I check every morning, but my Endo would like me to also check 1 hr after eating. I’m pretty bad about that, being a creature of habit and that not being a habit.
Oddly enough, having a beer or spirits has a similar effect to Metformin, distracting the liver from making glucose.
Yeah; some things I was gonna recommend were chili (light on the beans), cream of X soups (e.g., broccoli), and curry (e.g., Thai Red/Masaman/Green curries, or Indian ___ Tikka Masala, ____ Vindaloo, ____ Saag/Palak, and/or _____ Jalfrezi. Probably not Kormas, since they tend to include a lot of ground nuts + coconut, upping the carbs from the standard onion/tomato mix). Not quite the same without rice, I know, but still tasty!
Are you all just basically on the Atkins diet? What’s the current take on it now? I know several people who it did wonders for with cholesterol but i see lots of synergy with diabetes.
I’m not following any particular diet other than watching carbs. The nutritionist I met with after I was diagnosed said she wanted me to target 45-60 carbs per meal. I try to go lower but use that as a guideline. And it gets trickier when you start thinking about complex vs. simple carbs and foods that have carbs but also have dietary fiber. You can subtract the fiber from the carb count to get a more accurate idea of the carb intake from a particular food, though I think I read somewhere it’s better to subtract half a gram of carb for every gram of fiber.
It is like the Atkins in a way, but the goals are different and we don’t want to go into ketosis like the Atkins diet wants us to.
I think I am going to try testing during the day a bit more just so I get a better idea how meals affect my blood sugar.
I was borderline diabetic (almost there, not there yet), and the advice the doctor gave me to control sugar intake is to instead of taking 3 usual meals a day, to take multiple smaller meals throughout the day. This is especially for Asians (me) whose staple is rice (lots of carbs … ). By taking smaller meals, you prevent the “sugar rush”.
Funny you talk about the sugar rush. I learned a lesson today. We celebrated my daughter’s birthday by going out to brunch, and I made the mistake of getting a waffle with maple syrup. My blood sugar went from 106 in the morning to 364 after eating. Fortunately a few hours later it was back down to 116.
So the takeaway for me is no desserts and no big sugar sources like maple syrup. I am trying to stay from rice too, which is sad because I love stir-fry with rice. It does make sense to spread out the carb intake with smaller meals throughout the day.
So, question for anyone who is a Type 2…how did you know that you were? As in, what symptom or symptoms got you to a doctor to get tested?
I was urinating frequently at night (almost once every 2 to 3 hours), and the doctor gave me a blood-sugar test. This article from Health.com about 10 symptoms of diabetes is good read. But also note that diabetes is what they call a “silent killer”, as the symptoms are usually subtle, and by the time they became significant enough, it is too late. The best way to beat this is to do blood sugar test periodicall if you suspect something.
I try for less than 20 carbs in any given meal. Over here the fiber is pre-subtracted on our food labels so it’s a bit easier though really I don’t buy much pre-packaged stuff.
I think the ‘complex vs. simple’ thing is outdated and not of much use. In that categorisation sugar is simple, and starch and fibre are complex. Many starches raise blood glucose rapidly (eg. potatoes, white bread), faster than some simple sugars.
These days carb quality is defined by the glycemic index, and the glycemic load. The index is how fast a food raises glucose levels, and the load also factors in the amount of carbohydrate the food contains. Aim for foods with a low glycemic load.
Also, protein can convert to glucose (really slowly though). Type 2 probably don’t need to watch that as closely as someone who produces no insulin like me. Eating too much of anything in one sitting raises glucose levels as well so watch portion sizes. :)
Common warning signs are frequent urination, urine feels sticky, and constant thirst.
Saw this, thought it was quite shocking.
Sugary sodas, even in healthy people, increase diabetes risk significantly.
1 soda per day, in healthy, lean individuals, ups risk by 13%.
Wow.
Go for a checkup and get bloodwork done. I didn’t feel anything in particular. I’m in my 50’s so urinating in the middle of the night and feeling a bit tired now and then, both symptoms, felt like a normal part of the aging process.
You could also buy a blood test kit at the pharmacy and test first thing in the morning before eating. Here are the guidlines:
Normal Blood Sugars
A normal fasting (no food for eight hours) blood sugar level is between 70 and 99 mg/dL
A normal blood sugar level two hours after eating is less than 140 mg/dL
Diabetes is diagnosed by any one of the following:
Two consecutive fasting blood glucose tests that are equal to or greater than 126 mg/dL
Any random blood glucose that is greater than 200 mg/dL
Sometimes you may have symptoms of fatigue, excessive urination or thirst, or unplanned weight loss. However, often people have no symptoms of high blood glucose and find a diabetes diagnosis surprising.
When I had my bloodwork done my sugar was 376. The alarms went off and as soon as my doctor emailed me I got on medication and modified my diet.
I have a couple of extended family members who are diabetic, and from what they tell me, exercise is key. They still have to moderate their sugar intake, but the doctor has given them positive reports on their health since their initial diagnosis. What they’ve done is to do some light (due to their age) aerobic activities such as brisk walking and swimming.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during the BC launch. I was rushing to get to 70 on my BE Paladin and I was having heart palpitations. Figured that wasn’t good, so I had it checked out. My blood sugar was 167, so, I was diagnosed early. The palpitations were just caused by stress.
A1C is about 100X a more valuable a measure of your diabetic health than blood sugar, but of course you can only get A1C from a lab. I’m on Actos, and a very low dose of a statin and blood pressure medication. I was on metformin, but I stopped about a year ago. I was sick of the side effects. Side effects are weird – they affect everyone differently. Many people are fine with metformin. My BP med, despite me taking a tiny dose, still causes me to urinate more frequently. My friend who actually has high BP takes the same medication with a dosage that is literally 10X higher and he has no side effects. :-/
My A1C at the start of 2014 was 6.0. 6.5 or less is considered great for a type 2. My last A1C was 7.2. I’d say 75% of that is because I went off metformin and the other 25% is since I’ve moved to CA I’m exercising less and eating worse.
It is estimated that by the time a type 2 is diagnosed they’ve burned out (killed) about half of their beta cells. Most type 2s will eventually need insulin as a result. Every time your blood sugar goes above 140 you’re essentially killing more beta cells. But - don’t let it bring you down. As long as you stay mindful of it and the zombie apocalypse doesn’t hit and you can keep getting medications, you’ll be fine.
Now for the important stuff.
Hard liquor contains no carbs – just calories. This means that Captain Morgan’s and CCZ (or diet coke) should become your new best friend. Or about any hard liquor mixed with a diet soda. Drinking just Captain’s and CCZ I’ve seen my blood sugar slowly go down. Stay away from flavored vodkas and such as they do have carbs. Zero calorie margarita mixes are also becoming more common. They’re terrible, in my experience, but you can experiment with low calorie orange juice or even mix the zero calorie and regular magarita mix.
Beer has carbs and should be avoided. I drink one BLL every now and then.
Don’t buy into the artificial sweetener debate. It may be a worthy debate for a healthy person, but as a diabetic artificial sweeteners are 100X better for you than sugar.
As a diabetic you’re going to crave carbs, especially things like white bread. I know in my case my wife does the food shopping and I’m always admonishing her for buying foods that are bad for me. She says I just need to have willpower, and that’s true. But it’s a constant struggle walking by those jelly beans, cookies, and other snacks. Several times a day. I swear I’d lose 30 lbs. if I left her.
If you know anyone who’s diabetic you could ask to borrow their meter (the needles and test strips are disposable). Test about 30 minutes after a meal. For a healthy person, they could eat an entire cheesecake in one sitting and their blood sugar will never go above 140.
So in a non-diabetic person how high will blood sugar spike? I was shocked that my blood sugar jumped to 346 after eating that damn maple syrup. If I was non-diabetic it would have stayed under 140? I was heartened at least that it went back down to 116 rather quickly. I think it was about four hours after I ate when I tested a second time and it was 116.
My doctor said diet, exercise, and weight are much more important in controlling type 2 than medication. I just need to make my pancreas last as long as I can at this point.
Correct. Above 140 and the sugar in your blood starts causing damage. A healthy person can eat anything and their BS will never go above 140.
There are many factors involved, but even a casual 1 mile walk after eating could lower your BS by as much as 100 points.
For most people, it’s about weight. All that fat is an insulin sink. Lose weight and your body can provide enough insulin to moderate your blood sugar. If you’re already svelte and have type 2 diabetes, your case is fairly unusual, usually caused by genetics or an autoimmune disorder. Obviously losing weight is very difficult, so consider a lapband if you fail to do it on your own. Losing weight really is the answer. Most people don’t/can’t do it, so they remain heavily medicated forever.
It’s somewhat difficult to get insurance to pay for it, but ask your doctor about Invokana also. Invokana is another wonder drug. It blocks a protein that causes your kidneys to reabsorb glucose into your blood, so you piss out sugar, just like uncontrolled diabetes. This introduces a deficit of 200-300 calories per day. Now 300 calories isn’t a lot, but if you consistently absorb 300 less calories per day, the cumulative effect is weight loss-- with zero effort. It also drops blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure a bit. Side effects are worse in women than men, and are largely related to the sugary urine. Yeast and urinary tract infections. So wipe off your dick with a baby wipe after pissing and you’re golden.
Even if you do lose a ton of weight and can provide enough insulin to control your blood sugar, the doc will probably keep you on metformin anyway. And that’s probably a good thing-- nobody understands the mechanism, but metformin seems to extend life. For everybody, not just diabetics. It reduces the incidence of certain types of cancer and has effects similar to calorie restriction in reducing inflammation and so on.
I would try and limit artificial sweeteners. They’re not that bad for you but they’re not good for you either. I’ve heard that constantly drinking diet coke desensitizes your tastebuds, and that makes some sense. If you’re constantly drinking diet coke, how can you really enjoy a piece of whole-wheat bran-oat banana bread? But after a few weeks or months of a healthy diet, that whole-wheat sample will taste great. My father said the same thing about salt, after cutting it out, you realize just how salty a lot of our diet is, in particular restaurant food. Now a salty treat, say a slice of pizza, is a yummy mouthful of salt.
There are some indications that artificial sweeteners can reduce glucose tolerance by messing with gut microbes. They obviously are much better than eating sugar, in a harm-reduction type of way. So yeah, people with diabetes should ideally try not to drink diet soda. Give unsweetened iced tea a shot, or drink water/seltzer with fresh lemon. But if you can’t bring yourself to give up diet coke, it’s not the end of the world.