Melody's Tip on Controller her diabetes
 

Hi all.

I just made the most astounding discovery.

If I don't eat, my sugar goes up, and if I DO eat, my sugar goes down.

Now if any of you experts can explain this one to me, well I'd love to hear it.

I don't have food issues any more, (THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT).

It took years, but I know what to eat, and I now what NOT TO EAT, and I don' cheat, but sometimes, in the afternoon (if I forget to eat lunch,), well, I'll take my sugar and it can reach 197.

I'll look at the meter and I'll say to myself "what the heck is this?? I didn't eat since breakfast (two egg whites on a little roll, with my coffee, at my favorite little news cafe).

Well, if I forget to eat lunch, and 2 p.m. rolls around, well my sugar can go to 197.

I did a little experiment.

I began eating yogurt for lunch. Oh sometimes I'll have a grilled chicken on a bed of greens (with lots of colors), and a splash of extra virgin olive oil.

When I take my sugar two hours after I've eaten, it's 126.

If I don't eat lunch, IT GOES UP.

Well, if you think that is baffling, get a load of this.

I had gotten into the habit of not eating after dinner.

Oh, the only diabetes med I am on is Lantus, (one 118) injection in the morning). No other pills. I once was on like 5 pills a day. The pills never did a thing because I weighed A LOT and I ate the wrong stuff.

So recently I began a little experiment.

If I didn't eat after 8 p.m. at night, my sugar in the morning was 140, or sometimes 135. Not too bad, but not that great, right?

Well I said "why not eat SOMETHING before you go to bed, Like at 10 p.m. So I had a small bowl of that new soup, "healthy harvest from Campbells, with no MSG, not too much sodium.

You taste the soup, not the sodium. Just a little bowl.

Alan looked at me and said: "you're actually eating at night"? and I said "I'm doing an experiment".

Well, the next morning my sugar was a bit lower. And yesterday afternoon, I was in the mall (and I realized I had to EAT SOMETHING, so I ordered a small cup of no sugar strawberry bananna yogurt. It was delicious. And I drank my bottled water as I waited to see my podiatrist.

I go home, and at 5 p.m. I took my sugar. IT WAS 98. I haven't seen a sugar reading of 98, well, I can't tell you.

So last night at 10 p.m. (I had eaten my dinner meal of Grilled Salmon, brocolli (with my accompanying salad of sprouts, lettuce, and baby tomatoes), but it was 10 p.m. and I said "experiment time".

so at 10 p.m. (remember, normally I haven't eaten anything past 8 pm. in about 3 years now).

So last night I had one of those FAGE green yogurt things that my doctors at Cornell told me I should eat. Nasty stuff, but you do get used to it and it's full of probiotics and all things good.

Well, I wake up this morning and my sugar is 118.

MY SUGAR IS NEVER 118 in the morning.

So I am going to continue this little experiment of having a small bit of something at 10 p.m.

My participation in the Accord program is over in June of 2009, and god only knows what co-pays and stuff will be for insulin, and strips, so my goal is to BE OFF INSULIN.

I have no idea if I will achieve this, but I can only try.

And I realize that my diabetes might be very different than the ones who are type 1 and even some that are type 2 and have other stuff going on.

But hey, try the yogurt thing.

You can get past the taste.

I actually LIKE IT NOW!!!

lol

Best of luck.

Melody

Wow. That is absolutly amazing. Maybe there is something in the eat six small meals a day idea. It might be worth trying if it works so well. :D

My problem is that it is Halloween, and now that we have set up the candy it is so tempting (Especially the idea of eating that for lunch). I have already given in and had a little.... Anyone know where I can buy some willpower? ;)

OH MY GOD!!!

I'm shocked as heck that NO ONE CAUGHT MY MISTAKE ABOUT MY DOSAGE OF LANTUS.

I don't take 118 o the Lantus each morning.

I TAKE 18 UNITS.

My sugar reading was 118.

I got my sugar reading confused with my Lantus dosing.

I must really be getting senile.

lol

P.S. This afternoon, I had a yogurt for lunch, followed by one piece of some kind of Japanese Spinach Roll. Not a lot of food, I know.

At 3 p.m. I took my sugar. It was 104. I took my water and went around the corner to a friend's house. I felt absolutely fine.

I left to come home at 5 p.m. I started shaking. I got in the house and took my sugar reading. It was 60.

I immediately ate my dinner salad and my fish and veggies.

I felt fine.

I'll take it right now.

(Using the precision xtra meter, it just read 166). If I use my One Touch Ultra mini, it will probably say 140 or 138. Big difference in these meters.

And if I have a cup of coffee with my slice of multigrain toast with some sugar free jam, I bet tomorrow it will read 110.

I called up the One Touch people because I couldn't understand the discrepancy between the meters (this conversation took place last week.)

I was told "You can take your reading from each finger, it will never be the same. You can be assured although, that the One Touch Ultra mini will give you an actual calibrated result".

I think I'll stick with the One Touch Ultra Mini. The next time I'm due to get new strips, I think I'll get the ones for the One Touch.

I mean, why not?? If I take two separate readings and they are 20 points apart, I'd rather have a 138 than a 158, right??

lol

I swear, I never saw two meters so different.

and I ran the control tests on each one of them. Using their own control solutions. They both passed.

My friend also has the One touch Ultra mini and she agrees. Her readings are always less then when she uses her other meters.

As long as my blood pressure is good and I can take my walks and as I continue to lose weight (I have about 40 more lbs, although one would never tell by looking at me), maybe someday I'll reach my weight goal.

Wouldn't it be amazing if I could go off insulin and hit my goal weight?

My goal is to eat meals evenly spaced and to keep my insulin levels even. One can only hope.

mel

here is a book reference
 

that explains how to determine how much basal insulin you
need.

http://books.google.com/books?id=lhr...sult#PPA202,M1

See if anything in there pertains to you and your readings.

Wow, Mrs. D. what an interesting article. I do thank you.

I go to Cornell on the 6th of November and I will bring up that article. I'll run it by them if I can do the skipping the shot in the a.m. and eating lunch and testing, (and the other ways to test also).

I was VERY interested in the end of one of the pages where it said that STRESS has a big effect on insulin levels.

Whenever my son calls or emails, I get physically ill (not an easy thing to admit on any message board, believe me). My stomach shuts down, and I don't GO.

I've learned to de-stress and because I eat the FAGE yogurt, well my stomach has never been better. I don't even use the total recommended dosage of benefiber either. I can do this once a day instead of 3 times a day (in my beverages).

I do however eat sprouts, and broccoli every single day. I eat my veggies, my fish and I drink my water.

Lately my sugar readings are getting MUCH better. I attribute this to my doing the 3 lb dumbells every other day (Cornell said that weight strenghtening exercise are beneficial for diabetes and for the bones). So I've been doing this.

I am testing which foods make it go up and which foods make it go down. Yogurt definitely makes it go down. I must remember to eat a balanced lunch, and not just a cup of yogurt. And because I go for long walks, well that is exercise and you HAVE TO EAT if you exercise.

I'm still a work in progress.

AND I HIT THE BIG 61 on Election Day.

To think that 20 years ago, I walked with a cane, weighed over 300 lbs and landed in the emergency room because I couldn't move my legs or get out of bed.

The emergency room doctor looked at me disgustingly when I said "why can' I move my legs, my knees are killing me"????

He just gave me a sneer and said "What the hell do you expect, look at you, you are morbidly obese". I didn't get it then.

I get it now.

Still a work in progress (BUT I AM MAKING PROGRESS).

Down to a size 12 and yesterday I WORE STRIPES.

Imagine that. Me in stripes.

glory be!!!

Thanks for all the good information. You are a doll!!!

Mel (or as they called me in school )

MELODY-BELLS

What is the Accord program?
JudyH

Here you go!!

http://www.accord-ne.org/patient/frames.html

I see the physicians at Cornell Medical Center in NYC. Best thing I ever did. Literally saved my life.