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This is just an idea,but looking at our membership, now well over 6000.

I thought there must be a lot of members here who suffer ,like me, and Waroff from Diabeties,,

So I wondered if there would be enough people who may benefit from being able to chat about their condition, swap hints,give and receive ideas, on recipies,excercise, Blood counts,new medicines,etc etc .

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Yes why not , benefits may well be found in this forum.

We can all do with advice on this condition.

TypeI, TypeII or both?

I would guess type 1 and type 11. although type 11 is most common BUT many type 11 will end up as type 1 so I guess all are welcome.

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Here is my kick off.

Plain old rolled oats for breakfast.

Always at least thee quarters water, dash of lowered fat milk , pinch of salt and or artificial sweetner to taste.

Absolutley no butter or extra milk allowed.

If you need a change you can do weetbix exactly same way, yes exactly same ratios , you must avoid all other breakfast cerials , read the pack , sugar is always there as well as other junk of unknowns.

Super easy when zapped in the microwave, its my start every day , so one meal down thats healthy and low GI , now go for a walk , my wife calls it my sticky beak walk .

At about lunchtime you will need another healthy meal , your turn.

Hi All
Yes,my wife has type 11 ,she has had it for quite a number of years now. Luckily so far it is diet controlled.

Breakfast is rolled oats ,made with low fat milk and artificial sweetener ,also she always takes a muesli bar out with her when we will be out for a few hours .

The most exasperating thing I find is having to read the packaged food labels for the sugar content .

Brian

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Life's too short - spend your money now, or someone else will!!

You have to eat , that can not be avoided .

Whatever you eat over and above survival must be burnt off , yes sadly its called exersize.

You must find one you at least partly like , otherwise it will end when fed up.

Me , its go for a walk how long and where does not matter , if it was easy and short then do another one later, you know what is short and what is long, work it out for yourself, somedays its 3 short walks in an ever changing scenario, outside constantly changes but not that wall in front of your treadmill , but find your own exersize routine you like.

My youngest son has diabetes I, I'll be interested in following this thread, at least.
Morgan

Been Type II for 11 years now. Early last year my medication stopped working and I got very ill. Unfortunately (foolishly) I didn't go and see my GP till I was being asked what I was doing to lose weight so quickly. Checked and I had lost 13 kilos in a couple of months, without trying.

I had a series of blood tests done, ordered by my doctor, and the results were very alarming. Worst was that my Blood Sugar Level was through the roof and my kidneys had suffered damage. A change in medication (to Janumet) stabilised things, though the side effects were very unpleasant. I was sent off to an endocrinologist to confirm need for insulin.

Happily, I only had to stay on Janumet for 6months and then moved to Januvia (far fewer side effects). Despite my blood pressure being 125/80 I was put on blood pressure medication (more side effects) to bring it down to 120 and reduce pressure on the kidneys. No need for insulin in the end.

In 6 months my blood sugar levels fell from 13.8 to 6.4 and my blood pressure was 120/80.

The problem, as explained to me by the endocrinologist, was that when the previous medication stopped working my sugar levels went out of control. This made me ill and prodded the brain to order adrenaline production to increase. Adrenaline converts food into sugar faster, to provide energy to fight illness. This, in turn, exacerbates the diabetes and causes more adrenaline production and so on.

The main moral of this is, if you are diabetic (in fact, if you have any chronic illness) do not ignore the warning signs! I was very busy at work and just ignored feeling sick all the time. If I had left it too much longer I may have suffered kidney failure. Regular checkups are also essential, as are regular blood tests.

I have also changed my lifestyle somewhat. More exercise, more care in what I eat (avoiding high GI foods, well...mostly!) and so forth.

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Peter
Hawthorn - AFL Premiers 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008.

Well it looks like this thread has enough interest at this early stage 9 for 0 against.
keep the interest coming,

My Story .. I was diagnosed with Type 11 about 6 years ago.
and so far have kept it reasonably under control until 12 months ago,when my Blood levels doubled in the space of a few weeks,
Fortunatly I attend the Doctors once a month. so he monitered it during that time,and prescribed a New Drug called Galvas.. which took it back down within a couple of weeks, it is now low 7.s to high 6,s

But what annoys me most is,,, I eat something NASTY,and next morning the count goes down.. then I eat something that should be good,but it goes up...
most frustrating.
About 4 years back I did a lot of walking,as our house backed onto a Golf Course,and there was a Track all the way round it,plus heaps of walking tracks cutting in and out,but since we moved 2 years back I have done almost none,as there are Hills, no footpaths,etc, plus I have lost my walking buddie,as well.
but I keep thinking about perhaps driving back to the old place and parking the car and going for a stroll.. it will happen given everything falling into place,

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Hi

This past year I was diagnosed with borderline type II. The Endocrinologist said it was caused by an extreme Vitamin D deficiency. It is now controlled by diet and D supplement.

Everyone so far has been talking about reading labels for sugar content. The nutritionist I went to has me looking at carbohydrates. I am allowed to cheat once in a while and go over the carb limit. That is a good thing since I like a big bowl of pasta.

Originally I went to the hospital's nutritionist (doctor's office is in hospital medical building). Their diet was a "one size fits all". No matter what the situation it was the same diet.
I then found a private nutrionist who tailors a diet to one's medical condition. According to the hospital diet an Italian could not live, NO pasta, NO tomatoes, NO sausage (I am not Italian but a favorite meal).

Interesting fact. I have had CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for at least 18 years and suffer from panic attacks. The doctor added a drug called Welbutrin and after a week he took me off it. The drug made my blood sugar go ballistic, unusual but possible side effect, and it took 2 weeks to lower it.

So that, in a nutshell, is my story. I think this thread could be helpful to a lot of sufferers since not every nutritionist has the same techniques and not every endocrinologist has the same "solution".

Jerry B

Actually it's called exercise. And it's is spelled it's.

I, too, have Diabetes 2. But in my case it's actually Insulin Resistant Diabetes.

That's because I contracted Autoimmune Hepatitus seven years ago.

After getting out of hospital I was put onto Prednesilone which is a Steroid. What it does is to muffle all the organs in your body so that the Immune System cannot attack those organs.

Hence the Pancreas was compromised and I had the symptoms of Diabetes 2 about 8 months later.

And since we are all being open about it all, I also take Efexor to keep the Black Dog away from my door. Depression came along shortly after the Autoimmune for the same reason as the Diabetes. The prednesilone stuffs up the chemical mix in your brain so it doesn't produce Endorphins to keep you at a happy or satisfied level.

But, like most Diabetics, I still have to watch my Blood Sugar which can fluctuate wildly because the Liver tries to overcome the Steroid by producing more sugar. So I have to watch my weight. I take Metformin and Glyade for the Diabetes.

And, like most of us, I also exercise regularly. But, if I exercise too much, the next day my Liver tells me by sending a message to the brain to make me sleep more because the combination of the exercise and the Steroid causes it to produce less of the chemicals I need to survive. Hence I tend to sleep a lot more than most.

If you are wondering what causes the Autoimmune Hepatitus just keep wondering. It is a rare illness and is incurable. But it can be controlled. I have to take Anti-Rejection tablets (Imuran) for the rest of my life since my Immune System thinks I have a newly transplanted Liver. Interestingly 75% of sufferers are female and (surprisingly) the other 25% are male.

Those of you who follow soccer would know that at least one other Australian male has it, Harry Kewel.

And all diabetics differ, too.
I've been a type 1 diabetic for 52 years, insulin injecting from day of diagnosis to now. Currently on 5 injections per day.
It has been a struggle, at times, but I remain reasonably well, and keep myself active. I'm now retired with grandchildren, but had a difficult job for 35 years, taking no time off for diabetic problems. I've had eye laser treatment, vision is not as good as it was, and my colour vision has changed, which is a nuisance when deciding on certain shades of stamps, and ties that match my shirt.

I would suggest to any diabetic that they discuss 2 issues with their physician, namely do I need any treatment for my cholesterol, and should I be taking a daily aspirin? I had a cholesterol problem 10 years ago, but daily atorvastatin controls that, then, 2 years ago, bu**er me if my lipids didn't become raised as well, so I now pop a pill for that, too.

At least 4 blood tests every day, but mine are not quite as good as those that you type 2's achieve, unfortunately, but I refuse to allow my diabetes to interfere with my life. I enjoy all food (except bananas) and like a drink (except brandy). Yes, I agree that it can be a chore looking at what carbs are in a food or drink (and definitely NOT just the glucose or sugar as I heard an untrained nurse say, recently), but you get used to it, and it is a vital part of being diabetic.

I eat a lot of home prepared food, growing most of our veg and some of our fruit, and use a book called "GI & GL Counter" by Winnie Chan, to obtain food values. Fats are as important as carbs and this book contains most of the info you need. It may not be relevant to all, but as an example, it tells you the food values of crispy duck, prawn crackers, umpteen sorts of rice, pizza, beer, enchilada - 36 foods per page for 140 odd pages. If it's not available in your country, I would suggest you look in the library and see what's available, and get your own to use at home. Absolutely invaluable. I've found I only now refer to it occasionally, as I've a fair idea what is contained in most foods.

phrag99 -

I find your post inspiring. My son is 19 and has had diabetes I since he was 13. He went to the doctor that day being afraid of needles and within a day he was testing himself and giving himself insulin injections several times daily and managing himself by counting carbs, etc...ever since. In an unrelated problem, he has also had a heart pacemaker since he was 7 because he was born with a complete heart block. He caught it all but he has handled it well and after reading your post, I can see that he can have a normal life long after I'm gone. Of course, as a parent, I would have taken all of this on for him if I could have. I probably wouldn't have handled it as well as he does though.

Regards,
Morgan

I am not diabetic but my step-grandfather was type 1.

Back in the early 1950's I used to visit he and my grandmother quite frequently.

At this time he had retired as a Master printer for one of the London newspapers.

During his retirement he used to breed budgerigars and build bird cages to sell to supplement their income.

However, I used to shudder every time he had to give himself the insulin injection.

Moreover, he wore a prominent hearing aid which performed very poorly so that one had to stand in front of him so that he could lip read.

I am sure there have been many advances in both diabetes and the treatment of impaired hearing loss in the last 60 years.

BTW Ron, he was Scottish and lived into his 70's.

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If it erupts, don't blame me!!

Hi


In the United States one popular food book is CalorieKing: http://www.calorieking.com/
My nutritionist uses one from the Mayo Clinic but it is an expensive book.

We did a search for a Spanish food list and found: http://www.dwlz.com/WWinfo/mexican.html
which is mainly Mexican. Spanish food lists must exist but haven't found any.

Since my wife is Colombian, we eat Colombian food every now and then. Have to be careful though as Colombian food is carb city. Colombians have rice and yucca and plantains with almost every dish.

Jerry B

I hope you missed the word WELL in the above sentence

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Ron if you mean WELL in respect to his health, obviously not.

If you mean WELL past 75, I think so, though I don't have the data on this computer.

After 50 years my memory is not as good as it was.

Although he was not the father of my grandmothers many children, the grandchildren and great grandchildren respected him greatly both for his accomplishments and fortitude. Besides which, for being a "nice" person who never complained about his disabilities.

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If it erupts, don't blame me!!

since Selvedge is busy correcting spellings I should point out I guess his condition is really rare! .
Most liver conditions are spelled HEPATITIS

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whatever it is -------it's better than a poke in eye with a wet umbrella !

So the spelling corrector has himself been corrected.

The disease info is perhaps what we should be focusing on , this is not a frivolous forum , it has the ability to improve life or indeed even save lives

The subject we are discusing, Diabeties,, is going to be peppered with medical terms, Drug names,new outlooks.all of which will have very unusual or difficult spellings,
So lets not get bogged down with correcting spelling mistakes,the main thrust of this thread is to Help, share information,and provide somewhere to go and ask a few questions,and get some tips on keeping the Blood count down.
and one thing that can raise it is STRESS, and if someone is going to get picked on for a few spelling errors.that could be enough to stress them out,and they may not come back.
So please no picking on speelling errors, OK.

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Your Doctor and his advice is your first and best weapon against this disease , if you change anything you do and that includes advice in this forum , You Must Tell Your Doctor !

Why , well it may badly affect your medication outcomes.

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Yes seems you are right Ron, and a number of members seem personally affected or their immediate family members are.

I tidied up a recent post here to keep it on topic, and hope many useful posts can be added here.

Glen

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.
Click HERE to see superb, RARE and unusual stamps, at FIXED low nett prices, high rez photos, and NO buyer fees etc!

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Mum lived with every old age complication known to man starting with high blood pressure and diabetes type II (but using insulin) for nearly 20 years. She lived with us for 10 years and I ended up being her carer for the last 3 years until a series of strokes ended her life.

One thing I can with complete confidence say is, don't listen to just the opinion of one doctor, (especially one who hasn't kept up with modern treatments), as some we have met knew didly squat about what a diabetic needs to do to stay healthy.

It is the patient who is in the best position to know and monitor their condition daily. The same as I now monitor how I am going health wise being the son of a diabetic with high blood pressure.

The CSIRO low GI book is excellent. You want slow burning, good food value eating to keep you blood sugar levels on an even keel through the day.

The nutritionist we went to and spent some hours with (she was very good, took the time, didn't rush us out the door with a new religion of frugal boring eating regimes) said that actual sugar is not as important to a diabetic as fat content and slow burning foods and the need to become a grazing eater instead of a 3 square meals a day eater.

Mum ate about 6-8 ½ meals a day - same foods broken down as large snacks, instead of 3 large feeding frenzy's each day.

I think it was Phrag's post above? Great advice!

Eat less but more often and eat food you make yourself if possible. The occasional treat is fine (bit of chocky cake with you meal) as long as you've eaten it with good food as well. It's the value of the whole package that just went into your stomach, not the individual portions.

Watch the fat content, salt content and choose lower GI foods. This is more important than actual sugar.

Confirm with your pharmacist the combinations of pills you may be on. We had some that interfered with each other and all it took was changing the prescription so that one pill in conflict was taken with breakfast and the other with dinner. (Watch also to make sure that pills with no food are taken without eating - we had some with no food and some that must have food at the same time).

Go for a walk every day, 30 mins will do and it doesn't have to be a power walk, just walk.

It's not the end of the world, even to a junior. It's a whole new one! You can become your own "Master Chef", enjoy healthy food, have as much get up and go as the next person and apart from the needle, no one would tell that your a diabetic.

A word on the needle. Mum used what looked like an epi-pen with a super fine needle to inject her insulin. She said she had to actually watch it go in as she hardly felt it as it was so fine and the dose was made by a turn of the dial to measure of the exact ammount.

A word on the future for Morgan and son. I don't think it will be too long and there will be no need for the needle.

There are so many advances about to hit the market in relation to testing your BGL and taking insulin, it's all about to get a whole lot more "comfortable".

If anyone is wondering how much can a person take and still live happily, this is what Mum had to put up with:

High blood pressure (could not be read on modern electronic machines, once got to 250/160), diabetes type II (diagnosed when she was mid 50's), high cholesterol, a dicky heart (fibrillating), cateracts, calcifying arteries (leeding to multiple mini strokes), bad back due to loss of calcium, hearing loss, wounds that took 2 years to heal, lupis and even the occasional bout of gout.

She never had a headache in her life and yet I suffer from migraines!

Her list of prescribed medication was written down in a notebook that we carried with us as it got to about 8 different pills and 6 different vitamin/mineral supplements.

This is not a depressing story, Mum lived to 71 and became the oldest living female that I can trace in our family.

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

Fair enough. One spelling mistake that did not change the meaning of the word.

I aksept wot the rest of youse are saying. I will keep bitin my tung and allow this thred to be spelling corekshun free.

After awl depite menny atemps I still carnt chanje mr boggler!!

Actually, though, if I am recognised as the "corrector", then that in itself is not a bad result. It shows that others are taking notice and will try their best not to be pulled up for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Hi muruk

As far as spelling I have only seen the 2 c's version. My wife uses fresh but it is a pain to peel so most times she uses frozen. In the Cuban Yucca con Mojo you cannot tell the difference.

http://karmafreecooking.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/yucca-con-mojo-cubano/

According to the links below, Yucca and Yuca are both correct and are the same thing:
http://www.how-do-you-spell.com/yucca
http://www.how-do-you-spell.com/spanish/yuca

Jerry B

Andrew Please go and get yourself checked out,this is a disease that creeps up on you. and can cause so many other parts of your system to fail you.if not kept in check

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Uncle Andrew, please go and get yourself checked out.
We want to think about you,
not, worry about you.

Allanswood -

You are correct that advances are being made in this field and that the need to take needles may one day be a thing of the past.
In my son's case he had the option of having a pump which only requires an occasional change of needle and it automatically pumps in the insulin as required. He chose not to get this because he already has a heart pacemaker. In his words, he didn't want anymore "mechanical" parts.
The other thing that hit the market was an insulin that is by inhalation. The doctor did not recommend this for my son because of his age and the unknown possible long term affects to his lungs.
Ironically, the need to stick himself with needles all day has long since stopped bothering him. He only regrets the inconvenience in his daily life as a 19 year old.

-Morgan

I was reading an article supposedly by a famous American docter called Dr John Wright.

He claims there is a compound called "Sugar-X" that, when taken, reduces BSL by 60% in 15 minutes and you never need to take any Diabetes drugs ever again.

And he will tell me what it is if I give him $40 for his book.

Has anyone tried this? If so is it any good?

Just Googled sugar X and it all seems too good to be true unfortunately.

Damn near cures everything just like the little bottle did that was sold in the wild west over 100 Years ago, please ask your Doctor about this.

Yeh Sounds like an Old Snake Oil Salesman,
But I guess its worth keeping an eye on.because one day

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

wikipedia on sugar x

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylose

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I AM ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE
Post your KGV faults on the stampboard wiki.

Pity they have not got an English Version

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

Hi

Take a look at Stevia products for a sweetner. In the house we use a tea made from it and it does not seem to affect my blood sugar:

http://www.stevia.com/

Jerry B

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A man might as well marry ... if he finds a good wife he will be happy ... if not, he will become a philosopher.
Collecting Greater New Guinea & Macropods (Kangaroos & Wallabies).

From their website

Is Stevia safe? This all-natural herbal product has been used by the native Indians of Paraguay for centuries. It has also been tested numerous times and found to be completely non-toxic. However, it should not be used by women who are pregnant or breast-feeding. Also people taking diabetes or blood pressure drugs should use Stevia with caution.

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I AM ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE
Post your KGV faults on the stampboard wiki.

Have just had a read through this thread and am most interested.

I do not have diabetes but in my job as a dispenser have been trying to learn more about it, so I may be asking questions about how you deal with the condition - if you don't mind. Also may be looking for some case studies in the near future as part of my ongoing studies to become a pharmacy technician.

Kathy

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Bonfiregirl
I'll always remember the fifth of November

Kathy, we will help you all we can.

Alan

My wife has just been diagnosed as diabetic, she's not too happy about it either but she knew it was coming as her mother was a diabetic as well, I look forward to reading more 'helpful hints' on this site to improve her status.....oh yes & she has been testing her blood readings or sugar levels for the past 3 weeks [ranging from 4 to 23.5].

Wolseley, with a range like that, I presume she has been prescribed medication to help control it? The best advice is to avoid higly processed carbohydrates (such as white bread), the body just converts those redily into sugar.

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Peter
Hawthorn - AFL Premiers 1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008.

As Peter says avoid the sugars,,

Biggest problem is of course all the "Hidden" sugar that is in almost everything from Sort Drinks,to cake,and Biscuits.

Wolseley has your wife been told about any of the Diabetic
Groups attached to your local Hospital ?

Well worth joining one, she will learn SOOOOO much more than what the Doctor will tell you.

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.