Author: NewdestinyX

Got my 1/20/10 (6 months) labs back.. He hasn’t transmitted all to my computer yet — but reported several over the phone via his voicemail to me.

First the YAY!!! And my meter sorta told me that I could more than simply ‘hope’ for this — but that it was comin’…

New HbA1c = 5.7 !!!!! :elefant:

So into the higher side of mid 5’s.. I’ll take it! and be thankful!! I expected a little lower but as several of you have suggested there are other things that go into the making of an A1c.. like I could still have some higher numbers when I’m sleeping — I was still using bolus to correct some highs when I carbed it up a bit… We’ll see. But my doc refers to that number as excellent and ‘normal’ non-diabetic range. So he’s thrilled as am I.

I had him do Magnesium, Potassium, D3 and B12 — Magnesium and Potassium were middle of normal.. But D3 and B12 were both on the VERY low side of normal — B12 was 33 (ref range 30-100) and I forget D3.. So he suggested supplements for both of those. I’d already started D3 – 2000iu day. He seemed to stumble when he told me B12 — he said both 1000 micrograms and 2500 micrograms in the same sentence.. So ‘what are you all taking’? –those of you who take B12 supps?

Then the BUMMER news — is that unlike a lot of you — the 6 month mark after dropping carb intake did NOT bring my LDL’s into line — they went up from 118 –133 :(. Total cholesterol from 185-198 — HDL came up a point from 48-49.. My doc still thinks I started the Pravastatin in October. I didn’t fess up.. So he wants me to up my 20mg to 40mg.. Obviously I’d start the ’20’s which I’ve never taken. Makes me wonder if it’s all the eggs and peanuts I eat. My wife and I are going to go get Farm Fresh eggs at a local farm near us from here on out – as Grocery store eggs are known to have more bad cholesterol after sitting on the shelf. And I switched to almonds and walnuts and sunflower seeds as my nut mix I make for myself. But I can’t ‘duck him’ any more.. I think I need to try a statin and HOPE for the best in terms of no side effects. You guys may want to talk me out of it — so ‘go for it’.. 🙂 I really DON’T want to… But he’s convinced that Diabetics are at a hugely higher risk for complications of LDL levels above 100 – even though normal for a nondiabetic is 130 LDL. It just seems weird that if my HbA1c is in the ‘non-diabetic’ range — then why would I use the ‘diabetic’ range for LDL.. That’s weird to me.

SO again THANKS to all of you for your encouragement and GREAT advice and for ‘bearing’ with my ‘forward’ style of communication. I’m getting healthier and almost ALL of what I’ve learned about how to do that has come from the DF family! Hoping this new <50g carbs/day ‘diet’ (I’m calling it — rather than a "new approach" for BG control) will bring my weight goals to where they need to be too.

Blessings all!

Gang – this started in the thread on "Ketosis versus Ketoacidosis"_ and deserves a thread of its own. I’ll post my lead in question and scenario I’m trying for your thoughts and experience. If I may ask that, though discussing the role of carbs in this equation is totally necessary, can we steer clear of the ‘philosophy angle’ of lo carbing as a BG control approach in this thread, please? Nuff said. And thanks!
———
But it just sorta clicked when you said, Jen, that calorie in calorie burned might be as simple as it is – since as a T2 injecting insulin I’m sort of ‘even-ing’ out the variables with the carbs to the point where my BG level going high isn’t the issue. Exercise IS a variable in BG level so I have to factor exercise into my bolus amounts. But I’m also still convinced that ‘fat intake’ level is a variable in this equation and MUST factor into my plan.

For now-here’s my plan to drop the next 10lbs this month– I’ll be modifying my carb intake at breakfast on workout days (I work out right after bfast) up from 10g to 25g and using 1% milk in my coffee and lo fat breakfast meats. I may even try the Atkins shakes instead with a hash brown or an apple or banana blended into the shake — we’ll see.

But then at lunch I’ll drop back my carb intake to no more than 20g carbs and 25g carbs at dinner. I’ll move to ‘lo fat’ products on dairy stuff, etc. That’ll be a max carb intake of 70g/day for this period — AND -lo fatting ‘a bit’ — I’ll adjust my morning bolus on days that I exercise by the ‘factor’ as outlined in the "Using Insulin" and "Think Like a Pancreas" books — that should keep BG levels normal and still allow me to burn some fat.

I’m using the FAT burn settings on the Elliptical and Recumbent Bike and will use hi reps, lo weight on my weight routines. For now I’ll keep my Lantus at 28u and see if I end up going low after the exercise regimen. I might need to cut back on it too. Don’t know.

Thanks for any input you could offer from your experiences. Of course I really need ‘experiences’ mainly from people injecting insulin and possibly even moreso from T2’s – though you T1’s can help ‘us’ HUGE too! — more context from the other thread in the next message.

Gang,
As I’ve been going back through "Think Like a Pancreas" and reading my ‘new’ copy of "Using Insulin" I’ve come across this term ‘ketoacidosis’ again and watching your ‘ketones’ when exercise is involved… I’m a little lost here.

Most Atkins people talk about WANTING to ‘achieve ketosis’ as a GOOD thing that means you start burning ‘fat’. But then that ‘same process’ seems like it can be ‘bad’ for a diabetic if it turns into ‘ketoacidosis’.

I need a little schooling on the bad and the good here. I WANT to burn FAT — Don’t I???

Can you give me some insight? Or point me to a thread where this is discussed in detail? Keep in mind I’m on insulin (see my sig) and I don’t super lo carb and have no intention of doing the Atkins diet. But where’s the balancing point for a guy that wants to drop that other 75 or so he needs to meet his goals — but doesn’t want fat floating around in my blood stream –if that’s even the issue. And there are lots of folks that don’t do Atkins or even particularly lo carb that lose a lot of weight. So I’m pretty confused.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer this ‘newb’ on this topic of ‘ketones’ in general: the bad and the good.

You know — I think all of us read on our Metformin prescription bottle ‘DO NOT USE ALCOHOL WHILE ON THIS MEDICATION’.

And yet I know several of us use wine to help AM blood sugar levels if we have Dawn Phenomenon. Or we simply enjoy it in moderation.

What is the real deal with alcohol and Metformin?

Do some of you follow the label strictly? – and therefore you’ve decided NOT A DROP FOR ME!

Has anybody ever had any trouble having some alcohol in moderation while on Met?

What is taking alcohol with Met/Glucophage supposed to increase the risk for such that they’d post such a warning on the label?

Thanks!

Have any of you actually experienced Lactic Acidosis from the Metformin? Or from any other source for that matter?

It seems the main effect it has on the body is depleted electrolyte levels.. If that’s really the main ‘down side’, symptoms being weakness and nausea — would it be as simple as getting a quart of Gatorade to correct the inbalance?

Thanks,
Grant

Hey gang,
I know this topic has come up from time to time and there are scads of good comparison articles out there about accuracy. I just thought you might like to see the results of my testing between 4 meters — my examples below are from several multiple test scenarios and they represent the ‘LEAST variance’ between meters. So other 4 meter comparison tests I did had WIDER ranges. This is the ‘MIDDLE’ of the range – meaning the CLOSEST they got. All tests were done with clean hands and prick area untouched within 1 minute of hand cleaning and all test strips were touched with the same blood site. (I did testing taking blood from 3 different finger tips {worried that the third meter’s remaining blood wouldn’t be as ‘true’} and the results weren’t markedly different.

High range:
FreeStyle FREEDOM LITE: 151
Bayer BREEZE2: 140
RELION MICRO: 134
RELION CONFIRM: 135
(new for 2010)

Medium range:
FreeStyle FREEDOM LITE: 121
Bayer BREEZE2: 115
RELION MICRO: 112
RELION CONFIRM: 111

Low Range:
FreeStyle FREEDOM LITE: 98
Bayer BREEZE2: 84
RELION MICRO: 71
RELION CONFIRM: 75

As you can see the FREESTYLE LITE is always the highest number which others of you have reported. So using that one will "keep you honest". And in the high range it’s WAY high. The difference between it at 151 and the ReliOn at 134 would definitely make me think differently about how to bolus or how well a certain food worked for me. I can’t have that much difference. Even the Bayer’s number was sufficiently lower than the Freestyle in the higher range that I’d make worse decisions following the FreeStyle.

In the medium range they got a little closer but the difference between the FreeStyle and the ReliOn meters is too wide for me to trust the FreeStyle — AND too depressing.. ;).

In the low range — the ReliOn gets a little too forgiving and could make me overreact in dealing with a hypo. The day I had my one and only ’30’ — that was measured with the ReliOn Micro. I’ll get it was closer to a 45. Still too low.. but… – Remember the variances of about 6 other times when I tested with all 4 meters were WIDER in the same pattern I’ve noticed here with the FreeStyle getting higher and higher compared to the Breeze and at lo ranges the ReliOn Micro being too forgiving.

The Breeze2 is the middle and so I trust it the most — though it requires 1.0µ of blood which is a pretty bit drop requiring a pretty deep lance. The other 3 meters only require 0.3µ which is way easier on those delicate fingertips. So the convenience of the test strip DISCS of 10 for the Bayer is REAL nice — but I’m tiring of the deep lances for the test. SO — I’m hoping that the Bayer CONTOUR has the testing range of the Breeze — and it only needs 0.6µ of blood. So that may be where I land. Haven’t purchased it yet.

Keep in mind none of this testing was done in comparison to a LAB test at my Drs ofc. Only meter to meter.

The widest difference I ever had was FREESTYLE 168, BAYER 141, RELION 131 — *tested twice to be sure* FREESTYLE 165, BAYER 143, RELION 135

Any body else done testing comparisons and have any input?

Thanks and Happy New Year ALL!!

Hey gang,
Though I’ve found Wikipedia to be pretty helpful as a first glance on a given topic I know it’s maintained by ‘us’, the masses. So some info can be pretty ‘whack’, as the kids say.

This quoted portion from an article on INSULIN PUMP seems to be ‘off’ to me — unless I’ve learned it wrong here at DF. I tend to trust HERE more than other places I get some info. Is the highlighted statement TRUE??? Do proteins and fats RISE BG level for hours????? That goes against everything I’ve learned here and read elsewhere..

Thanks for any input you can offer,

I would like to explore the research available on this topic. Sadly a recent very, very helpful thread on the benefits versus risks of statin got deleted because argumentation ensued over the controversial Dr Bernstein input getting intermixed with the more reliable peer reviewed material.

I personally believe this topic needs more investigation and we need as T2 diabetics to share our articles, experiences about this important topic of cholesterol management and if statins are the best approach – based on our experiences and the research out there. I will start with the ‘tried and true’ position on the issue — which is that statins, for their use in cholesterol lowering, are an important part of the diabetic’s arsenal against heart disease that can be caused my their condition.

This study referenced at WebMD, represents new research backing the position. Though funded by AstraZeneca a drug company — it was peer reviewed as well by the research community.

As the original poster I need to ask that all input from Dr Bernstein’s website and quotations from his book and be disallowed in this thread. It gets too heated because it opens up other diet philosophy controversies. And Bernstein’s input has been represented in MANY, MANY threads to date.

And I’m interested only in peer reviewed studies as well not Internet opinion pieces. If a study isn’t referenced — then don’t post here, please. In this article inflammation seems to be the main key in CVD but its link with high cholesterol is undeniable.

Though I have SO LOVED the convenience of the test strip DISCS in the Bayer BREEZE2 monitors — I’m finding that the 3µ (microns) of blood needed to get a reading without that horrible E8 error that means not enough blood (and wastes a strip) is just a HASSLE.. I’m at that point where I have callouses forming on my fingers from all the testing.. and I have to prick deeper and deeper to get enough blood to FILL this dang thing..

Have any of you STOPPED using the Breeze2 because of that? I have a ReliOn Micro as my backup meter and the one I use when my strips paid for by my insurance run out mid month — and it only requires 1µ of blood — the tiniest little drop that I can barely see is enough for the ReliOn and gets sucked into the strip perfectly every time — a perfect reading.. I’m so tempted to go back to that meter – No insurance pays for the ReliOn since it’s cheap to begin with — but still the strips are $42 for 100 and I get 100 for $35 from my scrip for any meter my Insurance is covering on their formulary at a given time. And I still need about 200 strips a month for my testing preferences (6 months into DX).. So doing ‘all’ ReliOn Micro strips would cost more..

So have any of you stopped the Breeze2 because of this ‘conundrum’? The strips are so TINY compared to others — and yet need a BOATLOAD of blood.. Are there any other DISC manufacturers for the Breeze2 that have strips that would need less blood? I thought I saw that the Breeze2 accepted ‘some other company’s’ discs.