[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima]
I think normal is like 70-120, right?
Mine was 85 last time I got it checked.
[/QUOTE]
Recommended is 80-120. Try not to get below 70. You could be at risk for hypoglycemia. (Low blood sugar) The effects can include disorientation, dizziness, and fainting. Particularly bad if you’re driving. Many accidents have been caused by drivers going into hypoglycemic shock. Many diabetics carry glucose tablets to chew if they notice their blood sugar falling too low.
Hmm- I’ve just checked mine out of interest, I’m at work so it was easy. It’s 4.3 . Don’t worry, we use a different scale, where anything below 4 is hypoglycaemia, any random glucose above 11 is diabetes and a fasting glucose over 7 is diabetes.
I tend to get shaky and dizzy if I don’t eat every 12 hours, which is just as well otherwise I would forget to eat. I have no real sensation of hunger except for that.
[QUOTE=rhythmonly]
I have four words for you:
High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Start reading labels. Do not eat/drink anything with that ingredient. You’d be surprised how many food items have it.
[/QUOTE]
Preach it. That shit is in everything, even foods that don’t need it. Why? Because it’s basically addictive.
My doctor finally told me, about a year ago, that I needed to start taking meds for my type 2, and to test regularly. The highest I’ve been since then is probably around 122.
I wish I could run- but my Anterior Compartment Syndrom makes that fairly impossible. Still, I’m able to ride my bike to work when the weather’s good, and that seems to help.
I still have to pee multiple times each night, dammit.
[QUOTE=irishgirl]
Hmm- I’ve just checked mine out of interest, I’m at work so it was easy. It’s 4.3 . Don’t worry, we use a different scale, where anything below 4 is hypoglycaemia, any random glucose above 11 is diabetes and a fasting glucose over 7 is diabetes.
I tend to get shaky and dizzy if I don’t eat every 12 hours, which is just as well otherwise I would forget to eat. I have no real sensation of hunger except for that.
[/QUOTE]
Phew, I’m glad you said that, I was trying to work out how you could get 400 odd and still be alive!
Something else that might keep you motivated (being male and all) - apparently if men with diabetes and who also smoke start to get erection problems, doctors say there is no help for you!!
Diabetes is now seen as being a world epidemic.
My dad had it - he never had a particularly sweet tooth, but he loved his animal fat. Used to put slabs of butter on his toast, huge wedges of cheese on his crackers and cream in his cereal.
Watch out for that animal fat as well as that damn fructose corn syrup that you yanks keep putting in everything.
[QUOTE=DiosaBellissima]
I think normal is like 70-120, right?
Mine was 85 last time I got it checked.
[/QUOTE]
Since the “ideal” (if there is such a thing) is around 100, whenever B. B. King is advertising a certain brand of glucometers, they show a reading around 102, 104, etc. A diabetic coach I met referred to a reading close to 100 as a “B. B. King.”
I was on a JDRF fundraising ride a couple of weeks ago, and one of the other riders (who’s been Type 1 for forty-odd years, btw) had a new glucometer. It looked like a PDA, with a wireless connection to a very small subcutaneous sensor. And this thing measured his blood sugar continuously, in real-time. It displayed the number on the front, and could even plot a graph trending his blood sugar over the day. He said it even had audible alerts to let him know if he got dangerously high or low. He said the sensor needed to be changed weekly, and the new ones are even waterproof, so he didn’t need to tape over the sensor in the shower. Amazing stuff. Between real-time monitoring of glucose levels and the insulin pump, we’re so close to a bionic pancreas.
On the other hand, my Dad’s been Type 1 for 37 years now, and doesn’t use the pump. He just feels more comfortable with controlling his diabetes with syringes, and with the level of control he’s had, I can’t argue with his results. He’s 67 years old, and this summer we’ve ridden Ride the Rockies together, and a JDRF century two weeks later. He is getting interested in the new glucometers, though. I suspect that by next season, he’ll have one, and will most likely be working on fashioning a handlebar mount for it, right next to the odometer. To think he went more than a decade as a diabetic before a personal glucometer was even invented. The closest thing he had was urine strips.
And lieu, I don’t want to preach, but please don’t screw around with this. Just because you don’t have a diagnosis yet doesn’t mean that there isn’t a problem. If it’s there, damage is being done as I type. Under the proper control, diabetes is a manageable disease. Uncontrolled, it’s devastating.
[QUOTE=cbawlmer]
What’s a “normal” blood sugar level? What’s the easiest way to test it – with one of those kits from the pharmacy? I know next to nothing about diabetes, but I’m told I might be at risk for it.
[/QUOTE]
The Wiki article on the subject is pretty good. I looked it up because I wasn’t sure what the distinction between Type 1 and Type 2 were. Give it a read.
[QUOTE=SuperNelson]
Since the “ideal” (if there is such a thing) is around 100, whenever B. B. King is advertising a certain brand of glucometers, they show a reading around 102, 104, etc. A diabetic coach I met referred to a reading close to 100 as a “B. B. King.”
[/QUOTE]
I’ve overweight, and I pee a lot. Every damn time I get my blood sugar tested I get 90-100 on fasting and 100-110 2 hours after a carb load. I knew it wasn’t too bad, but are you telling me that’s ideal?
[QUOTE=lieu]
He did a blood sugar and I was 191. From what I understand that’s high, but I’m not sure it’s a confirmation.
[/quote]
Before I got my bad news, the doctor told me that anything over 180 indicates diabetes. FWIW.
Thanks. And who knows? It may be a blessing in disguise.
When The Thirst[sup]TM[/sup] started, I weighed 217 lbs. I was 203 when I was diagnosed, and today I’m 198. I decided that, if nothing else, my 'betes has given me a head start on shedding some poundage. ..so, I’m going to shoot for about 180. We’ll see.
Re: High Fructose Corn Syrup. If crack was a candy, that’d be it. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t have too much of a sweet tooth. I hate to part with my pistachio ice cream, though. Sugar free jello just doesn’t compare. 
If it makes you feel better, my mother thinks that having diabetes saved her life. She didn’t eat right, didn’t exercise, and was in terrible physical condition. Once she was diagnosed, she began walking for an hour every day and watching what she ate like a hawk. She’s healthier now than she has ever been. Basically, it is a curse that forces you to do what you should have been doing all along.
I say this as someone who probably has it, but until I get a job with medical insurance it is probably best if I don’t know.
Oh, geeze! Anybody who thinks they may have diabetes, please haul yourself off to a doctor and get yourself checked. Don’t put it off. It’s not something you can ignore and hope it goes away. It is never best if you don’t know. It can cause you serious damage without your knowing. And if you don’t have it, it’s better to find that out, too, and get it off your mind.
My logic was that insurance premiums are higher if you have pre-existing diagnosed conditions, so until I get cemented into a medical plan it is best not to know.
And I like chocolate. But yeah, I know… need to see a dentist and optometrist too. I’ll step back and not derail this.
[QUOTE=Captain_C]
My logic was that insurance premiums are higher if you have pre-existing diagnosed conditions, so until I get cemented into a medical plan it is best not to know.
And I like chocolate. But yeah, I know… need to see a dentist and optometrist too. I’ll step back and not derail this.
[/QUOTE]
You’ve got eye issues AND you think you may be diabetic, but you want to wait because it might cost you a few extra bucks in insurance?!?!? What. The. Hell.
Have you not been reading this thread? How much extra do you think it will cost you if you end up with permanent circulation problems, erection problems, blindness, or just permanent deadness?
If you have diabetes, it will be be far, far less expensive to start treating it NOW, no matter what it does to your insurance premiums. If you don’t have diabetes, it won’t affect your insurance premiums, anyway.
If this is the way people think, it’s no wonder that it’s taking longer than we thought. Get to a doctor.
Easy for me to say coming from a country with a free public health system (albeit in somewhat disrepair) but you will become damaged eventually from diabetes if you have it - the earlier you catch it, the less severe your damage will be (for type 2 at least) and the longer and healthier a life you will have.
[QUOTE=rhythmonly]
I have four words for you:
High Fructose Corn Syrup.
Start reading labels. Do not eat/drink anything with that ingredient. You’d be surprised how many food items have it.
[/QUOTE]
I’ve been avoiding posting for the past few months for various reasons, but as a diabetic had to add to this. This stuff is poison; it’s in nearly every processed food that one buys today. I even found it in a can of almonds. It’s not enough to avoid purchasing foods with HFCS, there must be a concerted effort to let manufacturers know that it’s unacceptable. For now, the only recourse is to send emails or letters, and I encourage all who endure the scourge of diabetes or obesity to do so.
I was gestational diabetic. According to what I’ve read, that makes me 30-40% more likely to get ‘regular’ forms of diabetes. I had to do insulin (they won’t let preggos do the pills) once a night to control my morning fasting numbers, so I got off easy in not having to shoot 3-4 times a day, but I still had to test after every meal and before bedtime.
That said, when the babies were born (I had them back-to-back timewise) I knew I needed to get my rear in gear. I lost 50 of the extra pounds I had on, and am hoping this will help keep me from developing the permanent type.
It also made me get out and do the fund-raising walks and things to help scientific research on this. There are just too dang many of us out there and we need more facts.
BG is 79, 30 day average is 86. I was diagnosed type II about three years back and decided to try to control it without medication. More veggies, less pasta, low carb snacks through the day to prevent binge eating, and low-carb wraps(6 or 7 carbs per) instead of bread.
Ohmyghod, I miss lasagna!
[QUOTE=Czarcasm]
<snip>Ohmyghod, I miss lasagna!
[/QUOTE]
Hub’s dietician discouraged him from removing anything from his diet completely. If you crave lasagna, have a small serving, count the carbs, and adjust your day accordingly. Her logic was the more you crave, the more you’ll be tempted to binge.
[QUOTE=Ruby]
Hub’s dietician discouraged him from removing anything from his diet completely. If you crave lasagna, have a small serving, count the carbs, and adjust your day accordingly. Her logic was the more you crave, the more you’ll be tempted to binge.
[/QUOTE]
My logic is, I haven’t gone above a BG of 100 in over three years. I seem to be handling the temptation just fine.
[QUOTE=lieu]
My plane trip on July 4th was supposed to go to Denver but it took me straight to hell. Nauseous that morning, by the time we took off I felt just about to blow. Immediately went back to be close to the bathroom and hung out in the Flight Attendant’s area with them. Finally just went into the bathroom and made myself sick, then it happened three more times. Heck, when we physically landed I was leaning over the john in absolute misery just wishin’ I’d go ahead and die. It’s the only time the act of throwing up didn’t make me feel better, in fact the Captain came back after we landed and darn near carried me up to first class and laid me out. A half dozen fireman-types, a Continental rep and a paramedic came on board, started asking questions and whether I had diabetes kept coming up. He did a blood sugar and I was 191. From what I understand that’s high, but I’m not sure it’s a confirmation.
They ended up wheeling me off the plane and putting me on an ambulance to an Aurora hospital. The emergency room doctor there ran a bunch of tests and also said “Go get checked for diabetes.” Ugh, what an absolutely miserable day.
Haven’t done it yet. It’s not what I want to hear.
[/QUOTE]
I’m going to join the chorus here and tell you to get yourself tested. Clearly, something was seriously amiss with you. Your symptoms somewhat remind me of when my husband had pancreatitis - which can lead to diabetes. If you have a mild variant, or something brewing, find out NOW rather than when you spend a week or two in the ICU and/or wind up with Severe Organ Damage. (Pancreatitis that causes permanant damage to your pancreas will certainly make you a diabetic. Just ask my husband). Which isn’t to say you have that, either. The point is, you were really, really sick and really really need a doc to look you over and make sure it was either a transitory illness, or, if not, that your problem is treated properly.
Diabetic symptoms do not always lead to a diabetic diagnosis. I’ve had problems with skin infections all my life. My regular doctors come to accept that I am unlucky in this area, but when I go to a new one, or one who doesn’t know my history, they usually start dancing around going “ah-HA! - Skin infection! You are probably diabetic!” Add in my crappy vision (which has been crappy all my life) and that part of my feet are numb (from frostbite, not diabetes, dammit!) you can see the alarm bells going Ding! Ding! Ding! behind their eyeballs.
My fasting glucose is 105. And no, I am not chronically thirsty or chronically peeing. My husband spends all summer reminding me to drink because I just don’t get thirsty.
So I’ve gotten used to being hauled in for diabetic testing. Whether I need it or not.
That said, between my husband now being a diabetic and my own desire to live a long healthy life, we do our best to eat properly. Because it won’t hurt me, and because if I live long enough I might become diabetic because it could happen to just about anyone.
As far as loving foods “bad” for diabetics - my husband’s doctor is also of the “no foods completely forbidden” school of thought as long as you control portions. My husband has a sweet tooth. A certain ration of candy is written into his daily diet plan (along with the brown rice and lots of vegees, which fortunately he likes and has been eating for decades). His blood sugar stays around 90-110, and his blood work confirms it.
[QUOTE=Rysdad]
Before I got my bad news, the doctor told me that anything over 180 indicates diabetes. FWIW.
[/QUOTE]
Ouch. Okay, thanks.
Didn’t mean to sound like I was sticking my head in the sand about this, SuperNelson. Actually, I went through a huge series of tests awhile back because something wasn’t right but they never could put their finger on it although, Broomstick, pancreatitis was mentioned as a possibility.
What happened on the plane scared me pretty good. Also became severely dehydrated and almost incoherent, to the point where the paramedic said “You’re out of it, I’m taking control now and you’re going by ambulance to an ER.” My vision’s been deteriorating fast and the consta-pee thing sounds familiar. I thought it was just because I’ve consciously been trying to stay more hydrated but maybe there’s another component to it as well.
Anyway, thanks for starting this thread and for all the contributions to it. Not only is it something to chew on, I’m calling my doc today to update and get this thing figured out.