In the garden, and RAIN!!! (2) by SIGNYM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from the dentist and all went well. Had to have a bit of extra freezing and so there was some pain but nothing serious. Still frozen right now. Another good thing the rain held off.

Glad to hear it went well, Brenda.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Yeah it. Need to go back in a couple more weeks for one more thing.

Well, at least you know what was causing you your problems and can tackle it with a good attitude and right diet and maybe limited meds.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 8:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Hey SIX, I saw the news about your dx. Good thing your doctor ordered the tests! Is he planning on seeing you soon?

Doctor didn't order nothing. I did all that on my own. I'm actually not even sure if the doctor is aware of anything. I don't even have an appointment scheduled with him until the middle of next month. Got the Endocrinologist next week. Got my meds tonight, which AGAIN I had to do myself because they didn't call me and who knows how long they've been sitting on it.

Between the meds, the Endo doc, the change in diet and exercise and a positive attitude, my actual doctor might just be there to give me good news next month.

Quote:
Sorry that it's not a simple fix. It's weird that someone like you who not only has NO risk factors ... actually, with a very anti-diabetes lifestyle... would develop it. I mean, from a description of your diet and the fact that you usually eat once a day, diabeticians would give you a gold star.

Yup. I don't get it either. Could be that the years of extreme alcohol abuse wrecked my pancreas and I've been a ticking time bomb ever since. And my diet/activity this winter was sub-optimal, to put it lightly. You can't just be good to your body as a part time job once you hit your 40's.

Quote:
I suppose the positive result is that at least it's not cancer.

Yup.

Quote:
Do you know if it's insulin-dependent, or can it be managed with oral meds? I've known many people with both types. Would be happy to pass along their experiences.

I won't know too much until I see Dr. Endo. They've got me on oral meds right now. I'm going to take my first one with dinner tonight. I forget the name right now and it's not on me.

Warnings for it are pretty scary, and nobody asked me if I was taking any vitamins before prescribing it, which apparently they should have. They only asked if I was on any other medication.

I guess if I have a stroke or heart attack tonight we know this wasn't the right drug to take!

I'm a slave to the system now. One way or another they get everybody.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 9:53 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

They probably started you on metformin or a combo of Januvia and metformin (sold as a brand name drug Januvia).

Metformin is pretty benign. In fact, studies show that metformin can extend cell life.

I've known quite a number of people on it. I was on it myself, until I was switched over to Jardiance on advice of my nephrologist and cardiologist. (Not that metformin is bad for me, but Jardiance has a number of benefits that extend to the heart and kidneys beyond blood sugar control. I have what is called pre -diabetes but given everything my doctors chose to treat it rather than leave it alone.) Hubby has steroid-induced diabetes, which is harder to manage, but I do as much as he allows to help.

Anyway, there's always the rare possibility that you might have an adverse reaction, in which case there are a million other meds to try, but I wouldn't worry about it.

Much as I admire your self-sufficient lifestyle, age and illness made me acutely aware it only works if you're healthy.

Once you get your feet under you I have some possible tweaks to make your blood sugar control more effective w/o taking more meds. But one thing you're going to want to do if you're going to manage this as much on your own as possible is to get a glucose meter, test strips and lancets so you can check your own blood sugar.

Do you have insurance for doctor care and meds?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 11:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
They probably started you on metformin or a combo of Januvia and metformin (sold as a brand name drug Januvia).

Metformin is pretty benign. In fact, studies show that metformin can extend cell life.

I've known quite a number of people on it. I was on it myself, until I was switched over to Jardiance on advice of my nephrologist and cardiologist. (Not that metformin is bad for me, but Jardiance has a number of benefits that extend to the heart and kidneys beyond blood sugar control. I have what is called pre -diabetes but given everything my doctors chose to treat it rather than leave it alone.) Hubby has steroid-induced diabetes, which is harder to manage, but I do as much as he allows to help.

That's it. Metformin.

They're probably just way overcautious in their documentation to avoid any legal blowback. List of side effects are pretty large, but only one or two of them are considered serious and require letting your doctor know immediately. (Something the urgent care doctor didn't even bother telling me about before I left).

Quote:
Anyway, there's always the rare possibility that you might have an adverse reaction, in which case there are a million other meds to try, but I wouldn't worry about it.

I'm not. Whatever. It's been in me for a few hours now and everything seems fine. Still had quite a bit of water after my meal, but we'll see how tonight goes. I'm not expecting this stuff to work miracles after one pill.

Quote:
Much as I admire your self-sufficient lifestyle, age and illness made me acutely aware it only works if you're healthy.

Yeah. But I don't plan on staying on these meds very long. And I've got an exit plan if health issues become too much and I have to force other people to care for me. That's never going to happen.

Quote:
Once you get your feet under you I have some possible tweaks to make your blood sugar control more effective w/o taking more meds. But one thing you're going to want to do if you're going to manage this as much on your own as possible is to get a glucose meter, test strips and lancets so you can check your own blood sugar.

Sounds un-cheap.

Quote:
Do you have insurance for doctor care and meds?

Nah.

All the more reason to get better. If I didn't want to do it for my independence, which I do, I'm too cheap to be paying for all of this for the rest of my life.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 12:09 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

SIX, check into this:

https://www.in.gov/fssa/hip/

Diabetes isn't something you're "cured" of. It's a lifelong chronic condition that needs to be managed every day. Considering that you live a non-diabetes lifestyle but were spilling enough sugar to lose weight, I doubt you can control this with diet and exercise. But if you want to manage this, you're going to need a way to monitor your blood sugar regularly, and I have a couple of options for you.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 9:09 AM

I know I can't cure it. But I don't need to be on those meds once I get stabilized.

I'm pretty sure I know why I got it too. I stopped eating most of the good food I was eating, I ate a ton of peanut butter and sugary cereal that I got in bulk on sale along with drinking a gallon of whole milk every 2 days, I was eating a lot of junk food from the dollar store and I fell off the gluten free wagon completely. This all happened in the span of about 4 months of hard core bad eating habits with probably 10 times as much sugar as I should have been eating per day even though I wasn't eating sweets or drinking soda. Most of that excess sugar is easily stripped completely out of my diet now overnight.

I allowed myself these mistakes while going through Gram's illness and eventual death, and the aftermath, and then the stress of the thing I'm dealing with right now, on top of the SAD that I go through every year here in the midwest when everything is dead and cold. Even without the huge external stressors of winter 2022, falling into bad habits during the winter has always been something that I've done in the past without (at least without obvious) permanent side-effects. But eventually time catches up with you.

I would imagine that by the time I see my actual doctor in the middle of May between eating right, mild exercise and having gone through these metaformin I should have the glucose level well under control. I'd probably be able to do that just by stripping out all the bullshit I was eating, but I'll gladly take the help of the pill for the next month and use this time to get in better physical shape.

Let me know what you know and I'll look into that link.

Thanks.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 10:00 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I know I can't cure it. But I don't need to be on those meds once I get stabilized.

IT DEPENDS. MOST people will need to be on meds for a lifetime and their meds will need to be increased as they get older, EVEN THO they're managing their diet etc. people whocan reduce or eliinate meds are the morbidly obese (100+ lbs overweight) who lose most of that weight. That's not you. There are exceptions but they're rare.

Quote:
I'm pretty sure I know why I got it too. I stopped eating most of the good food I was eating, I ate a ton of peanut butter and sugary cereal that I got in bulk on sale along with drinking a gallon of whole milk every 2 days, I was eating a lot of junk food from the dollar store and I fell off the gluten free wagon completely. This all happened in the span of about 4 months of hard core bad eating habits with probably 10 times as much sugar as I should have been eating per day even though I wasn't eating sweets or drinking soda. Most of that excess sugar is easily stripped completely out of my diet now overnight.

that's a good step in the right direction.

Quote:
I would imagine that by the time I see my actual doctor in the middle of May between eating right, mild exercise and having gone through these metaformin I should have the glucose level well under control. I'd probably be able to do that just by stripping out all the bullshit I was eating, but I'll gladly take the help of the pill for the next month and use this time to get in better physical shape.

I allowed myself these mistakes while going through Gram's illness and eventual death, and the aftermath, and then the stress of the thing I'm dealing with right now, on top of the SAD that I go through every year here in the midwest when everything is dead and cold. Even without the huge external stressors of winter 2022, falling into bad habits during the winter has always been something that I've done in the past without (at least without obvious) permanent side-effects. But eventually time catches up with you.

It happens to the best of us. There have been several times in my life when, for various reasons tota;y out of my control I was crazy sleep=deprived and I ate for a temporary energy.

Quote:
Let me know what you know and I'll look into that link.

Thanks.

If you don't mind I'd like to tell you what I think I know about diabetes.

The suagr molecule is too large to diffuse through cell membranes. That's where insulin comes in: it opens up a space in cell walls that allows sugar to pass into cells where it can actualy be burned for energy. If for some reason your pancreas isn't making enogh insulin, or your cells aren't responding efficiently to it, sugar circulating in your bloodstream builds up until it starts leaking through your kidneys and into your urine.

If NO sugar is getting into your cells, they're starving, and they start burning fat. which creates ketones. Ketones ALSO show up in urine.
Having sugar AND ketones in urine is a signal that your body is in metabolic crisis: It has all of this fuel (sugar) floating in the bloodstream but no way for cells to access it. I mention this bc some people don't make insulin at all - an autoimmune attack has destroyed the insulin-producing cells in their pancreas, and these people will need, and will ALWAYS need, replacement insulin (by self-injection).

I assume that's not you either.

The downside to diabetes is that all of that excess sugar floating around causes all kind of damage, especially to areas with a lot ofsmall blood vessels - the kidneys (kidney failure), retinas (lost eyesight), and brain (vascular dementia), damages nerves in hands and feet and promotes infections, making amputation a leading consequence of uncontrolled diabetes.

Since you can't increase your insulin production, trick is to either make insulin more effective or to match your blood sugar to your insulin levels, or both.

Since starches are just sugar molecules chained together which eventualy gets btoken down to sugar during digestion, its not enough to eliminate sugar. You need to eliminate starches as well (bread, rice, pasta, even sugar-free cereal). But "fiber" doesn't count, since it can't be digested. Looking at nutrition labels, they list "total carbohydrate" and "total fiber". Subtract the fiber from the total carbohydrate: that is the active, metabolizable starch/sugar content of your food and the part you need to control.

BTW, milk has a not of natural sugar in it, too.

People who successfully manaage diabetes also strictly limit their carbohydrate (minus fiber) load most days. They set a gram limit - usally about 50-100 grams per day - and stick to it.

Also there are to supplements that sometimes help make insulin more efficient. One of them is chromium picolonate (I'll have to look up the mg amt per day) and the other is cinnamon from Ceylon. It must be ceylon cinnamon, tho, not from Vietnam or Indonesia or Malaysia where a different variety of cinnamon grows.

But one thing you MUST have is a glucose meter and test strips. otherwise you'll never know how much difference your intervnetions are making! You would never attempt a repair on your house without a tape measure, right?

Im sure you have spent more for less consequential things, so think of this as an investment in your health. Once you get your interventions dialed in you won't meed to test so often.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 10:47 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I know it's kind of a brain dump, but I hope it helps.

Oh BTW, stress (cortisol) can also raise blood sugar levels. I know managing stress itself can be stressful, but do your best!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 10:55 AM

I appreciate your input.

I have a lot of research to do. I know this isn't going to magically go away and I'm going to need more knowledge and the proper tools to get over it. And when I say get over it, I just mean living without medication. I know there is currently no cure for diabetes.

I WILL do that. I'm declaring that right now. I will not be a slave to those pills and I will do whatever I need to do to be free of them. This is not a question of if, but merely a question of when.

And like I said in a previous post, I'm going to look at this as a blessing. An opportunity. I've been telling myself that I was going to start working out everyday for 20 years now. It's only in the last 7 days that I finally got around to doing it.

Things are certainly going to change now. But I am the one in control of my destiny. I'm the one behind the wheel. And I say that my future is going to be a better one despite all of this.

I beat alcoholism. Diabetes ain't got shit on me.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 1:06 PM

Out for my walk soon on a bright sunny day. Need to rearrange my hearing aide and test appointment got a call on Monday about that. Then get a couple of other things done.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 2:50 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I appreciate your input.

I have a lot of research to do.

True, that.

But if you only remember two things, keep these two in mind:

If you're going to control your blood sugar you have to limit sugars AND starches (total carbs minus fiber) I know someone who's successfully done that, but she follows a keto diet and has a hard limit per day. I think it's 30 grams. That's not much. For the most part you can say goodbye to rice, oats, corn, sugar, potatoes, and wheat products like bread, pasta and cereal.

And...

In order to determine what your limits are and what actions are successful (and which aren't) you'll need a glucose monitor, test strips and lancets. You should be testing your blood sugar at least once a day until you've banged out a protocol. The monitors are in the realm of $25-$30 dollars and the test strips are about $0.7-$1 each and come in boxes of 100. The spring-loaded finger sticker is about $15 at Walgreens and the lancets (also in boxes of 100) are nominal... maybe $7 a box. $150 total for three month's worth of testing? Less, if you hunt bargains like I know you can!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 3:26 PM

$150 for three months?

Nah. I'm going to wing it. I'll buy that monitor though.

I worked out this morning after my last post and then I cleaned up all the lawn debris before mowing the front and back yard.

No stroke!

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 3:52 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

The monitor is useless without the test strips, and each brand has its own strip that fits,other brands won't work. The spring-loafed gizmo and lancets are generic, tho. I gather you can get the whole deal cheapest at Walmart.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 3:57 PM

Ah... I'll look into it.

I forgot to mention that I got 6 hours of sleep and only peed twice last night. I couldn't get back to sleep after that though, but it would have only been two times if I had, and that's better than it's been for months now. I don't know if that's placebo effect or not, but it's amazing after only my first pill in my book.

Also, before I did the lawn but after I did my exercise and had a banana with the second pill, I was drinking water and for the first time in months I actually had my fill of water and didn't finish my glass. I don't even remember the last time I left a drink only half finished.

On top of that, I ate the more than usual that I've been eating for the last 3 or so weeks last night with my first pill and this morning AFTER I did my full business (and a good amount at that) I weighed 146.4 on the scale. It's been weeks since I've been that heavy after the morning ritual.

I can't wait to do my follow up after I see Dr. Endo. I'm hoping I can get them to re-do the blood work and urinalysis so we have some new data to compare it to.

Oh... and my muscles are TIGHT right now. I've only been using 10lbs dumbells for now and easing my way back into working out, but I use them for 10 different upper body exercises all in a row without a break in between about 3-4 times per day. Super winded when it's done, but I really feel that burn and get those endorphins I've been depriving myself of for going on decades now.

I'm jacked.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 4:34 PM

Back from my walk on a really nice day. Hearing aide appointment rearranged and all else done.

Now if I can just figure out how to get my bio to 200 words without repeating anything I will be in great shape.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 6:46 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk on a really nice day. Hearing aide appointment rearranged and all else done.

Now if I can just figure out how to get my bio to 200 words without repeating anything I will be in great shape.

Nice sunny days are always welcome for you!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 7:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from my walk on a really nice day. Hearing aide appointment rearranged and all else done.

Now if I can just figure out how to get my bio to 200 words without repeating anything I will be in great shape.
Nice sunny days are always welcome for you!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Yes, they are.

Had a phone meeting with the poet that's helping me and now says that I don't need to write 200 words about myself. Once I get it done, I will email it to her and let her have a go at it. Then send her a revised complete submission, then I should be on my way to submitting everything to a publisher.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 11:47 PM

Off to mah jong in the morning with me then some errands.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 1:28 AM

I had a great time at my bud's house and some great food tonight. His wife was thrilled that I finally went to a doctor and said that I'm family now and she doesn't want me going anywhere. It was really sweet. They sent me home with some food too.

I was ravenous by the time dinner was served, even though I had already eaten 2 bananas during the day. The real cool thing was how little I felt the need to drink anything. I only had 2 K-cups of coffee and about the same amount of water while I was there. And in 7 hours I only had to pee twice. Usually after a meal like that I'd have drank half a gallon of water and been going to the bathroom every hour.

I'm 148.8lbs right now. And that's after a long day of work and working out and then another 7 hours at my friend's house and no nap. Let's see where I'm at tomorrow morning after pill number 3. Hoping for a longer night of sleep with only one or two interruptions max.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 11:56 AM

Did not get that longer night of sleep that I was hoping for. I still only would have had 2 interruptions if I did though. I just need to go to sleep earlier. Drinking (and needing) much less water overnight seems to be the new norm.

148lbs this morning. Already did a morning workout, but my legs are pretty much trashed from all the squatting picking up the lawn debris and 2 hours of lawn mowing. The routine gets easier by the day, so I'll have to add new things to mix it up. Definitely have to add some core stuff and leg routines since I've really only been focusing on upper body stuff first.

Going to get a few more workouts in today, but other than that the work will be low key. Going to get paperwork done, clean the house up a bit and probably get around to finally installing my new dusk-to-dawn porch lamp that should properly illuminate the Bermuda Triangle back there and prevent me from ever having to strain my eyes to find the key to the garage.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 1:36 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Sounds like the metformin is working for you. Just curious what your dosage is (mg) bc that will give me an indication of the size of the problem the doctor is trying to correct.

But if you want to control your blood sugar with no, or less, medicine you should start thinking about your total carb load.

For example, banana

Quote:
The nutrition facts for 1 medium-sized banana (100 grams) are (1):

Calories: 89
Water: 75%
Protein: 1.1 grams
Carbs: 22.8 grams
Sugar: 12.2 grams
Fiber: 2.6 grams
Fat: 0.3 grams

Carbs

Bananas are a rich source of carbs, which occur mainly as starch in unripe bananas and sugars in ripe bananas.

The carb composition of bananas changes drastically during ripening.

The main component of unripe bananas is starch. Green bananas contain up to 80% starch measured in dry weight.

During ripening, the starch is converted into sugars and ends up being less than 1% when the banana is fully ripe (2).

The most common types of sugar in ripe bananas are sucrose, fructose, and glucose. In ripe bananas, the total sugar content can reach more than 16% of the fresh weight (2).

Bananas have a relatively low glycemic index (GI) of 42–58, depending on their ripeness. The GI is a measure of how quickly carbs in food enter your bloodstream and raise blood sugar (3).

Bananas’ high content of resistant starch and fiber explains their low GI.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/bananas

You may need to trade off something else for bananas, or switch to a lower-sugar fruit altogether that still provides potassium, like cantaloupe. Here is a list of fruits high in potassium, they helpfully provide mg potassium per 200 calories. Start at the highest value and work your way down until you find something that's acceptable to you.

https://www.myfooddata.com/articles/high-potassium-fruits.php

BTW, I have a LOT of experience in this. I had to implement a ketogenic diet for our daughter for attempted seizure control that limited her to 3 (yes, 3, not 30) grams of carbs (that's like two strawberries or a small spoonful of cantaloupe) per day and 12 g of protein. Plus I manage hubby's steroid-induced diabetes as much as he will let me, by providing low carb, high fiber meals and snack options. I can rank vegetables, fruits and nuts by carb content. Dried fruit, fruit juice, high-sugsr fruits, rice, bread, tortillas, cereals, pasta etc... are not in MY menu plan, altho hubby does indulge. I substitute shirataki noodles, cauliflower, zucchini etc as low- carb tummy fillers. (Altho I think beans are ok, in moderation).

My no-med dog- walking friend goes the keto route: very low carbs and high fat, moderate protein.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 4:40 PM

He put me on 500mg, twice per day. BMI was something like 22.03 or 23.02. I don't remember. I'm about smack-dab in the normal range for that right now.

The funny thing is, the doctor did not bring up diet to me one single time while I was there, or what I need to do IMMEDIATELY. Not once. I didn't ask, but he also didn't tell me anything.

Maybe I'm assuming something I shouldn't be, but I think he wanted me to keep eating like I was eating while I started taking those pills until I see Dr. Endo and do a follow up, otherwise, why wouldn't he be telling me everything that you're telling me which more or less matches up with everything that I'm seeing with online research?

I'm not sure how much this will actually tell him though since two of the huge culprits (peanut butter, which has been cut out completely from my diet) and cereal (which has been drastically reduced from my diet) are far different than the were 3 days ago going forward and I haven't had any junk food either.

As boring as it is, maybe I should be keeping a log of what I do eat from now until I see him again.

ETA: I had a conversation with my Dad about this earlier today...

After telling him about you suggesting that I use a monitor with test strips and lancets everyday to keep off the medicine, he asked me "why don't you just keep eating what you want to and stay on meds instead of putting yourself out for the rest of your life like that, since you'll still be having to buy expensive testing crap the rest of your life with all that added headache of testing yourself all the time"?

He's been on BP meds for 10 years now and never worries about what he eats anymore.

I have to admit that he makes sense from that point of view.

Obviously, I can't go back to eating 1/4 jar of peanut butter, drinking a gallon of milk in a day or having days where I skip real food altogether and eat 3 bags of junk food... But I wouldn't have to be carb counting and worrying about a banana.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 4:51 PM

Back from mah jong on another bright day. Lucked out with the sunshine but mah jong sucked. I couldn't do anything. Just one of those days.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 6:00 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
He put me on 500mg, twice per day. BMI was something like 22.03 or 23.02. I don't remember. I'm about smack-dab in the normal range for that right now.

The funny thing is, the doctor did not bring up diet to me one single time while I was there, or what I need to do IMMEDIATELY. Not once. I didn't ask, but he also didn't tell me anything.

Maybe I'm assuming something I shouldn't be, but I think he wanted me to keep eating like I was eating while I started taking those pills until I see Dr. Endo and do a follow up, otherwise, why wouldn't he be telling me everything that you're telling me which more or less matches up with everything that I'm seeing with online research?

I'm not sure how much this will actually tell him though since two of the huge culprits (peanut butter, which has been cut out completely from my diet) and cereal (which has been drastically reduced from my diet) are far different than the were 3 days ago going forward and I haven't had any junk food either.

As boring as it is, maybe I should be keeping a log of what I do eat from now until I see him again.

ETA: I had a conversation with my Dad about this earlier today...

After telling him about you suggesting that I use a monitor with test strips and lancets everyday to keep off the medicine, he asked me "why don't you just keep eating what you want to and stay on meds instead of putting yourself out for the rest of your life like that, since you'll still be having to buy expensive testing crap the rest of your life with all that added headache of testing yourself all the time"?

He's been on BP meds for 10 years now and never worries about what he eats anymore.

I have to admit that he makes sense from that point of view.

Obviously, I can't go back to eating 1/4 jar of peanut butter, drinking a gallon of milk in a day or having days where I skip real food altogether and eat 3 bags of junk food... But I wouldn't have to be carb counting and worrying about a banana.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

True, that.

It depends on how much metformin costs for a month's supply versus how much it would cost to test yourself (appx $25-35 out of pocket for test strips and lancets once you buy the meter itself and the springloaded finger-poker i.e "lancing device")

Also, keep in mind that you wouldn't need to test yourself every day once you figure out an approximate diet, just maybe once a week (appx $1 per test) just to make sure things aren't going off the rails. IMHO testing your blood sugar is more like a way for YOU to fine-tune YOUR planned interventions, or determine what you can get away with, instead of relying on a doctor (and those expensive doctor and specialist visits and blood tests) to figure it out for you.

But since you ASKED... well, not really but I'm always ready to opine.... if you're not going to be measuring your blood sugar, but (I assume) will be depending on doctors to do it for you... just eat the way you plan on eating for the foreseeable future. If what that means is ditching peanut butter, cereal, junk food and 1/2 gallon milk every day but otherwise following your normal diet including eating with friends once in a while) then do that, and let your doctors check your A1C and adjust your meds accordingly.

1000 mg is a middle-of-the-road dose. The lowest dose normally Rxd is 500 mg extended release once per day. The highest dose is 1000 mg twice per day (2000 mg). I was a bit shocked to learn that you were thirsty and losing weight bc of diabetes, that usually doesn't happen until blood sugar is waaaaay out of control, and I expected (and perhaps still expect) to see your dose increased at the next Dr visit. Beyond that, they start adding other, more expen$ive meds like jardiance and januvia.

If it were me, I'd want to get a head's up. But if your doctor can dial in your dosage with two blood tests per year (maybe four, to start out with) and keep an eye on your blood sugar, without having to resort to expensive meds, that could be a whole lot less trouble.

*****

One of my chronic health conditions is high cholesterol - inherited, I'm afraid. I've been trialed on three different statins, IMHO they were invented by the devil himself, caused so much pain and fatigue I thought I was seriously sick. Now that I've got most of my other issues under control (I hope) I'm trying different dietary interventions, my latest is oat bran, beans, flax seed and red yeast rice. I wish there was a home kit for cholesterol so I could tell if it's doing any good or if I should ditch the idea and try something else.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 6:23 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Ha! Well, I looked it up, and they DO have at-home cholesterol test kits! Gonna get me one bc Im anxious to see if I'm heading in the right direction n I don't want to have to wait for my next Dr visit.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 6:24 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mah jong on another bright day. Lucked out with the sunshine but mah jong sucked. I couldn't do anything. Just one of those days.

But thank goodnesss for the sunshine, eh?

I hope you have good luck AND sunshine next week!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 7:08 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Back from mah jong on another bright day. Lucked out with the sunshine but mah jong sucked. I couldn't do anything. Just one of those days.
But thank goodnesss for the sunshine, eh?

I hope you have good luck AND sunshine next week!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Oh definitely thank goodness for the sunshine because it was suppose to rain today.

Have to see what the weekend brings for the weather at the beginning of next week.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 7:10 PM

With this partial I got sometimes when I talk I sound like anything with an "s" on it just "ssssss" *L* Told that to the poet yesterday and she never noticed anything over the phone.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 8:55 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
True, that.

It depends on how much metformin costs for a month's supply versus how much it would cost to test yourself (appx $25-35 out of pocket for test strips and lancets once you buy the meter itself and the springloaded finger-poker i.e "lancing device")

Also, keep in mind that you wouldn't need to test yourself every day once you figure out an approximate diet, just maybe once a week (appx $1 per test) just to make sure things aren't going off the rails. IMHO testing your blood sugar is more like a way for YOU to fine-tune YOUR planned interventions, or determine what you can get away with, instead of relying on a doctor (and those expensive doctor and specialist visits and blood tests) to figure it out for you.

But since you ASKED... well, not really but I'm always ready to opine.... if you're not going to be measuring your blood sugar, but (I assume) will be depending on doctors to do it for you... just eat the way you plan on eating for the foreseeable future. If what that means is ditching peanut butter, cereal, junk food and 1/2 gallon milk every day but otherwise following your normal diet including eating with friends once in a while) then do that, and let your doctors check your A1C and adjust your meds accordingly.

1000 mg is a middle-of-the-road dose. The lowest dose normally Rxd is 500 mg extended release once per day. The highest dose is 1000 mg twice per day (2000 mg). I was a bit shocked to learn that you were thirsty and losing weight bc of diabetes, that usually doesn't happen until blood sugar is waaaaay out of control, and I expected (and perhaps still expect) to see your dose increased at the next Dr visit. Beyond that, they start adding other, more expen$ive meds like jardiance and januvia.

If it were me, I'd want to get a head's up. But if your doctor can dial in your dosage with two blood tests per year (maybe four, to start out with) and keep an eye on your blood sugar, without having to resort to expensive meds, that could be a whole lot less trouble.

*****

One of my chronic health conditions is high cholesterol - inherited, I'm afraid. I've been trialed on three different statins, IMHO they were invented by the devil himself, caused so much pain and fatigue I thought I was seriously sick. Now that I've got most of my other issues under control (I hope) I'm trying different dietary interventions, my latest is oat bran, beans, flax seed and red yeast rice. I wish there was a home kit for cholesterol so I could tell if it's doing any good or if I should ditch the idea and try something else.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Well.... I'm only 4 pills in and the thirst issue is all but gone at this point. I'd reckon I'm down to around 1 gallon of liquid per day from 2.5 gallons, and that's just because I like my watered down coffee.

My weight seems to have stabilized too. I'm weighing in at 148 or slightly above that every time I've stepped on the scale for the last 2 days. And that's including after all the labor and working out I did yesterday. That's a far cry better than the 143 I was weighing in at on Saturday and Sunday.

Also, while I was eating whatever I could scarf down just to try to not lose any more weight, I had the bright idea of buying a pack of chocolate covered cookies at the dollar store and ate the entire 30 count package along with 2 bags of shit food AND my nightly rice/vegetable/burger patty meal on Saturday before gorging myself on about 5lbs of food on Easter (including a lot of sugary desserts which I usually never eat), and then eating a ton of cereal and peanut butter on Monday (the day before I got tested). All of this while eating 1-2 bananas and drinking a lot of whole milk every day as well.

I don't think my issue was nearly as bad as the test results would have indicated since I went in there doing all the wrong things in the days leading up to the test just out of desperation and trying not to lose any more weight.

I fully expect my next test results to look far better than they did on Tuesday, and if Dr. Endo doesn't find any terrible news about the state of my pancreas, he might even be able to tell me on Tuesday that I'm looking a lot better than my test results the previous week indicated.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 9:07 PM

Oh... and I installed my dusk-to-dawn porch light today.

Boy... was that a hassle. Never install your electrical work behind siding unless you have the exact light kit you're going to put in unless you want a big headache. It was about 2 hours because I had to make modifications and find different screws in my big-ole-box of scrap to get the thing installed correctly. Also, it doesn't sit right on the dutchlap siding to keep moisture out, and the gap at the top and the sides is too big to put caulk in and A) make it look good and B) expect the caulk to hold up to the elements.

I'm going to trim it out.

Since it's switchless, I'm hoping that the sensor holds up for many years. It's nice that I can change the bulbs out of this one, so I don't have to worry about replacing it 5 or so years down the line, but I'll have to re-do everything when/if the sensor stops working.

Looks great though and it works. Have to wait a little while longer to see how well it illuminates the area when it's really dark out, but so far so good.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Thursday, April 13, 2023 10:19 PM

Oh boy... Do I have some paperwork to go through tomorrow and/or this weekend.

It looks as though I'm going to be possibly having a visit with my aunt on Saturday, so cleaning the house may take precedence over what needs to be done on the Dread Project.

But I've just come up with what I believe to be a major breakthrough on it (About my 3rd so far).

If this works out the way I want it to, I'm going to have a lot of fun going over the details here about it.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 10:23 AM

I was just a little under 147 today after the morning ritual, but that doesn't have me worried. I only got up once all night, and only had 12 oz of water during the night. I didn't even finish it all at one time and drank the last 2 or so oz when I woke up for the morning. It's so nice not to be drinking 6 to 7 times that much during the night anymore.

Also, I had a LOT less brown rice with my meal than I usually do. Probably only about 1/5th of what I'd usually put in there. My intention was to eat that soup that my friend's wife sent me home with afterward, but I fell asleep before I even got to it.

Feeling a little hungry, which is good. It's about time for the morning pill and I'll eat something with it like I'm supposed to.

I'm really feeling the burn in my legs from the yard work the other day. All good pain. I really need to get online and figure out some good leg exercises that I can do with my limited weights and incorporate that into my routine.

No burn at all on my upper body now which seems to have fully adapted to the new daily workout routines. Eventually I'm going to have to add more weight to what I'm doing there.

I love not having to drink so much water all day long and having to head to the bathroom in the middle of doing stuff all the time. It's been so long since I've been able to do that I forgot how nice it was. I'd just let it become my new normal up until the last few days.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 12:57 PM

Out for a walk on another bright day but cold. Need groceries as I have been eating left overs since Tuesday.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 4:04 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Oh boy... Do I have some paperwork to go through tomorrow and/or this weekend.

It looks as though I'm going to be possibly having a visit with my aunt on Saturday, so cleaning the house may take precedence over what needs to be done on the Dread Project.

But I've just come up with what I believe to be a major breakthrough on it (About my 3rd so far).

If this works out the way I want it to, I'm going to have a lot of fun going over the details here about it.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

I'm anxious to hear about this Dread Project. I have a couple, but I think I already mentioned one.
But you tell me yours and I'll tell you mine!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 4:10 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Out for a walk on another bright day but cold. Need groceries as I have been eating left overs since Tuesday.

So, whatcha planning for dinner?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 5:04 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
Out for a walk on another bright day but cold. Need groceries as I have been eating left overs since Tuesday.
So, whatcha planning for dinner?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

I got some chicken legs that I will fry up and then I don't know. I have some broccoli I should eat or a couple of loose brussel sprouts too.

Bu the nice weather has sure held for today. Maybe my corner of BC will luck out and any rain will miss us.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 7:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I'm anxious to hear about this Dread Project. I have a couple, but I think I already mentioned one.
But you tell me yours and I'll tell you mine!

We're not coming to the end of it just yet, but a huge milestone was reached about an hour ago.

At this point, the ball will remain in somebody else's proverbial court over the weekend.

I hope to know more early next week.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 7:06 PM

Now if I could just get my ass in gear and clean up this damn house!

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Friday, April 14, 2023 10:13 PM

Came back from grocery shopping and caught my neighbors outside and they invited me over for dinner.

That was a good time.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, April 15, 2023 1:04 PM

Another laundry day for me once I get a move on. Then a walk in the wet. It's not raining right now but it has been.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Saturday, April 15, 2023 5:09 PM

Back in from the rain.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2023 9:55 AM

I seem to have stabilized my weight between high 146 and high 147lbs.

I'm not eating a ton of food right now, but that's mostly because a lot of the food I still have is stuff I probably don't need to be eating in large quantities and I need to start stocking up on things that will jibe with my new lifestyle.

I've cut the peanut butter out of the diet entirely and need to give the three remaining large jars I have away, but I'm not about to give away 6 large bags of cereal and 1.5 gallons of whole milk on top of it.

I think the daily working out I'm doing is also keeping me from retaining weight from what I eat as well.

And the thirst is still way down, but I did get up several times last night. I'm waking up up thirsty and after doing my business I'm usually somewhere in the 146.5lbs range, and making my way up to barely over 148 max the last few days.

The body is looking super tight, and the crunchies I've incorporated into the daily workouts are already evident as there wasn't any fat around that area to cover them in the first place.

IBS is BAD though. Not all the time, but when it's there, it's BAD.

Overeating seems pointless at this juncture. I just don't think my body is doing much with the food at all. Everything I thought I knew about weight loss and weight gain needs to be thrown right out the window because nothing makes sense anymore right now. If I eat a lot, all that means is that I'm going to drop a deuce so large that I'll clog the toilet. (That's something I've NEVER done before and used to give my brother crap for when he'd come visit and do it several times, but now it's happened to me three times in two weeks).

At least I'm not losing any more weight now though. That's the big positive here. After getting down to 156lbs without even knowing I was losing weight, and then losing another 13lbs after eating my ass off every day with little physical activity, you don't even know how good it feels to step on that scale everyday and be at least 3lbs heavier than the lowest I had gotten. Especially when most of my energy is back and I don't feel all run down and "floaty" anymore.

Hopefully Dr. Endo has some more insight on Tuesday and some ideas on how I can safely gain weight without going overboard. Most times and most days since I started taking the medicine I'm high energy and around 90% of what I was before all this started, but I feel like even with the pills I am probably not processing some of this food I'm trying to eat instead of throw out.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2023 10:04 AM

If you have the time, Sigs. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the previous reply.

Also, if you have a list of things I can eat that don't require prep (or very minimal prep) and are CHEAP I'd appreciate that too. I'm not much of a cook, and I don't really see that changing in the near future.

But I need some filler during the day and all of my go-to filler stuff is things I really can't be eating anymore.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2023 1:34 PM

Just a wet Sunday around me and later I will check on something I had written for my book. As I can't remember where I left off on it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2023 5:06 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I seem to have stabilized my weight between high 146 and high 147lbs.

I'm not eating a ton of food right now, but that's mostly because a lot of the food I still have is stuff I probably don't need to be eating in large quantities and I need to start stocking up on things that will jibe with my new lifestyle.

I've cut the peanut butter out of the diet entirely and need to give the three remaining large jars I have away,

Not necessarily.

Quote:
but I'm not about to give away 6 large bags of cereal
that you might want to give away. Or work thru it very very slowly.
Quote:
and 1.5 gallons of whole milk on top of it.
If you drink 2 8 oz cups a day it will be gone in 12 days.

Quote:
I think the daily working out I'm doing is also keeping me from retaining weight from what I eat as well.

And the thirst is still way down, but I did get up several times last night. I'm waking up up thirsty and after doing my business I'm usually somewhere in the 146.5lbs range, and making my way up to barely over 148 max the last few days.

The body is looking super tight, and the crunchies I've incorporated into the daily workouts are already evident as there wasn't any fat around that area to cover them in the first place.

IBS is BAD though. Not all the time, but when it's there, it's BAD.

Overeating seems pointless at this juncture. I just don't think my body is doing much with the food at all.
Why fo yiu think that?
Do you get tired trying to do normal activities like your projects?
Are you trying to gain weight and/or put on muscle?

Quote:
Everything I thought I knew about weight loss and weight gain needs to be thrown right out the window because nothing makes sense anymore right now. If I eat a lot, all that means is that I'm going to drop a deuce so large that I'll clog the toilet. (That's something I've NEVER done before and used to give my brother crap for when he'd come visit and do it several times, but now it's happened to me three times in two weeks).

At least I'm not losing any more weight now though.
So, basically youre at some sort of equilibrium between the food yiy eat the the food you either absorb or waste, which is good.

Quote:
That's the big positive here. After getting down to 156lbs without even knowing I was losing weight, and then losing another 13lbs after eating my ass off every day with little physical activity, you don't even know how good it feels to step on that scale everyday and be at least 3lbs heavier than the lowest I had gotten. Especially when most of my energy is back and I don't feel all run down and "floaty" anymore.

Hopefully Dr. Endo has some more insight on Tuesday and some ideas on how I can safely gain weight without going overboard. Most times and most days since I started taking the medicine I'm high energy and around 90% of what I was before all this started, but I feel like even with the pills I am probably not processing some of this food I'm trying to eat instead of throw out.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2023 5:31 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
If you have the time, Sigs. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the previous reply.

Also, if you have a list of things I can eat that don't require prep (or very minimal prep) and are CHEAP I'd appreciate that too. I'm not much of a cook, and I don't really see that changing in the near future.

But I need some filler during the day and all of my go-to filler stuff is things I really can't be eating anymore.

Well, part of the answer depends on WHY you need filler.

Are you looking for snacks between meals bc you get hungry?
Do you like to have a full stomach when you've finished eating?
Are you looking for a cheap source of calories for weight gain?

*****
It seems to me you have three possible goals:

Keep your blood sugar down
Gain weight and muscle
Eliminate diabetes meds(?)

In order to access energy from sugars and starches, you need insulin, and your insulin needs to be working effectively. If you could make more insulin and/or get it to work better, you could achieve both objectives at the same time. That's what metformin and other diabetes meds do. But then you'd be committed to taking meds for the foreseeable future. If you're OK with that, that's your answer. You can keep eating starches, but your meds might have to be increased to keep your blood sugar in bounds.

You CAN add chromium picolinate which (for some) improves insulin sensitivity. I tried taking 300 mcg a day, and it made my insulin SO effective it drove my blood sugar into the basement, so I stopped taking it.
https://www.drugs.com/mtm/chromium-picolinate.html
Cinnamon has a few studies showing that a teaspoon a day might help.
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/cinnamon-and-benefits-for-diabetes

So one possible answer is: keep eating what you're eating but have your doctor increase your meds.

Another possibility is keep eating what you're eating but take supplements that might help you use sugars and starches better.

If you want food VOLUME, then raw vegetables (peppers, radishes, carrots, cauliflower etc) are low starch and bulky and are tummy-filling.

In order to put on weight, there is one source of energy that you don't need insulin to access, and that's fat. Vegetable oils, peanut butter (hopefully without sugar), nuts, full fat cheese etc are all low-starch sources of fat.

If you find your energy sagging between meals, you might want a starch that is absorbed and reakeased more slowly. Canned beans (plain, no bbq sauce) and oatmeal come to mind. If you have a microwave they're easy to cook/heat.

I'm assuming you have enough protein in you diet for muscle-building, but if your ideal weight is about 160 well-muscled pounds, most nutritionists would recommend about 10 oz lean cooked meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey) which I estimate means starting out with slightly less than a pound of lean trimmed meat.day, a pound, to make it easier to measure.

So lots of possibilities, depending on what you're aiming for and can tolerate.

Did that help?

---
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Sunday, April 16, 2023 10:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Well, part of the answer depends on WHY you need filler.

Are you looking for snacks between meals bc you get hungry?
Do you like to have a full stomach when you've finished eating?
Are you looking for a cheap source of calories for weight gain?

YES.

Also, even though I have been pretty low key most days until we get this figure out, I do a LOT of work that burns off calories even if I'm not working out. I'd like to make sure that under no circumstances I am losing any more weight than I already have. My body fat is almost nil at this point, and so far any overeating I've done is just keeping up with my minor working out and whatever metabolic shenanigans are going on ATM.

Quote:
It seems to me you have three possible goals:

Keep your blood sugar down
Gain weight and muscle
Eliminate diabetes meds(?)

Yes, yes and hopefully I can do the first two while also getting the third done as well.

Quote:
In order to access energy from sugars and starches, you need insulin, and your insulin needs to be working effectively.

I should know more about Insulin levels and production after the visit with Dr. Endo on Tuesday. I would assume I have to have at least SOME production of it going on.

I think after the blood work went to the hospital we've eliminated the idea that I had hyperthyroidism in tandem with diabetes, but follow ups here aren't exactly great. Hopefully nothing else is going on. Maybe the endocrinologist can tell me why I fart all the time and it smells like death.

Quote:
If you could make more insulin and/or get it to work better, you could achieve both objectives at the same time. That's what metformin and other diabetes meds do. But then you'd be committed to taking meds for the foreseeable future. If you're OK with that, that's your answer. You can keep eating starches, but your meds might have to be increased to keep your blood sugar in bounds.

I'm okay with that. At least for now. I'm hoping we can get me on a time release once per day thing though. I've been good about taking them on time so far, but I've never been good at making sure I take anything that's more than once a day after some time. The only thing keeping me doing it right now is the memory of how bad things had gotten when I didn't have the pills.

Quote:
You CAN add chromium picolinate which (for some) improves insulin sensitivity. I tried taking 300 mcg a day, and it made my insulin SO effective it drove my blood sugar into the basement, so I stopped taking it.
https://www.drugs.com/mtm/chromium-picolinate.html
Cinnamon has a few studies showing that a teaspoon a day might help.
https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/cinnamon-and-benefits-for-diabetes

I'll look into both of these. Thanks!

Quote:
So one possible answer is: keep eating what you're eating but have your doctor increase your meds.

Another possibility is keep eating what you're eating but take supplements that might help you use sugars and starches better.

If you want food VOLUME, then raw vegetables (peppers, radishes, carrots, cauliflower etc) are low starch and bulky and are tummy-filling.

In order to put on weight, there is one source of energy that you don't need insulin to access, and that's fat. Vegetable oils, peanut butter (hopefully without sugar), nuts, full fat cheese etc are all low-starch sources of fat.

Except for peanuts, nuts are EXPENSIVE. It's crazy how much sugar is in nuts too. I can wolf a 6oz down in one sitting, but that's 6 grams of sugar right there, even though there aren't any added sugars. I didn't even know peanuts had sugar until yesterday.

Quote:
If you find your energy sagging between meals, you might want a starch that is absorbed and reakeased more slowly. Canned beans (plain, no bbq sauce) and oatmeal come to mind. If you have a microwave they're easy to cook/heat.

I'm assuming you have enough protein in you diet for muscle-building, but if your ideal weight is about 160 well-muscled pounds, most nutritionists would recommend about 10 oz lean cooked meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey) which I estimate means starting out with slightly less than a pound of lean trimmed meat.day, a pound, to make it easier to measure.

Turns out that individually frozen chicken breasts at ALDI are pretty cheap. Not the ones laid out "fresh", but in the freezers next to the beef patties I used to get. I can get 4lbs for about $9 right now, which is better than the 3lbs of burger patties for $11... so BONUS!

Quote:
So lots of possibilities, depending on what you're aiming for and can tolerate.

Did that help?

Yeah.

But boy... the filler thing is going to be tough for me without being able to eat starches. It will be no problem going back to gluten free since I did it for years, but having to limit that brown rice with my nightly meal is going to be hard.

Thanks.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, April 17, 2023 3:58 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Hubbys diabetes is hard to control, and HE eats starches. Beans for bfast, oatmeal for snack (along with peanuts and raw veggies), meat and veggies for dinner and fruit and sugar-free pudding for dessert. So it's not like you have to go entirely without starches and sugars. Unfortunately, they have to be limited.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | TOP | HOME

Monday, April 17, 2023 9:33 AM