diabetes

[damian]

As usual I've failed to find much existing. Are there any threads here on diabetes ? especially type 2 ?

I got the diagnosis on monday and trying to get my head around what to do.

The stuff online is somewhat contracdictory regarding diet. I don't know if it's worth spending time and I presume lots of money of dieticians ?

Obviously I need to cut out fizzy drinks, cakes etc. cut right back on white rice/bread/pasta, saturated fat and increase fruit, veg and lean meat. Seems there is some disagreement on hi gi and low gi and some specific foods. It's a bit confusing.

Doctor wants to try diet/excercise before medication. average is 9 with individual tests between 12 and 8. Blood pressure is fine.

[dabbler]

A dietician is definitely worth it. A good one will be able to give more practical advice than your GP or specialist.

If not already on one, see if your GP can put you on a "care plan". Not sure but it may be age dependant. The cost of 5 visits to a mix of associated medical practioners like podiatrist, physio, nutritionist and others is fully covered by Medicare. If you are eligible and your GP has not suggested .... well I'll let you decide.

Time to go through the pantry too.

It's not the end of the world, and sometimes a change in routine will go a long way to dealing with Diabetes. Good luck with it.

[BobL]

As usual I've failed to find much existing. Are there any threads here on diabetes ? especially type 2 ?

I got the diagnosis on monday and trying to get my head around what to do.

The stuff online is somewhat contracdictory regarding diet. I don't know if it's worth spending time and I presume lots of money of dieticians ?

Obviously I need to cut out fizzy drinks, cakes etc. cut right back on white rice/bread/pasta, saturated fat and increase fruit, veg and lean meat. Seems there is some disagreement on hi gi and low gi and some specific foods. It's a bit confusing.

Doctor wants to try diet/excercise before medication. average is 9 with individual tests between 12 and 8. Blood pressure is fine.

I was diagnosed last October and went from zero pills to 14 pills a day. Now I am on 7 pills a day. On the day I was diagnosed my sugar level was 25+! The docs were horrified I was driving. The diabetes had caused me to have horrendous leg cramps that combined with the need to go to the loo every 40 minutes ruined my sleep. One night the cramps tore a calf muscle and while hobbling to the dunny I fell though a plate glass door - I'm lucky I am still here. I developed serious blood clots in my left leg and had to take a couple of weeks off work and was not allowed to fly for 3 months. I had also developed some kidney damage.

My doc sent me to diabetes classes but it took 2 months to get a spot in the class. The classes are 3 hours a week for 6 weeks and they cover everything. The woman running it was a diabetes specialist but we has sessions with a dietician, a exercise specialist and a Podiatrist (foot specialist). By the time I got to the classes I had read everything I needed to know but I still found it useful to re-affirm a few things. I would really recommend these classes particularly to people that don't want to read about it

What struck me was how dopey the other students in these classes were. We started with 16 students but only 6 were at the final class. I was the only person in the class that could touch their toes. Most of the students were looking for a magic or one shot fix. One guy made himself sick by taking too much fish oil. Another relatively young guy of 35 told me on the quiet that he still ate a couple of Maccas and a bottle of coke every couple of days but just took an extra shot of insulin to cover for it. I felt really sorry for the guy, he weighed 170 kg and had mental health issues but I saw little hope for his future. One 75 year old student student was as thin as a rake. All his meals consisted of a couple of slices of bread and butter, maybe a slice of processed cheese and a cup of tea. He rarely ate veggies or fruit.

There was nothing wrong with what I was eating - I was already eating lots of veges and fruit and we have always been lean and low meat eaters. My problem was just eating too much of everything and not enough exercise so I had to change volume and proportions of food and get out the walking shoes again. It was not that hard but I do miss my carbs. I agree there is some conflicting info on the foods - I think everything is OK in small amounts on an occasion basis

Now under an average amount of meds my sugar is under excellent control. I even have a couple of beers on weekends. Our new Border Collie Pup demands lots of walks so I sleep a lot better although I still need to lose another 10 kgs.

Just ask if you need any more info.

[_fly_]

The biggest, and a must is exercise. You have GOT to walk for 1hr a day.

Best options are nothing white except colliflower. So basmati rice, wholemeal bread (you get used to it quick enough).
and yes sugar and cakes and chocolate and lollies are out.

I did the diet thing for 2 years, then onto pills, now at the max that I can have. Endo wants me on Insulin, but I retired from work and just do more exercise.
Get a vege garden going.
But its only a matter of time before I am on insulin. Think Doc or endo said nearly all type 2's are insulin dependent by 10 years.

And all these things that say No-sugar is great but they still have carbs.

No Alcohol as that turns into sugar as well.

I do spoil myself as I have ONE chocolate teddy bear biscuit for my birthday and a shot of port.

Have a look at sugarlessco.com. Aussie company that I have done computer work for over the last 25 years. They started selling hair clips and stuff and have been doing this for the last 10 or so years.
You can get their stuff at chemist warehouses.

You need to exercise (work) and eat like your grandparents did.
And its the proper diet for everyone, No potato chips, no fast food junk.
Just Meat, vege, wholemeal to be safe.

Hope that helps.

[Sturdee]

As usual I've failed to find much existing. Are there any threads here on diabetes ? especially type 2 ?



Damian have you tried Diabetes Australia (http://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/) and their Queensland branch (http://www.diabetesqld.org.au/) websites.

My wife has type 1 and is a member of the Vic branch and they are very helpful and if you have to go on insulin they administer the NDSS scheme.

Peter.

[Scott]

Some sound advice already. Diabetes is a life changing diagnosis and the complications, should people with diabetes ignore the advice (and there are plenty!), are hideous. Heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, gangrene of the toes, stroke and the list goes on. As a nurse I see this stuff all the time because most sufferers think they'll be right.

So YES, see a dietician. Peter (sturdee) is also spot on when you should get in touch with Diabetes Australia. A dietician, Diabetes Australia and your doctor are the only ones you should listen to and take advice from.

[specialist]

That's a blow, I know a bloke that has diabetes and he has just had half of his foot cut off. Needless to say, he doesn't manage his very well.

Robert

[acmegridley]

I 'm a type 1 dabetic,insulin needle 4 times daily,its hard to get your balance right,you have to keep in mind what you are eating, and tailor your dose to that,keep low on the carbs.I was on Metformin tablets three times daily ,they were like horse pills to swallow,Lipitor for cholestrol
Optometrist once every twelve months,podiatrist every eight weeks,wear fully enclosed footwear.I use to walk every night for an hour now only half an hour three times weekly,find other things I'm doing around the house makes up for the other 4 days, dietitian will give you all the help you need regarding what foods are in and what foods are out,portion sizes etc.Most docs like your bgl under seven and around 4.5 -5 if you can get it that low Good luck:2tsup:

[Astrodog]

The biggest, and a must is exercise. You have GOT to walk for 1hr a day.

...snip...

You need to exercise (work) and eat like your grandparents did.
And its the proper diet for everyone, No potato chips, no fast food junk.
Just Meat, vege, wholemeal to be safe.

Excellent advice from fly.....

[damian]

Thank you for the replies.

I am sorry some of you seem to be a lot worse off than me.

I used to have a healthier lifestyle, but my partner has a chronic illness so I have to look after her and 2 houses and work full time. 18 months ago my employer moved me into the cbd and the extra commuting and aggravation put me over the edge. I haven't been coping and diet went to hell. I guess this is what brought it on. I also have what I believe to be an infect prostate, or something similar. I've been putting up with it for 3 years but now am trying to get that treated. It was this investigation which showed up the blood sugar.

6 years ago I thought getting a desk job was a good idea as I don't bounce like I did as a kid and my previous more physical work had an element of danger to it. I'm thinking now that may have been the worse decision of my life.

I should clarify when I said I haddn't found much I was referring to the forum. I've read several web pages but have been surprised at the variations in advice on diet. Particularly regarding fruit. Also wholemeal, wholegrain and seeded breads.

I cannot walk, my knees are stuffed. I did a bit of swimming tuesday and am going again tonight. Unfortunately most pools are either shut or on limited hours in winter. Never understood that but anyway...

Thanks for the comments. I'll keep reading.

[issatree]

Hi Damien, & Others,
Hey Damien, don't get to uptight about this Diabetes thing.
Everybody who has it, is Different to one another.
I for one do not let it get to me, noway. I am very aware of it. I do my test at 6pm. every evening, & average approx. 6.1, which my Lady Dietician, is quite pleased with that. I'm Type 2.
If I want to eat Chockies, kfc, flavored milk, etc. I do.
So why ?
1 because I can & 2, because they will be a one off. Reading may go up, so what.
I'm still a reasonably healthy man of 75, & I just keep going.
I don't do the exercise that most do, mainly because I'm not to keen on wasting time checking out all the gardens in the area, when I can move around My Shed, doing something useful.
Hey Damien, That's Me, not everyone else.
Cheer up Mate, & Chin Up as it is not the end of The World.
Gee, I can feel that Drop Bear about to Jump On Me for these Comments.

[_fly_]

Swimming is good as well, one of the better things to do.

The best time to do the exercise is first thing in the morning, You will get more benefit for less effort. The afternoon walk or swim is not as effective. My local pool opens at 5am.

I know a few people that claim to be diabetic and I guess they are but its more fructose intolerance (fruit sugars) only set them off. They eat lollies have sugar and cake, coke etc and then crow that theirs is under control.

I'm with you, thought desk job was easier route, Not so, missed breakfast to often and didn't eat well enough.

Breakfast is also a must, best if you eat 5 times a day (grazing).
Porridge is good in the morning (low GI), half a tea spoon of honey in it is ok to sweeten it.
Your body needs to know it is going to get food at regular intervals. So try to avoid skipping meals. Carrot and celery sticks with raw mushrooms for morning tea.
Also try to have your main carb meal for lunch instead of dinner. So have the pasta or bread rolls, bit of pizza for lunch.

For dinner try to stick to the meat (size of palm) spuds or small noodles or rice (same amount) and as much carrots, peas beans and salad you can scrum down (you'll fill up).

The 2 bad fruits that I know of are grapes and rock melon. Send you into orbit. The rest fresh fruit is ok, keep away from those prepacked fruit in syrup/juice.

[BobL]

I should clarify when I said I haddn't found much I was referring to the forum. I've read several web pages but have been surprised at the variations in advice on diet. Particularly regarding fruit. Also wholemeal, wholegrain and seeded breads.

One reason for the variation on advice regarding fruit seems to be because of the amount of sugar it contains. I always thought you could eat as much fruit as you like but it turns out you can't especially if it is dried or worse still tinned. Too much fresh fruit, especially the sugary ones, is not right even for a diabetic. At one stage I was eating about a kg of fruit and nut mix a week, plus 3-4 pieces of fresh a day, the dietician said that was way too much especially dried fruit, so then I switched to just fresh fruit but my consumption crept up to 6-7 large pieces a day and sometimes I would eat a kg of grapes or half a water melon in one sitting. This was also just way too much calories and they largely get converted to fat. I still eat about 4-5 pieces of fresh fruit a day but I now buy small pieces of fruit so although it feels like I'm eating a lot, in term of calories it only equals 2-3 pieces.

At the other end of the scale is exercise. In my mid forties I was getting way too heavy and went on a supervised diet and exercise program and lost 36 kg. I managed to keep it off for only about 12 months and then it slowly started creeping back on, so 10 years later I was right back where I started and growing. This coincided with the ageing and passing on of our faithful hound and it was about 2 years after she passed away I was diagnosed with diabetes. Now we have a new Border Collie pup and she is extremely active so it's lots of walking. I now do about an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening. I sympathise with people who cannot do this.

[_fly_]

The other one I do is I have one of those quiet exercise bikes. I just use that for an hour in the morning while I watch the tele news and have a coffee.

You don't need to go hard, Its good to use the big muscles in your legs.

I know you said walking was difficult but how would you be on an exercise bike? You can ALWAYS find one on the side of the road like I did. Plenty of people throwing those away.

[BobL]

Swimming is good as well, one of the better things to do.

The best time to do the exercise is first thing in the morning, You will get more benefit for less effort. The afternoon walk or swim is not as effective. My local pool opens at 5am.
My exercise physiologist said biologically it doesn't matter when you exercise It's just that one is usually tired in the afternoon so it is more of an effort but it is still better than nothing.


I know a few people that claim to be diabetic and I guess they are but its more fructose intolerance (fruit sugars) only set them off. They eat lollies have sugar and cake, coke etc and then crow that theirs is under control.

I'm with you, thought desk job was easier route, Not so, missed breakfast to often and didn't eat well enough.
I'm the reverse. I've always eaten a big breakfast - it's always contained healthy items but just too much of them. I've not eaten butter or marg on toast or bread for 30 years but I was eating too much bread.


Breakfast is also a must, best if you eat 5 times a day (grazing).
Porridge is good in the morning (low GI), half a tea spoon of honey in it is ok to sweeten it.
Your body needs to know it is going to get food at regular intervals. So try to avoid skipping meals. Carrot and celery sticks with raw mushrooms for morning tea.
Also try to have your main carb meal for lunch instead of dinner. So have the pasta or bread rolls, bit of pizza for lunch.
Good advice. I still eat more at breakfast than any other meal, porridge with oats, psyllium or bran, Half a handful of nuts and craisins, or fresh berries, plus a cut up banana. Plus piece of wholegrain toast (no butter) with baked beans or lo-fat cheese or dry fried egg.


For dinner try to stick to the meat (size of palm) spuds or small noodles or rice (same amount) and as much carrots, peas beans and salad you can scrum down (you'll fill up).
For me whole potato is OK but plain mashed (with nothing added) sends my sugar up. Except for Basmati or brown, rice sends my sugar levels up.


The 2 bad fruits that I know of are grapes and rock melon. Send you into orbit. The rest fresh fruit is ok, keep away from those prepacked fruit in syrup/juice.
Grapes does send my sugar up but Rock melon doesn't. Watermelon is worse that grapes, probably because I'll usually scoff a quarter of a melon at one sitting.

[_fly_]

The reason I said exercise in the morning is My numbers are high in the morning. The numbers before meals are high but come down 4 points after the meal (2 hrs).
Dietitian said If I can get my morning number down then I should be ok for the rest of the day as what I'm eating is right stuff.

What annoys me is I can wake at 5am and be 6.1. Go back to bed for a couple of hours and at 7am I'm 9.7, No food, just went back to sleep.
Apparently its the liver releasing sugars to help wake you up.

Bread is my killer as well, can be 9.7 when I wake, Have 2 pieces of wholemeal toast (one plain and one Vegemite), 2 hrs later I'm 12. On 2 pieces of toast?

I HATE walking for the sake of walking.
If I'm walking along a beach fishing then I'm fishing.
If I spend 4 hrs walking in water prawning then I'm prawning.
If I spend 2hrs in vege garden digging and pulling weeds then I'm gardening.
If I'm playing 9 holes of golf (hate golf as well) then I'm golfing, not walking.

I retired early to do all these things and plan on moving to Lakes Entrance so I can do them every day. Will go soon to look for something.

[BobL]

The reason I said exercise in the morning is My numbers are high in the morning. The numbers before meals are high but come down 4 points after the meal (2 hrs).
Dietitian said If I can get my morning number down then I should be ok for the rest of the day as what I'm eating is right stuff.

What annoys me is I can wake at 5am and be 6.1. Go back to bed for a couple of hours and at 7am I'm 9.7, No food, just went back to sleep.
Apparently its the liver releasing sugars to help wake you up.
That interesting. Unless I have not been silly the day before my BGL is lowest when I wake up in the morning. Then I go for a walk and my level will be the same or up - rarely down.

Bread is my killer as well, can be 9.7 when I wake, Have 2 pieces of wholemeal toast (one plain and one Vegemite), 2 hrs later I'm 12. On 2 pieces of toast?/[QUOTE]
Same for me except my BGL is usually below 8 when I wake, but it will be 10 following 2 pieces of toast and a cup of tea.

[QUOTE]I HATE walking for the sake of walking.
I'm the same. That's probably the main reason why I stopped walking when our previous dog passed away.
I have a good incentive to walk the new dog otherwise it will chew the house and contents to bits. I don't even mind walking in the rain, I have a good raincoat and take a large umbrella and my iPhone with a good audio book on it.
I also try and incorporate something else into walking the dog, usually it's just to get bread and/or milk or a trip to Bunnings, sometimes I stop off at the local bookshop or a cafe.

Something else that really helps soak up time very quickly when walking (and driving) are audio books. I get most of them from the Librivox website at no cost and we get a lot from the public library. I have listened to at least 100 books now and some of them are very good. Currently I'm working my way through stuff on Antarctic exploration. I started with Cook's exploration of the Southern Pacicifc, Scott's last voyage was pretty harrowing, Shackleton's "South" is absolutely amazing, and now I'm into Amundsen's "South Pole" which is sort of clinical but still interesting - all these are free from Librivox.

[_fly_]

Something else that really helps soak up time very quickly when walking (and driving) are audio books. I get most of them from the Librivox website at no cost and we get a lot from the public library. I have listened to at least 100 books now and some of them are very good. Currently I'm working my way through stuff on Antarctic exploration. I started with Cook's exploration of the Southern Pacicifc, Scott's last voyage was pretty harrowing, Shackleton's "South" is absolutely amazing, and now I'm into Amundsen's "South Pole" which is sort of clinical but still interesting - all these are free from Librivox.

I tried to use audio books. Used to get Doctor Who audio books. but they were one MP3 and I can't skip, So if I stopped at shops I had to listen all over again. Never got to the end.
Also got the out of copyright ones as well, dracula etc. But when I do stop to look at something I get lost in the story.
Maybe I can't walk and listen at the same time?

I should get a std MP3 player. The smartphone is a pain to use.

The other one I get is if I walk or ride for 2 hrs in the morning. I fall asleep by 11am and sleep till 4pm. Thats no good either.

[damian]

I read the stuff on the DA website and followed some links. I've decided to manage myself until my next doctors appointment and then I'll decide if the dietician is required.

I suppose one good thing comming out of this is I'm getting fitter. Did my second session last night and while my efforts are still trivial (600 m) I was never gasping for air as on tuesday. I was feeling a lot better.

Still lots of conflicting information. Is it inevitable that I'll eventually be on pills and then insulin ?

Anyway thank you all again for the comments. I was quite depressed earlier this week but I'm getting over it. You helped.

[BobL]

I read the stuff on the DA website and followed some links. I've decided to manage myself until my next doctors appointment and then I'll decide if the dietician is required.

Have you got yourself a BG meter. I reckon that is the only way you will know if what you are doing is making a difference. If you have one are you on the NDSS? It saves a heap of money on the BGL monitoring consumables.

[issatree]

Damien, you need that Dietician. They make all the difference, & as someone said, you also need the BG Meter, & the D will most likely be able to get you 1 for free.
Otherwise, you could do the wrong thing, as you don't know enough about it yet, & you could make a few awful health mistakes, & nobody would want that.
The D or should I say My D suggested that I do my Blood Glucose Test at 6pm.ea. night.
I find if I have anything after 3.30pm, then My Reading goes way up at 6pm.

[damian]

I understand what your saying and I appreciate your concern.

My doctor only talked about a dietician after I asked about it. He didn't talk about bg meters. I've been seeing him for a good many years and he knows me well. I think he wants to see how diet and exercise go for a month. The other thing is I'm keeping a food diary so when I go see the dietician I'll have data to present.

I had been getting up every 2 hours through the night. I had assumed this was due to my other problem. I'm now rising once. I think dumping the doughnuts, muffins, chocolate busiuits, ice creams....has helped :) My body has been screaming for sugar since last week ...

I'm seing the doctor again on the 16th so we'll se how it goes.

[_fly_]

Hi Damien,
You get used to not having the sweet stuff soon enough. You get to a point where a granny smith apple is sweet to ya.
The main stuff a dietitian is going to tell you is portion size, but you can get that from the brochures from diabetes Aust. And eat fish and veges and stop greasy food, and 2 pieces of fruit.
Basically all the stuff you have already guessed. No more added sugar and fast food stuff. You know the deal, the eat 5 stay alive thing.
Use the smaller dinner plates (8inch) instead of the big ones 10 inch. Thats about the right amount.
I only used a dietitian after 6 years when my morning numbers went up and I did the diary as well.

Took a blood reading before I ate and 2 hrs after. (should be below 6 before you eat and below 10, 2 hrs later).

I tried eating less to let the reading go down but that doesn't work.

If you can stay within 4 points 2 hrs after eating you are ok with what you are eating.
If your number is above 6 before you eat its medication and exercise for that part of it.

Hope that helps.
Peter

[acmegridley]

The going to the toot is one of the symptons of diabetes, as well as being thirsty all the time,my doc has me on Natrilix a slow rease diuretic ,worst piill I have ever taken,it gives you no warning to go to the toot, you have to go,I've sussed out all the toots in shopping centers etc,so I dont have an accident the fluid tablets also prevent fluid building up around your ticker ,He will probaly put you on Metformin to start,and go from there. Stay well:2tsup:

[BobL]

I understand what your saying and I appreciate your concern.

My doctor only talked about a dietician after I asked about it. He didn't talk about bg meters. I've been seeing him for a good many years and he knows me well. I think he wants to see how diet and exercise go for a month. The other thing is I'm keeping a food diary so when I go see the dietician I'll have data to present.

I had been getting up every 2 hours through the night. I had assumed this was due to my other problem. I'm now rising once. I think dumping the doughnuts, muffins, chocolate busiuits, ice creams....has helped :) My body has been screaming for sugar since last week ...

I'm seing the doctor again on the 16th so we'll se how it goes.

At my worst I was going to the loo every 40 minutes resulting in a seriously broken sleep pattern and flying was a nightmare because I had to plan my loo visits to anti-coincide with landing and takeoffs. During meetings I had to often excuse myself. I was feeling incredibly thirsty and the only thing that would fleetingly slake my thirst was a sweet fizzy or a beer! Which BTW made things worse. I did not have a sweet tooth up until then and rarely ate doughnuts, muffins, chocolate busiuits, ice creams etc

Have you taken a fasting blood sugar test

[damian]

The swimming I think is making a huge difference. Last night I slept 6 hours straight for the first time in years. I've got a lot more energy too. I'd been going to bed as early as 8 oclock now I'm full of beans till 10. I rise at 6...

I've been taking it really easy starting at 500m. Last night I did a kilometer, which is a tad annoying in a 25m pool.

I also read up on the glucosamine pills I've been taking this last year or so. The link is weak but there is some evidence they may damage pancreas and raise blood suger. So I'm cutting them out.

Anyway I'll get my next blood done on the 7th so we'll see what happens.

Again thank you all for the comments.

[doug3030]

Hi all,

2009 was my year, I got three signs that age was catching up to me all in the one year; I turned 50, became a grandfather and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

I was living in Darwin at the time, After moving to Melbourne I was fortunate enough to have my diabetes care taken over by the Royal Melbourne Hospital where I was selected to take part in the rollout of a new treatment. When I got involved it was probably just beyond what you could call experimental, but it certainly was not mainstream. I was started on a n injectable drug called Byetta (google it) which when I started, no GP had heard of and chemists looked at you funny when you gave them the script. Now so many people around here at least are on it that you have to order it in advance.

It works to slow your digestion so that, at least in my case, the small amount of insulin I am still producing can cope with the sugars being released slower by my slowed digestive system. Apparrently it does not suit everyone as everyones diabetes is not the same. For me Byetta injected twice a day, just before breakfast and dinner has brought my BSL down from around 23 to somewhere between 6 and 8, in conjunction with some fairly minor lifestyle changes of course.

one dietary change is low GI potatoes Carisma, Australian first certified Low Gi Potato, naturally grown (http://www.carismapotatoes.com.au/). these are not only the best tasting potatoes I have ever had they are certified low GI. these days I steam most vegies including potatoes but once steamed they can be mashed, and a little bit of butter wont hurt you occasionally. they dont fry very well so chips are off the menu but us diabetics shouldnt deep fry much anyway.

I have been a bad boy today. We took our nearly 3yr old granddaughter to a friends daughters birthday party and I ate fairy bread, drank soft drink, ate deepfried food, white bread, pancakes and chocolate coated strawberries, not to mention bithday cake. and now I am at home having a couple of beers cos its Saturday night. I have been good all week and my BSl is probably 15 if I measure it now but it will be 6 point something tomorrow at 6pm. yes I am concerned about my health but i love to live life. if I am careful the damage is minimal and quality of life is good. I can participate in events with my granddaughter and that is important too.

I have heard the arguments from those who say that I need to eat responsibly all the time or I am shortening my life. Well I might get hit by a bus next time I cross the road. I live in Melbourne and the busses are all driven by jack brabham wannabees anyway so the likelihood that diabetes will be what kills me in the end is problematical.

Anyway, if I eat what the dieticians tell me, and do all the exercise the doctors tell me I should, never have a beer and relax with some mates, they cant guarantee that I wil live longer, but I can guarantee that it will SEEM LIKE its a lot longer

Guys, make the most of what you have, whatever it is. Dont conentrate on what you CANT do; look at what you still CAN do. you will find tht that is most things you ever did.

Well thats my view on it anyway, take away from it what you can use

Doug

EDIT: somethig I forgot to add:

One of the most important things to managing Diabetes is to maintain a regular pattern of when you take your medication and when you eat, there is research that indicates that disrupted eating and sleeping patterns caused by shift work or similar can actually bring on diabetes and related conditions because our circadian rhythyms got out of synch and our liver is not ready to process nutrition if it is presented at the wrong time fotr your body clock, see http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Health/2012/05/03/Scientists_learn_how_to_reset_body_clock_746158.html

[Astrodog]

I have heard the arguments from those who say that I need to eat responsibly all the time or I am shortening my life. Well I might get hit by a bus next time I cross the road. I live in Melbourne and the busses are all driven by jack brabham wannabees anyway so the likelihood that diabetes will be what kills me in the end is problematical.


The problem is, diabetes often doesn't just knock you over like a bus.... it may eventually, after it has taken your eyesight and legs, and maybe some brain in a stroke.... if you do value quality of life, pay some attention to your diabetes. There are fates worse than death in this world.

[doug3030]

Read it again astrodog, like I said I have heard these arguments before an yours is just the same, I take it seriously, but I live for the moment on occasions, yes ther is a risk i might risk further complications but in the overall scheme of things is a a small spike in your BSL for a few hours going to guarantee that you will go blind or have a foot amputated? If you stick rigidly to the rules does it guarantee that it wont? Life is full of risks. You could argue that a non-diabetic is shortening his life by having a few beers on a saturday night. It might even turn him into a diabetic. Where do you draw the line?

Mate, I am concerned for your safety, dont cross any roads, dont get into a vehicle and drive or be a passenger, dont get into a boat and dont take up parachuting. more people become disabled or die every year from these pursuits than die from diabetes.

Take it seriously by all means but dont let it rule your life, thats all I am saying!

Doug

[d5k]

Damian

Check out this web site.

Loving Life with Diabetes (http://lovinglifewithdiabetes.com/)

Cheers, David

[damian]

Thank you for the comments. I'm reading but not much to add just now.

[bsrlee]

I saw in the ABC News that Glaxco has been fined $3 Billion in the US for false & misleading information on their diabetic drugs as well as over charging and other shennanigans. That was for just 3 charges out of about a dozen.

[issatree]

Hi to all,
Since I gave sugar away, I have found " A Sweetener " to my liking.
However, to buy from a Discount Chemist $4.20, to buy from a Super Market $8.99, & this is for 300 Tablets.
The D / Chemists do not stock it anymore. Asked My Diabetes Educator ( She is Fantastic) & suggested to try Priceline & Aldi.
Nothing at Priceline, BUT, Aldi have one called " Merryfield " Great Taste, just to my liking, 300 Tabs. $ 3.50.
So you may guess where I am getting my Tabs. from now on.

In defence of the other makes, I found them to be a little bitter to my taste.

My understanding is that these Tablets have no effect, like Sugar does to a Diabetic.
My Educator has told me they will not affect ME in any way.

[_fly_]

Well I can tell you that some recent dutch research has suggested that your body "Tastes" sweet and reacts the same way.
I asked my Endo and she had not heard about it. She usually responds with have you looked it up on the internet???
If you can find on the web (sorry, I know) any information about a program called "sweet misery" its talk about aspartame.
Its the fake sugar, They talk about how it is the MOST tested substance (by themselves), When a big bunch of independent docs wanted to test it they refused to give them any to test.
Apparently it breaks down into stuff and Wood Alchohol, This part is poison and does not leave your system, pickling your insides like metho drinkers.
I'm still using it 25 times a day in coffee, Yes I drink 25-30 cups of coffee a day, Endo says coffee has no effect either.....
Peter

[BobL]

. . . Endo says coffee has no effect either.....
Peter

Coffee and its effect on diabetes is still not clear determined.
It's a bit like the red wine and heart disease debate.

This is what the American Journal of Nutrition says;


Several prospective epidemiologic studies over the past 4 y concluded that ingestion of caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee can reduce the risk of diabetes. This finding is at odds with the results of trials in humans showing that glucose tolerance is reduced shortly after ingestion of caffeine or caffeinated coffee and suggesting that coffee consumption could increase the risk of diabetes. This review discusses epidemiologic and laboratory studies of the effects of coffee and its constituents, with a focus on diabetes risk. Weight loss may be an explanatory factor, because one prospective epidemiologic study found that consumption of coffee was followed by lower diabetes risk but only in participants who had lost weight. A second such study found that both caffeine and coffee intakes were modestly and inversely associated with weight gain. It is possible that caffeine and other constituents of coffee, such as chlorogenic acid and quinides, are involved in causing weight loss. Caffeine and caffeinated coffee have been shown to acutely increase blood pressure and thereby to pose a health threat to persons with cardiovascular disease risk. One short-term study found that ground decaffeinated coffee did not increase blood pressure. Decaffeinated coffee, therefore, may be the type of coffee that can safely help persons decrease diabetes risk. However, the ability of decaffeinated coffee to achieve these effects is based on a limited number of studies, and the underlying biological

This finding that glucose tolerance is reduced shortly after ingestion of caffeine or caffeinated coffee and suggesting that coffee consumption could increase the risk of diabetes is one that is still being explored on. I have read somewhere (can't recall the source) that a cup of coffee turns a small carb meal into a large carb meal and a big carb meal into a HUGE carb meal. I suspect that this may have contributed to my contraction of diabetes because we have always eaten healthy at our place (i.e. no butter or animal fats for 20 years, lots of fruit and veg, relatively little sugar) but I had been eating big carb meals and drinking lots of double espressos (~8 per day). I'm not suggesting it was the only cause. I had stopped daily exercise after our dog passed away and was just eating too much.

There is no doubt that long term excess caffeine will increase BP so if you have diabetes and want to bump you BP up a notch then go for lots of cafeinatted coffee.

As you can guess I'm a mad coffee drinker too, I still have 2 double shot espressos for breakfast and then a couple more before before lunch. Then I switch to decaf. Fortunately I have a found an excellent source of freshly roasted decaf beans. SWMBO only has decaf. When we are both at home between us we go through about a kilo of coffee a week.

[Ashore]

Damian
The misses was diagionised a few years ago , the free diabetic classes were a god sent . As for excercise google ' Heart Movers' in your local area , they have a great 1 hour excercise a week at local gyms , you don't have to be a member of the gym and their cost here is $5 for the session
They were originally set up for heart attack sufferes getting some good excercise but now cover the whole field
With only a few diet changes ( get a copy of " Simply too good to be true vol 3 , or any of them realy it's a cook book thats excellent for the kind of changes you need to make and still tastes good.) and some suitable excercise you'll be ok , if you need to go on to pill then so be it and these days if you need insullin the delivery system is fantastic gompared to years ago.
Also get registered with diabetics Australia as you medications , test equipment and on going help is government subsudised and affordable.

I noticed you mentioned soft drinks. Definately stop all soft drinks , a bloke should have 12 carb portions a day ( 1 portion being a slice of white bread ) a can of soft drink is 3 carb portions 1/4 your daily need in a single can , try the cotties concentrate with no added sugar it's about the lowest still with taste thats drinkable

Rgds and do something about it now and you'll get through it with the minimun of fuss.
:2tsup:

[damian]

One of the things my food diary is telling me is how little protein I've been eating. I like meat but I tend to minimise it in my diet, I guess just because it's so easy to eat. I only eat lean meat like eye sirloin chicken breast etc, although the odd bit of bacon. I'll probably have to increase my meat intake to stop getting hungry all the time.

It is an odd and unexpected observation. I'm finding the food diary quite useful. It actually stops me eating naughty things because you have to "confess" them afterwards :)

My excercise options are limited because of my knees. Even hosing a bit of glyphosate around the back yard on saturday made them quite sore. I'm up to 1500 meters in the pool now so trying to get 4 sessions a week in. I THINK I've lost a couple of kilos aswell.

Again thank you all for the comments.

[_fly_]

Doing well by the sounds of it.
The swimming 4 times a week is just the right thing.
I'm guessing your weight will drop to when you are the weight you should always have been. It won't keep dropping, will level out.
Keep it up.

[BobL]

Good work Damian.

With the exercise it's a matter of hanging in there long enough to make it a habit. It may take months or even years but then if you stop you find you miss it.

[damian]

Actually I enjoy it. I've always quite liked swimming laps, but the darn pools close in winter. I found one that's stayed open this year and apparently soon they will reopen the 50 m which was closed for maintenance. I'll miss the heating but after you've done 10 lengths or so you warm up.

The ice just makes you quicker :D

I'm looking into swim spas and tethered swimming to see if I can get a small pool for home and do that. Apparently a lot of people find the swim spas too turbulent to swim in, and other problems. I don't like 25m much and anything smaller would be painful.

Perhaps I'll ask a question here soon. The WWF has good advice on every subject. :)

Time is my enemy. I didn't have any before, haven't been in the shed for about a year apart from emergencies. Now I have negative time...sigh...

[damian]

5.6!

doin the dance of the happy man.

Now to maintain it...

[Scott]

5.6!

doin the dance of the happy man.

Now to maintain it...

Well done Damian, keep up the great work. It's very refreshing to see how someone is taking his challenges by the scruff of the neck. :)

[_fly_]

Well done Damien,
You've got it well in hand by the sounds.
Keep doing the exercise and you can almost eat anything.
You may even find that the doc takes you off meds if you keep it off.

And you've helped me as well. After telling you that exercise was the key I got a bit cheesed at myself for giving the advice and not taking it myself as much as I should. So now I do 45 mins (12 km) on exercise bike every morning. And I also got a walking machine.
I also park at the outside end of the shopping centre so I have to walk just that bit further.
Thanks for that part.

Good on ya
and keep going.

[BobL]

Onya Damo!

[damian]

The doctor said: better than 11.9 :)

I'm up around 2000 meters in the pool. It takes about 80 minutes but I'm not chasing an appearance in London. I just want to be over the aerobic threshold and stay there. I'm going to start working on speed though rather than just distance.

I was never put on meds. He thought we'd try diet/excercise first. I am going to see a dietician though, but I'm flat out for now between swimming, cooking and going in to get probed for the prostate problem. That's going to be uncomfortable esp if they take biopsies.

Anyway, not dead yet :)

_fly_ I deserve no credit. I am glad your getting back to it though. A spot of light excercise is probably good counsel for all. Best of luck!

[_fly_]

A year ago I was 7.7, Doc was not happy.
6 months ago I was 7.1, doc was happier as I was going down.
I retired then and spent time doing things around the house.
As I said I ride 45 minutes every morning now (12km). Play golf one day a week with a mate.

Over the last 7 weeks I've had a hypo (low) once a week.
And just before seeing endo I had 3 in 3 days, usually at 11pm.

Just got latest result 8.7.
Doc says 60% of people go to insulin within 10 years.

I better get a prescription for depression as well now????

Still not sure what I'll do next.

[damian]

I am sorry to hear your struggling. Yes I believe I'll eventually go downhill, it's possibly the most depressing thing about diabetes.

Still, cheer up, something else is likely to kill you first :)

I remember when I was 21 I counted up the people I'd known who died unnatural deaths over the previous 3 years. I'd averaged one a month. I've been expecting to kick off any minute ever since. Always slightly surprised when I wake up each morning. :D

Good luck!