Another New Person Here

[LoraH]

Hi everyone! I am new here, finding my way around the whole diabetes thing. I was diagnosed today, with a fasting blood glucose of 336. I was pretty sure of the diagnosis for the past month, since the symptoms started, and have been working on changing my diet and exercise. The good thing about it is that I have lost 40 pounds! Yay!

The bad news is that I am sure my husband has diabetes too. He has been checking his blood some using my meter, and his numbers are always over 250. For the past month mine have gone between 266 and 507.

My doctor is starting me on metformin, but said that it is very likely that I will need to go to insulin in a few months if they don't do the job.

Another bit of bad news is that my daughter was tested recently, and is borderline diabetic. We ALL need to work on things in this family! My other daughter is very athletic and runs a couple miles every day, and watches what she eats. I am so proud of her! She lost about 30 pounds last year, and has worked very hard to keep it off.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what brings me here, and to say hello! I will be spending a lot of time reading the threads here and learning all I can about this disease that steals my beloved Pepsi away from me. :eek:

[notme]

Welcome to Diabetes Forums LoraH. I am sorry about your diagnosis and your husbands probable diagnosis, but you have found a good site for help and answers to your many questions.

Welcome :wavey:

[matingara]

hi! and welcome to this great resource.

my first reaction to seeing those high sugar numbers is that you must consume quite a large number of carbohydrates.

if you are like me, i was under the impression that there are a lot of good carbohydrates. for a lot of people with diabetes, carbohydrates are the enemy! you wil find that out if you read a lot here.

but, it is unlikely that doctors, CDEs and dietitians will tell you this. they will recommend things like oatmeal, multi-grain bread, fruit etc.

for some diebetics, consuming these "so called" healthy foods is decidedly unhealthy. in fact, if you eat a banana, for example, you might as well just eat a few tablespoons of white sugar (as far as your BGL is concerned).

so, you may think you are "eating right", but you may not be as far as your body is concerned.

anyway, we will get into all that as we get acquainted here.

:)

-- Joel.

[Kanga]

Welcome to DF :)

[Psycho Penguin]

Welcome to DF. The good news is that Diet Pepsi doesn't taste half bad and you'll get used to the taste. You'll eventually try to comprehend how you could EVER put so much sugar into your body just for a drink.

[princesslinda]

Welcome Lora! Glad you found the forums. Lots of great information and friendly people here.

Sounds like your family is in the midst of a huge wakeup call. The steps you take now will go a long way in ensuring a long and happy life for all of you, and may also keep your daughter from becoming full-blown T2.

I encourage you to begin watchin your carbs (esp. white foods like bread, rice, pasta potatoes). Eat lots of green veggies, salads, lean meats, eggs, cheese, nuts. Sugar free jello and pudding are great for when the sweet urge hits.

Also, its a great time to start an exercise program. Exercise helps with insulin resistance and will make your blood sugars more stable. You've got built-in support since all of you are pretty much in the same boat. It may be hard at first if you're not used to doing it (it certainly was for me), but it will eventually become a habit.

Testing your blood sugar is very important, esp. at first. If you test 2 hrs after your first bite, you'll see how different foods affect your blood sugars and be able to make smarter food choices. I was given the goal of 110 or less fasting, and 140 or less 2 hrs after first bite of food.

Get the book "The First Year, Type 2 Diabetes," by Gretchen Becker. Its full of good information and is a great resource.

Come here often, get everyone in your family involved. You owe it to yourself and to each other to become as healthy as possible. Complications result from consistently high blood sugars, so get those number down ASAP.

Post often, use the forum to help support you through the rough times and celebrate with your on your victories.

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the forum, LoraH. Glad you found us!

Karen

[Mich]

Hello LoraH and your whole family too.

You will absorb all of this information, don't worry. It will become automatic to you (and hopefully your husband and daughters too.) It's simpler if everyone in the family understands--makes it easier when you cook for one another or chose a restaurant.

I agree with the Penguin on Diet Pepsi. And other diet drinks too. You'll get to the point that you'll take a mistaken sip of the real thing, wrinkle your nose and say......
...along with me, gang:)
HEY, THIS ISN'T DIET!

Welcome!

Mich

[LoraH]

Thanks for the welcomes! I know that I will learn a lot here.

Since I started having symptoms, around the beginning of September, I have been checking my blood a few times a day at least, and also I changed our diet drastically. We really have been big carb eaters, as I love to bake. I have made all our bread for years, and make the best darn chocolate chip cookies and banana cake around! lol Also, potatoes are pretty cheap, so we ate a lot of them.

I gave away the potatoes we had, plus some pasta and white rice from the cabinet. I still bake bread, but now it is with whole wheat flour, oatmeal and flax seed meal in it. I want to get some 10 grain flour, but I have to order it online, and haven't had the extra money for it lately. We have no health insurance, and we are paying for cancer related stuff already. This on top of that is going to really be a nightmare for us.

I try to keep things healthy for us, but I know I have more to learn. We eat a lot of veggies. My husband makes some really awesome soup with ground turkey and a dozen or so types of veggies (no potatoes, rice or noodles), plus beans of some type, soaked overnight instead of out of a can. We try to have soup once a day, plus raw veggies and cheese for snacks. We have started eating about 6 times a day instead of 2 or 3 times, small meals, of course.

Our BG levels are still very high, even with this change in our diet. Im starting metformin today, so I am hoping that this will help bring it down. We also go for walks nearly every day, and walk some on our treadmill, and also do some stretching and other light exercises. I have chronic pain and it is hard some days, but I do some exercises every day, even if it is just part of what I can do on my good days.

I look forward to learning a lot from everyone here! I will be reading and reading and reading over the coming days. I have agoraphobia, so I wont be able to go to classes to learn that are held at our local hospital. I have to get my information from online.

[princesslinda]

With the metformin, it can take a few weeks to see optimal results, so don't be discouraged if you don't notice a big change immediately.

Sounds like you're already making some good choices.

Look for the Becker book...your library may have it, but if they don't, its worth the $$ for the great information it contains.

[Mich]

I had to give up baking bread. We just couldn't eat it fast enough, though we all love it. I tried every kind of whole grain, but still I had to stick to one piece a day for my blood sugar. Now we buy a whole grain bread and keep it in the freezer for my husband when he needs some toast.

Don't underestimate how much you can do with lettuce, Good, crunchy iceberg leaves (about 3 thick) will wrap up all of the good stuff in a taco. We make fish, beef or chicken tacos with sliced tomatoes, cheese, guacamole and sour cream.

Lettuce will make a nice fat ham and cheese "sandwich" with mayo and mustard and tomato and onions.

Deviled egg salad, rolled up in lettuce is tasty.

Tonight we are having B-L-T salad. Everything but the bread with a bit of creamy dressing and a sliced avocado.

It's just a bit of a shift in thinking and none of the flavor lost.

And I just do so much better without it.

[LoraH]

That sounds really tasty! All of it! I will put lettuce on my shopping list, as well as some of the other things you mentioned. Most of our meat is ground turkey or skinless/boneless chicken breasts. We can get good ground turkey cheaper than any other meat, and it is healthy, so we eat mostly that.

One meal that I like to make is to brown some ground turkey and then put some onion soup mix and some water in it, a bit of quinoa and some stir fry type veggies. It is really tasty!

[matingara]

One meal that I like to make is to brown some ground turkey and then put some onion soup mix and some water in it, a bit of quinoa and some stir fry type veggies. It is really tasty!

just a note that 100 grams of quinoa has 21 grams of carbs.

:)

-- Joel.

[LoraH]

I guess I have a lot to learn. Having been diagnosed for only a couple of days, many of our "old" eating habits are still there. I guess I didn't think about how many carbs quinoa has, as it has so many health benefits.

Looks like I need to start from the beginning, and eat nothing but celery until I can learn. If celery is still allowed, that is.

I am starting to wonder if it is even worth it. How can I learn enough to make eating interesting? If it is low carb, then it is high calorie. Low carb and low calorie seems like will give very few choices of what to eat.

Thanks for the heads up. Guess I need to just clear out all the food we have in the house and start over, once I figure out what we can eat.

[princesslinda]

Lora, don't be discouraged. Its difficult at first to know what to eat. Its hard to change years of eating habits. Hang in there. Eat by your meter to find out what works for you. Try some of your favorites, perhaps in just smaller quantities, adding a big salad before the main course to help fill the space. Try not to think of it as "I can't have this." Instead, think of it as "I can have this, but I chose not to in order to have better health."