My control improved... at last. I've been working very hard for the past 2 months. On my meter, the average dropped from over 9 mmol to 6.3mmol. I'll have my A1c later this week. But the best news is that I can drop completely the acarbose ( from 3 a day to 0 ) and cut down 1mg of Repaglinide ( from 4mg to 3mg) at each meal. Of course that also means that I have to stay at 15 to 20 grams of carbs at the maximum for each meal but I am okay with this.
Hi Gemstone,
Congratulations!!!
[quote:876cc3fe2a]I've been working very hard for the past 2 months[/quote:876cc3fe2a]
What did you do in order to improve so well?
Might sound stupid but in my case it was important. I go to bed later at night so that makes me take my metformin and take NPH insulin after 10:00pm and I wake up at 5:00am for my 2nd dose of metformin. That alone prevent the liver dump during the night so instead of waking with 8 to 10 mmol, I wake with 6.5mmol most days.Originally Posted by Anita
When having 8mmol to begin breakfast, I was having 10-11mmol 2 hours later. Now, if I begin to eat when I am only at 6.4mmol, I end up with 7 to 8 two hours later. That alone made a big change.
Then, a few changes in the diet. I was snaking on raw carrots...not anymore. No more fruits, only veggies. No bread, pasta or rice except for 2 *no sugar no fat* tiny slices of bread once a day. Basically, I eat meat with 1 cup of veggies, eggs, cheese and almonds or peanuts. Dull diet but it work.
Now, if I can only lose weight, that will help too.
Sounds like if you keep this current life style, with time, you'll loose weight too.
Congratulations again!
I should have already but in fact, I put on a half-kilo. Dr. is sending me for thyroid tests and said that insulin might have to do with not losing. In the 4 months before insulin, I lost a total of 8 kilos.... with atroceous bg. Seems that we can't win on all sides.Sounds like if you keep this current life style, with time, you'll loose weight too.
Congratulations again!
Are you eating enough calories per day? When you decrease your diet your basal (resting) metabolism decreases as well. Its unfortuante, but thats what happens. Are you exercising? One bout of 20 min exercise should keep your bg down for ~ 8 hours.
Just make sure you are eating enough food otherwise you WILL NOT lose weight. You can do this by adding more fat into your diet. What are your % of CHO PRO and FAT that you are eating?
If you are not sure give me a typical meal and I can calculate that for you. Because if you are dropping your carbs to less than the the normal 60% ot your total daily intake you need to make it up somewhere else.
You have done an amazing job with controlling your bg levels. I myself find it extrememly hard to stay in control and my last A1C was 8.2. I nearly fell off the chair as this is the highest its ever been.
And a note on insulin...insulin is a growth hormone so it does promoet growth ie weight gain. But also many of the meds taken my T2's also make it extrememly hard to lose wieght....its a double edge sword. Decreasing your weight will make your bg drop however you need meds to have a normal bg level but they wont you lose weight. My mom is going through the same thing..she finds it very frusterating.
Congrats gemstone.
I desperately need to lose 14 pounds by my next review 10th May I,m taking 1500mg Metformin and got reasonable control AL1c 7.3.
Any suggestions I am 235lbs a the moment but I am 6 foot
Yes, I eat enough calories but I am having them as protein. My bg is not staying down for 8 hours even if I don't eat... liver dumps... If my repaglinid stop working ( about 3 hours after a meal) , I won't have an hypo, I'll have a liver dump. My only exercice is walks, about 45 to 1 hour a day, after supper. I can come back from a walk with a higher bg than when I left because of those "/$% liver dump.
What is CHO PRO?
I am eating about 60% protein, 30% carbs ( mostly veggies ) and 10% fat.
If you read Sugarland, you know that I have a big problem with *nutritionist* who prescribe an identical diet to everyone, no matter age, weight, exercice etc.... I do believe in low-carb diets as I could control my diabetes for 2 years with not a single bg over 6 during 2 years. Burn-out and other events made me lose control but I can say that 80% of the time I am right on track.
As you say, insulin makes it harder to lose weight and because of insulin I have to eat more so I won't have hypos... a very hard balance to maintain.
Hey Gemstone,
I totally agree with you about not having everyone on the same diet, however I do believe that when you cut back in one area you need to increase in another in order to maintain caloric balance.
From what you said in your previous post that you eat 15-20 grams of carbohydrate at each meal and that consists of 30% of your diet. If you are eating 3 meals a day and one snack of 20g each then that would mean you are eating just over 1000kcal per day. If those percentages are correct.
20 x 4 = 80 g of CHO
80g x 4kcal/gram of carbohydrate = 320 kcal
320 kcal/ .30 = 1067 kcal per day
Just something to think about if you want to look at what you are eating to try and help reach your goals....one gram of fat provides 9kcal and one gram of protein provides 4kcal
Your bg levels are amazing and I am not saying eat more carbs or anything like that.
I know how hard losing weight is. I myself had to lose 35 pounds and have put back on 20 in the 8 years following that weight lose.
I also find that so many of the doctors, nurses, dietitians, sometimes really dont answer your questions and cant really provide you with realistic solutions to your problems.
I just took a nutrition class at school and because I am in kinesiology we spent a lot of time on energy balance in the body as well as how the body breaks down and utillizes fuels in different situations, ie exercise, rest, fasting, hypoglycemia.
One more question...when you exercise what is your bg before and do you always go higher when you exercise or only when you start off higher?
I have noticed in myself that if I start at 8-9mmol then when I go out for a run I hit sometimes 15-17mmol and then it comes down gradually later. However if I am 6-7mmol when I go out I either stay the same or go lower. No one has been able to tell me what the heck is going on with that. Again nurses who are suppose to know this kind of stuff alas cant help me. I know your liver dumps glucose into your blood to keep up with your muscles needs as you exercise but I dont understand the difference in the situations....maybe I should do my masters on that one.
Alright well this is the worlds longest post! :shock:
I always ramble,
Julie
Yep... the only problem with that is most source of protein are also providing quite a bit of fat. Beside fish-poultry-eggs and some meat, I eat quite a bit of cheese and snack on peanuts and almonds. That's where I get my extra calories which prevent me from losing much weight I believe. The 1/4 cup of almonds or peanuts is giving me something like 300 calories after all! That's what I eat with my evening insulin shot as I've been told to never have a shot without eating.
When I was diagnosed I lost 70 pounds which I nearly all put back after a hysterectomy and when I stopped smoking, both the same year. That slowed down my metabolism quite a bit it seems as even on Atkins I stopped losing and put on weight.
Frankly, I rarely get higher than 7mmol, when I am faithful to my diet that is so I can say that the starting point is most of the time between 6 and 7mmol.
Liver dumps are a pain... I know there is two different causes: liver dumps due to hypos ( can'T remember the name right now) and liver dumps due to metabolic syndrome which is Dawn Phenomenon. Very hard to tell in between both without waking every 30 minutes during the night to take the bg...not for me!! That's where the non-invasive-weareable glucometers would come handy.
Since it's not possible to know, I've been doing what told... as long as my morning bg is over 7mmol, every 3 days, increase my NPH insulin by 2 units...stay at that level at least 3 days and then, increase again if my goal of 6 isn't reached... Well, each time I increase, I get something like 6.4 mmol for a day or two and then, back to over 7... over 8mmol this morning as a fasting bg! Wait 3 days to test if it is still over 7, which it always is and then, increase again. I am now taking 22units. I see the Dr. only in May but I am stopping there, not increasing until I see him. I am under the impression it's a never ending wheel.
Any idea?
Posting Permissions
View Profile
View Forum Posts
Private Message
Reply With Quote