20 year struggles with Diabetes

Type 1 and LADA
21

Hi Dave ,

Thanks for your incisive reply.

My sugars are averaging between 5 and 8 during the day and higher in the morning due to nibbles and cravings I have during the evening.

I have tried not to eat after 8pm however have had mixed success.

I am eating approx 2600 to 2800 calories per day and would love to banish my cravings.

My stomach aches all the time and have horrible problems with digestion and going to the toilet with sudden heavy painful urges to go.

I use Lantus as long acting and Novarapid for short.

22

It is not much fun to go through life with a body that is giving you a lot of pain. I agree that doctors are not much help. Try to go on a low sugar diet and lose some weight. If your stomach is smaller it will help a lot with your back problems. If you get out of the house you won't be eating as much. I think that it is up to you to take control.

23

My pleasure Giggs. You'll get through this. Be kind to yourself... you've had a lot to deal with so just take it one step at a time - you'll get through to the other side of it.

I had a lousy diet for the past year and I've been paying the price. My wakeup call was having to finally agree to an insulin pen last month as my begging the doctors for "just 3 more months to get my act together" had gone on for far too long. My A1C had been at about 10 (yikes!!) for the past several checks. I can't imagine the damage I've done over the last couple of years.

Right now I'm managing to stick with about 1500 cal/day give or take. I have my fair share of weight to lose too. I have a very busy lifestyle so I also need to make it sustainable, quick & easy to prepare. I'm sure I'll continue tweaking this as I go along and see how my body reacts. I'm now at morning glucose readings of about 6.9 mmol and btw 9-12 after meals, which is a great improvement compared to what I was at before. I'd been seeing as high as 13-14 in the morning, and 18-20 after some meals! I was feeling like I was on death's door for the past year.

An example of my days would be something like this:

Breakfast (~375 cal): a vegetarian protein shake (~150 cal) + organic instant oatmeal > (this is my biggest carb meal of the day)

Snack (~100-175 cal): greek yogurt + 1/2 apple, or celery with peanut butter, or almonds...

Lunch (~350 cal): green salad with 1 tbsp olive oil & balsamic vinegar, 4 oz chicken or fish, and 1/2 cup quinoa or a Ryvita cracker

Snack: greek yogurt + 1/2 apple, or celery with peanut butter, or almonds...

Dinner: Similar to lunch... 4 oz lean meat, 1-2 cups non starchy veg, 1/2 cup "good" carbs, and a bit of "good" fat. Sometimes I'll have an eggwhite omelette - I love that and it really levels out my blood glucose.

Snack before bed - greek yogurt.

I also have a lot of cinnamon which is good for BG.

I'm also trying to move more. I have an elliptical, so I'm aiming for 30 min X 4 times a week right now, which is a big improvement in activity for me. Just going for a walk is also good. Try testing your BG before & after any kind of activity to see how much it helps lower your BG.

I know how insanely difficult this can be. I know the feeling of climbing a never ending mountain. We have to believe that it can get better. I also know how hard it is to put in that effort if you're facing depression at the same time. Hang in there... tackle this one day at a time, even one hour at a time.

I'm so sorry to hear about the lack of adequate health care too. It's going to be up to you to learn as much as you can... equip yourself the best you can to fight this fight, and be your own advocate. It's tough but it's doable.

24

Giggs: You like bacon and eggs?

Eat all of that you want -- 0, that's ZERO carbs.

An omelette with a little bit of cheese, sauteed mushrooms, smattering of diced tomatoes, some chopped green onions for added flavor, and chopped bacon. I have this for breakfast (2 eggs) all the time. 4g carbs.

A burrito made with most everything usually put in it (seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, sour cream, a little cheese, salsa) except for beans of any sort, on a low-carb tortilla. 10g. Dinner at least once a week.

Those are just two examples of very low carb meals that are delicious, satisfying, nutritionally sound, and very low carb. You can see that the omelette for breakfast, a low-carb salad for lunch, and a burrito for dinner and you haven't even got close to Dr. Bernstein's 30g/day ultra low-carb recommendation.

It's easier than you think -- you just need recipes. Oh, and for convenience I've cooked a batch of omelettes and burritos on the weekend and frozen them. Not as good freshly made, but they still taste pretty darn good after being thawed and reheated.

Others here with more on the ball with URL pointers and such for low-carb recipes and advice will surely join in and help. Right here on TuD there's a ton of good eatin' low carb recipes!

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*I should clarify that I'm type 2

26

This is where I really struggle as taste buds poor as never eat any form of egg as hate them and struggle to conjur up a meal low in carbs without the bad carbs. I feel lost as to where to start l have been looking at food all day on a supermarket website as to what to buy however seems a minefield