[Ken]

Hey my new buddies, I'm back...and looking for more advice from my new circle of friends.

So, as promised I went to a dietician today and she went through the whole eating litany and reinforced everything y'all have said...and that I was trying to do, anyway. Then she gave me a OneTouch UltraMini and tested my BS. I had eaten a tad in the morning and exercised already and my level was 101. Yippee...I think.

So, this is my current plan and I want suggestions, please.

I am NOT starting on the Janumet. I plan to continue my eating regimen and my exercise regimen and I will go back in three months to test my A1C. I will test once or twice a day and see what's up. Good plan?

My only worry is that the exercise coming BEFORE my test may have affected that test.

Waddya think?

Thanks.

Ken

 

[Shanny]

Very good to have you back, Ken!

Yes, the exercise after eating & before the test did prob'ly have a good effect on that reading, which is a VERY good reading, btw.

It's going to be hard to keep good control only testing once or twice a day. I can get by with that now, but it's because I eat very few carbs, so I know there's nothing in my diet to raise my sugars (e.g., breakfast this morning was four link sausages and two cups of coffee with heavy cream = zero carbs). If it's economically possible, I would suggest testing more right now, until you get an idea of which foods you can tolerate, and what you need to avoid. Especially if you won't be starting the Janumet, you'll want to know exactly where your meals are taking you, as regards any unexpected spikes.

This is just my opinion, of course . . . and my own doc sez I still test too much. I wonder how he thinks I found out which foods I need to limit in my diet?! ESP?!

 

[onaughmae]

Hey my new buddies, I'm back...and looking for more advice from my new circle of friends.

So, as promised I went to a dietician today and she went through the whole eating litany and reinforced everything y'all have said...and that I was trying to do, anyway. Then she gave me a OneTouch UltraMini and tested my BS. I had eaten a tad in the morning and exercised already and my level was 101. Yippee...I think.

So, this is my current plan and I want suggestions, please.

I am NOT starting on the Janumet. I plan to continue my eating regimen and my exercise regimen and I will go back in three months to test my A1C. I will test once or twice a day and see what's up. Good plan?

My only worry is that the exercise coming BEFORE my test may have affected that test.

Waddya think?

Thanks.

Ken

Welcome back! Glad to see you are doing well. I would probably test a little more often than that. You at least need a fasting blood sugar in the morning. But that wont tell you the whole story. If you dont want to test more than a couple of times a day, then at least make that second one at different times (after eating for example). I would at least try to get a before and after a meal reading a few times a week until you get a better idea of how your diet choices are affecting your blood sugars.

Sounds like a plan and keep us posted

 

[Ken]

Okay, I'm doing it. Test, test, test. But, I still don't know what to look for. What constitutes "causes a spike"? After lunch I was 152. Is that a high number? Should I not eat that any more or is 152 a good number for after a meal? And, how long after a meal are we talking? Chew, swallow, test? Or eat, wait an hour test?

Hahaha, one day I won't just be a taker but for now, I need more than I can give .

Thanks.

 

[Shanny]

Since I'm not on insulin either (but I AM on metformin 500mg x3), I'll just give you my own plan. My target range is 80-130, and I try to stay there at all times - fasting, 1-hour postprandial, 2-hour postprandial, random. So anything that sends me higher than 130 is off my menus. It may seem like an awfully close range, but I actually get about 50g-60g of carbs per day. None of those are bread/potatoes/rice, but I'm not ascetic by any means. I don't limit fats in my diet, so I enjoy bacon, sausage, butter on my veggies, mayonnaise dressings, etc.

When you eat nothing but protein/fats, there's nothing to worry about - you won't spike. At the meals when you eat something like corn/noodles/beans/etc, then test at 1 hour and again at 2 hours to see what the damage is. If you didn't go outside your top range at 1 hour, and dropped back to baseline at 2 hours, it's prob'ly safe to keep that food in your plan.

Am I making any sense yet?

 

[onaughmae]

Okay, I'm doing it. Test, test, test. But, I still don't know what to look for. What constitutes "causes a spike"? After lunch I was 152. Is that a high number? Should I not eat that any more or is 152 a good number for after a meal? And, how long after a meal are we talking? Chew, swallow, test? Or eat, wait an hour test?

Hahaha, one day I won't just be a taker but for now, I need more than I can give .

Thanks.

Not a problem Ask anything you need...you will get lots of opinions and advice As a rule, you should be back down to normal 2 hours after eating. I cant really tell you if that 152 is too high..how long was that after you ate? And what was it before you ate? If it was right after you ate..not too bad. One hour later...still not terrible as long as it is going down. If it was 2 hours later, then yes...thats too high. However...if you were 250 before eating, and 152 a couple of hours after eating, then at least you are trending down, so whatever you ate did not impact your BG in a negative way.

Some people will go so far as to test 1 hour after eating also because they want to know if something they ate spikes them way up over 200 then they might want to avoid that particular food. But as a general rule of thumb if you are at least back below 140 2 hours after eating that isnt too bad. The general concensus is that most complications start happening in people with blood sugars running over 140 for sustained periods of time. Of course, the closer to normal you can get, the better

I know..its all clear as mud right now....but you will get the hang of it It just takes time.

 

[diabetes86]

As I understand it ANY BGL over 140 is a cause for concern. Any time the BGL is over 140 damage is being done.

So
this is how I do it

your tools

Pills and or insulin
exercise
Food


Food
All foods with carbohydrates (carbs) Raises BGL
especially bad carbs are
almost anything white. White bread, potato, rice, sugar (eating a potato is worse than eating sugar as far as BGL goes.)

Protein, fiber and fat
slows down the rise of BGL.

meds (pills and insulin)
lower BSL

exercise
lowers BSL


Read the labels on food packages
get to know the Glycemic index of foods.
http://www.mendosa.com/gilists.htm


Basically those are the tools you have, use them well and you will have a long Happy life.

O ya… To learn HOW THIS ALL AFFECTS YOU… Test, test, test… before you eat, test 1 hour after you eat , test 2 hours after you eat test before exercise test after exercise.

 

[breezeonby]

Hey my new buddies, I'm back...and looking for more advice from my new circle of friends.

So, as promised I went to a dietician today and she went through the whole eating litany and reinforced everything y'all have said...and that I was trying to do, anyway. Then she gave me a OneTouch UltraMini and tested my BS. I had eaten a tad in the morning and exercised already and my level was 101. Yippee...I think.

So, this is my current plan and I want suggestions, please.

I am NOT starting on the Janumet. I plan to continue my eating regimen and my exercise regimen and I will go back in three months to test my A1C. I will test once or twice a day and see what's up. Good plan?

My only worry is that the exercise coming BEFORE my test may have affected that test.

Waddya think?

Thanks.

Ken

Ken, before you try and go out on your own to control your diabetes, sit down with your doctor or at least sit down with a certified diabetes educator and come up with some target ranges. The most important test of the day is your fasting number. Your doctor knows if you have any dietary restrictions and will help you come up with a carb range. Treating some aspects of diabetes is the same for most people, but many aspects may require your diabetes plan to be more of an individual regimen. By all means, test as often as you can. High blood sugar can creep up at any time. If you are only going to test once per day then you may miss some readings that are high. Once you start testing on a regular basis, it will become a habit. Good luck.