Recently Diagnosed & New Members

[mrshumptydumpty]

Diagnosed 2/28/2012, by HBA1C......  7.3 , also on Lovaza, twice a day, high trigs.. prescribed metformin 500mg   x 2 day

PCP didn't give me any diabetes education....so i made an appt with endocrine doctor, who gave me testing kit

BEFORE BREAKFAST READINGS...first time got Freedom Lite...3/23/2012

147

117

115

141

127

134

92

95

91

90...an hour with diabetes dietician, and diabetes nurse, diabetes education class it was called

109

92

99

91

she said to stagger testing times, in case meds need adjusting.....return to nurse and dietician 5/11, and diabetes doctor on 4/25

Before Dinner

120  4/7/2012

Before Bed, 117

4/8/2012, before dinner 115

116, 4/9/2012..before dinner

85,   4/10/2012, before breakfast

110  4/10/2012, before dinner

73    4/11/2012, before breakfast

234  4/12/2012, before bed, had Remicade Infusion for psoriatric arthritis, with depo-medrol pre-med IV (steroids)......geez!

111  4/13/2012, before breakfast

88    4/13/2012, before dinner

101   4/14/2012, before dinner

86     4/15/2012, before breakfast-----------------------no prednisone( steroid today).....will try tapering off this

                                                                             week,alternating 10mg, 5mg, each day

89                         before lunch

DO YOU THINK THIS 89 BEFORE LUNCH IS A LITTLE LOW?...i DID FEEL A BIT  DIZZY,  GROCERY SHOPPING. CAME HOME AND HAD AN ORANGE RIGHT AWAY, AND SOME SOUP

Watching my CARBS, dietician wants it 45 to 60 mg a meal, and optional 15-20 carbs bedtime snack

next HBA1C test is  Mid-May

I know got to get off the oral prednisone!...that will spike sugar

[wildflower142 · Accepted solution]

I think 89 is a nice number.  Since you are newly diagnosed your body might be used to running higher, so an 89 can feel low to you.  Did the doctor give you a blood sugar range he/she wanted you at? 

[mrshumptydumpty]

Thanks for the reply!...your reply reassures me!

I got this check-book looking thing...and i think it was the dietician that wrote in..before meals 80 to 130

1 to 2 hours after meals, lower than 180

Friday night, i got concerned, and my diabetes doc was on call. It was nice she called me back, and she said i had good numbers. Just a little concerned, it wasn't hypoglycemic from Metformin.

is humid today, waiting on heavy rain tonight....and i hate humidity

Take care!

[lizzylou Diabetes Brain Trust]

---

mrshumptydumpty wrote:

Thanks for the reply!...your reply reassures me!

I got this check-book looking thing...and i think it was the dietician that wrote in..before meals 80 to 130

1 to 2 hours after meals, lower than 180

Friday night, i got concerned, and my diabetes doc was on call. It was nice she called me back, and she said i had good numbers. Just a little concerned, it wasn't hypoglycemic from Metformin.

is humid today, waiting on heavy rain tonight....and i hate humidity

Take care!

---

Metformin doesn't usually cause lows, so there are now worries there.  Any number less than 70 is usually considered low.

Why are you only testing before meals?  How can you see how the food you're eating affects your numbers if you don't test after meals as well?

Most of us use a different testing method here.  It gives you a lot more information.  Here's a link to tell you about it, click on the title:

Getting Started

Lizzy  

[ffmaya]

---

mrshumptydumpty wrote:

Thanks for the reply!...your reply reassures me!

I got this check-book looking thing...and i think it was the dietician that wrote in..before meals 80 to 130

1 to 2 hours after meals, lower than 180

Friday night, i got concerned, and my diabetes doc was on call. It was nice she called me back, and she said i had good numbers. Just a little concerned, it wasn't hypoglycemic from Metformin.

is humid today, waiting on heavy rain tonight....and i hate humidity

Take care!

---

Welcome mrshumptydumpty, diabetes can be very overwhelming when diagnosed, as you work to understand the process of what you need to do, it will get easier. 

Metformin is not going to give you a low.  It is designed to help with the "Dawn Phenomenon", a rise in the BG in the early morning hours.  Research on the internet will provide more details.

I am a big believer in testing.  Especially when I was diagnosed last year, I tested upon waking, before each meal, then at 1 and 2 hours after each meal and finally at bedtime.  As you can see that is a lot of testing.  You have to find out what and how much you can eat and the only way to do that is by testing to see how your body reacts to various foods.

I am also a big believer in exercise, I do about 1 hour per day and try to split into three sessions, 15-30 minutes after each meal.  It works wonders by keeping your BG numbers lower than they would be otherwise.  Again, testing will help you realize how much the exercise will reduce your BG.

BTW, steroids, as you are seeing, will increase you BG.  Don't stop taking the meds unless your Dr. said it's ok.

If I were you I would aim to have a max of 140 at any given time.  It is going to take a while to figure it out and get the food and exercise balanced to reach your goal.  Also, just FYI, most diabetics could not eat that many carbs per meal and have tight control on their BG.  You have to find out what yours are, since everyone is different.

Give us a sample day of what you eat, including snacks, and how your numbers are according to the food.  We should be able to make some food suggestions based on that.

Ask any questions you have.  Tomorrow more people will respond.  Sometimes the weekends are quiet.

[mrshumptydumpty]

Tks for the replies on Metformin,

I started a few days log of my meals, and i can continue and do it daily.  The dietician gave me 6 sheets of info, about food.

Breakfast is always the same now. One slice of Oatmeal bread toast, 20 carbs, and i am supposed to subract the fiber....3 gr fiber, so thats 17 carbs

it says 1/2 banana is 15 carbs, and i eat a whole one, and coffee with Cremora, and no sugar.

lunch was kinda late, 3pm, and i had an orange ( 30carbs)? sheet says 15 carbs for 6 1/2 oz small one

and a soup, more or less home made, with lots of veggies

1/2 Luna bar...so maybe thats  15carbs, and 3 small keebler cookies

gave up drinking soft drinks about 6 months ago, and have to cut back on the honey i was using in tea

so am using very little, and stevia, lemon....so no calories except for the little honey

dinner, ...2 cubes of cheddar ( carb-free) but high fat on the food info shets

1/2 avocado..sheet has a smiley face, and shows 5 carbs

plum tomato free carb, and 10 natural lindsay olives...sodium is 115 for 5, counting this  as a free carb, as 10 olives are 2 carbs

Brown Cow Greek Yogurt, from Sams Club......18 carbs, no fiber

nature valley granola thin, ( dark chocolate) 11 carbs, negligble fiber

1/2 of  a fig newton from sams club individual pkge...22grams, minus 1 fiber

so u can see i got a sweet tooth, and look at those carbs in one fig newton!.....

and had 1 line of a  hersheys special dark, 4.25oz bar...trying to calculate that one...but i am thinking about 5 carbs for a line?..and who knew it has a little fiber 

also, got to limit my Werthers hard candy caramels, sugar free, or whatever, basically same carbs, sugar  free or not

will def start testing after meals!, and keep a food log

another low carb meal for me, would be 1 slice of oatmeal, or high fiber bread, i can't believe it's not marjorine has no carbs

swiss cheese slice has no carb, but has fat!...but putting in sandwich

olives again, and few slices red pepper...and will try to have more free carbs, like a tomato

i think about 25 Cheeze-it crackers had 17 carbs

Yes it is overwhelming, being newly diagnosed.

I  have to find that show on TV, sit and be fit.....but i do get my exercise going up the stairs, 3 level old house

and housework.   I do have knee replacements, and fused ankles, if i ever find a good bike seat for my back problems, i would use the exercise bike. 

thanks for all your help, i really feel better about metformin now

[morrisolder]

Hi, mrs h-d,

I just wanted to echo What Lizzy mentioned about testing after meals--you may be in for a bit of a surprise--probably mostly with the breakfast you detailed. The toast by itself, or perhaps with some cheese might be enough carbs, but then you add in the banana, at maybe 30 grams and that is a lot of carbs for breakfast, which is the time of day when most of us have the most trouble keeping numbers down after eating carbs. Your meter will give you some instant feedback as to whether what most of us find actually applies in your case.

Some of the other items you list might also cause your blood sugar to soar, but the timing might make a big difference.  It sounds like you listed dinner, which didn't look too bad, and then a bunch of snacks, which were either your snacks for the day, or maybe after dinner snacks.  All at once, that would be a lot of carbs; spread out perhaps not enough to really shoot up your glucose levels.

Oh and those fig newtons are not 22 grams per fig newton but for 2--always remember to check the serving size on the package!

[lizzylou Diabetes Brain Trust]

MHD,

I think you will be very shocked when you see the after-meal numbers.  That is way too many carbs fo me to handle without having sky high numbers. 

Regarding chair exercises, click on this title:

Fitness for Every Body

Lizzy

[mrshumptydumpty]

Thanks Lizzy and others

I had to go a little bit higher on the prednisone this morning..barometric pressure change

but like  u all said

with toast and breakfast banana...

 before breakfast had a 99

167 after breakfast, 1 hour

and a 110, 2 hours after dinner, which was 7 veggies!

will let u know how it goes after tomorrow breakfast, after having an egg

not too thrilled about eating less banana....always thought good for u

but i wills ave 1/2 for a snack later

[ffmaya]

If you really feel you want some banana, eat 1/2 as a dessert after a meal (not breakfast) and then do some exercise.  The protein and fats from the meal should help with the high carbs from the banana.  That should enable you to enjoy some banana every so often.  That way you won't feel too deprived about a favorite food.  I can't have more than 10g of carbs for breakfast, tops.  I usually have about 5g-8g.  Breakfast time is the lowest carb time for most diabetics.

Unfortunately this disease has us making some hard choices, especially in the beginning.  Keep in mind that once you figure YOUR diabetes out (YMMV), things will get easier and you will be able to make food decisions that work for you.  For instance, sometimes I negotiate with myself if I REALLY, REALLY want to have some high carb food.  Then, as I have learned, my other ingredients have to be low carb to make up for the high carb item.  You can still enjoy almost anything as long as you put limits on the quantity and frequency.  The most important part, for me, is my BG.  I look at the long term picture of potentially losing digits and limbs, going blind, havening neuropathy pains, kidney and heart problems, and the list goes on and on.  I feel that makes the decision making easier for me.

Only you can set your priority, nobody can do it for you.