It's So Noisy at the Fair: The Diabetic Thread

sounds like good thinking to me

it’s just, like i found my first 6 months so stressful bc of fluctuating readings, plus my blood pressure was high & i was struggling with those as well and it just felt like every test result & reading was just there to tell me i sucked

i couldn’t cope but the stress of that feeling was also helping to keep those readings out of whack

it’s so easy to drown in the microfocus & lose sight of the bigger picture. how you ARE getting better, you ARE making changes, you can just get up out of your chair & still live life regardless of whether your reading was high or low.

give yourself permission to fluctuate, to course correct, and to just try to do our goddamn best. that’s all we need to do.

Type 1 over here. Got diagnosed about 5 years ago, it sucks.

xp yes it's important to realise there is a very direct link between stress hormones and blood sugar level! That's one of their main immediate effects.

Went to the doctor on Wednesday; he actually wants me to get my numbers up a little (aiming for a morning glucose number around 90 rather than 60-75) so I've cut my dose of Toujeo in half, from 20 units to 10. Which means I no longer get to/have to eat cookies after dinner but I am waking up in the target range.

Good to hear. I'll be doing another three-month reading on Tuesday; my last one, my fourth, was down to 7.5 from 10.1. My home readings have levelled off in the ~5.5 range. I'll have to fight against complacency; I do find myself eating the occasional extra Keto cookie and such now that the initial panic has subsided. The one thing that's going great is weight loss; down to 164 this morning.

all encouraging news, good stuff!!

The one thing that's going great is weight loss; down to 164 this morning.

Nice! Once I got my medication dialed in properly, and made the accompanying mental adjustments, weight control was and has remained pretty easy. I've weighed roughly 175 (at 6'2") for 20+ years.

One thing I'm just becoming aware of--who even thinks about these things until you have to?--is the extra sugar in regular 2% milk. It's like all the fruit juice I've been guzzling the past 20 summers: "Isn't that great for my health that I don't drink pop?" As soon as I finish the milk I have on hand, I'll probably switch over to Joyya (knowing full well I'll over-pay for it).

my fourth A1c test today since March 2022 diagnoses (initial was 8 - and subsequent results were 6.1 and 6)

today I’m at 5.7 which was a welcome surprise

i expected it to higher but honestly i am still learning what does/doesn’t affect it, still a bit mystifying tbh

i thought maybe since I wasn’t able to exercise at all the past couple of months due to back problems that that might put me higher, plus christmas brought inevitable carbs that I couldn’t avoid & felt like my diet got a bit lazier

anyway, with these results it feels encouraging to finally get something like a win, and i am taking it as a sign to keep doing what i’m doing

will f/up w doc to see what they say

Good job. I was worried about Christmas too, but got through with good levels (5.3 - 5.5 at home; last three-month was 7.2 but before the holiday) and my weight's down to 162 some mornings, the lowest it's been in three decades. And I'm not as panicky about everything I eat now.

hi-five :D

the not-panicky about eating the wrong thing is huge, it’s like you want to go back & hug yourself for all freaking out you did, i can totally relate to that

Yeah, getting over food panic was a major step for me. I try to eat healthy but I refuse to eat joyless flavorless food just because it's theoretically better for me.

Perhaps it will help to consider a diabetes anti-role model: Lemmy. When he got diagnosed (which included spending a week in a coma), he took his pills, but other than that his only lifestyle change was switching from Jack Daniels & Coke to Jack Daniels & Diet Coke. I don't think he even gave up speed.

lmao <3 u Lemmy

As long as I can still shoot speed, I'm happy.

I feel like I haven't given up anything in terms of regular meals--or at least I'm loving everything I'm eating, and not thinking about the pizza/cheeseburgers I've given up. With snacks, I've given up a little. The Keto/Good Fats/Good Eats stuff I'm buying does lose a bit, but I've found one really good yogurt (Two Good vanilla) that tastes great and only has 3g of carbohydrates per 1/3 cup.

I've been eating a lot of Healthy Choice microwave dinners — they're meat and vegetables with maybe a little bit of pasta, with optional sauce/gravy that I almost always skip.

There a couple of those I like, and I always add extra vegetables. I cook lots of fish and chicken, and I found a Thai soup I really like.

Had my last two bi-weekly blood tests, won't go back for three months now. In view of how engaged my doctor is--not at all--I'll be on my own till the spring.

Readings are good: 6.7 then 6.5 for the three-month levels, 5.2 at home last night (lowest yet). Had my first cheeseburger in almost three months to celebrate, probably the worst thing I could do--but added chick peas to my nightly salad as penance.

lol yeah my doctors office called after my lab results came in & they’re like “yep everything looks stable ok bye”

last 3-month visit i waited in the exam room for 30 minutes for a pointless 5 min “keep doing what you’re doing” consultation

so i guess no visit at all is an improvement

My doctor's receptionist retired a couple of weeks ago, and she was an intermediary I had some rapport with. Typical: I didn't realize that when we'd been communicating via e-mail, it was her address, not the office's. ("I've just retired...please contact Dr. _______ at the office.) Wouldn't be shocked if my doctor doesn't even have an e-mail address attached to the office.

Buses cancelled where I was today, so a lot of absent students; it was pizza day, and there was extra for any teachers who wanted some. So I had my first pizza since getting the diagnosis in October. Plain cheese, two small slices--I was fine with that, though there was a little guilt about not limiting myself to one. I probably should have self-tested tonight to see if there was a spike, but it would have been nine hours later, so I doubt it would have shown up anyway. Plus I only like good news.

sometimes not knowing is more manageable than knowing & not being able to do anything abt it.

i had a work dinner last week at a thai restaurant. except the catch that i didn’t learn, that no one knew until we all got there, was that my boss was ordering for everyone! for 25 of us. unhinged. random dishes would get passed around unannounced so it was like a game of telephone trying to establish what any dishes were - not great for me but worse for ppl with serious food allergies

i just ate like 12 random scoops of various curry & like a teaspoon of rice …. and then made a protein bowl when i got home.

not ideal

if i could have ordered an actual dish for myself like i had expected, it would have been fine! grr

Yeah, I wasn't totally happy with the restaurant (pub, really) my sister chose for her birthday last night--the fish was good, but nothing in the way of vegetables except salad. But you don't want to end up being a drag when it's her night (what I ate was fine)...I've been eating this Thai soup once a week and the food-label numbers are really good.

Just to be clear, I wasn't ambushed like you; we both thought the mains were okay from the online menu, and I think just assumed there'd be a vegetable option on the side.

i had a work dinner last week at a thai restaurant. except the catch that i didn’t learn, that no one knew until we all got there, was that my boss was ordering for everyone! for 25 of us. unhinged. random dishes would get passed around unannounced so it was like a game of telephone trying to establish what any dishes were - not great for me but worse for ppl with serious food allergies

Ugh, this sounds like a nightmare. "Welcome to the mandatory meal! Here's your slice of cake!" "Uh, thanks...?"

yeah it was quite stressful

Well, the one thing I've learned over the last 20 years is that one bad meal won't kill you. There are definitely times when I've eaten really poorly and felt it (I remember once at work having a bowl of macaroni and cheese, with bread crumbs on top, for lunch and being basically in a coma for the rest of the afternoon) but I can always stabilize my system pretty well by the next day. I've even had days where my sugar spiked for no reason at all — I was eating healthy, getting an acceptable amount of exercise, and it just shot into the 300s for no reason at all, like my pancreas had just decided to take the day off. So, you know, do your best. It'll work out.

Which is actually something I've been wondering: if your level spikes and then returns to normal, is it like it never happened, or does every spike weaken your system a little more. (And I'm not even sure what I mean by "system.")

No question mark, but there is a question in there.

Based on my own experience, while diabetes does weaken your system over time, the process can be very gradual (like "river water wearing down a stone" gradual), especially if you are doing your best to be healthy. If you're disregarding the disease and eating pizza and snack cakes all day, drinking a lot, etc., etc., then sure, it'll progress faster than it otherwise might — that's just logical. But getting the right medication, eating as healthy as you can whenever you can, exercising (without even being a nut about it), all helps a surprising amount.

Mr. Jaq who has been trying to manage type 2 with oral meds for quite awhile (with occasional very long spates of denial and bursts of keto) is now on a small amount of insulin overnight. Hoping he takes it seriously and is consistent with it. Kudos to all y'all for dealing with it.

keto as an idea offers some useful recipes for me like when i am experimenting w desserts or baking or looking for a no carb option here or there but there is no way i’d ever go down that road as a whole lifestyle

rolling the dice on ketosis seems so scary to me & anecdotally v hard to achieve without encountering some p serious complications?

After a day of Peg-Lyte and more or less fasting--if you know what I mean, you'll know what I mean--had a reading of 4.9, first one under 5.0.

with occasional very long spates of denial--this is what I worry about most. With me it would be complacency, brought on by good readings like that one, more than denial.

Which is actually something I've been wondering: if your level spikes and then returns to normal, is it like it never happened, or does every spike weaken your system a little more. (And I'm not even sure what I mean by "system.")

― clemenza, Saturday, February 18, 2023 6:08 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

as a type 1, the thing the doctor checks these days (which they can now monitor) is 'time in range' and therefore it seems like the spikes don't matter as much? i'm guessing type 2 would be the same

I had my first eye exam in three years this month and the optometrist said it's still not possible to tell from the close up pics of my eyes that I'm diabetic, so good result there. And my PCP checks sensation in my feet at every quarterly visit. Otherwise my A1C still hangs around 6.3-6.5, fasting sugar around 110, and the doc is not too worried about it. Steady diet of metformin and glipizide as usual. (Actually she may have taken her eye off my diabetes recently as she made a big error in my thyroid meds, raising my dose when she should have lowered it, and she's been focused on those getting those numbers back in line the last 2 visits.)

(xpost) Thanks, that's how I've been approaching this--home-testing once a week, and picking an opportune moment. I figure if that number's good, then the whole week's good.

Thanks for the link Wm - Well hello this thread. Like clemenza I knew I'd end up here eventually, but what triggered it was a perfect storm of other shit - a fall causing a knee scrape that got weirdly infected, which I took antibiotics for which trggered a UTI, which they gave me too-weak 2nd antibotics for, so I ended up in hospital yesterday with a kidney infection.

My finger prick tests were as high as 18 yesterday morning (fasting), and didnt drop below 15 all day. I still dont understand all the accucheck tests vs actual blood tests stuff. I guess I will see my GP asap next week and get started!

Are those A1C levels? Because, uh, holy shit.

Best of luck.

Those do seem high for Accu-chek--maybe it's a different calibration or something? If you feel fine, though, I'm sure it's something you can bring down.

I went through a month where because my weight stayed low, I wasn't concerned about blood sugar. But it did slowly creep up, from a low of 4.9 to back over 6.0. The next week, though, it was back to 5.0. Complacency continues to be a concern--I find I snack a lot, have a bigger breakfast out once or twice a week, and am back to the occasional cheeseburger or piece of pizza--and I thought about asking the doctor for more of the appetite suppressant I was using at the beginning and then stopped. I'm hungry constantly. Otherwise, though, still doing well.

yeah I am still untreated at this point. I *do* feel very sick, but I think thats the kidney infection. Only symptoms prior really was INTENSE thirst/peeing cycles that were getting me up twice a night. Water has never tasted so good.Thats calmed down a bit since I had IV saline yesterday.

Only symptoms prior really was INTENSE thirst/peeing cycles that were getting me up twice a night. Water has never tasted so good.

That was my first symptom. That and passing out in meetings at work after lunch, and losing something like 20 pounds in about six weeks.

I still dont understand all the accucheck tests vs actual blood tests stuff.

I think--correct me if I'm wrong--the finger-prick at home is a snapshot of that moment, whereas the more formal blood test is a three-month average.

Which helped me not be so panicky at the beginning. My blood test started high, around 10.0, but my home tests right from the beginning were progressively lower, so I was confident they'd converge eventually.

Yeah previous tests were around 9. I'm not sure why it was so high yesterday. Combo of stress and fasting and illness I guess?

That's great then--it was a blip. Make changes, and you'll bring both numbers down (the three-month more gradually).

I assume the numbers trayce mentioned are blood glucose readings in mmol/L, which are the units they use outside the US. multiply by 18 to get mg/dL

get well soon, trayce!

Trayce, I read your post on 77 and it reminds me a lot of my weekend from hell in 2019 when I learned I also had type 2. I was soooooooooo thirsty. And peeing every 20 minutes, and the pee smelled like maple syrup. When I tried to eat, every food tasted like eating a 9volt battery. I finally got in to see a doctor. My A1C was 14 and my blood glucose reading during my first visit was 355. My eyes were fucked up for months and I kept having to buy new glasses prescriptions until they settled down again.

Four years in, I'm being far more lax with my diet and exercise than a lot of the other people in this thread lol. Maybe Jardiance covers up too many sins when it comes to A1C, but I'm steadily between 5.5-6.5 at every doctor visit now and my waking sugar levels are right around 100-120 each morning.

Four years in, I'm being far more lax with my diet and exercise than a lot of the other people in this thread lol. Maybe Jardiance covers up too many sins when it comes to A1C, but I'm steadily between 5.5-6.5 at every doctor visit now and my waking sugar levels are right around 100-120 each morning.

I haven't really confessed my eating habits in detail because I didn't want to upset anyone who's got it tougher, but yeah, I'm waking up somewhere between 80-90 and still managing to eat bagels, hamburgers, pizza, and even a few cookies or a Snickers bar once a day. Jardiance has been a fucking miracle.

Going to ask my primary care doc about Jardiance, and about semaglutide (Ozempic et al) at my next checkup in a couple of weeks. I've been relying on metformin, glipizide and willpower for several years now and the willpower part is starting to wear me down mentally and emotionally. Part of me wants to take the just-stop-eating route (semaglutide) but I fucking love good food and drink. So if Jardiance can be a fucking miracle for me too and still allow a place for food in my life, sign me up.

There's a clinic in Tupelo that does semaglutide for anyone, barely any screening involved, $66 per weekly shot, cash and carry.

yeah agreed

I'm not eating terribly well tbrh. Some days I'm lucky if I manage one proper meal. I just never get hungry.

Something I was thinking about yesterday. My three-month reading was 5.8; it was 5.7 in July, 5.7 in March. So my home tests bounce around a bit, but the three-months have levelled off there for half-a-year.

can I ask you: the “three month” reading you’re referring to must be the hemoglobin A1c? the daily readings I assume are glucose readings in mmol/L? if so these are two completely separate units

You can also do a GMI which is an instantaneous measure similar to A1c.

huh…I work exclusively in the hospital these days so obviously I’m out of step with these sorts of things… I just looked that up and had honestly never heard of that! the usefulness of a daily A1c surrogate seems a bit dubious to me, gonna read some more about that

Kevin: I don't know...I thought my three-month averages were literally that, an average of all those home tests I do every couple of weeks. Maybe they are completely different.

i dont know the science

over time it has seemed to me that they are def 2 different things

home glucose testing is (to me) just so that you learn how lows & highs feel physiologically to keep you mindful of it, i really do think doctors recommend it pedagogically as sort of busywork so that ppl don’t ignore their symptoms

but it isn’t as good of a long term indicator bc it is incredibly variable

and then the a1c hemoglobin is the longterm indicator, measuring something different over a longer time period
basically the practical uh truth of what is actually going on, is the medication /diet/ etc ~working~

lol the other day I was just taking the piss, I ate a bowl of pasta and then a small bowl of reggular-sugar icecream (made from coconut whats worse) and boy did my levels shoot up. HIghest theve been since before I was treating this haha but they went back down overnight. I really need to stop being cavalier, but this weird sugar craving I never ever used to have, is creeping up. Prob from me cutting back on booze I reckon.

i find that sugar-free/zero sugar stuff that still tastes sweet makes me crave sugar more

Had this tonight:

https://i.postimg.cc/HxZ3DM0x/pasta.jpg

Maybe not the real thing, but was just fine. Here's the nutrition label:

https://www.gtanutrition.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NuPasta-Angel-Hair-210g-nutrition-facts.jpg

Compared to standard pasta, that's pretty great. Went online to order some and (odd) everything was out of stock. They're located in Markham, just outside Toronto, so I'm going to phone and see about picking up an order in person over the holidays. A little pricey a package at a time.

i didn’t love the texture myself but yeah they are quite popular!
( i am a bit of a “texture queen” tho lol and am easily turned off)

Yeah the Vetta pasta I mentioned upthread Ive really gone off. They no longer sell it in spaghetti only in spirals and penne and you have to cook the everloving shit out of it and it tastes like wet cardboard. Blech. And honestly the amount of protein is negligible for the purpose so I'm not sure theres much point. I'm just gonna stick to occasional-treat small serves of normal pasta offset with a good protein like fish.

By the time I added sauce, vegetables, and fish, I didn't mind it at all. It's a trade-off, I know. But I was looking at the regular pasta, and it literally had 10x the carbohydrates. My fondness for pasta is no doubt a big part of what got me into this mess in the first place.

yeah same

meanwhile i’m finally warming up to homemade cauliflower rice and cauliflower mash

Pasta and rice are go tos for me because theyre easy tbrh. Sigh. I need to get back on that horse and cook up some lentils and chickpeas and make some salads.

3 monthly Hb1AC test today: 4.8 mufukkas! Aw yis!
Im actually suprised given the festive season's rather lax crappy eating and booze!

Wow, that's great--I've never had a 3-month lower than 5.7. My last two at home have been 5.0 and 5.3.

great job trayce, that’s fantastic

I have to admit, I've been eating very little, so I dont know if that added to things? But yeah, endo says I could probably go off some or all of the meds in 12 months if I stay this way.

bravo girly!

Got a CGM attached to my arm for 2 weeks kindly donated by my endo team at the hospital, so I can live-monitor my levels for 2 weeks to see how my diet/exercise combo is going. I feel like a Borg now, with this bluetooth blot stuck to my arm!

I've been meaning to post here -- last week I had my lowest A1C result in the 10(?) years since I was diagnosed with the Type2 -- 6.1. I didn't make any special effort -- just lucky afaict. I guess I just ate a little more healthily after the holidays.

Way to go. My weight has been creeping back up--from a low of 143 back up to 153-155 most mornings--so I was worried when I did my first home-test in three weeks. Still 6.0; I've been 5.0-6.0 for a year-plus now. I want to move both in the other direction, obviously, but not really at the cost of panic-monitoring everything like I did the first few months after diagnosis.

I've been having low blood sugar incidents lately, waking up at 3 AM and having to stagger to the kitchen and eat a banana or a fistful of peanuts and raisins and then go back to sleep for another two or three hours. It's been happening about once a week and I'm not super thrilled about it!

I’ve been eating like absolute shit for the last 4.5mo since my last bloodwork so I was dreading it. But I guess the Ozempic is really doing the heavy lifting (I’m still on a minimal dose) or the Seroquel I used to take was really fucking up my stuff (or a combo) because my a1c has dropped again: 11 in august, 6 in November, now it’s 5.7!

i have been able to keep myself at 5.7 to 5.9 for the past couple of years with Metformin and diet/exercise. It crept up a little at xmas and i think i’ll still be there for my next test but i figure as long as that stays pretty level, i’m ok - it’s hard not to stress abt daily #’s so remembering to pull out to a longer view helps me

i still wake up with higher fasting #’s from dawn syndrome but it’s not fucking with my overall number so idk what else i can do except keep everything else in check as much as possible

glad everyone is doing ok mostly though!

The range in these last few post is so narrow: 6.1, 6.0, 5.7, 5.7-5.9.

i think we’re all doing pretty great - group high-fives all round!

High-fives all around, with a couple of low-sixes mixed in...

I would blow the curve for everyone if I posted my numbers.

we’ve all been there - no judgement <3

had my 3-monthly A1C test and
am back to 5.7 so i feel reassured

my last one went up to 5.9 after a year at 5.7 which isnt technically a big deal but quietly felt like some kind of small failure psychologically

anyway we back

I don't know why I called this the diabetic thread, rather than the diabetes thread.

I'm right there with you...maybe. I did my first home-test in three weeks the other night with some apprehension--I've put 10 of the 25 pounds I lost back on--but it came in at 5.7. I've really let the three-month timeline slide, though. I'm going to go in tomorrow morning for my first A1C since November. I always home-test under optimum conditions, so we'll see.