Diabetes

I take oral medications for type II diabetes twice a day. To ensure I don't forget to take them (or forget whether or not I did take them :D ) I bought one of those 7-day pill containers with 2 compartments for each day. Every Sunday morning I load them up for the whole week so I can tell at a glance if I'm on schedule or not.

Get a good meter and test a lot - especially now when you are learning to control your own body chemistry. The more data you have the better off you will be. Mine is an Accu-Chek Compact Plus. It's fast, uses a small blood sample, and the sample can be drawn from the arms or legs rather than the finger tips. It comes with a Softclix lancet device which most people report as being very painless even when used on the fingertips. If you get good control over your diabetes you can slack off a bit on the testing but right now you should be testing several times a day.

If you smoke - quit. Now. You have 5 times greater chance of serious cardio-pulmonary disease than someone who does not have diabetes. Multiply that by the risks that come with smoking and it becomes a matter of "when" rather than "if". My doctor advised me that I should "hurl (myself) off the Washington Monument and spare (myself) the suffering that is surely in (my) future" as I lay dying "gasping for breath." He sympathized and pitied me because I would not live long enough to see my daughter grow up. The good news, he told me, was that I was unlikely to live long enough to develop lung cancer. I left his office and threw my pack of smokes in the trash and I have never had a cigarette since, and that was over 7 years ago. The only thing I miss is doing lighter tricks with my Zippo.
 
Overeating sugar free foods will give you diarrhea. After a while, you get used to the flavor of diet sodas/flavored waters. But that stuff is bad for you. Get your sugar under control, if you need to take off the weight, take it off. Cut out the heavy salts and most of your sugar. Instead of having the sugar free stuff laying around, which just adds to your sugar cravings, treat yourself once on a blue moon. Maybe one slice of cake or pie at a party. Maybe one scoop of ice cream at a party. Go to a dietician. If you have good health insurance, put that at the top of your list.

I have known for 8 years, and I am still struggling with this.
 
Beware of marketing as well. Don't believe 'carb-free' labels. ALWAYS look at the nutritional information on the back. Marketers can fool anyone into believing anything. It isn't so bad if you are just dieting, which is where I believe most of the marketing is geared for, but can really mess with diabetics.
 
Diabetes stinks. I'm type 1, have had it 34 years now. I've been on an insulin pump for 4 years now, it is a Godsend. I guess when you've lived with something for awhile you get lax, I did and it snuck up and bit me. I lost vision in my left eye at the age of 29. I have neuropathy in both legs and am crippled up from a bicycle accident lol.

I've seen alot of changes in the last 34 years. When I started out I tested my urine for sugar, which was not as precise as the glucometers are now. Also there are alot more diet foods, sugar free oreo's,soda's etc. Watch Chinese food and pizza, those 2 are notorious for elevating bg's, also pasta, rice, potato's, bread etc. Moderation is the key. Read all you can on diabetes. I hope all goes well for you.
 
+1 on the insulin pump. I'm not diabetic, but my wife is Type I. It's a long story and I won't relate it here unless asked to, but suffice it to say that the closest we ever came to losing her was on our first date. We came within probably 15 minutes of her never coming back. I still shudder when I think of that instance, and wipe the tears from my eyes.

She got on the insulin pump about a year after we were married, and it has been an absolute miracle-worker for her. I'm not sure about those with Type II diabetes, though; does anyone know if they even recommend regular insulin injection for Type II?
 
I have diabetes from agent orange in Vietnam. I don't drink or smoke, don't eat sweets, and take my pills faithfully. My blood sugar stays between 95 and 100. I can't get all the exercise I need, I have to walk with forearm crutches, you just have to adapt to a different lifestyle and accept it.
 
rroossinck said:
I'm not sure about those with Type II diabetes, though; does anyone know if they even recommend regular insulin injection for Type II?
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It depends on how far along the disease has progressed. The pump is a godsend for Type I, but the goal of Type II is through diet and exercise and pills (if necessary) to control the BG enough to not need insulin.

As of January, the latest push is to have a Registered Dietician who is trained in diabetes to create a diet tuned to the individual. I was just sharing some info with a patient the other day on the matter. For example the OP doesn't sound like a classic poor eater who is overweight and lacks exercise, so his Type II diet would be different than a 300 lbs. African American woman's Type II diet.

I will get all the fancy acronyms in the daylight and share it here. It is something like Diabetes Nutritional Therapy or something like that...give me 12 hours...:)
 
A lot of good advice listed :thumbup: here's my 2 cents....

-Get alot of dietary fiber, that will help in controlling blood glucose levels.
-Try Using Stevia to sweeten foods, tastes great and with zero negative health effects as opposed to poisons like nutrasweet :thumbup: it also aids in digestion, pancreas support, great for diabetics!!
-And my favorite all around health tonic....Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. :D


Darrell..........................
 
Slaytanic said:
A lot of good advice listed :thumbup: here's my 2 cents....

-Get alot of dietary fiber, that will help in controlling blood glucose levels.
-Try Using Stevia to sweeten foods, tastes great and with zero negative health effects as opposed to poisons like nutrasweet :thumbup: it also aids in digestion, pancreas support, great for diabetics!!
-And my favorite all around health tonic....Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar. :D


Darrell..........................
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Yeah, I just got hold of some Stevia and I like it so far but I bought a box of the little packets and I find that I use a lot of partial packets. 1 is not enough but 2 is too much for my big mug of coffee. It is too expensive to toss the leftover amount so I fold over the packet and keep it for next time.
 
Yeah, I just got hold of some Stevia and I like it so far but I bought a box of the little packets and I find that I use a lot of partial packets. 1 is not enough but 2 is too much for my big mug of coffee. It is too expensive to toss the leftover amount so I fold over the packet and keep it for next time.
Click to expand...

Shoot me Your addy, and I'll send ya the Stevia supplement that I buy at a local health food store(free :D), comes in a good sized 4oz. spice type shaker, comes fortified with inulin fiber.

Darrell.............. darsoe@visi.com
 
Let me update everyone. I am on a daily injection of Lantus and some other pills for both my pancreatitus and my diabetes. Things have gotten a little bit easier but I still can't eat chinese or japanese food without rice:mad: so I eat it in moderation. I drink either plain water, Crystal Light or iced tea with Equal so that part is under control. I eat some whole wheat bread for breakfast with egg white omelets and sliced tomatoes. I try to eat more vegetables (mixed success) but how about fresh fruit. Is that OK or a no no?
 
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