pre diabetic - need diet help please

Hi:)
I have prednisone induced diabetes type 2. I follow a diet I learned here...nothing white except cauliflower. I can't eat any fruit or my blood sugar levels really spike but many people here can eat fruit in moderation. I stay away from all bread, pasta...just all foods with flour or sugar in them. I eat meat, eggs, cheese and nuts for protein. Lots of salad and vegetables(except peas, carrots and corn as they have more sugar content). Everyone is different. Any carbs raise my levels fast. Plus, the pred also raises glucose levels. Do you have a blood testing monitor? I learned to eat a food and test an hour, two hours and three hours later to see what it did to my blood levels and what was safe for me to eat. I really avoid all carbs except what is in some vegetables. Wait until Lanie gets here as she is such a help in this area. You are lucky to be diagnosed early. I didn't get diagnosed until my glucose level was 878 and I was put in the hospital and almost died from it. I am still on pred but hope to be off soon. Please really watch for spiking glucose levels carefully. Take care:)

Hi Beth, Ceebee is a good source for information since you're both taking prednisone.  Avoiding food that has carbs will help control your blood sugar while you're on pred and hopefully you'll be able to come off it eventually and get back to your normal diet.  Ceebee described a food plan that's low carb which is a basic way to keep blood sugar to more normal levels.  You'll have to use your judgement about what to eat so you don't creates UC flares.  Since you don't know what your blood sugar readings are and the doctor says they were only "slightly elevated", you might be able to eat whole grain products or fruit along with all kinds of meat and the vegetables that are not full of carbs.  Basically those vegetables on the no-no list would be potatoes and peas, then root vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes - although since these last two have fiber, you might be able to eat them and do ok.  It's hard to say since you can't monitor your own blood sugar after you eat.  Starchy vegs like beans also have fiber but may cause a slow rise in blood sugar.  If you're going back next month for another blood test, if I were you, I'd stick to meat, cheese, eggs, low-carb vegetables and leafy greens if you can eat them and see how your tests come out.  Too bad patients can't be given "loaner" blood glucose monitors while they're on pred.   This would tell you how the flood affects your blood sugar.  The "no white food diet" (except cauliflower) means no bread, cake, cookies or anything made with the word flour in the ingredients, no sugar in any form and no honey, no rice or potatoes.  This is strictly low carb.  As I said before, though, you might be able to eat whole grain products and do fine.  Some people can eat natural fruit.  Sorry you've got these complications from the meds you have to take.  I hope everything is resolved soon! 

Beth,
If you have insurance ask your doctor to please write you a prescription for a meter and testing kit. Trying to manage your prednisone-induced diabetes without a meter is like trying to drive your car through a speed zone at night without lights or a speedometer. You can't see where you are going and have no idea how fast you are getting there.

My diabetes was low level for many years and I wasn't really diagnosed until the AMA lowered the numbers for diagnosis. In the meantime I have suffered some kidney impairment, eye changes and have mild neuropathy in my feet. If I could go back and do it over again I would have learned about the low carb diet long ago. What I didn't know until I took my diabetes classes is that any time my blood glucose is over 150 two or more hours after a meal I was doing permanent damage to my eyes, kidneys, blood vessels and the nerves in my extremities.

While I can't undo the previous damage I can stop doing it in the present. You can do this, too. I know how scary this diagnosis is but I pray that you don't make my mistake and just 'coast' for a few years hoping it will go away. I now wear glasses... and really got the wake-up call when I had to have four of my toenails removed. Poor circulation caused them to grow strangely and they cut into the skin on my toes. I got infections that wouldn't heal and there you go... I was lucky that I didn't get gangrene and loose my feet. I know this now... didn't then. If I'd been testing my blood sugar all those years it would have been running in the 125 to 180 range all day long. At the time I didn't think that was so bad. Now I know better and work hard to keep it down.

I don't mean to write a book here, but I want you to be able to start taking control of your blood glucose. There are several ways to keep it down.
1) Don't eat grain based foods, i.e. wheat, rice, corn or anything made from them
cereal, pasta, noodles, crackers, cookies, cakes, snack foods and chips
2) Don't eat tuber based foods such as potatoes & carrots or anything made from them
3) Substitute vegetables for starches. I cut up cabbage in thin strips and use this instead of noodles in my soup.
I use spaghetti squash in place of pasta. I slide the top of the pizza off the crust, dice it and put it over salad making a 'pizza' salad. No bread from the crust and lots of raw spinach and romaine lettuce for vitamins.
4) Walk about 1/2 hour a day. You can do this by walking away from your home for 15 minutes and then walking back. I used to go park in a different ritzy subdivision each morning, walk away from the car for 15 minutes looking at all the lovely homes and then walk back to my car.
5) When you must have something sweet, make it a square of really good chocolate. (Just one!) The high fat content of the chocolate will help spread the absorption of the sugars over time, helping lower the spike a bit. This is not permission to snarf chocolate.. just a suggestion if you are craving something and about to loose your mind.

Read back in the posts and see what others have done to help control their sugars. And please get a meter. Your doctor is not the one who will suffer the ill effects of your high numbers, you are. I hope we can help you through this.

I just called my Doc's office to get the scoop on my blood sugar level.

Nov - 104
Dec - 113
Jan - 155

hope the no carb, no sugar and exercise helps me.

If it would help you all, I have no insurance so I bought a meter that uses AA batteries. It seems to be fairly accurate, was inexpensive, and best of all, the strips are inexpensive, too. If you go to this link

Meter and 300 strips for about $105.00

Everybody wants to "give" you a meter so you will be roped into using their buck-a-piece strips. The Prestige IQ strips are only about 30¢ each. I've found this to be the least expensive way for me to go.

Hi Beth, you had mentioned wine and vodka in a previous post.  They're fine to have as long as the wine is not a fortified wine like sherry or vermouth and the vodka isn't mixed with fruit juice.  Remember:  all fruit juices have natural sugar.  We probably used to think that since there was no sugar added to the juice that it was good and healthy.   Well, if you're insulin resistant/diabetic, fruit juices will raise your blood sugar.   Regular white or red wine is a good choice.  Alcohol like vodka is ok but, as I said, be careful what you add to it.  Diabetics who are on meds have to be careful of lows if they drink alcohol. 

also wine has 100mg of potassium for white and 180mg for red. I enjoy a glass a few times a week and I need potassium anyway.

Also, w/vodka when going out I usually like to get it with diet coke and a lime, so no added sugar there and the summer I like a cape cod (vodka and cranberry juice) but cant have that now.

All in all, I have lost 5 pounds since last week doing the low carb/sugar diet. I think a few of that is water b/c I started taking the fursomide and my edema in my ankles and calves has gone down somewhat (still not normal from the pred and my kidneys).

HMMMM, going to try the wine. I love white and red:) Haven't had any alcohol in months. How about rum, gin, ect.? Like in only one drink? How about a Martini with some diet 7-UP and the true lemon? Thanks:)

Ceebee, check to see the sugar content in the alcoholic drinks.  There are places online that give that information.  I'd also check with your doctor (or pharmacist), and find out if alcohol would cause any reactions with the meds you're taking.  You just have to make wise decisions, test your blood sugar and not go overboard.  (Well, if you're on a boat, that would be dangerous, wouldn't it?)  I guess the Scots like their haggis pickled, Fergus?

Hi:)

Not a Scot in the family. Dutch and German...SHHHH, Gramps used to make his own moonshine and wine:)

HypoCoach said...


I am somewhat restricted by the no links to sites where you gain rule. If you would like to get a book that is comprehensive as to diet & control email me offgroup.

HypoCoach,
Welcome to HealingWell. We appreciate your input but I am puzzled by your above quote. Are you the author of a book that helps peeps with low blood glucose problems and so can't share the name of the book?