Phat Unplugged

Percy writes: There is only one alternative for you now: insulin. You need insulin in one or more of the many provided forms along with self monitoring so you know when and how much to take and can establish a routine of meals and medication.

Agreed. I am back in St. Louis visiting my sister. I cant see the new endocrinologist for two weeks but I am on an aggressive lo carb diet and am taking my long acting insulin until then. By the time i see him and have another blood sugar measurement i will have finally dutifully done my best without added insulin (which i cant get yet anyway) and will provide the new doctor with my best possible condition to diagnose needed insulin. If my blood sugars have not decreased and haveincreased it will confirm that lo carb will no longer help. If they have decreased the insulin likely wont be overprescribed. I sense im stable though high....and ive had a two week run at strict lo-carb. I am aware of the seriousness of my future course of action and will listen to the instructions of the new endocrinologist. Stay tuned

Edited by Phat, : Spelling

Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

Phat writes: By the time i see him and have another blood sugar measurement...

If you're talking about an A1C test, I thought you just had one. Why would you need another already?

You should be checking your blood sugar several times a day so that you can properly medicate. Use of long acting insulin does not mean that your blood sugar can't experience highs and lows during the day, particularly around meals. As meal time approaches you should check your blood sugar in case it is low so that you can eat earlier than you normally would, or perhaps have an appropriate snack like orange juice. And a little after meal time you should check it again in case it is spiking so you can take some short acting insulin. I hope you have some.

--Percy

jar writes: As an Old Fart that is also diabetic it can be managed. It is NOT easy and NOT always pleasant and almost NEVER what you wanted to do, but it can be done.

I woke up early and feel great! I abstained from carbohydrates on Thanksgiving as I have aggressively done for the past three weeks. I ate organic chicken(which was served rather than Turkey) and a good salad. I avoided the starches and sugars...and have been doing so aggressively for the past month. My blood sugars are still higher than normal but are coming down. Other indications that I am on the right path are improved eyesight (used to be blurry) improved muscle strength(which was weaker due to insulin resistance) and better utilization of the insulin I do take.
The Endocrinologist cant see me before the end of the year now and I wanted him to have an accurate reading of my body's true needs regarding insulin rather than overprescribing simply to lower the blood sugars. I will request an A1C test at the end of December even though it will only represent a 2-month reading rather than a 3-month reading. If it comes back markedly lower it will be a positive sign as to the direction my future care will take. If it does not markedly change, I am in trouble for the longer term.
Even though A1C has a three-month window, the blood continually changes as new blood cells are made and old ones die. My readings are improving (morning 177 vs over 200 and occasionally 300 a month ago even with medications) I am slowly making my way back to good control.

Edited by Phat, : punctuation

High blood sugar has a number of negative health consequences, some that you noted, others that you didn't such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and nerve problems. You know that 177 is too high for a fasting blood sugar (morning blood sugar before breakfast), which is what I assume you mean when you said "morning 177". Your target range for morning blood sugar should be 80 to 130.

The ultimate goal is to wean you off reliance on insulin, which may or may not be possible, we don't know yet. That will be between you and your endocrinologist. For now, stop ravaging your body's health with high blood sugar by taking enough insulin in the morning to get it below 130. Up to 180 two hours after meals is okay as long as it is gradually declining (that's the ADA recommendation - personally that sounds very high to me and I like the International Diabetes Federation recommendation of 140).

You might try taking pre and post blood sugar readings for various activities like fasting and exercise and see if you can ever get your blood sugar to occasionally drop below 100.

--Percy

Sorry to ask, but what good does eating organic, verses non organic, do?

(I find eating chicken or turkey extremely disturbing, but that aside...)

Is there a medical issue, here?

LamarkNewAge writes: Sorry to ask, but what good does eating organic, verses non organic, do?

There are hints of an inverse relationship between consumption of organic food and risk of T2D. They haven't established why, but one speculation is lower levels of pesticides. I found a couple studies:

• Inverse Association between Organic Food Purchase and Diabetes Mellitus in US Adults
  
• Prospective association between organic food consumption and the risk of type 2 diabetes: findings from the NutriNet-Santé cohort study

-Percy