[Starchips]

Hi, I'm not diabetic, but my husband is. He began showing symptoms a few months before his brother died of Type I in 2012. He was diagnosed another 6 months after that, in spring of 2013.

His numbers are horrendous, and probably have been for over two years. Even with insulin, his fasting level is in the mid 200's.

Between missing work for doctor's visits and co-pays for appointments and prescriptions, we can't pay all of our bills every month. I'm not working because we can't afford daycare (it costs more than I would make at a min-wage job), and our two children are on the wait-list for free preschool.

We worry that all of his missed days at work will add up to termination. We need some peace of mind, but all we get is more worry, depression, and stress. He works very hard at his job, and he is well-liked and highly valued there, but any employer can only take so much absence.

 

[grammaB]

Hi There Starchips and welcome to the forum. I have moved your post to the Friends and Family forum since you are not diabetic yourself. You are more likely to get answers from people that are going through just what you are here.

Here are a couple of websites to check out for lots of info on diabetes and a way of eating to get it in control

BloodSugar101

TheDiet Doctor all about low carb high fat eating.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Starchips]

Thanks, that helps a lot.

 

[Shalynne]

GrammaB's links, above, are Right On.

Your husband's doctor may have told him that he can eat lots of starch foods and "cover" them with insulin. Most of us have learned that this Does Not Work.

There is a learning curve, I cannot lie. The rewards, however, are almost immediate!

Please point your husband to us, if he's interested. Also ... please keep us posted!

 

[Starchips]

He's using a slow-release insulin, not the quick-fix sort. He takes a large dose before bed and a smaller dose in the morning. His doctors, so far, have been great, but his numbers are still drastically out of control.

It's a matter of follow-up every month, trying to get the right balance of diet, exercise, and medicine. I have a lot to learn about preparing meals every day that will be beneficial, as well as keeping healthy snacks that he can have between meals. I really wish we had the funds to keep fresh vegetables in the house. He loves freshly sauteed veggies, and fresh tomatoes on sandwiches.

We do not plan to cut starches out entirely. Everything in moderation. His brother spent most of his life being told that he "can't" have any of the things he wants. We are certainly trying to cut-back on such things, but it is very difficult to keep better food in the house on a limited budget.

 

[David Burke]

Hi and welcome!

Please read the links grammaB gave and ask any questions you have after reading. We realize the info on dietdoctor will go against everything you've heard forever about a "healthy" diet. Just believe us when we say "you must unlearn what you have learned." ( oops. Sorry for going Yoda, but it's true!).

If you search around you'll find lots of people here who have reduced or eliminated not only diabetes medications but also medications for other conditions like high BP.

Good luck with your studies. We've got lots of tutors if you need them

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Shalynne]

He may want to look into adding a "quick-fix" (also known as "rapid") insulin to the mix. That will help with post-meal numbers. The use of both insulins is pretty much standard.

Hopefully, moderation is your key! For many diabetics, however, it simply doesn't work. (I wish that weren't so.)

So. Just in case you need more info someday ...

Low-carb foods do tend to be more expensive. A good portion of the cost, however, is reduced by the fact that we tend to eat less, without trying to.

Here are 2 links on frugal low-carbing. I hope they help, at least a bit.

Unable to afford LCHF food for diet (old Forum thread)

Dollar Stretcher: Cutting the Carbs

How to Low-Carb When You're Not Wealthy?

Please keep us posted!

 

[Starchips]

Oh, I miss fish (one of the recommended foods on the page). I don't even remember the last time we had fish that didn't come from a can.

And butter.....this time of year, it costs $4/lb! We only have any kind of cooking fat/oil at all because some generous family cleared out some extra things from their pantry to give to us, including a gallon jug of Olive Oil. (only about one quart is left now, two months later).

It's difficult to buy fresh veggies and wholesome dairy products when we can get spaghetti and a can of sauce for $2 (especially with two young, picky children in the house).

 

[Starchips]

It is nice, though...this year, our local grocery store has had a "buy one, get two free" deal on pre-seasoned meat every week. When we have a big shopping trip, we pick up two or three of those, filling our freezer with a month's worth of meat. Last week, one of the deals was on chicken leg-quarters. I cooked some of one package in an electric deep griddle with veggies, and I used the rest of the package to make chicken noodle soup (egg noodles).

Oh, if anyone is interested, his A1C is something like 12.8. Scary, I know.

 

[David Burke]

It is nice, though...this year, our local grocery store has had a "buy one, get two free" deal on pre-seasoned meat every week. When we have a big shopping trip, we pick up two or three of those, filling our freezer with a month's worth of meat. Last week, one of the deals was on chicken leg-quarters. I cooked some of one package in an electric deep griddle with veggies, and I used the rest of the package to make chicken noodle soup (egg noodles). Oh, if anyone is interested, his A1C is something like 12.8. Scary, I know.

Scary? Yes. Too late to do something about? Absolutely not! I started out 3 years ago with levels so high the hospital couldn't measure and that's with a meter that went to 1500!

Now I average high 80s for the day.

The cost for doing LCHF will end up being offset by reducing meds. You can also save by doing cheaper cuts of meats like roasts. Your chicken quarters was a great idea! We picked up a couple of 10 pound bags for 2 bucks each this weekend. They're great baked with the skin on then basted in some butter for super crunchy skin.

Make sure to find out when the grocery does "manager's specials" on meats. Many times you can find real good deals on meat that close to the sell by date.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Shanny]

You're getting the right idea on shopping, Starchips; watch for the sales & buy as much as you can afford. Having a rotation going in the freezer is a good thing . . . I do the same with chicken leg quarters, pork loin roasts, country-style pork spare ribs, hamburger, etc. Once in a great while I even find catfish filets on sale, so that's the fish we have. And canned salmon always makes a good low-carb meal when mixed up as patties. But even on a shoestring budget, I always have something substantial I can use for a decent meal.

I know fresh produce is expensive, so when frozen veggies are on sale, I do the same as with meat - buy as much as I can afford. Frozen may not be as nifty as fresh, but they're a darn sight better than canned. When butter goes on sale, I've been known to buy 10 or 15 lbs., and the same with cream cheese. With the holidays coming up, we'll be able to find terrific sales on these dairy products, and they keep for ages in the fridge.

I do agree with Shalynne though . . . as regards starches and diabetes management, moderation is not a good thing. The single solitary nutrient that raises blood sugar is carbohydrate (starch & sugars), so why would any thinking person take insulin to reduce blood sugar, all the while he continues to eat the exact thing that raises it? Insulin is too expensive to be wasted like that. So keep his blood sugar lower by eliminating starches/carbs and he'll need less insulin.

 

[Shalynne]

Those meat deals are wonderful! As for veggies ... frozen and canned are perfectly OK, as long as they aren't seasoned with sugar.

If the frugal links, above, don't work ... perhaps you'd like to start a new thread on frugal low-carbing. I'm sure plenty of folks will chime in!

At 12.8, your husband's glucose most likely soars to 250+ after every meal or snack, and he no doubt feels poorly, too (although he may be used to that by now, and may believe he's doing OK).

I know these things because I was diagnosed with an A1c of 13.5 -- plus diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). And I was convinced I did not need to be taking up valuable ER space, because I felt fine!

Now? I truly don't know how I managed to do anything at all, back then!

 

[Starchips]

Shanny: But, you see.....my brother-in-law DID cut out carbs and starches...but his diabetes was so out of control, that even living in a nursing home for three years didn't save him. My husband may not be as bad-off as his brother was, starting with this journey at 30 instead of at 12, but he has learned from the way his brother was treated that you need to take care of yourself mentally, as well as physically. We are trying very hard, but it's taking baby steps to make real progress. We will not cut carbs out completely, but we won't be chugging soda and eating pasta at every meal, either. Every food raises blood sugar. We aren't going to stop eating entirely.

Shalynne: His FASTING glucose level is about 250. Now that he's got insulin, his evening level is about 350....a few months ago, his average fasting was 420, with some evenings going as high as 530! So progress is being made, albeit slowly. It's just a very stressful time for us.

 

[Starchips]

David: that is scary! When my brother-in-law was taken to the hospital in 2005 after being found in a coma, his glucose level was 1200. He was borderline low iQ to begin with, and he suffered some brain damage after his kidneys failed. He recovered within a couple weeks and was sent home....a few years later, he had a second coma. This time, the brain damage was enough to render him to the mental capacity of a 10-year-old. It was about two years later that he succumbed to his illness, and wasted away....He was 35.

 

[Shanny]

Please don't anguish about your husband ending up as his brother did. His brother was a very different set of circumstances. Nursing home care is not the gold standard - in fact, I seriously doubt that nursing home meals - like hospital meals - are very low-carb at all, so whatever he had done avoiding carbs before, prob'ly didn't carry over to the nursing home kitchen. Please don't be haunted by his brother's illness and death. You can set a very different course and have a very different outcome.

Just be sure to get a meter and be very diligent about eating to the meter.

 

[Starchips]

Thanks, Shanny.

What do you mean by "eating to the meter"?
Waking up with a glucose level in the mid-200's every day makes it difficult to eat according to a number....He certainly still needs to eat, as going without can actually trigger a spike or a sudden drop, so I'm not sure what you mean?

I'll suggest to him talking to his doctor about adding a fast-acting insulin to his regimen. So far, it hasn't even been suggested as an option...I wish I knew more about what's going on. It's difficult to understand second or third-hand information.

 

[David Burke]

With numbers that high he really needs a bolus (fast/rapid acting) insulin to help with the basal insulin.

The bolus will cover the carbs he eats at mealtime, as well as any adjustment he may need to continue to bring his numbers down. A basal insulin just provides background coverage in between meals and while sleeping.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Shalynne]

Care facility menus are, indeed, typically very high-carb. I watched a friend's control go from fair to non-existent after her placement. Staff knew nothing about nutrition or insulin adjustment, and they were reluctant to call her doctor to increase her dose ... and they were always shocked by her rollercoaster highs and lows!

Self-managed diabetes, now, is a whole 'nother thing. If your husband learns to manage his own diabetes, he will feel much better, he will reduce the risk of complications, and he won't be seeing the doctor as much.

He definitely needs a rapid insulin. Long-acting insulin, by itself, cannot help his post-meal/snack numbers very much. Sometimes doctors need to be nudged. At some point, he will need to learn how to adjust his own doses. This is perfectly legitimate -- things change for us too quickly to wait for a doctor's appointment every time.

In my Early Days, I was able to call or email my doctor when I had dosage questions. She also referred me to a Certified Diabetes Educator; we also worked together by phone. I don't know if that kind of arrangement is available to your husband, but the possibility may be worth investigating.

 

[Starchips]

I just spoke with him. He says that his doctor did offer a fast-acting medicine. He declined, saying that he wants to raise his slow-release dose and work on his diet and habits some more.

He definitely has a long way to go, but I have seen some improvements in his behavior during the past two weeks. Baby steps. I hope he's able to stick with it, and to improve over time. I'd like to do all I can to improve his diet by preparing better meals for him to come home to. Maybe I should also start getting up early with him and prepare an egg-based breakfast before he heads off to work, so he doesn't resort to cereal.

 

[Shalynne]

Choosing only long-acting is, of course, his prerogative.

However, use of both long-acting (basal) and rapid (bolus) is standard, because, by design, the two don't work the same way. It's not a matter of using one so he can avoid using the other -- he needs both. (Doctors don't always explain that bit.)

The basal he's using is designed to be slow and fairly level, but it cannot help with sudden changes, such as the spikes caused by eating. At this point, every bite of food will produce a spike. Bolus insulin, on the other hand, is designed to prevent spikes, or correct an existing spike.

With your husband's levels, better food choices would definitely lower his glucose some -- but -- without bolus insulin, his daily numbers and A1c will remain in the danger zone.

Personally, I don't see it as taking two different meds. Rather, it's more like one med, in two parts.