Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Victoria on October 9, 2009 at 9:12am

I am right there with you man! What you're experiencing is everything I'm going through, so I'd love to chat about it. I often have questions about similar stuff no one can really answer. I'm counting calories and cycling and running. I've had problems in my feet from running, and I've even seen a neurologist about it, but no one can give me a reason as to why. I've also felt like my legs and/or feet often swell after intense excercise (specifically cardio.) Again, no one can explain it. I also have joint pain at times. All that being said, the way exercise makes me feel afterward is worth all of these ailments. Plus, I'm finally starting to see some results in my body from the diet and exercise, which proves to be quite the motivation. After talking with my endo, he's said many of the same things you've said. Insulin is a tricky thing, and it can cause inflamation. He also said that while exercise is important to diabetics, it's also harder on our bodies and can affect us differently. I cut out caffeine which seems to help, and I'm considering watching my sodium intake. I've been eating a lot more fruit, and aside from adjusting for the sugar, that really helps me to feel better, too. I'm interested in holistic meds, but haven't found anyone to answer my questions. Sorry for the long response, but I'm in the same (or similar) boat.

-Victoria

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Permalink Reply by Peter Germano on October 9, 2009 at 12:40pm

Victoria,I am so pleased that you shared your situation. We do have many similar concerns.Like you ,I have moderate to severe discomfort after I sit down and begin to relax for the evening.I never experience this discomfort when I'm active.My training program is quite rigorous and I have the pain you would expect from stressing yourself.. It was suggested, last evening,that when you food shop,work the paremeter. Avoid the isles,that's where all the "BAD STUFF" is.Focus on foods that come from the soil. Avoid as many items that are packaged and have ingediants that start with any type of sugar, and there are many types.Eat as many fruits and veggies as you can. If you eat some type of fruit ,it must be balanced with acceptable fat to slow the rapid matabolization of the natural fructose in the fruit.Reduce you cosumption of fruit juices and avoid fruit drinks. They have an abundance of sugar and sugar like products in them. Juices are nice but not worth the sugar content,especially for people with the BIG D.Avoid all foods that have ingridents that you need a PhD in Chemestry to pronounce not to mention understand.Use olive oil as a dressing and to cook. If you do not like olive oil, conola is an acceptable subsitute. Make sure you get enough omega fats prefeably from the source fish,walnuts. Avoid suppliments if you are able to obtain the go to the source it selt,the food.. Wow, I think my reply is longer than yours . Thank you and eveyone for your tolerance. Pete

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Permalink Reply by Judith Wy on February 16, 2010 at 10:24am

My diabetic class I am in at my hospital for 6 months won't let me count calories. You must only count the carbs and no how many the dietician figures you should have per meal. The inflammations and pain could be fibromyalgia which is associated with diabetes. I do grueling workouts and get the swelling. I just need to remember to load up on carbs first and make sure I stay hydrated enough while working out which has caused problems for me. I am type II on Metformin and dropped 90 lbs. in 6 months and still going although should be done. I now have created an eating disorder and getting help for it starting tonite with Celebrate Recovery. Look at it this way, it's always something. lol J

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Permalink Reply by Cathy Jacobson on October 9, 2009 at 9:24am

Victoria and Peter, I would be very interested in know about holistic ways to treat diabetes. I take enough pills to be considered a meal in the AM....some work, some do not. I am not on insulin as yet, but expect that one is coming even for type II....I never exercised before D; but found that it does help with my weigh and the D. I do biking on a recumbant bike as I have arthritis in my knees , and swimming, water walking etc every other day...that seems to work for me, help me lose weight about 50+ lbs to date and lowers my numbers. But anything that isn't a "drug" would be worth knowing about and sharing with my team. Keep me posted.

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Permalink Reply by Mickey Shane Leonard on November 17, 2009 at 5:58am

Hi Cathy -
I have a 6 year old daughter who is type 1 and also some friends who are type 2. I am new here to this site and just came across your discussion. I currently have my daughter on an all natural supplement called "AIO". My good friend with type 2 is on it and has seen amazing results. While I know type 1 and 2 are completely different things, I felt like getting my daughter on it was worth a shot. My friend has been taking the "pill" treatment from her DR for over 4 years. Rarely ever did she have a BG of less than 200. She started taking AIO about 3 months ago. Now, her BG is consistently between 90-120. Because of this, her DR told her to keep taking the AIO and decreased her pills in half. Since decreasing the pills, BG has not increased and my friend hopes the DR will consider an ever further reduction in the pills next month. If you are interested, read about the product at: www.CeresLiving.com
Hope it helps!

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Permalink Reply by PatientX on February 4, 2010 at 9:07pm

Cathy

I am a type 2 who was once on insulin, stopped taking insulin and went to pills. I started taking a lot of pills at one point and I decided it was too much. My numbers have dramatically improved and I have gone from taking januvia 100 mg and 2000 mg of metformin a day to just 750 mg of metformin.

I am going to tell you it was not an easy accomplishment but not an impossible one either. I dont take any magic pills or herbs or anything like that. What I started doing which you already do is excercise. I tend to excercise at least 30 minutes a day everyday. Just like taking a daily pill but a little more fun. Another big switch which really helps is changing what you eat and the frequency of testing. I tend to test 7 to 10 times a day. Before I even put any food in my mouth i test and that includes snacks. Knowing my numbers before I eat anything has helped. It makes me think twice about what I am going to eat. Also I do tend to eat more frequent meals instead of three large meals a day. If my numbers are around 120 and 140 during lunch I will change the type of meal that I eat for that meal. I have a list of meals that I can eat that I know how they will impact my numbers. I have tested a lot to figure out what will impact my glucose levels and what will not.

So excercise and what we eat as type 2s are just as powerfull in my opinion as the pills that we take. If you want more details feel free to shoot me a message

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Permalink Reply by Kelstyr on May 24, 2010 at 8:54pm

Hi,

I am really interested in this. My A1C has gone up above where I want and I want to loose weight and get a tighter control on my Blood Sugars.

My protien levels are high in my kidneys and I am worried. My Dr. said it is not too late for me to make improvements but they must be done now. So much for the ignoring the fact I am diabetic and just counting on the pills to take care of it for me.

If you eat so many smaller meals a day, how many carbs do you eat per meal?
Did you increase the number of carbs you eat a day, or just split them up between more meals?
Do you find yourself hungry often due to the small meals?

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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on October 9, 2009 at 11:02am

I don't know where your physician got this "insulin causes inflammation" stuff. I have heard silly stuff come out my doctors mouths and I would just chalk it up to confusion. The following are my opinions about weight.

Many people struggle with weight. Exercise on it's own is not going to cause you to lose weight. It may in fact cause the reverse by making you extremely hungry after exercise. Insulin can cause you to gain weight. When you have excess energy circulating in your body (like high BS), high insulin levels can pack that energy onto your body as fat. And the converse is true, in order to lose body fat, you need to demand energy from your body and lower your insulin levels. That is what triggers fat burning.

There are some basic things you can do help with weight management while on insulin. First, keep your fasting levels low by keeping your dietary carbs low and constant through the day. Adjust your basal insulin to be the "correct" needed to be just enough to keep your BS low between meals. Reduce your calories to just below the level needed to sustain your weight and adjust your eating to lose weight. Exercise to keep your bodies metabolism charged up, but remember, you won't lose weight by calories burned, but be reduced calories taken in.

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Permalink Reply by Maureen on October 9, 2009 at 1:50pm

Weight can be a struggle, whether you're on insulin or not. Ultimately, weight gain is caused by eating more calories than you are consuming.

I am insulin dependant. I have lost over 30 lbs over the past 5-6 months by watching calories and exercising. On insulin, I simple take less insulin to cover the smaller/healthier portions I eat.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Thavorn on October 9, 2009 at 4:46pm

Wells thats interesting... From my own research I have found out that insulin is a hormone that causes the body to store fat, (I know shocking) don't get me wrong just yet. However are you taking shots to control your diabetes? Insulin supposedly causes the body's response of storing fat (thats my understanding) so if you take shots and require a lot of insulin your body is being told to store a lot of fat. That doesn't mean go off insulin because then you will end up with DKA. I have had problems before with running and climbing, legs swell and everything becomes twice as hard as it was. But this can be easily avoided with tight BG control. I also used to get swelling and unexplained blood pooling in the legs too, but after I cut down the fat and paid attention to my BG more everything becomes a little easier. Now I am 143lbs on a swim team, a varsity basketball team, and training for a fun run. I don't think that insulin is the cause of weight loss problems. Ok it may affect it and make it harder to control like everything else with diabetes but personally, tighter BG controls for me and less "fatty foods" can help aviod swelling and inflammation. I say this because of the lactic acid that is the by product of the body trying to break down fat. Too much Lactic Acid causes a rise of acidity levels in the blood and can cause blood pooling in the chest and legs. Tight BG control can help but cannot cure that. But thats just me, it depends on what works for each person I guess. Good luck

-Johnny

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Permalink Reply by Peter Germano on October 11, 2009 at 9:38am

Jonny,I appeciate your reply. It dose make sense to me. I haven't been as rigorous with my BG levels and this has to have an effect on my limited weight loss, You mentioned you are pleased with the results of you exercise program. I have noticed that I have lost a lot of inches and also have more muscle mass.Have you also noticed those or similar changes? please let us know. Thanks Pete

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Thavorn on October 14, 2009 at 8:21am

Hi again,
To tell you the truth, for me its a definite yes. I used to be 37in now I fit in to a 30in pair of jeans pretty snugly. As for muscle mass, well can't say much on that but I after having lost the weight I put some back on but my overall shape has remained the same, you could say that my muscle mass has increased, I don't know to be honest though. But the increase in muscle mass is good, not only for diabetics but for everyone, its the fat burning powerhouses so to speak. Also as an added benefit the muscle tissue is the main tissue where insulin can be used to its full potential. So hypothetically, if one had a body fat of only 2% and the rest was a mixture of lean muscle mass and bone, his/her insulin sensitivity would be significantly higher than normal. Because the body is better able to make use of it. Same thing to me when I lost the weight. I used to be on a 24 unit a day basal rate and then extra boluses, now I am on a 16 unit per day basal rate. Significantly lower, but not perfect. Anyways sorry to get off topic. Yes I have noticed similar changes and yes they are very useful and rewarding, but be careful because you might end up with your sensitivity increasing and thus making yourself more prone to hypoglycemia and possibly hypoglycemia unawareness.
Experiment, try, and consult your doctor.
Cheers
Johnny

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