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Old 08-06-2010, 02:11 AM   #1
sad_winslow
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diabetes stuff

Just curious, is anyone else here type 2 diabetic? If so, how do you manage it? medication, diet, exercise, supplements, not at all? Do you track your glucose levels, and how? How often do you measure, or do you measure at all?

In lumberjim's post I mentioned a supplement drink i was taking that seemed to be good stuff sold by jerk people.

Well, I ran out of it and couldn't get more right away, and decided to switch to some alternate supplements from the store; namely, chromium picolinate and cinnamon capsules, both rumored to help regulate blood sugar. The drink stuff had chromium as one ingredient, so I figured that I could at least continue taking that part, which seemed to show favorable results over a 2 week period. The cinnamon is a new addition.

I haven't been taking them long enough to say definitively that they work for me yet - but so far, the results have been encouraging. I check my fasting sugar every morning when I wake up and today it was NINETY. According to my records, double-digits have only happened to me once in the past 5 months. Normally I'm in the 150-170 range, with the occasional odd spike sometimes up near 300. Since my trial with the original chromium-containing supplement, my sugar levels have been on average 30 mg/dL lower than normal, around 110 to 130. It's been a pretty huge success, with a bit of dietary modification (but not much - I had some birthday cake one day, even. And there was that 3/4 of a pizza day. whew. i try not to beat myself up if i slip no more than once a week, though. )

I am however burping cinnamon on occasion, which is odd but I suppose not entirely as bad as it could be. Maybe if I eat some violet-flavored mints too I'll start flatulating potpourri?
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Old 08-06-2010, 06:08 AM   #2
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I'm not diabetic but have family history and am probably too close to a diagnosis for my own peace of mind. So I'll be watching this thread. I bought a kit and check my fasting glucose levels for several weeks and then stop for a while. Kits are inexpensive and it seemed a good idea.
I've done the chromium supplement, but not cinnamon. Sounds like it's doing some good for you, congratulations!
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Old 08-06-2010, 11:54 PM   #3
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glucometers themselves are cheap but the test strips are usually stupidly expensive if you have to use them every day and don't have insurance coverage. mine are about a buck apiece. but that's not a bad idea to check if you're worried. if type 2 runs in your family you can start heading it off at the pass right now before you wake up with a fasting glucose of 270 like i did when i was diagnosed. it can take some lifestyle changes, but nothing too earth-shattering. giving up sugar soda made a *huge* difference to me right away. i still eat things with sugar in them, but not on a daily basis anymore, and now it's looking like my sugar trends are mostly staying in the well-managed diabetic range. far less candy and things like that, keeping an eye out on the junk. celery with peanut butter is my latest snack, i eat a fair amount of that. it's cheap and pretty filling for a quick snack. i don't really work out much at all, and spend too much time in front of the computer. i was walking a lot but since i hurt my back less so, though i reckon hobbling with the cane takes just as much energy over a shorter distance, eheh. being in school helps.

but yeah, holy cow, chromium really seems to work for me. maybe try it yourself in conjunction with some minor dietary modifications and you can keep yourself clear of an official diagnosis?
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Old 08-07-2010, 07:12 AM   #4
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Two books - well, one book and one author - are making the biggest difference to me. The author is Michael Pollan. I've become thoroughly engrossed in all I've read by or about him. I still believe the best diet tool is a microscope and a compassion for animals, though.
The book is Reversing Diabetes Cookbook, purchased because recipes were simple, had few ingredients, and appealed to my lazybones attitude on food preparation. I really just cannot be bothered with food that requires me to do confounding actions like "baste", "marinate", "sear", or other strange terms. That cookbook seemed to fit the bill, and the recipes taste good, along with the bonus of being good for me. I feel like I should check sugar levels again for a couple of weeks, then try with chromium picolate for a couple. Any cookbooks you like?
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Old 08-08-2010, 02:51 AM   #5
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i've read quite a bit of pollan, and agree with his general principle of don't eat things that aren't food, eat less, and eat more vegetables. those edicts will get you pretty far along the path to a healthy intake. i really think that knowing what you're eating is extremely important.

i'll look at that book. i've looked at a number of diabetes cookbooks before; though it's worth noting that i'm not sure there's any particular standard for calling a cookbook "diabetic friendly". heck, i cook with plain white sugar sometimes if the dish calls for it - but i don't cook a lot of stuff that does. a pinch here or there, that kind of thing. if it calls for a sugar substitute, even sucralose(supposedly "better" and "more natural" than others, yeah right), i skip right past that cookbook. though i drink diet soda(pretty much for the caffeine), i think it's best to stay away from that stuff in general to cut down on the overall sweet tooth urge. i basically eat what i want, just.. less, and a little more often - no more gorging on a single meal a day. i do.. slip, or splurge or however you call it, but keeping track of that has meant that i can actually allow myself to once in a while and not feel guilty because i've learned to balance it.

we'll see how my balancing act handles a dose of tonight's Olive Garden, though, whew! No pasta, but fried calamari, salad and a sort of cioppino-like seafood thing that i can't remember the name of, started with a B. was pretty good, though. a couple bites of the gf's tiramisu and a cup of coffee.
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Old 08-08-2010, 06:26 PM   #6
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Oops, looks like the supplements couldn't keep that meal at bay. Today I was up to 145 fasting. Though I did take it a bit earlier than usual. Still, that's a tad bit lower than my pre-supplement trend. Going to have to work off that dinner!
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Old 08-13-2010, 02:33 PM   #7
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I had a doctor appointment yesterday (routine Rx refill thing) and asked the doctor how much weight I would need to lose to be "normal" range. She told me about a doctor in another town who is doing gastric bypass with good results. wtf? Surgery? Am I that bad, or so hopeless, that surgery is the first suggested course of action, or has gastric bypass become so routine that it's unremarkable nowadays?
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Old 08-13-2010, 02:50 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetwater View Post
has gastric bypass become so routine that it's unremarkable nowadays?
Kickbacks from one "professional" to another. Its all the rage these days. Thats how they'll subsidize their incomes now. I think you'll find it somewhere on about page 1874 in the new bill.
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Old 08-13-2010, 05:36 PM   #9
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I was diagnosed with diabetes 11 years ago. I have been up and down here lately more up. I have not modified my diet all that much, The only time I have real soda (Pepsi) rather than diet is when we go out about once a week and I just have one glass. My snacks are usually oranges and bananas, though sometimes an avocado. They just stopped my glypizide Tuesday and my fasting sugars have been rising from202 mg/Dl to 239mg/Dl. I am going to call them Monday and try to get back on glypizede. All in all my sugars are better My A1c went down from 9.4 to 8.2 so I am happy about that. So if you have any questions about diabetes PM me and we can talk about it.
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Old 08-14-2010, 05:50 AM   #10
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unless you've really exhausted as many lifestyle changes and drug therapies as you can, surgery i think is always the least preferable option for many illnesses. particularly one as intense as gastric bypass. some people choose it. i am not a doctor, but if i were in your place i'd put that one waaaay down at the bottom of the list. I try to save the scalpel for "going to die" types of situations, but that's just me.

I don't want to push this stuff and i'm not selling it, but the "Bioslife Slim" stuff I started taking - it's mostly a fiber supplement with vitamins added, besides being kinda pricey - holy hell it fills up my stomach. Overeating is.. much less of a problem, suddenly. In fact it's filled me up so much that i've had to basically sure that i eat *something* during the day just to keep from getting dizzy from lack of overall calories. I try to remember to eat a little cup of applesauce at least in the morning or maybe some celery sticks and peanut butter, a small meal during the day and something small at night. Sometimes I throw a little beef jerky or low-fat chocolate milk in there (i know, i shouldn't really have that, too much sugar) to keep some protein going.

But, consequently, my blood sugar is almost actually down into the pre-diabetic, near "normal" levels. a good morning glucose check was in the 150's, average 170, and bad 200+ before. I'm down to being in the 95-110 range for 20 out of 24 days so far. The other 4 days were days I ate late meals and were from 130-150. The drop was basically *immediately* after I started taking the stuff. It spiked for one day when I ran out, then I started taking chromium and saw a drop, then got more drink mix and stopped the chromium and have stayed low since.

For reference i'm a hair under 6' and weigh around 230-240 lbs.
I was diagnosed a couple years ago. I had a urinalysis multi-test strip done (I was feeling quite sick, doc was making sure I didn't have a kidney infection or something) and it indicated glucose, so I went for additional testing. I came back with a fasting sugar of 278 and an A1C of 9.4.

I'm unmedicated, though I briefly took Precose when I was first diagnosed. It helped a little, but it upset my stomach so badly I didn't want to take it anymore if I could help it.

Given that I don't have insurance anyways and diabetes medication is just as if not more expensive than this stupid drink mix, I'm going to keep taking it, tracking my sugar data, and I'll post a followup on if it keeps working or if I've found some other factor. I am inherently extremely mistrustful of supplements and things in general, but holy dang. so far so good.
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