Diabetes

[Buppies]

Very true Fuddy bread in the 1700 1800 hundreds took three days to digest now 12 to 24 hours turns straight to sugar not good. I took metformin for 20 years then started damaging my kidneys now insulin 5 foot 11 in tall weigh 190 pounds have in past weighed as much as 235. Had blip last week not sure why but A1C avg for last three days 5.5. At 71 I’ll take that

 

[NorTracNY]

I'll just ask, why would you put a chemical (my PCP's term) into your body to counter act putting "food like products" into your body? If you truly don't want to do the chemicals, stop doing the garbage going in. Look into Virta or another educational program. Many insurances will even cover the costs. I thought giving up sugar would be difficult. It actually was easy. There certainly are carbs that are tougher to avoid, but there was NO way I was going to put in a chemical on a regular basis just because I ate complete garbage. The idea of suggesting 3-5 sodas a week is ok is crazy.

If you look at the processed stuff that is put in a box or bag in the grocery store, think about what it is. In most cases, it's putting bad stuff on stuff that you wouldn't want to eat if it didn't get flavored with the bad stuff.

 

[daugen]

my labs last week showed a 78 for glucose, big drop from prior 100+
I've lost 13 pounds so far on semiglutide, 246 to 233. Next 13 is harder.
we all need to do what works best for us.

I passed by the ice cream aisle today because I remembered weigh in Saturday.
perhaps I need a mental crutch
and I'm ok with that
some of us need help even if we eat responsibly, this isn't about eating garbage vs vegan.
no question you will get healthier on a vegan diet but most of us choose not to
so life is all about balance and compromise, thankfully guided by lab scores which quantify how we are doing.
100 years ago they probably would have used leeches.
now we have real time monitors.
I want to avoid what some of you are going through and all of your experiences are helpful.

 

[ArlyA]

my labs last week showed a 78 for glucose, big drop from prior 100+
I've lost 13 pounds so far on semiglutide, 246 to 233. Next 13 is harder.
we all need to do what works best for us.

I passed by the ice cream aisle today because I remembered weigh in Saturday.
perhaps I need a mental crutch
and I'm ok with that
some of us need help even if we eat responsibly, this isn't about eating garbage vs vegan.
no question you will get healthier on a vegan diet but most of us choose not to
so life is all about balance and compromise, thankfully guided by lab scores which quantify how we are doing.
100 years ago they probably would have used leeches.
now we have real time monitors.
I want to avoid what some of you are going through and all of your experiences are helpful.

A1C?

 

[daugen]

A1C?

last was 6.1 up from 6.0
I guess if I don't hit 6.5 insurance won't pay for the test too often

I've been on a 2 month rv trip to California and now back, but had tight control over food on the way, except for meals out.
Texas and New Orleans put a few pounds back on.

trying to have a salad every night with dinner. And not dump cheese, bacon or other wonderful but undesirable stuff on.
best thing would be to have a chef salad every night. Maybe slice up hard boiled eggs in it for protein.
I eat almost no starches other than bread and that is always whole grain.
and yes I know my grandfather's father fed grain to the cattle in Eastern Ukraine just to fatten them up for market.
well I don't want to be fattened up either. The trick is finding bread with no grams of sugar added.

not one lab result was out of range except for a few blood ones I'm usually told to ignore.
I'm post adrenal cancer and get a lot tests run by three different docs. Been that way a long time.
I'm sure because I have very good insurance, Medicare plus most comprehensive BC/BS.
and no deductibles or copays. Sure glad I signed up for that at 65 when I was a lot healthier.

really helps I can dial into hospital portal and get all my lab work results online. My eye first scans the right column,
looking for Highs...
then I hunt glucose, and cholesterol numbers if they post them. Nothing yet on them. I'd like to get off my statin, and get off
my hydrocortisone daily for adrenal insufficiency. Maybe I'm no longer insufficient...?
I think it has something to do with prolactin.

seeing endocrinologist early tomorrow morning, he has a large diabetes practice which I'm trying to stay out of.
He's got me because cancer wacked my ability to make cortisol naturally.
But he watches everything else carefully.
So does my oncologist. Two bright docs. Primary doc is allegedly a senior citizen doc.
Who summed my situation up by saying
you are your own worst enemy
don't you want a few more good years?

I can't disagree with him.

I ate some chopped pineapple that morning forgetting about the test impact, that worried me but glucose score is lowest I've seen in a long time.
yes Arly, I'd really like to know AIC

 

[ArlyA]

last was 6.1 up from 6.0
I guess if I don't hit 6.5 insurance won't pay for the test too often

I've been on a 2 month rv trip to California and now back, but had tight control over food on the way, except for meals out.
Texas and New Orleans put a few pounds back on.

trying to have a salad every night with dinner. And not dump cheese, bacon or other wonderful but undesirable stuff on.
best thing would be to have a chef salad every night. Maybe slice up hard boiled eggs in it for protein.
I eat almost no starches other than bread and that is always whole grain.
and yes I know my grandfather's father fed grain to the cattle in Eastern Ukraine just to fatten them up for market.
well I don't want to be fattened up either. The trick is finding bread with no grams of sugar added.

not one lab result was out of range except for a few blood ones I'm usually told to ignore.
I'm post adrenal cancer and get a lot tests run by three different docs. Been that way a long time.
I'm sure because I have very good insurance, Medicare plus most comprehensive BC/BS.
and no deductibles or copays. Sure glad I signed up for that at 65 when I was a lot healthier.

really helps I can dial into hospital portal and get all my lab work results online. My eye first scans the right column,
looking for Highs...
then I hunt glucose, and cholesterol numbers if they post them. Nothing yet on them. I'd like to get off my statin, and get off
my hydrocortisone daily for adrenal insufficiency. Maybe I'm no longer insufficient...?
I think it has something to do with prolactin.

seeing endocrinologist early tomorrow morning, he has a large diabetes practice which I'm trying to stay out of.
He's got me because cancer wacked my ability to make cortisol naturally.
But he watches everything else carefully.
So does my oncologist. Two bright docs. Primary doc is allegedly a senior citizen doc.
Who summed my situation up by saying
you are your own worst enemy
don't you want a few more good years?

I can't disagree with him.

I ate some chopped pineapple that morning forgetting about the test impact, that worried me but glucose score is lowest I've seen in a long time.
yes Arly, I'd really like to know AIC

I'd guess you would qualify for a CGM. Have you asked about one? They sure improved my life and my a1c..

 

[Rmart30]

I'd guess you would qualify for a CGM. Have you asked about one? They sure improved my life and my a1c..

Ive learned very quickly that a CGM is the best way to go and I never even know mine is attached. The data it stores is great to see and i can watch it in real time to see what food makes my readings go up. So much I would be missing if just doing conventional strip testing.
I also can send in screenshots like this to my regular Dr. once a month for his evaluation.

 

[NorTracNY]

Be aware that all of these tests have accuracy and repeatability margins. My A1c changed 0.4 in just 1 week. The doctor said that it's just the test and my actual value wouldn't have changed that much.

Cheese and bacon are wonderful foods. Why do you think vegan would be healthy? I'm not saying it's not healthy, but you can be vegan and still eat junk and struggle to get enough protein that your body will absorb.

I actually paid for my CFM out of pocket. It was WELL worth it. I got the doctor access to my data which worked nicely.

 

[daugen]

every person, and there haven't been many, who I've met that were vegan were extremely careful about what they ate and scrutinized the ingredients in everything.
I read labels but not to that degree.
It's mostly looking for key info
msg, fat content, palm oil, grams of sugar and a list of chemicals I've never heard of

if you make food yourself it will almost always be healthier.
if you let others make it for you, they add lots of stuff you simply wouldn't.

I try to eat beans for protein, and I've had delicious vegan chili.
it's all about the seasoning.

end of the day I eat a lot of chicken and fish.
Fish is sometimes breaded which I know defeats most of the benefits
but I would like to enjoy what I'm eating

my endocrinologist was pleased with my results this morning and suggested
I try stopping the hydrocortisone altogether for a week or two or until I feel tired.
and since I had lost weight since the last visit, I got out of there pretty easily.

I'm always trying to take less prescriptions, not more
losing weight should help that

I hope all of you with higher numbers are successful in controlling them, and that monitor sounds
like an excellent quick feedback adviser.

 

[daugen]

Cheese and bacon are wonderful foods.

agreed!
I eat cheese three or four times a week but bacon rarely.
Bacon is wonderful to cook with and real bacon bits in a salad
are yummy. We do like our pigs.
is there a good uncured bacon anyone recommends?
no cured meat for me. I've had cancer already and that stuff
is bad news as regular food.

we all understand the bad stuff diabetes can do to you. I've lost multiple friends to it.
including a TBN friend.
That friend, a guy here named Toppop, who I've met multiple times,
including during n stage diabetes where he could barely get around.
In my own way I was dedicating this thread to him.
and hope that we can all avoid a similar experience.

 

[JeepHead]

my labs last week showed a 78 for glucose, big drop from prior 100+
I've lost 13 pounds so far on semiglutide, 246 to 233. Next 13 is harder.
we all need to do what works best for us.

I passed by the ice cream aisle today because I remembered weigh in Saturday.
perhaps I need a mental crutch
and I'm ok with that
some of us need help even if we eat responsibly, this isn't about eating garbage vs vegan.
no question you will get healthier on a vegan diet but most of us choose not to
so life is all about balance and compromise, thankfully guided by lab scores which quantify how we are doing.
100 years ago they probably would have used leeches.
now we have real time monitors.
I want to avoid what some of you are going through and all of your experiences are helpful.

I was on semiglutide for a while and now I'm on Tirzepatide. It has absolutely killed my appetite! I will go 24-30 hours without eating anything at all some days, and when I do eat, I'm luck to eat a measuring cup of food. It also makes me feel so fatigued some days to where I don't want to do anything for a day or two after the shot. It's not as bad now in my 3rd month of it but the first two were wicked horrible.

​

 

[ArlyA]

I was on semiglutide for a while and now I'm on Tirzepatide. It has absolutely killed my appetite! I will go 24-30 hours without eating anything at all some days, and when I do eat, I'm luck to eat a measuring cup of food. It also makes me feel so fatigued some days to where I don't want to do anything for a day or two after the shot. It's not as bad now in my 3rd month of it but the first two were wicked horrible.

​

Are you type II?

 

[JeepHead]

Are you type II?

Yes, T2

 

[NorTracNY]

I hope that cup of food is pure protein. It's not good to be tired because you're not eating. Your body needs food, not chemicals.

 

[txdon]

Cheese and bacon are wonderful foods. Why do you think vegan would be healthy? I'm not saying it's not healthy, but you can be vegan and still eat junk and struggle to get enough protein that your body will absorb.

Being vegan for 12 years, since my heart attack, you are absolutely right about eating vegan junk food but you are absolutely wrong about struggling to get enough protein. Plant based protein is better for life in the body than animal protein. I don't struggle to get enough protein and I am not protein deficient as 12 years of blood test show. I know this is a diabetic thread so I'll bug out, just had to correct a common myth about vegans and animal vs. plant protein.

Learn more why you live longer with plant protein than animal protein:

Animal Protein vs. Plant-Based Protein | NutritionFacts.org

I discuss a public health case for modernizing the definition of protein quality.

nutritionfacts.org

 

[ArlyA]

Most Americans get plenty of protein. More is not better. Like your mother said "eat your veggies" and in-soluble's (salad) to keep your gut cleaned out. I love a nice salad.

 

[NorTracNY]

Being vegan for 12 years, since my heart attack, you are absolutely right about eating vegan junk food but you are absolutely wrong about struggling to get enough protein. Plant based protein is better for life in the body than animal protein. I don't struggle to get enough protein and I am not protein deficient as 12 years of blood test show. I know this is a diabetic thread so I'll bug out, just had to correct a common myth about vegans and animal vs. plant protein.

Learn more why you live longer with plant protein than animal protein:

Animal Protein vs. Plant-Based Protein | NutritionFacts.org

I discuss a public health case for modernizing the definition of protein quality.

nutritionfacts.org

As I said, it can be an issue. Just like some vegan's eat junk. Also understand that everyone's body is different.

ArlyA is correct. Too much protein will be turned into glucose by the body.

 

[daugen]

Don, thanks for input. I know from personal observation that you eat well.
the video was interesting, what jumped out at me was how bad eggs are.
eggs and cheese, I love dairy.
It doesn't like me though.

I asked about AIC tests. He said Medicare limits number but still you can get at least four a year paid for, maybe more.
So I told him I'd like that added to my semiannual blood work and he said fine. Am surprised it wasn't automatic.

lot of the ways to help reduce diabetes also seem good for heart disease, same kinds of foods and increase in activity

 

[ArlyA]

lot of the ways to help reduce diabetes also seem good for heart disease, same kinds of foods and increase in activity

Man-o-man, you got that right!

 

[txdon]

my labs last week showed a 78 for glucose, big drop from prior 100+
I've lost 13 pounds so far on semiglutide, 246 to 233. Next 13 is harder.
we all need to do what works best for us.

Drew, Just don't hurt yourself and know all the side effects.

OZEMPIC: Risks, Benefits, and Natural Alternatives to GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs | NutritionFacts.org

nutritionfacts.org