850 to Healthy Day 1

In a new attempt to lower my glucose and fat in liver I saw this study on a radical diet.  Honestly, it is not a fad diet or anything but real work from reading it.  The basic idea is to control your diet to a low carb and around 850 calories a day.  I have to admit to myself that 850 calories sound more like one meal to me but it is worth a shot.  We'll see how day 1 works out.

Mundane Monday

It has been about a week since I last blogged.  In that time I have realized a few things.  One thing that happened is I ran out of the trial sample of Jardiance.  Aetna was suppose to have my prescription ready and here by now but its lost in shipping hell.  Having not taken it though I realize how much that drug was helping my glucose on a daily basis.  Apparently the insulin to carb ratio is better than what I was doing but it is definitely not enough to manage my glucose properly.  As this  week has  gone by all my pain and neuropathy has come back and it just sucks.  Even trying to take the insulin just hurts.  Sometimes its hard to just stay calm and be sane and not blow up on the wife and kids for something stupid.  It takes quite a lot of effort to manage the stress of it.  Luckily I realize God won't give me something can not handle.  I just keep pushing forward.   Hopefully the mail will get straightend out quickly and I can move past this debacle.  On a bright side I can say that Jardiance is looking like an awesome drug.  It will be cool to see once I get it if the glucose will come back in to range rather quickly.

Everybody love Monday

Its finally Monday and the weekend is over.  Back to work I go and progress for my glucose is still looking quite positive.  My fasting sugar was still in 240's however all my other readings are under 140.  Tonight I will increase my dosage of Toujeo the long term insulin by 2 points.  Lets see how I do in another week.

This week also starts a new diet so that I can hopefully decrease the amount of insulin I take each meal as well as hopefully lose a couple of pounds.  This week the diet primarily consists of not going out to eat.  However while we cook at home we are eating low glycemic foods, and lean proteins.  If I can keep this up and reduce some weight then in theory my insulin sensitivity level should go down.

For future experiments I am wondering what the effects are of fake sugars and sugar alcohol is on the over all levels.  According to my dietitian with moderation there should be no effect.  I generally don't even like the fake sugar items, however a Diet Coke or Sprite Zero really helps calm my stomach sometimes.

Tools of the Trade.

Carb counting had become a must and the more accurate I am the better I can judge my insulin usage.  I was previously using LoseIt app on my iPhone.  It was fairly good however searching for food and finding the exact stuff at different places seemed difficult at times.  My wonderful wife suggested My Fitness Pal which she was using.  From the look of it today it seemed to have everything I needed and I also liked the summary breakdown graphs a little better.  I will try it for a while longer and see if I continue to like it.

All in all I think my carb counting and insulin to carb ratio seems to be very close.  I may not be quite on the margin of what I need for correction or maybe my long term insulin is to low still.  Morning glucose is still too high.  Gonna give it a couple more days then I will go from 50 to 52 units of the Toujeo long term insulin.

Really curious to what apps others are using.  Please feel free to comment below if you have a cool app to try.

Needing the Needle

Friday thoughts...  So far so good.  Changing to a carb to insulin ratio seems to be helping quite a bit.  It has only been a couple days and already my neuropathy is getting better.  It is quite the emotional booster to have less pain.  It is not completely gone however.  I haven't really been the perfect eater yesterday as well.  Going to Chuy's and downing some awesome fajita's with chips and queso.  That was probably not smart on my end.  But it sure cured my headache.  I also took the correct carb to insulin ratio.  By then end of the night I checked my glucose and it was 130 which for me was awesome and a step in the right direction.  This morning though fasting glucose was 257.  I assume I was still digesting those fajitas.  The long term insulin didn't seem to have much effect there either.  I'll give it til probably Wednesday then I will increase my long term insulin by 2.

 Insulin Starting lineup.

Toujeo 50 units every day for long term release.

Humalog sliding scale for every meal based on amount of carbs.

I really hate having to stick myself so many times.  Just with insulin its 4 times a day.  Then once you add a prick to check your glucose it really adds up.  Reminds me of the Chinese water torture except instead of a drip of water its a poke with a needle.  I think the Vampires are winning on this battle so far.

Thursday Thoughts

Well one complete full day in the bag with my new insulin regime.  On the exciting note my fasting glucose was 185.  Still high but its not over 300.  Right now though I feel like I am crashing hard.  Headache, stiffness, and legs really trying to cramp.  Going to try to get through the day continuing the plan.  Maybe after a day or so it will level out and become the new norm.

On the annoying side I am waiting on my full prescription from Aetna mail order.  I called and had my address changed however they are still sending to old address.  They are making me wait until it gets delivered to a place I don't live at first.  They are hoping that the change of address with USPS will work.  So who knows when I will get my full dose of Jardiance.

Its a new day.

Starting off they day my glucose was horrible.  Fasting blood sugar was 340.  However I am really trying on the diet today and so far progress is actually looking good.  But it is only been half a day.

So far this is what my food intake is looking like.  The majority of food has been in the form of lean protein and some fat.  I have decreased my carbs where I have only had 10g for breakfast and almost 12g for lunch.  Along with it I have been following my new insulin scale to give 1 unit for every 2 grams of carbs plus a sliding scale of 1 unit per 25 over 150.  Before lunch my glucose reading was 160.  Oh man is it nice.

Its really amazing how much your body can repair and feel better once the glucose comes down in to a reasonable range.  Yes 160 is high but its not over 300.  So far the neuropathy in my legs and feet is actually less painful and my feet have also gone down quite a bit already in swelling.  On the downside it has been a busy morning full of meetings so I haven't been able to get hardly any steps in.  My fitbit is reading around 879 right now.  Sedentary life isn't great all the time.  All in all though seeing a number in the 100's is really positive to me and of course less pain always helps.