[ColaJim]

Can't take it any more

I have been low carbing for over 6 months and I just can't take it any more. This is almost as bad as trying to quit smoking except I only lasted 3 weeks on trying to quit smoking. Last week I started drinking Coke Zero and tonight I broke down and walked to the gas station and bought 2 Ranchero Cheese & Beef, I have never heard of them either but they were where the polish dogs use to be in my previous life as a "I just don't care anymore diabetic, before I got PAD and Neuropathy", and the hypos from medication were much worse than the diabetes back then. ( Can you say "run on sentence? ). My blood sugar is now 166 mg/dl so I guess I need another shot of Novolog. This is also the first time in a year that I ate anything "carb" not in my apartment.

This 90+ degree weather without a functional Air Conditioner is not helping any.

But I thought maybe I saw glimmer of light from the very far end (if any) of this diabetes tunnel. After tripling my insulin sensitivity from 5 to 15 mg/dl per unit insulin using the Budwig Protocol, I dropped my 36 IU of basal insulin per day to 0 and my blood sugar just kind of sits there and doesn't go crazy but it doesn't come down after I eat carbs either. Well maybe if I get my insulin sensitivity up to 30 mg/dl in another 4 months or so things might work out better, the projected target date was 7 to 12 months, and being I have been a flaming diabetic for 13 years and used Glyburide for years I am lucky this works at all.

EDIT: 4 hours later: So far I have used 17 units of novolog to try to get back near 100 mg/dl. That would indicate that those two Rancheros contained at least 50 carbs or else my insulin is not effective at that high level. Never again, i will now keep some cheese around now to satiate my urges.

ColaJim . :violin:

 

[Shanny]

Whatever it takes to survive in this heatwave, Jim . . . if our a/c didn't work, I'd have shriveled up & croaked already. Are there any cooling stations around your neighborhood? If you were a more social animal, I'd urge you to go find one, but if you're anything like me, you'd rather shrivel up in the heat! Do you at least have a fan or two?

Since you're being so honest, this is where I own up to my short detour into carbville yesterday . . . I was completely wiped out being on the road all weekend & finally had to let husband drive us on home. He stopped at Sonic & ordered me something to eat for when we got home, so I wouldn't have to cook (although I cooked later in the evening anyhow). I got one whiff of a foot-long chili cheese coney with onions & never looked back! It was perfect & I refuse to regret eating it!

 

[jwags]

Sorry about your AC. I am keeping my fingers crossed that our 21 year old system holds out this week. I have had times especially when travelling that I just throw my low carb diet out the window for a day or two or even a week or so. I think it is very natural. When I return home I jump back on the wagon. I think sometimes we are just too hard on ourselves. Do whatever you have to do and try to find a place to stay cool. Go to the mall or something simiar.

 

[tgreen]

sometimes i think we get to fixated on our diet that we just dont let our selfs splurge with the carbs once in a while. sure it will get our BG messed up for a while but in the end we enjoy it.
I think if we allways deni our selfs then eventually we get to the point where Jim was where we just dont care, and eat all the carbs that we can find within a 3 block radius. but if we just take care of our needs a little at a time we will be much better off and not have the huge spikes that last so long from binging on carbs. the other night my wife and kids made brownies, i am not a big chocolate fan, but brownies are another thing all together. so i ate one, my bedtime BG was up 5 points, and they were 5 points i enjoyed every morsal of too.

 

[wdmama]

The best advice I ever got from a nutritionist was to allow myself to splurge every now and then. He told me that as long as I was good 90% of the time, the other 10% doesn't matter. And so on payday weekends, we eat out a couple times - usually one dinner and one lunch - and I eat what I'd like (within reason) and don't test or feel guilty about it.

Maybe I'm still killing cells, but in the long run, it keeps me sane. Kudos to anyone who can avoid any carbs whatsoever for years on end, but I'm not one of those people. I would end up holding up a Circle K and binging on chips and candy.

I do allow myself chips every once in a while, I just keep it to a 15g serving of carbs. I can eat sweets in small portions without hardly any affect on my blood sugar. So I keep dark chocolate in the house for those sweets cravings and I can have three squares which is only 6g carbs.

But every once in a while I dig into a pile of nachos or a some chinese food with rice or some pizza and just let it go the next day.

(Sometimes, if I know I'm going to be eating something I shouldn't, I do take 1/2 a glyburide though...just to minimize the damage LOL)

 

[moon]

(Sometimes, if I know I'm going to be eating something I shouldn't, I do take 1/2 a glyburide though...just to minimize the damage LOL)

I've wondered about this. I have plenty of glipizide left over from when I was prescribed it in the beginning - took it a little over a month so have plenty.

Have thought when I travel or there's a special event that would be prime for going off plan - what if I took one in the AM ... I know when I started taking it, my bs dropped pretty quickly, maybe 20 points the same day.

Methinks I'll hang onto the glipizide ... one never knows when one is forced to eat watermelon at gunpoint.

 

[ColaJim]

Shanny

Shanny

Well I had my 2 days late epiphany again today (better slow than never ), I realized that the hallway was fairly cool so I propped open my door with my 24 inch window fan and turned it on high. My apartment is almost tolerable now.

ColaJim

Whatever it takes to survive in this heatwave, Jim . . . if our a/c didn't work, I'd have shriveled up & croaked already. Are there any cooling stations around your neighborhood? If you were a more social animal, I'd urge you to go find one, but if you're anything like me, you'd rather shrivel up in the heat! Do you at least have a fan or two?

 

[Maltmom]

I was nodding my head as I read your post, Jim. I was dx last August and threw myself into low carbing immediately. I lowered my numbers drastically (7.5 to 5.7), lost weight and felt better. Then my Dr. said I was doing so well, they didn't need to check my A1c again for 6 months. I was stunned, then pleased, then scared that without the 'test' hanging over my head right away, I would slack off on the carbs.

Now almost daily I'm cheating by eating more carbs than I should. I'm taking steroids for other health issues and that really increases my BG numbers alone, let alone adding more carbs into the mix. I'm trying to find my way back out of the hole I've dug myself into. :violin:

 

[Shanny]

I was nodding my head as I read your post, Jim. I was dx last August and threw myself into low carbing immediately. I lowered my numbers drastically (7.5 to 5.7), lost weight and felt better. Then my Dr. said I was doing so well, they didn't need to check my A1c again for 6 months. I was stunned, then pleased, then scared that without the 'test' hanging over my head right away, I would slack off on the carbs.

Now almost daily I'm cheating by eating more carbs than I should. I'm taking steroids for other health issues and that really increases my BG numbers alone, let alone adding more carbs into the mix. I'm trying to find my way back out of the hole I've dug myself into. :violin:

If you get a chance to come visit here everyday, we'd be happy to give you a good talkin'-to . . . just kidding!

But it does help me to come every day & get a boost from these guys to keep on keepin' on. Don't tell him so, but Jim here inspires me - we're about the same age & neither of us has any money, so we just keep plodding along the best we know how, and he's been through a lot more crap than I ever have.

So the first thing to do to get outta the hole is stop digging! Hope we get to see you more often, MM.

 

[Patdart]

Another thing to remember is that steroids really make you feel hungry. I never will forget the first time I had a shot...I would wake in the middle of the night ravenous.

Don't be hard on yourself, just realize you have more than diabetes going on and try to get well so you can get back on the "wagon".

 

[d33na]

I think sometimes I'm too strict with myself and that ends up in a massive heap of guilt when I crack....

I know it would be far healthier if I eased up a bit...not be so critical and demand so much from me...a mere mortal afterall...it's a difficult balancing act and I know I'm nowhere near getting it right...maybe we never do...all we can do is try...well mostly try

 

[Gizmo]

The only thing that keeps my husband and me in line is all of the cooking and baking I do. If we didn't have the faux junk food I make, I'm sure we'd be out cheating with the real thing.

Jim, I read part of your thread 'my very own Quack Diet' and if I recall correctly, a lot of your meals consist of a can of veggies, so I think you did a good job holding out as long as you did. I feel like you deserve a medal or something, so do me a favor and paste a gold star on your forehead for me.

 

[Shalynne]

Forgive me, Forum, for I too have sinned.

I've been swamped the last 2-3 weeks, coordinating a fundraising event of rather high caliber -- much higher than I'm used to. Even though I'm no social butterfly, somehow I keep getting hooked into this sort of thing.

This was a volunteer gig for a cause I believe in deeply. I also have an unrelated full-time day job, which is mostly mellow. But of course, the workplace went bonkers at the worst possible time.

Miraculously, the event went off well. Money was raised. Workplace is back to normal. I'm zonked out, but recovering.

Anyway, the combination of stress plus working suppers leading up to the event made a yo-yo out of my BGLs. On top of that, I cheated once or thrice, err, approximately.

But on the good side, I learned more about what I can "afford" to eat (a teensy bit more than I'd thought -- if I plan really well -- but still way, way under what the ADA guidelines recommend), and what is an Eternal No-No.

Also to the good, over the past two months my husband and I have "hired" two four-legged personal trainers, one from a rescue group and one from the county shelter. They love us and each other, and have accepted one of our cats as a full pack member. They've been a big help in the weight and fitness area for both of us -- which has also helped reduce a good deal of potential self-induced damage.

So now, I'm happily back on the wagon, and catching up with real life (like, this Forum).

Hope everyone's been well!

 

[Shanny]

Sure is good to have you back! :hug:

 

[Jim102938]

I will bring the gun if you bring the watermelon, we can take turns holding the gun on each other

 

[Maltmom]

I love this group! The support and understanding is amazing. Thanks everyone.

 

[kent jones]

cant take it anymore

my doc told me that i can cheat just be carefull how much and when