Please Help...More Confused Than Ever!

[Lucinda]

Hi All, I had an appointment with a dietician the other day. She is a registered dietician, but not specialized in diabetes. I went to her due to a recommendation form a friend. The dietician was very nice and knowledgeable, but maybe not so much as far as diabetes goes. I am 50 years old, and on 500 Metformin twice a day. My waking # is around 150 and varies throughout the day from 88 to 185. Lately it has been around 140 to 150 during the day. Anyway, the dietician helped me to shave my protions down, and said that I should have 30 carbs per meal. I did not get a chance to ask about snacks...how many carbs then??? She had to leave to pick her daughter up, and my $90.00 hour WAS up. Here are some of my questions that I still have, perhaps some of you here will help me out. Oh, I have an appointment coming up with an endocrinologist this coming Thursday June 5th. Any questions I should ask there that you can help me to think of? This will be my first specialist visit since being diagnosed last January 2008.

1. I read conflicting info about weather or not to eat lots of fruit. Some places say eat all you want, and some say tread lightly when it comes to fruit. how much fruit should I eat in a healthful day?

2. What is the story on beans anyway!?! Some places suggest that you can't get enough of them for their fiber and healthy goodness, and my dietician said to avoid them as much as possible because of their carb content. :confused: Which is it!?! I love beans!!! :dontknow:

3. Should my bg NEVER go above a certain number? If (and when for now) it does, is it doing a lot of damage?

4. What about excercisng in the evening before bed? I have heard that this is not a good thing...???

Any answers you may have will be so appreciated. Thanks for always being here.

Cindy

[duck]

You'll get better advice from the Type 2's here, but in general and especially initially after your diagnosis, you'll need to test a lot to see how you are reacting to different things. Your questions about fruits and beans...for some they are innocuous, for others they are the devil in organic form. Again, the difference will come from experience and lots of testing.

I hope you are not a victim of the "Type 2's don't need to test often" culture that is out there. You have a problem with handling carbohydrate intake, and high blood sugar can lead to bad things...testing is necessary whether or not your are a Type 1 or Type 2.

As far as exercise before bed...Meh. Again, it's an individual thing, but the concern for a diabetic is if your post-exercise reaction is to dramatically lower blood sugars...If you are asleep and unable to react to dangerously low blood sugar, therein lies the concern. Also, some of us react to exercise with a natural increase in blood sugar...Again, if you are asleep, you're probably not monitoring and less likely to react to this change.

Ask your endo what blood sugar number is too high. I recently asked my endo and CDE and both said that number is 200. However, living for years at 185 probably isn't healthy, either. But as a rule of thumb, we should never exceed 200 for any reason.

[mimianvy]

Diatician is a good place to start, but you have to find your way when it comes to Diabetes, unfortunately. It's so different for everyone.

The best thing I have done for myself is to test after I eat (2 hours later) to see where I am when it comes to glucose control. Try to strive to be below 140. I am around 110 usually. Also, it helps to know what your BG level is before eating.

I am very sensitive to carbs and I have to watch what I eat, therefore I'm more so on a low carb diet which helps me to keep my A1C in the 5's.

TEST, TEST, TEST...:)

[jacobsam622]

Hi All, I had an appointment with a dietician the other day. She is a registered dietician, but not specialized in diabetes. I went to her due to a recommendation form a friend. The dietician was very nice and knowledgeable, but maybe not so much as far as diabetes goes. I am 50 years old, and on 500 Metformin twice a day. My waking # is around 150 and varies throughout the day from 88 to 185. Lately it has been around 140 to 150 during the day. Anyway, the dietician helped me to shave my protions down, and said that I should have 30 carbs per meal. I did not get a chance to ask about snacks...how many carbs then??? She had to leave to pick her daughter up, and my $90.00 hour WAS up. Here are some of my questions that I still have, perhaps some of you here will help me out. Oh, I have an appointment coming up with an endocrinologist this coming Thursday June 5th. Any questions I should ask there that you can help me to think of? This will be my first specialist visit since being diagnosed last January 2008.

1. I read conflicting info about weather or not to eat lots of fruit. Some places say eat all you want, and some say tread lightly when it comes to fruit. how much fruit should I eat in a healthful day?

2. What is the story on beans anyway!?! Some places suggest that you can't get enough of them for their fiber and healthy goodness, and my dietician said to avoid them as much as possible because of their carb content. :confused: Which is it!?! I love beans!!! :dontknow:

3. Should my bg NEVER go above a certain number? If (and when for now) it does, is it doing a lot of damage?

4. What about excercisng in the evening before bed? I have heard that this is not a good thing...???

Any answers you may have will be so appreciated. Thanks for always being here.

CindyFirst, a regular dietician is waste of money for someone with type 2 diabetes imo.


1. Fruit can be good for you if you eat the right kind . Fruit is high in fructose and can make your go up really high if you are not careful about the ones you pick. The reason their is a conflict about fruit is people still think that the food pyramid works just as well for type 2 diabetes. Sugar is sugar regard of whether it comes from fruit or a candy bar. 1 large apple has 22 grams of sugar and 29 carbs total on the other hand a peach has only 10 carbs. My best advice try different fruit and see how it effects your bg. Go out and buy a carb book like DIABETES CARBOHYDRATE & CALORIE COUNTER

2 once again some beans are good some not so good test for these as well generally speaking legumes are OK.

3 You don't want your bg to go above 140 for an extended period of time.

4. Exercising before bed has never done anything bad to me. The only time you should not exercise is if your bg is above 275. Let me make this clear exercise is our greatest weapon against diabetes. You should exercise for at least a half hour everyday. The reason you want to go for at least a half hour is because humans burn glucose for about the first twenty minutes of exercising.

Here is an example of what I do to fight diabetes.

I exercise at a half hour every day. .
• ½ hour on the stationary bike
• ½ little Gazelle
• Long walk
• Hide and seek with the boys does the trick.


If I eat something that makes my blood glucose go up high I exercise, as long as the bg reading is below 275

I Test: Mornings and before driving, 2 hours after meals and before bed.

My bg goals
Morning below 130 -----------------------ideal around 95 - 110
2 hours after meals below 140 ---------ideal below 120
Before bed below 140--------------------ideal 120 to 130
I Never go to bed with bg below a 100 when I wake up my bg will be =>130.
As I gain more control the numbers should get tighter.

To determine carbs I subtract fiber from the total carbs. I also subtract artificial sweeteners.

Some Fats are good we need them for healthy cholesterol. Mono and poly are good.
Trans fat and saturated fat are bad.

Low fat foods are not good for type 2 diabetes because they replace fat with sugars

Foods I can eat;

Meat = Beef, chicken, fish broiled or baked, eggs, hotdogs(all beef), Hamburgers, and Lamb,

Nuts - most nuts are low in carbs, peanuts, walnuts, and almonds any that have total carbs of less then 10g. I eat cashews at bed time. If I eat a meal that I would have in the past eaten fries or chips with I substitute peanuts.

Spreads I buy no sugar added jelly or I buy one of several reduced sugar brands , no sugar added Peanut butter – good for cholesterol

vegetables = Small kernel corn on the cob 1 ear per meal. I eat lots of Green beans it raises good cholesterol. I can eat squash, zucchini, celery, Tomato. Green peppers, pickles (half sours),
cucumbers

Sugar free ice cream or no sugar added (card smart is my favorite), sugar free jell-o

Chocolate that has a cocoa % >= 60% or low carb chocolate

Breads = whole grain or low carb whole grain. I try to find bread that has less then 7 grams of carbs per slice. Pepperidge farms have several brands in the 5g per slice range.

Pasta = whole grain: “Dreamfields”, Another good brand is “Barilla Plus” whole grain pasta the penne pasta is pretty good.

Rice = brown rice, wild rice

sodas = diet only

Drink lots of Water dehydration and diabetes don’t go well together.

* Avoid high carb food any anything with a lot of refined sugar or white flour

* Fruit = I Limit the amount of fruit I eat because they all have a lots of sugar and I have acid reflux brought on by the high sugar content in the stomach due to 9 months of bgs over 500
I eat apples (granny smiths), tomatoes

Books I have read about diabetes are:

Sugar-buster’s
Glycemic Revolution
DIABETES CARBOHYDRATE & CALORIE COUNTER
Diabetes for dummies
About 7 ADA books – take with grain of salt

[mzteacher]

hi lucinda,
there is so much to learn with this disease....one year in to it and i am still learning...learned this past week that 6 blackberries in the evening even with my bg in the 90's is not a good thing for me to do!!! as my morning numbers told me....i went to one diabetes class through my health plan...i did not go to any others offered....i was lucky i found this forum right at the time of diagnosis...by the time i went to the class i was 5 weeks into reading here....i learned much more here than i learned there....there is no way i could have improved my numbers on the high carb diet suggested....she suggested high carb cereals and showed portion control sizes of pasta but never gave lower carb suggestions....she suggested people have a snack for during the class...so they went to the machines and people during the class were eating sandwiches on whited bread, chips, cookies and candy....yikes!!!! would have been nice if they served or offered for purchase healthy alternatives....i asked one question...what do i do to take care of myself if i am sick?...i was very annoyed when told in this early july class..."we will answer that in our next class offered in oct"....i never went back....i have not been really sick but when i am i will come here and ask for suggestions....i really really resisted testing often since the dr had suggested once in the morning...but i soon started testing more frequently and i now know when to really cut carbs....when to pump up the walking or ride the bike before bed to help my numbers...and how certain foods affect me....so advocate for yourself by reading here and else where a lot and keep asking questions!! in answer to some of your questions...you will just need to see how different fruits affect you by testing...i have not had any problems with adding extra time on the bike before bed if my numbers seem high...
good luck in your quest for improved health!
susan

[davef]

Cindy,

It can be confusing can't it! So much information to take in an to try an balance. To be honest , I found that when it comes to food it's a case of what works for YOU we can give general guidelines but we are all different.

1. I read conflicting info about weather or not to eat lots of fruit. Some places say eat all you want, and some say tread lightly when it comes to fruit. how much fruit should I eat in a healthful day?

When I was diagnosed I went **** for leather on healthy eating, which included lots of fruit. But then through testing I found that apples were sending my BG soaring. I'd suggest that try a piece of fruit, test two hours later and see how it impacted on your BG. This is how you get to make an informed decision about what works for you.

2. What is the story on beans anyway!?! Some places suggest that you can't get enough of them for their fiber and healthy goodness, and my dietician said to avoid them as much as possible because of their carb content. :confused: Which is it!?! I love beans!!! :dontknow:

I eat refried beans and find they work really well for me. Look at the food label, with something like beans you may find that the fibre content works well to counter the carbs. Say for example you find 20g carbs and 16g fibre then the carbs you need to count are 20-16= 4g, the number are off the top of my head and not from any label.

3. Should my bg NEVER go above a certain number? If (and when for now) it does, is it doing a lot of damage?

My personal goals (which are similar) to American Diabetes Guidelines are:

Fasting: Less than 110 (6.1)
2Hrs after first bite: Less than 140 (7.8)

When it comes to the postprandial (2hrs after first bite) I will some times mess up and go over 140, much rarer these days. I don't think one can realistically say NEVER when it comes to managing Diabetes.

4. What about excercisng in the evening before bed? I have heard that this is not a good thing...???

I find that I get a short-lived spike immediately after exercising and would tend to do mine earlier in the evening.

As I say, this is a real personal thing, we can all offer guidelines and say what works/doesn't work for us, but you need to test, test, test to find what works for you.

[Lloyd]

The key to beans is "what kind?".

Baked beans are high in carbs go real easy on them.

You could have 10 servings of green beans for a meal (who would want that much though :) )

-Lloyd

[xMenace]

Exercise more and regularly. Exercising in the evening is great, especially if the alternative is none. The risk is morning highs, but IMO the DP will happen no matter.

Eat well: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Michael Pollan on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos (http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=729498103)

Control your weight. You need to watch total calories. Many choose an atkins or high protein low carb diet as this also helps to control sugars. These fill you up and really help with calorie control.

The above too may seem to conflict, but I'm not sure they need to.

Many avoid fruits. I eat lots of fruit but not a lot at once.

Take enough meds to keep your sugars down. You can ween yourself off if the above works out. High sugars are bad. Don't talk yourself into thinking otherwise.

[David_S]

The key to beans is "what kind?".

Baked beans are high in carbs go real easy on them.

You could have 10 servings of green beans for a meal (who would want that much though :) )

-Lloyd

Exactly.. get a carb exchange book .. I got one at Borders. OR check on line at CalorieKing - Diet and weight loss. Calorie Counter and more. (http://www.calorieking.com).. fooddata base.
Baked beans.. small portion.. green beans.. eat a cup for like 4 carbs.
bananas send me up.. very sugary..strawberries and watermelon.. way lower you can eay more for a portion. If you read up on the carb contents of foods.. you'll figure out what the best choices are and what gives you a decent portion for the carb amount.

[sprzepiora]

I have been using the calorie king book since my CDE gave it to me a month ago and really like it. See if you can get it for free, but if you can't I think it costs about $7 or $8

[Lucinda]

I am so very grateful to each of you who have shared with me here. Thank you so much.

I do test 3 to 4 times a day. I guess I need to keep better track of what food my bg is reacting to more closely. I will go on a food trying adventure to learn :)

I do have the Calorie King book, but have not put it to very good use yet...I will now.

Your info is priceless, and you are all appreciated. I will be seeing the Endocrinologist on this coming Thursday 6/5. Hopefully, this new doctor will be a very good one. I am understanding now, more, that I do need to be my own advocate and to figure out what MY body needs and does not want in order to be healthy.

Trying to figure it all out...Thanks to All...Cindy

[MClark]

Hi Cindy,
Lentils do really well for me...all other beans in moderation. Pears barely raise my blood sugar.....a banana can shoot me up to 270. All berries are good for me.
I exercise periodically during the day...so I can't answer your question about evening exercise.
I find that consistent testing at least 3 times a day and keeping a food journal really helped me keep a handle on my blood sugar levels.
And yes, I have Dawn Phenomenon, so I am happy if my morning numbers are under 140.
Hope some of that helps.
Mylene

[Sunfire]

Something else you could do in between doctor's appointments when you have a question is to ask Janis Roszler. She has a website which you'll have to google for since I'm probably not allowed to post the link. She's a certified diabetes educator and registered dietitian and has also authored a few books. She answers questions from visitors on her forum daily and was very helpful to me when my husband was diagnosed.