Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Dealing with diabetes

The doctor reamed me pretty good about not taking better care of my diabetes, so I've been really working hard on my numbers, writing them down and paying much closer attention to what I eat and drink. After years of always dealing with high readings (300-400) now I'm dealing with low readings. (50-70.) We will have to tweak my insulin comsumption to get this all leveled out. I take 60 units of Tresiba once a day, Humalog three times a day based on my numbers. My guidelines have always been 40 units for readings between 300 and 400, 35 units for readings between 200 and 299, and 30 units for readings between 100 and 199. I'm seeing the dr. this Friday and hope we can adjust these numbers downward so I don't bottom out. I just broke a heavy sweat, took my reading and I was down to 50. This is the third time in recent days I've gone low like this. Gotta find that happy medium here. They also have me on 500mg. of Metformin ER once a day and Trulicity once a week. I'm really hoping now that these numbers are headed down, we can cut back, or cut out some of this treatment.

Have others had to make adjustments as their blood sugar numbers came under better control?

Pecan pie helps

Just seeing what you have to go through is motivation to keep mine under control.

I have been spared that, so far Jeff. Keep your nose to that grindstone.

You best do what the doc says, couple guys on my deer lease have issues with that. They don’t do what they should.

Are you seeing an endocrinologist? If not you need to in order to get your blood sugar numbers and meds in order, the treatment of diabetes is there medical specialty. I had been seeing an internist when I was diagnosed with diabetes, early on they were able to manage my diabetes but as time went by not so much. The endocrinologist changed my meds and significantly cut back on Metformin and eliminated some others. My endocrinologist appt. was yesterday and my a1c was 6.6 and my weight was stable, having lost 60# since being diagnosed with diabetes. You should also see a diabetic dietician to help you make the food choices that make your diabetes easier to manage and lose weight that will also help.

Diabetes is a bitch. My son is Type 1 and struggles constantly. He'll find something that works good, but the damn insurance companies don't want to cover it, so he ends up changing to something that doesn't. I guess the insurance companies know better than the doctors.

I hope you get it straightened out, more power to ya.

One of the important numbers to look at is your A1c. I went through a period of time last year when I didn't pay as much attention as should have been. My A1c reached 9. Shortly after they sent me to the eye dr for my annual check regarding diabetic retinopathy. It was a big office with several dr's and when they were checking me out, asked me about my A1c. I told her it had gotten upwards of 9, last was 8.8. She said, "well it doesn't happen often, but 2 or 3 times a year, we have someone come in who went blind. Once that happens there is no reversal." Let me tell you, it scared the crap out of me. I got a lot more strict and my last A1c check was 7.5. It should be under 7 and in the 6 range is even better. One of the things I have started doing is intermittent fasting. I don't eat anything after 7:00 pm and don't eat breakfast till around 9:00. That's 14 hours with no food. Carbs are a killer. The goal is to shoot for consistency. I've heard stories of people who lose a bunch of weight and get off their meds. That ends up being pretty temporary. Diabetes is due to your pancreas not operating well, which is effected by diet, and medication. Good luck. I've been struggling with it for about 15 years.

Type 2?

I'm type II. Recently lost 30 lbs and exercise a lot. Numbers have been great since doing this. I do take Metformin twice a day

gophergunner, good luck and the best to you, my friend. I was recently diagnosed, too. The doc has me on Metformin twice a day. I have been religiously recording my blood sugar every day and any dietary challenges from the day before. Going to a diabetes support group meeting this afternoon at local hospital.

What I have found and diet rules I've adopted:

Carbs and sugar heavy sweets are a big no-no.
I can eat a chocolate bar every once in a while.
Fruit smoothies are ok, with some restraint. Blueberry and strawberry combo works best for me.
Have dinner before 7, whenever possible.
Quit drinking milk. Used to drink a big glass of milk with dinner every night.
Limit dairy.
Can't do Vortman's sugar free cookies. Don't work for me. I eat too many.

Yesterday's reading was 110. Today was 142, after some cheating yesterday. Aldi Austrian chocolate bar, too much cheese and 1 slice of bread at lunch. Both readings are within range, though.

Been on that train for the last 5-6 years. My BS is slowly slipping higher and higher. Lately in the 140 range. Not crazy high but not 100 either. Recently switched to Metformin ER which has helped level out the spikes a bit but I need to watch what I eat more and more. If I slack off on the exercise for a couple days BS level creeps right back up. Sucks.

I ran a high fever a few years ago, and shortly after, my blood sugar started getting wonky. I was told to watch my diet and was given a low dose of Metformin.

Here's what's worked for me:

1) I cut out french fries and carbonated drinks. That got me down significantly.
2) I started eating regular meals, and especially cut out eating my dinner on the late side. The earlier I eat dinner, the better my morning readings got.
3) I stopped eating any sort of sweets, desserts, breakfast pastry, etc.
4) I eat nuts or jerky for a snack.
5) I try to eat low-carb alternatives. The local pizza place has a whole wheat crust option-- that sort of thing.

I'm staying in bounds pretty much solidly since.

If you're type 1, get a pump and be done with it.

Mirrors my finding about eating late. Just can't do it any more. I've cut way back on breads, spuds, rice, and I never did eat much sweets. I quit drinking pop. I only ever drank diet pop, but I cut that out too. I want to get these numbers evened out at this point. I wish I could "schedule" my meals more consistently, but with the nature of my work, I somewhat have to eat when I can. Lots of protein and salads. It helps that my wife is gluten free. She makes that gluten free pasta and that suff's just nasty. Not anything I want. We're working on it, and I look forward to seeing the dr. Friday for the next round of "tweaking."

This is good advise! You really need a specialist . And if you have good insurance there are way better drugs available than that dam Metformin been there done that no more thank you please!

Eliminating carbs doesn't mean eliminating them totally, carbs can be though of as anything that is white. Potatoes, rice, white bread etc., I have eliminated white bread and eat rye, wheat, pumpernikle, etc same for pasta replace that made with white flour with wheat pasta. I still eat rice in small amounts and two squares of 70% chocolate, these things work well. I walk a mile every day and workout at the gym for 1-1.5 hrs. 3x a week. After having lost 60# my weight loss has slowed and plateaued for a period of a year, I didn't let that get me discouraged just kept on doing the things that enabled me to lose weight in the first place. I am now within 10-15# of my goal weight, I typically lose 2-3# every 90days, I don't weigh myself other than at my doctor visits and don't worry about what the scale says. In 10+ yrs. I won't say that I have never backslid but it has only been 2-3# on a couple of occasions in that period of time. I also got careless once and had an A1c reading of 9.0, most of the time it is below 7 and once was 6.

Good luck and good on you for keeping records. No personal experience myself. Had a friend (now gone to cancer) who was diabetic from about age 8 to 69. He monitored about 3 times a day, kept meticulous records, and is a med school study example. His take was he could pretty much do what he wanted, as long as he tracked and treated his numbers. I'm sure your efforts are a pain in the butt, but they sure beat the alternative. Today's technology has gone a long way toward eliminating the guessing game.

I have all my diabetic patients taking fish oil as an anti inflammatory if its OK with their diabetic specialist.

Regardless, i have them taking Alpha Lipoic Acid to reduce the risk of peripheral neuropathy. I am pissed many drs dont have their pts on that and for that reason.

Its quite common for even controlled diabetics to show nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) after having type 2 for 10 years (retinal microaneuryisms) due to blood sugar spikes after meals causing inflammataion which damages the retinal microvasculature.

I have patients with NPDR I have followed for 20 years who did not progress to proliferative D Ret (PDR) and need lasre tx of the retina.

Weight reduction sx is sometimes beneficial to be able to adequately control BS if a person is extremely overweight.

Always have a yearly dilated diabetic retinal evaluation. If NPDR is found you should be seen at least every 6 mo and gonioscopy should be performed to rule out neovascularization of the irido-corneal angle and iris neovascularization which can quickly lead to intractable diabetic neovasc glaucoma.

Gopher, those B/S levels are extremely conducive to causing strokes and heart attacks.

Normally, NPDR will be present for years before progressing to PDR where new, brittle vessels grow into the retina and vitreous humor of the eye in the bodies attempt to bing more blood to a starving retina due to poor circulation.

Those vessels can rupture and release blood into the vitreous body of the posterior chamber of the eye. This results in scarring and contraction of the vitreous which pulls and tears the retina away from the choroidal vascular layer behind thevretina.

The retinal vessels feed only the inner layers of the retina while the choroid feeds the outer layers.

This or untreatable diabetinc glaucoma is what causes loss of vision.

Been fighting it for several years. I started hiking the hills behind the house almost daily, some days doing 6 miles. No running, my knees won't take that. Just walking as fast as I could go without breaking into a trot. Lost close to 30 lbs over a couple years. A couple years ago I joined the local small gym, weather never keeps me from doing the work this way. Do a few of the weight machines, then on alternate days do 30 minutes on the treadmill or 20 on the eliptical. I set the tredmill at 3.5 mph, and raise the incline to 12 degrees. Once my heartrate hits 150(154 theoretical max for my age) I drop the incline 2 degrees. I'll raise or lower to keep the heartrate in the mid to upper 140s.
I've never taken anything but 1000mg Metformin ER once a day. My dr. gives me fits because I very seldom take my blood sugar, but I've never seen it high. Over the last several years the quarterly A1c has only once been above 7, that was before I started at the gym and right after Christmas and Thanksgiving on a year where the weather was keeping me from hiking the hills.
We went pheasant hunting last Saturday, according to the health app on my phone, I walked 13.2 miles through some heavy CRP grass. I was beat, but didn't think that was too bad for a 66 year old man.Kept up with a couple guys in their late 30s.