good news and a question for all

well looks like spit is back at work for me. splitting lantus dose in 2
really makes an impact. bg was 155 this am. antibiotic must be working too.
am coughing up all kinds of phlegm and i didn’t even know i had all that
crap in my lungs aside from minor pain from pleurisy. thing on thigh is
getting soft to the touch too. it healed from the first week of levequin but
felt hard to the touch so i guess it wasn’t really healed.

took spit an hour ago and am nauseous! yipee :) yes, i really mean that. of
course it might be from the crap i am coughing up but who cares.

my question is this…when you take the byetta, how high does your blood
glucose get to post prandial? and do you eat low carb or just a so called
normal meal. i’m just curious as i want to compare to what my numbers were
on the 5 pen when i was doing great and what they have been.


also has anyone had an illness that they noticed a change in numbers with?

thanks!

jodi

13 Responses to “good news and a question for all”

  1. Adeline Calhoun Says:

    Hi Jodi,

    I had a terrible sore throat and upper respiratory crud sort of thing for
    several days, and my #’s were well above 200! Funny thing, though. When my

  2. Neva Marjory Says:

    that is what i really wanted to know but once again didn’t phrase it
    correctly. more like this example…
    if your fasting bg is 100 and you eat x, what does your bg become post
    prandial assuming you took the byetta. and then with each meal which would
    not be a fasting bg. so it’s more like what was the point spread that i
    wondered about. maybe most folks don’t test as much as i do though. if
    someone shakes my hands, i am going to spurt blood out from my fingertips!

    jodi

    Jodi, for me it is more how high of a spike I have, not what my
    absolute reading is.

    Andrew

  3. Neva Marjory Says:

    that’s really good pat!

    jodi

    I pretty much eat relatively low carb. Breakfast and lunch are generally
    around 20g of carbs, but if I have had a busy day with lots of exercise, I
    can eat 40-50g of carbs with dinner. I generally don’t see more than 120
    pp. Pat in ID

  4. Neva Marjory Says:

    that is interesting about your eyesight. it’s scary what seems to happen to
    my brain when my bg’s go up.

    -
    Hi Jodi,

    I had a terrible sore throat and upper respiratory crud sort of thing for
    several days, and my #’s were well above 200! Funny thing, though. When my
    #’s are high, my eyesight is very clear. Lanie

  5. bruce_6 Says:

    if your fasting bg is 100 and you eat x, what does your bg become post
    prandial assuming you took the byetta.

    ****************************************************
    If my fasting blood glucose is 110 and I take my Byetta and Metformin (at
    the same time) and eat a relatively high carb breakfast, about an hour or hour
    and a half later my bood glucose is down to about 82. It usually stays
    between 80 and 90 for several hours. Janet

  6. Neva Marjory Says:

    so do you attribute the lowered bg to the spit? i know that metformin does
    not work quickly to lower bg’s. that is about where i was on 5 pen. however,
    tonight i still haven’t eaten nor taken byetta yet. no appetite at all. had
    been hungry the past few weeks but fighting the urges with bg so high.

    jodi
    -

    ****************************************************
    If my fasting blood glucose is 110 and I take my Byetta and Metformin (at
    the same time) and eat a relatively high carb breakfast, about an hour or
    hour
    and a half later my bood glucose is down to about 82. It usually stays
    between 80 and 90 for several hours. Janet

  7. Lenny Roberson Says:

    it has something to do with the glucose entering the
    viscous of the eye. i can’t rememeber right off. i
    used to could tell how high my sugar was at work by
    whether or not i could read the exit sign at the end
    of the hall. my eyesight is one of the first
    indicators. my eyes change frequently too. i really
    need to change glasses about every 6 months. but i
    generally go about a year before i get new ones. they
    are too expensive.i wonder what effect our diabetes
    would have on lasik . i want to get that sooo bad.. my
    brother had it and he can almost see into the future

  8. Neva Marjory Says:

    just curious, does your bro need glasses for reading still? hubby wants to
    get the surgery but his brother and also his oldest daughter both say they
    still need glasses for reading.

    my eyes change every year too. i am near sighted and only need glasses to
    drive or watch telly in the living room. can’t read or work on pc’s with
    them at all. i have glasses but every other year i get contacts too. they do
    monovision so i only wear one in my left eye. dr orders 2 contacts in the
    same script since insurance will charge the same for one or 2. so i get 2
    years of disposables for the insurance cost of 1 year. then i get new
    glasses every 2 years.

    jodi

    it has something to do with the glucose entering the

    viscous of the eye. i can’t rememeber right off. i
    used to could tell how high my sugar was at work by
    whether or not i could read the exit sign at the end
    of the hall. my eyesight is one of the first
    indicators. my eyes change frequently too. i really
    need to change glasses about every 6 months. but i
    generally go about a year before i get new ones. they
    are too expensive.i wonder what effect our diabetes
    would have on lasik . i want to get that sooo bad.. my
    brother had it and he can almost see into the future

  9. Lenny Roberson Says:

    no. he doesn’t wear glasses at all. his vision is
    20/10. he might as he gets older though. i have
    bifocals but have to take them off to read, but the
    computer screen is too far away to read with out them.
    but i can’t see it well with either… my eyes
    are too dry for contacts. i have tried several times
    to wear them

  10. Neva Marjory Says:

    About 2 years ago, I thought I was going blind. By mid-afternoon,
    EVERYTHING was blurry. Instead of going to a regular eye doctor, I
    went to the man who is renowned to be "the best" in the area for
    diabetic eyes and diabetic eye surgery. He told me I had "dry eye" and
    that I needed to use saline drops 4 times a day, whether I thought I
    needed them or not. They helped a lot, but if I forgot to use them, I
    had trouble seeing again.

    About 6 months later, I went to a lecture which was supposed to be on
    whiplash, but turned out to be on transfats. I’ll spare you all the
    greatly detailed information, except to say that transfats are listed
    as "hydrogenated" "partially hydrogenated" and "fractionated" fats on
    a label. EVEN IF THE PACKAGE SAYS "NO TRANSFATS" you need to check the
    ingredients label as the US gov’t says you can have up to .5 gm of
    transfats per serving and still say "none".

    We may argue here about low-carb vs carb, vegetarian vs carnivore, but
    once you see HOW BAD trans fats are, you’ll never eat them again, and
    you will have less pain (especially arthritic) less cardiovascular
    problems, and you will feel much better.

  11. Melvin Anh Says:

    I avoid transfats like the plague. Trans-fats are in so many of our foods. You
    don’t get them with the fat in meats, however, you get them from things like
    partially hydrogenated fats - like Crisco. The good news is that if you cook
    from scratch and avoid products like trans-fats you have little chance of
    running into a transfat.

    Transfats are created by hydrogenating what are called cis-fats - for instance
    if you bubble hydrogen gas through corn oil you create trans bonds, a different
    type of hydrogent bond. For instance, margerine is largely a transfat with the
    exception of one or two made without transfats. On the hand, butter is a
    cis-fat, even though they are both solid.

    Unfortuantely, smooth peanut butter is full of trans-fats, only natural (grainy)
    peanut butter has no transfats. Oil that is used repeatedly for frying (like
    that used over and over for frying donuts and french fries) develops a

    transfatty structure that is imparted to the product fried in it.

    On the other hand, bacon fat can be reused once. Fry the bacon, save the fat,
    use it for an egg and then after that throw any remains away.

    Sugar and transfats are in almost all processed foods. Soups, cereals, pancake
    mixes, all baked products (cookies, cakes, etc.) except those made from scratch.
    I can make lovely baked products for the grandkids using lard or butter in place
    of transfat crapola so long as I buy all products needed as individual items and
    avoid transfat filled products. Chocolate can be a problem. Cocoa butter is
    not a transfat, but if chocolate is highly processed with fats added to keep it
    stable and room temperature does have transfat in it. Of course, the best
    loved junk food for children is filled with transfat and sugar. (sigh)

    Ahh, the wonders of the chemical world that I have learnt from my dear public
    health schooled hubby.

    Cheers!
    Marsha

  12. Neva Marjory Says:

    Marsha –

    I don’t know where you live, and COMPLETELY agree that you find
    transfats in most processed foods, BUT if you live near a Whole Foods,
    you can buy anything and there will be no transfats. It is a corporate
    policy with them. Also, Trader Joe’s has many (although not all) foods
    without transfats.

    Both of those places also tend to be devoid of other chemicals — they
    have organic fruits and veggies, hormone and antibiotic free dairy
    products and beef products, free range eggs and chicken, wild (instead
    of farm-raised) fish, free-traded coffee, single-source chocolate, as
    well as a dearth of chemicals like preservatives, fake sugars (except
    Stevia, which is a marvel), colourings, etc. In addition, their deli
    and bakeries have whole grain, like-home baked goods, soups, salads,

    smoothies, etc.

    You can easily at both places (especially Whole Foods) find ersatz
    foods that you can get used to — like tofu "pasta" which is truly an
    acquired taste but has only 20 calories per serving, and hardly any
    carbs. Also, Whole Foods sell bulk foods that turn over so quickly you
    don’t have to worry (things like nuts, as well as other things).

    And Whole Foods has Stevia drops. If you don’t know what Stevia is –
    it is a plant based food that has a slight licorice aftertaste when
    you first use it, but then it disappears. It has virtually no calories
    and functions as a sweetener. Some studies have shown that stevia
    helps to decrease blood glucose levels. The drops come in flavours
    like raspberry and cherry, and you can put them in water for flavour
    – no calories.

    Jessica

  13. Melvin Anh Says:

    Hi Jessica,

    Thanks for the information.

    I find that it is not a problem to avoid hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated
    foods if one reads labels and pays attention. The health food store brands have
    their own problems - usually issues with starches and soy added into everything
    because they seem to think grain and soy is the answer to the world’s problems,
    which they are not.

    In general I find stores like Wild Oats, Wild Harvest, Whole Foods and Trader
    Joes to be over priced, have only moderate quality (at best) fruits and
    vegetables and to be a danger zone for a diabetic who is serious about carb
    reduction. Trader Joes probably has more to recommend it that the Wild’s and we
    have no Whole Foods anywhere around here.

    I’ve been low carbing since I was 19 years old - with the except of a few years
    of high carb that Dr. Death insisted I do - so I have been low carbing for about
    39-40 years. I know I can’t have most of the food they carry and I know almost
    all the low carb places on the web and the products they have. In fact, if you
    need links, I’d be happy to send them to you.

    All milk products are loaded with lactose - which is a sugar - and I tend to
    avoid them in large measure except for some plain yogurt and some cream, neither
    in huge amounts.

    I don’t entirely avoid soy because there are sometimes few options, but I don’t
    seek the stuff out in any form because of the hormones and other problems
    associated with it. Hence, I leave all the soy for the people who want it -
    like you. :) I’d rather have lasagna made with zucchini "noodles" than soy,
    not that I have bothered with lasagna with zucchini noodles for a few years.

    Just so’s ya know, these day "free range chickens" mean that the door to the
    cage is left open, not that they are running around like the chickens my family
    and I used to raise. If you are really into that sort of thing you can go to
    farmer’s markets and see whom they can direct you to who raises a few eggs
    locally so you can get fresh free range (real free range) eggs during the egg
    laying season. There are farmer’s market and home egg sellers in our area.

    Stevia is just another AS to my mind, although I know it is made from ground
    plant leaves and then extracted. It is no better nor worse than the rest,
    although I admit that I simply loathe licorice so I am very careful with stevia
    when I use it. I know all the hype about splenda being dangerous, etc. and it’s
    just hype. I am am even old enough to remember when the FDA banished cyclamates
    for no really good reason. I now get them from Canada. I figure in 10 years
    someone will be howling about the dangers of stevia too - it always does happen.
    (shrug)

    Anyway, it is better, to my mind, to simply eat foods we make ourselves rather
    than dive into the alternative junk food available at so called health food
    stores. When you don’t eat soy (except in tiny amounts), nor grains, nor much
    in the line of milk products and you’re not interested in being fructosed to
    death then the fact that you can get organics at a regular store at a lesser
    price and in better quality the whole health food store thing sort of pales. In
    all honesty, I can do far better in quality and price at Stop and Shop and a
    little place in our area called Butcher Boy for organic products than at Wild
    Oats.

    But, if you can eat that stuff and your BG can handle it, hey, more power to
    you! I can’t. My husband can’t. I don’t want my grandkids developing a bad
    Frookie habit. We’ll keep making things from scratch at home - besides which,
    it is a very nice grandmother/grandchild thing to do. (smile) And then they
    can view grains and sweets as an occasional treat instead of something to have
    every day and end up with a carb addiction.

    We are all apparently very different in how we approach diabetes treatment and
    I’m definitely not into grains. Fortunately, living low-carb generally means
    avoiding trans-fats quite easily because meat does not contain transfats, nor
    does milk/butter, nor the fruits and vegetables we eat.

    Cheers!
    Marsha

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