When to test

[Hammer]

I asked this in another thread, but it might have been buried so I figured I'd ask it in a new thread.

First, I see by other replies in other threads that you should test 2 hours after your first bite of food, not 2 hours after you've finished eating. Okay, so I was testing wrong and have adjusted. Now what I'm wondering is, do you test before you take any meds, or do you test just before your first bite of food?

I take Byetta, so do I test before I take the Byetta or before I eat my first bite of food? I would think that I would test before I take the Byetta, since the Byetta might lower my basal BG levels. I don't want to know how much my Byetta lowered BG levels were before I ate. I'd think that I'd want to know how much my basal BG levels were before I ate, and what they spiked to after I ate. Is this correct?

Also, how does Byetta make you lose weight? I've been on it now for about a month and my weight is the same. I see people commenting about Byetta helping them lose weight. How does it do that?

[princesslinda]

For me, if i'm testing pre-meal, I take my Byetta, test at the same time I give my shot...then do post meal 2 hrs after the first bite. I figure waiting the 30-45 minutes before eating would give an inaccurate result, as the Byetta would be in my system already.

As for the weight loss, Byetta causes weight loss because it does make you fill up faster and therefore eat less amounts of food. For me, i've not had the weight loss with Byetta like some have. Before Byetta, I ate extremely low carb, but on Byetta, I can eat more carbs and still get great post-prandial results....so I eat a little more carb-wise than I did when I was on metformin, so not as much weight loss.

[Alice]

I don't think it matters whether it's at "first bite" or "last bite" for your countdown. My endo says just checking about 2-3 hours after a meal is fine...just somewhere after you've given your insulin time to do it's job. One hour is always "interesting"...but I've learned not to overreact at that point. I just get impatient.

[kstreeter513]

For me, i've not had the weight loss with Byetta like some have. Before Byetta, I ate extremely low carb, but on Byetta, I can eat more carbs and still get great post-prandial results....so I eat a little more carb-wise than I did when I was on metformin, so not as much weight loss.

I'm sorry but I can remain silent no longer. People, CARBS (boo!, did I scare you?) do not make you gain weight, or lose weight. Weight gain/loss/stabilization, is a matter of total calories. Thats it. If you need 2000 cal/day. Even if you eat zero carbs, you will still gain weight if you eat 2500 calories of nothing but fat and protein. At the same token you will lose weight if you eat 1500 calories of pure carbs and no fat/protein every day.

This is obviously not healthy as everyone needs all three marcronutrients. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, and I realize type 2's need to watch their carbs for good glucose control, but it kill me that everyone is so carbophobic.

[jacobsam622]

I'm sorry but I can remain silent no longer. People, CARBS (boo!, did I scare you?) do not make you gain weight, or lose weight. Weight gain/loss/stabilization, is a matter of total calories. Thats it. If you need 2000 cal/day. Even if you eat zero carbs, you will still gain weight if you eat 2500 calories of nothing but fat and protein. At the same token you will lose weight if you eat 1500 calories of pure carbs and no fat/protein every day.

This is obviously not healthy as everyone needs all three marcronutrients. I'm not trying to pick on anyone, and I realize type 2's need to watch their carbs for good glucose control, but it kill me that everyone is so carbophobic.Well guess what? if type 2's don't watch the carbs we eat it will kill us we don't have the luxury of shooting up whenever we eat to much.:mad: Now back to the Topic

In the five years I have had this disease I have never tested 2 hours after first bite I am lucky if I can test 2 hours after finishing my meal. I test between 2 and 3 hours after meals I have twin three year olds going on four.;)

[slipperyelm]

I thought princesslinda was saying that in eating more carbs, she is eating more calories in total and that is why she is not seeing continued weight loss.

Why do you think everyone needs to consume carbohydrates directly, anyway? Proteins will be converted to glucose.

[matingara]

I thought princesslinda was saying that in eating more carbs, she is eating more calories in total and that is why she is not seeing continued weight loss.

Why do you think everyone needs to consume carbohydrates directly, anyway? Proteins will be converted to glucose.

yeah - that is what i thought princesslinda was saying too!

as far as carbs are concerned - there is no such thing as an "essential carbohydrate". i.e. carbohydrates are not necessary in any quantity for humans to remain healthy (from what i have read).

[princesslinda]

I thought princesslinda was saying that in eating more carbs, she is eating more calories in total and that is why she is not seeing continued weight loss.



Yes, that's what I was getting at.

I have found that the less carbs I eat, the easier it is for me to lose weight, even if I consume more fat. I also find that the less carbs I eat, the more carb sensitive I become. I'm not saying this is true for others, just that it seems that way for me.

While I don't consider myself to be "carbophobic," I do realize that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE carbs, and if I don't limit them, I will pay for my indulgence with really high blood sugars (and weight gain, as I find portion control difficult with carbs in my case)....and if my blood sugars go really high, its quite difficult to bring them down quickly, as i'm not on insulin. I admit, i'm weak where carbs are concerned...if I eat a little, I want more!

[davef]

People, CARBS (boo!, did I scare you?) do not make you gain weight,

Nope you didn't scare me. Carbs don't scare me. The idea of controlling my BG doesn't scare me. The idea of controlling my BG to avoid complications motivates me. Being careful of the amount of carbs I eat is a tool I use to control my BG. I'm on metformin, so the best way I have of getting my numbers down is to not let the go up in the first place, watching carbs is part of that. I have lost over 45lbs since November, low-carb eating has helped because I'm eating fewer calories.

[art]

I'm on Janumet.
But I certainly have the "luxury" of insulin if I need it. I think of it as a booster shot if I do something stupid as I did n Sunday night.
As I ate that excess of carbs I knew I'd be shoving a needle in my leg that night.
shhhh, the meal was worth it.
If you're on oral meds I sort of think you should have a bottle of insulin around just in case.
Can't hurt

Art

[lottadata]

Byetta delays digestion significantly.

I've read reports from several people taking Byetta that they saw very good numbers at 2 hours, but when they tested at 4 hours they saw the high spikes they would have seen at 2 hours before taking Byetta.

So if you might want to test 3 or 4 hours after eating a known amount of carbohydrate to make sure you aren't deluding yourself about the impact on blood sugar.

Years ago I remember seeing great numbers after eating pasta and thinking it was a great food for people with diabetes, only to test at 4 hours (at a friend's suggestion) and see a wicked high spike.

[Hammer]

I didn't intent to get a discussion going on carbs, but I do understand how everything works. You NEED carbs, and without them you'd die. Carbs are where you get your energy from. A lot of people think that you get energy from protein, and that's not true.

Every person needs a certain amount of carbs, protein and fat to maintain their body weight. If you eat the same number of calories a day that you burn off, then your weight will remain the same. If you increase the number of calories you eat each day, and don't burn them off, then you'll gain weight. If you eat less calories each day than you burn off, then you'll lose weight.

If you burn off 3500 more calories than you ate, then you'll lose 1 pound of weight. So using that number, if you cut back your daily caloric intake by 200 calories or you burn an extra 200 calories a day, then in 17½ days, you'll lose 1 pound of body weight.

If you cut back on your carbs, your body then has to get it's energy from someplace else. What it does is to breakdown your body fat and use it to create energy. This is what happens when you diet. You'll have less energy, but by cutting back on carbs, you reduce your caloric intake and your body needs to breakdown your stored fat to give you the energy you need. When your body breaks down the fat, a byproduct of this process is released into your body. This byproduct is called Ketone.

If you severely cut back on your carbs, your body will be breaking down large quantities of fat and releasing large amounts of ketone into your system. This can lead to ketoacidosis which can kill you.

That's why it's always better to go on a balanced diet and not one of those fad diets. You need carbs, you need protein, and you need fat. The trick is to eat them in a balanced proportion. In my mind, the best way to lose weight is to not diet, but to exercise. When I say not to diet, I don't mean to eat whatever you want, I mean that you should eat a balanced diet, but then exercise enough so you burn off the calories that you ate. If you should cheat one day and eat something that you shouldn't have, then you would need to exercise longer to burn off those extra calories in order to keep from gaining weight.

One thing though....burning calories is a slow process, so don't think that you can eat a candy bar, then walk for an extra 5 minutes to burn it off. It might take to an hour of walking to burn it off.

I remember reading that if you ate a spaghetti dinner, to burn off the calories in that dinner, you'd have to row around the isle of Manhatten three times to burn off the calories.

[matingara]

I didn't intent to get a discussion going on carbs, but I do understand how everything works. You NEED carbs, and without them you'd die.

So, tell me, how many grams of carbohydrate do I need to eat every day in order to avoid dying?

-- Joel.

[Hammer]

So, tell me, how many grams of carbohydrate do I need to eat every day in order to avoid dying?

-- Joel.

That depends on the person....your activity level, how your body handles carbs. There is no specific number. If you think you don't need carbs, go on a zero carb diet. If you live past four weeks, it would be a miracle. Even the bodybuilding magazines who suggest a zero carb diet to "lean out" warn you to not go over two weeks on a zero carb diet.;)

[matingara]

That depends on the person....your activity level, how your body handles carbs. There is no specific number. If you think you don't need carbs, go on a zero carb diet. If you live past four weeks, it would be a miracle.

whatever you do, don't tell the Eskimos (Inuit(???)). That news'll really screw up their day.

and while you are at it, don't tell bees that (according to aerodynamic theory) that they should not be able to fly. nothing worse than a population of paranoid bees. they'll be falling out of the sky the world over...