Sadie,
I congratulate you on your efforts. You are doing a great job!
I was able to manage my sugar on diet and exercise for several years. Then… my doctor suddenly quit. I found a new temporary doctor who, despite my normal A1C was appalled at my morning readings. He sent me to an endocrinologist who confirmed his thinking.( I think that Amy mentioned this preocupation with morning readings) When I said that I didn’t want to take drugs, I was told that I would be branded as “non-compliant” So… I took the drugs.They had no effect so he kept ramping them up and, as a result (I think) my readings kept going up too. In Apr/May they went out of control. The diabetes was progressing. So… I stopped taking 3 of one of the pills (diamicron) because the side effects were terrible. My readings went down immediately…except of course for those morning readings. I 'm sorry, I keep ranting about this…I just have no idea what to do.
Hi Amy,
Have you tried evaluating your “routine”? What I mean by this is write down what you need to accomplish this can be anything from loose weight, get off the meds, lower my BG, ect. These can be combined as well so it doesn’t have to be just one thing.
Then take your top two or three and break them out. For example lets use lower my BG and loose weight. (The most common ones) Now figure out what you need to do for each of those like exercise, modify my diet, establish a baseline for my BG, ect. Once you have those figured out, then set up a daily “routine” to help you achieve those goals. It is a lot of work at first but once you get it figured out and get yourself into the habbit of doing them, it will be like second nature. Also, develop a backup plan. What I mean by this is that we can’t always stick to our routines, things come up and we have to adjust accordingly. Set yourself up with alternatives or adjustments to your routine in case this happens.
As mentioned before, when you first start exercising, you won’t see the resuts like the do in those Bowflex ads, the examples have been at it for months if not years. Everyone’s body is different and reacts differently. I develop muscle relatively quickly and difine faster than my wife and it drives her insane and hates me for it. 
You’re body is adjusting and changing to meet the new demands bieng placed on it, some fat loss and muscle building will happen. Once you figure out what you want to accomplish with the exercise (like “I want to be a hot mom”) then adjust your work out to help you meet that goal. Little steps at first, don’t obsess of the numbers and stress yourself out. Give it time and things will fall into place.
I have a pretty good start on what I think you’re talking about. I have a few weeks of data collection on my bg and it really did help me lower my numbers. I’ve also started using it to plan menus so that I know what to put together. I keep my exercise log in the same book or my I’d lose track of it all. My first goal was lowering my BG, now onto weight and fitness =) Fasting was 97 yesterday and 101 today! I really didn’t expect results that quickly.
I have spent my summer turning myself into my own Action Research project. The key, though will be developing a routine that I can maintain once school resumes.
Rant away!! That’s what we’re here for!!! I’m sorry that I didn’t answer over the weekend! My mom HATES my doctor and is on me constantly to find a new one. She also wants me to eat all kinds of foods and thinks that low carb is going to kill me. It’s making me a little insane. So I may rant as well
I don’t want to take medication if there is a way to manage without it! I also want to take the least harmful medication if I must take any. If that is insulin; I’m okay with that. I’m not in denial of having diabetes, or any other disease, but I’m not going to let it take over my life either! Right now, what I’m doing is working!
Thanks Amy. I really don’ t think that a desire to be as drug-free as possible should be seen as denial. I believe that most of the members here have accepted the fact that they do have diabetes. I’m glad that what you are doing now is working.
Hope you keep on improving! Joanne
My numbers 2hrs after a meal
You may find it more useful to use your peak post-meal times. Two hours may be well after that.
Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia
Everything in Moderation - Except laughter
I was testing at 1 hour and 2 hours for a while, but I was under the impression that it should be under 140 at 1 hr and under 120 at 2hrs. Mine is generally under 120 at 1 hour so I stopped testing at that time just to conserve strips.
I agree with your targets. Your numbers and your progress are excellent.
I don't think it's wise to completely cease those 1hr tests because you lose your feedback. After nine years I don't test after every meal these days. But I still test 1hr after a meal at least half a dozen times a week, on average, as a "maintenance" measure. If things start heading in the wrong direction I would like to know early.
Earlier you wrote:
I was hoping that if my fasting would come down further the doctor would consider letting me try going med free.
To me, that is an odd way to put it. I see my doctor as my advisor. He tells me what he believes is medically in my best interests but I decide whether to follow that advice. At the moment the medication appears to be helping you. You should not cease it without discussing it with your doctor but the final decision on whether to take it is yours.
I also suffer from DP. Some days worse than others. I can vary from 5.5 (100) to 6.7 (120). I have tried various bed-time snacks; they helped but the diabetes gremlins can still surprise me. I still have those snacks, because the DP is worse if I don't, but I gave up worrying about it several years ago. Like you, the rest of my numbers through the day are good and after nine years I can be reasonably sure it isn't leading to complications.
After all, my goal is not brilliant FBG numbers or incredibly low A1c. I aim for those as targets but I'm not fussed if I just miss because my true goal is to reach my dotage (some might say I already have) without diabetes complications. So, provided I continue to achieve that goal I don't sweat the small stuff; I just do the best I can.
This may help with your other goal: Weight Loss Cooking and Eating Plan
Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia
Everything in Moderation - Except laughter
I hate Januvia like I hate a sharp needle in the eye. I got so sick on it that I just stopped taking it myself and went back to metformin. My A1C is a 6.3 on 1000 metformin and I will tell you from my experience working out and even losing 5 to 10 lbs made a big difference in my numbers. The doctor that I was going to told me that since diabetes was progressive their was no way that I would be able to cut back on either medicine. Ha ha, i proved them wrong.
I have accepted the 120 that I wake up with because trying to push it even lower with more metformin and more januvia just made my life a living hell. If I was throwing up at every meal and I had a 100 number that was not living for me. In order to show that I was not that high in the middle of the night I did an experiment for a couple of week where i would test my numbers every hour in the middle of the night. At bed time after a snack i went to bed at 140 or so. I would eventually get into the 90s throughout the whole night at right about 6 to 7 am i started going to 120’s. That showed me that only for that 2 hours of the day i would climb up. Also i was having lows in the 60’s in the middle of the night with all those pills that I was taking. So what I learned was the more information I came in with the more I was able to persuade my doctors to adjust things.
The numbers in my dawn phenomen is something that I just deal with as a trade off of not going low. My doc does not like lows
Patientx: We have had the same experience although I didn’t use Januvia, it was diamicron. My numbers were cut in half almost immediately when I took myself off the drug. They are now almost normal except for DP. I did the same experiment during the night. I too was told it was the progression of the disease. Obviously not. It was the progression of the drugs.I will try any tip to conquer the DP but more drugs for a small one hour spike in the morning. That’s nuts!
My fastings for July so far. . . 96, 105, 110, 117, 101, 113, 99, 111, 118, 105, 105, 113, 108, 103, 106, 86, 102, 108, 106, 97, 86. My 30 day average of all readings is 108. The only time I’ve had ANY above 120 would be when I’ve had a migraine. I don’t give much credit to the meds, though. I’ve been low carb and exercise and until I got extremely serious about it, my numbers were still all over the place. I also did an experiment and didn’t take the Januvia for two weeks, but continued everything else that I was doing . . . no change in my BG.
I totally agree that setting a goal of a particular fasting number or a1c isn’t particularly helpful. I have some other health issues that aren’t as problematic if my BG is relatively well controlled. I don’t seem to experience as many migraines if I keep tight control and I also have had chronic atypical shingles for the last 15 years. I also have celiac disease so low-carb is pretty easy for me as I just eliminated all flour-based foods. I’m always on the look-out for more resources though, so AWESOME!!! Just because food no longer hold much appeal to me doesn’t mean I don’t still have a family to entice to eat healthy!!
I’ve lost 5 lbs, but lots of inches since my initial post and I’m pretty sure that the exercise and low-carb diet is responsible for the change in my numbers. They’re on here somewhere. . . I also know if I drag my butt out of bed at a decent hour like I will when school starts (I’m a teacher) then they’ll be lower, but if I sleep in I can bank on 10-15 point higher.
I know that it’s controversial and I’m pretty reluctant to even mention it, but I also cook with coconut oil as well as olive oil and it really has stabilized my numbers. We don’t have much risk of heart disease in my family, so I thought I’d try it and HEY! It worked. I only cook with it, though. I can’t quite make myself drink the stuff . . . BLECH
I’ve been running a mile every day and doing Zumba several times a week. . .the test will be can I keep going when I go back to work???!!!
Hi Amy,
I’ve been doing Zumba too. I love it! Discovered I could do it when an instructor came to school to teach the kids. I couldn’t believe that Grade 7 & 8 boys actually loved it. Such a great outlet for anxiety!!
Congrats on your recent success!! Stay true to yourself.
Joanne
I have been diagnosed for one year. During this time I have lost 35 to 40 pounds. Even light walking every day makes a huge difference. Eating healthy and controlling carbs works (so far) for me. I have managed to control BG to high 80’s and low to mid 90’s without any meds. We read it over and over again but keeping active, losing weight, testing a lot and monitoring what we eat work wonders.
Don’t be discouraged. Just do the best you can each day.
I’m actually doing pretty well now with pretty much the same plan although I’ve’ only lost bout 10 lbs. I’m still taking the Januvia presently, but I’m not sure what purpose it’s serving. . . I’ve had a few days where I’ve had to fight lows all day now matter how much I eat, but that has been my only low-carb complication.
