Nice website, I have used something similar since I started but I vary it because I only get 1 REAL meal each day. The rest of the time I nibble. Seems to have worked because I have lost over 30 pounds and the sugar levels are controlled.

 

I was concerned about using the pump because of offroading, and go karts and 4 wheelers and playing football on the weekend, stuff like that.. i would think it would get in the way, for me at least.

 

Thanks alot for the reponses, Some of it is consistent with what I've been told, some of it new. Like the last post, I keep getting different advice from very well meaning people but it does get confusing at times. I'd lost about 50 lbs shortly after being first diagnosed, but have jumped back up about 13 or so. I'm getting back to the gym slowly and I plan to give the personal trainer a try in Nov. Currently on pills two times a day and I just started a log of what I eat to try and correlate food type to reaction but the protein first, idea I just recently got and it does seem to make a difference.

Instant rages from diabetes? I though it was just cranky old age, although my wife says I've mellowed recently. I thought it was getting away from shift work, but getting a jump on the diabetes sort of coincided with mellowing out, so maybe that was my problem too.

 

If my sugar goes low i seem to get more irratable, got off from getting in trouble from the teachers in school when i was younger a few times.. 'my diabetes made me do it.. ' haha.

 

There seems to be more choices available to diabetics now as far as foods. While some of the foods are not zero carbs they are at least reduced. Archway makes some very good "sugar free" but not totally carb free cookies. The oatmeal cookies have 16g of carbs but no sugar. They count as 1 carb and 1 fat exchange according to the package. On the other hand there are some TERRIBLE sugar free foods out there. Voortman makes a sugar free oatmeal cookie that tastes like a cow pie and has the consistency of wall board. They have 10 carbs per cookie. I don't know but 6g carbs are worth it for better taste.

Russell Stover has a large selection of low carb and sugar free candy now. http://www.russellstover.com

As of the time of this posting the RS website is down but it should be back up later.

 

Watch out for stuff that says sugar free. Check and see if it has sugar alcohols on the on the dietary stats list. When I went through the diabetic training class back in Febuary they told us about how sugar alcohols are worse than actual sugar.

 

Those sugar alcohols have another unpleasant side effect...

 

that was another reason to avoid them .........squirtttttttt

 

"Instant rages". It's has to do with glucose levels playing havoc with the hormones.

It used to start in the mornings where he would wake up angry. After breakfast, if he ate properly, it was smoothed out. But sometimes all he would have was a BIG cup of coffee w/ milk/sugar and a few cinnimon rolls with lots of icing. Banging out swordblades, he would forget to eat or want heavy meals afterwards. I used to make all kinds of stews, soups, meatloaf, sausage/porkchops, "SOS", hamburgers, spaghetti, milk gravy/bisquets and so on. Meals his mother used to cook. Pretty heavy on the pasta as it was cheap and that was what he wanted. The best times were when he got on a Chinese food kick and I learned to cook that way for quite awhile.

But about 1984 was when he really started showing the symptoms. He started putting on more weight, was eating more sweets and eating heavier meals. It was easy to get him upset over something and sometimes get irrational. Part of eating heavy meals was having grown up poor where there were periods of not enough on the table. So to him, having a "meal" was not only quality but quantity. Being a big man anyway and working as he did, he could get away with it ....but the effects were catching up. His blood pressure was going up, his weight shot up to 300lbs and he was looking sallow. This was about 10 years ago and He was 53 then.

We had a friend who told us what symptoms his diabetic mother had before she found out. Drinking lots of water and still wanting more was one of them and Kirby was getting to this point. Living in the desert though, drinking lots of water is a must to prevent dehydration...especially for Him working next to a hot forge. But in his case, it was that and also so much sugar in his koolaid...that I could gag on the amount he used, at the time.

Kirby finally went to the doc who gave him a glucose test....It came back well over 300. This same doc, now passed on, used to warn my husband about his eating habits and what he should do. But Kirby would not hear of it. Anyway, he finally did and dropped over 65lbs while learning to eat "rabbit food" for quite some time. All this helped get his glucose levels under control and stable. Fortunately, he has not had to use insulin....although his father eventually did having been diagnosed with Type 2 about the same time. Kirby's father's mother died from complications being diabetic back in 1941. So it ran in Kirby's father's side of the family.

This was about 1994.

 

My doctor never mentioned anything like this, but then again neither my wife or I suspected my bad temper was anything except the people I dealt with at work and never having heard of it until now I had no reason to ask.

Like your husband my wife and I both grew up with the type of meals you describe. She' overweight ( as am I) and trying to get it off sensibly. Unfortunately I can't get this, low fat is good, refrain out of her head. She keeps bringing me stuff thats 'low fat' and I keep telling her it's 'high sugar' but she just doesn't get it. I know she means well but it's driving me crazy.

 

When I first married him, I was 175 but had kept fit from riding a 10 spd all over San Diego and working wth my mother doing yardwork. But after we married and I moved up to the mine, eating as he did and not having as much exercise as before, I ballooned to average 230. This would go up alittle or down depending on the time of year. Fortunately, Diabetes does not run in my family and always had good blood pressure no matter how heavy I did get. Being so heavy does get to you in so many different ways as Kirby found out at his heaviest. I topped at 260 while raising the kids during the 80s but was also going through alot of stress just having to live with his symptoms.
But to me, marriage is going through bad times as well as the good. Despite the symptoms that affected all of us....and it does..... he is a good man and did his best to provide for his family while trying to understand what was going on. So I kept alot of stuff "in" at times.

When I went through menopause at 43, I had my periods of "anger" too. Just about the time he started mellowing out from controlling his diabetes....fortunately. Sometimes I could feel this growing, "step away" and see myself act similar to how he did before controlling his diabetes. (I sometimes wonder if he saw himself doing this "stepping back" too back then. But having no control otherwise) Part of this, I believe was a letting out of all the pentup frustration and rage held in during his worst periods rather than just menopause alone. Outside of my menses stopping, I did not have all the other usual Menopausal symptoms outside of a feeling of increased energy...and this early "rage" of my own.

For his part, he understood or went out of his way trying to after learning so much about diabetes. Then what I found out with menopause. When there could have easily been volcanic explosions on both sides if this happened a couple of years earlier....my "venting" resulted in less drastic results. They never lasted long and we both have always worn our emotions on our sleeves. But we deeply love each other despite it.

So I have always had a sneaking suspicion he knew excatly this was more than just a woman going through THAT part of life.

As you found out "Low Fat" does not mean quite that. It depends on the fat. When I started weightlifting three years ago, I learned the difference. Just as Kirby did when he had to watch want he ate. Just as companies found out if they stick "Low carb" on their products to sell them. it is not so much the "low carb" as it is what kind, simple or compound, and how much.

Oh, yeah....his favorite is the occasional "no sugar" pies (fructose metablizes differently than sucrose) or "Sugar Free" cookies. But he keeps himself to a small slice or one/two small cookies as a treat. I looked at the cookie package and the calories is the same if they did have sugar.

Right now he has kept at 245 and alot of that is muscle from his work. After three years of lifting, I am now down to 165. Both of us eat similar diets although I could get away with more things but dont. I could have sugar in my coffee, have a cinnimon roll or donut. But after taking all this out of my diet for so long...it's too sweet or tastes awful after a bite. I drink my coffee or tea with abit of milk only.

Neither of us want to go back down those roads again. Not at our age (he will be 65 tomorrow and I just turned 54) Your health is the most important thing next to keeping food on the table, a roof over your head and manage to get the bills paid. That and raising your kids.

 

I am a construction super and am always walking, riding, very active. The pump stays in my [pocket and the line just runs out to my side. Most of the time I don't even realize that it is there. Just something to think about.

We are both in Maryland If I can find it I can send you the DVD they sent me. Alot of good info in there. PM me if you are interested. or Check out


Animas Corp

 

Hey chris

what happens when you go to bed or the shower? I mean do you wear the pump in those places? Just wondering... I haven't gotten that far into my diabetes yet and I am working on avoiding that phase my lots of exercise and nutrition. BUt it is up to my body as to how bad I have all ready damaged it.

 

Neither of us want to go back down those roads again. Not at our age (he will be 65 tomorrow and I just turned 54) Your health is the most important thing next to keeping food on the table, a roof over your head and manage to get the bills paid. That and raising your kids.[/QUOTE]

We're 6 months apart, I'm 51 and she's 50. She's been showing signs of Memopause since she was in her mid 40's but the Dr. keeps telling her it's not showing up in tests. We're both going through frustration about our health and diet. We joined a gym a couple of years ago and were going strong and then I wrecked my knee, now I have arthritis, but it's gotten better and we're going to go with a Trainer in Nov. Prior to the arthritis I had dropped from 240 down to 225 but I've gone back up to 237. That's still better than my high of 270. We're celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary in Oct and are still very much committed to one another. We have the common goal of trying to get our health improved we just have different perspectives.

 

My dad have had diabetes for almost 25 years, he's 53 now. Bad temper yesssss ! as far as I can remember. The most important thing to do is to take control of the things you eat, believe me having a good diet is the best way to fight this disease, the medication is a great help but a diet is the best you can do. At this time my father has problems with his kidneys, he had a heart attack last december, and it's getting worse, he lost the vission of the right eye and the left is going or the same problem. He did have a diet, but he did it only when he wanted to, so this was is way of thinking "I better live for 25 happy years than living 50 years eathing bad food" now the time as come to pay for that thinking. Please accept my advice take care of your eathing and or course take your medication !!!!! and the most important have a GREAT living ! ! !

Erika !