[goo_stewart]

Hi all, glad to have found this forum. I have found some good stuff already. Happy to be here. It is genuinely nice to share and know others who understand.

Ok, diagnosed type 2 diabetes 4 months ago, I have my BG under control I think. I take daonil twice a day. I usually have a reading of 110/120 mg/dl in the morning before eating. In the evening I am usually around 100 mg/dl. I live in Thailand (expat) so my diet is fairly consistently rice and good carbs. I do a fair amount of exercise, I am 38, 75kg and 5'9.

I have some questions, my problem is where I live. My doctor speaks English, but his English isn't too strong. I speak Thai, but my Thai doesn't stretch to all the intricacies of diabetes discussions. We get along, I trust him, but I think I am missing some of the finer subtleties of patient/doctor communication. I want to ask about the neuropathy I am experiencing. I have muscle wastage in my left leg. My leg can feel numb at times. I have got very sensitive legs and feet. Is this gonna go away? I have felt that my condition is getting better in the last week. But I am not sure if it is going to actually get totally better. I exercise, but the neuropathy has stopped me from exercising my usual 5km run and 10km cycle 3 times a week.

What can I do to improve the neuropathy? My doctor gave me vitamins, and I have reduced my carb intake, what else can I do?

Another question I have is alcohol. I drink beer, nothing else. I can drink 5 pints of beer and not see any major increase in my BG the next morning. I am wondering why? Is this normal?

The other question I have is about my spikes. I spike after eating, but, as I said before, my BG always returns to acceptable levels within a 6 hour period. Is this ok? Should I be wary of spikes that can last 5/6 hours? I think I take my pills to release the insulin after eating, so, my real question is, is the 6 hour timeframe acceptable to see a spike of about 180/190? My BG is returning to normal levels after that.

Thanks for any help, I am sorry that I am asking in a haphazard way, my communication with my doctor is patchy so I get some answers to my questions, but others I am a bit stuck.

 

[diabetes86]

Hi and welcome to the big D
Most of the leg symptoms you talk about is neropathy EXCEPT for the muscle atrophy. I haven't herd of that one from diabetes.

Most often neropathy happens when your BG is out of control, It is normal (for T2s) to have BG return to normal over time. It means that your pancreas is still working, sort of. However, every time your BG rises over 140 you are doing your body damage (as in neropathy). So having BG spike after eating is not a good thing.

Carbs are what spike BG, as far as BG there is no "good carb". Some carby foods have good nutrients in them but you can get the sane nutrients from low carb foods, you dont need carbs.

As far as the neropathy goes having your BG under tight control can stop the progression and even revers neropathy in some cases.

Unfortunately where you live food is rice, rice raises BG High BG leads to neropathy. So you need to change your diet.

There are drugs to help and exercise helps. test your BG 1 hour after eating that will tell you how high your spiking.

Each person is different as to how many carbs there pancreas can take care of. so you need to figure this out by testing.

fat and protein slow the BG rise by slowing the digestion down.

Alcohol interferes with the body's conversion of carbs to BG, however its not a consistent controller of BG.

test and ask.

good luck

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Welcome to the fourms!

Give up the rice.
Cut the carbs out of your diet.
5-6 hour spikes are very bad.
get more exercise.

 

[Nagesh Rao]

I think you have raised important questions. Not so long ago I was spiking until I took the bull by the horns, inspired by this forum and the delicious menus on offer like Cheese nibbles, low carb bread coating, high protein breakfast etc. Now i am not spiking and fasting BG is normal.
Rice is a staple diet for many South Indians and wheat is for the North Indians. I used to consume both. Instead of rice, I use Burghul wheat and it tastes just as good, although it is an acquired taste.

 

[Joshua Shorter]

If possible, you should check your BG 1 and 2 hours after eating. If your BG is not back to normal (i.e. <140) 2 hours post prandial you know that you need to get rid of something you ate for that meal.
Anytime you go over 140 it is VERY BAD!! Your fasting numbers usually want to be under 120 if possible but you might experience something called danw phenomenon which will make for a hard fought battle over the FBS.
I do not drink but if you spike 1 or 2 hours after drinking it is bad.
Good luck and ask as many questions as you would like.

 

[Richard157]

Hello, welcome! I have been seeing my doctor since 1977. He came to the US from Thailand in the mid 1970s. Even though he has lived here for about 35 years, his accent is still very heavy and I don't understand everything he says. Sp you and I have opposite problems. He is a very good doctor and I do not want to stop seeing him. He is 70 years old though, and will be retiring soon.

My neuropathy in my feet started in the early 2000s and after using tighter control, all my symptoms disappeared. The only time I feel the symptoms now is when I have run blood sugar like 150, or more, for several hours straight. It hits me that night. When I stop having the higher blood sugar the symptoms stop again.

I can't give you much more information since I am type 1. Good luck with your doctor and your diabetes!

Richard

 

[Shanny]

Welcome aboard, goo_stewart! I won't go on at length, because you've seen such good advice from other members. I will say that I agree with them!

It's good to have you with us - thank you for joining us and do visit often! Ask all the questions you want!

 

[breezeonby]

Hi all, glad to have found this forum. I have found some good stuff already. Happy to be here. It is genuinely nice to share and know others who understand.

Ok, diagnosed type 2 diabetes 4 months ago, I have my BG under control I think. I take daonil twice a day. I usually have a reading of 110/120 mg/dl in the morning before eating. In the evening I am usually around 100 mg/dl. I live in Thailand (expat) so my diet is fairly consistently rice and good carbs. I do a fair amount of exercise, I am 38, 75kg and 5'9.

I have some questions, my problem is where I live. My doctor speaks English, but his English isn't too strong. I speak Thai, but my Thai doesn't stretch to all the intricacies of diabetes discussions. We get along, I trust him, but I think I am missing some of the finer subtleties of patient/doctor communication. I want to ask about the neuropathy I am experiencing. I have muscle wastage in my left leg. My leg can feel numb at times. I have got very sensitive legs and feet. Is this gonna go away? I have felt that my condition is getting better in the last week. But I am not sure if it is going to actually get totally better. I exercise, but the neuropathy has stopped me from exercising my usual 5km run and 10km cycle 3 times a week.

What can I do to improve the neuropathy? My doctor gave me vitamins, and I have reduced my carb intake, what else can I do?

Another question I have is alcohol. I drink beer, nothing else. I can drink 5 pints of beer and not see any major increase in my BG the next morning. I am wondering why? Is this normal?

The other question I have is about my spikes. I spike after eating, but, as I said before, my BG always returns to acceptable levels within a 6 hour period. Is this ok? Should I be wary of spikes that can last 5/6 hours? I think I take my pills to release the insulin after eating, so, my real question is, is the 6 hour timeframe acceptable to see a spike of about 180/190? My BG is returning to normal levels after that.

Thanks for any help, I am sorry that I am asking in a haphazard way, my communication with my doctor is patchy so I get some answers to my questions, but others I am a bit stuck.

Hello and Welcome! As Shanny said, you already have gotten some good advice and I don't have anything to add right now. Try and visit often and take care.

 

[goo_stewart]

Thanks folks, I have learnt a lot already.

Ok, I have been away for a few days and have been doing some research on my BG. I think that it is fair to say that I am getting back to 140 within 2 hours when I am eating food without too many carbs in it. Rice seems to be ok, so does pasta. Bread seems bad for me. I am still spiking if I have some types of food. I am working it out now though, now I know my goal is to be within 140 within 2 hours. An example of this is yesterday, I ate a dish of khao moo grop (rice with crispy pork and a small amount of sweet sauce). I ate at 12:30, by 14:00 my BG was 141mg/db. I hadn't done any exercise, I had just been driving. So I think I can eat small amounts of Thai rice food and be fine. It seems to be the breads which spike me for longer than 2 hours. This sounds a little weird, I know!

I am quite a sporty person, so I have some questions about that. I like to exercise, I like to go climbing and I cycle long distances (20/30 days at 100km a day), although I haven't been cycling since I got my diabetes diagnosis. Now, I know I need carbs for this kind of stuff, it will be a case of managing it. When I am exercising, should I load up on the carbs the night before, or should I eat a couple of hours before exercise? What scares me to death is hypos, I have had some pretty low readings of BG - 50/60mg/db have been common when I have exercised. I have to be able to manage my exercise routine better. What do you folks say? I know the amounts of carbs I should be taking for exercise, but I am not too sure when I should be taking them. This is also related to my comment about 'good' carbs and 'bad' carbs. Refined sugar being 'bad'. My exercise needs good carbs - I think (although, please do correct me if I am wrong!).

Also, my neuropathy seems to be getting better. I am suffering from cold feet - who would have thunk that in Thailand? But my legs are definitely getting better. I presume that if I keep my BG between the acceptable levels then this help me to keep at bay the neuropathy.

I do have loads of questions and I will ask when they come up. I appreciate all of you taking the time to answer my questions. I have to say that I am feeling very confident about things. My life has changed, my body has changed, but I am definitely feeling good. Thanks all.

 

[diabetes86]

What are your 1 hour BG reading?

So far we have all agreed that any Reading over 140 is bad.

If carbs raise your BG in the 1 to 3 hour time span why "load Up" the night before and suffer a high BG over night. I eat my carbs ~20gr of them about 45 minutes before I ride my bicycle. and I take candy (or better still cake decorating frosting in a tube) along with me. I find a small nip of frosting every 5 to 7 miles works for me. and test!!

a hard workout will raise BG, So easy to moderate might be best.

JMO

 

[goo_stewart]

What are your 1 hour BG reading?

So far we have all agreed that any Reading over 140 is bad.

If carbs raise your BG in the 1 to 3 hour time span why "load Up" the night before and suffer a high BG over night. I eat my carbs ~20gr of them about 45 minutes before I ride my bicycle. and I take candy (or better still cake decorating frosting in a tube) along with me. I find a small nip of frosting every 5 to 7 miles works for me. and test!!

a hard workout will raise BG, So easy to moderate might be best.

JMO

JMO, my 1 hour readings are usually high, around 150/160, depending on what I eat. I guess I will have to work on that and get things down slightly. I was told by my Dr to eat a fairly high carb breakfast, so I have been doing, most of the readings have been done after that. I will change and start eating something lower carb. My only problem is that I have very few options for low carb stuff here in Thailand. Breakfast is rice, lunch is rice/noodles and dinner is (you guessed!) rice/noodles.

Wow, that is a revelation to me - hard exercise will RAISE my BG? When I do my cycle touring, I am not going at it hard, but I am definitely working in the saddle for 8 hours in a day. I am sweating (heat and exercise) and am keeping a fairly steady pace. I am going to have to go out on my bike and test myself when on the go.

Ok, I have another question - can I eat a virtually zero carb diet and not be in danger of a hypo? I am thinking sausages/eggs for breakfast, soup for lunch and meat/veg for dinner. Is that gonna put me at risk of a hypo and is it going to give me enough energy to get through my (fairly) active and hot day? I will, if I do that kind of diet, have to load on carbs if I start my intense exercise at the gym or climbing (and cycling), but, other than exercise days, is a really low carb diet not putting me at a hypo risk? I only ask because I can get some really low readings of my BG if I eat rice at lunch at 12:30 and then don't eat, but test myself at 18:00 - when I say low, I mean 70/80 mg/db.

 

[Shanny]

A low-carb diet by itself will not cause you to go too low, but I'm not familiar with your daonil, and it sounds like it's in the sulfonylureas class. Others here would know better than I if that could cause extreme lows.

 

[goo_stewart]

Ok folks, had my first A1C and scored a respectable 6.3% - that is with a couple of months of not really understanding what is going on. I am fairly happy. I think I have sorted my spiking problem - I was eating the wrong kind of stuff I think.

The only other thing to update is the carb loading on exercise. I find that if I eat a plate of rice about 1 hour before exercise I can run for 5/6km and cycle 20km without any problem - no hypo and my BG comes out at around 80mg/dl afterwards. My BG does get too low if I eat too many hours before exercise. I have found that my BG is low if I load my carbs 2+ hours before exercise.

Well, that's all folks, thanks for the help and comments. I am in a happy place with diabetes now. I think I know what I am doing and I think I am managing things well. I have also found a doctor who speaks perfect English (in a hospital that resembles a 5 star hotel more than a medicinal practice!). Thanks.

 

[Shanny]

Kudos on your new numbers. Glad to hear you found a doc you can communicate with! Sounds like you're doing well, so just don't get complacent - keep an close eye on things because this cussed condition likes nothing more than to catch us unaware and unleash a totally unprovoked undeserved upward detour to our BG.