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Posted 7/2/2008 10:37 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Everyone,

 

How is everyone?  I am so ready to give up....

Just to update  you all, presently I am taking Lantus 100 units/2 times a day.  Metaforin 500mg/2 times a day, Apidra 70 units/3 times a day.

Needless to say currently bsr are still high - over 200

I know I need to start getting more exercise, generally I am so lathargic I can't get through more then 5 -10 minutes of exercise at a time.

Currently I need to lose 40 - 50 pounds.  And still gaining!  sad I am thinking of eating a very low carb diet, basically just lean meats, veggies & fruits and nuts.  If nothing more perhaps  I will get to feeling better and have a little more energy.

At age 50, I just can't seem to get this disease under control.

Can anyone tell me if Weight Watchers has a eating plan designed for diabetics?  I think I need something to help me get through this day by day.

 

Thanks again for lending and ear.  I read the boards often.  And enjoy all the information each of you provide.

 

Debbie

Posted 7/2/2008 11:35 PM (GMT 0)
you have to hang in there. Fats in foods make the effects of the carbs linger so you are doing great thinking lean meats. Has you Dr tried taking you off the pills and using insulin for covering meals. I know I had so much difficulty at first, but advice from my Dr paired with a dietician i feel saved my life. I am hard headed though I love life too much to quit. Stay strong and I will pray for you.
Posted 7/3/2008 12:53 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the prayers, definitely can always use it. The apdra I take with meals. I take 70 units of Apidra at each meal. I just hope I can get through each day and start losing some weight. I have gained 20 pounds in the last year alone.
Posted 7/3/2008 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
Va-gram, you must be so frustrated!  I'm not a doctor but here are my two cents.  1) I think your meds need to be re-evaluated.  You're on three medications for diabetes and your blood sugar readings are over 200???  That's way too high as you just wrote!  2) Are you on any other meds?  If you are, could they be interfering with these diabetes meds or could they be causing higher blood sugar numbers? 3) You probably need to change what and how you're eating as well.  I know you've been here on the forum for awhile and you know that we've talked about cutting down on carbs and what works and what doesn't for people.  Yes, eating more meats and vegetables is great.  Don't think you need to cut out all fats or have fat-free food.  Fats (and oils) in your food help slow down how fast you metabolize the food - and this is good so you're taking longer to deal with whatever carbs are in the meal which should avoid your blood sugar from rising quickly.  Fats and oils also make you less hungry so you don't end up craving more food.  4)  The lethargy could be from several things:  meds, diet, weather, lack of exercise, emotions.  And lethargy begets lethargy.  If there are no reasons for you not to participate in exercise, you need to get moving.  If there are not other health issues and the doctor says it's ok, then make a schedule for yourself for maybe 10 minutes a day to start and work yourself up to 15 or 20 minutes.  You can do it.  yeah I did it.  I completely turned my life around healthwise in the last 2 years.  I know if I can, anyone can.  Now, how are you going to take charge?   :-)  

Posted 7/3/2008 3:41 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Lannie,

Thank you for the nice stern talk....I definitely needed that.  I ate very well last night and my sugar is down this morning.  I have vowed to take this one day at a time and make each choice as wisely as possible.  Hopefully next week  I can add a little good news of at least one pound loss.  I did exercise for 10 minutes this morning.  I know this is not much, but it is a start.  Hoping to get at least another 10 minutes in this afternoon.  Hope your day is going well.

Debbie

Posted 7/3/2008 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Debbie, ah, I didn't mean to be stern, just wanted to give you a prod!  I swear (not really but you know what I mean...) I never thought I could or would make the changes I did in the last 2 years, but I also was afraid I'd be going down the same road as my mother and grandmother: death by diabetes, one via a heart attack, another by amputation and heart attack.  I am determined to take control of my health as far as I can and I'm the only one able to control what goes into my mouth.  The blood glucose meter is my best friend - although it sat on the shelf here for 6 months while I was in denial:  I don't have diabetes.  The tests came out wrong.  Anyway, I can't do anything about it.  Debbie, weight loss does not happen overnight but it does happen with a diet change with exercise eventually.   Blood sugar control, at least a significant change at first, can happen overnight and that depends on what you eat for dinner.  I know this because I've done it as I've said. You're right.  Take one day at a time.  Give yourself a few days with a new way of eating, etc. and see what differences it makes on your blood sugar.  Report back here!  That's an order! smurf
Posted 7/9/2008 1:52 PM (GMT 0)
Throw away your scale and just concentrate on eating correctly. That's what I did. The blood sugars are more important than your day by day weight loss record. Keep your sugars in line, carbs to a minimum and try walking away from your house for 15 minutes... Gotta walk back, right? There's 1/2 hr. of exercise. If you do the right things for your diabetes the weight will naturally drop. Slowly, slowly, that's the best way to keep it off.
Posted 7/27/2008 2:46 AM (GMT 0)
Hello All,

Thanks for all the good advice.  It has been a very busy couple of weeks here.  But I have been following all of your good common sense and advice and am getting on track.  Although at this writing my sugar readings are still way too high, I am making accomplishments and FINALLY exercising daily.  So please keep advising , (I am a bit hardheaded but eventually it does sink in!)

Thanks for always being there whether I just need a friendly chat or a good kick in the butt.

Debbie

 

Posted 7/27/2008 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
Debbie, what have your readings been?  Have you made changes to what you're eating?  Don't give in!  You can take control of this!

Posted 7/27/2008 9:52 PM (GMT 0)
I like to think of carbs as the evil enemy. That way I'm not lulled into eating them because they are part of a sandwich...or some such thing. This has really helped my appetite drop, too.
Posted 7/27/2008 10:17 PM (GMT 0)
Good tip!  I am still a little addicted to carbs, like you say with sandwiches etc, they sneak right in on you before you realize it.  I will see if practicing the evil enemy approach helps me, I definitely like the idea.

Posted 7/28/2008 4:06 AM (GMT 0)
I found the fewer and fewer carbs I ate, the less I wanted them or missed them.  In a way, it's like being addicted.  Once I was "free" of them, I didn't have any desire for them.  Still don't.  But, and this is the problem, if you wave a piece of cake with frosting in front of me, then it all comes back.  I can control myself in situations where there are desserts like that by taking a very very small piece.  I know that if I were to test myself afterward, I'd have a spike but not nearly as high or as long as if I'd eaten an entire piece, so in a way, it's a compromise. 

Posted 7/28/2008 5:52 AM (GMT 0)
I actually find the diabetic diet way less frustrating than a weight loss diet. The bonus is if you stick to the suggested diebetic diet you will return to a normal weight. I'd quit worrying over the weight loss and put full effort in to sticking to the suggested carbs and diabetic meal plans.

My reasoning why I think it's easier to live with is because you can't "fail" with the diabetic diet. Fall off the wagon, give up, toss it to the wind and yep, you'll get a huge sugar spike. The next day that spike will be far more gone than the pounds you added to the gut. If I look at working off that gut now that is depressing and makes me ready to give up. But it I take a sugar reading in the morning and it's any where near normal, I know all I have to do is stick to "the plan" and at the end of that day I'll have normal sugar levels. One bad day doesn't kill you as a diabetic. Come back the next day and start fresh. Stick to it. Forget that little screw up a few days ago. Eat right, check your sugar, instant gratification seeing your success right there in the numbers.

Don't even look at the scale, in a week your belt will tell you all you need to know.
Posted 7/28/2008 3:39 PM (GMT 0)
One thing that hasn't been mentioned--how old is your meter? I had a situation last year where my meter consistently gave me a reading of 178-209 even though I hadn't eaten anything that would cause my sugar to rise and at the doctor's office my readings were much lower (108-115). So, I contacted the supplier of my diabetes meds and got a new meter (check your insurance you might be able to get 1 free). Then I checked my sugar using the new meter (same brand as the old one) and sure enough my old meter was 50 points higher than my new one. When I checked the new meter against my doctor's office the difference was 1-3 points.

Please don't give up. There are all kinds of things that could be keeping your bs high including emotional balance. I find that when I'm down, upset, angry or frustrated my bs is higher than when I'm happy or neutral.

As for exercise--I struggle with that too and since my surgery I'm restricted to 15 minutes 3 times a week for at least another month. One way to get more exercise in is to find a hobby you enjoy that is outside. For me, that hobby is photography. With photography I am outside and walking. I do it every weekend and get more exercise in that way.

My prayers are with you.

Marburg
Posted 7/29/2008 3:52 AM (GMT 0)
Ya know, I have to ditto the meter problem.

I was all in a panic and going nuts over it all and found out after about a  week I wasn't high at all. I got a new meter and every thing was normal and just fine when I thought I was over 200.

Since I was just going to toss the old meter and the strips any way, I checked my sugar level with the new stuff and then started playing around with the old ones and figured out that after you open a vial of those strips they start getting "stale" right away.

The truth is I hadn't been checking as often as I should have and the opened strips had been opened a long time. So the over time they kept reading higher and higher. The higher it got the less I wanted to know about it until it got so high it scared me. Nothing I did brought it down. It was because the strips were no good. Since none of the old strips fit the new meter, I opened them any way and used the old meter with freshly opened strips and it read the same as the new meter with fresh strips.

I started reading and checking it out on the web and found that the higher the moisture in the air and the warmer the enviroment the quicker those strips go bad even if you keep the lid on the vial and then they start reading higher and higher as they get too old to use.

Posted 7/29/2008 5:56 PM (GMT 0)
Wow Jack!
Great tip! Thanks!
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