Hello New To Diabetes Since Mon This Week

[Av8trjohn]

Hello 59 YO Retired Airline Capt. who was just diagnosed last Monday. I had a relatively sharp falloff of my vision 2 weeks ago. Thought for a min I had grabbed the wrong pair of glasses. Made an eye appt. and the Doctor said I want you to get to your Primary Doc ASAP and have you Blood Sugar tested.

Next day went in had the blood drawn and they will get back to me Mon. My Doc calls and informs me I have Advanced Diabetes and my BS is 647. Ok what do we do? I want to put you in the Hospital, Doc I'm too busy with my business can we work around that. Ok I going to call you in a package prescription pick it up and haul you butt in here.

Doc (This guy is great straignt from Poland about 36 and we hit it off right away). You know the kind of person you meet and know you'll be friends for a long time. And I'm what you might call a Character so it was good chemistry. Problem is Since I dont have FAA Medicals every 6 Mos. I pretty much have to have a foot hanging off before I call Doc Pomiechko .


Anyhow folks trying to find out as much as I can and wandered upon you folks and decided to lurk about. Have tried Atkins several times but being divorced 3 time I still play a little to much with the Bad Food And Cocktails.

Well life has changed I'm sure and I have NO regrets about having to start anew. My Blood Sugar was in the mid 500's when I started with the 1 Glipizide
10 Mg 1/2 Hr before breakfast and 10 Unts of Lantus at bedtime.

Today I weighed in at 313 Mg/dl and 338 1 hour after dinner. So all in all it is coming down and Im told when I touchdown after reentry to a realistic reading I will feel quite different and my vision has started to stabilize already.

Again I'm glad to see there are Forums for Newbies like myself to turn to for great information.

Thanks for the time and I'm off to prick for a new low record :roll:

John

[liddie01]

Hi John, and welcome, I hope that everything soon gets under control for you. :wave:

[AuntJoyce]

Hi John: Glad to see your numbers are coming down already! My A1c was about 9.5 when I was first diagnosed. I've been between 85 and 109 for the last several months by keeping carbs under 30. So it works. My eyesight improved too.

So are you cooking for yourself now? Are you having any problems figuring out what to eat?

You might have seen the link to Dr. Bernstein already. You can read chapters for free there. He's a diabetic himself, so he has more specific information for diabetics.

http://www.diabetes-book.com/

[willowmh]

Hi John! Welcome to the list. Both myself and my hubby have been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in the last few years and controlling our carb intake has been the most helpful tool for getting it under control!

By your post it looks like you are on your way to being in control! Keep up the good work!

[brypharm]

Hey John,

Nice work on being proactive about your health. I am a pharmacy student, and in school we talk a lot about diabetes. Bringing down your BS is vital to your whole body, especially your eyes, kidneys, veins, nerves. Diabetes is a serious diagnosis, but since it's type two you as the patient have a huge amount of control in your health.

Again great job on bringing down your BS. Besides BS, losing weight can also help improve your recent diagnosis. Studies have shown that type two diabetes can be controlled with weight loss, diabetic diet, and exercise alone, even in patients who had previously taken several diabetic medications.

Controlling Diabetes with diet, exercise, weight loss is actually what most health providers promote. We like to save our drugs for when the body is no longer capable of controlling its own homeostasis despite the patients best efforts.

The pharmacist I work for is big into diabetic awareness and he promotes the cookbook Diabetic 4 to almost all diabetic patients wanting to improve their diet. While it's not a atkins or southbeach LC cookbook, I believe it does offer recipes that are low carb. What carbs are used, are usually whole grain products.

I'm very impressed John with your attitude towards diabetes. With determination you can diffidently kick it's butt, get your BS stabilized, start feeling better, and potentially get off the meds altogether.

Best of luck!!!

[eddiemcm]

"Controlling Diabetes with diet, exercise, weight loss is actually what most health providers promote. We like to save our drugs for when the body is no longer capable of controlling its own homeostasis despite the patients best efforts."
That's thoroughly absurd!
Someone with high glucose risks permanent
damage if they don't do meds for awhile.
Talk to your doctor.Take your meds.Do LC the
Bernstein way and hopefully you will be off meds
in 6-12 months as your glucose comes down.

[brypharm]

sorry for the misunderstanding above. The idea I was trying to express is that initially a more aggressive approach with drugs is used to gain control of the patient's (John's) BS. Then while making changes in a patients diet, exercise, and weight, while still taking diabetic medications, some patients are able to discontinue some of their medications and control their diabetes on their own (through diet and exercise).

I wasn't saying quit taking the medications John. No.
John needs to take his medications, especially right now. The prescribing physician has placed John on a regimen to get his blood glucose down and stabilize it quick.

I was trying to be motivating, trying to say, in time hopefully through John's proactive attitude and efforts he won't have to take as many medications.

As part of a project for the last 2 weeks, my classmates and I have been using glucometers to test our blood sugar. We take am readings, preprandial (before meals), postprandial, before exercise, during exercise, post-exercise readings. If our BS gets above 120-150 we give ourselves shots of normal saline subcutaneously in place of insulin. Until I started this project I had no idea what it was like to be diabetic, I could only relate through friends and patients.

I now have a much better understanding of the frustrations diabetics go through. And the astronomical price diabetic patients pay for their needles, alcohol swabs, lancets, testing strips, insulin, and their other medications, even with insurance.

I was only trying to encourage you John. Trying to say that maybe one day, through your efforts, your body will be more reactive to your own insulin and you won't have to come visit us at the pharmacy as much.

John I am sorry for any misunderstanding I may have caused.

[Av8trjohn]

Hey NO apology needed Brypharm, AuntJoyce yes I do cook. Figured that one out way back. If you can read tell time and count to 10 Yes you too can cook :yum: Right now I'm learning all I can about Carbs and who they are and what they do. I've even started to be called "The Carburetor" by friends I go out with as I pull out my trusty Carb Guide before ordering :o

Anyhow all is well but sort of stuck here in the low 300's even with a good deal of time in the tread mill and watching everything I eat. My Doc is away at a Expo until Tues and I have his cell in case we lose an engine *The Polish Prince as I call him, so all is well at the moment.

Hey folks Thanks Sooooo Much for all your imput and keep it coming as I know Im going to hang here for a good while. Thanks Again Guys :clap:

John

[Charran]

Hey John! It's great that you're taking such control! Read as much as you can and ask alot of questions. It's the only way we learn how to control diabetes. It takes time to lower BS. Remember...you've only been at this a week! Give it awhile. It's great that you're exercising. I find that daily exercise is helping me control my BS wonderfully. It helps immediately after eating, but I'm also seeing a lasting effect!

[AuntJoyce]

Hi Brypharm: that's interesting that you check your blood sugars and feel what it's like to be a diabetic.

Dr. Bernstein says to avoid fruit and grains. Have you found that those things make your blood sugars go up?

He did a demonstration on dLife where he takes a bite of bread and spits on a glucose test strip which turns bright purple indicating a lot of sugar.

For me, it has just been easier to stick with meats and low-starch veggies and some olive oil and butter on a daily basis. Then I don't have to count carbs. Sugar-free Jello is my main treat. Once in a while, I may have some nuts, starchier veggies such as pumpkin or squash and even a piece of fruit in season. I may have a little bread if I eat out.

[Cajunboy47]

Anyhow all is well but sort of stuck here in the low 300's even with a good deal of time in the tread mill and watching everything I eat.

Exercise when BG is high might be a little dangerous. I really don't know if there is a definitive number at which you should not exercise if it is exceeded, but I think I read that anything above 225, exercise should not be too strenuous.

Anyway, welcome to LC dieting. It will bring your blood sugar down, without a doubt. Take your time, there's a lot of information here that you can learn from other people's experiences.

Cajunboy47