Blood Sugar Stabelization Help

[ravenwoodglass]

I only took one dose of this junk. It has totally sent my sugar into a tailspin. The morning after I took the dose it was 173 and then a half hour later it was 85 then back up to 137 an hour later, fasting. I did not take anymore and have been strict this week about my diet but I am still having morning reading over 125. I am scared to death that this will not be fixable. My morning sugars for the last 6 months had never been over 95. My readings, I am back to being a pincusion all day, have not been spiking and dropping as much when I tested yesterday but they are still not good. I am so angry with my GI for giving me this crap. I was pretty much over the infection from the diverticulitis anyway. I am so angry right now, I had been hoping not to have to go to insulin for a couple more years, now I am wondering if it is going to be inevitable. I know noone can probally help me but does anyone have any suggestions?

[Anteau25]

I only took one dose of this junk. It has totally sent my sugar into a tailspin. The morning after I took the dose it was 173 and then a half hour later it was 85 then back up to 137 an hour later, fasting. I did not take anymore and have been strict this week about my diet but I am still having morning reading over 125. I am scared to death that this will not be fixable. My morning sugars for the last 6 months had never been over 95. My readings, I am back to being a pincusion all day, have not been spiking and dropping as much when I tested yesterday but they are still not good. I am so angry with my GI for giving me this crap. I was pretty much over the infection from the diverticulitis anyway. I am so angry right now, I had been hoping not to have to go to insulin for a couple more years, now I am wondering if it is going to be inevitable. I know noone can probally help me but does anyone have any suggestions?

I have type 1 and I know it's frustrating when your blood sugars bounce around. First, when did you last take the dose. Second, if you still have an infection, your blood sugars can be out of control. They will usually run higher than normal.

[ravenwoodglass]

I have type 1 and I know it's frustrating when your blood sugars bounce around. First, when did you last take the dose. Second, if you still have an infection, your blood sugars can be out of control. They will usually run higher than normal.

I took the Levaquin for the diveritculitis and colonitis on Saturday and only took the one dose. When I saw my GI on Thursday he said he thought everything was pretty much over, infectionwise, as I have had my symptoms resolve (the attack was 3 weeks before the antibiotic and my system was back to normal except for swelling they found on CT) so he didn't prescribe anything else.

What do you do to stop the bouncing around? Diet wise I mean? I strictly monitor any carbs, eat a mostly vegatarian diet with lots of veggies and some fruit, low GI like apples and strawberries. I also am getting lots of excercise with gardening and putting in a pond and fountain. I know that helps. Is there anything more I can do and at what point should I contact my doctor? I was due for another A1C this month, my last was down to 6.1, now I know that is going to be all screwed up.

[Anteau25]

I took the Levaquin for the diveritculitis and colonitis on Saturday and only took the one dose. When I saw my GI on Thursday he said he thought everything was pretty much over, infectionwise, as I have had my symptoms resolve (the attack was 3 weeks before the antibiotic and my system was back to normal except for swelling they found on CT) so he didn't prescribe anything else.

What do you do to stop the bouncing around? Diet wise I mean? I strictly monitor any carbs, eat a mostly vegatarian diet with lots of veggies and some fruit, low GI like apples and strawberries. I also am getting lots of excercise with gardening and putting in a pond and fountain. I know that helps. Is there anything more I can do and at what point should I contact my doctor? I was due for another A1C this month, my last was down to 6.1, now I know that is going to be all screwed up.

Well, it sounds like you are doing everything right. One thing is you should make sure you are getting at least a little protein every day because this helps keep blood sugars stable. The blood sugars you posted are not a cause for alarm as they are not too high, but since they are above your normal range, you should probably give your dr a call and let him know about your fluctuations. I'm not sure about how long the levaquin would affect you, but it's almost been a week, so maybe it's something else? Stress, hormones, etc can affect my blood sugar, but for me, I just take extra insulin. As far as the A1C goes, if it's thrown off a little by these readings, you know why it's higher. The A1C just gives you an overall idea of average past blood sugars. By the way, 6.1 is excellent congrats!

[VydorScope]

My advice runs counter all that, and it works at least for me and those that I know who gave it a SERIOUS try. Base your diet around GOOD fat (ie from animals and plants and not labs), I am talking like 60% of your diet being fat, 20-30% being COMPLETE proteins, and balance in complex carbs. Drop all potatoes, sugar and simple carbs completely get your carbs from good veggies primarily.

While learning the diet I used www.fitday.com to track what I was eating. It helped show where all my calories were coming from. It stabilized me, and many diabetics report going of medication completely when they switch to this way of eating which is contrary to what the ADA suggests.

Good luck which ever path you choose....

[VydorScope]

Just to show you I am either not a wacko, or at least not alone in my wackoness

Open Original Shared Link

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks so much for the replies and the web site. I added it to my favorites to read over again more throughly. It is sort of what I did in the beginning when first diagnosed diabetic. Since my sugar had been stable for so long I think the week of heavy carbs with no veggies or fruits (doctor prescribed before my tests) combined with the med's destabelizing effect is what may have done it. Looks like I am back to square one.

[jerseyangel]

Ravenwood,

I don't have any input for you, but I wanted you to know I'm thinking about you and hope you get it all back under control soon

[elye]

Some animal (or plant, i.e., nuts or legumes) protein at EVERY meal is important, and has always helped keep my blood sugars from rising suddenly after I've eaten. Do you know, cinnamon has been touted recently as a strong BS stabilizer, and my endocrinologist recommended I consume a bit every day. I've got tight control, so I'm not sure how much the cinammon is helping, but I have read this in a number of medical articles. Might be worth trying...nothing to lose!

[Guest j_mommy]

My clients have had luck with JANUVIA. It is a new oral pill on the market. They actually went off insulin when they started taking it. I have NOT checked to see if it's safe for us Gluten Free's, but it may be worth checking into!!!!

[ravenwoodglass]

Thanks all, I do hope I can do this again as successfully as I did the last time.

I seem to be reacting to corn (not like gluten but reacting( so it looks like I will be totally grain free for a bit. The modified paleo worked before hopefully it will work again.

Thanks for the reminder about the cinnamon, I should make cream of buckwheat with loads of cinnamon part of my regular routine again. Does anyone know of a sweetner that is not too toxic? I tried Stevia but had an allergic reaction so that one though good is out for me. How is Splenda?

I have never heard on Januvia but will check it out.

Thanks again all. I suppose I should go do my after dinner stick. Oh joy.

[VydorScope]

Thanks for the reminder about the cinnamon, I should make cream of buckwheat with loads of cinnamon part of my regular routine again. Does anyone know of a sweetner that is not too toxic? I tried Stevia but had an allergic reaction so that one though good is out for me. How is Splenda?

I use Splenda, its safe. But you will find some ppl that disagree. Truth is a huge number of ppl use it every day with no problems, but ppl love a conspiracy theory! I just ignore them any more...

ANYTHING you eat can be specifically a problem for you (like you find out with stevia) so you have to be careful trying a new food of course. I wont touch stevia personally because I am in a high risk group for allergic reaction.

[ravenwoodglass]

I use Splenda, its safe. But you will find some ppl that disagree. Truth is a huge number of ppl use it every day with no problems, but ppl love a conspiracy theory! I just ignore them any more...

ANYTHING you eat can be specifically a problem for you (like you find out with stevia) so you have to be careful trying a new food of course. I wont touch stevia personally because I am in a high risk group for allergic reaction.

Thanks I'll give splenda a try. Wise choice with the stevia, I had blisters as far as I could see down my throat. Most unpleasent. It was after that that I realized since I am allergic to ragweed I shouldn't have touched it.

One other query if you don't mind, When my FS is over 125 I usually will hold off on eating and do some yard work or something and wait until I read under 110 before I eat breakfast. I sometimes don't eat until I have been up over 5 hours. Is there anything wrong with doing this? I am not a person who lives to eat and don't get hungrey. I have never been sure that would be safe in terms of the overall effect on my BS.

[VydorScope]

Thanks I'll give splenda a try. Wise choice with the stevia, I had blisters as far as I could see down my throat. Most unpleasent. It was after that that I realized since I am allergic to ragweed I shouldn't have touched it.

One other query if you don't mind, When my FS is over 125 I usually will hold off on eating and do some yard work or something and wait until I read under 110 before I eat breakfast. I sometimes don't eat until I have been up over 5 hours. Is there anything wrong with doing this? I am not a person who lives to eat and don't get hungrey. I have never been sure that would be safe in terms of the overall effect on my BS.

As long as your blood sugar stays over say 70 or so you are okay. There is a lot said about the importance of breakfast, but if your eating a good diet through out the day and having your first meal late you still fine. If you found your self slipping in to lower and lower blood sugar, then you will have to eat REGARDLESS if your hungry or not. This does not at all sound like your case so you are probably fine BUT I would wait till one of the other diabetics responds in case there is something I am missing being that I come form the opposite side of the blood sugar problems.

Also Walmart carries a generic Splenda now called "Altern" they are the only ones I know of right now, it helps a bit with cost. Hopefully more is comming...

OH if you have problems with corn, stay away from Splenda. It is cut with maltodexrin derived from corn.

[tarnalberry]

especially with wonky blood sugar, I'd try uping the fat/protein in your diet. while I'm not usually a fan of the 60% fat approach, it does work for some people, and there is sound reason behind it. if I haven't been pretty darn stable in my blood sugar, I can't get away with less than 30% protein/30% fat in my diet. I know it's hard to do on a vegetarian diet (even the highest protein grains/legumes don't get up there, unless you're eating a lot of soy, and that'd screw with my system as well).

[Nancym]

I have two suggestions. You might want to read Dr. Bernstein's book on dietary control of diabetes and you might want to check in with Open Original Shared Link. There are a lot of people control their diabetes (type 2 and pre-diabetes) with diet and many of them are very knowledgeable about the various drugs. I'm sure they can answer a lot of questions for you.

I don't have any specific advice for you other than high blood sugar in the morning is called "Dawn Phenomenon" and is common in diabetics.

One other query if you don't mind, When my FS is over 125 I usually will hold off on eating and do some yard work or something and wait until I read under 110 before I eat breakfast. I sometimes don't eat until I have been up over 5 hours. Is there anything wrong with doing this? I am not a person who lives to eat and don't get hungrey. I have never been sure that would be safe in terms of the overall effect on my BS.

I think that's very wise. Personally I think the habit of snacking keeps blood sugar up too long. It's my own personal opinion though, based on findings I've read about longevity and blood sugars on the lower end of the spectrum.

[VydorScope]

That link Nancy just posted is great, I sometimes hang around there too. I would also suggest this book:

Open Original Shared Link

[brizzo]

I hope to give you helpfull advice. Your problem is NOT diabetes, it's the antibiotics. I am a full time paramedic. I make runs on lots of people that have a new onset of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) all the time. The # 1 culprit of this sudden new onset blood sugar drop; you guessed it. ANTIBIOTICS. And the #1 antibiotics that causes problems with blood sugar?....LEVAQUIN! This is a temporary problem and should resolve when you complete the meds. You don't need insulan , relax. You need to eat a high carb meal around an hour after taking your levaquin. This will keep your sugar up , so you don't plunge. Another side note about levaquin. This antibiotic can also cause a VERY Nasty allergic reaction if your body chooses so. Be on the lookout for any new "rashes" of difficulty breathing. Untill then, good luck, and relax... you''ll be fine.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

The gardening and pond-installing is great for you, no doubt, but I think the kind of exercise that would help lower blood sugar is the aerobic kind, like walking for an hour straight. Do you have time to try something like that?

[VydorScope]

I hope to give you helpfull advice. Your problem is NOT diabetes, it's the antibiotics. I am a full time paramedic. I make runs on lots of people that have a new onset of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) all the time. The # 1 culprit of this sudden new onset blood sugar drop; you guessed it. ANTIBIOTICS. And the #1 antibiotics that causes problems with blood sugar?....LEVAQUIN! This is a temporary problem and should resolve when you complete the meds. You don't need insulan , relax. You need to eat a high carb meal around an hour after taking your levaquin. This will keep your sugar up , so you don't plunge. Another side note about levaquin. This antibiotic can also cause a VERY Nasty allergic reaction if your body chooses so. Be on the lookout for any new "rashes" of difficulty breathing. Untill then, good luck, and relax... you''ll be fine.

Bizzo, I think you missed the part where she ALREADY has blood sugar issues, and the Levaquin just aggravated them. No one is questioning the impact of the medication, which she stopped taking, but helping her deal with her existing problems with blood sugar. But that is a useful bit of information about antibotics, I will have to check with my meter next time(assuming there is) I am on some.

[ravenwoodglass]

Thank you all for the links and the words of wisdom. I very much appretiate both.

Brizzo, I only took one dose of this toxic med. It does not surprise me that it would be the culprit in calls you get. I am wondering how this stuff got on the market and how long it will stay. I have never encountered an antibiotic that would make me hallucinate, I have been on a lot of drugs prediagnosis and none had ever done that. I wonder how many like me had a doctor just toss them a script without doing any cultures (the drugs literature state it should never be prescribed without culturing to make sure it is needed).

I did check out the Januvia, thanks for posting that. It appears that when the time comes for meds that may be one I can use. I am hoping to get things back on track for a bit longer but it looks much less problematical than the metformin type drugs.

Thanks again everyone.