[MelodyL]

Hi All!

They now have a self check at home thing from Bayer.

They give you two tests. Of course I screwed up the first one by not pressing down on the thing the right way and I got no reading.

Waiting one hour till the monitor cleared.

Did the second test.

7.8

I am a type 2, used to be morbidly obese, I'm 63 years old and I finally got my act together. I literally grow my own food and I don't chat.

I was in the Accord program at Cornell and did very well. Got my a1c down from 9.0 to 6.5.

I was on Lantus. At first only 20 units (nothing else), Just the Lantus. It was so hard losing the rest of the weight. Insulin stores in fat cells, this I know.

On September 21, my morning fasting level was 118 and my post prandial was 127. I spoke to my doctor (I was on 8 units of the Lantus), and I told him "I'd like to try this via diet alone". He agreed. I also told the people at Cornell what I was doing. They know the way I eat so if it could be done, I'd be the one to do it.

So since September 21, I am on no meds at all. If I didn't eat, my sugar would go up, but if I ate, it would go down.

It didn't go down good enough for me. Today I did the a1c and it said 7.8.

After I went off of Lantus, my sugar went up (in the a.m. ) to 187, and post prandial could be 170 and I even hit 140 one time.

But this 7.8 tells me what I need to know. I thought because I lost most of my weight, I would see an a1c of 6.

I was wrong. Oh, FYI, I went to eye doctor, have no signs of diabetes at all in my eyes. And I"ve been a diabetic for 23 years. He said "I have never seen this before, you have no signs of diabetes, so whatever you are doing, keep doing it". He also took one look at me and thought I had lap band surgery. I just said "No, I know how to eat and I grow my own food"

Oh, I read the back of the a1c box that this test came in. They have various degrees of how you should interpret the reading.

So when I looked at the back of the box it says 'WHAT DOES YOUR A1C NUMBER MEAN.?
Between a reading of 7 - 8 (mine was 7.8), it indicates MONITOR CLOSELY and it indicates the numbers as being 154 to 183. So on average (they say this is a 2 to 3 month indicator).

A reading of over 8, it indicates "elevated levels" So I'm not there yet.

So the day I went off of the lantus, I had gone down to 5 units which is virtually nothing. I have no idea why my body reacted the way it did. We are talking about 5 units of Lantus. The people at Cornell said "10 units is nothing". So if 10 is nothing, what the heck is 5 and how come my body did not cooperate.?

So I have a decision to make. The doctors at Cornell, when I asked them if I should take a pill or go back on Lantus, they said "oh, go back on Lantus and take it at bedtime". So of course, this is an option. And I have fresh bottles in my home so no problem there.

Now about going on orals. I have a multitude of them to choose from .

The only ones I would even consider is the one that won't make me gain weight. But they work differently on every one.

YEARS ago, I took metformin. The only think it did for me was affect my stomach.

The Lantus was the real deal.

But it's expensive.

I have a friend who is on a multitude of pills and also on Lantus.

She had extra pills and she just gave me 30 of the 4mg Glimepiride (Amaryl).

I have never taken this before. My primary care doctor had told me 'Any time you want to switch from Lantus to a pill, just tell me". Also Cornell had told me this a long time ago.

But I did well on the Lantus and ultimately tried to do it by diet alone.

But now that I have to do SOMETHING (I do have to do SOMETHING, right?, or can I wait a bit until I lose the last 10 or so pounds), I mean, I'm not going to go into a diabetic coma or anything right?

The other day I was down to 147 in the afternoon (after lunch), so my body DOES WORK a bit.

So I just googled Glimeperide and I read all the reviews that patients gave it.

Oh my goodness. 90% of the said "Severe weight gain", but it controls the sugar. Who the heck wants weight gain after all the hard work I have done?

And one person well, after she took this pill, the next morning her sugar was 29, she landed in the hospital. But she is on other meds also.

So I'm not going to be taking this pill, that's for sure.

I honestly don't know what I should do? I just don't want to screw up my health if I wait but I want to lose the last 10 or so pounds and get to a somewhat normal weight.

Do I have a shot?. I have no diabetes in my eyes so that's good. And I have no other complications. I was diagnosed with the beginning of neuropathy (in my toes) 3 years ago, but I take methyl B-12 and that took care of that. No numbness, no nothing.

I feel fine, so that's good.

I just want to weigh what I'm supposed to weigh.

I wonder if any of you out there have tried to manage type 2 by diet alone and if you were successful?

I am 63 years old (tomorrow actually) and I really wanted to give myself the birthday gift of not having to go back on any meds.

I don't think I'll achieve this.

I would like honest opinions.

thanks much

Mel

I have a big decision to make here.

 

[slide]

7.8

hi there - i'm type 1....if that is the scale we use in the uk , then i was told to try to be 7 .0
that is the one to aim for...and 7.5 means that ya control is not quite there, but not that bad....anything under 7.0 normally means that i'm hypoing too much, and this is what i've found -i've had a few under 7.0, but it is with too many lows really, so 7.8 isn't the end of the world-it just needs fine tuning
why did you not stay on lantus and fine tune it-it would mean eating small and reasonablly often -i have done this when camping and ran out of rapid insulin . i just increased the dosage of lantus and ate small amouts of carbohydrate . things like egg on 2 bits of toast
egg has no carbs in and is full of protein, and bread for carbs
altho carb counting shouldn't rule your life -its good to practice it a bit cause it will help very much to get a rough idea of insulin/carb ratio's, and that has helped me understand diabetes more

 

[Shanny]

Hello and welcome, Mel. You have got the drill down pat, in my opinion, but your numbers insist on staying a wee bit high. Seems to me a few units of Lantus at bedtime might be just the thing, but since I've never used insulin & my doc thinks I don't need it yet, I'll back out of that part of this discussion.

As for oral meds, I take metformin which combats my insulin resistance, curbs my appetite, and does not burn out my beta cells. I think I would not consider anything that gave my pancreas any more work than it already does - and I'm afraid that includes most other oral meds. If you had unpleasant experiences with metformin, you could try the extended release version, which often reduces those side effects. Doing anything that would compromise your weight loss seems insane to my way of thinking, and that last ten pounds is surely not what is causing the elevation in your glucose levels. I really think metformin could be the answer for the lingering insulin resistance you have.

It's good to have you with us, and I hope we can help you out in making this decision.

 

[MelodyL]

Yeah, my doctor would give me metformin but it KILLED my stomach the last time I was on it. I was on it for 8 years. Didn't do the trick like the Lantus did. but at my age, well I don't know.

Basal insulin burns out the pancreas? Is that what you said?

I just want to get this clear.

Thanks much

Mel

 

[Shanny]

Basal insulin burns out the pancreas? Is that what you said?

I just want to get this clear.

Thanks much

Mel

Oh no no no . . . sorry for the confusion! I think a little lantus at bedtime would fix you right up! I don't understand why they're saying 5 or 10 units is "nothing", like it isn't worth taking. Well if it fixes your dawn phenomenon problem, then it's definitely not "nothing"!

It's the oral meds of the sulfonylurea class that burn out the beta cells, not metformin, and definitely not insulin. Insulin will give your pancreas a rest.

 

[MelodyL]

You probably just saved my life. I am sending you such good energy I can't begin to tell you. I needed your words tonight. Tomorrow I turn 63. You probably gave me many more years to enjoy my life. I grow my own food in my kitchen. I'm a sprouter. I don't eat anything that is processed. I enjoy this lifestyle. It's healthy and it's great to see my stuff growing on shelves in my kitchen. I can't thank you enough for replying.

May all good things come your way.

Take care,
Melody

 

[Shanny]

Heheh! We don't eat processed foods either, Mel, and I've done a little sprouting over the years . . . I should get back into that!

If I knew how to sprout a cake, I'd bake you a birthday cake! You may have reached a "certain" age, but you have a lotta years yet to go. I'm 65 myself, and I'm not just about to go down any time soon!

Stay with us . . . you have lots more fun people to meet!

 

[breezeonby]

Yeah, my doctor would give me metformin but it KILLED my stomach the last time I was on it. I was on it for 8 years. Didn't do the trick like the Lantus did. but at my age, well I don't know.

Basal insulin burns out the pancreas? Is that what you said?

I just want to get this clear.

Thanks much

Mel

Have you tried the ER form of Metformin? I tried to take the regular Metformin 10 years ago and my stomach said "no way". I stopped taking it. I tried the ER form in September and I am amazed that I have very few side effects.

 

[MelodyL]

I'll be honest. I don't want to take oral meds. When I was in the Accord Program at Cornell 5 years ago, I was on 2000 a day of Metformin and 46 units of Lantus. I was also 65 lbs heavier. And I was 5 years younger.

But I prevailed and in a few months got off of the Metformin. Then as the years went by, I was going down on the Lantus. It took me YEARS to lose the weight, but then again, I wasn't eating like I am now. I've been sprouting for the last two years, and I don't eat anything processed. But the big thing is what happened after September 21st when I decided that 5 units of Lantus was like being on nothing, and I stopped. Well, the weight came off me like lightening. My clothes got bigger. In fact I ate every 4 hours to keep the sugar down. Liver dumping and all that.

So I'm not going to be worried about the last 10 or 15 lbs that I want to lose. I'm nowhere near what I used to weigh and I look perfectly fine. I feel perfectly fine and the stress on my joints is much less.

But oh, to be able to get ona scale and see a weight that a woman weighs!!!!

Ah, maybe some day!!! lol, Melody

P.S. I have a funny story to tell you that happened to me YEARS AGO.

I think I was 52 or so. I had joined a gym and worked out (with weights) and while I didn't kill myself, I did sit at those weight things and lift.

So I got a new body. I never knew what I weighed because who gets on scales?? Not me!! So I'm down to a fighting trim and I looked great in those bicycle shorts and a tank top and it's time for my doctor visit and I walk in all smiling and he takes one look at me and he goes: 'oh My god, get on the scale you look fabulous". And I'm all smirky and happy (because who on earth is happy to get on any doctor's scale?)

So what did the scale read? 223 lbs. I nearly fell off the scale.

I looked at my doctor, I looked at the scale, my doctor looks at me and yells "What the hell have you been eating?" I said "are you crazy, look at me!!!"

He says :"Well, the scale doesn't lie". I grabbed the doctor and said "Get on that scale, it's broken". He says to me "I know exactly what I weigh, I weigh 185". He gets on the scale, he weighed 185 lbs. I then weighed the nurse, and half the people in the waiting room. I was so upset. The scale was not the problem. My body was the problem. And believe me I looked good.

So the next day I go back to the gym, I walked up to the biggest muscled person I could find (and he was BIG and TALL), and I said "Will you please tell me why I weigh 223 lbs?"

He looked at me and said "You weigh WHAT???" and I said "Follow me" I take him over to the scales in the gym and sure enough, I weighed 223.

He looks at me and says "Stay there".

He then walks over to all his body building buddies and he's pointing at me and they are all looking at me, and they ALL WALKED OVER TO ME AND SURROUNDED ME walking around me in a circle and looking me over, up and down.

Finally, one guy comes over to me and says "Show us your routine, what you do here at the gym".

Well, I walk over to one of the weight machines and I put the thing at 40 lbs and I said "well, I do 5 reps of 40 on this machine and 5 reps of 40 on the other machines, etc etc'.

Well, they all burst out laughing. I said "I really don't think weighing 223 lbs is anything to laugh about"

The guy says to me "My dear, you burned fat and built muscle and one pound of muscle is 6 times heavier than one pound of fat, YOU ARE ALL MUSCLE, you have 223 lbs of muscle" You were not supposed to lift 40 lbs. You are supposed to do 10 reps of 2 pounds. No wonder you weigh 223 lbs". And I didn't look like Scharzenegger either.

I have NEVER lifted that much weight again. Of course I stopped exercising and gained the weight back. But that's long ago. Right now, I have two little dumbells that weigh 2 lbs each.

lol

 

[MelodyL]

Hi Slide:

I never eat any refined carbs. I eat complex carbs and I eat protein. I recently discovered Bison meat. I hadn't had any red meat in 10 years or so and I needed to find a good source of protein. Well, !!! Imagine my surprise when I had a buffalo burger. I thought I died and went to heaven. I have it maybe twice a week and I treasure it. It's divine. Of course I have my sprouts at each meal. I couldn't live without them. Take care,

Mel

 

[pinepienaarinfo]

Thank you Guys for giving me an objective this weekend – starting sprouting!
If I could add my penny worth, I would recommend going off meds completely. It has now been nearly 3 years that I have been of meds and it is going great! Must say it takes more work, especially if you are ready for a meal and I test maybe 7.5. I would then delay having that meal for maybe 2 hours. This to me is the hardest part of controlling it “manually”.
I am now more on the lookout for ways to increase my daily physical activities – especially after having put something in my mouth.
Looking forward to reading more about how you guy’s are controlling your lives