Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 writes: << ... The pulsating that I asked about in an earlier email was my bp acting up,I had been on prescribed antihistamines for the inner ear prob and I guess my blood pressure didn't agree with that. I came off them and no more pulsating. >> , when I hear those PSA's where they talk about people not knowing they have high blood pressure, I go, " What??? " because I get that " exploding head " sensation too. High blood pressure is a common problem among diabetics. Left untreated long, it can ravage our circulatory system and lead to heart attacks. I encourage all of us who have had a report of high blood pressure or have any symptoms or family history of hypertension to buy a home testing monitor. For one thing, the meter helps me sort out which symptoms are blood pressure and which are glucose levels. It's a small investment, considering our overall health picture. On another issue: Insulin and adrenalin are close kin. Some of us who are insulin-resistant and not on meds find that if we eat problem foods like a big helping of pasta and our glucose goes into the stratosphere, our hearts really start banging away ... that " fight-or-flight " adrenalin reaction. I take three different kinds of blood pressure medications. Of those, the beta blockers have done a world of good at calming down that adrenalin reaction. The beta blockers don't squelch the adrenalin; they just tell my body to ignore its effects. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 Hello group ... I took my first BG reading today (type II) ... it showed up as 17.7 ... How does that relate to your reading in the US. Can someone convert this for me. I know it's high, but I what to gauge it against your stories as I go along & try & get it down .... comments please ????? Dave from London, England VPolzin@... wrote: > From: VPolzin@... > > Susie, > Before diagnosis I was on a low fat diet trying to lose because as you know > they missed my diagnosis for years. I have gone to more meat and less carbs > since being on this list and I am proud to report I have lost 3 more pds,I > have to work for every one of them. > > I tried to get off the med like you suggested but my body didn't do well,when > my glucose would go up I'd get up and exercise,it would come down for a short > while and slowly start climbing again. When I am on the med it does not do > that,since I started on low carb my glucose level has been being 104 in the > morning. > > The pulsating that I asked about in an earlier email was my bp acting up,I > had been on prescribed antihistamines for the inner ear prob and I guess my > blood pressure didn't agree with that. I came off them and no more pulsating. > > Have a good day everybody > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Have you entered ONElist's " Grow to Give " program? > http://www.onelist.com > Deadline is June 19. Join now to win $5000 for your charity of choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 Susie ... you talk a lot of sense & in plain English to ... cheers for that. From a newey type II .... DARNIT !!!! .... BUT LEARNING FROM ALL YOU GUYS ... NICE ONE. Dave , UK England OtterCritter wrote: > > > writes: > > << ... The pulsating that I asked about in an earlier email was my bp acting > up,I > had been on prescribed antihistamines for the inner ear prob and I guess my > blood pressure didn't agree with that. I came off them and no more > pulsating. >> > > , when I hear those PSA's where they talk about people not knowing they > have high blood pressure, I go, " What??? " because I get that " exploding > head " sensation too. High blood pressure is a common problem among > diabetics. Left untreated long, it can ravage our circulatory system and > lead to heart attacks. I encourage all of us who have had a report of high > blood pressure or have any symptoms or family history of hypertension to buy > a home testing monitor. For one thing, the meter helps me sort out which > symptoms are blood pressure and which are glucose levels. It's a small > investment, considering our overall health picture. > > On another issue: Insulin and adrenalin are close kin. Some of us who are > insulin-resistant and not on meds find that if we eat problem foods like a > big helping of pasta and our glucose goes into the stratosphere, our hearts > really start banging away ... that " fight-or-flight " adrenalin reaction. I > take three different kinds of blood pressure medications. Of those, the beta > blockers have done a world of good at calming down that adrenalin reaction. > The beta blockers don't squelch the adrenalin; they just tell my body to > ignore its effects. > > Susie > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Have you entered ONElist's " Grow to Give " program? > http://www.onelist.com > Deadline is June 19. Join now to win $5000 for your charity of choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 Dave from London writes: << Hello group ... I took my first BG reading today (type II) ... it showed up as 17.7 ... How does that relate to your reading in the US. Can someone convert this for me. I know it's high, but I what to gauge it against your stories as I go along & try & get it down .... comments please ????? >> Dave, I think we multiply that by 18, so a reading of 218-219 approximately? How long after you had eaten did you get this reading? You are aiming for readings in the 4 to 9 region, with 5.5 as an ideal target. You will have higher readings following meals, the numbers depending upon how many grams of carbohydrates were included, as well as fat and - to a limited extent - the protein content. And the amount you exercise and many other factors will influence your readings. It is a matter of testing, testing, testing ... Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 ok ... so where do I start ... I need a programme .... where do I start ... educate me, as you guys seem to know what your all on about !!! Dave OtterCritter wrote: > > > Dave from London writes: > > << Hello group ... I took my first BG reading today (type II) ... it showed > up as 17.7 ... How does that relate to your reading in the US. Can someone > convert this for me. I know it's high, but I what to gauge it against your > stories as I go along & try & get it down .... comments please ????? >> > > Dave, I think we multiply that by 18, so a reading of 218-219 approximately? > How long after you had eaten did you get this reading? You are aiming for > readings in the 4 to 9 region, with 5.5 as an ideal target. You will have > higher readings following meals, the numbers depending upon how many grams > of carbohydrates were included, as well as fat and - to a limited extent - > the protein content. And the amount you exercise and many other factors will > influence your readings. It is a matter of testing, testing, testing ... > > Susie > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Looking to expand your world? > http://www.onelist.com > ONElist has nearly 160,000 e-mail communities from which to chose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 Dave in London writes: << ok ... so where do I start ... I need a programme .... where do I start .... educate me, as you guys seem to know what your all on about !!! >> Dave, you want to have your own meter and test often. Keep a notebook to jot down your readings as well as the foods you ate, so you can see what works for you. The U.S. government requires food manufacturers to post the nutritional info on all food packaging, so it is an easy matter for us to check the total carbohydrate count per serving (then multiply, if we are having more than one serving). From that I subtract the fiber count. We are all made different, but what has worked for me is to keep my carbohydrate count below 100 grams daily, and to space them out as much as possible. I also keep an eye on fat content, and I want plenty of fiber. So my diet ends up being primarily salads and lean meats and uncooked veggies. I eat mostly lower-carb veggies like broccoli and asparagus. I also eat some steamed veggies and some cooked Oriental veggies with meat added. Carbohydrates have been a bigger problem for me than fats. I drink at least three quarts of water or unsweetened iced tea (1/3 strength), and I take some supplements, in addition to a good multi-vitamin. Exercise is very important as well, and trying to remove stress from our lives. Some advocate seeing a dietitian, but the pair I met with kept telling me to eat a lot of carbohydrates so I worked on my own. There are many web sites that can help you learn more. I would recommend buying some inexpensive paperback guides. One would be a food composition book such as " Complete Food Counts " by Netzer. There is a book written specifically for diabetics: " Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, " by Bernstein, MD, that advocates a very low-carbohydrate diet and plenty of exercise, as well as giving a lot of good info about self-care for diabetics. (Bernstein has been type 1 for 50 years.) There are several other guides available at deep discounts through online booksellers such as Amazon.com, & Noble, plus several others. And they can be found or ordered via your local bookseller. The important first step is getting your numbers into safe territory. If you have weight to lose, I would recommend plenty of exercise and cutting calories right away. And you need to determine what percentage of your diet will be fats, how much protein, and how many carbs you will allow yourself. The typical American diet contains 300 grams of carbohydrates daily. Some who follow an ultra-low-fat diet eat more like 400 grams of carbs a day. As a comparison, Dr. Atkins recommends 20-40 grams of carbs daily for those dieters who are in the Induction Phase of weight loss. This places most dieters into benign dietary ketosis, which aids in the burning of fat and resultant weight loss. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 Dave wrote: Hello group ... I took my first BG reading today (type II) ... it showed up as 17.7 ... How does that relate to your reading in the US. Can someone convert this for me. I know it's high, but I what to gauge it against your stories as I go along & try & get it down .... comments please ????? Dave from London, England - - - - - Hello Dave, your reading is certainly high. I suppose that the measure used in the UK is mmol as here in Denmark. To get the US measure use a factor of 18 and mulitply. That's about 318,6. Some doctors say that it will gradually cause complications if it is over 10mmol - others (which I heard from another member on the list) say that they already starts if the bg is over 7mmol. If I remember it right you are a type II. I'm a type II as well and my cells are resistant towards the insuline that I am still producing. Therefore I take metformin (orabet) from Novo. My doctor has told me that when I have lost some more lbs I will probably be able to regulate the bg only through diet. The cell resistance towards insuline will dissappear. - Do you need to loose weight? - I have not been a diabetic for so long, but if I were you I would test my bg and try to find out what type of food that makes it rise most. This is a thing that neither the doctors or the dietists can do for us. We have to take control of it ourselves. When I came fasting to my doctor my readings was 12 mmol. I think that 17.7 is high so you certainly has to take control over what you can to avoid the complications. Good luck with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 1999 Report Share Posted June 2, 1999 Norgaard wrote: <<... To get the US measure use a factor of 18 and mulitply. That's about 318.6. >> I'm so glad you posted that, . I made a math error and told Dave his reading was one hundred points less. Dave, your numbers are extremely high. Here are some foods that have given a lot of us trouble: pasta - rice - bread - sweets - pizza I try not to eat anything that has more than 15 grams of carbohydrates per serving. In the U.S., I mostly shop around the perimeter of the grocery stores, as that is where the salads and meats and dairy products are. You can find a few relatively low-carb breakfast cereals, but they - combined with the milk - tend to be higher carb than many of us can handle. The typical American breakfast is a recipe for disaster for insulin-resistant type 2 diabetics: sugared cereal, milk, orange juice, and toast. It gets even worse if you add jelly or a Danish (no offense, and others!! hahahaha) In general, avoid the " white foods. " Some fruits are high-carb. Strawberries and apples are not too bad. Generally, the juicier, the carbier. Never drink what you can eat! E.g., never drink fruit juice - and eat fruit selectively and in moderation. It is better to eat five snacks than 2-3 big meals. That way, you space the carbohydrates out more. Cut back on eating late in the day. If you restrict your carbohydrate intake to less than 100 grams daily and you still have somewhat normal pancreas function, your glucose readings will probably tumble dramatically. I want to warn you that you can feel quite ill for a few days as they do. Your body has developed a tolerance for these dangerously high glucose readings, and you will feel hypoglycemic with readings as high as 115. Just keep checking yourself and those feelings will probably go away very soon. is right. The US advice currently is that you are sustaining damage with readings which average less than half your latest number. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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