Type 2 Diabetes - Looking For Advice

[QueenIsabella]

WHY would you say that?
I'm curious: Are you the person w/limits or are you the person who "suffers?"

Any disease or illness that requires a lifestyle change affects
the patient's entire household.
I would hope their family would show love & understanding.

FYI: My family is not impacted much at all by my food limits.
DH refuses to eat what I eat so I cook for him separately.
DS has many food allergies so I cook for him separately, also.

My grandmother died of diabetes. Believe me, her family suffered, right along with her. My mother had to care for her and dress her wounds--she lost first one leg, then the other, to gangrene. All while my mom was attempting to attend college. Basically, Mom said she could only do school every other week, because the weight of her mother's care was so great. Grandma died when my mom was 22.

 

[luvthatduke]

My apologies.
I thought kymom99 was responding to the first/food part.
I couldn't see the whole thing.

I agree with you both that families suffer the consequences
of diabetes - I was only talking about the food issues.

Please forgive

 

[kymom99]

My apologies.
I thought kymom99 was responding to the first/food part.
I couldn't see the whole thing.

I agree with you both that families suffer the consequences
of diabetes - I was only talking about the food issues.

Please forgive

No problem

 

[MrsPete]

... He adds globs of sugary bbq sauce, white rice, potatoes or pasta, bread with lots of butter, mounds of cheese and finishes with ice cream sandwiches ...

You could help a little by buying low-carb BBQ sauce. We like G Hughes brand and Sweet Baby Ray's, which can both be found at Walmart. They do cost more than their full-sugar counterparts.

The butter and cheese aren't bad as far as carbs go.

And that's why my dad's doctor strongly holds that a carb is a carb is a carb. We're in New Orleans. It's a food city. The first solid food the hospital gave my dad when he was in the hospital with sepsis was spicy red beans and rice. It would be absolutely insane to expect anyone here to adhere to a super restricted diet forever. But you don't have to. You just have to get the majority of your intake from nutritionally balanced foods. Then you can have anything you want for the remainder of your carbs. It's a lifetime dietary modification, and far more sustainable with treats factored in.

I do love Red Beans & Rice.

IMHO your brother was not mean - he was loving.
Loss of vision and amputation are frequent consequences w/Diabetes.
Sometimes we need a "Come to Jesus" talk or a kick in the pants!

Yeah, I think the same, and I'm glad my brother found the other brother's "sticking point". The non-compliant brother could imagine being dead, but he couldn't imagine being disabled. He had only considered "being his full self" up until the moment of death.

I will post pizza soup as soon as I can......not sure how long I'll be laid up. I am up and walking around now but it's very tiring.
I have to go find it.

Don't hurry yourself, but I'm interested!

While we're talking about pizza, my husband brought home a shelf-stable cauliflower pizza crust, and it was good. I think it was 23 carbs for 1/5 of the pizza? Not a wonderful example of a diabetic meal, but a good treat. I think he paid $1.55 for the crust at Walmart. It was between the size of a Papa John's medium and large.

Another pizza trick: Slice a big piece into three narrow strips and make separate trips for the 2nd and 3rd strip. It will feel a bit more like you're having more than one piece.

 

[slo]

I made Salmon for the first time in my life tonight and I gotta say….it was pretty good. I was proud of my DH for keeping an open mind and eating it. I’m going to attempt to make salmon about every 2 weeks. We’re taking baby steps here so he doesn’t get burned out with implementing the change.

I bought him a few bags of Werther’s Originals sugar free candy so if wants something sweet at work he has that. I liked them so much, that I bought a few bags for myself.

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions and your stories. I’m so glad I decided to post this thread.

 

[China Expat]

Had my endo appointment to go over labs. I was shocked my A1C stayed the same, even though I fell off the healthy eating wagon at Christmas!

 

[luvthatduke]

Good for you Slo and your DH, too!
Your new normal will be a lifelong process
but you will learn as you go.
I like the Werther's S/Free also .

 

[Meriweather]

Pizza Soup

1/2 pound Italian sausage, cooked and drained
1 cup pepperoni. chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
15 ounces pizza sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups water
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Saute onion and mushrooms.
Mix all ingredients together. Simmer until hot and bubbly.
Serve topped with mozzarella

Now for me.....add in what you like. I usually do less onion, no tomatoes and add bell pepper. I don't use water, I use stock.
it is one you can change to the kind of "pizza" you want.

Another one I used to do a lot.....was a Portabella large cap and just build your pizza on it. Then when I decided I didn't like that much mushroom, I just chopped and mixed the things I liked together and put it in a casserole dish and bake it.
All good

 

[Buzz Rules]

@slo, I think your family might enjoy this recipe. I saw it yesterday on YouTube and thought it would be a tasty and healthy one for your whole family:

https://spainonafork.com/poor-mans-winter-soup-recipe/

 

[sam_gordon]

A stupid question from someone still relatively new to this...

How long does it take for blood sugar to leave your body? So let's say you just have a "terrible" day... breakfast is donuts and poptarts, lunch is pizza and breadsticks, and dinner is pasta, a "sugary" drink, and dessert. Obviously your blood sugar will be sky high. BUT, how long until that "terrible" day (or meal, whatever) is "out" of your system? A day? Two days? A week?

I'm guessing the answer, like it seems to be with everything related to diabetes, is "it depends".

 

[slo]

@slo, I think your family might enjoy this recipe. I saw it yesterday on YouTube and thought it would be a tasty and healthy one for your whole family:

https://spainonafork.com/poor-mans-winter-soup-recipe/

Thanks Buzz…..I’ll check it out

 

[slo]

Pizza Soup

1/2 pound Italian sausage, cooked and drained
1 cup pepperoni. chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
15 ounces pizza sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups water
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Saute onion and mushrooms.
Mix all ingredients together. Simmer until hot and bubbly.
Serve topped with mozzarella

Now for me.....add in what you like. I usually do less onion, no tomatoes and add bell pepper. I don't use water, I use stock.
it is one you can change to the kind of "pizza" you want.

Another one I used to do a lot.....was a Portabella large cap and just build your pizza on it. Then when I decided I didn't like that much mushroom, I just chopped and mixed the things I liked together and put it in a casserole dish and bake it.
All good

This is great!
Thank you for posting this

 

[luvthatduke]

A stupid question from someone still relatively new to this...

How long does it take for blood sugar to leave your body? So let's say you just have a "terrible" day... breakfast is donuts and poptarts, lunch is pizza and breadsticks, and dinner is pasta, a "sugary" drink, and dessert. Obviously your blood sugar will be sky high. BUT, how long until that "terrible" day (or meal, whatever) is "out" of your system? A day? Two days? A week?

I'm guessing the answer, like it seems to be with everything related to diabetes, is "it depends".

Yes, it depends. However...

It's not how long the sugars take to "leave your body"
it's how much damage it did and how long the damage will last.
I was taught that every time my blood sugars went
higher than normal/healthy# the damage was done then.
That includes not only your kidneys but also pancreas, liver, etc.

Remember, if you're peeing more than normal that's your body's
way of ridding your system of the sugar it wasn't able to process correctly!

 

[sam_gordon]

Remember, if you're peeing more than normal that's your body's
way of ridding your system of the sugar it wasn't able to process correctly!

But I was told to drink lots of water. You know what happens when you drink lots of water? Sounds like a circular argument.

 

[kdonnel]

But I was told to drink lots of water. You know what happens when you drink lots of water? Sounds like a circular argument.

There is a difference between lots of urine and lots of urine full of glucose.

 

[ScottOKW2K]

A stupid question from someone still relatively new to this...

How long does it take for blood sugar to leave your body? So let's say you just have a "terrible" day... breakfast is donuts and poptarts, lunch is pizza and breadsticks, and dinner is pasta, a "sugary" drink, and dessert. Obviously your blood sugar will be sky high. BUT, how long until that "terrible" day (or meal, whatever) is "out" of your system? A day? Two days? A week?

I'm guessing the answer, like it seems to be with everything related to diabetes, is "it depends".

"Blood sugar" as measures for diabetes determination is a long term number ( A1C ) and any physician would recommend three months to see if any changes made by the patient have had any effect.

As someone who is low carb daily and who measures my ketone number each morning the kind of eating you described for that hypothetical day would probably throw my body out of ketosis ( ketones > 0.5) for 2 to 5 days. Not a choice I would want to make for so little pleasure. Especially since I have found many other things equally as pleasurable.

 

[JLTraveling]

A stupid question from someone still relatively new to this...

How long does it take for blood sugar to leave your body? So let's say you just have a "terrible" day... breakfast is donuts and poptarts, lunch is pizza and breadsticks, and dinner is pasta, a "sugary" drink, and dessert. Obviously your blood sugar will be sky high. BUT, how long until that "terrible" day (or meal, whatever) is "out" of your system? A day? Two days? A week?

I'm guessing the answer, like it seems to be with everything related to diabetes, is "it depends".

From what I understand, your daily blood sugar numbers really don't matter. I mean, they do in the sense of tracking how different things affect your body. But what the doctors care about is the A1C, which is sort of averaged over three months. So how much your terrible day affects your diabetes long-term depends on what you do during the rest of the three months. Did you immediately go super low carb the next day and stay there? Probably not much effect from the bad day. If the rest of the three months consist of really bad days and sort-of bad days, your A1C will reflect it.

As far as when you'll stop seeing high numbers on your self-test, that does depend. But one of the fastest ways to get carbs out of your system is to exercise. As long as you're not testing over 240, just work it out physically. If your sugar is over 240, you'll want to test your urine for ketones first, because ketones plus strenuous exercise can equal disaster. In that case, do some light walking and also call your doctor for advice. If there are no ketones, strenuous exercise works. If you're testing over 300 more than a couple of times in a row, talk to your doctor. Anything over 200 is not good, but anything over 300 can be dangerous. In any case, with exercise and good hydration, it'll come down to safe levels in a few hours. You may see "elevated" levels for a couple of days, but if you eat right you'll bounce back.

Unless you're sick. Physical illness can cause blood sugar to absolutely skyrocket. My dad had a urinary tract infection that turned out to be due to a trapped kidney stone that eventually turned into sepsis. By the time he ended up in the hospital, his sugar was over 600 (and it rarely goes above 150, even after eating)! They gave him insulin to bring it down, and he was on IV fluids only due to the sepsis, and there was no permanent damage. Sugar bounced back after a day or two of treating the illness. I have no idea what his next A1C was, but the doctor wasn't worried about it under the circumstances.

 

[luvthatduke]

JLTraveling gave very good information.

But I was told to drink lots of water. You know what happens when you drink lots of water? Sounds like a circular argument.

I will clarify: Frequent urination with not as much each time coming out (TMI).
High sugars, even for a day, will reveal themselves in many ways
but frequent urination is absolutely one of them.

 

[MrsPete]

I bought him a few bags of Werther’s Originals sugar free candy so if wants something sweet at work he has that. I liked them so much, that I bought a few bags for myself.

It's always smart to consider the facts:

The Werther's Original candy package says a serving size is 3 pieces, which "costs" 14 carbs ... so one candy is 4.66 carbs.
The sugar-free version package says a serving size is 5 pieces for the same 14 carbs ... so one candy is 2.88 carbs.
This means the sugar-free candies are 40% lower in carbs than the original sugary treats.
So it's a better choice, but still not something a Diabetic should devour with abandon. Don't be fooled by the term "sugar-free", as they are not completely carb-free.

Pizza Soup

1/2 pound Italian sausage, cooked and drained
1 cup pepperoni. chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/4 cup mushrooms, chopped
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
15 ounces pizza sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups water
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Saute onion and mushrooms.
Mix all ingredients together. Simmer until hot and bubbly.
Serve topped with mozzarella

Now for me.....add in what you like. I usually do less onion, no tomatoes and add bell pepper. I don't use water, I use stock.
it is one you can change to the kind of "pizza" you want.

Another one I used to do a lot.....was a Portabella large cap and just build your pizza on it. Then when I decided I didn't like that much mushroom, I just chopped and mixed the things I liked together and put it in a casserole dish and bake it.
All good

Oh, I can't wait to try that! Thanks for sharing.

@slo, I think your family might enjoy this recipe. I saw it yesterday on YouTube and thought it would be a tasty and healthy one for your whole family:

https://spainonafork.com/poor-mans-winter-soup-recipe/

That looks good too. We do enjoy soup in the winter months.

A stupid question from someone still relatively new to this...

How long does it take for blood sugar to leave your body? So let's say you just have a "terrible" day... breakfast is donuts and poptarts, lunch is pizza and breadsticks, and dinner is pasta, a "sugary" drink, and dessert. Obviously your blood sugar will be sky high. BUT, how long until that "terrible" day (or meal, whatever) is "out" of your system? A day? Two days? A week?

I'm guessing the answer, like it seems to be with everything related to diabetes, is "it depends".

You're right: It depends.

If you have a "terrible day" of three pieces of deep dish pizza rather than the two slices of thin-crust you were allowed, you'll recover pretty quickly.
On the other hand, if you eat poorly all day, as you describe above, your pancreas might be working overtime over the whole next day.
And it depends upon your personal metabolism.

From what I understand, your daily blood sugar numbers really don't matter. I mean, they do in the sense of tracking how different things affect your body. But what the doctors care about is the A1C

Eh, kinda.

Your doctor CAN see your A1C ... it's not practical for him or her to see your glucose blood sugar numbers over months. Doesn't mean they don't matter. If, for example, you were to overindulge over the weekend and sent your numbers up-up-up into the stratosphere, you'd be doing damage to your pancreas and other organs. If you were to eat well for the next couple days, it'd "average out", and your doctor wouldn't be aware of your carb-splurge, but that doesn't mean you didn't do just a bit of harm to your pancreas.

 

[JLTraveling]

Eh, kinda.

Your doctor CAN see your A1C ... it's not practical for him or her to see your glucose blood sugar numbers over months. Doesn't mean they don't matter. If, for example, you were to overindulge over the weekend and sent your numbers up-up-up into the stratosphere, you'd be doing damage to your pancreas and other organs. If you were to eat well for the next couple days, it'd "average out", and your doctor wouldn't be aware of your carb-splurge, but that doesn't mean you didn't do just a bit of harm to your pancreas.

That's fair. I suppose I should have said something like, "as long as your numbers stay within reason" - with reason being whatever upper window your doctor has given you. Like my dad's doctor gave him 200 as the number at which damage starts to occur and 300 as the number at which things get REALLY bad (even though his targets are far lower than that). So he doesn't stress if there's an *occasional* 190 or whatever, as long as his numbers are closer to his targets most of the time. And he didn't freak out the one or two times he saw a 220 over the past two decades. He saw that he overdid it, exercised to bring it down, and was more careful afterward.

So I guess the actual point I was trying to make is that chasing a specific number all day every day can be hopeless. Knowing your target range and normally staying within it, but also knowing your upper limits and not unduly worrying if you get close now and then seems to be a much more sustainable long-term mindset. Just my opinion.