It might not be that odd. One of the theories regarding a root cause for Type 2 diabetes (I say “a cause,” because in all likelihood there are many) is caused by amyloid plaque building up around the beta cells, preventing them from detecting the need to produce insulin. When glucose level rise higher, those barriers get crossed, so the very high spikes get avoided. I’m not saying this theory is correct, but I have heard others say that they seem to have a threshold above which they never go, regardless of what they do…
I have plenty of times when I’ve let things go, but the highest number I’ve seen to date is 340 – in almost four years of testing (I know, not a long time), I have only seen numbers over 200 three times - including the 309 at diagnosis. I have no intentions of pressing my luck in this regard, mind – there’s nothing saying that that “limit” won’t vanish one day, allowing my BG to go into the stratosphere!
I used to have the Edy’s light ice cream on a regular basis - I believe a 1/2c serving is between 16-19g carbs, depending on the flavour. I usually had around a quarter cup serving for just a light snack.
Wow - that TED talk was amazing. I have been judged for my size since about age 9, when I wasn’t even fat yet. I can remember the pediatrician telling my mother to get me skim milk and diet soda with tone of disdain. I just expect to get raked over the coals for it now. I would love it if my body wasn’t always viewed as a sign of personal weakness and lack of control. Thank you for finding it and posting it here!
BeastOfGevaudan12h
Cate_Williams:
better choices than an actual hamburger and white potato fries and whole fat ice cream
For a diabetic, “whole fat” ice cream is less of a problem than whole sugar ice cream. Fat slows down digestion, thus slowing down the absorption of carbohydrates.
I agree with BeastOfGevaudan. Whole fat ice cream will not make you feel “deprived”. How about mixing plain whole fat yogurt with a little of your favorite whole fat ice cream? I do this about once a week. I mix a spoonful of my favorite Haagen Daz with 2 to 3 spoonfuls of plain Greek Yogurt. Once you get used to the taste, ice cream alone seems too sweet.
Hey my hubby was the same but the doctor upped to 850 mg of metformin and he eats 20g to 30g of carbs a day and now he has not reached above 140 in over two weeks and also has not needed a shot in that time as well. So from what I have seen with my partner you may be eating to many carbs in a day and he is still loosing weight. Maybe try it.
I have been on metformin for a year - 500 mg a day - and have not noticed any benefits at all. On the plus side I have not had the usual side effects either.
After six weeks on a low carb diet supplemented with daily walking (two hours) I noticed a huge benefit. bg levels are now constantly under 200 and I`ve lost 12 lbs.
.
Congrats on your low carb success. Combining daily walking with carb limits is a potent one-two punch that worked wonders for me, too. It’s great to feel clothes fit loosely where they used to fit tightly. Good luck with sustaining your effort. I think you are doing your health a big favor!
Just wanted to follow-up on my earlier post! I have haunted this forum for the past couple of months and really appreciated finding out the complete story from others as they dropped back in.
So, as predicted, at my appointment a month ago, my metformin was increased to 1000mg twice a day. And still, my BG has averaged 208. They wanted to start me on Januvia, but I wasn’t pleased with the potential side-effects to my pancreas, so I begged off of that. But I do start Levemir tonight. She though I was a bit crazy to want insulin, but I learned from all of you that it really is the simplest solution.
I start at 10 units, and am to check in by phone with my numbers in a week. Then we may increase it to 20 units, and perhaps split it into two doses.
I have found that I am super insulin resistant or I just don’t make much. Low carb ~40g total/day and exercise - two mile walks, make no difference at all. Always around 200. I’m just excited to see a new number!
The 1st thing that you need to be told is don’t panic. You are at the beginning of your diabetes experience. You have as much to learn from your diabetic body as a teenager has to learn about life. I can tell you that the more that you record of your experiences the more you will learn. I have records going back to my 1st few days after being diagnosed. The more I read the more confused I became. The more that I experienced the more knowledgeable I became. One thing that I have learnt is that there are 3 physical attributes which are very important for your treatment. That’s exercise, diet and medicine. None of these 3 kick in over night. Any exercise is good but there is the fact that your body needs time to get use to all of this - to your new level of fitness. Good luck and remember take your time not panicking and you’ll be ok.
One thing to add…I am very eager to get my blood sugar down because I am having lots of incidents of pins and needles in hands and feet. Sometimes they are intense enough to wake me multiple times a night. I already take gabapentin for chronic nerve pain due to abdominal surgery. It is concerning, and I hope that reducing the blood sugar will reduce the tingles.
I’m sorry to hear that you are having trouble with nerve pain. If your doctor is open to the idea of supplements, you might also speak to him or her about alpha lipoic acid (and possibly biotin as ALA is a biotin antagonist). Many doctors have started to see the value of ALA in supporting nerve health, and even in helping to reverse some of the damage done to nerves.
I take 600mg of ALA 2x daily and 5,000mg of biotin with the support of my Endo, as well as my previous endo. I’m hypothyroid as well. I can certainly empathize with the trouble losing weight. At the very least, even if there’s some debate as to if ALA should always be taken concurrently with biotin, I’ve found that the biotin has helped with my hair and nails, which have suffered thanks to my thyroid, and separated out from those expensive “Hair, Skin and Nails” vitamin formulas, biotin’s pretty cheap.
Wishing you the very best of luck with the Levemir!
ALA does a couple of beneficial things. It helps with neuropathy AND it’s an insulin mimetic, a fancy way of saying it makes insulin a bit more effective. And the point about biotin is valid; if you take R-ALA (the form that is recommended as being closest to the body’s own), it’s a very good idea to take extra biotin at the same time. There is a brand called Insulow that combines both in a single capsule; it’s quite popular.
Good luck with the levemir! If you are super insulin resistant you will probably need more than 10 units to make a serious dent but it’s always good to start with a conservative dose. When your BG average drops it will feel strange after being over 200 for so long but after a while you should feel better!
So, next update: started the Levemir on Monday, 10 units at bed time. My BS average has dropped from 211 to about 175, so that’s a good start! I’m noticing that my blood sugar is about 150 when I get up (fasting), down to a whopping great low of 140-ish mid-day, and then back up around 200 or even 220 at bedtime. So I’ll be adding to my dose and perhaps playing around with the timing or splitting it to get a better curve. I do eat most of my food in the evening so getting the Levemir on board mid-afternoon might be a good idea. Or getting at least some of it going!
Found a great resource online for dosages etc. which I just edited out because I think I probably shouldn’t have posted it and wouldn’t recommend anyone use it other than how I plan to which is to double check what my NP tells me to do. However, I can’t find much advice on timing changes or dose splitting.
wiuld love some been there done thats in that arena. Thanks!
There is nothing wrong with posting information like that if you are simply presenting it as information, the way you would list a book worth reading. What’s not okay is urging others to follow a particular treatment regime; that constitutes the giving of medical advice, which is forbidden.
