairy... too much cheese, I do get stuffy. My Daddy has really, really bad allergies and he knows that he may have an allergy to dairy, but he says he doesn't want to give it up. :?:

I had my eggs this morning without the cheese and the avocado. Just kind of laying off of things that might be aiding in the diarrhea until I get it completely out of here. Then I will add the fat back in slowly even the cheese.

FBS was 123, but I know that is probably because I ate some crackers for dinner. I wasn't in the mood to eat anything and I decided if there was acid in my stomach that it would help. So I had slices of meat with crackers. I also had a little bit of peanut butter, but didn't eat much of it because it didn't taste good to me. :?: Strange I used to love PB. Weight was still 221 although up .2 not a bad fluctuation. BP was kind of low so I didn't take my bp pill yet. I will take that later today.

I got up thinking I would love to have some beans and cornbread, but I won't do that not right now. I really want to ride out this moderate lower carb although it was a little high yesterday because of the crackers. I'll do better today. At least, my fbs was only up a little bit over 120. I really want to learn to keep it under. I just may have to keep my carbs between 50 to 90ish at all times to do that. It was over 100 yesterday. Who knew cracker carb grams were so high. At least now I have a plan that works.

We are learning. :hug: :)

I need to get back to tracking so I know what my daily carbs are at least. I checked back to the day before I had that big weight drop and that was the day that I ate a good bit of chicken because I love it, but also had the small baked potato and corn on the cob. That day my total carbs were 83. The potato and corn came to 75, so I would have only been at 8 carbs without it, but I probably would have still eaten some type of vegetable which would have upped it a bit. Because I ate the protein first, my BS was great that day. The 3 lb whoosh could have been cumulative from the previous days, plus I drown myself in water that day. LOL I need to track. On my list of things to do. On the days I eat beans my carbs are higher too.

Got up this morning and went to the beauty shop at noon. Didn't take any chances by going to women's meeting at the church. Came home and at a couple of franks and put cheddar cheese on it. No more dairy for me. Within one hour I was racing for the toilet. I read that if 30 minutes to 2 hrs after eating dairy, you are most likely lactose intolerant.

At first I was upset, but then I think of all the things that I have friends dealing with such as cancer, cysts etc and decided that this isn't all that bad. It could be worse, so I will gracefully learn to live with it and thank God that it isn't any worse. This will sure make lowcarbing easier.

RE: Gluten - I went without wheat/bread for about 4 months. I had some good french bread recently and my stomach was not happy a few hours later. Extremely distended and achy. I don't think I have celiac but definitely have a reaction to wheat/gluten.

New topic - Relion meter and strips from Walmart. When I was diagnosed, my PCP gave me a Freestyle. Loved the ease of use, so little blood needed, seemed consistent readings. Strips are astronomically high priced though!

Bought a Relion from Walmart. Have brand new strips that do not expire until 2016. The readings are anywhere from 6 to 43 points higher than my Freestyle. 6 points higher was when I had lower readings. Readings are all over the place, but always higher with the Relion. Using the control solution, my Freestyle was almost exactly in the middle of normal at 94. With the Relion it was 137. Have you guys checked your Relions against other meters? I'm not sure I can stick with this cheaper meter. Think the meter is faulty?

Glad to see everyone is doing well.

Hi Kris! Good to see you here. I haven't used a brand name meter for a long time, several years. Before I bought the Relion I had a Target brand meter and switched to Relion when Target raised the price on their strips. After I retired and went on Medicare it was hard to buy strips. First of all, insurance limits the number of strips you are allowed. In order to test as often as I want to I had to switch to the Relion meter until I was allowed to get more strips. Plus, the brand strips could not be bought at a pharmacy. They had to be bought from certain Medical Supply companies, such as Liberty. Liberty was hard to work with. Some orders were cancelled without them notifying me, and other times they would send lancets when I only ordered strips. Now I heard that we can once again buy them at certain pharmacies but I would have to get an RX for them and still would only get enough strips to test once a day. I think when I first got my Relion I was still using the One Touch strips I have left and although the readings were different, they weren't drastically different. Because I am now getting readings in the 100s instead of 200s and 300s I know my blood sugar is under better control. When you are full blown diabetic is is harder to have your reading in the "normal" range and you learn that getting to a "better" range is satisfactory. I can understand wanting more exact readings when you're dealing with Pre-diabetes. You want to keep from becoming diabetic. Also, when you are Type 2 and you get a high reading, there's not much you can do about it except exercise. It is much more important for a Type 1 to get a more accurate reading because they need to know how much insulin to inject and to avoid a dangerous low caused by insulin.

Also, are you using control solution on your Relion meter? I saw a big change after I finally got control solution. And, I guess any meter could be faulty. No meter is exactly right on, and you can get a different reading even if you test with the same meter minutes apart, but if you are getting a difference over 10-20 points then one of the meters is wrong.

Don't be a stranger! We appreciate your input.

Trish, I have heard that you can develop dairy sensitivity at any time, so it sure sounds like that is the case with you. That's a shame since you enjoy it, but like you said, there are worse things. A co-worker had an allergy to eggs. I would DIE without my eggs, LOL, but she would die with them.

The moving disaster turned into blessing....God is faithful even when I do not see it. Will post more later.

On reading your post again, I have a question. Are you saying that you did a control test on the Relion meter and the result was 137? If so, I think something is wrong. My Relion strips say a control test should be between 97 and 121. Sorry if I misunderstood something.

Shannon So thrilled and looking so forward to hear how your move turned into a blessing.

Kris I compared the Relion reading with my Touchtone when I first got the Relion meter. I don't remember it being that much different. I've already eaten breakfast this morning, but I will compare them tomorrow and see if there is a big difference and which way. I do remember Fatmad RN who used to post here said they were allowed to be off by a certain % but I can't remember what it was. I do know that when I've compared with my blood work it isn't that far off so I never worried about it. I didn't mind it because my A1c was almost always lower than my home fbs reading.

Carol Sue I would have cried if I had to give up my eggs too. Eggs are so full of good nutrition. I will never take turmeric in the form of a pill again because they have found some side effects that they didn't have out when I started taking it. It just isn't worth taking the chance. Info says you can get sufficient amount by eating mustard and some other foods with it or even cook with the spice, but not sure I'll even do that. Not for a long time any way. As for dairy, I am not willing to take the chance with it either. I am using Coffeemate French Vanilla in my coffee and read this morning on the box that it is Lactose Free, Gluten Free as well as free of some other things which I can't remember right now. I was surprised that it has coconut oil in it. Maybe that is why I had problems when I added the CO to my coffee when I used it. It was too much. So I thank God I don't have to give that up.

I did have another interesting experience last night. You know I cut the Metformin in half to take about 12 hrs apart. Well, the one I took yesterday morning caused me no problem. But about an hour or so after I took the night one, I had the potty issues again. I didn't have that problem when I took the whole one at night. However, according to Atkins and other lowcarb plans people are able to reduce amounts and even come off their bp and diabetic meds. My FBS was 111 this morning. Except for yesterday, I've had readings below 120 all week. And my bp this morning was 111/59. and I'm only taking the Lisinopril. Not ready to worry about the bp meds yet, but I will watch that because I am eating more salt as recommended when doing lowcarb. But I'm thinking I need watch my reactions to the Metformin and may have to cut back and take only 500mg. It was the second one that caused me the problem last night.

DH and I talked last night and I'm coming off of the Metformin and all my supplements for a couple of days to flush that stuff out of my system. Then I will add 1/2 the Metformin at night and see what happens. I may not have to take those supplements any more. I will get blood work the 1st week in September and I will be able to talk to my doctor about all this then.

I seem to be doing more of an Atkins Induction mainly because I can't eat grains or (dairy) cheese right now any way. If this is what is going on, the up side will be that my body is correcting itself and I am actually experiencing the benefits of Atkins/lowcarbing. If that is true, then this will turn out to be a good thing and not bad and I will be happy about that. And if what they say is true, I will have energy again and feel better than I have in years.

Had my eggs and bacon this morning without cheese. :( However, it wasn't really too bad. I plan to cook chicken wings for our main meal today. Not sure if I'll eat veggies, but since DGS is going to be home to eat, we'll probably have broccoli. I read that a large serving of broccoli will help replace the calcium I won't get from the dairy. May fix a chicken stir-fry for dinner with soy sauce for the sodium.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday.

Trish, this is really funny, but my FBS was 111 this morning, also! LOL I had a bad day yesterday and had to take my glimiperide so today, since I'm starting off with a low bs I will work to stay low carb and not need the meds.

Bedtime Metformin makes me throw up during the night.

I would worry if I had a blood pressure that low, but I used to get them that low when I was in the hospital and they never seemed alarmed to see it. Watch the sodium. My BIL gets his sodium too LOW and ends up with seizures. I think it's caused by a BP med his first doctor put him on, but his new dr just keeps telling him to up his sodium intake.

I like to snack on cheese, but I don't like it with something else. I don't like it with eggs or bacon. Don't like cheese on a sandwich or burger. I used to love these things, but my tastes have changed. I just buy blocks of cheese that I can cut off a portion. At a party, I am always working on the cheese plate.

I did some reading about Coconut Oil and have decided to give it another chance. Although it is a sat fat, it contains 50% lauric acid which is different than other fatty acids. That's what makes it healthy and gives it heart health benefits. I have used half of my jar, so I will go back to using it for sauteeing but just use a little less since it seems so greasy to me. I still like my current coffee creamer too much to try the CO in the coffee.

Yesterday I made some breaded fried zucchini. I haven't eaten any fried foods in so long that although it tasted really good when I ate it, I paid for it in tummy troubles the rest of the day and ended up taking antacids at bedtime. Greasy just doesn't agree with me.

Shannon, I too, am anxious to hear how moving problems turned out to be a blessing. i have had several bad luck incidents turn into blessings, too. Every cloud has a silver lining....well, most of them. LOL

I read some more on dietdoctor.com and most of my symptoms the past week was normal except I see nothing about diarrhea so I'm thinking maybe I'm not needing 1000 mg Metformin any more on the lowcarbing. It had a place to write the doctor and ask questions so I wrote and told him my experiences so will see what he says. I also thought about writing the girl on MFP who was able to come off her bp and diabetic meds and see what her experiences were when she knew she didn't have to take them any more.

I ate baked plain wings with seasonings on it and broccoli. I decided to eat the protein first and then eat the broccoli. I have not had any medicine or supplements and I actually feel better. Of course, it has been 24+ hrs since I ate dairy. I'm having another cup of coffee with the Coffeemate. Not recommended on the dietdoctor's LCHF diet, but it isn't causing me any trouble. After reading some of what I have on lowcarbing, I am going to start drinking decaf tomorrow. Something is still causing me to wake up in the mornings with dry mouth.

Carol Sue I like the benefits of CO and I think when I get myself straightened out that I will try it again in small amounts. I do like the idea that it is in the Coffeemate.

Edited: I wrote the woman who came off all her meds doing LCHF to see if she will share with me her experiences when she knew it was time to stop them or cut them in half. Of course, I will let you know what I learn.

Finally got my calorie count up to 1268, net carb 23, fat 86 and protein 88. If I can even eat it. I may not be able to ever eat the 168 calorie snack.

I assume that doesn't really matter because I read on dietdoctor.com that some people can only eat 2 meals a day, but to just shoot for 3 and that is basically what I'm doing.

Kris Just checked my blood sugar 1 hr after eating dinner. I used same blood stick of blood with the Relion and on my old Touchtone I got from the doctor. The Relion read 115 and the Touchtone read 116. So I think a 1 pt difference is pretty accurate. Maybe it isyour meter. Maybe Walmart would exchange it.

Thanks for feedback. I guess I just got a really bad meter. Glad to see you are all doing well.

Kris, I would do another control test on the meter and check again. Make sure you have the right control solution. The other option would be to take it back to WalMart and tell them you got a control test that was too high. The meter and the strips came from them, so either way, they should be responsible.

Trish, I would not assume that your potty issues are being caused by the Metformin based on a few days. Potty issues can be caused by a lot of things. I don't think it would hurt you to quit taking it for a while. It does not lower your blood sugar...it just keeps your body from releasing glucose and raising BS more. If you quit taking it and your BS stays low, go for it. It's not a life and death situation. I know you are not supposed to quit taking meds without your doctor's consent. I have done it myself on a med that is not a life and death matter, and I am just suggesting it as a possibility. I always add that disclaimer anytime I suggest that someone change their meds from what is prescribed because I don't want someone to scream at me. I always consider that I pay my doctor to assist me, but in the end, I'm in charge of my own health and the final decision should be mine. You are going to discuss this with your doctor in Sept anyway.

I think this new coffee creamer I'm using is raising my BS. I can start the day out with a decent BS but after a few cups of coffee it goes up. I just bought a new 32 oz container. I had intended to cut way back on coffee, to 1/2 cup in the morning like I used to have, but this creamer makes it taste so good and now I'm back to several cups. It doesn't even taste like coffee. I just looked at it. I thought it had 3gm carb and 3gm sugar per TBS, but it's 5. OMG. No wonder my BS is going up. I can't stand to waste that whole bottle, so I will try to cut back to one cup per day until it's gone. They make creamer that is sugar free, but not in the flavor I like. I will probably try one to see if I can find a substitute.

Diabetes sucks.

I heard from the lady who wrote the blog I shared with y'all. She said she experienced exactly the same GI symptoms (diarrhea and gas) I did when it was time to lower her Metformin. The symptoms were similar to what she had experienced when she first started taking Metformin. This is how she knew she didn't need 2000 mg. She then went from 1000 mg of Metformin 2x a day to 1000 mg once a day. It is her suggestion that since I had no problem with the one dose of 500 mg that I might try taking it with my dinner and be sure that I'm eating enough when I take it. I think I will probably try that but I will wait until after Wednesday to do that. I had to miss church yesterday and last Wednesday because of this stuff and I don't want to miss Wednesday night Bible study. If I have a reaction Thursday, at least I'll have a day or two to get over it.

Her doctor told her that Metformin stays in your system for 3 weeks when you stop it. She stayed on 1 Metformin 1000 mg a day until she saw her fbs staying under 100 a day. She knew if it started going back up 2 weeks, she could go back to a lower dose.

She said that someone named Jenny Ruhl's blog - Bloodsugar 101 helped her learn about metformin tweaking and changing the timing and learn more about the drugs capabilities to help her get better readings before she started the LCHF protocols. I haven't looked that up yet. Will do that later today.

On 2000 mg metformin she got readings between 128 - 148. After cutting dose in half, her readings were between 110 - 115 for about a week and then went back down. Now without any meds she can hit 80's, but when tweaking she can get a 111 like she did yesterday. Her A1c reading probably now is around 5.3 - 5.5 but she will know that when she goes to her doctor in Sept.

She recommended that I take up weights which I hope my Kettlebell weights count as that and exercise. And she recommended reading Volek and Phinney's short book. I'll be checking that out as well.

We are going to Charlotte to Costco today. Not sure where we will eat. I hope DH will be in the mood to go to Sonny's BBQ because I can get sliced pork and a double order of green beans there and stay OP. I'm doing so good, I just don't want to mess it up.

My FBS was 115 this morning and my bp was 121/80.

Trish, this sounds like you are saying that when she took less Metformin, her BS went lower. Is that right?

Also, when she said to take the 500mg at dinner, she might have meant at your largest meal, and isn't your largest meal at midday and a lighter meal at dinnertime? That might make a difference.

You are definately doing good! That 121/80 is perfect! Keep up whatever you're doing, except for whatever is causing the tummy troubles. LOL

I don't eat first thing when I get up and this morning DH mentioned something he wanted from Target. The ad said "limited quantities, no rainchecks" so we left right away to get it. We did some shopping there, then went to Kohls and did some shopping there, then went to Goodwill and did some shopping there. We still hadn't eaten and I didn't want to stop and eat something. We were a little hungry but not starving. So when we got home I made a quick dinner and we ate around 3:30, first meal of the day for both of us. I think when I'm home I eat just to eat, but when I am out and about I forget about food. Before dinner my BS was 87. I think I am going to try to go longer without eating. Not to the point of starving. I think back to when I was thin. I used to eat breakfast and lunch but not much dinner, sometimes no dinner. Now that I eat with DH I am used to eating dinner every day. Adding that on top of breakfast and lunch is so much more food than I need to eat. Many times DH gets busy in the garage and doesn't think to eat until dinner time. I might try to be more like that now that I'm eating dinner with him. I never wanted to be like that...wanted to eat 1200 cals per day and 3 meals, but that just isn't working for me anymore and I need to do something to shake things up.

No, I'm sorry, I guess I didn't say it right. She said when she was taking 2000 mg that her fbs usually ran between 128 - 148 until she started eating LCHF. Then it began to go lower. Then she started getting GI symptoms like she had when she first started the metformin. So she decided to start taking 1000 mg instead of the 2000. That is when her reading stayed between 110 and 115 for about a week and then started going lower. She had to come off the metformin when she had to have some sort of surgery and she stay off of metformin to see what would happen. She knew she could always go back to taking it if her bs started going up again. After 4 weeks off the metformin, her fbs was still lowering to where some times she hits in the 80s depending on when she tweaks. She tests bs after every new food she introduces into her diet. She tests it 2x and if it spikes too high, she scratches it and will not add it into her list of foods to eat. She says she has no problem of ever taking the Metformin if she ever had to, but right now the way she eats and the exercise she is entering into her plan, she doesn't need it.

I heard from her again today. She is so full of info and I see that another big plus for her is that her DH eats this way too. Wish I could get Tony interested in doing this. I read all the information I had from her today as we went to and from Costco. When I finished he said "Well the bottom line is that my high cholesterol and diabetes is caused from the carbohydrates I eat. So what do you eat?" I'm not pushing. I'm just hoping that I will have such a big change in my health that he will get seriously interested. I gave him the dietdoctor's website hoping he will go there and read.

We did eat at Sonny's. I had pulled pork, green beans and shared cole slaw with DH. I came home and put it in my MFP log. I am actually eating roughly 1200 calories, net calories are around 20 and high fat and moderate protein on average. If I can keep this up, it won't be long until my doctor will be taking me off my meds.

I don't have a larger meal any more. Since I eat no starchy foods or dairy, I eat pretty evenly portions at lunch and dinner. I had started taking dividing my Metformin and took 1/2 at breakfast and I ate a snack with just enough food in the evening in order to take the other 1/2 about 12 hrs later. However, since the GI problems, I am mostly eating just 3 meals a day now that I don't really get very hungry because I'm eating more healthy fat. So I think she just thought I might like to take it at dinner. The thought behind that is that metformin is supposed to keep us from getting a big insulin spike during the night. So taking it later in the day will help my fbs to be lower.

I do the same thing when I'm not home Carol Sue. I used to go till 1 or 2 in the afternoon without eating and my fbs was always lower. That's why a Intermittent Fasting works so well for some people. I did read on dietdoctor.com that a lot of diabetics who are doing the LCHF protocol are eating only 1 or 2 meals a day and off all meds because they just do not get hungry.

Ok, now that makes more sense. It would be good if your DH would start eating that way because it would make it easier for you and it would be healthier for him. If he can stick to LC. I have absolutely no delusion that my DH would EVER eat that way. LOL Never. He told me that he wants to be happy eating what he likes (carbs and sweets) and it it happens that he dies sooner, so be it. He made it to 71 and considers every year he has after that as a bonus. He told me that I can go ahead and eat my kale and yogurt etc and in the end, I'm still going to die. And he's right. But I have come to like these foods and no longer like the taste of sweets and greasy fried foods. I, too, am eating what I like, with the exception of bread. That is the main food I have had to give up that I really miss.

I think I would feel like a zombie at 7.9. I can tell when mine is over 2.0 because I start sleeping all the time and am an angry mess. It was 1.8 at my last checkup. :)


I think I've heard that come out of my husbands mouth almost word for word. He turns 40 this December. His idea of vegetables are peeled cucumbers or ketchup. We will eat a few more fruits thankfully. A banana every day he works and apples, melons and canned fruit. He won't touch pasta or rice for anything. I don't think he has met a fried potato he hasn't liked. And we won't even discuss the amount of sugar the man eats. :dizzy:

We are slowly trying to get back into school mode. Only 11 more days before we start. I do much better with a schedule.

I have decided to create a vision board of sorts. Obviously I need to lose some weight for my health. But it gets in the way of me having fun with my kids. While I was gone for the week we went to the county fair. I've never had problems while riding the Scrambler type ride before. This was a different amusement company though and they had the Sizzler. It was basically the same thing. Except my fat belly didn't fit in this one. He got the bar closed and I had hoped that my bulk would just sink down around things like it has in the past. It didn't. :( I had to have him come over and let me off the ride before it even started because I was in so much pain. My son had to ride alone because mommy was too fat. They had 3 or 4 other adventure type rides I would have loved to try but by then I was to ashamed to even try. I didn't want to go through the humiliation of not fitting again. So that is one goal for next summer. I know I won't be skinny but hopefully I can be small enough to ride comfortably. Both of my kids have also been taking horseback riding lessons for the last two years. I would love to go trail riding with them. No way is that possible at my current weight. I know I'll have to be at least under 250 but probably best under 200 since I'm not an experienced rider. So that is 90 pounds in the next year to get off. Hard but doable.

Hi Zinke! This describes me to a T. LOL Do you see an endicrinologist or just a PCP?

I was shopping in Target yesterday and the store was crowded with parents and kids, school shopping. For a second or two, I wished I could be school shopping again, but then I realized what else that would entail and the feeling passed. I remember every year how much I loved going back to school. The year after I graduated I got up early and watched all the kids going off to school and I felt so sad. It wasn't that I loved school so much, it was the comaradarie. I was usually just as happy to see the last day of school come every year. It surprises me that I can remember back that far. LOL

I'm sorry to hear that you feel bad not being able to do things with your kids. This is something to focus on in the coming year. Next summer you will be able to ride those rides! You can do this!

Trish, I remember you said that an avacado can last you several days. How do you keep them from turning brown once you cut them?

I'm sure there is a better way to keep it, but I scoop out the amount I want to use and always keep the seed in it. Then close back together like and I wrap it with a paper towel then put it in a glad bag and place in veggie compartment in fridge. It will keep for a couple of days like this depending on how wripe it is when you cut into it. If it turns too dark, I ditch it. I think I read somewhere that you can sprinkle lemon on it, but I haven't tried that.