Diabetic anyone?

[JustJo]

Hi everyone...

Didn't see a thread on this topic, and wondered if any other planeteers are living with diabetes.

I got diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic just after my 40th birthday...runs in my family something fierce...but had evidently been walking around undiagnosed for a decade or more (according to the opthamologist and my retinopathy). I'm not insulin dependent (thank goodness...cuz I'm also needle-phobic), but control it with oral meds, diet and exercise.

I'd love to exchange tips, support (and sometimes just a good whine about what a pain it is to live like this) with others....

[Sabine Gallais]

Diagnosed with Type II last year this time. Also controlling with diet, exercise and whatnot. Doing well mostly. Difficult to "live with" but not impossible. Lots of dietary changes obviously but being a former chef helps make this part of the deal is easier.



I also grow a lot of items which makes eating fresh and clean a lot more enjoyable.

[MsTinkerbelly]

Insulin dependant Diabetic diagnosed at 18, considered childhood onset.

I have had a heart attack at 39 (almost 40), and had a triple bypass done at 46, almost 3 years ago, largely due to the years I spent not taking care of myself properly.

Great thread idea!

[Gemme]

I am not diabetic, but am highly predisposed to it. I think this could be a very useful and informational thread for those who live with it and those who are trying not to develop it.

[diamondrose]

I have a good friend that lives with type II diabetes. She still loves her sweets but I try to encourage healthier options considering her situation. We also try to exercise regularly together to help manage her weight. Once we were at a store and her sugar droped. Since then , I carry a kit to test her sugar and things she made need if needed. Its serious stuff.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Yes I am diabetic. I am Type 2 as well. I was very thin, but got very sick with pneumonia and bronchitus (sp??). I was on steroids, and gained a ton of weight. That did me in. I am on pills now. I was on insulin, but with loosing weight, exercise, and so on, I am on the pills. WooHoo!

I have a long family history of diabetics in my family. I also have a long family history of cancer as well. I am not sure of the connection of the two diseases.

I have neuropathy in one of my feet. It feels like I am walking on a sponge. And the pain...the only way I can describe it is that I feel like a burn victim. It is just horrible. On a scale of 1 to 10 I am at a 10++++.

My eyesight was good, but I am loosing it each day. I highly recommend everyone who is diabetic to wear sunglasses, and to go get their eyes checked each year.

Don't take your health for granite. I used too. But boy was I taught a hard lesson.

[GeekBear]

I'm type II, diagnosed 3 years ago. I control my diabetes with diet, exercise and oral meds. I always knew it was coming because it does run in my family something awful but I try to make healthier food choices and exercise as much as I can. don't get me wrong, I still love my sweets and I'm a mountain dew addict, I just do everything in moderation now and some diet sodas like diet wild cherry pepsi are pretty darn tasty. I think this thread is a great thing and I have a ton of recipes to share if anyone likes a good guilt-free dessert let's keep each other motivated to live happy and be healthy ya'll!

~geek~

[JustJo]

Wow...welcome everyone

I started this thread, went away for a conference call, and came back to a group!

I would love any recipes for healthy but tasty meals and desserts. I love to cook and bake...and also have a 12 year old son at home, so what I make has to work for both of us. And I have a sweet tooth too....I try to do it only in moderation.

Cutting out fast food almost completely, and regular soda completely, has made a big difference - not only in my blood sugar but also in my cholesterol and triglyceride readings as well.

For me, the biggest difference seems to be whether I exercise or not. A 45 minute walk will drop my next day's fasting blood sugar by 10 points.

Right now I'm trying to focus more on the diet and exercise piece, and weaning myself off of some of the oral meds (carefully). They changed our health insurance this year and I have a $2400 deductible for my son and I. That meant that my first 3 month supply of meds was going to run me $1400....with another $1000 to pay out 3 months later. I chose instead to go off of my lipitor (for cholesterol...which the doc and I had been thinking we were ready to discontinue anyway), and the januvia (which made it easier to stick to the diet but didn't seem to have a huge impact on my blood sugar). That brought the bill down from $1400 to about $650...and so far my readings are good.

Andrew...I'm sending you a hug. I live in fear of neuropathy. My grandfather lost a leg to it, and I had heard that the pain was horrible. My retinopathy is not too bad and doesn't impact my vision particularly. It's there...but we appear to have stabilized my blood sugar in time to freeze it in its tracks. It's a huge motivator for me...since reading and writing is what I do most often. I want my eyes to stay healthy for a good long time. That's worth cutting out the candy and fast food and going for a walk for me.

So...another conference call beckons (I work from home)...but I'm all for supporting and encouraging each other in this...and sharing those great recipe ideas. Thanks again to all of you for posting!

[JustJo]

Happy Sunday everyone,

I had another little reminder today...on how important it is for diabetics (well, all of us really) to get enough sleep!

I managed to sleep in today...something that almost never happens...and had the best fasting blood sugar reading I've had in ages as a result. I'm gonna have to watch the bedtime so I get enough rest before

Did a little reading online...and found this:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders...-lack-of-sleep

[Andrew, Jr.]

I have tried all kinds of diets. The one that I found for me that works best for me is the South Beach. I also use the Calorie King book for counting calories and really comes in handy when eating out. It helps to see what is what. I also drink nothing but water, tea, and coffee. I cut out sodas, and the such.

[ruthie14]

Great thread idea! have type 2 as well. Found out when I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant in my 30's. Take care of it with pills diet and excersise. Numbers are great. I am actually down to 2 pills a day. My triglycerides are off the charts however. No matter what we try. The meds for them make me sick, so we have stopped them. I have Celiac as well, which I think actually has a connection. I am trying to cut out more carbs bc that seems to affect me a lot.

Have a great day folks.
Ruthie

[Andrew, Jr.]

Ruthie,

Please share with us what is celiac? I never heard of that. Carbs just make my nos. go sky high. I know what you mean.

[ruthie14]

Hey Andrew,

There is a thread here for those of us with celiac, crones etc.

Basically, it is an allergy to wheat (including.. some oats, rye, grahm, spelt, among other things). It is in a TON of stuff. Makes it difficult to go out and eat i tell ya. I also have allergies to preservatives found in meat/fish/ poultry products. So that makes it even harder to go out. On the plus side though, less carbs make my sugar better and if I am eating at home, I am eating better. lol

[Andrew, Jr.]

Ruthie,

Thanks for jogging my mind. Now I remember! Yes Yes Yes!

[rockybcn]

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art..._diabetes.html

Hi all! I thought I would include an article about a natural sweetener derived from a plant that is safe for diabetics. My ex is an herbalist and this is what she recommended. The best tasting stevia is called Sweet Leaf (IMHO).
Have any of you heard of it or tried it? Its really sweet so you dont have to use much, and its a great alternative to all the other sugar alternatives.
Wishing you all the very best!

[Nikki]

Hello everyone
Although I am not Diabetic,I have quite a few family members that have it and was at risk. I decided to do Gastric Bypass and have lost almost 100 pounds since February 23rd of this year.
I wanted to chime in because I cannot eat any sugar and have to watch the carbs as well.

I have also found a great All Natural Sweetener, in comparison to Sweet Leaf, its called Truvia and it is WONDERFUL. I have also used Purvia, but I like the sweetness of Truvia better. You can also find Stevia(which is the plant's name) in the Raw, which you can use cup for cup in baking.

I no longer drink any soda,so its Sobe Lifewater(which uses Stevia as its sweetener) and no sugar iced teas.

If you have a really good grocery store that carries Bob's Red Mill Products, they have a low carb baking flour that makes AMAZING pancakes,without all the high carbs. You can also go to www.bobsredmill.com to order it.

Grocery shopping used to take me such a short time, but now that I read every label,and am going Organic,it takes me about 2 1/2 hours to grocery shop. Thank Gawd I have an amazing Femme at my side to help.

Thanks for opening this discussion,and it being my first post here :O)

Peace
Nikki

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by rockybcn

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art..._diabetes.html

Hi all! I thought I would include an article about a natural sweetener derived from a plant that is safe for diabetics. My ex is an herbalist and this is what she recommended. The best tasting stevia is called Sweet Leaf (IMHO).
Have any of you heard of it or tried it? Its really sweet so you dont have to use much, and its a great alternative to all the other sugar alternatives.
Wishing you all the very best!

Thank you for posting about stevia! Not only is it safe for diabetics, I've found that it seems to help keep my numbers stable.

Before being diagnosed I was drinking an average of 3 cokes a day...switched to diet coke, which certainly helps but when I instead make a pitcher of ice tea with stevia and have that instead my numbers are better than when I'm drinking the diet soda. Bizarre, since there's no sugar involved in either one...but the stevia seems to be a positive thing for me.

I didn't know about Sobe Lifewater using stevia as a sweetener...thanks for that info Nikki! That gives me a better choice to grab when we're out running around.

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by JustJo

Thank you for posting about stevia! Not only is it safe for diabetics, I've found that it seems to help keep my numbers stable.

Before being diagnosed I was drinking an average of 3 cokes a day...switched to diet coke, which certainly helps but when I instead make a pitcher of ice tea with stevia and have that instead my numbers are better than when I'm drinking the diet soda. Bizarre, since there's no sugar involved in either one...but the stevia seems to be a positive thing for me.

I didn't know about Sobe Lifewater using stevia as a sweetener...thanks for that info Nikki! That gives me a better choice to grab when we're out running around.

No problem! I live on Sobe! They have like 8 flavors,all are great

[GoofyLuvr]

Howdy y'all! Yup yup yup, type 2 for me. Was diagnosed 2 years ago, day after my birthday, and turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened to me!I didn't realize this at first, of course, but looking back.....

I've never eaten much, so when they put me on a 1200 calorie diet, I knew I had a lot more eating to do. LOL. But the hardest part was no sugar anymore. Not that I ever ate a lot of sugar. Never drank much soda or sweet tea or anything. Mainly just in my coffee. The problem, though, is that I'm terribly allergic to all sweeteners. They give me instant migraines. So I had a real quandry. Luckily I found something I could use that tastes exactly like sugar, is actually a bit sweeter if you can imagine, and isn't processed by the pancreas, so it doesn't affect the blood sugar. Fructose. Not to be confused with high fructose corn syrup. Just plain old fructose. I'm careful in my use of it, as it can increase your triglycerides, but it allows me to still enjoy my morning cup of coffee. It's hard to find. Basically, you have to go to the "Now Food Ind" website and search stores that carry their products to see if they carry the fructose, too. It can be used for all kinds of cooking and baking. The only thing it doesn't do like sugar does is re-crystalize after being melted. So no making candy with it. But cakes, and stuff? It's fine. Just use less than what the recipe calls for as fructose is literally way sweeter than cane sugar. It's all natural though. So, thought someone might have the same problems I do and might be able to use this info. Of course, talk to your doctor if you have any questions. I'm definitely not a doc! But, my A1C stays in the 4.9 to 5.3 range, and I've been backed down to just my metformin, 800 mg twice/day, so.... Works for me! I am keeping an eye on my triglycerides, though. We'll see what happens with them.

Good luck everyone!

[Butterbean]

My mom passed away from complications of Type 2 diabetes. My dad (also passed away due to an accident) had some type of Type 1 diabetes that I don't exactly understand? He never took any type of insulin but his eating as a child was a constant fight with his mother. As an adult, the doctors at the hospital would put him on special diets that would outrage him and he'd make us bring him food.

My dad was Ojibway. His father, my gramps, had Type 2 diabetes. He loved his diet sodas and sugar free ice cream bars. His mother, my great grandmother also had Type 2 diabetes. There is quite an issue with Type 2 diabetes among American Indians and I've read some theories...one that interests me the most concerns the introduction of bread and dairy products to their diet, which may be the root cause. At any rate, I don't know what the diabetes issue was with my dad exactly.

I'm 43 and I'm not diabetic yet...even with that family history. I didn't bother listing all the uncles, aunts and cousins....About 2 years ago, a doctor said to me "So you don't have diabetes yet?"

I laughed and said "yet" but was amused at her candor...Well, she became all embarrassed and was thinking more outloud to herself and apologized profusely.

But basically I have always just assumed it would arrive eventually. Fast fowarding up to this past January, I had an emergency double bowel obstruction surgery. Because the obstruction was on both ends, they had to remove two parts of my intestines.

Life has been different ever since that surgery. Because parts of my intestines are removed, I malabsorb anything I eat. I am on prescriptions for B-12, D, Iron, and B-6. They also have me on Culturelle, a super potency B, 4x the usual daily vitamins and 4x the calcium.

That's all cool. The part that sucks is I was also diagnosed with hypoglycemia....because I malabsorb fat and sugar just like I do with vitamins.

They advised me this may be early diabetes exhibiting this way....but due to the timing feel fairly certain it is a side effect of the surgery.

I have a blood testing machine and bottles of glucose tabs all over. I was also told for the "time being" to use candy bars to keep myself feeling good. But was told to eat equal amounts of proteins and carbs at meals. This is the part that is difficult for me. I was also told to eat 4-6 small meals a day. This is the part that is even more difficult for me.

I probably hit blood levels of 40 and 50, 5-15 times a week. One thing that helps is that I get a literal "rush" right before it happens so I know. It's similiar to an aura.

The highest I could ever get my blood sugar back up was 280 by eating 3 glucose tabs, food and then sitting on my butt for awhile. Usually, even after a glucose tab and meal, it only swings up to about 160. When it's all behaving it generally hovers around 98-114.

So that's my long winded story about whey I'm here even though I don't have diabetes. LOL