I totally give up. Yesterday, I had some boiled chicken, a small serving of boiled cauliflower with butter, and a salad with walnut oil and vinegar for dressing. My BS before was 151. After is was 200. OK it only went up 50mg. But what else could I have cut out? This was essentially a no carb meal.

For breakfast this morning I had three small sausage patties wrapped in lettuce leaves. Quoting some sources, protein and fat have no effect on BS. Mine went to 198 after an essentially no carb meal.

I took a walk to get my BS down before lunch. This time I had boiled chicken, a salad and NO cauliflower. My bs before 162 my bs just now is 202.

I don't have time to exercise after each meal. But that seems to be the only thing tht will bring me back down.

I give up. I might as well eat a cookie as a salad and chicken.

randysgrandma

I'm sorry you're having such problems with your blood sugars. I wish I were knowledgeable about it, and could give you some advice. I just don't.

I have read Dr. Bernstein's book - he's a Type 1 who has kept his blood sugar under control by changing his diet, (he still has to take insulin due to being a Type 1), and he's overcome the health problems he had before he changed his diet. In fact, you can read his book - at least most of it - online.

Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. Official Web Site

I don't know if any of his advice would be of any help to you or not. But it's worth looking into, since he's a doctor and a diabetic, too.

I hope this is just frustration talking, and that you really aren't going to give up.

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Nita

I have read the book. Many years ago.

I could not and cannot eat any kinds of grains without my blood sugars going too high.

Currently I am not eating any grain, therefore--no cereal, no bread, no deserty stuff, not eating any dairy except cheese, No American cheese by the way, only other cheeses, no sugar, no flour, no proccessed foods, nothing with corn in any way, shape or form, no resturant or fast foods, no potatoes, cut out caffeine today, no powdered artificial sweeteners since they all have dextrose or malto-dextrin haven't had a diet soda in three months, no starchy vegetables, just decided I can't eat any kind of squash, so no squash. no nuts, only use EVOO, walnut oil, or butter for cooking. Gave up yogurt, gave up fruit. I am basically eating free range, grass fed meat, cage free organic eggs and low carb veggies with a little cheese. Don't drink alcohol, never have. Drink some coffee black in the morning, drink decaffinated tea with liquid sweet and low. Gave up stevia when I did an experiment and IT by itself in water raised my BS. Gave up bacon and ham because of the sugar. Figured the sausage would not have enough sugar to matter, may be wrong about that, even though the label says, not a significant source of sugar or carbohydrate.

the chicken I have been eating is free range chicken. I bought some grass fed beef and when I have eaten beef since Saturday it was grass fed. I am confused and puzzled. At first this was working. Fot two months it was all going well. The only time my BS went close to or over 200 was when I cheated and ate a grain or starch thinking just a couple of crackers with a meal wouldn't hurt. Or 1/4 cup of all bran with soy milk and no sugar wouldn't hurt, or a peice of low carb bread wouldn't hurt, It did hurt.

Protein will be converted to glucose. Re-read Berstein if you still have the book.

Try eating more fat. Egg salad with extra mayo on lettuce. Find some pork belly and roast it and serve the left overs cold on salad greens.

Are you avoiding insulin?

Sandra- I'm sorry to hear you're having a rough time. If you are finding that your blood sugars are not consistent with what you would expect based on your eating and/or you have other concerns, I'd encouarge you to discuss it directly with your doctor.

Good luck.

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I do plan on discussing it with my doctor. I had my three month blood work done today. As soon as the results come in, I will make my appointment.

As far as insulin, I was on insulin at one time, with a different doctor. My new doctor has me on oral medication. I so want to be able to control my BS with diet alone, and it was going so well for the last almost three months.

It has only been the last couple of days that things have been kind of screwy. Maybe my body is just making and adjustment. I am dissappointed in my body.

It just don't behave the way I expect it to.

randysgrandma

Our bodies are like rebellious teenagers, doing their own thing!

Just hang in there until you find out what's going on. Give your body a chance to "behave" itself!

You've given up a lot of stuff, and I know it can be frustrating when you don't get the results you want. I've cut out so much, and I still don't lose. I've hit a plateau, and the old body does not want to let go of the fat stuck on it. (See? Rebellious!)

Keep us posted on how it's going. We really do care.

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Nita

Thank all of you so much. Tonight I had the lowest bs I have had in a long time. I just took it and it is only 80.

Funny thing happened. A week ago I bought a packet of soy protien drink, just to try it. It was an unsweetened mix, where you can add your own choice of sweetener. I had been thinking about using a protien drink once a day as a meal replacement, or when I don't have time to fix a meal, as in, -----on the road. Like today when I didn't get a chance to eat lunch and went from 7AM to 3PM without eating.

The instructions said to make ithe drink really low carb, to use half cream and half water for the liquid. I added cream. My blood sugar actually went DOWN after I drank it. It is pretty expensive and I haven't been able to spring for a whole can of the powder.

But tonight I went to Walmart. They have ground flavored coffee that you brew and add your own sweetener and cream to. Usually I add milk to it. But tonight I wanted to splurge a little, so I bought real cream. I drank two cups, added some Benefiber to one cup. -----and when I checked my bs it was only 80!!!

Maybe adding some fat and fiber to my meals is what I need to slow down what must be an extremely fast metabolism. Even though I am over weight and always thought I had a slow metabolism. It does seem like what I eat has an immediate effect on my bs. As in instantaneous.

thanks you all. I am hoping that whatever was going on with this silly old, wonderful body has decided to settle down.

Sandra

Great to hear, Sandy. Adding the fat could be what has helped to level out your bs levels. That's what of love about low carb, not having to worry about the fat. It can be really beneficial to us.

Another great fat you might want to try is coconut oil. Tastes good, it's stable at room temperature, and you can use it to cook in. My dh doesn't like the taste, so when I cook with it, it's for something that he won't eat. There are claims for a lot of health benefits from it. And in a pinch, you can use it for dry skin!

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Nita

Thanks Nita,

I have read about the benefits of coconut oil. It is supposed to be really good for diabetics. I bought a jar of it. I actually tried cooking eggs with it. I don't like the taste. I tried just taking a T plain. I could choke it down, if I followed it by a quick drink of coffee. But after a couple of days even that didn't work. I was gagging on it.

So I use it for skin cream now. At least that way, I am using an all natural product on my skin. Problem is, I don't really like the smell either. LOL. I remember back when all the sunscreen except Coppertone seemed to be coconut scented. I could hardly stand to walk down the beach. I always used Coppertone because it smelled good to me.

Thanks again
Sandra

PPS my bs today has been excellent. 98 fasting. 131 before lunch and 118 after. I had cream in my coffee this morning (normally I drink it black) and a homemade salsberry steak for lunch. The sauce was beef broth and cream. Yummy. And this was after a stressful day. My employees were falsely accused of stealing 500 dollars from a client. She later found it in her purse.

Sandra, I am so pleased that you are having such success just by adding a bit of delectable cream to your coffee. Fat is such a wonderful thing, we need it, it's good for us, and now look what it's doing for you!

As for the coconut oil, I buy only organic, not the processed stuff from the grocery store; however, if you don't like the coconut taste or smell, then by all means don't use it. Or perhaps if you mixed a bit with olive oil, the olive oil might overpower the coconutty taste, so you'd get the benefit of the coconut oil w/o the strong taste. I might try that and see how it works. Perhaps I can get some down my dh's throat w/o him realizing it............

Wow, it's really sad to have someone make such an accusation against your employee. We have a tenant who intensely dislikes one of our maintenance men, even has accused him of going into her apartment when she's not there. He'd never do that! She wants us to believe that she's changed, she's an alcoholic who used to beat up on her tiny little mother) but she goes on and on about his past, which we don't really believe he has, anyway. Don't know why she won't admit that maybe he's overcome his past, or what she thinks was in his past, too.

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Nita

Something I found out from a co-worker with a similar woe. He expressed his concern to me about the amount of coffee I drink (I am not a morning person without it.) He mentioned that caffeine will cause your system to create insulin. And at the moment, i have very little sugar in my system. (probably less if I ate less than one fudgesicle every two days). Thankfully my mood hasn't altered any. But I would consult a physician about the coffee issue. I also know that flavored coffees (roasted flavored beans) are often glazed with the flavoring. Just something to put in your mind. If you want I can check with my NIDA sources about caffeine and its influence on the endocronatic system. Just send me a note if you want.

Warmest Regards,

Charlie

Thanks Charlie,

I had read that caffeine raises insulin levels. A couple of days ago, I switched from caffeinated tea to decaf. Normally I only drink coffee in the morning. One or two cups with breakfast.

I bought some instant decaf coffee too. But hubby has the regular coffee all ready made when I get up. I am weak there I guess, its made, it smells good, and I really lazy first thing in the morning. Too lazy to heat water and make a cup of instant coffee. Since I don't microwave anything, it just seems like a lot of effort to heat a pan of water, when there is coffee all ready made and smelling soooo good.

Sandra

Just remember (and its something I'm fighting through) without the carbs and/or sugars to break down, that insulin overload from the caffeine can make a person mighty hungry. To which I reply to my body with sugar free j-ello. Wonderful stuff, no carbs, and makes me think I', eating regular j-ello.

Hang in there. M'Mom would say, You Can Do This!

__________________
Charlie,
200lbs man trapped in a 300 lbs body.
bringer of peace and jolility
Horder of the Prime Rib
All around ladies man.

I checked Dr Bernstiens book out from the library. I remember now why I got rid of the book. Actually my former doctor recommended it to me. My body cannot tolerate carbs, in any way shape or form. I showed my doctor that when I ate oatmeal, my blood sugar soared. I showed him that if I ate a whole wheat cracker, my bs levels soared. He actually got mad at me. Asked why I was doing this. (Checking my blood sugar after eating whole grains) I told him that I was trying to show him I could not tolerate carbs. He said I wasn't eating the "right kinds" of whole grains.

Yes, I can eat a little bit of steel cut oats without my blood sugar going into the danger zone. But it gets pretty darn close to it. I can eat a piece of Ezekial bread, but I can't eat two peices.

I have some diet experiments on my blog www.thoughts.diabetesbuster.com that show I am extremely sensitive to grains. I am thinking I may actually have an allergy to them or some other metabolic abnormalty.

I have also found out that I am extremely sensitive to any sugar, even the natural sugar in fruits and vegetables. I can tolerate the vegetables more than the fruit, however.

Here is what I have discovered that I can't eat, fruit, grain products, beans, dairy except for cream or butter, any kind of squash, I am beginning to suspect that green peppers for some reason aren't working for me.

What does that leave, eggs, cheese, meat, butter, cream, and any green vegetable. I can tolerate liquid Sweet and low or other liquid sweetners, but the powdered kind that are mostly dextrose and have maltodextrin in them raise my blood sugar. And I am still eating good food, that tastes good, is filling and I don't feel deprived. And I don't get cravings and I am not hungry between meals, In fact, sometimes I am surprised that it is mealtime again and I am not at all hungry.

What I have discovered in the past week is, I was still a little meat and fat phobic. While I had cut out sugar and flour and obvious carbs, I was still eating a large amount of vegetables, and not a lot of protien. I read Dr Atkins Diabetes book, and realized I actully need to eat a larger portion of protein and fat, and a lesser portion of vegetables. My blood sugars have been near normal for the past three days.

Here is some more good news, even though I have had some slip ups in the last three months when I was discovering what foods cause spikes, I just got my lab test back. My A1C has dropped from 9 to 6.9 since following a low carb, high protein, high fat diet.
My triglygerides are within the normal range.my hdl is normal. My ldl is a little high, but I am not worried about that, as there is really no proof that high ldl means that there is blockage forming in the arteries. And it is normal for ldl to increase at the beginning of a high protein diet.

My insulin level is 3, also within the normal range, so I am not hyper or hypo as far as insulin goes. My problem, is basically carbohydrate intolerance to the max.

So, I have changed my mind about giving up, in fact, I am cutting more carbs. Even having a protein drink once a day in place of a meal. WOW that little 8 ounce glass of protien shake really fills you up. and keeps you from getting hungry until the next regular mealtime.

By the way, I lost a pound too. I have gone from 168 to 160 in three months. Not a lot, but given my carb sensitivity and the sometimes high BS that is not too bad.