First, you need to find some way to bring your glucose down!! I think the poster who got edited was referring to the American Diabetes Assn. site. We do encourage eating to your meter there.

There are other types of diabetes, besides 1 & 2. Have you had any tests to rule out the other types? I'd check into that, an endo can help there.

No I've not been tested for any other types of diabetes. I'm severely obese and with a family history of type 2 my doctor didn't seem interested in checking. I see my GP for my diabetes. I thought about getting an endo but since the Victoza is working well for me I decided against it. If my sugar does get worse I will have my doctor raise my dose of Victoza to the 1.8mg dose and see how that goes. Then if it gets even worse I will see an endo.

The only thing I can do to reduce my blood sugar is to eat less carbs. My family doesn't cook very often so we often eat out or have food delivered. So generally we eat a high carb diet here. I try to snack on low carb foods when I get hungry, I eat string cheese, peanuts, lunch meat, tuna in mayonnaise, etc.

My blood sugar is mostly acceptable except when it hits above 140 which I know is the cut off for when bg's are safe and not damaging your body. Anything higher for an extended time is doing damage. I know that. So I try to keep my bg's lower than 140 most of the time. THough it doesn't always happen since we eat out so much.

Welcome. I do not have diabetes, but for the healing of my nerves I do watch the blood sugar and test one hour after eating. That way, you can see the spike. I rarely do it now since I know what can get them higher.

The number is always good even then and goes further down two hours later back to 80 or 85. I think testing earlier to see the spike is good to do even for me with good numbers. Taught me the foods to stay away from.

I try to keep my numbers low, so no spiking. It has been very good to do. I rarely get over 100. Very important to stay level.

Thankfully I have normal glucose so that is easy just staying away from simple carbs.

Losing weight would be number one for you. Without the simple carbs weight comes off pretty nicely. Extra weight is serious for many reasons. The supplements are great but a normal weight is so important.

Yes I know I have to get the weight off but so far the only diet that has worked is Atkins and I have a huge problem trying to stay on atkins since it is so restricting. I just can't handle it.

If you want to improve, IMHO, loosing weight and exercise are the two things that will make the biggest difference. It is not easy, but until you do it chances are you will not see major improvements.

Fortunately I have found a doctor that takes the natural approach to healing and health. His approach is that most chronic conditions can be improved through lifestyle changes. Fortunately for me it works.

Diabetes, excess weight, PN all run in my family. I have PN, but have been able to keep it under control with exercise and eating healthy foods. I am not on any medications and do not have diabetes.

Eating out is a big problem. You will need to learn to eat more meals at home. Eliminate many packaged foods, simple carbs, sugars etc.. Eat more vegetables and whole fruits. My doctor states that the only fluids I should drink are water and some teas. Lost a lot of weight when I gave up juices and sodas

I know you probably know all of this, and yes it is not easy, but it works

Wishing you the best.

I have one thing to add to cody's nice post.

It IS difficult to do...we all know that. But if you start in a way that is less challenging and move forward slowly you can do it.

One thing you can try.... reduce your portions by 10% to start.
It is a small change, and will not create huge hunger issues.

Get rid of sugar and white carbs...limit them slowly. And you will lose your taste for them eventually. Say a pasta once a week or less, easy on portion size. Substitute yams/sweet potatoes for white potatoes for example. Some foods have long staying power in the body and don't spike blood sugars. Lentils, peas, beans (I prefer black beans) can be very filling and slow to metabolize, and reduce hunger.
Some carry outs are pretty good... I like Baja Fresh. They tend to reduce fat, and calories in several of their menu selections and still taste really good.

If you add in salmon or other fatty fish, or take fish oil supplements you can reduce triglycerides without that TriCor.

By the end of 3 months or less you can be eating a new way, and on the road to positive changes.

Thank you all for your input. I'll ask my doctor for a vit D test. I started to take krill oil to help with my lipids but for some reason I quit taking it, not sure why, I think I just started to forget to take it. I'll have to find the bottle and start taking it again. The reason I chose krill oil (Mega Red) is because the gel caps are so small compared to huge fish oil gel caps. I hate taking lots of huge pills.

I don't often eat potatoes or other white foods like pasta. I only eat pasta maybe once a month if that.

Thanks!

I have researched diabetes, probably too much, because I find doctors to be lacking more than myself, haha! I use my meter at the 1 hour mark like Sally, because at 1 hour that tells me the spike number. Dr's are hung up on the 2 hour mark which is stupid in my opinion. If I went by 2 hour readings I would never know that I am spiking so high at 1 hour. At 2 hours bg is coming back down...or should be, and mine does. I care more about the spiking number as that is what harms nerves.

I agree, I keep my bg numbers below 140.

I am shocked that my mothers dr told her it was ok to eat fruit and many other high carb foods. She spikes to 300 if she eats that stuff but can control it if she does not eat it. I think doctors ideas on what to eat are antiquated. All the wanna do is prescribe meds.

Sally is right, I have lost 40 pds simply by getting rid of simple carbs, white flour, pasta and all sugar. I understand what you mean when you say it is hard, and I could NEVER stay on atkins when I wanted to lose weight, however it is about my health now and that seems to be all the motivation i need to skip the carbs. I don't wanna lose my feet. Fear keeps me motivated.

good luck

I think getting your B12 and Vit D tested is your next step.

Metformin can result in lower B12 levels in many people.

Get the numerical results, and don't accept "normal" from
the doctor. B12 lab ranges are reported in an outdated format in many places, and very low numbers are given "normal" status.
The new therapeutic guidelines for it is a minimum of 400 pg/ml in the US. Low B12 will damage nerves over time.

Also there are reports that fixing low Vit D in diabetics improves PN. So you need to have those two tests run.

Type 2 diabetics may burn out the pancreas over time, and therefore need injected insulin. The fact that you did not respond to metformin is not normal. It is a possible flag that you are really type I. Type I can occur in adulthood, and I've met 2 people who were misdiagnosed in their 40's and 50's.
Do you know your A1C number? This can be a better indicator of type I or II for some patients.

Nerve damage can also come from drugs. Statins for cholesterol and certain antibiotics can do this. Here is an informational thread on the topic.
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread122889.html

So right there are two other reasons for PN besides diabetes.
Cipro, Levaquin and Avelox are given too freely by doctors, and some people develop nerve damage from them. Statins are common too, and can be very damaging. Often these triggers are ignored by doctors.

Wow I had no idea. I haven't ever taken cipro though I am on crestor for my cholesterol. I was on zocor prior to crestor. I'm also on tricor for my triglycerides.

How can I bring up this information to my doctor? He already thinks I'm nuts for researching everything. I'm a researcher when it comes to health problems. He gets annoyed when I say "Well I researched.. and think that maybe.." or "I looked it up and I found out.."

I know I probably am vitamin D deficient since I rarely get outside in the sun and live in Ohio where the sun rarely shines here since it's always overcast. Plus I"m allergic to the sun, I get sun poisoning on my arms so I have always avoided the sun since it causes painful itchy hives all over. Should I start taking a vit D supplement? which one is best? What dosage?