Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cody Turner on September 8, 2008 at 11:23am

a lot of the drug companies have programs to help get insulin. Check into the different companies that make your insulin and see if they can help. It will be like $5 for a month's supply and they will ship it to your house or your doctor's office.

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Permalink Reply by Derek on September 8, 2008 at 11:51am

Back when I was on no insurance, I relied on family and friends, and Walmart. My test strips cost alot if payed out of pocket, thank god I have really good insurance and I hope I do not lose the coverage any time soon. I hope things start working out better for you, have you tried local churches, the city government, charitable orgs may help with insulin needs. Health care is so expensive, its getting more expensive each year too. Between cost of gas,food, doctor, and medicine its no wonder we can get broke so easily. :(

Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Derek on September 8, 2008 at 4:24pm

I also just saw that Lifescan is offering a free meter(Ultra2,UltraMini, or UltraSmart) with a prescription for the meter with their coupon, was at Walmart and they had a bunch of the coupons. I am sure other pharmacy's have them too so just one more place to get a lil relief if you need a meter :)

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on September 8, 2008 at 7:32pm

Hi Derek,

You can read many chapters of Dr. Bernstein's book at: www.diabetesincontrol.com/bernstein/

My mother got a copy from her library. I'm the first diabetic in our family & she wanted to learn more from Dr. B's book.

I also eat before I go to high carb events. A lot easier to resist when I'm not hungry. I just think of myself as being allergic to certain foods:) I had a really high carb diet before being diagnosed, though of course I never even thought about it. I lived on pasta, bread, Asian food, rice & beans & ate huge portions of veggies & fruits. I can promise you that once you start eating low carb, the carb cravings go away quickly.

I've ordered free meters just to get the free test strips. I recently had my One Touch Ultra 2 tested with a blood lab against four other meters I have. The Lifestyle Freedom Lite & One Touch Ultra 2 were the most accurate.

The sites below have great low carb recipes. Doesn't have to cost a lot in ingredients. Vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, broccoli, green beans & loose greens like mustard, collard are very low carb & usually the least inexpensive vegetables. Meat has gotten ridiculously high, but prepared foods & snacks are the most expensive, hugely high in carbs--the things we all need to avoid anyway.

www.lowcarbcafe.com, http://www.scribd.com/doc/24632/Low-Carb-Recipes, http://genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html

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Permalink Reply by Derek on September 8, 2008 at 8:01pm

thanks for all the links, using free meters for the test strips is pretty clever :)
I admit I have always had a huge addiction to carbs, mostly pasta and bread. I used to be able to eat a bag of rolls in a sitting when i was a teen. When I was in college up till I was 23 i think I could eat an entire 18" pizza by myself and still think I was hungry. I struggle everyday with carbs, today I have done much better.
I had a Yogurt for breakfast, 16 grams of carbs. For lunch I had a single hamburger with bacon on rye bread. With 1 serving of tater tots. And I am finishing today with Dinner being pork roast with gravy 2 medium ears of fresh corn on the cob.
180 grams of carbs for the day, big change from nearly 400 grams the other day.

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on September 8, 2008 at 9:22pm

Good for you! That's great!

Hey, I'd walk 20 miles barefoot for free strips. I test a lot.

I can relate to being a carb junkie. Pasta & bread--me, too. When I was a kid, my mother got bread from the neighborhood bakery. We never had supermarket bread & it was my job to go the bakery to get bread every couple of days. She'd give me money for two loaves because I'd eat an entire loaf on the way home! I could live on bread & butter. I'm a small person & have never been overweight, but I could eat almost a whole 18" pizza by mysely also. And, I ate huge bowls of pasta all the time, too.

I never thought I could give up pasta & bread, especially bread. Truly, once I stopped eating these, the cravings went away & fast. I can have a small amount of bread once in a while, but pasta isn't worth how much insulin is needed to cover it.

After eating my previous high carb dinners, I'd fall asleep in a carb overload stupor. Now, I have more energy.

My husband is also a carb addict. When I was diagnosed, he went kind of low carb to help me. He's not eating near as low carb as I am, but he's cut way back. Tim's lost 30 lbs. without even trying & says he feels better than he's felt in years.

Your carb cravings will get better, I promise!

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Permalink Reply by Derek on September 8, 2008 at 9:31pm

LOL my parents put a padlock on the fridge,deep freezer, and freezer to keep me out of it, cause I would literally eat an entire bag of meatballs(orderve kind), and 2 bags of bread or rolls. I test about 15 times a day easily. I want to get my sugars under better control, my wife said she was concerned with me becoming a "health nut" because I am trying to get my diet under control. I hope to eat healthier but not lose the love for meat and good food :) In reasonable portions :) I was on the Adkins diet when I was in high school, I lost a lot of weight doing that, problem is cutting carbs out completely is very difficult, I think I have heard that the key is a even mix of all, but focus on fresh vitamin rich nutritious vegetables and low fat protein rich white meat.

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on September 8, 2008 at 9:45pm

LOL!

Wow, you test more than I do.

Think it's often hard for spouses to see their partners changing, even if it is for the good. We all get comfortable with things being a certain way & some people resist change more than othes. Also think that seeing us eating healthier makes them feel kind of guilty because they're not doing the same.

You're not going to lose your love of good food. They are lots of yummy recipes on those sites. I was really bummed out about giving up my beloved carbs until I realized how many great things I can eat.

One of the great things about Dr. B's diet is that you can eat fat & that's much more filling & longer lasting than carbs. Of course, you can't overdo the fat because excess will effect your BG, but fat isn't prohibited at all. I never ate so much fat before. I use heavy whipping cream, eat cheese, eat lots of eggs & peanut butter. If I'm hungry, I'll eat some cream cheese. It's only 3 carbs for two tablespoons. I drink protein shakes with almond milk & add whipping cream to it.

There are so many good things to eat while avoiding carbs. But I admit, I'd love to sit down & devour a whole loaf of crusty bread.

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Permalink Reply by Derek on September 8, 2008 at 11:24pm

nothing like a good loaf of freshly baked bread, i tend to love french,italian, and rye bread most!! Of course bisquits and rolls are good too, but I love eating things like pork rinds(even though my wife hates the smell of them), very low in carbs(i think 0 carbs) and so yummy! I am definately not a fan of cream cheese, nor cottage cheese(eeww) and I am allergic(and get very ill from peanut butter, more psychological then allergy but still will not touch it!) I am hoping I can get Dr B's books soon, plus the CalorieKing book, looks very handy for eating out for sure. I am also looking into getting the uplink cable for my OneTouch UltraSmart meter. I tend to like to keep things simple in my life, lol although i do tend to complicate things in my life too.

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Permalink Reply by debb on September 9, 2008 at 12:16am

besides counting carbs try using a smaller plate. i found that using what i call a kids plate is helping me with my portions. your veggies should take up half the plate your meat a quarter of it and the other quarter maybe fruit or a potato or rice or whatever. when i stick with that i see a really good drop in my sugars. i too have a bi problem with carbs. i did good tonight, i had a burger without bread and a tossed salad. then blew it by grabbing a spoonful of homemade frosting that my daughter decided to bring over here because she didn't want to end up eating it all by herself. yes, she knows i'm a diabetic, she knows i love that stuff and she goes by the theory that a little bit won't hurt you. i ask her not to bring stuff like that over because i don't have the greatest will power. but she does anyway.
great job on what you have done so far. keep up the good work.

Permalink Reply by Gerri on September 9, 2008 at 12:17am

Fresh baked bread--the best. French, Italian & rye (real rye bread) are my favorites. Nothing like a hunk of crusty bread--you're killing me:) I'd take that over dessert any day. I never ate a lot of sweets, though I could devour a pie with no trouble. The crust was my favorite part, being a carb junkie.

I can't bring myself to eat pork rinds. Cottage cheese isn't low carb--you're safe there. Hard cheese, if you like it, is low carb--1 carb per ounce. I'm with you on eeww about cottage cheese. Stay away from milk & use heavy cream instead. Ricotta cheese is super rich & low carb. Most nuts are good, if you don't overdo it. Avocadoes are pretty low carb. I love them.

Promise me that you'll read the chapters of Dr. B's book from the link I sent. There are recipes there, too. I found that link, read it all & then got his book. The chapters on that site are a good place to start.

Permalink Reply by Big Al on September 9, 2008 at 7:19am

Bread is one of my big weaknesses too. If I go to certain eating establishments, ie Fazoli's, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, almost anyplace else that serves fresh bread or breadsticks, I really have to watch myself that I don't eat too many of them and cause my blood sugars to go high. I just take pills, so the extra bolus that you are able to give yourself with insulin won't work for me. Just got to watch what I eat very closely.

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