Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bec on March 15, 2012 at 5:01pm

Hiya Jeff - sorry to hear of your troubles...are you Type 1/1.5/2??? When were you diagnosed??? Do you have a GP or an endo helping you to manage your diabetes???

Permalink Reply by Jeff on March 15, 2012 at 5:09pm

type 2 diagnosed 2001 gp

Permalink Reply by Bec on March 15, 2012 at 5:20pm

my advice - get an endo or get into an lmc (www.lmc.ca)

Permalink Reply by Jeff on March 15, 2012 at 5:54pm

lmc a lil too far to drive maybe ill talk to my gp who is amazing about it

Permalink Reply by JaninaWalker on March 15, 2012 at 6:48pm

I predict that you are not much of a green vegetables eater. One salad every now and then is not enough. A slice of green pepper on a pizza is laughable as the heat kills a lot of the nutrition, and it is hardly enough.

It takes 12 cups of chopped broccoli to get the RDA of chromium of 120 mcg. Some people eat a leaf of greens in a sandwich but treat it more as decoration and some people even throw out good things like parsley, as they don't like the taste. That's a mistake. I had 4 lbs of greens for 7 days and not only lost weight, but also took half as much insulin. But I know about this stuff as I've read about it for years. I've taken chromium since 1986 and it is one reason I don't need a lot of insulin as all that I do take can be used properly.

You are a T2 so not taking extra insulin, as I checked your page, so that means you are precisely the person who can benefit as by taking chromium, then all your own insulin production can be used and you won't be in the position you are in...of creating insulin that can't be used because the necessary chromium is missing. Every human needs insulin, it is just that you are not yet needing to inject it, so all the more reason to make what you do produce go further.

If you used cinnamon that has chromium in it, but I doubt you want cinnamon on everything, so the half tablet is easier and cheaper as the Swiss brand of 90 tablets is even $4 in some stores. Easy to find in any drug store as the Swiss brand is cheap. It is effective enough. Get Chromium GTF 500 mcg, not the picolinate. I am not promoting Swiss, but just saying they are easy to find and among the cheapest and that is the brand and type I have used the most, so it does work. At $4 it works out to $1.25 per month at one per day, so less than 5c daily. The drug store will be more expensive, but faster to find, so just try it until your next blood tests.

So try one tablet a day until your next blood tests and then drop to half or one every other day if you want, once you have a reserve built up, but don't take a lot. Be reasonable in everything.

Permalink Reply by Jeff on March 15, 2012 at 7:11pm

I love all vegetables but am keen on meat also i have had salads 1-2 times a day all week but I will try looking for the chromium

where do u get your chromium?

Permalink Reply by JaninaWalker on March 15, 2012 at 8:00pm

I eat mostly red meat, so I am not trying to suggest only vegetables.
Try the closest drug store. Even if you use another brand, the point is you only have 3 weeks, so you need a fast effect. That's why 500 mcg is ok for large people and for building up if you are low. The mineral does last a few days in the body so it is ok if you miss a day, but not when trying to make a difference before they do another test. I'm a 138 lbs, but have taken 500 mcg a day with no ill effects, but it is more than I need so I split them. But I am certain 500 mcg a day for three weeks is no problem at all. If you take a lot less you won't notice a difference. Every amount has some effect, but the 35 mcg that might be in a multi vitamin mineral that doesn't even disolve would be too little to detect.

If you do get the tablets, even try breaking them in half and do your own experiments of how different your blood tests are using half versus a whole, but save that for after the initial trial of the larger amount just to get you going to make a big difference. Do they do some testing at the lab or at the appt in three weeks? I do not suggest more than 500 mcg in a day.

The amount of chromium in a salad is very little, that's why it is not enough.

Permalink Reply by Jeff on March 16, 2012 at 4:09pm

the dr will be going by my bg testing i do

Permalink Reply by Bec on March 16, 2012 at 5:24pm

and that is why you should go to an endo or cde - your numbers are not enough...to figure some of these things out it may take a more in depth work up, stuff that a specialist knows to look for...I'm not saying ditch your gp, they're a valuable member of your 'team' but I am saying there are more players out there that may help you get better results...

Permalink Reply by Peetie on March 17, 2012 at 7:40am

I take chromium and I find it to be very helpful. You can get it at Shoppers, Walmart etc. I used to take gliclazide and I found that all it did was raise my numbers. My numbers came way down when I stopped it. Joanne

Permalink Reply by Jeff on March 17, 2012 at 4:59pm

I started on the Chromium this morning. how long does it take to start showing a reduction in bg numbers?

Permalink Reply by JaninaWalker on March 17, 2012 at 6:13pm

Possibly even the same day or within 3 days. So how much per day are you taking? Consider the chromium as half of the key. If you need two keys to open a lock, it doesn't matter how much of one of them you have, you still won't succeed without both. So suddenly getting the missing half of the key, means that more of your own produced insulin can be useful. But it means having the chromium in the right place at the right time and it gets there via the blood stream. Some will end up being excreted. Which brand, type and how much are you going to take? Is it a hard tablet or a soft one that would dissolve easily? And taking it while eating makes the most sense for better absorbability and usefulness. But, to notice a difference, don't think you can now eat more carbs. To notice the difference, eat the same way as before.

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