Since I was diagnosed in October, I cut my breakfast down to 30 grams of carbs with high fiber cereal in unsweetened soymilk (USW Mini-Wheats, Life, Glucerna). I was having good results with that. I take 500mg Metformin twice a day. I’m also a vegetarian.
But this month that has gone out the window. I started showing 130 to 140 or more 2 hours after I eat. It’s getting to where nothing is safe. I had good results with high fiber frozen waffles and 2 Morning Star soy sausage patties, so I thought I’d try that.
This morning I had 197. I’m thinking of calling my doctor about this. Do I need Byeta?
Breakfast is the hardest meal. For some reason, carbohydrates send you higher at breakfast than at other times. This is true even of people without diabetes. I recommend that you try to cut back on carbs and see if that helps. One good low-carb breakfast is a frittata made with spinach, mushrooms, leeks, peppers or whatever combination of veggies you like. That is as long as you eat eggs and cheese? I make a big panon the weekend and freeze daily portions which I pull out of the freezer the night before. I don’t know if you need more meds, but if the change is only at breakfast, cutting back on carbs might help. I also try and exercise after breakfast and that makes a huge difference in my 2 hour numbers.
I’m type 1, so I can’t comment on the standard type 2 meds, but I can comment on insulin. Insulin is amazing (and the only reason I am still alive), and I’ve heard some type 2’s say that going on insulin really helped them with BS control. If you are only having problems with your morning meals, see if your doc will give you humolog insulin that you can take in the morning. Humalog is available in nifty little pre-filled pens so you don’t even have to worry about vials and syringes. I know that insulin injections probably sounds like a big step in your diabetes care plan, but it might be the best thing to reign in those high morning numbers.
I dont do the CARB thing. I try to eat low carb, and I only really count them in things like bread or these corn things i eat and let the rest take care of itself.
That said my problem when I was on metformin was high numbers first thing, even before i ate! This is also why i kind of adopted my eating habits.
Since I have switched to glyburide, because of a reaction to the metformin actually, my numbers all day have been much better. I only seem to go over target on the weekends when I am less active and I guess I eat more as well, or at least not as carefully.
Hi Ed - this is just an idea, and probably because I’m reading “In Defense of Food” right now, but it seems like you’re eating a lot of really processed foods first thing in the morning, which can be tough for anyone’s body to metabolize well. Try eating whole foods in the morning that will digest slower - whole fruit, really good whole grain bread, eggs, etc. - and you may see better results 2 hours afterwards. This is by no means a rule of thumb, more like something that I’ve noticed since my Type 1 diagnosis and that just seems to make sense - foods that come in boxes aren’t too good for the people that eat them.
Hi Ed, I’ve never been an early morning eater. I’m also still learning what to eat for breakfast. I can give you my experience with Byetta. I had all the bad side effects - nausea, vomiting, diaherra. I stayed on it for about 3 weeks and finally told my doctor that’s enough. She switched me to Levemir, but I’m still having high numbers. I’m seeing an endo today.
Well, I just tried another bowl of Glucerna this morning and only had a 96. What a roller-coaster. I’ve been taking an anti-biotic and I would have blamed that except that my fasting numbers were normal. I’ve been eating the cereal in the morning because it’s all I can do to eat that much. I used to skip breakfast but stopped when I was diagnosed. I’m planning on making some breakfast burritos out of scrambled tofu with peppers and freezing a batch. I have thought about just eating a banana or apple in the morning, also.
I guess I got alarmed at the 197. That was the second highest reading I’ve gotten since I started controlling. Now I understand how my dad felt when he hit a high like that.
I am type 2 on Byetta and glipizide since July. I am 61. I have not had any of the bad reactions that some have had with the Byetta. I did loose 17 lbs before I started low carb dieting. I don’t any bread. My breakfast is all protein. My morning numbers run 80’s to 100’s depending on how many miles I walk each day. During the week it is 1.5 miles before work, 2.5 at lunch and 1.5 to 2 miles when I get home. It is hard to keep this routine up during the weekend. I do eat a lot of veggies(green) at lunch and dinner. I hope to have lost enough weight to go off Byetta in April. I am looking for 77lbs since July of 07 at my April Doctors visit.
I can’t really eat breakfast anymore either. Pretty much every carb I eat in the am sends my bs 4 times higher than it would any other time of the day. If I want to eat anything I am best off eating an egg, and maybe a stick of turkey bacon, and not much more than that. I had to switch to decaf becaus eregular coffee also sent my bs to far up in the morning. That’s . a real hardship, and not only the coffee, because i love oatmeal, and granola, and rice milk – and i can’t have any of that and especially not at breakfast.
I am a Type 2 on 500 mg of Metformin ER and I have had good luck eating 1/2 cup of blueberries with 1/2 cup of grape-nuts cereal and 1/2 cup of fat free milk for breakfast. Other fruits in the morning don’t work for me but blueberries seem to do the trick. I don’t know why…
Dr. Bernstein recommends 6 grams of carbohydrate for breakfast. I now have plain wholemilk Greek yoghurt with a low sugar fruit sauce that I make myself. Comes in about right
My after-breakfast BS has moderated some, but I’ve started eating scrambled eggs when my morning BS is high and that seems to help. I just can’t/don’t want to eat that every day. Otherwise, it’s strawberry Glucerna cereal.
Hi Ed,
I am sorry to come into this discussion late. I am a type 2 also, but am insulin dependent. I shoot Humalog and Lantus insulin. I used to be a no breakfast person, but had to change that after getting my diagnosis. It is really hard for me to eat in the morning. I have finally worked out how to get the fiber I need and the omega 3s twice a day. I eat a cup of suagr free yogurt with two teaspoons of chia and 1 slice of 12 grain bread, toasted. This lets me give both insulins in the morning and carries me until lunch. If I don’t shoot both insulins, then I am in big trouble all afternoon. Occasionally I have some scrambled eggs for breakfast. But like you, can’t do this every day. I don’t snack during the day in between meals, but have the yogurt and chia again in the evening before bed I keep really tight control of my blood sugars because I feel better when I do. I think that whatever works out for you the best is the right way to go.
I have just found the best recipe for low carb waffles. They taste exactly like whole grain waffles. I had them this morning with fresh strawberries and whipped cream but they would be equally good with sugar free pancake syrup and/or frozen blueberries. I am so excited to have found a low carb breakfast food that doesn’t involve eggs which I also get tired of when I eat them every day.
Flax Seed Muffins/Waffles
• 1 cup ground flax seed
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t nutmeg
• 1 t cinnamon
• Artificial sweetener - 1 cup equivalent - zero carb (such as liquid) preferred
• 1/2 cup (I stick) butter, melted
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup plus 2 T water
Mix dry ingredients then add wet ones. Put a tablespoon of the mixture in each section of a swedish waffle maker. They are crisp and crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
They have less than 4g carbs per waffle but you wouldn’t know that when you try them!
I have wholemilk Greek yoghurt, with fruit sauce for breakfast. I make the sauce from low sugar jam.
put a little jam into a microwaveable dish, add a similar volume of water. Boil up in the microwave. Sieve the mixture, while still hot. Put in a pot and keep in the fridge. If you weight the quantity of jam, you know how much carbohydrate is in the pot.You can work out how much carbohydrate you put on your yoghurt from that. The Greek Yoghurt I use is about 3% carb, so 100 grams of yoghurt and whatever gives 3 more grams. I’m thinking of upgrading to mixing the sauce with oat bran. I aim forDr. Bernstein’s 6/12/12 pattern of carbs. I look at tthe recipes you folks use and i can’t get the ingredients here( in England) Low sugar jam is available even in supermarkets. The Da vinci syrups thar Dr. Bernstein writes about are only mail order or the web. that makes them very costly, because of the postage.
