Should I just not eat carbs at all since my blood sugar always rises high?
For the past few weeks that I have been checking my blood sugar I can never seem to keep it below 100.. I notice this during two occasions: when I have hypoglycemia and drink some milk, and a few hours after a meal. It's pretty frustrating. I would check my blood sugar because I feel that it is low (like 37 or so) so I drink about a cup of milk to raise it up, and it shoots all the way up to 198? What the heck. Ugh, it's so frustrating.... I don't know why this just started happening about a month ago and I have not had this problem for the last 5 months since my diabetes diagnosis.... could it be that my pancreatic beta cells are dying off, if there were any remaining functioning ones left? If so, how can I ask the doctor about which test determines the actual amount of remaining functioning beta cells left in my pancreas? I am aware that I am in need of an endocrinologist, but I can't afford one with my insurance... so I have to figure these things out myself... Back to another point, usually I check my blood sugar after eating a meal and my glucometer reads 54, then two or three hour later it will read 148... so should I just give up carbs? Meaning, no carbs included in my meals anymore? Money is pretty tight, so my family can't always afford the best, healthiest foods... processed foods such as packages of microwavable burritos seem to be what I survive on... I do try to fit in fruit but I can't always have meat balanced with vegetables and 1 carb serving such as half a potato... Does this mean I might be possibly going through the "honeymoon" phase, where the remaining beta cells are dying off, causing abnormally high blood sugar levels? 10-12 units of insulin can't seem to be enough to cover 45 carbs in a meal anymore like it used to... I think I should cut down my carb intake( about 30 or less) per meals? No more than that anymore, since my blood sugar can't be kept within normal range after eating anymore...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on -
I didn't say he was the most ripped 70 year old of all time but just that if you lined Dr. B up with others in his cohort, I think he looks pretty good? I'd like to be that skinny when I'm 70. Shoot, I'd like to be that skinny now!
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Permalink Reply by timmy on -
haha, no doubt he is in fine nick. But i wouldnt point to his biceps as examples of said fitness. He just looks healthy, not ripped!
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Permalink Reply by Shawnmarie on -
Hopefully you'll get there without the help of HGH:
"Yeah, I read on the Internet that people think it's digitally enhanced," says the soft-spoken Life (which really is his name, translated from the German by his immigrant great-grandfather) with a laugh. But the body is real -- built by a relentless, six-day-a-week exercise regimen that includes hard cardio, heavy weights pushed to the max, martial arts, Pilates, a strict low-glycemic carb diet and lots of supplements. It has also, for the last seven years, been hormonally enhanced by a program that includes testosterone and human growth hormone -- a therapy Life views as entirely appropriate, even necessary despite the medical evidence questioning both its effectiveness and safety.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/18/health/la-he-jeffry-life18-...
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Permalink Reply by barbraann on -
Saw this guy interviewed, Dr. Life (really)and he does actually look like that! In his 70's I believe.
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on
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I don't think that there's a good test that provides a useful measurement of how much insulin you are producing re the honeymoon business. I suspect that w/ a problem with your pancreas it may not be a "flat" amount but may go up and down, sputtering as it were? I don't have any evidence or studies, just a wild guess.
If my post-meal #s run up, I would look to adjust my carb insulin ratio, maybe by 10%, so if you are at 10-1, maybe try to calcluate out 9-1 to increase the amt of insulin a shade and see what happens? If it's the before meal #s, then I figure I need some more basal and adjust that.
A good "manual" is "Think Like a Pancreas" by Gary Scheiner (who I think has a chat here soon? or did I miss it?) or "Using Insulin" by John Walsh. If $$$ is tight, maybe you can get it at the library but, at $15-20, they're probably still < a doctor visit would cost and will probably tell you more as they have pretty precise directions about figuring out doses and adjusting them.
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Permalink Reply by Sam on -
Why wouldn't a C-peptide test fit the bill? As it is a byproduct / "coproduct" of natural insulin production
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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on
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I think that while it's "there", I don't think that it produces a vast impact on one's BG? I also sort of think that it's kind of irregular, drips and dribbles as opposed to steady stream of useful basal or perhaps a "reaction" to food that could bolster one's bolus? I only have the vaguest memories of discussing the issue w/ me. Back then the "plan" was to eat to the shots and meter and I recall the doc saying "you need to take more insulin" somehow but I don't recall the amounts. That's sort of in line with my experience these days in having numbers that need periodic tweaking, in terms of my approach and orientation towards results, if that makes sense?
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Permalink Reply by jah.ini on -
Greatly reducing the number of carbs has helped a number of people with diabetes achieve more control of their bg levels. Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution calls for about 30 carbs a day, 6g at breakfast and 12g each at lunch and dinner. These should be low glycemic carbs and high glycemic carbs should be avoided at all times.
By reducing the number of carbs you eat, you reduce the intensity of any bg spikes. It also allows you to use less insulin to cover so you have less risk of overcompensating. He refers to this as the rule of small numbers. Here's a link to an online excerpt from his book that explains it in more detail.
http://www.diabetes-book.com/book/chapter7.shtmlThere's also a Dr. Bernstein's group here that is a good source of information on going low carb.
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Permalink Reply by RyanD on -
Wow, lots of good questions. I just read "Think Like A Pancreas" and he answers all of these questions and more. But it takes him about 260 pages to do so, so I will not attempt to summarize here. He also has a couple of web sights that may help: www.integrateddiabetes.com, www.type1university.com. Hope this helps, good luck!
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