Carol Sue and dgramie Y'all talking about potassium made me think maybe I should see what mine was at last blood draw. Mine was 4.3 which is right in the middle. It shows that normal range is 3.5 - 5.2. I take OTC potassium because of the diuretic I take. I just did it on my own because I always believed the reason my 2nd husband died was because a new young doctor came in to take over when the other doctor left and started playing around with Bill's meds. It had a network of doctors months to get Bill's medicine regime down to where he was improving (using 20% of heart and had just improved to 25%). He changed the meds and put him on high doses of diuretics with NO potassium. Within a few months he was dead. I remember my daughter telling me (she worked in VA hospital) that it was just as dangerous to take too much as too little. So I don't really know all it does which I didn't have time to check it out yesterday, but will make time today.

Well, my fbs was 133 this morning. We went to eat at Huddle House when we went to buy a new microwave. The loose bowels gave me a few hours break and I thought I was over it. Any way, I didn't see the pork chop on the menu that I usually get so I got the country fried steak with green beans and a salad. I brought the salad home and added smoked oysters that I rinsed the oil off of to it and the buttermilk ranch dressing that came with the salad (carbs was only 2 g) and had it for supper. I thought I did pretty good because with the exercise I only went 25 calories over which low carbing doesn't matter. The carbs were less than 100, the fat was high enough that it should have covered the carbs okay according to what I read on Swedish docs site, but the protein was a little low. Oh I also about a handful of mixed nuts for a snack.

Then the diarrhea hit me again. I finally took some anti-diarrhea medicine and went to bed around 9 and didn't get up until almost 9 this morning. This diarrhea with the CO has just drained me of all energy. My weight was down to 221.4 this morning and my bp was good maybe a little low. But that isn't unusual for me.

I am beginning to believe that I do not need the CO. Carol Sue I appreciate you sharing what you read in the book because I think I just need to NOT eat ANY lowfat foods. I think if I just eat normal foods such as regular sliced cheese rather than reduced fat, whole milk rather than lowfat for example that I just might be okay. The main carby foods that I like is an occasional potato/mashed or baked, but not often and beans and corn. I noticed when I was eating the beans and corn, I had no problem with constipation. And as we know the beans slow down rising insulin. I do like avocados with my eggs and bacon or sausage, but I don't think I need a lot of it so I just used 1/4 of one today which will make 1 avocado last 4 days which is good considering the price of them.

I am doing low carb kind of using the Swedish doctors diet plan as a guideline. I noticed he said that it is up to us as to how low we go on the carbs reminding us that the less carbs the faster you lose. I would just like a steady loss, I don't care about fast at my age fast means wrinkles. Don't want any more of those than necessary. Fruit can even be a part of the carb count if I want it as long as it is low sugar fruit such as berries. I honestly believe that eating this way I do not need to add any fat to my diet.

I'm still doing what I call Moderately Low Carb, but not LCHF. Maybe my age shows here, but I still think there needs to be some kind of balance. I hope that isn't what keeps screwing me up. I honestly felt good when I did lowfat all those years, but I'm not sure lowfat is all that good either because of the things they substitute to make it lowfat. Plus we know that a lot of the sweetners used to make it work isn't good for us either. I'm shooting for living the years I have left as healthy as possible. I don't want to be feeble.

My 91 yr old daddy does pretty well but he just believes anything and everything his doctor tells him. He is having problems getting his bp under control. However, I am beginning to hear him say "I guess I just have to learn how to do this myself". I sit and think "yes". If he will learn how to do it himself, he will do better. He did have one really good doc years ago who taught him to use vitamins for some things so he is open to new ideas. It bothers me that some things they tell him is wrong. However, the last doctor he saw told him to stay away from anything in a can. So he thought that he could eat anything frozen. I have taught him that just because it is frozen doesn't mean it is good for you. He had been eating Hot Pockets and one day noticed the high sodium content. I then was able to tell him that you have to read labels especially on processed foods whether frozen or not. Thank God he is learning. He too has the same problem I do though.... bouts with NO Energy.

I'm thinking maybe I just may be allergic to wheat. I asked the doctor once about me doing the gluten-free diet and he said you don't have celiac. But I've heard lately that you don't have to suffer from celiac to be gluten sensitive. I just haven't thought about it much any more.

Sorry jabbery today. Y'all are my sounding board. LOL

Later

Trish, I don't know anything about gluten sensitivity, but didn't this diarrhea come on just recently? It could be a lot of things. I would just eat normally, no extremes with anything. Do you eat yogurt? That might help. If it doesn't clear up, you might need to go for a colonoscopy if you haven't had one.

This might sound brash, but if your Daddy made it to 91, he must be doing something right. It's one thing to avoid extra salt for blood pressure, but if by the grace of God I live to be 91, I'm going to eat whatever I want and enjoy it!!!

My doctor does not give me a copy of my bloodwork results. Also, the only time he tells me about any of them is if something looks bad, or if I ask him outright.

Carol Sue The diarrhea seems to happen when I have starchy carbs with the CO. I was also using it for cooking after all HF is supposed to help lose weight. But I'm not willing to spend my life in the bathroom to do it. Also, when I purposely add more fiber also causes problems. First was the bloating from high fiber and then add the CO and stay close to the potty. So I agree eating normal with no extremes is the best way for me to go. I think you can eat a "normal" low carb somewhere between Atkins and South Beach. I have to look at the SBD again because it might be a good basic guide. I actually could start with the Phase 2 which someone (I think Ruth) suggested to me years ago. I say use it as a guide, because I do not want to use lowfat products or margarine. I've seen a woman on a low carb site that has done a modified form of SBD and has kept her weight off.

I think the only thing that keeps my Daddy from eating just anything he wants at 91 is the fact that his Daddy and his maternal Grandfather both had strokes before they died and he doesn't want to have one. However, I have also read recently that they aren't even sure salt is the culprit for that any more. I only use salt when I cook for the family as DH has to eat salt for his heart. Another good reason for me to do low carb is that it is salt friendly.

I really don't want to get into gluten stuff. I hope that if I can get myself doing lowcarb at least 90% of the time that the few times I do eat bread starch won't hurt me. And who knows, when I stop the CO, I may not have any problem at all. Another possibility is a virus as DH was nauseous all night he said and was not able to eat all of his cauliflower he normally eats before he goes to bed. His stomach hurts today and he never eats CO as he doesn't like the taste and he didn't eat anything that I ate the past 2 days. So far I've had no problems today.

Carol Sue I never in my life heard of anyone getting copies of their blood work until I married Tony. He worked in a hospital as respiratory therapist for almost 20 yrs and he is the one who taught me to always get a copy. Our doctor always give us a copy and so do his specialists. All you have to do is ask. I keep them in a folder. The problem is sometimes I forget where I put the folder of the older ones. LOL

When my cardiologist does bloodwork for lipids they call me and give me all the numbers. I have a record of them from 2000 and 2001, and then from 2008 until now. For some reason my cardiologist hasn't been doing them so my PCP has. I have to call them for the results, and his girls just want to tell me "everything is good." I make them tell me all the numbers so I can write them down. Last time I went in for an office visit and I had him read them off to me, but only the lipids and A1c, not all the others. I have to go back in Oct and I will ask him for a copy of the other one. I have compared my lipid readings over the years and I noticed that they were best during the time that I was exercising regularly, 60 min per day, 5 days a week. What does that tell you??????

I think the reason my cadiologist hasn't been doing them is because they were pretty good for so many years in a row and he decided that as long as my meds stayed the same and I felt good there was probably no change.

Well, I did some reading on potassium and I found out that the bp medicine that DH and I take are not to be taken with potassium supplements. In fact, I learned that we should probably keep potassium foods limited which obviously our doctor doesn't know as he has a list of the supplements we take. Also seems that potassium might prevent diabetes, but diabetics need to be careful eating potassium foods like bananas, cantaloupe, mango, peas, potatoes with skin etc. I find this interesting because I had read that potatoes with the skin on is diabetic friendly. ???

I still don't know that was the problem, but the info is good to know. I learned about the food on Livestrong.com .

I'm not having any starchy carbs today and other than the flatulence, and I am pretty good. I only had baked chicken and broccoli with a little butter on it. An hour later, I was wiped out so I laid down a while, but decided to check bs before and it was 133. I really thought that was good and 3 hrs later it was 122. I really don't know what it should be. But I think that is good.

By the time I am finished eating today, I will have 1062 calories, 23 g carbs, 78 g fat and 72 g protein. So I think I have done well. And tomorrow, no more potassium supplements.

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!!! 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.