Posted on 12/05/2017 7:54:53 AM PST by martin_fierro
Well, your ollll' marty was recently diagnosed with early stage Type II Diabeetus.
Doc prescribed pills that sound like some Yankee RINO's name: "Metformin."
I'm doing all the Intarweb research that I can on the topic but I'd like to hear FReepers' personal takes on what to look for in a blood glucose monitor.
I figure if I'm going to be using this monitor for awhile it should be a good one. The one the Doc suggested -- that my insurance would most readily pay for -- doesn't get good reviews at all ("wildly inaccurate readings").
Your input please!
I used a One Touch Ultra Mini for years and eas satisfied with it until this summer when my average readings jumped about 10 points. I started checking its highest reading against my wife’s Accu-Chek Aviva Plus and would see a lower reading of up to 20 points. My A1C readings support the lower readings on the Accu-Chek Aviva Plus. Plan to switch to Accu-Chek Aviva Plus next month. By the way, Consumer Reports listed the Accu-Chek Aviva Plus as the most accurate.
I do not monitor my blood sugar often because it is regularly at 115 or less. When I do take readings, I use the One Touch Ultra Mini.
I quit taking statins for that reason...............
later
My kid is type 1.
Work with your insurance company to figure out which brand of strips will be the lowest cost to you. The cost of the meter is nothing compared to the strips. Insurance companies usually have a sweetheart deal with certain manufacturers.
I would do everything you can to reverse it early. Need to do a major change in diet. Not just a little bit less of a few sugars. It will suck but it’s better than what diabetes will do to you. It gets harder to do if you wait and the disease starts to affect your general health.
My kid has been a Type 1 since he was 18 months. We use the Bayer models now. Accurate, charges via usb. Downloads easily. Can connect with your pump if you have one and want that feature enabled.
Ketogenic diets were built for diabetics, but originally built for folks who wanted to train the body off of metabolizing carbs first. The awesome side effect of the Keto diets is that the weight comes off pretty quick, and it isn’t ‘liver weight’ (that quick weight you lose when your liver shrinks from fasting or dieting).
High fat and high protein. It’s easier than you think, and I was a guy who worshiped at the altar of fine breads and pastas. Lost 80 lbs at age 50.
The other good thing for a guy my age is that I don’t have to mess with the whole type 2 thing that seems inevitable anymore.
When I sin, I sin big, but it isn’t often. By sinning I mean if someone sets a piece of homemade apple pie in front of you, then I eat it with relish. I won’t do that for chips, donuts, etc.
Hand baked goods that are rare, or fine pasta dishes at restaurants, then I do it.
It has a material effect on you, however, that feels like you are ‘buzzed’. Once your body is trained off of carbs, and then you ‘sin’, you get a feeling for what a load carbohydrates put on your system.
To quote Dr Wallach:
"Everybody is touched by diabetes. It's the number 3 cause of death in adults in the United States. And it has terrible complications and side-effects. Diabetes. The side-effects include blindness, of many kinds, then there is the kidney failure, with dialysis and kidney transplant, there's cardiovascular disease of all kinds. And of course that contributes to the number 1 cause of death. Then there's amputations, everybody ought to have one of those, cause they are totally paid for in your health thing, cause they assume that you're not just going to get one cause you want to get everything on your health benefits. And then, you shorten your life, because if you have diabetes, on the average, you have a shorter life span than someone who doesn't have diabetes. Now, we learned in 1957, in the animal industry, that we could prevent and cure diabetes with two trace minerals. That's a pretty profound statement. We could prevent and cure diabetes with two trace minerals, in 1957, in animals, and it was published in Federation Proceedings, which is the official journal of American Science, the National Institute of Health. The official monthly journal, August, 1957. Today when your doctor gets a new diabetic patient, he drops to his knees and says, "Thank you, Lord! And he gets up and he runs to his phone and calls his real estate agent. Because everytime he gets a new diabetic patient, it represents $250,000 to him over a 20-30-40 year period. Because he knows that eventually you are going to go through that. And so he calls his real estate agent and says, "I need a new apartment complex. I need a small farm." They all want strip malls. Kind of like monopoly, they all want strip malls. Well, the two trace minerals that you can get to prevent and cure this are chromium and vanadium.
Vanadium alone, according to the University of Vancouver, British Columbia Medical School, vanadium alone will replace insulin in adult onset diabetics, which represent 85% of all diabetics. Course they can't quit their insulin cold turkey. They got to gradually lean off it, takes 4 to 6 months for most people to slowly wean off insulin, if they are taking in adequate amounts of chromium and vanadium. I've seen it work on hundreds and hundreds of people. Now to me this is criminal. Because if you write to Hills Packing Company that makes Science Diet dogfood (they're right over here in Topeka, Kansas), they manufacture Science Diet dogfood and other Science Diet products, high tech foods for animals. If you write them and say,"How many minerals, exactly, is in Science Diet dogfood?" They'll write back there's 40 minerals. You write Checkerboard Square in St. Louis, Ralston Purina, and say "Just how many minerals are in your rat pellets for laboratory rats?" They'll say there are 28 minerals. I'll give anybody in this room a crisp new $100 bill if you can find me a human infant formula in a grocery store that has more than 11. So dogs get 40 minerals, now this is what Mike Murphy was saying "Dog never seem to get sick", cause he's getting this canned dog food with all these vitamins and minerals in there. So dogs get 40 minerals, rats get 28 minerals, and human infants get 11. Is that fair? No! Doesn't matter if you're talking about SMA, Similac, Isomilk, ProSoyB. In fact, that's why they call Similac, Similac, cause it lacks everything. (DEAD DOCTORS DON'T LIE)
I am batting 1,000 getting folks off of Type 2 meds, or significantly reducing their need. So invest in $25 for a copy of "Dead Doctors Don't Lie" by Joel Wallach. He has a product for this, email me and I'll put you on the fast track.
To the extent possible eliminate sugar in its many forms from your diet. Read packaging labels and you’ll be surprised to find that sugar is often the second or third ingredient in an amazing number of foods.
Cut down easily digestible carbs such as white rice and white bread, potatoes and pasta as they’ll spike your blood glucose.
Get regular exercise for at least 20 minutes a day.
This has helped me to drop my A1C down to 5.5 and I’ve lost 45 lbs. Best I’ve felt in years.
Another vote for Keto. It can reverse your Type II. I lost 40 lbs in the past 4 months and lowered my A1C to normal levels.
You can control Type 2 diabetes in the great majority of cases with a combination of proper diet and a regular exercise program.
It is more work than just medicine/s and/or insulin. But quality of life will be much improved.
Some people are lazy, or busy, or have other limitations.
I hope you go the non-medicine route.
And pasta....
I wear a Dexcom Platinum constant glucose monitor.
It inserts a thread-like needle that reports my blood sugar every five minutes. I have to use a strip once a day to calibrate.
Everything costs a ton of money. The replaceable sensors cost a fortune, but I wear them for two weeks vice one as recommended by Dexcom (largely to make $$$). But my insurance covers them where they don't cover test strips!
1. is the replaceable sensor, 2 is the transmitter that sits in the sensor when attached to you, and 3 is the hand-held control unit.
If you bought this on your own it would cost about $3000 a year.
Anyway, ask your Endo if it would be a good fit for you.
Right now, “pre-diabetus” is a very popular medical diagnostic fad. Here is a summary of what you need to know.
Blood glucose monitors are cheapest at Wal-Mart, with the instant test kind running about $10, a box of 100 test strips about $25. Lancets are very cheap and mostly standardized and you can get them anywhere.
What do those numbers mean? Here’s a good chart for that.
http://www.joslin.org/info/Goals-for-Blood-Glucose-Control.html
Now this is the instant test. Doctors also use a different test called an “HbA1c” or just “A1C” test. It measures how “sweet” your blood has become over a period of months, literally, the amount of sugar that has stuck to your red blood cells.
It took them a long time, but they have developed a home A1C test. It is somewhat more expensive, and must be kept indoors, because if it gets too warm it no longer works.
A two-test kit sells at Walgreens for about $42, but you only need to use it twice a year. It is a very commonly *shoplifted* item, so make sure your local stores have it, and that the package has not been tampered with. Some even have a temperature sensitive tab on the outside of the box that will change color if it has gotten too warm at any point.
What does its number mean?
https://www.healthline.com/health/type-2-diabetes/ac1-test
Okay, that is the home diagnosis: NOW FOR THE UPSIDE.
GYMNEMA SYLVESTER, or just “Gymnema”, is an India-Indian herb nicknamed “The Sugar Killer”. Every person who is a diabetic or pre-diabetic should be taking it. You can get great deals for it on ebay and Amazon, there are dozens of manufacturers, and best of all, IT WORKS!
Two pills a day and it will really drive your blood sugar way down to normal levels.
Here is the science:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2170951/#B12
Stimulates insulin release in vitro by increased membrane permeability. It promotes regeneration of islet cells.
It increases utilization of glucose: it is shown to increase the activities of enzymes responsible for utilization of glucose by insulin-dependant pathways, an increase in phosphorylase activity, decrease in gluconeogenic enzymes and sorbitol dehydrogenase
Gymnemic acid molecules fill the receptor location in the absorptive external layers of the intestine thereby preventing the sugar molecules absorption by the intestine, which results in low blood sugar level.
(As a tea it) Interferes with the ability of the taste buds on the tongue to taste sweet and bitter.
NEXT UP: common ground cloves
Improve glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides of people with type 2 diabetes. (Just 1 gram/day, about a heaping teaspoon. More is not better.)
http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/20/5/A990-b
NEXT UP: common ginger (this one is impressive, as it also lowers you A1C. In pill form you can take a LOT of it.)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25561919/
Oral administration of ginger powder supplement can improve fasting blood sugar, hemoglobin A1C, apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A-I and malondialdehyde in type 2 diabetic patients.
NEXT UP: common turmeric and its principle constituent Curcumin (along with black pepper that enhances its effects)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4338652/
Curcumin can reduce blood glucose level by reducing the hepatic glucose production, suppression of hyperglycemia-induced inflammatory state, stimulation of glucose uptake by up-regulation of GLUT4, GLUT2 and GLUT3 genes expressions, activation of AMP kinase, promoting the PPAR ligand-binding activity, stimulation of insulin secretion from pancreatic tissues, improvement in pancreatic cell function, and reduction of insulin resistance.
TWO MORE IMPORTANT SUPPLEMENTS TO TAKE:
Ordinary Vitamin B-1, normal daily dose. The excessive urination associated with diabetes depletes “albumin”, and this depletion stresses and can damage the kidneys. But by taking an ordinary dose of B-1, it restores the albumin levels.
A little more complicated is Stabilized (or NA (sodium)) R-Alpha Lipoic Acid. Full name “NA-R-ALA”.
Alpha Lipoic Acid has been found to substantially slow down the development of diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage in the extremities). Ordinary ALA contains both R-ALA, which is natural ALA, and S-ALA, which is synthetic. Only R-ALA is good against neuropathy.
However, R-ALA is very unstable, both outside of and inside the body, unless it has been “sodium stabilized”. Once it has been, it works much better and lasts much longer. But only one company makes it, though they license it to a second company.
You can probably get it cheapest online.
OKAY, THE NUMBER ONE DRUG TO *NOT* TAKE:
Statins (for high cholesterol)
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20150304/statins-linked-to-raised-risk-of-type-2-diabetes
Statins Linked to Raised Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
Large Finnish study found a nearly 50 percent increase in people taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Bottom line is that the only people taking statins should be those with a *high* risk of stroke or heart attack, based on factors other than just cholesterol/triglyceride levels alone.
I practice alternate-day fasting, so I am not recommending something I wouldn’t do myself.
https://www.homecuresthatwork.com/21144/intermittent-fasting-reverses-diabetes/
https://www.drwhitaker.com/reverse-diabetes-with-the-mini-fast-program
“I’ve found the Walmart “ReliOn” meter to be just fine, and the replacement strips are quite affordable.”
Second that.
We had a cat with diabetes and the ReliOn meter & strips were a great savings for us.
We lost him after 10,000+ insulin doses.
Peace to you and great health.
It’s like we should have a diabetes posting forum section.
if I can keep my A1c at 7 or better I seem to be doing ok.
7.0 is all the better I can do but these fasting treatments have me thinking.
I have terrible fatigue all the time. I think it’s kidneys and It’s real bad. Afraid to go see docs.
I think they are all just full of common treatments that maintain diabetes. The problem IS that they just maintain diabetes.
I’m having symptoms of kidney failure and it’s scaring the heck out of me which makes symtoms worse because anxiety and stress cause adrenal release and that is harmful.
It’s a bit of a snowball effect. Docs would subscribe Xanax for anxiety.
I sure don’t want to go there again, the stuff is extremely addictive. Tired and sick of pills literally sick from pills. Metformin makes me nauseous and dizzy all the time.
I have feel better on Atkins style diet but it must not be drastic enough.
“I suggest that you watch some Joe Rogan podcasts on YouTube and the Keto Diet and Intermittent Fasting”
I went on that diet 2 years ago, and my A1C went from 7.4 to 5.5. I also lost 40 pounds... They took me off my diabetes med’s 3 months after I started the diet.
pfl
Speaking of apples, a little apple cider vinegar (with the ‘mother’) is reported to keep your blood sugar down...do the research.
Here is something I do not understand.
My father was diabetic and the nutritionist kept pushing whole grains.
Nutritionists tell us we need to eat grains.
But grains mess with blood sugar, cause water retention like any other carb, increase blood pressure, cause digestive problems-all of these things are bad for anyone, especially a diabetic.
I believe docs, pharma and ag are deliberately pushing bad stuff on us for kickbacks and profits and you know they’re busier than heck down on K Street.
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