[Cadydid]

Good Morning!

I am 43 yrs old and I live in Wellington, Kansas. I am mom to 3 kids, 21g,18g, and 16b. I married to the most wonderful man who has been short of amazing and supportive.

I was diagnosed in June 2011. Since then, it's been a roller coaster of not so fun and games. I started with Metformin, working up to 2000 mg a day.. then they added Januvia 100 mg. Lets just say that didn't work. It nearly landed me in the hospital from the GI complications. I got switched to the Metformin XR, and when that didn't change anything, I went to Januvia alone. When my BS started climbing again, they added Actos 30 mg. That's where I am now.

Patience is not a strong suit of mine. So this whole process is frustrating.. Complicating the matter is I start back to school in a few weeks and I'm worried about how things are going to work managing diabetes, school, and working full time.

 

[thisstinks]

Hello and welcome! I am new to forum and diabetes also! I have learned so much! I am on the metformin also and do experience nauseau on and off through the day. Please make yourself comfortable here. I will let the other members with more experience give you some pointers but I have seen better numbers since following the low carb way of eating. For about two weeks, I didn't have any two hour numbers after meals be over 140 (I would like them way less than that). I am 36 with a 5 year old boy and 3 year old girl.

 

[smorgan]

Have you made changes to what you eat?

Good Morning!

I am 43 yrs old and I live in Wellington, Kansas. I am mom to 3 kids, 21g,18g, and 16b. I married to the most wonderful man who has been short of amazing and supportive.

I was diagnosed in June 2011. Since then, it's been a roller coaster of not so fun and games. I started with Metformin, working up to 2000 mg a day.. then they added Januvia 100 mg. Lets just say that didn't work. It nearly landed me in the hospital from the GI complications. I got switched to the Metformin XR, and when that didn't change anything, I went to Januvia alone. When my BS started climbing again, they added Actos 30 mg. That's where I am now.

Patience is not a strong suit of mine. So this whole process is frustrating.. Complicating the matter is I start back to school in a few weeks and I'm worried about how things are going to work managing diabetes, school, and working full time.

 

[Cadydid]

I'm kind of in limbo when it comes to eating.. Before I was diagnosed, I rarely ate breakfast, and lunch maybe twice a week. Dinner was my big meal of the day.. and that was usually on the fly as I went from work to school. Now, I eat 3 small meals and 2-3 snacks through the day.

When I was diagnosed, they had me counting carbs, and then I went to diabetes education class, and they do it by calorie counting. 1 point equals 75 calories. While simply counting calories is easier for me, I'm thnking that carb counting is going to be the key to getting my numbers down.

Because I live in a small town, I thought would get better care at a place where all they do is diabetes. Unfortuantely, that is not the case. They have contridicted (sp?)themselves on more than one occasion with the information they have given me. What really upsets me is lack of contact. I have sent one e-mail that took 4 days to respond to. I placed a phone call when my reaction to metformin got too much to handle and it has yet to be returned 10 days later. On Day4 of waiting for the phone call, when I didn't get a call back, I placed a call to my PCM, and was awaiting a call back from them, when I had to be rushed to the ER because the GI side effects had gotten so bad that I had become dehydrated and passed out at work. So, I made the decision to let my PCM manage it. Lesson learned bigger doesn't always mean better.

 

[Gizmo]

You are right, counting calories won't help a bit with your diabetes. Carbs are the enemy of diabetics. It sounds like you would like to learn how to control your diabetes and want to know what you should be eating. A great place to start is Blood Sugar 101 And here at the forum we can give you lots of advice about what to eat and what to avoid. For openers, forget about whole grains, they are still carbs. But there are low carb substitutes for most of the higher carb things. Ask all the questions you want, we're here to help. Welcome aboard.

 

[Gizmo]

I forgot to mention that many of us are on the Atkins diet, it's great for diabetics. The diet plan is right there on their site.

 

[Cadydid]

I forgot to mention that many of us are on the Atkins diet, it's great for diabetics. The diet plan is right there on their site.

Thank you so much! I just don't know how many carbs I should be eating a day.. I know I need to lose weight, but hey at least Im off to a great start in that department

 

[Gizmo]

Everyone is different. Some can eat more carbs than others. I eat 20 to 30g per day. When you try out a new food, take your bg 2 hrs. after eating. If it brings your bg up too high, cut that food out of your diet. It won't be long until you know what you can and can't eat.

Lots of us get our carbs from veggies that are low on the gylcemic index. Also, spread out your carbs through the day. If you eat too many at one sitting, it will bring up your bg. And eat some fat when you eat carbs.

 

[Shanny]

Hello Cadydid. You won't need much patience getting results with the low-carb approach! Your BG will drop like a rock & any weight you might need to lose will be dropping too!

Are you checking your glucose levels throughout the day? If not, get a meter & begin regularly testing: a wake-up reading before you eat or drink anything in the morning; a test before your meals & follow-up tests at 1-hour & 2-hour intervals after the meals, and a bedtime test, just before you turn in. These will give you the information you need to gain good control of your diabetes by making the adjustments necessary based on those numbers as you go along. I know docs don't approve of all this testing, but if they knew sic 'em about diabetes, they'd be recommending the low-carb way-of-eating, and they don't approve of that either!

There's no set number for how many carbs per day - your meter can tell you that. As you test around your meals, take note if any foods bump your BG over 140, and avoid (or sharply restrict) those foods. You'll begin to get an idea of which ones you can tolerate & which are absolute no-nos - pretty soon you won't need to test as much unless you introduce something new or are eating someone else's cooking.

I think once you get onto it, this should make your life a lot less complicated as you start school this fall & I hope it evens means fewer meds. It is a very healthy way-of-eating & surely sustainable long-term.

Good luck & come visit us often. You're almost next-door neighbors with our moderator Josh in Wichita - he'll prob'ly be here once he gets back from D.C. next week.

 

[Cadydid]

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions and support. To answer a few questions...

I test my levels 4 times a day.. fasting and 2 hrs after each meal.. That's about all I can really afford to do.. my health insurance is a royal pita when it comes to supplies and meds, so cost is definitely a factor.

I know that I can not eat sweets.. that much I figured out. One time I had a sliver of chocolate merinque pie and 30 mins later it was in the 200's from being at 130 before I ate it..

 

[Patdart]

You've been given good advice here and it is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Good luck to you. I've lost 50 lbs this last year and find it's pretty easy once you have the hang of it. I limit myself to 30 carbs a day and am slowly adding more in to learn just how many I can eat without gaining or having my blood glucose shoot up.

 

[Gene]

Welcome

Good Morning!

I am 43 yrs old and I live in Wellington, Kansas. I am mom to 3 kids, 21g,18g, and 16b. I married to the most wonderful man who has been short of amazing and supportive.

I was diagnosed in June 2011. Since then, it's been a roller coaster of not so fun and games. I started with Metformin, working up to 2000 mg a day.. then they added Januvia 100 mg. Lets just say that didn't work. It nearly landed me in the hospital from the GI complications. I got switched to the Metformin XR, and when that didn't change anything, I went to Januvia alone. When my BS started climbing again, they added Actos 30 mg. That's where I am now.

Patience is not a strong suit of mine. So this whole process is frustrating.. Complicating the matter is I start back to school in a few weeks and I'm worried about how things are going to work managing diabetes, school, and working full time.

Hi Cadydid and welocme. Glad you found the site and this should be a good place to get lots of information and exchange ideas with all your new best friends.

Gene
Moderator