Diabetes Weblog

Thanks for the welcome to the list. Kady, I did not mean to be rude about
Dr. Clark. I understand that some of you seem to be having good success with
her theories. I just wanted to note that I wasn’t interested in specific
advice for me. Of course, this list for every one to express his/her
experiences. That’s what lists are all about. Sorry for any confusion or
misunderstanding. We need to encourage and help each other.

I am concerned about 108 BG in the morning because it is high for me. In
order for me to stay where I need to be, I should be in the 80’s and 90’s in
the morning. My BG seems to elevate a bit during the day. To have 108 in
the morning is a bad sign. The only way I can control my BG is by my diet
and exercise so I must be concerned when it is up.

Information I have read in diabetes books say that ideal blood glucose target
ranges [for diabetics, not non-diabetics] are: before meals: 80 to 120; and

1-2 hours after meals: 160 to 180. Since I am a small person (about 5 ft) I
think I need to aim for the lower numbers. I get bad results if I hit 160
after meals. I guess that I should talk with my doctor about this.

I do have some neuropathy in my left leg and foot, I believe. I forgot to
discuss it with my doctor yesterday, but will see him in another 2 months.
Jewell’s comments about keeping the AlC to 5-6 in order to discourage (wrong
word?) neuropathy is very interesting to me. I think I peak with some foods
and I need to find out what they are. If I have a BG of over 140 when going
to bed, I will have some neuropathy over the night which disturbs my sleep.
I take a couple of Tylenol PM pills which quite things down (probably bad on
a regular basis) so I want to curb this as quickly as possible. I would
rather not take any diabetic medicine if I can help it. I now take meds for
thyroid, high blood pressure, allergy and Zocor for cholesterol. That is
plenty, thank you. However, I do not want neuropathy or retinopathy. I also
have found that I should not eat after 6:30 at night. If I do, then my BG
does not get back down before bed and I have problems with neuropathy. If I
keep my BG levels down, I do not have leg/foot pain, so I am pleased with
that for now. I hope I am not fooling myself.

I suspect that since we diabetics are all different, we must find our way
through the paths of our own good health plan. We all have similarities in
our illness–some foods are just plain bad for us, but some of us may have
bad reactions to foods that others can tolerate. For example: I can have 2
oz. of red wine with no bad reaction (from BG level) but I have tried vodka
and know it is poison for me. My doctor has recommended a small glass (just
one) of red wine for my health. I do not have it every day, however, just on
occasion. My doctor also made me "own" my disease. He made me study and
experiment with foods and testing to find out what worked for me. He said
that every one is different and must work out their own plan. I am very
happy that he treated me in this manner. I have friends who take their
diabetic medicine and seem to eat orange sherbet and cookies and lasagna, and
potatoes, etc. and think life is the same. It sure isn’t for me, and I think
that they will eventually pay for that pattern of eating. My doctor is
somewhat holistic and believes in doing the natural thing whenever possible.
I have grown to really appreciate him. Thanks for listening. Any comments?
Ellie

I read an article that stressed writing down questions that you have for your
doctor, keeping the list where you have immediate access to it, and taking
the list with you. Otherwise, you will forget to mention things that are of
a concern to you. At first it sounded like a person was being a
hypocondriac by doing such a thing, but it really makes sense. I have found
that it is a valuable tool and one I obviously have forgotten about–or I
would have asked the doctor the two things I just mentioned.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 15th, 2004 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.