[newface]

Hi
I was diagnose with diabetes 4 years ago, I ad struggling to keep my numbers down, presently i am on metformin and regular insulin

 

[moon]

Welcome to the forum! There's a wealth of information and support here.

You've come to the right place to find others struggling to keep their numbers down, and those who struggled and have arrived at great control. That was some great inspiration and modeling for me as I started on my journey.

What are you doing to control your diabetes in addition to medication? What are your numbers like? - have they been going up or.... ?

 

[beefy]

Hi newface and :welcome:

As moon mentioned, there is a lot of info and support here, so we hope you enjoy your stay.

I've seen in a couple of posts you're very interested in lowering your numbers asap. The key to that is found at the Blood Sugar 101 site on a page called "How to Lower Your Blood Sugar".

In addition to the diet changes recommended on that site, regularly daily exercise will also help a great deal.

The combination of a low-carb lifestyle and daily exercise will not only help your blood glucose levels, but will help with weight loss, which further helps insulin-resistance, which further helps your blood glucose levels.

Good luck!

 

[jwags]

Welcome to the forum. I have also had D for 4 years. It has taken me awhile but most of the time my bgs do behave. It has taken me lots of trial and error and tons of testing to find out how many carbs I can eat and at what times of the day. It seems mornings are the toughest for me, so I eat very few carbs 2-3 at the most. That will give me a 10-15 point spike. At lunch I can handle a few more 15-20 and that keeps my bg close to 100-115. Dinner is trickier. If I eat more than 10 carbs at dinner or if I eat a late night snack I am usually above 100 in the morning. So as you see it is a fine balancing act. Also I found timing of my medication helps. I use to spike around lunch time so I now take my metformin 3 times a day. When I wake up, then again around 10:30-11 pm and the last one before bed. That gives me the best coverage. But it took a lot of fiddling around with taking at different times.

 

[HardBackStrider]

Welcome to the forum. I have also had D for 4 years. It has taken me awhile but most of the time my bgs do behave. It has taken me lots of trial and error and tons of testing to find out how many carbs I can eat and at what times of the day. It seems mornings are the toughest for me, so I eat very few carbs 2-3 at the most. That will give me a 10-15 point spike. At lunch I can handle a few more 15-20 and that keeps my bg close to 100-115. Dinner is trickier. If I eat more than 10 carbs at dinner or if I eat a late night snack I am usually above 100 in the morning. So as you see it is a fine balancing act. Also I found timing of my medication helps. I use to spike around lunch time so I now take my metformin 3 times a day. When I wake up, then again around 10:30-11 pm and the last one before bed. That gives me the best coverage. But it took a lot of fiddling around with taking at different times.

Question you don't take your metformin with meals. Funny what you call spikes i call control but i am only 6 months in and learning. I take 250 mg 3 times a day but usually with food. Nurse told me metformin does not work quickly in response to taking it I thought she did not know what she was talking about. Drugs usually are mostly gone in 4-6 hours after taking

 

[jwags]

My doctor also told me the same thing. He said Metformin was cumulative and it shouldn't be dependent on when you take it. I was taking 1700 and asked my doctor for an increase to 2550. My doctor said it wouldn't work but finally gave me the Rx. My fastings were 130 before and now they are in the low 100's and sometimes below 100. So even though Metformin builds up in your system I do think it has an immediate effect. At least that is the way it works for me.

 

[newface]

thanks beefy will certainlt check the site

 

[newface]

Question you don't take your metformin with meals. Funny what you call spikes i call control but i am only 6 months in and learning. I take 250 mg 3 times a day but usually with food. Nurse told me metformin does not work quickly in response to taking it I thought she did not know what she was talking about. Drugs usually are mostly gone in 4-6 hours after taking

I usually take my meteor in first thing in the morning and the last thing at nite, can't say it's helping to keep my numbers down but I have lost a lot of weight taking them.

 

[newface]

thanks beefy will certainlt check the site

Got my test results from my dr today my a1c is '14.3' my cholesterol 245 hdl and 139 LDL, I really need some advise I take 850mg metformin x2per day and 25 units of insulin 2 x per day

 

[Jen]

Hi newface. Well, that A1C indicates some pretty high numbers. How are you feeling physically? I'm a little surprised that your doctor didn't recommend some fast-acting insulin to use at mealtimes. That might be an avenue to explore. Pick up one or both of these books: Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner and/or Using Insulin by John Walsh. They each give detailed information about the use of insulin therapy, and after reading them you may find it easier to broach the topic of additional insulin with your doctor.

You are right - testing twice a day doesn't give you enough information to determine what changes you need to make. Try testing before you eat, then 2 hours after to see how you are handling the carbs in your meals. If you're more than about 40 to 60 points higher than your baseline, you know you need to reduce the portion of the carb you just ate, or eliminate it from your diet. Frequent testing like this will help you develop a you-friendly list of foods that have the least impact on your blood sugar.

What's your diet like? If you are eating a lot of starchy carbs (potatoes, pasta, bread, rice, etc.) you might try cutting back. Large quantities of fruit can also lead to unwanted results. Try substituting berries for other fruits, and eliminate juice in favor of real fruit.

Best,
Jen

 

[newface]

Hi newface. Well, that A1C indicates some pretty high numbers. How are you feeling physically? I'm a little surprised that your doctor didn't recommend some fast-acting insulin to use at mealtimes. That might be an avenue to explore. Pick up one or both of these books: Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner and/or Using Insulin by John Walsh. They each give detailed information about the use of insulin therapy, and after reading them you may find it easier to broach the topic of additional insulin with your doctor.

You are right - testing twice a day doesn't give you enough information to determine what changes you need to make. Try testing before you eat, then 2 hours after to see how you are handling the carbs in your meals. If you're more than about 40 to 60 points higher than your baseline, you know you need to reduce the portion of the carb you just ate, or eliminate it from your diet. Frequent testing like this will help you develop a you-friendly list of foods that have the least impact on your blood sugar.

What's your diet like? If you are eating a lot of starchy carbs (potatoes, pasta, bread, rice, etc.) you might try cutting back. Large quantities of fruit can also lead to unwanted results. Try substituting berries for other fruits, and eliminate juice in favor of real fruit.

Best,
Jen

Hi Jen I do eat a lot of carbs and fruit I don't know what to substite for the carbs. I am taking
regular insulin 20mg 2 x per day, metformin 850mg 2x per day he just gave me a new one paradin 2mg 1x per day