Denial for years

Hello!  I'm new to the forum and have been in denial of my type II diabetes for years....yes, years.  I have tried in the past to regulate my diet but have not been consistent.  My blood sugars will go up to 380 at times, however, the worst over the holidays was 263.  Lately, I've kept it around 160. 

The weekend after Thanksgiving the left side of my body went numb.  I have had this sensation happen in the past but never as so severe.  Anyway, the doc checked out my arteries which were clear so she does not believe that I had a stroke.  Since those test I have had an acute bout of numbness and tingling feelings in my hands.  It has been very painful.  We are ruling out Multiple Sclerosis due to also finding optic neuritis in my right eye. 

All said, the reason for my visit and post is that I have GOT to get control of my sugars and my weight.  If I do have MS along with diabetes the combination along with my 280 pound body is not a good mix.  I've never been too worried because despite all of the information of the seriousness of my sugars being so high, my symptoms have been minor.  Now I've had an acute spell of something and my period of denial has become a full blown reality check.

I see a neurologist on Thursday.  I'm getting up in the morning and walking as well as checking my sugars and lowering my carb intake.  I need help to stay accountable!  Is this the place????

 

Seejo,

If you're here to be yelled at or if you're looking for absolution you're out of luck. You know now what you have known all along. Your fear kept you from facing it. You can do yourself a world of good if you just make one choice at a time to try to maintain what you have now and not lose your eye sight or limbs. We will act as your cheering section, best buddies, coaches and be a shoulder to cry on but we can't be there when you're ordering at Mc Donalds and we can't help you out at the grocery store when you're in the cookie aisle.

So I'll try to give you some positive things to do... My dietician gave me the three color rule for meals. This means that you try to eat three different colored items at each meal. This made me start buying a lot more fresh veggies at the store. I started using mustard greens on my sandwiches instead of lettuce (and WHEWEEE! are they ever good on sandwiches... like radishes only flat and green!) I had to spend money on real fruit (because of the colors) and because the cell walls on fresh fruit delay the release of sugar into the blood stream and the fiber is great for you. (This is why we eat fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.) I started buying skinless, boneless chicken breasts on sale so I could fix one in the microwave in three minutes if I was starving. I started reading labels and figuring out my carb allowance for each meal. I started making bread at home in a bread machine because I could control the amount of sugar and put in stuff like oatmeal and rye flower and barley and make awesome bread for about 14¢ a loaf that has high fiber and great nutrition.

One really great thing you can do to help yourself is to go someplace nice and walk. I like to go to a nearby neighborhood with beautiful homes by the country club. It's pretty and they always have their walks plowed. The secret is to walk for 15 minutes and then turn around and walk back to your car. When you start out you will only walk a little way because you're out of shape... but eventually you will walk farther and farther in your 15 minutes and that 1/2 hr. walk will become a great help to your sugars.

I'm going to let some more of your new friends give you some great hints. Everybody here is really helpful and nice. We're all in this diabetes thing together so we might as well help each other. You've made a really brave first step by posting here and you will do great if you just stay involved and KOKO! (Keep on keepin' on!)

Dear AM_BD,
Injustice ,dear Am,you should have sent the last line in the above reply to me too.That would have served me right as i seem to deserve it.Save me from becoming like a pear with your kind words,tough phrases and useful sentences.
sharer

My approach to this may be a little different. I like to formulate a game plan and follow it. My game plan is this. I get up at 4:30 and go to work. I will eat only protein during the day. Maybe 1 piece off fruit. I never suffer from low blood sugar. At 5PM I eat dinner. Between 5-8pm I eat carbs. I stop eating than exercise 2 hour later. I walk 3.0miles per hour for 30 minutes on a treadmill. This puts my blood sugar in a safe zone 115-125 If I get hungry I only eat protein. I do this day after day after day. I can not figure how 1000 different combinations of food effect blood sugar. It's too mind boggeling.for me. I see because of my biochemistry I have to live on a specific amount of food per day,or I will gain weight and create insulin resistance. I weigh all my food on a diet scale. Even if I buy a steak sandwich I will weigh it. If it weighs 16 ounces I gain 1 pound if it weighs 20 ounces I will gain 20 ounces. By controlling the onces I control my weight gain. I have a beam scale . I'm very familiar with my metabolic rate. Here is something alot of people do not know. But if you have a beam scale and monitor weight you see even 1/4 pound drop ,you get an idea how your body burns food for energy. Through this method I can get my weight to come out at 5PM between 43-145 every day. It is sort of like marching in the army now envision the beam scale, ready, left ,right, left,right,left right. That is why on some other diabetic sites I am known as Even Steven because I put on 2 pounds every day and take off 2 pounds every day. That is what I mean by practical self help. Practical meaning something that can actually be put to use. Not theory. I keep pushing the scale to the left and control how far I push it to the right by measuring food. I am also very familiar with calories. Been also a calorie counter for maybe 10 years. Not only do I control the weight I put on I can control the number of calories doing it. I'm also familiar with carbs and protein foods.  I use all my navigating equipment to control this, glucose meter, beam scale, diet scale, treadmill.  I'm not a fly by the seat of my pants type of guy.  I do this in a 24 hour cycle. I'm not an eat by the clock type of person.  I eat how I feel.  I realize there are times it is difficult for me to control my food intake.but there are enough good hours in the day I can. There is no doubt because of my biochemistry if I can't live on a specific amount of food per day I can not control diabetis or weight.  You have the domino theory here.  I believe if you can not control weight a lot of the domino's start to fall, more and more meds,insulin  Somewhere along the line you have to corelate food intake with insulin and thyroid stimulating hormone.  There has to be a correlation and relation to one to the other.  I'm very familiar with my body. I've done alot of homework, You have to do your homework.  It will pay off.  You need real good feedback.  This is a very difficult tricky disease. and complicated.  If ever the means justify the results this disease is it.  I do not think doctor's grade us on methodology. They want to see results. This is how  we will be judged.My methods are not mainline. I do not follow the rest of society when it come to eating. Even if I don't go to a party at work it does not bother me because I know I can always push the scale to the right. Believe me putting on weight and raising blood sugar will never be a problem for us. I'm not advocating doing what I do but I just want too offer some of my self help methods  I time carb intake,med,exercise,and reasos for not eating   You have the cumulative effect with this disease. You are basically overloading a system that can not handle it That is one of the reasons I don't eat many carbs during the day  With each additon of carbs and pounds it just gets worse and worse You have to think control here not cure.  We are trying to control blood sugar and control weight.  We are trying to hit a constant moving targets.  We do have margin for error.  Blood glucose changes 100 times a day.  Weight can change 10-15 times a day depending how much you eat, when you last ate.your metabolic rate.  Just try to keep everything in a safe area. Get to know your body how different stimuli effect it, carbs, protein, calories, exercise,portion controlled food . This can help you make better eating decisions.  You have to factor in this whole equation there are times you can not control your food intake, Before I eat something I say to myself how hard is it to gain weight, and how hard is it to take off?  How hard is it to elevate blood sugar and how hard is it to lower it.  What is the ratio from one to the other?  That is why I eat how I feel.  Also protein helps keep the appetite in control.  Read Dr. Atkins.  It's what's in the blood that controls appetite not your stomach. Carbs trigger insulin your sugar drops and hunger occurs.  Like I said I believe Dr.Atkins understand how the body functions.  You need some working knowledge and understanding the nature of the beast          

Post Edited (steven kreloff) : 1/5/2006 3:40:31 AM (GMT-7)