Treatment advice needed please

Treatment
61

Perhaps I should state my needs here:

  1. No veggies, non negotiable.
  2. When warm weather arrives, my daily caloric needs will be about 2500 to 3000, and on occasion even more. On some days, maybe 1800 calories depending on the weather and what I am doing.
  3. I will only be able to divide those calories up between 2 meals - one in the morning, one at 6pm, unless I eat junk food at McDonald’s for the middle meal.
  4. Once I leave the house in the mornings, I am not able to carry much except what I can carry in my pockets, which are nearly full already.
  5. I cannot afford to throw away 1/2 of my food because I can’t eat any of it. Ever buy food for one? And my spouse doesn’t want to eat leftovers every other day either - not fair to them. A lousy can of soup, although somewhat inexpensive for most, is 2.5 servings. Since I am very carb sensitive, I can’t eat the other 1/2.
  6. other reasons I can’t think of at the moment - brain foggy right now.

Ever try to eat a hot ham and cheese sandwich without the bread? Or a grilled cheese sandwich without the bread? Or take one with you so you can microwave it somewhere, but no bread? The cheese would melt and run all over the place. Ever carry peanut butter in your pocket? Or perhaps a hard boiled egg all day in your pocket?
How about some soup in your pocket?
See my point?

It is not practical for me to carry anything in my pockets, especially food.

The type 1’s I know actually do keep their a1c’s in the low 4’s. They showed me their meters and test results. The dosing and timing are unique to each individual. If I had to go that route, it wouldn’t take me but a month to figure it out and get it down to a science.

Fiber - everyone needs it. Since I don’t eat veggies, nor can I waste money on buying supplements unnecessarily, then where am I to get my fiber from? To get the needed fiber each day, I have to eat wheat products, and oats too, a lot of it. If they say 7-9 servings of veggies per day, substitute wheat & oat products for those 7-9 servings per day, then figure out how much I actually have to eat, adding up the carbs too.

If I cannot eat as I must, then eventually there will be a malnutrition problem, and a cascade of health failures.

FYI: Did you know that I actually had my average blood sugars below 100 for a time?

My average blood sugar for today alone is 94. And I even ate 3/4 cup of glucerna cereal with 1/2 cup of 1% milk for lunch!

My last 30 day blood sugar average is about 105. This equates to an a1c level of around 5.1. And that’s with several high spikes into the 200 range too.

I can control my weight, my blood sugars, and generally my blood pressure. I can almost get them exactly where I want them to be.

Doc wanted my cholesterol down. So I dropped it. Unfortunately, due to bad genes, I can’t get it under 200. Family history. He wanted my blood pressure under 100. So I gave him 100/70. He wanted my a1c under 6.0 I gave him 5.7 (and still dropping).
He wanted my weight under 150. So I gave him 146 (and still slowly dropping).

I give them all they ask for that I can possibly do, so in return, I expect to be medicated so I can have my mind and energy back, and this means eating carbs, especially wheat products.

So, if the doc says no meds unless over 7.0, then I will give them 7.1 EXACTLY.

Believe it or not, I can do all this with a really foggy brain. Just think what I can do if my mind was clear again? Here’s more info: many years ago, I had my IQ tested. It came back at 163. I was too lazy to join Mensa at the time. Too busy being young and foolish.

It takes me quite a while to do things with my mind now, but eventually the answers come to me.

If given enough time, and a clear mind, I can devise either a far better treatment for diabetes or possibly a cure. But my mind is too foggy and my body is too weak right now.

So, I am ‘on the clock’ so to speak. If I am going to do anything at all with my remaining lifespan that I am allocated, I have to be able to compensate for the damage that diabetes has done, and this means being able to eat my way. And still keep my eyesight and kidneys and body parts intact.

So, if I claim I need something, rest assured that I need it.

62

When you go to the doctor, eat a lot before you go so he can see your higher numbers.

There are 13,000 members here. How many have A1c’s in the 4’s? I can think of one or two.

He’s not going to put you on insulin right away, so guess you’ll need to figure out how to carry pills with you & leave something else behind. Honestly, I’ve never heard anyone having obstacles to carrying a few pills.

Fiber pills are cheap, but again up to you. There are other forms of food fiber like flax seeds that are very high fiber.

Eating 7-9 vegetable servings a day isn’t just to get fiber. It’s for the vitamins. minerals & all the nutrients in vegetables.

Again, I don’t know what your outdoor life is. Are you hiking all day? Use a backpack with a cold pack for food. Driving–use an insulated food carrier with a cold pack. Biking–lots of packs to fit on your bike. Or, accommodate your activities to your food needs. That’s what we all do.

I don’t eat bread, so I have eaten sandwiches without bread, if you can call them sandwiches:) I roll up meat, cheese & veggies & hold it together with toothpicks to take with me. I roll up other fillings in lettuce leaves. I use nori sheets rolled up with peanut butter. I make almond bread that’s extremely low carb/high fiber & works for toppings. There are alternatives.

It seems that you don’t want solutions.

63

I think he does want solutions, Gerri… And you gave him many great ones. When I am outside for a long time, hiking or bicyclin;, when taking my girl scout troop camping in 90 degree Ohio Summer heat, I carried my insulin and syringes ( did not ever use a pen) in my backpack with a small insulated food container. I keep my little cold foods, such as a boiled egg, or fresh fruit, in there too. It took some pre-planning, but I have been able to do most summer activities whithout undue diabetic distress.

Zolar, I know it sounds unattainable right now, but you will be ok.

God Bless,
Brunetta

64

Almond bread? Sounds yummy! Can you send me the recipe? I have a bread machine that I haven’t been able to use.

Also, I did eat lettuce a couple of times. For some reason I can only eat it in Norfolk Virginia and be rip roaring drunk. Had to drown it with about 6 hard boiled eggs ground up.

Haven’t been able to do it since…

Driving costs money. I have a truck that is just over 2 years old. Barely have 12,500 miles on it.

I walk a lot in the summer time. So, restaurants are few and far between for someone walking.

Sure I want solutions - one’s that fit my needs as outlined above.

If almond bread works for me, then I can use that to eat a variety of different foods. Reduce the carbs from the bread and increase them in the more valuable foods.

But still the problem persists. What to do in the daytime when I am not at home.

Doc says he wants me to walk 3 miles a day, I will walk 6. More if I can do it.

I need to know my insulin levels so I can adjust my lifestyle. Hopefully it’s not too late and 1/2 my beta cells are dead.

If it’s just insulin resistance, I can easily fix that problem :-).

If beta cells are dead, I can fix that too up to a point. As much as I would like to think I can, I can’t perform miracles (yet) lol

65

I can easily overcome this disease, IF they will do as I want, not what THEY think I should do.

Think of my body as a weak car battery. I just need a jump start to get it going again. I can take it from there.

I sent you an email Brunetta.

PS if I started carrying a backpack, then my son would complain why I couldn’t leave the backpack at home and carry him around! LOLOL

66

If you need to take food & meds for a 6 mile walk, get a fanny pack or back pack or time it away from needing to eat. That’s easily solved.

You find a way to fix insulin resistance, you’ll be rich & famous & win the Nobel Prize.

Almond is very easy & fast. No bread maker needed. It tastes more like cornbread. Very good toasted. You can double the recipe & cook in a loaf pan to get larger slices.

There’s almond meal & almond flour. Flour is lighter made from blanched almonds (skin removed). Meal is a bit coarser with the almond skin not removed.

You can Google almond flour recipes for cookies, muffins & cakes.

ALMOND FLOUR BREAD

1.5 cups almond flour
4 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS vanilla extract
Equivalent of 1/2 cup sugar (I use a bit of stevia powder)

Preheat oven to 325.

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until completely smooth.

Pour into a greased square baking pan. I line with parchment paper for no clean-up.

Bake 20-24 minutes until set. It doesn’t brown. Let cool before slicing.

67

You need to make your needs more flexible, like taking pills along on a walk if you need to eat.

68

Thanks for the recipe. I will try is soon as I get the chance.

Yes, I know how to fix my insulin resistance. I do not know how long the fix will last, or the what degree I can fix it, but I can fix it.

Not interested in Fame, Fortune, and a Nobel prize. But thanks for the thought though.

My needs are simple- food, shelter, proper medical care, personal freedom, and some of life’s basic luxuries.

Sure, being rich would be nice because of the security it brings, but what I found out about having money is that there will always be someone out there who will take it away from you.

A quiet life unhindered by fear and disease is more preferable.

69

Sorry, forgot to include the carb count for the almond bread.

33.9 carbs for entire recipe
17 grams fiber

The carb count is using a zero carb sweetener. I use no carb, no calorie stevia powder or Fiberfit liquid Splenda. Granular Splenda has carbs because of the bulking agents added. Some brands of steiva, like Truvia, have carbs.

I don’t subtract out fiber for net carbs unless it’s a lot. In this case, it is:)

70

What to eat during the day when you’re not at home has already been answered.

It’s only a 6 mile walk. You’re not camping out in the wilderness for a month.

71

Tom’s Quote:

"Look, Zolar. It’s clear to me and to everyone else following this thread that you have serious mental health issues and that unless you get them addressed FIRST, you have no chance of getting diabetes addressed. I see signs in your writing of irrational thinking, of paranoia about the medical profession, of post-traumatic stress having to do with vegetables (that’s a new one for me), and most obviously, of depression. There’s probably some hypochrondria mixed in there too.

Doctors are not going to let you prescribe your own meds. What you are looking for is control–not so much over your meds, but over your entire life, which appears to be totally out of control. Do yourself a favor, stop making excuses about seeing a mental health professional. Psychologists and psychiatrists both are capable of therapy; psychiatrists just have the extra medical training that allows them to prescribe medicine for your mental illness, which you may sorely need. You can’t expect anyone to help you until you take that first step and help yourself."

I saw a psychiatrist today. He prescribed Citalopram for my depression. Other issues will be addressed as time goes on. In the meantime, I have to find a way to survive with this disease, this mess.

FYI: there is no hypochondria here. I have everything well documented and can be proven if I really have to. The problems I have are very real.

The only thing I don’t have control over (yet) is this disease, but that too will be controlled sooner or later.

I am trying to find a suitable method by which I can satisfy my dietary, lifestyle, and diabetic needs. Like trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together.

I really DO appreciate all the support that everyone here is trying to provide. It’s just overwhelming sometimes.

But you have to hand it to me for this: At least I am trying to do something about it, and not just go into denial like so many others do.

You are right. Doctors don’t want to prescribe things that I would want. But there is no harm in asking is there?
I will specify my needs & restrictions, and it’s up to them to accommodate those needs & restrictions.

There are MANY medications out there that will satisfy both this disease and what I need to do. I expect them to do what I pay them to do, no more, no less. I will pay them to treat me so I can eat according to my schedule, and not the schedule or the demands of the disease.

As the old saying goes: Money talks, BS walks. There is no medical reason to prevent them from treating me the way I need to be treated. Aside from diabetes, which I got through no fault of my own, I am pretty healthy.

72

I am so sorry for all the trouble you are going through right now, and I perfectly understand what it’s like to have an aversion to something because of trauma from your life. My husband has similar issues, and yes, he has had to deal with people calling him a hypochondriac forever, because of judgementalism and ignorance. No one who hasn’t walked in your shoes should level such an accusation at you. There is NOTHING to feel embarrassed, or guilty about, when it comes to dealing with trauma issues, or depression issues. We are here for you, and we know you are trying very hard. We will make suggestions where we can, and try to help each other come to terms with our disease. If it becomes a struggle to work with your doctor, consider reading threads on folks who have had to change doctors because their doctors did not work with them, or would try to take complete control of care (without the patient’s participation.) They might have good suggestions and/or plans of action. In the meantime, know that whatever negative thing people might say does not represent the sentiment of the TuDiabetes community, and that any personal attack of character, or badgering, is something that you can report to the Administration. I applaud how hard you’ve been working, and trying hard to survive. Sometimes life feels like sink or swim. :slight_smile: Hang in there. HUGS

73

Thanks!

I take no offense, in fact I welcome criticism. How else can I learn anything?

Tom may be right. Maybe I need to let go and go with the flow a little more.

I won’t know much more until after I see the endo next week. Then see what they say and what they want to do.

I may not get any meds, or I could get a ton of them. More testing is needed yet.

For everyone’s information, I have been exposed to ionizing radiation in the military, poisoned twice which nearly killed me each time, and almost died from appendicitis.

This does not include the myriad of other issues I have had.

But, I am still here, still trying like everyone should in life.

Perhaps I should reduce this down to this:

I want a win-win situation. I cannot win if the diabetes wins. So, I have to find a suitable solution.

I know it’s not going to be easy, but I can accomplish it.

74

I don’t know for sure yet, but at least I am following the correct steps.

75

You are taking a lot of great steps, and I am confident you will get there. :slight_smile:

76

Again, thanks for the support.
It seems that when I get through this mess, I found a great home here.

I am hoping the Citalopram will help me. It’s has one side effect that may help me in other ways - it can help lower blood sugars in some people.

Maybe kill 2 birds with one stone?

77

Please be advised that I will be offline for a while.
I am taking time to reflect upon my stupid mistake that hurt someone I deeply care about.

I will not be managing my diabetes for the interim. I am in extreme depression that even the antidepressants can’t help with.

Also, I won’t be answering emails either. I will just be offline.

BSC and others, thanks for all the help.

78

Punishing yourself by not managing your diabetes isn’t a solution & won’t undo whatever you did.

79

It is always hard when you have hurt someone very dear to you. But you need to remember, you have to love yourself. And if you don’t take care of yourself, you are just repeating that mistake a second time by hurting someone you love.

Please take care of yourself.

80

Your doc was nuts. One of the ways to lower cholesterol is to lower BG!! High BGs and low thyroid send the cholesterol sky high.

I take cholesterol medication because I have hereditary high cholesterol unrelated to diabetes. The diabetes only makes it worse.

How are you doing with your insulin program? Inquiring minds want to know!