DIABETICS ON THE BEACH (Week of 08/15/2004) Week # 1

Cetaganda · Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:58 am

Bundle777 wrote: I FOUND MY WAY TO THIS THREAD :shock: :D

Congratulations Bundle - way to go! With all good intentions I made a confusing mess with all of the Diabetics on South Beach threads. I put them on different subforums and then they were moved to this new subforum. I hope that this confusion will soon clear up. I have asked one of our moderators for some help combining all of the posts. Am waiting for a reply.

Bundle777 wrote: Now with that out of the way. How is everyone. So sorry to hear about your bite Patcat. I hope you will be better real soon.

I am doing pretty well, Bundle. How are you doing? Ate too much vegetarian chili for lunch ... that was almost 5 hours ago, though. I get really hungry at this time of day (5:45 pm right now). I forget to eat a snack and then I get really hungry for something. In fact, when I do this, I tend to eat too big a snack.

Unfortunately dinner is at 7:00 - 7:30 pm, when my husband usually comes home from work. That's too long for me to go without something to eat. I am thinking about having something as soon as I get finished with this post .... I think that the hunger is probably my blood glucose level telling me to eat something ... and I mean now, darnit! it is saying.

I am curious now about what my blood glucose level is right now. So before my snack I am going to do a BG measurement. Blood glucose testing is very new for me ... even though I was diagnosed with diabetes type II a year and a half ago, I am just now starting to measure ... as well as learn to eat and exercise in a healthy way by following the phase II SBD guidelines to the best of my current knowledge.

Does anyone else have this problem remembering to eat a snack in the afternoon ... until you get *very* almost painfully hungry?

Bundle777 wrote: This is great to have our own thread because of our special issues and we can all help each other. Thanks for going that extra mile.

You are welcome, Bundle. :D I hope that other people will find us soon, too.

Cetaganda · Fri Aug 13, 2004 4:55 pm

Good morning everyone,

How are you doing today? How are your blood glucose levels? What are you eating today?

Blood glucose testing is something that I have just started doing, beginning with Monday. I am open to feedback about my readings. Here they are since Monday:

Before breakfast: 117, 108, 117, 108, 109

Two hours after lunch: 123, 114

5:45 pm, before snack: 107 (extremely hungry)

For breakfast today I had a cup of Uncle Sam cereal
with skim milk and 2 packets of Splenda and 6 oz of V8 juice

It's now time for my snack, which I sometimes forget to have. Gonna go and have it now.

Looking forward to hearing from everyone.

Hope your day and weekend go very well. :D :D

Patcat, we are concerned about you ... how are you doing? Will you get to go on vacation starting Sunday?

lilac · Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:20 pm

could somebody post the normal ranges for blood sugar that you use in the states?

We use a different scale here :?

patcat1964 · Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:44 pm

HI all,

Cataganda- I am holding on here. Call the wound care center and they cant see me until Aug. 23rd. they are booked up and i am a patient of there.
Well they said keep taking the antibotics and put the hot water bottle on it. And if it opens up let it drain and put saline jel on it and cover it. They said if it goes away cancel the appointment. if it is open go to the appointment. And if it gets worse go to the emerancy room. And keep my legs up as much as possible. The only thing is my sugars are elvated due to the infection. Last night before snack it was 117 and this morning it was 108 and lunch time it was 92.

Yes, we leave on Sunday for vacation. And as long as it not open i am going to swim for exercise. i probably wont be able to walk far. Other then that i am going to relax with my legs up and read a couple good books and eat SB friendly.

I am resting today, after packing, so that i can go to the grocery stores tonight and tommorrow.

Lilac- I dont know what you mean about Blood stick readings. I dont know what canada does. But our normal for a non diabetic is 65-99 on our meters and doctors here like to have them close. How is your meter read in Canada. I see if i can help you.

lilac · Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:47 pm

our normal range is 4 - 7 and our meters only go to 33.3

Marilyn

patcat1964 · Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:50 pm

Lialic- Let me see what i can find out and i will get back to you in a bit

Cetaganda · Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:16 pm

lilac wrote: could somebody post the normal ranges for blood sugar that you use in the states?

We use a different scale here :?
Hi lilac,

I took the following from the endocrie.com website at:

http://www.endocrineweb.com/insulin.html

Take a look at this article. It explains and illustrates well:
Normal Regulation of Blood Glucose,The important roles of insulin and glucagon: Diabetes and Hypoglycemia

"Our bodies desire blood glucose to be maintained between 70 mg/dl and 110 mg/dl (mg/dl means milligrams of glucose in 100 milliliters of blood). Below 70 is termed "hypoglycemia". Above 110 can be normal if you have eaten within 2 to 3 hours. That is why your doctor wants to measure your blood glucose while you are fasting...it should be between 70 and 110. Even after you have eaten, however, your glucose should be below 180. Above 180 is termed "hyperglycemia" (which translates to mean "too much glucose in the blood"). If you have two blood sugar measurements above 200 after drinking a sugar-water drink (glucose tolerance test), then you are diagnosed with diabetes. "

I was diagnosed diabetic without a glucose tolerance test. Just the fact that I had a fasting blood glucose level of 140 (after having some tea with milk (containing lactose, a sugar) and a second test, a true fast, at 126, as I remember it. So, for a long time I called myself marginally diabetic ... my doctor disagreed ... you are diabetic, she said, and you need to lose 80 pounds. When you do I predict that you will no longer need diabetes medication.

Strong denial from me for a year and a half. Didn't want to deal with the reality of diabetes ... nevermind that I had gestational diabetes and a very strong incidence of diabetes and heart attacks in my family. Nevermind that I weighed 260 at that time and was sedentary and eating most of my meals outside the home, where I had almost no control over what I put into my body, which was high fat and high in refined carbs.

For my health, it is great that I have been recently learning about diabetes and the many serious and debilitating and even fatal complications of the disease. My eyes are finally open wide ... and I am going to succeed in turning over a new leaf and becoming healthy again.

So far I have not had any *high* levels measured. But that could happen to me or to anybody with diabetes. Unlike Patcat, I have not seen signs of complications yet. But this is a silent killer for the most part.

Cetaganda · Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:29 pm

Hi everyone,

I am writing the following, both to share and to help me think about it to help me with this denial problem ... I just don't want to deal with being diabetic ... but I am, to the best of my ability ... finally.

My mother is 70 years old and has had diabetes for at least 20 years. She is doing relatively well, but she is a small, lean person, always has been. However, she has had a heart attack or two and a minor stroke. She also has "mega" nephritis, a very painful kidney disease that does not go away with antibiotic treatment My doctor told me that she has this because her blood glucose levels are not under good control. It caused her to lose her gall bladder because her doctor misdiagnosed her sharp pains. And she has not controlled her blood sugar very well at all. She told me that she has to deal with denial of the disease a lot, too.

So, when I say that my mother is doing relatively well, I am measuring her against some of her sisters and her mother and grandmother, all diabetics with heart attacks, all but one of whom died by age 60.

I finally got my mother to see an endocrinologist ... haven't talked to her in a while ... hope that she is doing better with controlling her blood glucose level and with her triglycerides, high blood pressure, etc. Come to think of it ... she isn't doing well at all. Just well relative to her family members who have died as a result of coronary heart disease and complications of diabetes type II.

Well, that's it ... I hope that I will read this post a lot to keep me grounded in the reality of what I have in store for me if I don't do what I need to do to take care of myself. I may not be able to avoid all of the complications of the disease, but I will do all that I can, including following the guidelines of the South Beach Diet, seeing my doctor often, getting a hemoglobin A1c test every three months, and very important for me: measuring my blood glucose levels at least once a day, much more to learn what is happening to my blood glucose with respect to diet and exercise.

Wishing us all good luck and success in controlling our diabetes!.

lilac · Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:43 pm

Linda - Thank-you for all the information, although I do know about sugar levels and everything. I'm a nurse and I do about a dozen tests everyday (on other pple). I just didn't get your scales. Like we measure temperature in celcius and in the states you measure in fahrenheit. I just didn't know how to convert.

just knowing the normal levels is enough, so:
normal is 70-110
too high is 180

what is dangerously low?

Just so I have a better idea of what everybody is talking about?

thanks

lilac · Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:49 pm

patcat sent me a link to a converter - thanks

I read on another thread a woman that had a BG of 1100, thats 61 !!!. I've never heard of someone having a sugar that high, I'm now not surprised she spent 3 days in ICU.

Dariad254 · Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:34 pm

thanks to all who helped to get this new thread started. I hope i can learn a lot from all of you. I have been given 2 months by my doctor to get my blood glucose and glycohemoglobin down or I am being put on meds or insulin. I am terrified of needles and I hate taking medication so this is a really big incentive for me to make this happen in the next 2 months. I have been trending my BG (blood glucose) every morning now for a week and a half. My first reading (1.5 weeks ago) was 187 today i was at 154. I am not sure what all to change so what i have done is i exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, i eat nothing that might spike my insulin level after 3 pm, and i am still slowly losing weight (14 pounds in 9 weeks). This is a multi-variation experiment so I am not so sure which if any are really having an effect. I mean i'm really happy that my BG is headed in the right direction but I am not sure if it would be heading that way just by sticking to the program. If i had a piece of SB cheesecake after dinner would that screw up my BG for the next day? How does the timing of exercise change your BG? I normally take a 30 min walk at lunchtime but would it be better to exercise after i eat dinner? or first thing in the am?
If anyone has any suggestions I am all ears. And i will thank you all ahead of time.

patcat1964 · Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:39 pm

Dariad

If you dont mind posting your time of eating and what you have been eating. Maybe we can see if there is anything that may need to be changed. And when are u doing BG and how many times a day etc.

I see if i can help you. i have been where you are. You can either pm me or post what ever you are conformable with

Cetaganda · Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:39 pm

lilac wrote: just knowing the normal levels is enough, so: normal is 70-110 & too high is 180

what is dangerously low?

Hi lilac,

We are fortunate to have a *nurse* in Canada on our Diabetics on South Beach thread! Welcome! Dealing with my diabetes II is new for me ... so I may have questions to ask you from time to time, especially in the beginning. I will try to not over burden you with questions doing research on the Internet and by asking my doctor if that is the appropriate action to take.

To answer your question, I have taken the following from diabetes websites:

Blood Glucose Goals - Desirable Blood Sugar Levels

Source: The American Diabetes Association's Complete Guide to Diabetes

Time of Test Person without diabetes Person with diabetes

Before meals Less than 115 mg/dl 80 to 120 mg/dl
__________________________________________________________

Before bedtime Less than 120 mg/dl 100 to 140 mg/dl

*** Low Blood Sugar / Hyglycemia ***

"..Generally, low blood sugar is defined as a serum glucose level (the amount of sugar or glucose in your blood) below 60 mg/dL. Symptoms of low blood sugar, however, usually begin at a level below 60 mg/dL. Some people may feel symptoms before this level. A level of 50 mg/dL is thought to **affect brain function**"

So, lilac, my interpretation of this is that 60 mg/dL is so low that one needs to do something immediately such as drink a glass of juice when this happens. Or should one drink a glass of juice with a measurement below 80 mg/dL?

I saw a thread in which a diabetic type I was told by another member (probably nondiabetic) that she/he should eat an orange instead of orange juice when hypoglycemic. I don't think that was a good answer because the hypoglycemic diabetic needs to raise blood glucose level quickly, before brain function is affected. Am I right about that, lilac?

So, lilac, what do you think? Does this mean that below 60 mg/dL is dangerously low? Certainly 50 mg/dL is dangerously low.

Please post the link to the converter between our mg/dL and your mmol/L. It could really come in handy for understanding when someone posts measurements results in the "other" units.

Thanks!

Cetaganda · Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:49 pm

My last post reminds me, by the way, that I am overdue for a visit to my internist by at least a couple of weeks and I haven't even made an appointment to see her ... put that on my to do immediately list. I last saw her sometime in June ... I would like to wait until 3 months have passed and I have begun to lose weight and start a regular exercise program on the South Beach Diet, but it may not be wise to wait so long. What do you think?

The last time I went to see my internist I had lost about 15 pounds ... not sure how that happened ... and I got a high five from her, meaning that she was pleased for me. She recommended the SBD to me when she diagnosed me a year and a half ago. It's taken me this long to understand the significance of diabetes II in my life and to wake up and learn some ways of controlling this chronic and very dangerous disease. I am very happy to have this forum and this thread as a valuable resource. We are going to learn a lot from each others' experiences with diabetes in general and with respect to the South Beach Diet. And that makes me happy :D that I had the idea to start this thread and that our admin set up the new Health and Medical Issues sub-forum for all of us.

A year and a half ago I did the easy part ... I went right out to Borders and bought the South Beach Diet book ... left it on a shelf unread until recently. And I bought a One Touch Ultra glucose monitoring system ... and put it in a box beneath my computer table.

So, I am finally making progress by measuring my blood glucose level and by starting to follow the South Beach Diet. My internist will be pleased as punch for me!! So am I !!

patcat1964 · Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:16 pm

Cetaganda and to everyone else

It is very important to keep all doctor appointments especially now with us all losing the weight. For the ones that are on meds. to have the sugar levels tested for adjustments to meds.

I go monthly to my doctor and he runs all kinds of bloodwork and checks my kidneys which is a complication to diabetes and he always makes sure that i am on target. one month he found my kidneys werent working right and another month my clostriol was to high and now with my legs always giving me a problem.

He checks for open sores and cuts and such your heart is another muscle they need to keep an i on along with kidneys and most of all your eyesight.

There are alot of these that we have to keep an i out for then a normal person losing wieght.

Any ideas when you had a physcial last and bloodwork?

I have mine every month

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