jodi

Again, I’m the odd one out…LOL…I have gained 14 pounds in 3 months
while on the Byetta, with the last month seeing me holding steady
around 142. Which is fine…as I have always been slightly
underweight….apparently I am now at a normal weight for my
height/build/etc. That was one of the reasons I was hesitant to start
Byetta…I didn’t have any weight to lose!
I have had no nausea, and it hasn’t made me eat any less…although I
don’t eat any more than before either.
Congrats to all who are losing weight… :o)
~Jess NYS

"Type 1" since 05/05
Lantus/Byetta/occasional Novalog

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I have only a recorded loss on my doctors scale of 1lb. I started
byetta the end of February. On my scale it is like 4 lbs. I have
lost inches or my weight has shifted around too. I am wearing a dress
that was a little tight 2 weeks ago to a wedding next week because now
it fits.

Maybe, we are slow starters. I am happy to hear of all the weight
loss others are having. I am thinking maybe there is something
different with my body and I will eventually start to drop some pounds.
I have been having the blotch reaction to byetta so I am not sure if
that has anything to do with it either. Hang in there.

Dale

Begin forwarded message:

My husband feels the same way you do about food in terms of having too much fun
with it to be willing to give it up. Honestly, if I could get what I need by
taking a food pill once a day, I’d be good. I think that may be the difference
between someone who is very insulin resistant (as I am) and someone with minimal
insulin resistance (as he does) and no compulsion to eat because of the
increased levels of insulin.

I consider compulsive eating a monkey on my back - or even so much hunger which
is caused by the insulin resistance and the excess insulin (according to what I
have learned) and I associate food with the root of that problem. I have found
that 3 days to 5 days of Atkins induction stops the hunger because it brings the
carbohydrate burning system under control and replaces it with benign dietary
ketosis (not ketoacidosis, which is another kinda thing all together). Food in

itself is not the problem - it is the compulsions that come with it.

Eating carby foods releases endorphins and endorphins are a drug our body
produces and one we can become addicted to - like that runner’s high that keeps
people running until they actually damage their bodies (as in running when they
really are not well enough to run). Therefore, there can be both a
physiological and psychological addiction factor going on. There is the ritual
of food and then there is the addictive element of eating those foods that cause
an endrophin release/rush.

That’s why you never hear of anyone claiming a food addiction to steak or
brussel sprouts, but bring on the starches and sugars and here we go. The
latter cause an endorphin release while the former don’t.

We don’t need carby foods at all. Didn’t have ‘em for millions of years of
evolution. They are recent creations. Corn (sweet corn/field corn) is totally
man created - could not have come into existence in its present form as it can’t
procreate with out us. 20,000 years ago wheat was a randomly growing grain that
we got a smidge of now and then during the summer months. Ditto fruits - which
were not the sugar bombs they are today nor the size they are today.

If we are talking about what our ancestors ate 20,000 years ago then I’d agree
that those foods were not addictive in nature because they rarely had anything
in them to cause the endorphen rush we get from everything from canned soup
(full of sugar) to candy bars (more sugar again).

That being said, we do entertain and I do have fun feeding others, I just eschew
almost all of it for myself as unhealthy and contributing to a roller coaster
process I find personally unhealthy.

Cheers!
Marsha
Celebrating Stacey’s good BG control! Yeaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Way to go!

The reason I like Dr. Bernstein is that, before his book was recommended
to me by my PA, no one was able to impress upon me how important it was
to keep my readings as close to 100 as possible. For me, I had to learn
what my body needs is more important than that double fudge brownie
sundae that I would love to dive into right now. <g>

Everyone is different, and whatever works, is what I say. <g>

He may not use all the meds we use, but he has had the more aggressive version
of the disorder and has worked with us Type II’s for years (as well as the I’s).
He does use insulin which is prescribed for both II’s (at times) and I’s.

As I think we have already agreed, there are different ways to approach this.
Yes, some folks don’t deal well with deprivation. I know that. I used to work
in drug and alcohol rehab during a part of my social worker years and that
inability to deal with the long term deprivation of the drug of choice (food
being one for many of us) means that most people don’t stay on the wagon all
that long. One of the tricks I learned in the 12 step program is that I don’t
have to be abstinant for a lifetime. I can work my program this moment, this
hour, this afternoon, this day and do it one day at at time for the rest of my
life. At that point the deprivation is only as long as I chose it to be - which

I can do for one minute, hour or day at a time. I can eventually turn off the
desire (like I did when I quit smoking) and walk away from it. I have told my
DH many times that if I could walk away from food as easily as I have alcohol
and tobacco that it would be a godsend.
Unfortunately, we can’t just stop eating, although if someone could find a way
to do that I’m not sure I’d object.

There are also those who don’t deal with that sort of method to manage problems
and then they find other ways of dealing with food or whatever the issue is. It
is simply how I deal with issues. I don’t want a monkey on my back driving my
actions so that’s how it is in my life.

I personally don’t know any Type I’s or II’s who eat a lot of carbs who don’t
have problems because of it. I’ve worked with Type I’s and II’s for scads of
years and picked so many of ‘em up off the floor, gotten juice into ‘em or taken
them to the hosptial, etc. I used to get upset with them for eating things that
would lay them low and maybe kill them, but over time I realized that they were
doing the best they could with what they had and I should not judge them, but
simply help when needed. If there are folks who can do this and live lives
which have no highs and lows and have no side effects from meds and have long
and healthy lives, then Gods bless ‘em and more power to ‘em! I only know that
since I’ve known people who were diabetic I’ve seen the OCD types who controlled
every little thing do better than the ones who ate "normally." It is quite
evident at school that the professor who has highs and lows all the time and who
scares the poop out of the students by
keeling over - and who is addicted to pastry - is not managing things well no
matter how much medication he uses. Its sad, because one of these days his
little girl is not going to have a Daddy, but it is his personal choice. I

certainly hope that means that you have excellent control of your sugars and
are doing better than I am right now! I hope that for anyone - because the
alternative is sorta grim for us otherwise.

Cheers!
Marsha
Who is having a 150ish sort of day all day long…which better than a 250ish day
all day long

Dr. Bernstein is a type 1 diabetic and uses only insulin. He has never used
the meds that are prescribed for type 2.

His methods are great for some, but not for all. It’s not merely a matter of
having the will power to follow his methods - there are many psychological
reasons not to follow them - mostly having to do with living a life of
deprivation. To each his or her own.

I don’t believe that one either follows him and is in control or doesn’t
follow him and isn’t in control. I know many diabetics of both type 1 and type
2 stripe that don’t follow his methods but have a1cs of 6 or better. His
methods work for some but not for others.

For many, the deprivation leads to binging and I believe that is a
physiological response, not just a psychological one. The body is a very
strong
thing, and it wants what it wants. Some have bodies that do not want more
than 20 or 30 grams of carbs a day, others have a body that wants a bit more or
a
lot more. To ignore what the body wants, in my opinion, usually just sets one
up for failure.

Stacey

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Janie

The reason it makes so much sense is that Bernstein is living the life. The
fact that he is a Type II who is in his mid 70’s, has reversed almost entirely
all of the problems caused by too many carbs and the inadequacy of early meds
and the fact that he used the principals of engineering to test out a method
scientifically using himself as the guinea pig means that his program is as
logical and well designed as can be done. He understands the biochemical
elements of the disorder in a way almost no one but the Eades do regarding
carbohydrates and the insulin response mechanism.

He misses all the goodies too - I recently saw a quote from him about walking by
a bakery and smelling the good smells and his mouth watering - but not enough to
trade his life for a bit of something sweet and wonderful to taste. He knows
how difficult it is and he is a very compassionate man in terms of his treatment

because he suffers too.

This new book does have features the old one never did - self-hypnosis and lots
of alternatives in herbs and supplements and even one sub-clinical drug he uses
(can’t remember which one). I think that the EFT techniques in the weight loss
manual I got could be easily blended into an affirmation using his auto-hypnosis
suggestions. He felt that Amylin was going to be exceptionally useful when it
came into production.

I’ll really miss him someday, when he is gone.

Cheers!
Marsha

What he writes makes a lot of sense to me.

_____

Carl,
Thank you for answering my posting .
I’ll be waitng & watching for Byetta, to come to Canada,in the mean time,
2 weeks ago ,I started walking & now I’m up to, 1 mile a day ,4 days a
week.
I’m pretty sore, at night, due to my Arthritis & Fibromalgia,not liking
it,but,I’m going to keep walking.

I’m usually better by morning,so ready to go again.
We have a walking track at our new areana,it’s rubberized,so easier on
arthritic knees,hips & backs.
Linda from Southern Ontario

Way to go!!!!!!
You must feel great.
—yup, feeling pretty decent.

Would you mind sharing,more about how you lost the pounds?
—walk, walk walk. I walked 275 miles last year - one step at a time. Love
my iPod. Try to weightlift a couple of times a week, but grad school has had
me time-crunched.

Do you also use Humalog & Levemir or Lantus Insulin?
—was on 50u day Lantus - had to come off it quick after going to 10 pen.

Do you know if Byetta is approved & in Canada?
—sorry, dunno.

_____

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