Blood Sugar and Snus

[Premium Parrots]

please let us know how it goes. The last tim I saw my regular doctor about 2 months ago he told me that if I don't cut out the sweets that by this time next year I will be on meds for diabetes. nice. all I need is more meds. I do eat right because of my heart issues and I really don't eat much in the way of sweets so I was concerned as to why my blood levels are off. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I sure hope I don't have to quit snus. If I do then I might as well just slit my wrists. BTW, my doctor has no idea that I use snus. He does know that I don't smoke anymore but I don't want to tell him that I use any tobacco products. If it gets back to m health insurance provider my rates will go up 40%. They are too dam high as it is.

just what I need now.......diabetes. **** me

[PipenSnus]

I take metformin and glyburide, the two most commonly prescribed oral medications for diabetes.

I think you're right, Tom, that the hardest part for you will most likely be changing the types and amounts of carbs you eat. It's nearly impossible to stick with a very-low-carb diet. Instead, what you can do is to pick your carbs more carefully. Eat whole-grain and high-fiber bread and pasta whenever possible, and watch your portion sizes. If you have a sweet tooth, try fresh fruit instead of cake or pie. If you like the salty, starchy carbs like potato chips, pop a bag of low-fat microwave popcorn instead.

Changing your eating habits is hard at first, but it gets easier the longer you do it. You can still allow yourself the occasional treat, but it takes some self-discipline to make sure those treats remain only occasional.

[danielan]

I didn't have a good experience with "Diabetes Educators".

They had a bunch of advice that I followed for about 6 months. i.e., drink all of the diet soda you want, you can pretty much eat whatever you want in moderation (except fruit juice or regular soda), oatmeal is a great breakfast, this is a life long problem - get used to it, etc. Sounds good, totally didn't work for me.

What worked for me, and this is not medical advice, was to stop the carbs as close to completely as possible - this actually helps you not to crave them after a week or so, walk at least a mile (3 is better) every day.

It's not that hard really - you get the steak and salad but skip the potato, you get the eggs and bacon, but skip the toast.

Also, try to eat most of your meals earlier in the day, but save some leftover good protein for a snack in the evening.

You'll start losing weight. Pretty quickly after a week or two. Once you've lost about 50 lbs (6 months give or take) go see your doctor again and see if your A1C is low enough that they'll support you not being on meds any more.

If you just gotta have carbs, google "glycemic index" - it's a pretty good way to choose less bad carbs (in terms of BS spikes). Nice tradeoffs like eat peanut m&m's instead of regular, etc.

You can add a few carbs back at this point, but make sure you offset them with exercise and try to eat them earlier in the day.

After about a year or so you'll be, IMO, "fine". They won't ever tell you that you are "cured", because theoretically if you went back to your old bad habits you would be in trouble again, but if you are not on meds and your numbers look right - what else do you want?

The complicated diet plans they made for me didn't work, were a pain to manage, and left me craving carbs.

Also, get a good meter - you will use it a lot for about 6 months to a year. I really liked the Accuchek-Compact. Make sure your insurance will pay for it though. If you get one - also get the IR blaster that goes with it, so you can track your numbers closely as you learn what works for you.

Also, also If you snore - get checked for apnea (do an overnight pulse-oxymeter test and NOT the $3000 sleep study) getting that fixed had a huge impact for me too - not only in terms of BS, but also in terms of energy to go walking.

[PipenSnus]

I didn't have a good experience with "Diabetes Educators".

They had a bunch of advice that I followed for about 6 months. i.e., drink all of the diet soda you want, you can pretty much eat whatever you want in moderation (except fruit juice or regular soda), oatmeal is a great breakfast, this is a life long problem - get used to it, etc. Sounds good, totally didn't work for me.

The plan you made up for yourself seems pretty sound, danielan. The 1-3 mile walks for exercise seems to be the most important element.

Some people can do the "cut out all carbs" routine, but Tom indicated he's a real carb junkie. So was I before I was diagnosed. It's not likely that a carb junkie will complete an Atkins-style carb elimination program successfully. I tried to indicate to Tom that he should switch to low glycemic index carbs without laying a bunch of jargon and numbers on his head. That's a more sensible approach, but everyone has to use what works for them, and I'm glad your system works for you.

Sounds like the "diabetes educators" in your area weren't very well trained. Good diabetes educators will most likely be RN's or LPN's, and will have special certification in diabetes education.

And no, you're not cured just because your numbers are stabilized in the normal range. If your pancreas is producing too little insulin, or defective insulin (that's the basic criteria for Type 2 diabetes), it most likely will continue to do so.

[danielan]

The 1-3 mile walks for exercise seems to be the most important element.

IMO, it's just an element.

It gives me room to bend the rules a bit and helps with the weight.

Some people can do the "cut out all carbs" routine, but Tom indicated he's a real carb junkie. So was I before I was diagnosed. It's not likely that a carb junkie will complete an Atkins-style carb elimination program successfully.

I really was too before. But it turned out to be elastic for me. If I have a nice wedge salad and a 20 oz ribeye - I just don't care about the lack of bread any more. That's another thing that helped me - increasing the quality of everything. If you can afford it - go for the best of everything. It's easier to live on meat and veggies when they are the best meat and veggies. Even when you "cheat" and get some carbs, skip the regular macaroni salad and "settle" for a smaller portion of the best pasta salad you can find, skip the slices of sandwich bread and have a bit of the best bread you can find, skip the daily jelly-donuts and have the weekly eclair, etc.

But one thing about diet soda, sugar-free candy, low-carb pasta, low-carb breads/tortillas, etc. All of that makes me crave the real thing. So, for me, it was easier to replace them completely then to substitute in a lot of cases.

I tried to indicate to Tom that he should switch to low glycemic index carbs without laying a bunch of jargon and numbers on his head. That's a more sensible approach, but everyone has to use what works for them, and I'm glad your system works for you.

I'm not attacking your advice - just adding mine.

You can get really into the glycemic index stuff, but at it's most basic (and IMO, most useful) it is a good tool to compare two alternatives easily.

Sounds like the "diabetes educators" in your area weren't very well trained. Good diabetes educators will most likely be RN's or LPN's, and will have special certification in diabetes education.

They were all trained/certified nurses (part of the hospital). My insurance is really anal about that sort of thing (usually to my financial detriment - I actually miss the simplicity of military medicine). IMO, their problems were; 1. They seemed more aligned to talk to 60 year olds then younger people, 2. They were required to toe the AMA/ADA line with regard to the advice they give (i.e., they were teaching the USDA food pyramid - and telling diabetics to take 6-11 servings of carbs is goofy IMO), and 3. They were trying to "teach" too many people at once which resulted in everyone getting "cookie-cutter" advice.

And no, you're not cured just because your numbers are stabilized in the normal range. If your pancreas is producing too little insulin, or defective insulin (that's the basic criteria for Type 2 diabetes), it most likely will continue to do so.

Not that everyone is the same, but I've always had, and still have slightly above average insulin levels. My Dr. said that this was normal for type II and she called it, "Insulin resistance" and then explained the whole "metabolic syndrome" thing.

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/overview/

[danielan]

Thanks. He wants to call in a prescription for me, I think tomorrow, and I have a follow up appt on the 19th.

If you get Glucophage/Metformin...

Take it with food and stay close to a bathroom for the next few days... If it effects you badly, it will probably only do so for a couple days (in my experience).

Just my advice.

[danielan]

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Cut back on the carbs. If you don't know which foods have carbs (no shame in that), look it up on the Internet.

Diabetic/Atkins/SouthBeach cookbooks have recipes, many restaurants have Atkins or SouthBeach options.

Go walk as much as possible for you. Sex is good exercise too, if you do it right.

[tom502]

Thanks for the comments. I have researched this a bit. And have followed for times, various approaches at carb control. They were effective, but only while I stayed on them. Rarely lasting over 2 weeks, till the allure of the pizza brought me back on the pipe.

But yeah, I have read many diet books, Atkins, and even other approaches. So, I am knowledgable about the glycemic index, and the idea behind the glycemic load, and fiber, and all that. Metabolic Syndrome fits the description of all my symptoms.

My experience with DR related diabetes info, usually conflicts with my personal research, one example is a DR office I went to, and they had these food chart fliers for Diabetes, and it was a pyramid chart, and it had refined flour breads as the biggest thing. My father is diabetic, and obese, big husky, not circus, and he told me his DR's told him to allow 60g of carbs per meal, and he does that, well, sometimes, but he still eats processed junk, just aiming at the carb count, but I told him I thought 60g a meal is way too much, esp if you wanna lose weight, and the foods you are eating are junk.

What can ya do, I know how it is.

[LaZeR]

... Sex is good exercise too, if you do it right.

Thanks. I just got the shit slapped out of me.

[Premium Parrots]

Thanks. I just got the shit slapped out of me.

guess you weren't doing it right.

[LaZeR]

guess you weren't doing it right.

True, Do not suggest to your lady that having sex is a good exercise to lose weight. Trust me.

[Premium Parrots]

True, Do not suggest to your lady that having sex is a good exercise to lose weight. Trust me.

but you like to be punished. you should have said that sex is good exercise to help maintain her beautifull figure. its all in the wording my friend.

[LaZeR]

but you like to be punished. you should have said that sex is good exercise to help maintain her beautifull figure. its all in the wording my friend.

Thanks! I'm going to try that one and see how it goes, although I've probably already dug myself a hole.

[tom502]

The science behind the Fast 5, and intermittent fasting does impress me, and I have had limited duration experience with it in the past, but as much as I wish I could do it, I find it near undoable for me. It might be different if I worked at a busy factory or restaurant, well a restaurant would be hard to do that in, but my job is an extremely boring brain decaying slow churn to death, and it is very hard to literally sit here for 10 hrs and not eat at all. So, I am going to abondon the intermittent fasting ideas for now.

Currently, I guess I'm just eating what I have at home, granted it's not the best stuff I should eat. But I don't like to throw stuff out, and I want to transition to a more quality carb diet.

I was doing some net research on diebetic diets, and it seemed one thing I kept seeing was this plan called the Exchange List. I'm trying to find a complete site for this, but this looks like it might be usable.

I also called the ADA, and requested some free diet kit they offered.

[PipenSnus]

Probably what you will get from the ADA will be similar to the exchange list. It's the same type of plan Weight Watchers uses, but adjusted for diabetics.

You might also want to check the local paper and other sources of local news -- every so often there are health fairs and free classes where you can get a lot of good information, and sometimes even deep discounts on supplies like test strips and so forth. Some of the drug store chains have discount programs for diabetics, too -- CVS is one of them.