I am 43 years old and was diagnosed with pcos and diabetes in my early twenties. I am currently taking 8mg avandia, 2000mg metformin, 40mg glyburide and humulin 70/30 as needed.
I feel horrible all the time. This morning I ate two pieces of toast with a little blueberry cream cheese. I was so sick within 30 minutes. Lately it seems like when ever I eat any carbs my blood sugar shoots through the roof.
I have been thinking about going on a high protein low carb diet. I have read the adkin's diet, insulin resistance diet, 6 week body makeover, and you on a diet. I have tried several diets and have always ended up getting sick and having to quit dieting.
Do any of you have similar problems? Have you found a solution? According to my doctor I am almost to the point of being put on nothing but the insulin because the pills are not working like they should. I have heard that after you are primarily on insulin it becomes even harder to lose weight.
Sounds like me. I'm 44, diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in my mid-30s.
I definitely feel better when I eat more protein than carbs but I don't follow a specific diet. I used to love having a couple pieces of toast or a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast, but there's just not enough protein in the cheese to keep my sugar levels from skyrocketing. Now, I can eat one piece of toast with cream cheese, but I have to have some additional protein with it. Sometimes a scrambles egg, cottage cheese, etc.
I did try Michael Thurman's 6 Week Body Makeover a few years ago. It was a waste of money. I did lose about 20 lbs. But, beware: It is an extremely restrictive diet. You can only eat certain proteins with cetain carbs and you can use very few condiments. So, in addition to being restrictive, it's very bland.
Three months ago my dr. added 100 mg Januvia along with 1000 mg Glucophage (500 with lunch and 500 with dinner). In three months, my A1c went from 8.8 down to 8.2 and I have lots more energy. We're hoping it will continue to come down.
Januvia's not known for making weight loss easier but I've lost about 15 lbs. I think it's just because I have more energy and don't spend as much time sitting on the sofa.
I'm not familiar with the glyburide and humulin that you're taking since glucophage and Januvia are the only diabetes meds I've ever taken.
Would your doctor consider trying Januvia before jumping onto insulin? My doctor was hesitant at first, but only because she didn't have any other patients on it. Now, she's a convert. After she saw my lowered A1c, she told me she is considering it for several of her other patients.
I will ask my doctor about januvia and if it could help. The humulin 70/30 is insulin. When I first started taking avandia I was able to stop using the insulin. Unfortunately my sugar went back up after about a year and now I am having to start small doses of insulin to bring my sugar down.
Have you seen a dietician? I was able to see one in 2000 when I had gestational diabetes. The carb balance she put me on then still works for me now and it pretty much the same as most of the diabetics I talk to (I'm in three diabetes forums).
30 grams carb for breakfast
10-15 grams carb mid-morning snack
30-45 grams lunch
10-15 g mid afternoon snack
30-45 g dinner
and for some (dealing with dawn phenomenon) 10-15 g evening snack
Having too few carbs will cause your body to retaliate with a survival mechanism that will dump glucose into your blood causing your blood glucose to shoot up even though you didn't eat carbs. So if you're bouncing all over the place it's usually either the carbs you're eating are too refined and not balanced enough with protein and fiber OR you're not eating enough carbs in the first place.
I know I need to limit carbs but it is hard. I crave carbs all the time. Earlier this week I ate a low carb supper. A few hours later I had a blinding headache and felt horrible. I ate some carbs and it went away. I am actually scared of cutting carbs. How can I do it without getting sick?
You do it gradually. If your average meal right now has 60g of carbs in it then you don't want to cut right back to 30g all at once. Start by keeping track, in a notebook, online, where ever, of how many carbs you have in a meal.
Each day, or every other day, drop the carb content by 5 grams a meal. Make sure that as you do this you are finding ways to increase your fiber intake and protein intake if they aren't where they should be. Increasing the lean proteins and fiber will help keep you feeling full, it will slow down the speed your body uses the carbs at so you don't spike to high and so fast, and it will make everything work that much better. Try to make the carbs you do take in 'good' carbs....if you want to spend money on a book forget all the carb diet craze books and buy one about the Glycemic Index...take the information from it that is useful and forget the rest.
The best way to bring those post meal spikes down is to take a ten or fifteen minute walk about half an hour after your meal. This will help to head off that glucose spike that you know is coming...it's also good for just about everything else. Excercise is the Holy Grail....it fixes so many things!!
Getting those carbs down and forcing yourself to get those little walks in will make a noticeable difference in your need for meds. You will FEEL so much better once you get used to it.....although at first you're just going to feel icky, if you already do. It takes about a week to two weeks to get used to a new routine.
Breakfast is our worst meal of the day....most of us who struggle with our numbers struggle the MOST with that morning fasting. So we're already high, our bodies are already dealing with dawn phenomenon or liver dumps, and although we need to have some carbs in the morning, more than a bare minimum spikes us and destroys most of our day.
I can't eat breakfast cereal, oatmeal or more than one piece of low carb bread in the morning or I'm all over the place all day. Breakfast sets the tone for the day, so it's important to try to set the right tone. Dannon Light yogurts are something I eat often, with a slice of toast using Friehoffer's Soft'n Tasty Whole Grain White bread (17g carb in two slices) with butter or cream cheese. If I'm in a hurry I just have a Slim Fast Optima chocolate shake....I didn't used to eat breakfast at all so my struggle is to not skip it completely.
I'll stop rambling now!! LOL! Can't tell I study diabetes, huh?
So how long did it take for your insulin levels to go down? I was just diagnosed this month and the doctor said it was due to my insulin level being 45. Is that the same level most of you have? how long did it take to drop once you started using Metformin?
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I feel horrible all the time. This morning I ate two pieces of toast with a little blueberry cream cheese. I was so sick within 30 minutes. Lately it seems like when ever I eat any carbs my blood sugar shoots through the roof.
I have been thinking about going on a high protein low carb diet. I have read the adkin's diet, insulin resistance diet, 6 week body makeover, and you on a diet. I have tried several diets and have always ended up getting sick and having to quit dieting.
Is going on a commercial diet your only solution?
Short term why not just cut out refined carbs, and stick to whole foods (ie no toast (much less 2 pieces), and no blueberry cream cheese).
See how you feel after eating mostly lean meats and veggies.
BTW, what makes you 'sick' on diets? Maybe you have some undiagnosed food intolerances?
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Hey, SoulCysters! Need to eat more veggies, but can't find recipes??
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So how long did it take for your insulin levels to go down? I was just diagnosed this month and the doctor said it was due to my insulin level being 45. Is that the same level most of you have? how long did it take to drop once you started using Metformin?
Doctors have never told me my insulin level. I haven't even had my hormone levels checked in over 20 years. First my HMO wouldn't approve it and now I am on medicare which is almost worthless.
Since I now take insulin shots as well as taking a bunch of pills for diabetes I have no idea what my insulin levels are.
Short term why not just cut out refined carbs, and stick to whole foods (ie no toast (much less 2 pieces), and no blueberry cream cheese).
See how you feel after eating mostly lean meats and veggies.
BTW, what makes you 'sick' on diets? Maybe you have some undiagnosed food intolerances?
I have tried recently eating just scrambled eggs with sausage for breakfast with no bread or other carbs and I felt fine. I am looking at doing the atkins induction to see how it works for me. If it is too strict I will make adjustments to make it work for me. I am aiming for a meal plan that is maybe a combination of the ir diet and atkins. Won't start till after my period next week. Then I will see what happens.
Yearbers, I would like for you to speak with someone that is in the same boat as you are. She will be able to help you and will give you a lot of good information. Her name is Fuzzy Bear. She is on SC and would be more than happy to help you and give you some advice. She has had a hard time controlling her glucose levels and her doc put her on insulin. It still wasn't helping with the glucose levels. She got on a website called, I think, sparkpeople. It has helped her a lot. PM her and ask her what she has done. She is a great person and would be more than happy to share with you. Good luck sweetie and I hope you find something that helps for you.
__________________ DX 1994-told to lose weight by GYN,Suffered 12 years before seeking treatments: REDX 2006 by a family doc sent to endo July 31, 2006 and glad I went; Byetta, 2000mg Metformin, 28 units of levemir, fish oil, 1000mg calcium. Type 2 diabetic and high cholesterol dx March 05, psoriasis dx 1992. Married 20 yrs 2 kids: girl 19 yrs old and boy 17 yrs old.
Sparkpeople.com is a great site....there is a group there is a group called Managing Diabetes and I run one called Living With Diabetes. But when it comes to getting the best answers on controlling diabetes I strongly and persistently recommend the Adults Type 2 discussion board at the American Diabetes Associtation's website. I've researched diabetes all over the web and been a member of several groups at various times, I even run one over there on sparkpeople....but I learned more on that ADA board than anywhere else....for two years I've been going there regularly and I've never been disappointed.
Someone there aimed me here -- that was the first place I went to when I had some new medical problem I needed to learn about.
I have never had my insulin levels measured at all. I have A1c's every quarter and use my glucose meter to test between three and ten times a day, depending on how the day is going. At my T2 dx I was ranging between 549 and ERROR on a home glucometer. I was dx'ed on 8/12/05...my first reading below 200 was on 8/19 (reading it in my journal that I kept), my first full day with all readings below 200 was 8/23 and on 8/24 I had my first two readings in range, 117 late morning and 115 early evening. After that point I had in range readings most of the day except the morning fastings which were still in the upper 100's until the second week of Sept. when they started being in the one-teens/one-twenties which is the best they've ever been on a regular basis.
As I skim through that journal I can tell you that I lived off delux tossed salads, Slim Fast Optima shakes and meal bars that first month and kept moving most of the time. I wasn't quite ready for real excercise yet, but I used to walk in place during commercial breaks of my night time shows, along with daytime walks whenever the weather was decent.
I agree with PP, check out the American Diabetes Association Website and Sparkpeople.com. I am type 2 and was dx in March 05. When do you test your blood sugar? 1hr after eating or 2 hrs after eating. If you want to know the peak measurement, check 1 hr after eating. Two hours after you eat, it should be back to normal range, but people with diabetes, it takes longer usually. When I was dx in 05, my doc sent me to diabetic teaching class. It taught me how to count exchanges and how to help manage my blood sugar levels. The dietician put me on a 1400 calorie exchange list and gave me the serving sizes of different types of foods. It really helped me control my blood sugar levels and didn't make me feel like I was starving all the time. I didn't get headaches and I didn't feel like I was going to pass out. I lost 40 pounds using this life style in about 6 months. I haven't stuck with it for a year or so (I still watch what I eat, I just don't follow the 1400 calorie plan) and I haven't gained back any of the weight. I started back on the 1400 calorie plan to again lose weight. I would suggest that you speak with your doctor and see if he can send you to see a dietician or send you to diabetic teaching classes of some sort. That way the dietician will help you figure out what is going on with you. HTH.
__________________ DX 1994-told to lose weight by GYN,Suffered 12 years before seeking treatments: REDX 2006 by a family doc sent to endo July 31, 2006 and glad I went; Byetta, 2000mg Metformin, 28 units of levemir, fish oil, 1000mg calcium. Type 2 diabetic and high cholesterol dx March 05, psoriasis dx 1992. Married 20 yrs 2 kids: girl 19 yrs old and boy 17 yrs old.
Hello. My dietician put me on a 2400 cal diet. I take humulin n and humalog 5 times a day. But alot because Im pregnant. But I have learned being T2 that you never eat fruit in the morning. Cuz when you eat fruit you will crash a couple hours later and then your tired or sick. I have noticed that when I eat plan shredded wheat with nothing on it just alittle low fat milk my sugar will go to 182. But if I eat 2 eggs and either a glass of milk or 2 pieces of toast my sugar is only 112-120. Before I got pregnant I was gonna go on the low GI diet. I bought the idots guild to a low glycmic index weight loss book. The low gi diet is suppose to be a great diet for diabetics. Check it out suppose to be really helpful for maintaining your sugar through out the day.
carbs and high sugar spikes 
