How are my numbers doing please?

Mamo,

A normal should have a reading of 110 or less two hours after a meal. The fact that you are on 1000 mg of metformin and getting those numbers means that the meds are working. I would recommend an after dinner walk (if you have a dog he will LOVE you!) to get that bedtime number down a bit. Exercise enhances our ability to utilize our own insulin. Metformin does this as well but when taken for a long time (we're talking years) it doesn't always work so well. This is why many diabetics have to add new meds and/or long acting insulin to their regimen.

If you take all of the white stuff out of your food plan (the grain based foods and the potatoes) as well as add in some exercise every day you should realize a weight loss. The less fat your body has the less it tries to make fat. Also, the less fat you have the better your body uses it's own insulin. This may lead to a decrease in your medication dosages and/or the elimination of some prescriptions.

There are some complicated reasons for these body changes and I don't understand them all, I just take the expert's word for it and follow their advice. This does not apply to everyone who is a Type2 diabetic. I am making a blanket statement for something that has worked for many peeps including myself. Better numbers mean you get to see out of your eyes longer, feel your feet and keep them longer, stay off dialysis, and avoid strokes and heart attacks better.

I see that you are on Lipitor. Be sure NOT to consume any grapefruit, juice or even sodas like Diet Squirt or Diet Mountain Dew while on Lipitor. Grapefruit intensifies the effects of statins (like Lipitor) and has been linked to deaths from liver failure. Read your label ingredients on things to be sure you are not consuming grapefruit.

Debbie,

I know you are pretty new to this but I want to help you understand something. The medications are not the enemy. High numbers are our enemy. Anything you need to do to get those numbers down is good. If you have to learn to do the HULA Dance to get enough exercise to get your numbers down, then the HULA Dance is good.

We have a major misconception in this country that "Taking pills (or shots) = Bad, Unhealthy" and "Doing things 'natural' or with supplements = "Good, healthy". This is because of strong marketing from the advertising industry that is pushing to make money regardless of the cost in human suffering or financial ruin. Sometimes you have to take a step back and gently puzzle the whole picture out, letting your common sense rule. When you do this you will find that what you want is quality of life as long as possible. If lifestyle changes and meds are necessary to make this happen, so be it.

Your diabetes is not going to go away. You cannot change that. It will always be there lurking in your background. If you consume more carbs than your body can immediately use and do not exercise or take your meds your blood sugar will go up. This is a fact of life. High blood sugars cause damage to your body's organs. Everyday. Always. This is also a fact of life. You can alter the amount of glucose that your body must handle each day. You can alter the way your body copes with the glucose in your blood with exercise and medication. You cannot change that your body's glucose handling mechanism is broken. You cannot 'cure' the part of you that is broken at this time.

The miracle of today's medicine is that we have multiple tools to fight this deficiency in our body's ability to metabolize blood glucose. We have home meters (just became available since I was diagnosed). We have the glycemic load index. We have online support. We have increased ongoing research into ways to combat diabetes. We have researchers looking into new ways to fight this disease and it's evil offspring, neuropathy, blindness, amputations and kidney failure as well as heart attack and stroke. If you're gonna' have diabetes then this is the best possible time in history to have it. At least we can fight back!

So while you wrap your mind around the idea that you are indeed a diabetic you can save yourself a whole lot of trouble and start now to do all the correct things. I goofed off for about 10 years and wound up on insulin because I didn't pay attention to my doctor and because I was in denial. Now I have the glasses and the foot neuropathy to show for my stubborn stupidity. Please learn from my mistakes and skip that part, ok?

Yes, I do worry, I know nothing, the Dr wrote down all my tests, told me the bloodsugar was high and if I drank pop to stop, and if my bloodsugar was still high in 3 months he and I were going to have a heart to heart and with that he left the room.

I was the one who said I want a meter, I came here for help, I immediately stopped drinking my pop and my sugar went higher. I read back on posts here. I learned that not controlling your blood sugar would damage your organs, I said to myself "Self, he wants me to wait 3 months, my bloodsugar is climbing and he says wait 3 months, now if it goes higher it is already doing its damage and all he said was quit drinking pop!! " So I scheduled another appt. this Dr told me about the same thing, I asked her ok if this keeps going up it is hurting me, so I just sit back and wait, that's what your saying? She came back in with well I can put you on meds because you don't know what your to eat or we can wait the 3 months. H*** I am scared, I don't want to have a stroke, or a heart attack. I am already having problems seeing so what was I suppose to say?

I said ok then put me on the med I will lose weight I will do whatever it takes, I just do not want any more damage to my body then there already is. Then she said we will loook at the numbers in 3 months you keep track to, if they continue to go up then call us but give the meds a month to work.

So I am saying, they don't tell me what a normal reading is, what I should set my goal at or nothing, I am still not diagnoised, all they say is your blood sugar is high. Not that I want to have this disease cause I don't. But I am not going to lay down and die either because the Dr don't want to say the word. I just got off the phone I am going back to see the Dr that really knows me and afraid to tell me anything. I quit going to him because he moved 17 miles away but now I am thinking I am going to go see him and see what he thinks. I had been with him over 20 years, he is my age and he knows me better than anyone. I just made that decision as I write.

My hubby thinks I will be able to go off. He don't like to talk about it. I know he is scared.

I am not scared of the disease, I can handlemost anything, I have not broke down, I just want someone who knows what they are doing. This other Dr wanted me to decide to be on meds or not. I don't know she went to school for this not me.

I think I am making the right choice by going to get another opinion on this.

So yes I worry, I will worry till I know what is going on with this disease, I am going to get to the bottom and if I have to take meds I will, that don't bother me, but what does bother me is 2 Dr's unsure and wanting me to make the decision to be or not to be on meds   I don't think they should of asked me this do you? I want to be doing the right things, I want to be eating the right things I just don't want them to tell me to stop drinking pop. You all have been so good to help me and I appreciate it more than you know   Thanks so much for all of your help and for taking the time to talk to a ole worrier

Another thing I learned when I talked to the Dr's nurse was that the last feww hc1 have been high. They never told me this b4!

 

Have you actually been tested for diabetes?If not you should be.

Debbie,

Part of the problem is that doctors don't get much training in diabetes in med school, and that meds, research and treatments have changed so much, so fast, lately. My father-in-law died of diabetic complications in 2000. He had only been on metformin for a few years. Before that he was on a whole class of drugs that they don't even use much anymore. Many doctors get discouraged, too, because most patients don't follow their diet and don't do what they should and then get complications and it's like an uphill struggle. It's kind of hard on their "I want to fix people" attitude. I just wish they would start us out saying, "Stop eating grain based foods. Stop eating potatoes. Stop drinking milk. Eat more vegetables. Eat more salads. Eat more monosaturated fats like olives and avocadoes." Sure would have been a lot easier than that whole "1/2 a potato, 1 piece of bread with dinner-fairytale" that they lead me down the rosie path with!!!

My primary care physician is in her husband's office (he was my previous doc) and he is a nephrologist (dialysis doc) so he was waaaay more careful with me than a regular GP would be. His wife is my present doc and she is really on top of things. When I started my insulin and took my second set of classes I became a moderator here and that has really kept me on my toes. We share and learn from each other and the best thing is, if you or I have a really good doc who gives us good advice, we can share all the best of the best. Often times I will learn something here from a member and bring it up to my doc. She will give me the medical journal info that she has learned and then we can evaluate if it's something we want to implement in my overall self management plan.

Sharing here is way awesome! Eventually you will find the doctor who wants to help you help yourself. If you have had high A1c readings in the past, I have no idea why the docs want you to wait for another one. Maybe they want you to get used to the idea that you "may" be diabetic... Maybe my signature applies to them?

I did have a fasting done, that's what started allof this. I ate nothing after 10PM and had it drawn at 9 the next morning and it was 6.1 and 124