Ready to give up

I’m just about ready to just give up and just enjoy everything I used to eat until it kills me.

They won’t improve the technology in the things we have to use to keep track of our BG. The ones they have now are useless.

Where I live has no real diabetic options for food. A few drinks etc with splenda so 0 carbs. As for any diabetic pasta or anything like that, diabetic bread, no such thing here in any of the stores.

Tested before supper. Both meters say 4.7. Nice fasting level I think. I measure out portions very carefully for easter dinner. Ham, mixed veggies, 1/2 cup of potatoes instead of my old huge pile, 1 bun. Figured out to around 40ish grams instead of the 60-75 that the nutritionist said was allowed for a meal.

Tested after 1 hour since a lot of people suggest that, and that’s around the time that the BG should be highest. New meter shows 5.9.

I figure great. I kept track and things are great.

At the 2 hour mark I decide to test again just to be sure. Two readings both around 8.0. What???

Test again with the old meter. 6.5.

You can’t get the food, you can’t get a meter that you can trust, they are almost never the same. What is the point of even trying??? You can’t control anything if you can’t have accurate readings.

Was the old meter right and I am doing fine with everything? Or is the new meter right, and I just damaged cells by being over 8.0 even having only 2/3 of what the nutritionist said was safe?? Maybe the nutritionist has no idea what she is talking about and 60-75 grams of carbs per meal is nowhere near the safe amount.

It just seems like a totally pointless waste of time and money to even try.

It takes some time for things to work themselves out and figure out what we can and cant eat. It is not the same for everyone. I have three meters. I test on one and if its high, I get the other one out and retest and see if it is different. It all seems like a pain in the butt, but eventually you will have enough data after enough testing to know if the meter and what you eat is doing what its supposed to. The first year for me was so confusing that I just wanted to pitch my meter out the window and i foud a lot of things seem to be pointless. Every time i went out I had to figure out what I should and should not eat but eventually it became a habit. Things settled down after a while and I realized that it was a long road so one reading as bad as it may seem I would take it for what it was and give myself a second chance to fix it next time.

take care

Nothing I do ever seems perfect but I try even with all the tools we have at hand it seems so hard. I know my mom would spend countless times to ensure that I was in my target range even if that meant she would test me with 2 different meters to be sure. then I complained to the endo about her and he helped he told her nothing is going to be always right and while you try and try and you base how good of a mom you are based off your kids numbers you will never get through this. the problem is the FDA is pretty lax on the whole meter accuracy thing. but with the current tech we have we can only hope that we are getting it right. everytime a low or high creeps up I get worried and wonder how that happened if I dosed right but if the meter is off then it doesn’t help. personally I like my one touch and trust it. I know this is all a lot to take in and it takes time for you to find what works for you Good luck my friend you will get the hang of it.

Don’t give up …and yes it is frustrating , confusing , a tough learning curve for a newly diagnosed PWD . I recall , having been a Director of Food Service in a Hospital for a large number of years ,when I was diagnosed …yet going out for a meal , I had my meal plan right beside me , cause I wanted to be so perfect …and in those days NO finger poking either( peeing on a stick !) .
I could be wrong, but I think , that your meal of 1 cup of mixed vegies, ( 12 g ) 1/2 cup of ( mashed ??) spuds ( 18 g ) , ham ( I seem to remember about 2 g ??) , med bun ( 23 g ) totals 55 g ???..any gravy/sauce ?
BG of 8 after 2 hours , really not inappropiate …and you likely will do better in the near future if that’s your goal. Even a 20 min walk after your meal will help you …if that is available to you .
Choose hi fiber breads, choose pasta with fiber …I don’t go to a " speciality" store to get my stuff …choose the outer perimeters of the store , rather than the aisles . Talk to the Store manager and see , if they can supply " better choices " …I think you would do everyone a favour , who would shop there .
TU member Holger recently started a discussion on carb counting; you may like to join …I am surprise , how off I am sometimes .
Do you use the Calorie King Carb counter ??..a neat little pocket book .

Know how frustrating it is.

It would be better if you used one meter. You’ll make yourself nuts testing against different brands. Been there, done that. None are accurate, but better than the days when there were no meters.

I live in a small, rural town. Other than diet soda & nasty sugar-free chocolates, there are no diabetic foods. You know what? So called diabetic pasta & bread don’t stop spikes for all people anyway. I ordered Dreamfields pasta on-line & it sent me soaring. No problem after 1, 2 or 3 hours & then soaring after 4 hours. Who needs that?

There are tons of options that don’t involve speciality foods. Protein, lower carb vegetables, nuts, nut flours for baking. Check out low carb sites for a huge variety of recipes.

I just don’t eat starchy foods even in small portions & feel much better for it. Many people can’t control BG following dietician guidelines of 60-75 carbs per meal unless they’re very active. You’re right, this may not be the right course for you. We’re all different. Diabetes isn’t a one-size-fits-all disease.

Don’t give up!! I know the meter thing can be a *itch!! I check my meter when I am at the Dr. and compare and adjust. I use a Accu-Chek Aviva and I know your Nano (which I am jealous of) uses the same strips. I found my meter is only 5 points (.28 on your scale) different than the Dr’s. I am a type 1 and you don’t want to mess around. I found out I was diabetic in ICU, DKA, bs of 672 and a1c of 13.2. almost went blind!!! Oh, yea I got to do this a year an a half ago at age 52. Please stick with it!!! Take both meters to Dr. appt. and compare. By the way if my post meal is under 180 (10) I am doing great!!! The Dr.'s tell me I have good control as my last a1c was 5.7 normal range or so they say.

Please dont test after 1 hr !!!
Sure it might be highest then (1 hr), but the idea for T2 management is to “optimize your readings after 2 hrs”!!!
There is no harm testing very occasionally after 1 hr (it is only an academic exercise though !!).
I heard it put by one person like this: “If I always test after 1 hour I will go completley crazy” …
Two add-on points here

  1. This is true
  2. You need to eat.

I think one post here said “hang in there”.
The reason for self monitoring is two-fold:
a. to monitor your progress
b. to see how your body handles food
So, …If I were you I would keep at it for 4-6 months.

Then armed with all your data, I would speak to your

  1. dietician
  2. doctor
  3. meter manufacturer
    for the lowdown on what is going on (not neceassarily in that order)

My mother (a T2) took 25 years to pinpoint how her body handles this animal.
I know you can tame the beast!
You don’t have to make diabetes your friend, but you sure have to learn how to live with it.
good luck

There is more than a bit of confussion with so many different types of blood testing meters I have been using accu-chek meters since I was diagnosed in 1996 at the moment I am using the nano version and quite like it even though it is a bit small for me.

I use to eat like a pig until the doctor prescribed victoza his dru has completly change my eating habbits ok I the little food devil temps me sometimes but overall I have cut my binging out and feel much better for it, as to what machine to use I am no expert that is where tudiabetes comes in folks in the same boat as us there experiences can help sort out these problems.

Like trailers for movies which are always beter than the movie you have to keep trying and do not give up the ghost.

As to being pointless i get like that sometimes take a walk listen to the birds singing anything to change the moment you find yourself in, wish you all the best Ramundow

Hi There -

I hear your frustration. Please, before you give up, can I suggest that you arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible (and I’m NOT talking about what nutritionists have to offer). Let me offer a web site that is a GREAT place to start. I think it, plus her book, literally saved my life. http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/. I think it is especially important for Type 2s.

It is SO VITAL to take control of your diabetes and not allow it to be managed by others (doctors, etc.). I view them as “resources” - that’s it. They may not like my choices, but they can’t argue with an A1c that consistently ranges between 5.4 - 5.6

Also - nothing helped as much in my learning process as testing, testing, testing. I test anywhere from 8 to 12 times a day (more if needed). Most medical folks tell T2s they only need to test once or twice a day - BULL! And I totally disagree with Michael saying DON’T test after 1 hour - this is ridiculous. I test at 1 hr and at 2 hrs.

Of course, this assumes a fairly accurate working meter. But I agree with sticking with one meter (and eating to that meter) - it will show trends whether it is totally accurate or not. I have a back up meter that tests differently than my main meter, but the trending is the same.

I share your frustration.

Here’s what I did:

When I had blood work done, I took all three of my meters with me. Right after my blood was drawn, I measured 3 times with each meter. (Using the same finger, same poke for the 9 test strips). One of the meters was not consistent across the three measurements. The other two were within a few points, but one meter read consistently higher than the other. When I got my blood work back, I saw that the meter that was reading lower was consistent and accurate. So I put the other two meters in the drawer and haven’t used them since. I decided to consistently measure with one meter from then on. As others mentioned, this is a way to not drive myself crazy.

I agree that more accurate meters would be beter, but SOME information is better than no information.

I would say that you are doing quite well and it would be a pity to give up now!! If you are not on insulin, then you will find what foods work for you and then you won’t need to measure every meal, but can keep up the good habits!

No way… I test at the peak, usually 75 minutes for me for most foods… If I test later, the peak is gone, and there’s nothing to be learned from what we ate… It’s the peak that’s the most important. :confused:

I don’t even follow the 180 guideline… At whenever I reach my peak, I make sure it’s not past 140 mg/dL, because studies have shown that when we hang out past 140 for extended periods of time, we get risk of more complications… but each person has their own challenges to overcome, and to consider, and should have their own doable goal that they discuss with their doctor.

Yeah! Glad to see another Jenny fan. It’s hard not to be - she makes sense and has the research to back it up.

Thank you everyone for your comments. There seems to be some days where it’s easy to deal with the disease and other days when everything seems to be against you and it’s more of a pain in the butt than usual.

I guess this would have been one of the latter for me. Thank you for listening to my rant and your suggestions and understanding. You guys/girls are the best :slight_smile:

Well that’s what took me so off-guard. Normally I can eat this type of thing with no problems, which is why the reading on the new meter caught me off guard. I wish I could afford to just throw the thing away, but test strips don’t grow on trees so I guess I am stuck with it until the strips are gone and I can go back to the Accu-Chek. Thanks for the suggestion. I think I should give myself more time to get used to things since it has been less than 2 months.

Thanks for the kind words med. I hope you are right. :slight_smile:

Well at least poking a finger at a table in a restaurant would raise less eyebrows than peeing on a stick :wink:

Yes you are right, I mentioned the veggies but somehow forgot to add them into the carbs counted. It was around 50 in total as you figured. No gravy or sauce.

8 is high for me after any meal. When I get an 8 it is because I had a piece of pie with ice-cream for dessert, or the time I had 1/2 a plate of potatoes instead of 1/2 a cup.

I did as you suggested and even asked at the health food store but nobody seems willing or able to get diabetic friendly food in stock. I think I should keep hounding them though. As you say it may help others as well.

Thanks for the book suggestion. I think I should try to find it. So far I have a list of the carbs for all of the fast food places I occasionally go to. Some of the highest carb foods surprised me.

Yes you are right. It is better than no meters even if they are not perfect.
As I mentioned above, I think I will go back to my Accu-Check. I think I trust it more than the Freestyle after seeing some of the odd readings that do not seem to be in sync with the amount of carbs I have eaten.

I have also started to cut down the carbs even more than the nutritionist said.

Thanks for the info, one of these days I will have to get some of your favorite recipes since I have trouble trying to find things to replace what I am used to eating.

nods Mine was about .2 off of what the hospital’s meter said as well. To me that is an acceptable range.

I will test them both and I hope the Accu-Chek is still shows as calibrated since I will be switching back to that one if it is.

So far knock on wood I have not had any readings that high. I hope I don’t but I expect at some point I will get higher readings as well, and I hope I don’t freak out as much next time.

You mentioned you almost went blind. This is one of the things that scares me to death, can I ask if your vision ever went back to normal after you got things back under control?

Well that’s what I always thought. I still can’t find anyone who can confirm it 100%, but I was under the impression that EVERYONE spikes after meals, even non-diabetics, and the testing is to see how fast your body returns the BG to a normal level. If you spike at 1 hour and at 2 hours are back to 5 or 6 then it would seem to me that your body is dealing properly with the amount of carbs you ate.