Re: Thanks for being here
- From: Chris Malcolm <cam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 25 Jun 2006 11:42:36 GMT
Coqui <Coqui2006@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Everybody. I've have lurked for 3 years and have found this group to be
very helpful so I want to add my own experience.
I am using a fake name. I have some of you (those less than civil) in my
filter list so I may not see replies from other than polite people.
I know we are all different. I also know that "I" could be doing better if I
had more self control.
sex: male
age: 56
height: 5-11"
weight: 172 (195 when diagnosed)
waist: 32 (36 when diagnosed)
activity level: office worker- then & now but run & workout at gym regularly
now and took up dancing.
Similar to me except I'm proportionally smaller.
Diagnosed 25Feb03 (self diagnosed from reading about all my medical problems
on the internet - called the doc and ordered blood tests).
glucose: 311
HA1C: 11.3
all other blood indicators= very heathy (i worked construction earlier in
life)
I estimate 5-10 years undiagnosed (based on symptoms and time at desk job).
I still have feeling in all my limbs but there were (are) other major
problems from poor blood circulation.
At diagnosis my HbA1C was already down to 5.6 because I'd already been
on a Neanderthal diet for a year for other reasons, without realising
I was diabetic. Like you I had to push the evidence under my doc's
nose. He was still telling me I was fine. And as a lifelong desk
worker by age 60 I had high blood pressure, bad blood lipids, and had
already had a heart attack.
I am very regular in all my habit. I test my blood regulalry whever I vary
my routine or diet. I don't test at all when nothing is changing.
That's what I do. I test randomly maybe once a week, just to see if
things are going as expected, saving up strips for a very detailed
test of particular meal at a particular time of day every few months.
I was able to bring the blood sugar under control within a month (Ha1c under
6.0) by imediatley trying to adopt a Neanderthal diet (meat & veggies) and a
higher than now level of meds.
It took about a year to learn eating & exercise self-control. I lowered my
meds as I learned self control (I started gaining weight from eating to ward
off hypoglycemia).
It took me about six months to learn the general dietary principles
which worked for me, and another six months to polish and stabilise
them. This newsgroup's advice was invaluable. I've rarely had
hypoglycemic problems, possibly because I don't use any diabetic meds.
What I eat:
Meat- all I want- all types (I like spam- isn't that awful?)
Me too! I've also resuscitated a satisfying meal I used to eat when on
long self-catering cycling hols as a kid -- corned beef heated up with
baked beans. It keeps me going when I'm doing a lot of physical work.
Fish
Eggs
Veggies- lots of low glycemic veggies (I'm addicted to no sugar coleslaw)
Nuts- (almonds only for between meal snacks - the others make me gain
weight)
I keep my weight going down slowly just by stopping eating when I'm
still a bit hungry instead of waiting until I've completely destroyed
all residual hunger with copious food. I note that there's a time lag
involved in feeling I've had enough. If I stop eating when still a bit
hungry, half an hour later I've stopped being hungry anyway. That
suggests to me I usually eat a bit too fast for my natural food/hunger
homeostasis machinery to work properly, so I also now take longer
breaks between courses in multi-course meals and eat more slowly.
What I don't eat:
flour based products (wheat or corn)
milk based products except yogurt & cheese
any kind of sugar (sucrose, fructose, honey, etc.)
rice
potatoes
Me too, except I find I can manage goat's milk better than cow's, and
the one wheat product I can manage is lasagne, perhaps because it's
accompanied by lots of grease and meat and the pasta is in bigger
lumps. I make low added sugar goat's milk mochas, which have the
unexpected side benefit that when I ask people "would you like a
goat's milk mocha too?" they usually wrinkle their noses and step
backwards :-)
I try not to eat anyting thats high on the Glycemic Index except under
highly controlled circumstances.
I eat small portions at regular intervals.
I still mostly eat a few big meals, but more slowly. It takes a few
hours for my post-prandial BGs to drop under 5, and I like to let them
get way down there quite often, just in case that provides a good
restorative environment for recovering from the post-prandial
spikes. These BG valleys between meals also helps to keep the "area
under the BG curve" low, and thus improve that HbA1c.
I think that I could get off meds completely if a didn't have to sit at a
desk all day.
That was one of the reasons I took early retirement at age 61. Having
to take drugs in order to stay alive at my office desk seemed to be
going a step too far. When I started just pottering around the house
and garden I was dismayed to find how easily and quickly I tired
myself out. An hour's light exercise, such as pruning, walking, or
tidying, and I'd need to sit down for a while to recover. I can now do
about twice as much, and I recover more quickly.
OK, thats probably more that I should have said. It was a cathartic
rambling.
It's good and encouraging to hear people's success stories. There's a
natural tendency for newsgroups to focus on problems, which gives a
biassed view.
I don't claim to have any answers or recommend anything to anyone. I know I
still have lots to learn and wish I worked harder at it. This is just my
experience so far.
Encouraging to hear how well you've done, and how asd has helped you.
--
Chris Malcolm cam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]
.
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