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You just can't win....

Posted:
Mon Jan 28, 2008 10:00 pm
by Max Murdoc
....I'm a type 2 diabetic, been one for 3 years now. I have given up all forms of sugar and have to watch my carbs. I'm probably 15 lbs. over what I should weigh so it's not because I'm obese. The pill I take twice a day is known to cause weight gain which doesn't make much sense to me...I'm trying to watch my weight but the meds are causing me to gain weight. I shouldn't eat breads or pasta and fruit is not exactly good for me either (sugar content). Now I read that coffee causes my glucose levels to rise. What the fuck!
I'm not looking for sympathy...it's something I deal with on a daily basis but I can see why people with health concerns sometimes just give up. I'm going to quit reading about diabetes because I honestly think that the medical community doesn't know what the fuck their doing. Eat this...no forget that try this...nope that's not good either....it never ends. Sometimes I think that they don't want to find a cure (or they already have) so the drug companies can line their pockets even more than they already have.
No need to comment....I just wanted to vent as I drink my suicidal coffee this morning.

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:15 am
by abacab66
When my father was diagnosed with diabetes he was told to stop eating fruit. My mother said no way and had him eat all the fruit he wanted, just no fruit juice. He cut out sugar and especially any corn syrups(high fructose especially) and just generally ate better and exercised more. 6 months later his doctor was shocked to hear about his diet and the fact that his blood sugar levels were normal.
Just my 2 cents. I'm no doctor.

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:47 am
by hutter
My sister is diabetic and used to take the insulin shots, but three years ago at my insistence she changed her diet to not include any starches and cut back drastically on her salt intake. Any sweet fixes she needs are covered with fruit, and she works out an hour a day four times a week. She hasn't had to take any medication for nearly a year.

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:42 am
by Max Murdoc
My Dr. gets all pissed if my levels are above 120. I wake up with readings around 80, I check it again around 4 in the afternoon and it's elevated (100-200 depends on what I did during the day) then it drops to around 100 again at night. I think that I'm doing fine although I need to exercise more. I feel fine...have all of my toes and my head is in a good place. I just get frustrated when I read shit about how this is bad and don't do this...just a pain the the ass. I was on insulin (shots) the first month but was told to stop cause I was crashing too many times. I just have to "stay the course" and quit reading everything I see about diabetes.

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 2:03 am
by KYYX4ever
that sounds so frustrating. I see contradictory info all the time regarding health issues and it makes me wonder, too. I'm sure the medical industry really does have people's best health interest in mind, but the drug companies come around and muck things up. But then you turn around (just like you said), and there is some new study about coffee or caffeine or vitamins or whatever, and you're just left to sift thru it all. Argh ! I can empathize with you.
Except if I were told to stop drinking coffee, I would laugh hysterically and go make myself another cup. [:p]

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:28 am
by NuWaveRx
Max,
It is a sad but true fact that dietary therapy has much less scientific data to support its role in diabetes than drugs or insulin (no money in it for the drug companies you see). The endocrinologists I work with usually have their patients on insulin count carbs and give themselves insulin depending on the grams of carbs eaten. Unfortunately counting carbs in the "real" world is often difficult and frustrating. I would still advise minimizing simple sugars (fructose is better than anything else) in your diet to keep you blood sugars down. You didn't list the name of the medication you are on but if weight gain is a problem its probably either glipizide, glyburide, rosiglitazone, pioglitazone, or Amaryl. Metformin is the usual first line drug for type 2 DM and usually induces a mild weight loss--ask your physician if you haven't been tried on it and see if you are a candidate for it. Below is web address for THE final world on the treatment of diabetes--the 2008 American Diabetes Association Guidelines. They are written with a minimal amount of medical gobbledygook--so hopefully it will be some help.
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... plement_1/

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 4:16 am
by Max Murdoc
[quote][i]Originally posted by NuWaveRx[/i]
<br>Max,
It is a sad but true fact that dietary therapy has much less scientific data to support its role in diabetes than drugs or insulin (no money in it for the drug companies you see). The endocrinologists I work with usually have their patients on insulin count carbs and give themselves insulin depending on the grams of carbs eaten. Unfortunately counting carbs in the "real" world is often difficult and frustrating. I would still advise minimizing simple sugars (fructose is better than anything else) in your diet to keep you blood sugars down. You didn't list the name of the medication you are on but if weight gain is a problem its probably either glipizide, glyburide, rosiglitazone, pioglitazone, or Amaryl. Metformin is the usual first line drug for type 2 DM and usually induces a mild weight loss--ask your physician if you haven't been tried on it and see if you are a candidate for it. Below is web address for THE final world on the treatment of diabetes--the 2008 American Diabetes Association Guidelines. They are written with a minimal amount of medical gobbledygook--so hopefully it will be some help.
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/conten ... plement_1/
[/quote]
Well this is nice.....I'm on Metformin! My Dr. said that it will cause weight gain. See what I mean? Confusion. I also take Neurotin for the nerve damage in my feet but I didn't see anything about weight gain on it so he must have been talking about the Metformin. No processed sugar at all, no pop not even diet. I drink flavored water and use Splenda as a substitute in my suicidal coffee and tea but that's it. I even gave up fruit and take vitamins. The only time I cheat is at holidays and it's pretty minimal because family members rat me out.
If I was weak in the mind, I'd probably chuck the whole thing in and be like my Uncle who just doesn't give a damn but, I'd like to stick around to see my kids grow up. Thanks for the link....I'll check into it.

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 7:09 am
by Jefe
Max, my wife is an insulin-dependent diabetic and has been since age 3 so I feel for you. She started life with the joy of having doctors tell her parents she probably might not live past her twenties. Given that she is now 52 it shows how much medical knowledge has progressed since the late 50's.
Given our experiences, I have 2 questions. 1)Has your doctor talked to you about the South Beach diet or one similar, and 2) Is the doctor treating you an endocrinologist?

Posted:
Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:40 pm
by Max Murdoc
[quote][i]Originally posted by Jefe[/i]
<br>Max, my wife is an insulin-dependent diabetic and has been since age 3 so I feel for you. She started life with the joy of having doctors tell her parents she probably might not live past her twenties. Given that she is now 52 it shows how much medical knowledge has progressed since the late 50's.
Given our experiences, I have 2 questions. 1)Has your doctor talked to you about the South Beach diet or one similar, and 2) Is the doctor treating you an endocrinologist?
[/quote]
No and no but I have an appointment coming up with lots to talk about. Thanks everyone

Posted:
Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:46 am
by glokstadt
[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>
Well this is nice... I'm on Metformin! My Dr. said that it will cause weight gain. See what I mean? Confusion. I also take Neurotin for the nerve damage in my feet but I didn't see anything about weight gain on it so he must have been talking about the Metformin. No processed sugar at all, no pop not even diet. I drink flavored water and use Splenda as a substitute in my suicidal coffee and tea but that's it. I even gave up fruit and take vitamins. The only time I cheat is at holidays and it's pretty minimal because family members rat me out.
If I was weak in the mind, I'd probably chuck the whole thing in and be like my Uncle who just doesn't give a damn but, I'd like to stick around to see my kids grow up. Thanks for the link... I'll check into it.
[/quote]
Hey Max, I was diagnosed with Type 2 back in March 2000! Seven yeras of meds! Medformin has made me lose weight... I'll have to look for the link to the article that my nutritionist gave me on that drug, thanks to her it finally clicked what it's really for... I lost weight, it also makes me get bad cramps all the time and eliminate right away, you know what I mean if not already running to the toilet all the time going number 2. I'll respond to more of your writings later at home tonight...
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l237/vespa_boy_2006/Smallerglokstadt.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

Posted:
Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:54 am
by Max Murdoc
[quote][i]Originally posted by glokstadt[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Max Murdoc[/i]
<br>
Well this is nice... I'm on Metformin! My Dr. said that it will cause weight gain. See what I mean? Confusion. I also take Neurotin for the nerve damage in my feet but I didn't see anything about weight gain on it so he must have been talking about the Metformin. No processed sugar at all, no pop not even diet. I drink flavored water and use Splenda as a substitute in my suicidal coffee and tea but that's it. I even gave up fruit and take vitamins. The only time I cheat is at holidays and it's pretty minimal because family members rat me out.
If I was weak in the mind, I'd probably chuck the whole thing in and be like my Uncle who just doesn't give a damn but, I'd like to stick around to see my kids grow up. Thanks for the link... I'll check into it.
[/quote]
Hey Max, I was diagnosed with Type 2 back in March 2000! Seven yeras of meds! Medformin has made me lose weight... I'll have to look for the link to the article that my nutritionist gave me on that drug, thanks to her it finally clicked what it's really for... I lost weight, it also makes me get bad cramps all the time and eliminate right away, you know what I mean if not already running to the toilet all the time going number 2. I'll respond to more of your writings later at home tonight...
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l237/vespa_boy_2006/Smallerglokstadt.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
[/quote]
Cool, always looking for info that may be of some help.

Posted:
Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:38 pm
by glokstadt
OK I finally remembered where I read about the types of Sugar, and what my doctor was talking about between "complex" and "simple" sugars. Here is the WebMD article, enjoy Max:
http://men.webmd.com/features/sugar-wha ... day_031808
[8D]
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