Blood Sugar a little high
 

Okay I have a blood sugar that is a little high. I have been prescribed
a medication. That will be once a day at my evening meal.

But I haven't picked it up yet, and cant remember the name.

It sounded like something that started with med ?

Any one have a clue what this is.

Donna

It's called Metforim. Do you mind saying how high your bs was? I suggest you look up the side effects of this drug.

I am sorry I don't know how high it was. I wasn't doing a good job
of asking questions.

Donna

Hi Donna! I am on metformin. It is hard on my tummy....I run to the throne alot! Donna, your doc prescribed it for a reason so I think you need to get back there and find out what your numbers are....I would see a diabetic dietitian ot get to a diabetes clinic. There are ways to combine your protein, starches etc to have them work best for you... You need to be proactive....diabetes in frustrating at times...I wish I did not have it but I do. There are lots of things you can do to help manage it....our own Melody is my "Diabetic God" on here....she works hard at controlling her disease!
Good Luck Donna!! We are all here for you!!:grouphug:

Right now I'm taking care of some other medical testing. Then I plan to ask about a dietician. I just thought of that today. I also plan to ask the level.
I really wish I'd thought of that yesterday. I just didn't.

Donna

Don't beat yourself up. By the way, I'm the diabetic god (as Dorrie puts it). My name is Melody and I've learned a great deal about managing my diabetes. I never took it seriously, and I mean NEVER. I just didn't want to know.

Well, stupid me, it finally hit me that this is MY LIFE we are talking about. I have completely changed the way I look at food, I grow my own sprouts, and I eat them in my salads and soups. I learned much from the nuritionist.

Sprouts are MUCHO HEALTHY for us all!!!

I also just made my first SUGAR FREE APPLE PIE.

Never made an apple pie before. I just put it up on youtube.

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPECQXhwpno

We have to watch our carb intake and I never go near anything processed. I stick to lean proteins, veggies, fish and complex carbs. I have just started to incorporate BEANS (which I sprout myself), into my diet. Never did that before because I thought it would kill my stomach.

Guess what used to kill my stomach? Metformin. I went off of it and started Lantus, (one shot a day). Best thing I ever did.

How is your weight? Don't mind the personal questions. That is what we do here. We try to help each other and we try to help each LIVE as long as we CAN!!

We learn to manage what we have to manage.

Don't get me wrong. Once a month, I'll make brownies.

Yesterday my sugar reading was 88 in the afternoon. I've been diabetic for 20 years.

Do you know what your A1c reading is? That's the three month average. Diabetics should know what their a1c readings are.

Don't worry. This takes time.

Just get a good handle on this and you'll be fine.

I don't believe I have a A1c reading. I just had my second high reading in a row high blood level. Well that doesn't include last year when I was in the hospital and had to have some insulin shots. Then I had no clue either what was going on. I was having bronchitus, asthma attacks and lots of presidone, and other medications added to many meds already.

But right now I'm adjusting and working on straighting up my diet best I can in the holidays. And it will get better. I weight more than I should 240 for
5' 8. I have lost 10lbs. But have been trying to lose more.

DOnna

Donna:

Congratulations on the 10 pound weight loss. I am 5 6 1/2 inches tall. I used to (at one time) weigh over 300. I didn't look it. I always look at least 50 to 60 lbs LESS than what I am.

Something about my body structure, bone density, etc.

Whatever, I still weigh more than I'd like, but I look perfectly normal.

I've also posted on the weight loss forums on this website. Seems there are quite a few people dealing with weight loss issues.

Losing weight is not the problem. Keeping it off and re-directing our brains to view food as fuel...well THAT'S THE KEY!!

Took me a long time. And I did this in my 50's. That's no small accomplishment, let me tell you.

I guess my brain finally learned.

I was told to lose weight YEARS AGO. But I had never gone to a nutritionist, I was never educated as to exactly where the food goes in our bodies, what it nurtures, what it does to our heart, etc. I never really learned (or I just didn't want to learn) about free radicals, anti-oxidants (that is now why I eat broccoli practically every day, and I eat broccoli sprouts EVERY DAY). Because they are packed with powerful anti-oxidants.

I used to just eat what I wanted. And the holidays?? Oh brother.

My mother, who stood 5 feet in her bare feet and boy could she cook. It seems my mother (one of 10 children), was fat up until she was 18 years old. Now we are talking over 70 years ago. All her brothers and sisters called her Fatso and the nickname FAZZ stuck with her.

She went on a diet at age 18 and never put it back on. I never saw my mother with any weight problem. But I later found out that she would have one day a week when she ate only ice cream sundaes. Actually she never ate in front of me. She cooked the food, but she never ate. She also drank. And she smoked heavily. All this contributed to her being very sick as she got older.

But boy could that woman cook!!!Sausage and hams and roast beef. But I remembered ONE THING that helped me stop eating any beef. And this memory came YEARS after the actual occasion.

It was a holiday of some sorts. We had ove 25 people over and my mother made a Roast Beef. Now her Roast Beef was to die for. But do you know what Roast beef looks like after it's cooked, and it's been sitting in the pan all day long.

All the fat was congealed. I never saw such an un-appetizing meal in all my life. I remember saying "mom, this looks horrible" and she laughed and said "well, now it does, but wait until I heat it up and all the juices will melt and it will go back to looking like it did when it first came out of the oven".

She was correct. BUT!! I never forgot that visual image.

And I used that image when I went off beef (quite some time ago). I just accessed that visual and I said "all that congealed fat would be coursing through my arteries".

For me, this is what worked. And I contacted a nutritionist who advised me not to eat beef whatsoever. It wasn't hard for me. I just ate chicken, fish and my veggies.

I came to like salads. Very colorful ingredients in my plate.

And I finally was able to stop eating all that sugar and sweet stuff at night. I would just sit in front of the tv, vegetate and pop snacks into my mouth. Not the healthiest thing for a person with diabetes.

Only when my brain changed in how I viewed the food that was going in my body, well, that was the kicker.

It really is the only way to maintain a weight loss. I mean, anyone can drop some pounds when going on a diet. but as soon as you go back to eating, well, there they come back again.

And all these pills on the market that are supposed to speed up one's metabolism. That might be fine if you're 20 or so. But not at my age.

So, while it took me a few years to do this, well, I FINALLY DID IT!!!

And once you view food the way I view food, YOU CAN'T GO BACK. You just can't. The brain is the brain. And once it inbeds a visual on your cebreal cortex (or whateve the hell it does, lol), well, you will look at food completely different.

I could no more eat a package of twinkies. I think it would make me gag. And all I had to do was view the ingredients on the back of the package. Must be 200 ingredients.

I once remember saying to myself "do I want to put 200 things in my body?" This is from ONE package of twinkies.

So I now read labels, and I make it even easier by making most of the stuff myself. I grow my sprouts, I throw them in my soups, I put them in my salads, etc. They taste good and they are chock full of anti-oxidants.

So I say to myself "well, you are doing all you can do to maintain a healthy blood sugar level, and a healthier weight'.

Sure, I could stand to lose 20 or 30 more pounds. My body doesn't reflect this, but they are there SOMEWHERE.

My doctor shakes his head in amazement. I went to see him last month. He came out and said "wow, look at you, and one of his staff members said "why, what did she do?" and he laughed (he's also a body builder by the way), and he said 'do you know she grows what she eats?!! She used to weigh 300 lbs". And we had all the staff wanting to know about sprouting. I never laughed so hard in all my life.

We had the office staff hysterical.

So I figure, "hey I'm 61, I've got a lot more years in me".
"Better to enjoy them healthier than I did when I was in my 20's"

So I wish you well. You are on your way!!!

Melody

Thanks Melody!

I'm 50 and at this point I'm taking it one day at a time.

For some reason right now I'm needing diary products so I am
eating them moderately. And drinking milk. I am wanting biscuits
and cottage cheese but I'm not overdoing it.

And I'm eating things that I can handle, I eat some chicken and
roast beef is still something I eat, but I'm having a hard time switching
meats. I do not like the right kind of fish, I like long john silvers so I'm
just watching myself.

Donna

Long John Silvers (no offense to Long John), but that is NOT the best fish for our bodies.

Try getting a piece of Salmon (the tail), Make sure it has no bones. Splash some lemon juice, some garlic (if you like garlic that is), and whatever seasonings you like.

Spray some no stick spray in a pan. And put the salmon skin side down. In a few minutes, turn it over, peel off the skin on that one side. Then cook until is completely cooked all the way through (this depends on the thickness of the slice).

It's lovely. But if it's not your thing, you might just HAVE TO MAKE IT YOUR THING. Just like Long John is your THING at the moment.

When we make good stuff our things!!! Well, our bodies thank us.

At least mine does!!!

Take care.

And find out what your a1c is.

Melody

I have to admit, I'm feeling a little better already. Not sure if its wishful
thinking or if I'm really feeling better.

Next I really just don't like fish. It took me many, many years to even like
that kind of fish, it was just that I finally could handle a fish fry. I don't have
the stomach for the stuff. Its more because of my gastrological stuff? spelling is awful.

But maybe after I get things solved with my gallbladder soon, and a couple
of other things it will be better. I'm heading to a surgeon soon.
I have finally proven its not working my gallbladder.

And I'm just working through eating healthy and starting to exercise the
right way.

Donna

Okay I've had gallbladder surgery and my ovaries out. I forgot to
come back and update. Today at my primary I got the report on
these surgeries. Found it kind of interesting.

I had a Benign follicular cysts and a benign cystadenofibroma.

And it seems many small cysts.

The gallbladdder though was chronic cholecystitis secondary to
obstructive cholelithiasis.

So today I was diagnosed with Diabetes. Something about
a 7 on the test and this is definately diabetes.

And then when I told my husband tonight, he makes the
statement. I must not want insurance.

Ugh.

Donna

Donna:

What do you mean, he made the statement "I must not want insurance".

I don't understand this.

Melody

Sorry Melody

You would have to understand my husband. I forgot were I posted this.

He thinks he can just quit his job in a year or two when Derrick my now
17 year old go's on Medicaid and he and I can then get other insurance.

I've tried telling him before this is not the way things work. But he
doesn't llisten. So tonight when I'm telling him my news and my appt
news he gives me this information.

I knew he wasn't going to like the fact I was diagnosed. So
I made sure I told him.

Donna

Same here, I just couldnt tolerate it at all and switched to Lantus, my dad on the other hand can handle it just fine.

Personally I'm glad that I'm handling it just fine. I hate the idea of
giving myself shots.

I can't even get the accu chek machine to work right. UGh.

donna

I have always wondered why some people can take metformin (with no gastro side effects), and others have to LIVE IN THE BATHROOM.

I never could go out anywhere while I took that stuff.

Lantus literally gave me back my life.

No one likes to give themselves a shot of anything, this I know.

I will never forget the first time my doctor tried to show me how to use Lantus.

He got a sample of the vial, he got a clean syringe and he went through the steps (of course, not injecting me, this was BEFORE I was able to give myself a shot), This was an instructional lesson in my primary care guy's office.

He told me "Let's get you off of all this oral crap and on something that's good".

I said" "Well, show me how I can give myself an injection"

He said "here, it's very simple, and then he took the vial, took an alcohol swab, swabbed the top of the vial (telling me, now it's ready).

The he took the tip off the syringe, pressed the plunger in the vial and pressed it all the way down, to get any air out of the it,, turned the vial upside down, pulled back the syring, putting 10 units in the syringe, and took out the syringe, and looked at me and said:

"See how simple, now you do it".

I looked at him, burst out laughing and said: "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND, I COULDN'T POSSIBLY DO WHAT YOU JUST DID, ....AND HOW MANY STEPS DID THIS TAKE YOU?????"

He calmly did it again. I couldn't get it for the life of me.

I then took the prescription for the Lantus, some syringes, went home, got it filled, went online to lantus.com, and watched their video (over and over), until I got the steps right. I wrote down the steps and followed them religiously every single day.

Then exactly one week later I enrolled in the Accord program and it's been 4 years.

I could give myself an injection blindfolded. It took me about a week before I realized it's like riding a bike. Once you do this every day, you don't forget it.

Now those Star pen thingees, well, I went to a seminar on those things.

After viewing the demo, I said "forget it, it's easier to give myself a shot".

The lady kept priming it, and changing the barrel (or some such thing).

I know me. Giving myself a shot with the syringe is easier. I've done it so many times, it's nothing.

But I'll never forget telling my doctor "Are you crazy, I can't do this".

lol Melody

Spending an entire movie I paid 9 dollars to see in a public restroom with Diaharea - good times

Running out of my class of middle school students only to find the staff bathroom occupied and having to sprint with clenched cheeks to the nearest restroom - not fun

Pulling out my pen needle, screwing the top on and dialing the base to "10"
sticking my self and pressing a button. - Easy as pie! :winky:

The lantus I use is in a pen needle not a syringe and vial. I just screw the pen needle top on, dial the base to the exact dosage, insert needle and press button. It is so easy.

lol

Your pen needle thingee is different (Obviously), then the one I saw a demo of. And this was about 3 years ago. I believe it was called the Lantus solo something or other.

The lady stood there in front of the room talking to 3 of us. The other two hadn't even began taking insulin yet, but I was an old pro at the time.

You should have seen the expression on these ladies' faces. they were in their 60's and 70's and NONE of us understood what the lady was doing. She kept telling us to prime the barrel, and change the pin, etc.

I just gave up.

undoubtedly, they have come up with an easier pen thing.

My goal, however, is go off of insulin altogether. of course, I have to weigh about 120 lbs to do this, AND I DON'T THINK THAT CAN EVER HAPPEN.

Not in this lifetime.

I don't look what I weigh. I look 50 lbs lighter. It's amazing and no one understand this. Not my doctors at Cornell, not my primary care (and he's a bodybuilder), so he knows about muscle mass, weight distribution, etc.

I wear a woman's size 12. I look perfect normal, but I weigh 50 more lbs than I should.

maybe it's good for my bones?? They are very strong.

At least something's good about my body.

lol

Melody

Melody

I think you are going to reach your goal.

I am very encouraged by you. Thanks for being here for me and the rest.

I am doing good finally got my meter to work.

It was being a pain, at least the nurse had problems too. ANd didn't think
I was a nit wit.

Donna

Donna:

Let's keep encouraging each other. Us gals have to stick together.

Take care,

Melody

Melody

I totally agree we need to keep encouraging each other.

Right now I really can use this. My diet is not what it should be
and I am very much aware of that. I go to the regional diabetes
center tomorrow. Hoping I can really pull myself to do what is
best

Donna

Today I had a Diabetes training. I think it went very well.

Donna

Hi Donna:

Good. You can do it, I know you can!!!

:hug:

Melody

How are you doing? Haven't seen you in a while.

I'm having trouble remembering to check my blood sugar like I'm supposed
too. Otherwise everything is going good.

My diet is doing great. But I've got to work on making sure I eat breakfast
better.

Donna

Donna:

A good breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

And as for remembering to check your blood sugar, just keep the meter on the kitchen table. Don't put it where you won't see it.

When you wake up in the morning, take your blood sugar. And then again about two hours after a meal. Then before you retire.

That is, if you can afford the strips.

Take care,

Melody
P.S. good job on the diet

Melody

Yes I'm working on remembering. Its getting better.

Just taking work.

Donna