To my fellow diabetics

[john455]

I have been on Victoza now for 2 months, and I would like to urge my fellow diabetics to talk to your Dr about it if you haven't tried it yet. Since taking it I have lost 26lbs, went from taking 95 units of Novolog 70/30 per day down to 30 units per day, and my highest glucose check was 171, and that was after a supper of spaghetti with garlic bread and a moderate piece of chocolate cake for dessert.  

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

I am on 850mg of Metformin 2x a day.. I love it , it doesnt have side effects and its been around for ages .I heard bad things about  Victoza and I will not take it.

I lost 50lbs in 6 month and  cut my A1C down to half with eating less that 50mgs of carbs a day..

You should not eat spaghettis  .. to many carbs=sugar spike:)

No CAKE.. :)

I should also mention..I would not have been able to do this without my husband at all..he cooks , he measures and he is THE best all around Nurse :)

Edited July 11, 2015 by Oma Sourkraut

[Jonnin]

wife isn't considered diabetic anymore after going to a low carb diet and losing weight.   Its not a full cure, but it gives real results for many people.   

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

yep.. losing the extra weight is great for it.. I am hoping eventually I will not have to take any more meds once this weight comes off.. but  will always be a diabetic .. That is so bad about having an autoimmune disease.I have to lose another 30 or so lbs before I get back to normal.

 

I am eating less than 30 carbs a day and it kills me sometimes..lol.. but I dont want to be a person who loses her legs or get  pancreatic failure..

[john455]

That is one of my main problems, the low carb thing, I love all the stuff I am not soposto eat, and since being on the Victoza I can eat them without shooting my sugar thru the roof. I haven't had any bad side effects from it. Before trying it I was taking 1000mg of metformin twice a day plus 95 units of Novolog and still having a hard time keeping my levels down.

[Joe357]

I am also diabetic but doctor put me on a diet first to see if it would lower my glucose levels. Next lab blood test is at the end of the month. When I started in May my fasting glucose levels were 144 twice tested. This week I did a home fasting glucose test and it was 110. I so far went from 192lbs in May and as of yesterday I am down to 176lbs. Which for my height and age is normal but want to get down to 170 lbs. I do have high blood pressure so I am taking meds for that.
So, I think with proper diet, diabetes can be put off for sometime. I do have to admit I miss some foods but so be it. Life is to short as it is.

[bersaguy]

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in December last year. Daughter decided to put me on a diet and came and emptied my house of everything I was not allowed to eat. I take Metformin twice a day and an injection of 10 units of Levemir each night before bed. Well, I dropped about 30 lbs eating all the card board my daughter went and bought for me to eat. I was testing myself before each meal. My doctor told me to just test in the morning before I eat anything. I have been doing that and my readings are well below the safe level. I told my doctor I was going to begin eating some of the things I ate before my daughter gutted my house. She said to try it and see where my levels went. I did gain back about 8 lbs by doing so but my levels didn't increase. So I began eating more of the foods I enjoy and my levels have still remained the same. I have gone back to eating just about everything I was eating and my levels have not elevated any and gained only 2 lbs to a total of 10lbs. Last trip to doctor and she scanned all my readings from the log I keep and now she is beginning to think the doctors that were so rushed into saying I was a diabetic may have been wrong in their diagnosis so she is going to do a blood screen on my next visit and use her lab to determine if I am actually diabetic.

 

Reason being for the fact that when I went into ER at hospital I had a severe UTI and when they took my blood in the ER with the UTI  she said my blood was messed up because of the UTI and the doctors should have treated that and got it completely cleared up and then did another blood test and then used the new blood to check for diabetes and any other. She said she does not think I am diabetic and the doctors screwed up the diagnosis. She wants to be sure I am so she will run tests to see.

 

I'm back to eating everything I was eating before I had the UTI ( Urinary Tract Infection ) and yet my readings every morning are below or at the very safe level. She said it will take a little time to get this mess corrected but she will not quit till she does. That is why she has been my GP for 18 years. She is a very dedicated doctor. Diabetes does not or never has been in any of my family. Not one person has ever had it except me. I hope she is correct and can get me back to normal without all the meds I am taking.

Wish me luck!!!!

[gregintenn]

What can you guys eat? We have a friend who is a diabetic, and it is the devil trying to cook for him.

[jtmaze]

I have been type 1 diabetic for 34 years and I am starting to have some complications. That being said, keep you BS in line and A1C below 7.5 and you will be fine. It is a hard life but will save you in the long run. I have type 2 friends that have more complications after 5years than I have after 34 from not taking care of themselves.


JTM
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[bersaguy]

What can you guys eat? We have a friend who is a diabetic, and it is the devil trying to cook for him.

Does he have type 1 or type 2 ?

[Dolomite_supafly]

What can you guys eat? We have a friend who is a diabetic, and it is the devil trying to cook for him.

 

Do not serve anything that is white, sugar (read labels), potatoes, corns or anything that is sweet to taste (including drinks artificially sweetened). Then after that use the recommended serving sizes and do not guess but weigh the portion, weigh it. And even if he/she has 4-5 servings of DIFFERENT things it will help a lot. And FIBER, FIBER, FIBER!!! For ever gram of fiber a diabetic eats it can knock out a gram of carbs, which can be bad, and sugars, which are bad. And something else that can drop blood sugar is vinegar so use it in salads to extend the salad dressings, which you should be measuring.

 

I cook for my wife often and she watches what she cooks and it takes a little bit to figure out. Took me 2-3 months but I figured out a recipe for muffins my wife likes that is 0 carb and under 160 calories and it isn't a little tiny one either. For non diabetics, or those used to eating sweets, it may not be as sweet as you like but to a person on a restricted diet they are actually pretty damn good. But overall it isn't that hard to figure out what a person can, and cannot, eat.

 

If you want I can PM you my number and talk to you more as a person helping a diabetic and less of a diabetic point of view.

[10-Ring]

Just a suggestion... as a replacement for pasta they make a gadget that makes zucchini into strings like pasta. Yeah, it's not as good, but it's a lot healthier.

[john455]

I do use the whole grain pasta not the white that helps a lot, I love to cook, next to family it is my greatest joy to cook a great meal and enjoy it while watching others enjoy it aswell. When I first was diagnosed I tried the low/no card way of life but it just took all the joy out of cooking and eating for me. So I never could completely quit cheating, and until I learned a few BIG don't and how to cut some of the carbs without cutting to much of the flavor it ended me in the Hospitol a couple time once in the ICU for a week. My dr wasn't very happy with me back then!! I have been testing my new limits since he put me on the Victoza and so far I can eat pretty much anything in small/normal portions without my glucose going to high, and for me that is a Godsend. I just wanted to share my results with my fellow diabetics so if they are thinking of trying it they know my positive results.

[Oh Shoot]

I do use the whole grain pasta not the white that helps a lot,...

 

Whole grain pasta and bread are no less carby than their more refined counterparts. They're just not generally as empty nutrition wise, and may have a very slightly higher fiber content.

 

- OS

Edited July 11, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[Dolomite_supafly]

Whole grain pasta and bread are no less carby than their more refined counterparts. They're just not generally as empty nutrition wise, and may have a very slightly higher fiber content.

 

- OS

 

Exactly, they might be better for regular people but some whole grain pasta is actually worse for you than regular pasta but either way pasta is not good for you. The whole grain just does not spike and drop as quickly as refined but it still raises it. Also, follow the serving size if you MUST eat it. Takes the fun out of it eating serving sizes but it is what one MUST do to get, and keep, their sugar under control.

 

Even if you eat 4-5 servings 3-4 times a day it is a whole lot better than eating one or two big, carb laden meals a day.

 

One of the biggest eye openers for me was when I actually measured a serving size of salad dressing. I bet I would put 3-4 servings on a typical salad before.

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Forget about dark pasta.. its carb rich also.. get some flax seeds powder and look up no carb muffins.. even coconut flower etc.. there is sooo much info out there for diabetics and decent low carb foods. I use cauliflower as a rice sub.. i use a mandolin or a food processor ...

 

Its hard but once you get your levels down , you can eat sweet stuff.. like  i have like 4 strawberries and a big dollip of  the whip cream in the can..lol its a good treat 

[Oh Shoot]

.....

 

Its hard but once you get your levels down , you can eat sweet stuff.. like  i have like 4 strawberries and a big dollip of  the whip cream in the can..lol its a good treat 

 

Yeah, there's a lot to know about low carbing that isn't immediately apparent.

 

Like that milk is high carb (whole, 2%, 1%, and skim all have about same carbs), yet heavy cream (whipping cream) is low. Whip it with Splenda or whatever instead of sugar if you want it sweet. Also sour cream is pretty low.

 

- OS

Edited July 11, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[Dolomite_supafly]

Something else some may not know is that there is a difference between grass fed and grain fed beef for diabetics. We try to get grass fed but sometimes we can't and we have noticed a spike between the two. I would also assume other animals that are fed high carb diets might also effect a diabetics blood sugar.

 

I can tell you it is the most confusing thing I have ever had to deal with. In the beginning we had 4-5 different meals so some days were identical to others. But what is confusing is even though we had the exact same meal one day one of them would raise her blood sugar 20-30 points higher with no other change.

 

A few other things that really affect blood sugar is physical exertion, emotional stress and stress on the body. My wife will have her blood sugar levels raise 40-50 points if she is out in the hot sun exerting herself, even if for only 10-15 minutes. Or just getting hot from being outside can cause her blood sugar to rise. The idiots on the road raise her blood sugar. And the biggest jumps I have seen in her blood sugar, other than pure sugar, is from stress.

[Trekbike]

Have any of you guys looked into using okra to help control your diabetes?  I don't have diabetes but I was talking to a guy at work that does.  (Just meds, no insulin injections.)  

 

He heard about drinking water that had okra soaking in it overnight.    He talked to his doctor and while he didn't think it would help, he said it wouldn't hurt either.   The doctor made him a bet.   If his levels improved significantly when checked during his office visits he would buy him a years worth of okra.    

 

In summary, my co-worker's levels improved so much that he was able to come off one of his meds entirely and was able to cut back on the other med.   (This was over the course of several months.)  The doctor mailed him a check to make good on his bet.  

 

Below is one link.  Do your own research, YMMV.

 

http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/okra.asp

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

Going to look into the Okra thing. Although Okra is about as vile of a food as it gets ,it it helps..:) 

 

 

Snot..Okra is  giants snot :)

[TNWNGR]

Going to look into the Okra thing. Although Okra is about as vile of a food as it gets ,it it helps.. :)

 

 

Snot..Okra is  giants snot :)

Boiled okra seems to be a hit or miss meal selection and I've never been able to touch it. But if its sliced up and either fried or cooked in gumbo now that's a different story. Its also pretty good as a snack or salad topping if you can find it freeze dried. The same apples to pickled okra, asparagus etc. that's been rinsed prior to  placing into salads. But the entire pickled vegetable topic is an entirely different dietary and basic health topic.   

[john455]

I'll tell you the weirdest thing I have found. when my blood sugar is high I crave lemons, can't get enough of them, I have eaten them until my lips were sore from the acid in them before. I asked my Dr about it and he said it was the first time he had ever heard of it.

[atlas3025]

I was diagnosed with a weird hybrid of Type 2 and Type 1 about 20 years ago.  They believe it was partially hereditary, though I am adopted and don't know ANY of my family history.  The big problem with mine is that no single, or even 3 drugs control it.  So, I am on Glimpiride, Actosplusmet, Victoza, and until recently, Novolog (on top of some non-diabetic drugs, that I take as a preventative since I am diabetic).  That kept my sugar under control and I could pretty well eat anything within reason.  I never have eaten a lot of sweets or cared for soda pop.  

 

Recently I asked about Invokana, so my endocrine specialist put me on it and took me off of Novolog.  Apparently, recently my pancreas peptides have shown that my natural insulin production has improved (probably due to the Victoza) enough that she thought I could do without the Novolog.  Since the switch, my A1C has remained where it was, around 6.8.  The upside is that I have lost about 20 pounds since adding the Invokana.  Victoza, while helping my sugar greatly, never helped me lose weight.  

 

The downside is that she had to break up the Actosplusmet into its components, Actos and Metformin, and upped the dosage of the Met just a bit.  So now each morning, I take 4 metformin, 1 actos, 2 glimipiride (Amaryl), 1 Losartan, 1 Prevacid, and the victoza injection.  I am not usually hungry for a big breakfast because I have filled up on pills.  

 

Anyway, to circle back, it may be worth asking about Invokana, as well.  

 

As for Victoza, It is believed that it increases the risk for Thyroid and/or Pancreatic cancer, but the findings have been pretty inconclusive.  Pretty much anything you put into your body carries risk, so I figured it is worth it, Before I started taking it, my sugar was always on the border of out of control, even when I was on a strict diet and playing hockey 3 times a week.  

 

Regarding diet, It isn't all that complicated.  Carbs in general are to be reduced, especially for a diabetic, although, you can eat a lot more than you think depending on what you eat with them.  Your body prefers to burn carbs, then fat, then protein, in that order.  So you have to mix them right.

 

You can pretty well eat all the carbs you want as long as you aren't eating fat at the same time, or within 3 hours as the carbs.  There are four meal mixtures:  

 

1) Protein and Fat.  It is good.  Your body will burn the fat and store the protein.  (bacon and eggs--no toast!)

 

2) Carbs and Protein.  This is also good.  Your body will burn the carbs and store the protein.  (Lean meat sandwiches with veggies-easy on the mayo!)

 

3) Fat and Carbs.  This is very bad.  Your body will burn the carbs and store the fat.  Sadly it is the mixture found in about anything that is really tasty.  Potato chips, french fries, biscuits, Apple Pie, Fettuccine Alfredo...all the things that make life worth living.

 

4) All of them together.  Almost as bad as number 3 for the same reason, but at least you store some protein too, I suppose.  All in all, the closer you are to eating 1) and 2), the better off you'll be.  

 

Everything you eat turns produces some blood sugar, but carbs do so gram for gram at a much higher rate than fat and protein.  So cutting the excess carbs you can is what makes the big difference with your blood sugar.  

 

Type 2 diabetes has become so common now for two reasons.  We don't "work" anymore.  Most of us work at a desk, and so don't get enough exercise,  The other is that we have heavily increased the carbs in our diets because it is cheaper than fat and protein. 

Edited July 12, 2015 by atlas3025

[john455]

I have the same Mix of 1&2 my Dr calls it type 3 even though there s no official type 3. It is apparently rare (lucky us huh lol) I have diabetes on both sides of my family, so far it has skipped my kids but my grandson was diagnosed with type 1 last year, it's really tough on a kid, but he's been a real trooper about it.

[dralarms]

Going to look into the Okra thing. Although Okra is about as vile of a food as it gets ,it it helps..:) 
 
 
Snot..Okra is  giants snot :)

Okra is one of the finest meals you can eat if done correctly.