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I don't care if this is off topic.
My A1C has been hovering around 6-6.1 for a long time my fasting blood sugar around 100-105, which is only checked a couple times a year when I get blood work done.

I find this topic extremely interesting and asked my doc about a glucose meter the last time I saw him. He said I was not diabetic and didn't need one.

I am interested in hearing what all you "ignorant " folks think.

bwexler wrote:I don't care if this is off topic.
My A1C has been hovering around 6-6.1 for a long time my fasting blood sugar around 100-105, which is only checked a couple times a year when I get blood work done.

I find this topic extremely interesting and asked my doc about a glucose meter the last time I saw him. He said I was not diabetic and didn't need one.

I am interested in hearing what all you "ignorant " folks think.

You'e not diabetic until you hit 6.5. But in order to make sure you don't become one, I would definitely get a meter and start testing your BS on various foods to make sure you're not getting big time spikes.

For diabetics, pre-diabetics, and other foodies:

Here is a couple of recipes that may be attractive. Crème Anglaise is the base for vanilla ice cream. For those who don't have a VitaMix, see note at the bottom. This works well as a topping over mixed fruit.

Crème Anglaise - regular recipe
Ingredients:
6 extra-large Egg yolk________________________½ cp. Sugar
1½ cp. Half-n-Half___________________________½ cp. Heavy Cream
1½ tsp. pure Vanilla Extract

Combine all ingredients into the VitaMix container. Set for hot soup and run program. When done, cool quickly using a bowl in an ice bath and then shake gently to ensure it remains liquid. Makes just over two cups of Crème Anglaise.

Crème Anglaise - Dairy Free / Sugar free (well almost)
Ingredients:
6 extra large Egg Yolks________________________3/8 cp. Sugar (Stevia if diabetic)
2 cp. Almond milk____________________________1 tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Add all ingredients to the VitaMix container in the order listed. Select hot soup and run program. Pour into a sauce pan and continue to heat over low heat, stirring continuously until thickened to the consistency of very heavy cream and it reaches a temperature of about 150 deg. F. (perhaps a minute or two.) Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes about 2½ cups of almond milk Crème Anglaise.

If you don’t have a VitaMix, then blend the ingredients well, pour into a sauce pan and heat over a very low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until the target temperature of about 150 deg. F. is reached. Do not allow to boil.

49er wrote:

bwexler wrote:I don't care if this is off topic.
My A1C has been hovering around 6-6.1 for a long time my fasting blood sugar around 100-105, which is only checked a couple times a year when I get blood work done.

I find this topic extremely interesting and asked my doc about a glucose meter the last time I saw him. He said I was not diabetic and didn't need one.

I am interested in hearing what all you "ignorant " folks think.

You'e not diabetic until you hit 6.5. But in order to make sure you don't become one, I would definitely get a meter and start testing your BS on various foods to make sure you're not getting big time spikes.

If you're borderline, I definitely recommend getting a meter and checking after eating and testing different foods. As I just told someone via PM, I did that a lot when this first started. That's how I found I can eat strawberries & little oranges, but NOT apples or grapes. I TESTED. And the medical community and insurance companies don't give you the ability or knowledge to do that to prevent getting full blown diabetes.

If you are under heavy stress (say a family crisis or something of that nature) it WILL make your sugar go up.

And another piece of info for those that may not know -- if you've handled fresh fruit (like I just ate a couple little oranges) and test, it CAN increase your reading. The sugars in the fruits can remain on your fingers and skew your blood reading. Make sure you wash your hands THOROUGHLY, then use the SECOND blood drop to be sure you're not getting any of the fruit sugars in your readings.

bwexler wrote:I don't care if this is off topic.
My A1C has been hovering around 6-6.1 for a long time my fasting blood sugar around 100-105, which is only checked a couple times a year when I get blood work done.

I find this topic extremely interesting and asked my doc about a glucose meter the last time I saw him. He said I was not diabetic and didn't need one.

I am interested in hearing what all you "ignorant " folks think.

WOW! Read this link, and pay attention the insulin curves in the first chart: http://www.tuitnutrition.com/2015/09/it ... lin-1.html

With elevated fasting blood glucose indicating insulin resistance, you are probably right in to Pattern 3. You can wait around for enough organ damage to show up on the tests to be considered "officially diabetic", or you can get your own meter and strips (no RX needed) and start to take control of your OWN health. Normal A1C's are in the lower 5's not 6's. Normal fasting blood sugar is mid-80's, not "below 100". With the meter and more common sense than the whole of the ADA and AND, you can get there.

I just saw a client today (I no longer work in the medical field, but we were chatting) and he told me that his doctor told him he'd be "safe" from diabetic neuropathies if he kept his A1C under 7. He did, religiously. Then he woke one morning with a numb toe, which rapidly progressed to neuropathy throughout the leg, and he can barely walk because of it. Damage is occurring.

I'd think twice about a doctor who discourages you for taking charge of your own health.

If you're borderline, I definitely recommend getting a meter and checking after eating and testing different foods. As I just told someone via PM, I did that a lot when this first started. That's how I found I can eat strawberries & little oranges, but NOT apples or grapes. I TESTED. And the medical community and insurance companies don't give you the ability or knowledge to do that to prevent getting full blown diabetes.

If you are under heavy stress (say a family crisis or something of that nature) it WILL make your sugar go up.

And another piece of info for those that may not know -- if you've handled fresh fruit (like I just ate a couple little oranges) and test, it CAN increase your reading. The sugars in the fruits can remain on your fingers and skew your blood reading. Make sure you wash your hands THOROUGHLY, then use the SECOND blood drop to be sure you're not getting any of the fruit sugars in your readings.

My only concern there is that fruits that are higher in fructose than glucose will not necessarily raise your blood GLUCOSE much by the meter because it does not detect fructose in the blood. But they may be causing a whopper of an insulin response. I've been insulin resistant all of my life due to PCOS) and I never liked eating fruit like oranges because they made me feel awful afterward. I think it was spiking my insulin whether or not there was a rise in blood glucose, and then dropping my blood glucose like a stone because of so much secreted insulin. It would be interesting to test this theory out with my meter, but I found oranges now trigger migraines for me, so it's not going to happen.

SewTired wrote:Unfortunately, most dietitians spout the American Diabetes Association eating plan which is designed to make you fail. The dieticians at my clinic have pretty much ignored advice from ADA and adapted their recommendations closer to that of low carb. The advantage, I guess, is that two of the group developed diabetes themselves and discovered just how useless the ADA advise was.

I worked next to a woman who was diagnosed w diabetes; and the dietary advice (Kaiser, IIRC) was completely off. Lots of carbs, including hideous grains did absolutely nothing good for her.

I gave her some diet books that I had (Zone Diet), and it helped her quite a bit. She lost over 50 pounds in less than 6 months (again, IIRC).

Then she went to the diabetes forums (sorta like what we have here), and the patients had made some interesting discoveries, and posted them. They apparently were able to make the connection between low carb/higher protein and blood sugar management simply by monitoring what they ate and comparing to frequent blood sugar tests and weight loss.

Bottom line, my co-worker lost a lot of weight and put her blood sugar under control all by ignoring the ADA and by listening to fellow patients on an online forum.

(Don't you love stories like this?)

.

My only exposure to a dietitian was the one who was part of the geriatric team when mom started her real slide down hill. She was great and helped me a great deal with the challenges I was having. She taught me some good tricks to get appropriate food into someone who was having problems swallowing and diabetic.

My mother was diabetic for 40 years and she tested all the time. I remember when she was diagnosed she tested before and after meals. She was an active member of the Canadian diabetic association and she also pushed the data to control the diet. It used to frustrate her to no end that people would not test and work their diet that way. She kept her self totally under control for 30 years without drugs. She never ate much carbs because they also spiked her Blood sugar. It meant her favourite meal of French fries and steak was replaced with salad and steak. Bread, pasta and such was very strictly limited.

Oh and she could totally tell when her blood sugar was off, whether high or low without testing after a couple of months.

Feeling oh so very convicted. I've been diabetic for several years and currently take Glipizide. My BS monitor went out maybe a year ago and I never got another one, though it's probably just the battery. My A1C had been so low for a long time (5.2 - 5.6) and my doc said people with results this low are usually taken off meds and diet controlled, so I tried it for a few days but my sugar kept spiking to sometimes nearly 300 so I went back on the med. I have foolishly assumed all is still well and have not tested in all that time except for 1 doctor's visit when my BS was 88 fasting. I have no symptoms of it being high but I know how insidious diabetes can be. Going to do better about this.

As far as Medicare, I was told I can get supplies for 1 x day without jumping through hoops. For any more I'd have to maintain a log supplied by the doctor and the doctor would have to verify my need and usage for more to be covered. Did it for a while.

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my [probably damaged] heart.

For years I've skirted the outside edges of Western medicine trying to be taken seriously. Fibromyalgia, Reynaud's, depression, bone-crushing fatigue, sinus trouble, digestive trouble, failure to lose weight even when following a reasonable diet and exercise program....and now OSA with AHI of 29.

It's all related, everything is connected. The past couple of years have been a journey for me to finally begin caring for myself. I've assembled a team of practitioners (some conventional, some alternative). I respect them and their knowledge but they work for ME, and I'm no longer worried about being a "good" patient / client.

Truth is we truly do have to be our own strongest advocates, big medicine and big pharma are NOT interested in making us healthy.

I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. Sometimes the smallest and seemingly offhand comment can be just the thought that connects the dots.

Captain_Midnight wrote:

SewTired wrote:Unfortunately, most dietitians spout the American Diabetes Association eating plan which is designed to make you fail. The dieticians at my clinic have pretty much ignored advice from ADA and adapted their recommendations closer to that of low carb. The advantage, I guess, is that two of the group developed diabetes themselves and discovered just how useless the ADA advise was.

I worked next to a woman who was diagnosed w diabetes; and the dietary advice (Kaiser, IIRC) was completely off. Lots of carbs, including hideous grains did absolutely nothing good for her.

I gave her some diet books that I had (Zone Diet), and it helped her quite a bit. She lost over 50 pounds in less than 6 months (again, IIRC).

Then she went to the diabetes forums (sorta like what we have here), and the patients had made some interesting discoveries, and posted them. They apparently were able to make the connection between low carb/higher protein and blood sugar management simply by monitoring what they ate and comparing to frequent blood sugar tests and weight loss.

Bottom line, my co-worker lost a lot of weight and put her blood sugar under control all by ignoring the ADA and by listening to fellow patients on an online forum.

(Don't you love stories like this?)

.

Wait, what forum? I've been looking for the equivalent of CPAPTalk but for diabetes and haven't found it yet.

For those who don't think they need to track their numbers
http://gustotv.com/health/healthy-foods ... ims-study/

The authors found that glycemic (blood sugar) responses to similar foods varied drastically across individuals. This finding is critical, as elevated blood sugar levels have been linked to diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome, write the authors.

Science Daily reports that the study looked at 800 unique participants and measured their diets over a week. In total they looked at over 46,000 meals. The participants were connected to devices that measured their blood sugar levels every 5 minutes. They were also asked to record their dietary intake on a mobile app.

The authors were shocked to see that individuals had vastly different glycemic responses to the same foods, writes CTV. Individual responses were stable across specific meals for individuals but differed significantly from person to person.

Some responses in particular were especially surprising. One participant’s blood sugar rose more after eating sushi than ice cream. Another saw her blood sugar rise quite drastically after eating tomatoes, a food we generally consider to be very healthy.

BlackSpinner wrote:For those who don't think they need to track their numbers
http://gustotv.com/health/healthy-foods ... ims-study/

The authors found that glycemic (blood sugar) responses to similar foods varied drastically across individuals. This finding is critical, as elevated blood sugar levels have been linked to diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome, write the authors.

Science Daily reports that the study looked at 800 unique participants and measured their diets over a week. In total they looked at over 46,000 meals. The participants were connected to devices that measured their blood sugar levels every 5 minutes. They were also asked to record their dietary intake on a mobile app.

The authors were shocked to see that individuals had vastly different glycemic responses to the same foods, writes CTV. Individual responses were stable across specific meals for individuals but differed significantly from person to person.

Some responses in particular were especially surprising. One participant’s blood sugar rose more after eating sushi than ice cream. Another saw her blood sugar rise quite drastically after eating tomatoes, a food we generally consider to be very healthy.

I can attest to this without a doubt!! I have been super surprised at how I can eat one thing, yet another thing sends my sugar through the roof (thus why I wanted the flexibility to check more than once a day). Even diabetics need fruits. I can eat strawberries and oranges (mini ones) but forget apples or grapes. I can eat a small portion of lasagna without any problem, but my FIL cannot eat that without his sugar soaring. And I cannot eat bread. I eat ONE piece of Light, Whole Wheat toast for breakfast, but no more bread after that. I can't eat subs anymore at all - PERIOD.

I CAN eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard (snack size) once in a while and it raises my sugar minimally. I know some diabetics couldn't eat that ever.

It IS very individual and the only way to know is to check your numbers 2 hours after eating.