Newbie here

[bailey42]

Hi my name is Deb and I am 43 years old married with three grown children and two grandchildren.I am a type 2 diabetic and have tons of questions.
I have an average fasting sugar of 154 and have tried several different meds that just I have to eat tons of carbs with to prevent crashing, I hate them all. I tried Metformin but got terrible back pain with it and doc took me off it so I am currently trying Protein Power as my only way of stabalizing. I did Kimkins for 3 months and got my fasting sugar down to 114 at the lowest but had alot of problems on that plan because it was lowfat also and made my hair fall out and heart irregular beats.
Anyway, my question is how to I get that darn morning reading down? I have been only doing PP for about a week so I know it will take a while, but last evening for dinner I had a large subway salad with double chicken strips, extra cheese, bacon, black olives, mild peppers and extra full fat ranch and my sugar this morning was 164.
I would take a med until I get balanced with PP, but I have not found one yet that I don't crash with while doing low carb. Any suggestions?
Deb

[Mitra]

Welcome, Deb.

I don't have experience of diabetes, but a couple of sites that are very informative are blood sugar 101 (http://www.bloodsugar101.com/) and Dr Bernstein's site (http://www.diabetes-book.com/).

There are some members here who have had to work to get their blood sugar down, and I'm sure they'll be able to make some suggestions.

[Mal Lady]

Deb,

I've never ate at Subway, but, it seems like that was still quite a big meal for pp. You will need to start by, finding out how much protein you need and then make sure you get at least that much. If you can keep the carbs at 40 per day. That will help. Make sure you get 3 meals and a snack or two. But, definitely count everything a keep a journal, so you know where you are having problems and then adjust as necessary. i have always carried low bs. So, my problem is to make sure I get enough. There are others here, I am sure will be able to help even more with suggestions. But, I do want to welcome you and wish you much success which, I believe you will have on pp as long as you get into the swing of the program.

Sharon

[gitfiddle]

Deb, the links that Mitra gave you are eye-openers for diabetics. Morning fasting blood sugar levels can be affected by more than what you eat for dinner.

It is possible to bring blood sugar levels to normal or near-normal with just the PP way of eating but it takes more than a week. Regular moderate exercise is a painless way to jog it down even more. You will want to discuss it with a doctor and set up regular A1c tests to monitor with more accuracy than a glucometer.

I have been dealing with the higher morning count too, and it's addressed at the Blood Sugar 101 site that Mitra put into her post. Very user-friendly place!

Good luck, and keep us posted! :)

[Rhyme'n Reason]

...and a big welcome to you, Deb!

[bailey42]

Thank you all so much for the support and welcome. I did go and check out the 101 sugar site and loved it. It truely explained the morning sugar really well. So I will try their ideas and if none work after a few months on PP I will continue the diet but seek a medication also. Here's to praying the diet works alone without meds :thumbsup: I really hate the crashes on the meds.
Deb

[Mitra]

Do let us know how you get on :).

[waltc]

Deb,
My personal experience with The Protein Power plan is that my fasting sugar dropped significantly. My HBgA1C went from 6.4 to 5.3 in 3 months. The only change I have is to keep my carbs low in the morning.

Some people have reported success with the dawn phenomenon by taking a glass of wine and a piece of cheese before going to bed. Other persons try to eat a high-fat snack as soon as they wake up in the morning. A couple other people I know take a long walk in the morning. I have good days and bad days with dawn phenomenon.

[bailey42]

Thank you all so much for the advice I will continue to try these hints.
Deb

[maxlharris]

I dunno if this is up your alley, but a good session of resistance training in the AM should drop your blood sugar fairly quickly, and put it to good use as well. Empty your muscle glycogen stores, and replace with blood glucose. Now, that's a solution.

[bailey42]

Thanks for the suggestion Max. I did try something like that one day. I tested my fasting sugar and it was 153 that particular day, before I ate, I went out and did some vigurous snow shoveling to see what that would do to my sugar before breakfast. I tested then right after the shoveling with no food in me and my sugar actualy went up to 183 :jawDrop: now I can't figure that one out at all.
For the most part my sugar levels stay good during the day if I eat low carb and I can go to bed with a 125-130 reading and wake up at 154. I did read all about the dawn phenomenon thing but I don't think that is the issue since I have tested a few times at 1 or 2 a.m. and my sugar is high at that time around 140. So sometime between my bedtime and 2 a.m. my sugar is going up for no reason. Last evening my sugar was 130 when I went to bed at 9:30 and at 2 a.m. it was 140 then at 5:30 a.m. (my normal rising time) it was 146 so see that couldn't be the dawn effect. Who knows, I even thought maybe it was the Sanomi effect or however you spell that and tried to eat before bed and my sugars were higher. It is driving me nuts trying to get that fasting sugar down. I currently take Starlix as a med.
Deb

[gitfiddle]

I tested then right after the shoveling with no food in me and my sugar actualy went up to 183 :jawDrop: now I can't figure that one out at all.
Deb, that's an easy one to answer. Exercise is stress, stress makes your blood sugar rise. Wait to check for around an hour, maybe less, and you'll see the lower figures. Also watch out for hypos if you're starting with normal-ish numbers. Sometimes it drops like a rock.

[bailey42]

So if that is the case, I wonder if an even9ing workout would bring down the morning sugar? Hmmm that's one to think about. Now to get motivated after 10 hours with children under the age of five. In case you haven't guessed it, I am a daycare provider and watch very small children for 10 hours a day 5 days a week. Usually I am exhausted after work and can't even think about exercise. I guess I will have to at least look into a long walk or something once it warms up around here.
Deb

[gitfiddle]

Deb, it wouldn't hurt to try evening exercise. You wouldn't want to do it just before bedtime. I've been exercising from 4:30 to 5:30 at a gym with DH and we both have noticed feeling really good afterwards well into the evening. Try it, even if you feel wiped out.

I've also had very low fasting bs lately. The highs I noticed last week may have been due to illness. I'm really hoping to be able to discontinue my meds if I keep having lows during the day. That is entirely due to the exercise!

[maxlharris]

Hrm. If the sugar is high in the AM, work out, it goes up some, then flows to replenish muscle glycogen (good) and you maybe are ready for your day?

FWIW: I think you have to work it longer term to see real regular improvement. Of course, more muscle mass = more glycogen storage = more place to put free sugar. And who couldn't use an extra pound or three of muscle anyway?

[bailey42]

You guys are awesome, thanks so much for being my sounding board lately. :idea:I will give both of your suggestions a try, working out evening and morning to see if maybe this beast can be brought under control. I have a treadmill so no need to wait until warmer weather I suppose:)
As far as resistance training I ned to look into a gym I guess. I did do Curves for Women for a while but it was kind of a gossip chamber in there so I left. :idea:Maybe hubby and I can join at the Y together, he could use some tummy work himself:lol:
I'll let you know how this turns out.
Deb

[gitfiddle]

Deb, is there a Snap Fitness anywhere near you? Ours really hums with very little socializing any time I'm there. Less expensive than the Y and doesn't have any frills, like locker rooms and showers or tracks or extra classes. Almost like running down to the basement for an hour after work.

I have a family membership and my DH thinks he's accompanying me to motivate me and save me from an early death or something. Odd thing is, he's experiencing the benefits and enjoying the heck out of it. But he's doing it "for me". :D Whatever it takes, right?

[bailey42]

Carol I haven't heard of that one but I will definetly check the yellow pages out and see if there is one around. Thanks for the tip.
Deb

[Ammy]

My GF and I go to the Y...I'm a HUGE fan.
Lots of options with machines, free weights, free classes, and depending on the Y, a BIG pool!

[bailey42]

LOL Amy, sorry, not laughing at you, just picturing me actually brave enough to put a swim suit on at this weight of 232:jawDrop: not a pretty picture in my mind anyway.
Deb

[waltc]

Baily,
In my experience vigorous exercise like weight training will raise you blood sugar immediately. However, in the long term it will lower your fasting blood glucose.

try doing aerobic exercise to lower your blood sugar. Depending on your fitness, a long walk or jog should work.

I don't know how long you have been on the low carb diet, but your blood sugar should go down eventually.

You should also use your meter to make sure you are not spiking too much. Take a reading just before you eat, then another one one hour after you stop eating, and a third one one hour later. by seeing how high your spike is (particularly at one hour) you can tell how many carbs are in your meal. By eating to the meter, you can adjust your meals so that your spikes are lower in the future.

Let me add one more thing, Dr. Bernstein recommends a high fat, medium protein diet to lower blood sugar. His recommetndation for protein is around 80 grams, lower than Drs Eades recommends. I personally follow Drs. Eades with good success. But I am a purist on my diet. Mostly I eat meat and non-starchy vegetables, and macadamian nuts and almonds as the mainstay of my diet. Occasionally, I eat small amounts of fruit, particularly berries. I also use coconut oil, butter, and olive oil. I also get in a little dark chocolate and alcohol. That's all I eat. My Fasting BG is in the 90s and I never spike above 125 one hour after a meal.

[bailey42]

Thanks Walt for the advice. I would love to eat as my meter reads but my insurance will only pay for 3 testings a day. Yesterday for lunch I was on the go so I stopped and had an original recipe chicken breast at KFC. That was all I had and one hour later my sugar was 149.
Today I am not sure which got my sugar down to normal but I am pleased. I tried a new natural herb called Gymnema Sylvestre which is suppose to lower sugar and cholesteral but I also was scrubbing carpets so one of the 2 if not both brought my sugar down to 104 and I was well pleased with that. That was one hour following lunch and lunch consisted of another chicken breast because I had bought two at KFC the previous day. So it was the exact same lunch with totally different rains. One with exercise and an herb and the other day neither. If the two items work so well I will definetly keep it up. The thing is, I would like to know if the herb was responsible more because if it were only the exercise, then why pay for the herb?
Deb

[waltc]

I think if you can get the nutritional labels, that original recipe KFC has a lot of carbs from the breading, and I bet they have a little sugar in the secret ingredients. When I eat KFC original, it pegs my Blood sugar.

One thing I found to keep my sugars under control is to stay away from fried and processed meats. My diet consists mostly of lean meats and vegetables.

One other supplement that a lot of diabetics use is R-lipoic acid, taken on an empty stomach at least 15 minutes before meals. Google "Insulow"