Gotta Question

[Ronman]

Good Morning All. I am new here (but nowhere else!). I am a 58 year old who accidentally discovered he was diabetic about 4 years ago. I managed to ignore this fact until my doctor and I had a long a serious discussion about a year and a half ago. Since then I have lost almost 50 pounds and reduced my cholesterol and triglycerides to a more than acceptable level. I still struggle occasionally with my blood sugar although it too was lowered dramatically when I took this issue seriously. My latest A1C was up to 6.1 after being at 4.6 a year ago. This brings me to my current problem. My morning readings are very high – up in the 170 to 210 levels. I don’t understand this because I test just before going to bed at light and they are usually in the 110-120 range. Why are my highest numbers of the day occurring when I am basically fasting? It gets even more bizarre on weekends because I am a walker and after arising at 5:30 AM and fooling around the house for a few hours, I generally go for an 8 mile walk. When I return I usually have a salad for lunch and then take a quick nap. Surprisingly, a few hours after I wake up (and having eaten nothing all day but the salad), my blood readings are even higher than they were in the morning. Can someone explain this to me? My doctor isn’t concerned because my weight is down and my overall A1c is still down from the 8+ it was when I was first tested but these readings alarm me and I am wondering if my diabetes is getting worse. Any information or advice you can offer would be welcome.

[Simon]

This is a classic case of liver dumping. Your body reacts to being starved and triggers the liver to start dumping glucose into your blood stream. When this happens before you wake up it's called dawn phenomenum. After you wake stress hormones are released and these also drive up you blood sugar levels. There is no easy solution. Some say drinking a glass of wine at bed time helps other use a slow release food at bed time like peanut butter. If you are taking meds then their timing can also be moved to lessen the effect. Skipping breakfast is not a good idea as it causes even more insulin resistance so when you do eat your blood sugar rockets.

[rzrbks]

Exactly what Simon Says(I've been waiting for an excuse to phrase something this way for a long time). That's why starving yourself is not a good idea, your body punishes you for that as well. Moderation and balance are the keys to Diabetes.


:topic:
then add in

5:30 AM and fooling around the house for a few hours, I generally go for an 8 mile walk.

means that your body is punishing you for abusing it in this fashion. If God had intended us to get up that early, he would have made the night longer.

[Ronman]

Thanks for the response. This may sound dumb but is there a website that might lay out an acceptable daily menu for diabetics? I am one of those people that likes regimentation and if there were some planned menus that I could follow, that would be ideal for me. As it is, my current daily menu consists of a cup of dry dereal at 9:30AM, a can of Progresso soup at 1:00PM and a large salad at 7:00PM when I get back from my daily walk. The weekends are a little more haphazard with me not eating at all usually until 1:00PM and then grilling some sort of meat for supper at 7:00. When I snack in the evening, it is usually on pretzel sticks, peanuts and sunflower seeds but I try to use them in moderation. I don't eat any fried foods and I use a salt substitute. I have followed this diet for almost two years and have really not lost any weight for the past year but have managed to keep off the 50 pounds I originally lost. I get the feeling that I am missing the boat somewhere as with the diet I follow and the amount of walking I do, I thought I would continue to lose weight, but haven't. Any advice would be appreciated.

[rzrbks]

There really is no such thing as a Diabetic Diet.

I think I'm safe in saying that most here have found that while they can get Direction from Drs., they have to work out the best routine for themselves.


1st. perhaps adding a small snack before going to bed will slow down or cease the liver dump. It really needs to something with complex carbs and protein which your body will absorb more slowly.

B. I know the standard rule for T2 is monitor on nights when the moon is full, but I would start monitoring before meals and 2 hours after to see what effect different foods have on you. That way you know what you can and shouldn't eat.

Third. Spending time with a dietician will help you plan out what types of meals work best for you and your very personal particular individual lifestyle.

BUt really, your #s are not that far out of line and you should be commended for the success you have accomplished.

[Cyborg]

Sounds like classic Dawn Phenomena to me...

[Harold]

Simon said it well!

You want a good healthy well rounded preplanned diet with three meals a day. Weight Watchers, google it, is as good as any.

Before dx I ate one snack and one meal a day. After dx I ate three meals two snacks, and lost weight eating more food per day then predx. Nuts like these guys :****mate:

[JacquiS]

Like rzrbks said there really isn't a diabetic diet, but there are a lot of great tips for eating right with a huge variety foods throughout the forum. Logic would make us think that our BG should be lower if we're not taking in food, but your body needs food to metabolize and sort your system out. It just needs to be the right food.

Four or five smaller meals in a day would keep your BG at a more steady level (depending of course on what those meals are made up of) and and give you more energy throughout the day. Small breakfast of cereal, or 1/2 an english muffin with ham or an egg, an omelett of ham and cheese and veggies. Late morning snack of one serving of fruit or veggies and a dip, a handful of nuts or something like that. Lunch of a salad, soup or 1/2 a sandwich with veggies and dip. Mid afternoon snack of something lower carb - veggies, nuts, cucumber chips with guac or ranch dip. Dinner of 3oz of chicken, fish or lean beef with veggies (lots of veggies) and you've got tasty meals that satisfy and keep your BG happier.

I've started a recipe thread in the recipe section of the forum. Quite a few recipes have been contributed to the thread so far and I've got a load more. I love to cook and after being dx'd I went to work on revising my favorites to be lower carb so I could still have them and not send my BG through the roof.

The thread is titled "low carb recipes". You can also email me at yahoo or in here and I'll be happy to share more recipes and snack ideas. I'll be posting more recipes in the thread tomorrow as well. I've gotten so much help here in the forum. There's another thread in recipes called "bored with the same old snacks" that I started when I was getting bored with what I was having every day. So many people gave me loads of ideas that I use all of the time now.

I hope this helps some. You'll find a lot of help here in getting a good meal plan worked out that works for you.


Thanks for the response. This may sound dumb but is there a website that might lay out an acceptable daily menu for diabetics? I am one of those people that likes regimentation and if there were some planned menus that I could follow, that would be ideal for me. As it is, my current daily menu consists of a cup of dry dereal at 9:30AM, a can of Progresso soup at 1:00PM and a large salad at 7:00PM when I get back from my daily walk. The weekends are a little more haphazard with me not eating at all usually until 1:00PM and then grilling some sort of meat for supper at 7:00. When I snack in the evening, it is usually on pretzel sticks, peanuts and sunflower seeds but I try to use them in moderation. I don't eat any fried foods and I use a salt substitute. I have followed this diet for almost two years and have really not lost any weight for the past year but have managed to keep off the 50 pounds I originally lost. I get the feeling that I am missing the boat somewhere as with the diet I follow and the amount of walking I do, I thought I would continue to lose weight, but haven't. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Cyborg]

This is a classic case of liver dumping. Your body reacts to being starved and triggers the liver to start dumping glucose into your blood stream. When this happens before you wake up it's called dawn phenomenum.

Dawn Phenomena is not caused as a result of a low or being starved but rather by the release of hormones. The Somogyi Effect (http://health.yahoo.com/topic/diabetes/resources/article/healthwise/tk3380) is caused by night time lows....

[Ronman]

I cannot quite get my mind wrapped around "Eat more to lose more weight." Sounds like some sort of infomercial for a diet supplement.

[Harold]

No supplements just the Avandia. Before dx I was working 8 to 12 hours then having a snack and then several hours later a large meal. All of my food intake was after the active part of my day and most of it when I was winding down getting ready for a nights sleep. So I was not burning up what I was eating and it was going to replacing glucose reserves and fat. After dx two meals and two snacks while active. My third meal in the evening was mostly lean meat and green vegetables. Green vegetables are mostly low carb so my glycemic load in the evenings was very low. Now I am not running on glucose reserves and adreniline both of which contribute to insulin resistance. So it's not as nutty as it sounds.

[Albertine]

The thread is titled "low carb recipes". You can also email me at yahoo or in here and I'll be happy to share more recipes and snack ideas. I'll be posting more recipes in the thread tomorrow as well. I've gotten so much help here in the forum. There's another thread in recipes called "bored with the same old snacks" that I started when I was getting bored with what I was having every day.

I would love to get recipes and snack ideas! I was diagnosed about two weeks ago and am following the diabetic association diet, but I'm mostly having grilled meat and fish with veggies and wasa crackers. I'm getting a tad bored with it. I would love to figure out how to make sushi low carb for example... ~grin~

[Cyborg]

To make sushi, get sushi quality fish and slice it up (sashimi). Put it on a peice of sticky rice with a little wasabi in-between and you have sushi.

[Intrigue]

My doctor pointed me to: http://www.onetouchgold.com. It's a free site that has over 1,000 diabetic-friendly recipes. It also generates weekly menus and will then print out a grocery list for the menus it generates. Lots of articles as well. Pretty cool. :)