Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 24, 2012 at 4:09pm

I agree on the lifestyle adjustments. I have given up starchy veggies, grains and flour projects, any kind of "sweetener" (natural or chemical), caffeine, alcohol and pretty much any packaged, processed food. I decided to completely clean up my act and am only consuming low-glycemic veggies, meat and poultry, eggs, limited dairy products and a bit of whole fruits -- real, lower-carb, natural foods.

My rewards for these lifestyle changes have been stellar: lower mean blood glucose while using less insulin, fewer blood glucose swings (high or low), slow and steady weight (fat) loss, less blurry vision, better sleep, more energy, feeling 100% better in general and (I hope) fewer complications down the road.

That said, I've abused my body a lot over the years. While I would never enable someone to continue abusing their body, I also won't judge them for not being ready to step up and clean up. That would be pretty hypocritical of me. I just hope that people will look honestly at what they're doing to themselves and try their best to do better, whether we're talking about drinking too much coffee, eating too many chips, or smoking too much pot.

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Permalink Reply by Jack on February 25, 2012 at 5:29am

Wow. FHS, thanks for the unsolicited advice and commentary on my lifestyle. I asked for tips on curbing general hunger, or what people who use marijuana with diabetes think about it, not for advice about lifestyle choices that you obviously don't agree with. The fact that you think the amount of "pot" has anything to do with A1C really goes to show how little you know on the subject you are speaking on. Will power, NOT any natural growing substance I put into my body determines if my BG is going to go high or not. Maybe there's a popped collar Jersey Shore thread that you can comment more accurately on.

Not to be trite, but next time, if you don't know what you are talking about, or don't have anything positive to contribute to a conversation, please, by all means, don't say anything at all. I joined TuDiabetes because I thought it would be a helpful forum for people with the same condition that would be free of judgment and condensation, but apparently I was wrong.

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Permalink Reply by FHS on February 25, 2012 at 9:23am

Sorry if I offended you Jack. I apologize if I seemed to take your issue lightly.

I stated clearly that I am not commenting on your lifestyle choice. It's your choice and your welcome to it. For any number for reasons, I might be considered a hypocrite if I was being judgemental.

You didn't ask a general question about cutting back on eating certain types of food. Your question was specific to the effects of marijuana use on your appetite. I'd love to help you with your specific question about the munchies, but you didn't catch my metaphor. For various reasons, I don't know of a way to curb the munchies after marijuana use.

Gotta get the average BG down. BG spikes = High A1c, therefore cutting down on the spikes helps, a lot. IF munchies = high BG spikes, like you said, you gotta cut down on the munchies.

From your OP, though, you are of the opinion that there is something special, or even specifically beneficial to diabetes, about your lifestyle. I will say once again, there is nothing special about your lifestyle choice that protects it from the hard choices that every other diabetic has make regarding their own lifestyle choices.

You've had diabetes for just over 10 years and you have painful Peripheral Neuropathy that you now self-medicate with marijuana. You have a self reported A1c in the 8s.

If you haven't done so already, you might want to get checked for the trifecta, PN + Retinopathy + CKD. When my A1c was in the 8s and 9s, lo and behold, I had the trifecta. Just like every other diabetic, I had to make some tough choices about my lifesyle.

If you don't have the other two in addition to PN, you are a lucky man. You are absolutely correct, a lot of it is about WILL POWER, the will to make the touch choices.

You made the connection between marijuana use and your BG problems.

If my reasoning for suggesting that maybe you might want to cut back on the pot smoking, to cut back on the munchies, to cut back on the BG spikes, to get your average BG down really offends you then this suggestion really really is going to set you off.

Take your diabetes more seriously than your pot smoking.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on February 26, 2012 at 8:54am

Unless you are eating it, I would think cheeba is pretty low carb? I don't recall what Dr. Bernstein recommends about 420 though? I agree that the thing to do is when you put down one "works" get out your other one, see what your BG is and adjust accordingly. If your BG is low "uh oh, I'd better have a snack dude..." and if it's not, d/l "Dark Star" from "Live Dead" and put on some head phones and go for a walk for 20 minutes. Then come home and test again and, if it's cool, have a snack then. And, if your walk ends up taking 3 hours, well, bring a snack (and meter and insulin...) and do what's necessary to stay on top of your bg while you are elevated?

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Permalink Reply by Randy on February 24, 2012 at 2:54pm

Okay, value judgement aside, there are really two things to address here. First of all the munchies. If you are controlling your D at all you already have the answer. Plan. Keep appropriate snacks around. Eat before you smoke and have some type of snack ready to go for your after meal smoke and munchies. It may not be the chocolate chip cookies you want, but make it a snack you can enjoy and have it ready to go. Make a food plan and stick to it.

Second is you PN and the pain. I have PN and I know how painful it can be. It can be debilitating. A year ago I could hardly move, sleep or do simple things like tie my shoes. I can easily see how MJ could help with the pain and have no problem with that at all. But, MJ will NOT help your PN. It will only make it easier to live with, for a while. Don't you really want the problem to go away and not just make yourself a little more comfortable with it?About a year ago I started taking r-ala (lots of info here and other places) for my PN. I take 1200 mg per day. At the same time I began low carb and a very aggressive battle for normal BG. Fortunately I have been able to keep my BG below 140 almost completely and have an average A1c of 5.5 (highest being 5.6) for the last year. I was 12.3 Oct of 2010. The pain got worse before it got better, but it is virtually gone now. I still have numbness, but not the pain and very few infrequent muscle cramps. It is only in the last 3-4 months that I have Started to notice big improvements and just since the first of the year that I am getting feeling back in my hands and feet. FHS is right, an A1c of 8.3 is not going yo keep you from complications or help what you already have. Take an aspirin or have your smoke, neither will take the pain away entirely or fix the problem.

And yes, popcorn is a great snack. 2 cups is less than 20 carbs. I use it to bridge the long gap I have between lunch and dinner. It solved the hunger and lows I got after work. Never used to eat it before D.

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Permalink Reply by FHS on February 24, 2012 at 3:33pm

Although, I gotta tell ya, I'm trying to picture a bunch of stoners sitting around trying to convince their stoner buddy to test his BG and take his insulin.

Tell me that isn't a Judd Apatow movie waiting to be filmed. =P

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on February 24, 2012 at 3:37pm

That MTV show that was linked a while ago actually had a couch bong session where the stoner buddy was asking pointed questions about BG to the diabetic dude.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/true-life-i-have-diabetes/1677596/playlis...

It's a bit lengthy but I found it somewhat interesting although I think the consensus was that it sucked and they were all horrible?

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 24, 2012 at 4:25pm

I'm not sure I can finish watching it. That kid who is binge drinking looks like every story I have ever heard about a young diabetic biting it in college or in their twenties. It makes me want to scream.

Did I do stupid things back then. Oh, yeah.

Nevertheless: Gah.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on February 24, 2012 at 5:46pm

He looks like me when I was in college. Except we had a *much* cooler house and more strobe lights. And, of course, a guitar? heh heh heh...

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Permalink Reply by LaGuitariste on February 25, 2012 at 12:31am

Did you have lava lamps? A psychedelic Jimi Hendrix poster? Black lights?

It's a wonder, really, that any of us manage to survive.

If asked about hitch-hiking cross-country during spring break, I will lie. Don't want to give the kids any certifiably insane ideas.

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on February 25, 2012 at 5:15am

If you have 2x strobe lights, Lava Lamps are overkill. I (still...) have the black light though. For a while I lived in the basement and got some day-glow paint and painted spirals on sheets hanging around my lair. It was quite spectacular when it was all fired up.

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Permalink Reply by Jack on February 25, 2012 at 5:50am

Randy, thank you for your reply. I'm coming off a long diabetic burnout period in my life, and have been doing excellent since regaining control over my diabetes. Your A1c is great! I'm so jealous! Hopefully my next endo appointment next week (my first in 8 years, so I'm kinda scared) will have some good numbers for me. My PN isn't so bad yet, but it's definitely there, so it's on my mind for sure. I'll try this popcorn tip that I'm hearing so much about now. Pickles/cheese are my usual go to's for hunger without carbs, but there's only so much you can eat before you never want to see it again!

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