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.

A morning with a Vampire

This morning I had my normally scheduled cadence with the Endocrinologist.  Stats on me were obviously horrible.  I knew they would be going in.  But today is a new day and we had a good conversation of where to start a new strategy.  But lets start by documenting where I am at today.

So slightly good news in 3 months I have gone down 0.2 points on my A1C.  But in reality that means that nothing really changed at all.  I really should have an A1C between a 5 and 6.  That would be super awesome.

The switch up.

So with the new conversation the Dr and I agreed to change how I calculate my insulin intake, along with adding Jardiance which is suppose to allow my to urinate out some excess sugar.  The idea is that I might be able to loose a little weight and may be able to reduce my insulin sensitivity some.  I will also be working on reducing my carb intake a little more, while at the same time trying to eat a little more lean in the meat section of my diet.  Wish me luck.  

Carb vs Protein

Managing diabetes is already a pain in the butt, however trying to figure out what is the right solution to it is even a bigger pain.  Everyone says they have the miracle to diet and cure diabetes.  Well thats a big fat crock.  As I am working on an idea for a meal plan I am really stuck on my approach.  But here are the things I know to be truthy.

1. Organic meat plays very nicely with my glucose.
2. Non-Organic meats sometimes raise my glucose.
3. According to Dr meats increase my triglycerides
4. According to Dr I need at least 30 grams of carbs a meal
5. Carbs raise my glucose exponentially
6. Carbs + Glucose levels = lots of nerve pain.  Especially in feet and legs.
7. Carbs also mean I need more insulin to keep levels down.

Along with diabetes I have a fatty liver.  Every time I go to a Vampire to get checked out I get the well how much alcohol do you drink lines.  I don't drink.  However I found out a couple of things medically I have something called hemochromatosis which is fatty liver and too much iron.  I also take insulin, which basically turns sugar into fat on my liver.  Talk about a double whammy.  

Reading on WebMD I was looking at diet for fatty liver.  They suggest a mediterranean diet for this condition.  Some of which I really don't have a problem with however I am not a big fish fan at all. Maybe I need to suck it up and try.  They break it down to healthy fats, antioxidants, and complex carbs.  For now maybe I will try to put a meal plan of healthy fats and antioxidants.  Then when my glucose goes down to a more optimal range I can slowly introduce carbs.

Starting a new plan

Vampires are annoying little blood suckers, yet I still have to realize I can't get completely away from them just yet.  I still need their advice and to bounce ideas off of so that I can eventually be in a good situation and at least have someone who can explain different tests.

Having said that I need to come up with a base line.  Something that is rather easy to do with a busy schedule.  I need to be able to prove something at least to myself about how my body is reacting to carb, proteins and don't forget fat.  My goal for the day is to come up with some kind of simple meal plan that I can eat for the week, maybe 2 that is very consistent.  Requirements will probably be in the nature of x ounces of meat, y grams of carbs.

Also starting out I input my data into this calculator on Nutrition Data and come up with my BMI but also what my recommended nutrition should look like.  My BMI came in to 34.5 and my calorie burn is supposed to be in the range of 2795 kcal.  That seems like a lot for considering I also put in the form that it was a sedentary lifestyle.  More than likely my plan will not be that high.

Sick of the Norm

Hello, I am a diabetic.  Along with many other people in the US I struggle with a condition that honestly was brought on by my own habits.  Yes I like to eat what a surprise right.  Well I have known I am diabetic for almost 10 years now and though I still like to eat I have tried what I feel is everything.  At this point I am completely fed up.

Doctors or vampires as I like to call them since they always want samples of my blood, I begin to wonder if they are part of the root cause to why things do not improve.  I know I am not the only one thinking it.  Search the web there are tons and tons of people thinking the same thing.  There are also many different treatments that are out there and Dr's seem to stick to the same ole boring thing.  MEDICINE

If you are diabetic have you ever noticed that the more you take the fatter and heavier you become.  Then after a while you then have to start taking cholesterol medicine.  There are even shows where some of these individuals have to get 400lbs of fat removed.  Holy Cow.  Thank God I am not that bad or at least yet, and I never want to get there.

Its day 1 of my new blog and its time to make some positive changes but to start I need some metrics.

Morning sugars are usually between 300 and 400.
Weight is around 220
Short Term Insulin averaging about 120 units a day
Long Term Insulin 50 per day

I see the vampires again on Tuesday so I should be able to get my A1C and actual cholesterol readings this week.  I'm pretty sure they are going to suck.