new and some questions
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| Mon, 05-05-2008 - 12:20pm |
Hello everyone,
I am new to this board and have had diabetes for ten years now.
I take Metformin 1000 mg twice daily . I am curious as to what other diabetics doctors recommend for preventive care.
I have a CBC and a A1C test once yearly and that is all that my pcp thinks is needed.
I also have high blood pressure , kidney damage, am a heart attack survivor.
I have chronic uti's and was scheduled to take iv antibotics but that was cancelled this morning although I have no idea why.
I certainly don't want to sound like a hypochondraic but should I be having more than a blood test once a year with no other screening done?
Does the A1c eliminate the need for testing daily?
Why do they stop recommending mamagrams and other screening tests when you have diabetes?
Does anyone have chronic uti's ?
Thanks for reading this,
Have a wonderful day !

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Liatris and Deb,
Thank you for the information.
I am
There is a really good possibility if a lot of what you eat are simple carbs they are more likely to quickly raise and then drop the BG numbers fast.
If you're waiting to feel thirsty to drink, you're just touching the tip of the iceberg, by then you've got a deficit going. Also, out of control blood sugar can make you feel thirsty.
If your blood sugar went high, going really low is actually common - sort of like a rubber ball you bounce high then drop. What you want is nice gentle ripples on the blood sugar pond, not too high not too low. What you don't want is a tsunami where it rears up high, then retreats way out, then rears back up again.
You've gotta be careful with diuretics - not only do you need to be sure to get enough potassium and sodium but diuretics interact with a lot of different foods as well. Be sure to read the patient info that goes with the prescription really carefully.
--Deb
Auntydoxzz and Deb
Thanks for your help.
I have started testing my sugar and I see it hasn't been to high but today fast was 113 which I was really pleased , after breakfast it only went to 141,
Dee, diabetes is a progressive disease.
I will admit after I was diagnosed I think about the 2nd year I even called my doctors office and asked for the lab test results from the times BEFORE i was diagnosed!! I found it very useful in terms of tracking where my cholesterol numbers went, etc.
My current GP always marks that the patient gets a copy of test results - whether it's a once a year test or my quarterly A1C or whatever. When DH was getting his test results (monitoring lipids with our GP) and I wasn't getting anything (my endo did not say patient gets a copy), I started writing it in on her lab orders next to where she said that my GP should get a copy. Not a quibble and I'd get the results within a few days so I would know going into the next appointment what we needed to discuss, what changes I should start making, etc. Now that I've switched to just my GP (no endo), when I went for the A1C the day after my last endo appointment (her in office machine rejected the test strip for the A1C), I got a *phone call* a day later from my GP PLUS the paper copy of the results the day after that via USPS with the results.
113 and 141 are really good compared to where you were. Between 90-110 is a good 'target' for fasting and <140 is a good 'target' for after meals and <40 point difference between before and after a meal is a good 'target' as well (so if you had 113 before breakfast and 141 after breakfast, that'd be a 28 point rise, which is 'on target').
If banana is a problem (my bs goes way up with them), try finding other ways to get little bits of extra potassium in through the day - for example, avocado is a great low carb, low sodium, high potassium food that also has some of the good fats as well. Slice some up onto a sandwich or mash some for a very basic guacamole (guacamole does not have to be spicy). Pinto beans are also good - they do have a bit of carbs but they also have protein and fiber. A low carb flour tortilla (like Tumaro brand multigrain (13 grams carb, 8 grams fiber!) with mashed beans, cheese, a bit of mashed avocado and a little salsa (whatever level of spicy you like) would be a good, low carb, low sodium (depending on the salsa), high potassium lunch. A quick snack of almonds or peanuts is a way to get in potassium as well. Plain, low fat yogurt is a potassium source as well - I add a teaspoonful or so of agave syrup (low glycemic sweetener) and a nice sprinkle of cinnamon and it's tasty and is very kind and gentle to my blood sugar. Caveat: if you're on antibiotics for the infection stuff, be sure to check for food interactions before having things like dairy foods.
--Deb
I agree!! I think between burnout (between hitting the first anniversary of dx and FIL's ill health and death, you may have nailed it - I was burned out trying to juggle my health and all the other needs at the time) and the munching that ensued, I was getting into a eat-too-many-carbs, spiral up, crave more carbs, spiral up, endless cycle. Even though it wasn't HFCS (even DS will avoid that as much as possible), I was still having simple carby foods way too much and not in balance with other things. In the last two weeks, I've been curbing that by:
(a) Exercise! In the last two weeks, I've done my 30 minutes of exercise all but maybe one day. I deliberately plan to do that around the time I usually get the munchies in the evening (around 7-7:30)
(b) Herbal tea: I check the ingredients and make sure there's no caffeine, no licorice root (a sweetener that I know messes with my bs), no honey, etc - I check the labels and eliminate stuff that I know has had negative effects on me. The teas (I alternate flavors) give me some flavor without carbs/calories AND they force me to relax a bit - you cannot drink hot tea fast.
(c) making sure I'm getting enough water: I've noticed that on weekends, when I tend to drink less water, I'm more likely to want to munch
My bs readings are stabilizing again, my weight is down 2 lbs in the last 2 weeks, and I tested my blood pressure at home (two different days at different times of day) and both readings were at around 114/73 - yippee. (Note: I've also been focusing more and getting more potassium in since when I started logging the potassium and sodium values in my day, it was way off balance - a good ratio is 2 mg potassium to 1 mg sodium; I was flipped almost exactly the other way! By looking for potassium rich low sodium (and low carb) foods, it's now edging back over the other way. Today looks to be at about 1.5:1 which is about double where it was and going in a good direction.
A side bonus of (b) is that both DH and DS have joined me in having an evening 'tea time' when we pop in a movie and sit and have a cuppa together. Makes for a nice relaxing wind down for all of us. And relaxing/de-stressing is another important thing for lowering blood sugar and blood pressure both.
We're fortunate that the co-op we generally shop at is basically an organic, vegetarian 'haven' of a place. Few, if any products, contain HFCS - makes it a LOT easier to shop.
--Deb
Auntydoxzz and Cheryl,
Thank you for the information.
I called and asked for information from doctors office and felt something was really wrong so I went and made them give me my records.
My reaction after reading your post was, "oh boy".
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