Effect of "sugar free" on blood sugar
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| Mon, 07-30-2007 - 1:21pm |
I have read that one of the problems with diet soda (for instance) is that the body doesn't know how to differentiate between real sugar and sugar substitutes. What I read indicated that while diet soda -- carbonated, or non-carbonated like Crystal Light -- may be calorie free with zero carbs, it can still affect blood sugar levels. On another board I visit, a woman (who is diabetic) said that she noticed this was the case with her. Crystal Light caused her blood sugar levels to rise and she had confirmed this with her gluco-meter. I'm just curious if anyone else has noticed this.
I'm not diabetic and don't have a blood sugar monitor so I can't track this myself. But diabetes runs in my family and I have several risk factors, so I've been making an effort to eat better and exercise regularly and lose weight, and one of my primary goals has been trying to keep my blood sugar levels as steady as possible. (So, for instance, I've gotten familiar with the Glycemic Index and I tend to eat low-GI foods like fruit, veggies, beans, and low-GI grains.) I do drink Crystal Light at home, and I also have a can of Diet Dr. Pepper most mornings when I get to work. Obviously, since keeping my blood sugar stable is a goal, I wouldn't want to continue drinking Crystal Light (or the Diet DP) if it can in fact cause my blood sugar to go up.
(Part of the reason I'm curious about what others have noticed is because my mother has a friend, with Type I Diabetes, who REGULARLY drinks Crystal Light. Like...constantly. She's gotten my mother to do it as well.)


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Hi Cindy,
Welcome to the board. Thanks for the sound advise that you gave. Nothing like the voice of experience. Here on the west coast Alvardo bakery makes a good bread specially for diabetics and really doesn't raise the blood sugar a lot.
One the matter of flavored waters I am only bothered by waters which have real fruit juice added to them and are like 5 calories per 8 ounces. For some reason it keeps my blood sugar up and so I try not to drink them. I usually just drink plain tea and sometimes plain water.
Hi cl-maryfrances40,
Thank you for the welcome.
I know that it's the sugar alcohols that cause diarrhoea but had no idea that that's what causes cataracts. I'd say that that was a timely warning as I have cataracts forming in both eyes, but I tend to steer clear of sugar substitutes as much as I do sugar. When I was diagnosed Type 1, some 27 years ago, I decided to go the whole hog and cut out sugar as much as I could from my diet. Sadly, that didn't work out quite as well as I was hoping. I was diagnosed, then, as a brittle diabetic. It's not a term that's used much these days and, basically, means that I have wildly swinging sugar levels. I can have lows (below 4 mmol/l or 72 mg/dL) at one point and upwards of 20 mmol/l (360+ mg/dL) within the space of a few hours. As you might imagine, there have been occasions when I've been admitted to hospital for treatment in an attempt to bring my blood sugars back to a 'normal' range.
Since November 1998, I've been using an insulin pump (Continuous Insulin Infusion System) and, I must say, this has been a god/dess send for me.
Unfortunately, due to the wildly swinging blood sugars over the years, I've developed several complications ... one of these being autonomic neuropathy. This means that I no longer feel hypos coming on. Now, my blood sugars regularly reach less than 1 mmol/l (18 mg/dL) whereby I lose consciousness. This means I have to rely on others to administer glucagon injections to 'bring me round'.
Anyway, I'm straying from the point here. You was mentioning Splenda. The good news is, it is far more widely available over here than it used to be.
If you're considering visiting our shores, and I'd advise you holding off until the floods have susbsided, some of the major stores that now stock it include: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-Op, ASDA, Morrisons, Nisa, Waitrose, Somerfield, Boots, Booths, and Budgens.
If/when you decide to visit us again, I hope you enjoy your time here.
May you continue to monitor and control your diabetes.
Best of luck.
Lots of Love and Light.
Mick
x x x x
x x x
Mick,
I have been reading about the floods. We are having a heat wave here and in some parts of the country floods too. Weather has been really strange this year. Where I am it has been really cool in the low 70's, about 19 C I think.
I am glad that you are using a pump. Over here we still use the term brittle for your style of diabetes. I am a type 2 diabetic for about 17 years and I am on long acting insulin plus orals. I can be fine at 10:30am and 50 to 60 by noon. It is just amazing and quite difficult to manage. The lowest that I know that I have been in 52 but since I don't have a continuous monitor it is possible that it has been lower. I have never needed a shot of glucagon. But I have needed the help of people when it gets too low. I live in a small town and am pretty well known and so there are several restaurants that I frequent for lunch. I have been upfront with them about what happens with me and so they usually take care of me immediately especially if my blood sugar is too low.
I am on a new drug called Symlin and it delays your stomach emptying and is supposed to smooth out the blood sugar. It also makes you less aware when your blood sugar drops. Incidentally when you have lost the ability to tell that your blood sugar is dropping it is called hypoglycemia unawares or neuroglucopenia. The other problem for me with Symlin is that when my blood sugar is too low I can't get it up as quickly as normal with food. Sometimes it takes up to 2 hours before it gets back where it is supposed to be. I am not sure that I like this new med! I wish I could afford to have a continuous blood sugar meter but they cost around $4,000 US per year and I can't afford that.
I love going to England. I have probably been four or five times and I still haven't seen all the country. One day I spent the entire day in the V&A museum in the stacks looking at ancient needlework. I am an avid needleworker and so that was so much fun for me. I have thought about going to England and taking classes but that requires a six week stay and I am still working. Maybe after I retire! There are schools specifically for the needle arts. Chester is one of my favorite places to go. So pretty and so walkable.
Hi cl-maryfrances40,
Thank you for your response.
I have heard about the uncanny weather that you've been receiving. It seems to be affecting the world in general. Maybe Mother Earth has had enough of us and is preparing to shake Her booty and get rid of us all. We've done nothing but ravage Her beauty for countless generations now.
I can scarcely believe it. It's the middle of summer, and we've just had 3 straight days of sunshine ... all except Scotland and Northern Ireland, that is. They're still getting rain, according to weather reports.
They still use the term brittle diabetes here too, but with a different meaning to the way it was explained to me. Now, it seems to indicate uncontrolled diabetes which, I guess, is basically the same as what I'm talking about in my situation. The difference being that due to some strange quirk of fate, each time I eat my blood sugars shoot up high and, even with fast acting insulin, it doesn't exactly control my sugar levels overall.
I do understand when you say you find it difficult to manage. On the whole, I think that my control has got better since I started to use this pump. At least, I tend not to spend as much time in hospital as I did prior to using it. Some years I used to spend as much time, if not more, in hospital as I did at home. Admittedly, I did have other things wrong with me besides the diabetes.
I'm no doctor, dear lady, nor am I medically qualified in any way (apart from a lapsed First Aid certificate), but if your blood sugars regularly fall to 50 or 60 mg/dL I would suggest you need your medications looking at. (Don't ask me who I think I am, telling others how to control their diabetes when I can't even control myself. I do know the theory behind it though. lol.)
To be honest, I think you've adopted the correct attitude in letting others know about your diabetes. For some reason, some people still see there as being a stigma attached to letting others know. It's almost as though they feel guilty about having it. (I do know that when I was doing security work I was soon sacked when my diabetes developed. At a diabetes appointment I met up with a previous work colleague who hadn't actually told our employer of his diabetes, purely for the reason that he felt he might be victimised against. I suppose, in a way, he was right. Sadly, the next time I saw him he'd had one of his lower legs amputated, and the time after that he'd had the second one removed.) What I'm trying to say is that when people are aware, as long as you've educated them, they'll know how to help you should the need arise.
I don't have a continuous blood glucose monitor myself, Mary Frances. I just get to know about low blood sugars as I test my blood sugar levels about 6 times a day on average. Apparently, the pump that I'm now using has the facility to monitor blood glucose levels continually, but my diabetes team feel that it's too expensive to justify spending on it. There's absolutely no way that I could afford to finance it myself. (No doubt, you'll understand that our NHS (National Health Service) pays for medications and treatments for all. The payment comes from everyone's wages, whether you need that treatment or not. My diabetes specialist nurse has told me that they will purchase some of these continuous glucose monitors when they feel the need to check how I'm coping.)
It seems that we're at opposite ends of the spectrum, my friend. Whereas you're taking drugs to prevent the emptying of your stomach, I take drugs to help me empty mine. Due to autonomic neuropathy (one of the complications that I have), I now have gastroparesis ... a failure of the stomach to empty regularly. As you might imagine, this causes all sorts of nasty side effects, not the least of, vomiting due my stomach attempting to empty itself by whichever means it sees fit.
I am aware that not being able to recognise hypoglycaemia is termed hypoglycaemia unawareness but, strictly speaking, this is not quite the same as neuroglucopenia. Although neuroglucopenia comes about as a result of repeated severe hypoglycaemic episodes, it doesn't mean that the sensation of hypos are missing. Someone that is neuroglucopenic may recognise that they are having a hypo, but their body fails to rectify the low blood glucose level. I didn't use the term hypoglycaemic unawareness as I wasn't sure whether I'd be confusing people. After all, I am new to the board, and was unsure of how educated people are in their condition. Sorry about that.
I'm really sorry to hear that it can take up to 2 hours for you to raise your blood glucose levels. I know just how confused, irritable, argumentative, lethargic, etc. it can leave you when your blood sugar level is low. I tend to find that after a severe hypo (one where I lose consciousness), even though my blood sugar is back to 'normal', I still can't think straight for hours after. As an example, it was about 9:30 pm last night when my wife administered a glucagon injection. It's now 15:10 pm on the following day, and I'm still not thinking clearly.
I hear what you say about the expense of continuous glucose monitoring, dear lady, but wouldn't it be beneficial to operate it for a shorter period of time, rather than having it permanently in situ? I'm lucky living over here as I don't have to pay out anything for treatments/medications etc. I consider myself extremely lucky that I was chosen to test the first insulin pump in Sandwell (the area of the country that I live in). There are now 16 of us using pumps in Sandwell, partly because I had such good results when I started using one. I know the pumps themselves are expensive. I had a guy from the United States of America come over to demonstrate it to me. He was telling me (back in 1998) that they cost approximately 4-5,000 dollars then (That's about 2-2,500 British pounds at todays exchange rate). I guess it's not too hard to see why there are so few of us using pumps. The government don't like to spend money, even though it's money that's been 'paid in', and continues to be 'paid in'.
I've only lived in the UK for approximately 49 years, and I still haven't seen all of the country. In fact, I haven't seen most of the country. I've never visited the United States, and given my current health, I doubt that I will during this lifetime. A shame really, I'd really love to see all that this world has to offer.
My wife's the needlework fanatic in our house. She's into counted cross-stitch. I couldn't tell you how many pieces she's completed but it must be at least a few dozen. They're not actually 'my cup of tea' as they tend to be scenes from The Snowman, an animated film by Raymond Briggs.
It's been literally years and years since I last visited London ... probably 20 years or so. I did visit the Victoria and Albert museum at the time, but that was because there were some tapestries that I particularly wanted to see. (The Myth/Legend of King Arthur.)
Do you know, you've been to more places on this side of the Atlantic than I have? I've never been to Chester. I suppose you might say that I'm not that well travelled . In fact, apart from my Army service, I've been virtually nowhere. Still, there's no use to crying over spilt milk. Maybe in my next life I'll have a decent body, and be able to do all that I want to.
Anyway, I've probably bored the socks off you now, so I'll say goodbye for now.
Take care, dear lady.
Lots of Love and Light.
Mick
x x x x
x x x
I have type 1 diabetes- and I am obsessive about foods and drinks that make my blood sugar rise. Diet drinks and Crystal Light do NOT make it rise. I can drink up to 5 diet drinks and it won't do anything. I've also had about half of a container of Crystal light- and it doesn't do anything either. I actually think it's one of the healthier drinks. Coffee, on the other hand, raises my blood sugar A LOT. For years, I couldn't figure out why my blood sugar was always higher in the mid-morning. Then one day, I had a night class and decided to drink a cup of coffee to stay awake- and my blood sugar stayed at 400 for more than 4 hours even with more insulin. (I make strong coffee.) I decided to do an experiment where I would just stop drinking coffee in the morning, and then all of the sudden my blood sugars came down drastically in the mornings.
Hi There,
I saw that you were from England- That's great! I actually want to travel to England or somewhere in Europe next year or the year after- but one of my biggest fears are carbs. I am used to the carbohydrates of foods in the United States- but I don't know if it'll be different in England. Do you have nutrition facts on all your foods out there? Are there some foods I should just stay away from?
Thank you!
Emily
I realize it is your wife who is the needleworker, but feel I MUST make a comment here. A few times one of the really big book stores I managed to stop at, had several different needlework magazines from the U. K. I found it fascinating to read them, one even had a small kit with it. So must say they DO have some really neat magazines with really great patterns in them!! But they also had some really interesting sections that gave more information on those from England reading the magazines!! That also was really interesting.
I seem to recall one was having a series of dogs, and it really disappointed me I got only the one issue. As a dog lover, especially the doxies it always excites me to find things showing them!!
Auntydoxzz
Dear Emily,
Thank you for your post, mentioning that you were considering coming across to the UK or Europe next year, or the year after.
Hopefully, I can alleviate some of your fears with regards to carbohydrates. For some years now we've had food labelling on all packaged goods in the UK. I'm afraid I can't comment on whether that's the same in Europe as it's been some considerable time since I last travelled abroad.
I'm not aware of any foods (or types of foods) that you should steer clear of as, if I can estimate the amount of carbohydrate that's contained I simply make adjustments to the bolus of insulin I would take. (Even fast food restaurants have started producing guides to the carbohydrate content of their foods.)
Below, I've listed a few sites that you may well find useful. A few of them are for free .pdf downloads that you may consider useful. Sadly, the one link is for books that are available from Diabetes UK (our registered charity, very similar to the ADA) but their books do cost money. I've never purchased any of their books, so I can't say with any degree of legitimacy as to how useful you might find them.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/
http://www.storetour.co.uk/knowYourLabels_energy.htm - An explanation of the way that prepared foods are labelled in the UK
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/catalogue/eating_well.pdf - Eating well with diabetes
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/catalogue/Alcohol_f.doc.pdf - Alcohol and diabetes
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/catalogue/Keeping_active.pdf - Keeping Active with diabetes
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Documents/catalogue/WMP_A5_lay_leaflet_7500_Sept06.pdf - Weight creeping up on you?
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/How_we_help/Catalogue/Food_and_activity/Recipe_books/ - Recipe Books for diabetics
Please forgive me if any of these don't relate to you. I did try to look at your profile before listing any, but you've opted to not fill out any details about yourself. (That's not meant as a criticism in any way. I respect your decision for not wishing to do that.)
If you think I may be able to help you with anything, Emily, please don't hesitate to contact me via email. (micksmixxx@yahoo.co.uk)
Be well, dear lady.
Lots of Love and Light.
Mick
x x x x
x x x
P.S. Please don't be alarmed at the "x's". It's a sort of logo that I've used for some 30-odd years now.
P.P.S. If you do decide to come to the UK, may I be the first to welcome you. I hope you have a most enjoyable time.
Greetings to you Auntydoxzz,
Thank you for your post with regards to needlework, and the magazines you found available from over here.
I don't know if it will interest you, but most of the needlework magazines over here, usually do come with a small kit attached. That's how my wife started out. She now goes to specialist needlework centres to purchase kits, patterns, threads, etc. She also takes the pieces she feels are good enough to display to have them professionally mounted and framed. (Most of the magazines that I've actually noticed tend to contain kits with alphabets, cartoons, nature content on them.)
I'm afraid I'm going to have to show my absolute ignorance now, Auntydoxzz, and tell you that I'm not sure what breed of dog you're referring to when you speak of "doxies". Could that possibly be dachshunds?
If you're interested, and you can recall the title of the magazine that you received your kit from, I can do a bit of research and try to find if they have back issues of the magazine with kits on them that contain dogs. My email address is micksmixxx@yahoo.co.uk
Anyway, enough of my witterings, eh?
Take care.
Lots of Love and Light.
Mick
x x x x
x x x
P.S. Please don't be alarmed at the "x's". It's a sort of logo that I've used for some 30-odd years.
Thank you very much Mick!
That was all very helpful! It touches on a number of things I've had questions about. I'll have to look through it all tomorrow.
I actually just started this account and I didn't know that there was a place for me to put information- but I'll have to get on that.
I'll keep your email handy in case I have any more questions.
Thanks again!
Emily
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