Seeking some diabetes info.recently diagnosed.

[maineman]

Good Sunday Morning to all. A couple of weeks I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I have been tracking my sugar levels and meet with Doc. tomorrow. My readings have been as low as 180 and as high as 450. The Doc. told me to expect to go on 'injections'. I have gobbled up all kinds of diabetes info...changed my diet...the whole 9. Anyone out there with diabetes..with the type of readings I am getting from the glucometer...are my options limited to injections? My Doc. is hell bent on it..has ruled out tablets. Any thoughts? Thanks a bunch.

[WrightOnTarget]

A friend of mine runs this diabetes blog that might be a good place to start:

http://www.diabetesmine.com/

[taxcontrol]

I was similar to you. I would recommend that you try 30 days of Atkins diet plus 30 min cardio per day 6 days a week. Then have the doc check your A1C again. Take the highest dose of OTC Nicin you can tolerate (causes hot flashes and a feeling like a rash at first). Drink 8 oz of water before each meal. Take fiber pills.

If not down enough, ask about 500 mg Metformin and continue the Atkins and 30 min cardio x6 days. Check again at the end of the month. If necessary, repeat for the 3rd month.

The VAST majority of Type 2’s that complete this will have their A1Cs significantly lower and many can get off of the metformin after 90 days. However, your diet will still need to be a “no-sugar” (Xylitol sugar substitute is your friend) and “low carb”. Exercise is always good though after the first 90 days you can start to vary your routine.

HOWEVER ... THIS IS TOUGH TO DO. You have to be mentally strong to stick to the Atkins and exercise program. Get help from your spouse by getting rid of all junk food in the house. No soda, cake, pie, ice cream.

Stock up on lettuce, meat, cheese. Consider a 24 or 48 hr fast at day 4 (water, coffee, tea, no sugar only) This will help push your body over the hump. You WILL get headaches, you will get irritable. YOU WILL NEED TO KEEP CHECKING YOUR BLOOD SUGAR AND AT REGULAR INTERVALS.

[BipolarBob]

A simple surgery might do the trick. It’s been well documented that an after effect of the gastric bypass was diabetes either disappeared or was severely mitigated. I would look for a doctor that is familiar with this.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/17/60minutes/main4023451.shtml

[BIOCHEMKY]

Hi.

I completed a thesis on non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM, type II diabetes)in my Master’s degree program.

I know this about type II diabetes.

Often, individuals diagnosed with type II diabetes are overweight and many are obese (more than 20% overweight for your height and weight).

One’s obesity is best measured by going to a lab where you can have your body mass index (BMI) estimated. Then, you’ll know exactly where you stand.

The next step is to increase your level of physical activity to include aerobic exercise for at least 20-30 minutes a minimum of 5 days a week. Walking with purpose with a friend or mate or your dog would be fine. Bicycling whether on a real bike outdoors or a stationary exercise bike is also fine.

Also, many individuals that are diagnosed with type II diabetes and they are told that their blood sugar levels are dangerous and requre insulin injections can reverse their blood sugar problem by going on what is called the raw food diet.

Type II diabetes can often be greatly helped by enough aerobic exercise that is regularly done and a proper diet (low carb, high protein) which excludes white sugar, almost all breads (some whole grain is okay), and all candy, jelly, jams, and fruit juices. Moderation in eating of raw fruit is okay, but most fruit juice is very high in fructose and sucrose. You really want to avoid simple sugars that are in foods (fructose, sucrose, maltose).

Here’s a link about the “Raw Diet”.

“Diabetes Differently: How to Reverse Diabetes and Take Back your Life”

http://doingdiabetesdifferently.com/health/simply-raw-living-food-reverses-diabetes/

Look on Amazon.com for a good recipe book for the raw foods diet.

P.S. You will likely need to take the injections to get your blood glucose levels down (temporarily), but if you modify your diet and exercise level, many cease to need injections any more.

Good Luck!

[ninonitti]

I’m on the tablets and I stay around 150 on average. More exercise and moderation at the feed lot brings it down to 130 eating crap and not getting in long walks or activity and I’m around 170.

I test just once a day in the morning. IMHO those strips are overpriced.

If you trust the guy fine but I’d ask for a second opinion from someone else about the injections.....doesn’t sound right to me but then I’m not a doctor and the government doesn’t let me give medical advice.

I wonder why that is....guess I don’t give as much as the AMA does.

Lots of stuff on the web.

[FastCoyote]

My brother is in a parallel world, just figured out he has Type 2, same readings. He is taking a pill that seems to work. Walk lots, cut the weight, eat complex carbs, lots of vegs (not potatoes).

[R. Scott]

Your LOW reading is 180? That should be your high reading!
I’ve been Type 2 diabetic for about 7 or 8 years now. I’m lucky, I was able to adjust my diet and exercise fairly rapidly and painlessly. The thought of going blind and having my feet amputated just plain scared the daylights out of me. I immediately cut out fast food and started weight work. Weight training burns up a lot of sugar. My weight dropped from over 280 to 230 the first year. Now I maintain it at around 220 where I feel my best. I convinced myself that I didn’t like to eat and really detested anything sugary - like Duncan Donuts. I was a cab driver at the time and lived on junk food.
My A1C has been at 5.0 for years - right where it should be. I checked my 30 day average blood glucose level this morning and it was at 113 - actually too low and my doc will have some nasty words for me again when I see her next week. I hope she’ll take me off the pills. I’ve even started eating junk food in an effort to bring it up. I force myself to eat a Ding Dong or Ho Ho every evening. Maybe I’ve beaten diabetes?
I wish you luck. Many people find it difficult to bring their numbers down. Also, the rules aren’t absolute - everyone’s body is different. I played by the rules for a year then started making changes, like the number of carb grams/meal or day. For me the best routine was a good breakfast, skip lunch but add a couple snacks and a light supper.
The worst I saw was an acquaintance with type 2. He ignored everything and went downhill fast. I’d sometimes run into him at a bar - he’d be eating a glazed Honey Bun and drinking Southern Comfort - very high in sugar. His eyesight started going bad. He lost his right foot. Instead of changing he’d bitch about diabetes. The last time I saw him he was about to lose his left foot. I started avoiding him to avoid calling him a dumbass. He died a year later.

[Bryanw92]

I was where you are 7 years ago. Ask your doctor about Amaryl (generic name: glimepiride). I’ve been on that for 7 years, along with avoiding sugars, and cardio 3-4 times a week and my A1c has never been above 6.0 (with morning blood sugar almost never over 125 and never over 180).

If you can make oral meds work with lifestyle changes you can stick with, great. But unless you have the discipline of a monk, don’t fight going to injections if the oral meds don’t work for you. You can lie to your doctor, but can’t lie to your body.

[snuffy smiff]

Is your doc an endocrinologist? If not, it wouldn’t hurt to consult with the best one around you can find. I suspect with your readings that high your doc is thinking you’ll need injections to see if you can get your readings back down and to keep it regulated. This will take time and you must keep up with your readings. Yes, I know it’s a pain and a hassle-especially at first-but the quality as well as the length of your life will depend a lot on this.

Now I’m not a doc and my readings were only around 150-160 but here’s what helped me get mine back to normal:

If overweight, then try to lose some lose weight if you can do it without causing problems. You cannot starve it off-it’ll just make your readings bounce around more and that’s the last thing you need. Start walking. If you doc agrees and says it’s OK then start to exercise. I managed to drop 40 pounds over about 5 months and I was told by my endo that was the best thing I could do.

Now some folks don’t care for herbal stuff but something else that helped me a lot was I started taking a herbal supplement called Gymnema Sylvestre(also called “sugar blocker” by some). You take it before meals and it helps to prevent sugar absorption. It works better in some more than others and while most docs won’t acknowledge anything herbal mine did tell me as long as I felt like it was working and had no side effects and felt good then to go for it.

If all that works and you get it down and keep it down you may be able to get off injections-or at least decrease them. If it really works out then may be able manage it with only oral meds. If you’re REALLY good and VERY lucky and get it well regulated you won’t need either. It will take an awful lot of effort-this didn’t happen overnight so it’s not going to go away quickly. But you caught it before it got any worse. I’ve heard of a few having readings of over 600, one was 700-this friend in particular was told to go straight from his doc’s office to a hospital. He was there for 2 weeks! It put the fear of God in him and he’s doing much better now. Remember-diabetes affects every single organ in your body in a bad way, do not play around with this!

Good luck. You can change things but it will take hard work. You probably know what happens if you don’t. Sounds to me like you are willing to do it. You’ll be d@mn glad you did.

[bert]

......One’s obesity is best measured by going to a lab where you can have your body mass index (BMI) estimated......

I bought a WII with the exercise board. It calculates your Body Mass index based on perameters input. It weighs you and then calculates your BMI. As I lost weight according to WII set goals I saw the BMI reduce as well. It was a great day when I hit 210 and my BMI was lower than 30 and I became over weight instead of obese.

The various WII exercises considerably increased my general mobility and reduced periodic back pain.

[Heman11]

I was diagnosed less than a year ago. I had high readings of 375 and an A1C of 11.6 . Start walking, walking, walking. Learn about the glycemic index. The Atkins diet may cause more problems than it solves in the long term, but it could be good short term boost to your situation. I have lowered my A1C to 5.9 and my average readings are 120 with 1700 mg of metformin, diet and exercise. YOU CAN DO IT; but it must be your goal. Lose weight slowly. Good luck; You should make these changes irrespective of whether you have to take insulin or not, your long term health depends on it.

[snuffy smiff]

Wow, I should have checked twice before posting such a long tome-all the info above is great advice! Do make sure your doc OK’s any strict dieting and any strenuous exercise beforehand.

One other thing. Yes, those strips ain’t cheap!! If your insurance doesn’t cover them you might try looking on eBay. Back before I quit using them, I stumbled across some on there at a good discount. I told an unemployed friend about it who did go that that route and has been satisfied so far. I would advise of course you ensure any you purchase are unopened and have not reached expiration.

Good luck!

[Madam Theophilus]

I suggest you read Gary Taubes book, Good Calories, Bad Calories - it is history of the medical establishment’s treatment of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

[Matchett-PI]

Panel Settles on Hemoglobin A1c to Diagnose Diabetes: Implications of the shift to be assessed.

Posted on Thursday, July 02, 2009 3:12:52 AM by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2283903/posts

[Texas Jack]

There's a lot of good information here, but I would like to add one important thing that I didn't see posted.

DO NOT DRINK ANY KIND OF SODA. Especially, don't drink diet sodas because they will make you crave cheap carbohydrates. In fact, don't drink anything except water until you get this thing under control, and then still stay away from sodas in any form.

[neal1960]

I found out I had type 2 about two years ago. Doc told me to get below 200# (I was at 245) and I “might” be able to get off my Metformin. I’ve lost 41 pounds, started taking 3 tablespoons of pure, unfiltered apple cider vinegar and my level has dropped from 160-170 down to mid 90’s now. More on the apple cider vinegar and it’s benefits here...http://nutrition.suite101.com/article.cfm/apple_cider_vinegar_helps_diabetes_control

Good luck!

[InterceptPoint]

Ping for reading later.

[BIOCHEMKY]

“The various WII exercises considerably increased my general mobility and reduced periodic back pain.”

Good for you...I’m still back at the losing weight stage of the game. I am slowly losing at about 3 lbs per week, but so far I am keeping it off.

As I become more able to exercise at length, that weight loss should increase per week. Check in with me in the fall. I hope to be able to say that I’ve lost ALOT!

[I still care]

I did’t use atkins, I used a form of it called the Carbohydrate addiction diet I found a lot easier. The philosophy behind it is having one carbohydrate meal a deal can help reform the pancreas. It did wonders for me, but this is your call.

However, I will tell you my sugars ran out of control and I couldn’t manage them the year I had a bad anemia I didn’t know about. (400 after every meal - my doctor was going berserk trying to manage them. Finally I went in for a blood test and it turned out I had a hemoglobin of 7).

So make sure everything else is together, also.