About a month ago I went to a doctors visit for another health issue and my new primary physician gave me the full blood work number that she does all new patients. She called back a week later saying my diabetes test was high and she wanted me to come back to retest. A few days later when I could I went back to be retested. One week later she called and said it was high again so I am diabetic now. She said my AIC level was 6.5. She wanted me to come in as soon as I could to get prescriptions for diabetes and cholesterol and get my glucose meter and supplies and learn to use them. She said my cholesterol is not high for a normal person but it is for a diabetic.
After she called me the second time with the final results, of course, I looked up what I could online. I wanted to know if the medications were safe while I am nursing my 15 month old and what I could expect to change about my diet. I wanted to know if the medications were not safe what I could do with my diet to possibly make do with out the medications until I am ready to ween my little girl.
I found lots of helpful websites full of information regarding all of my concerns. I went to the grocery store and bought what I could in accordance with what I found. I have been eating this slightly altered diet for about a week now. I started the day before my return to the doctors office to get my prescriptions and glucose meter. So when the nurse taught me how to use my glucose meter my blood sugar was 83. That is on the low side of normal. The nurse then said that was good and that my blood sugar had not been testing high just my AIC level.
I went to Wal-Mart pharmacy to get my prescriptions filled the next day after my appointment. My prescriptions were on their $4 list. That is great because I cant really afford an expensive health problem at this time in my life. I ask the pharmacist if my prescriptions were safe while I am nursing and she looked it up and said no. I told her about my blood sugar readings that that I am not having any trouble keeping my blood sugar at this level always testing about the same between 93 and 110 at my before and after eating. She said that the AIC test indicates that my blood sugar must have been high some time in the last three months because that's what makes your AIC level high like that.
I wanted to experiment now that I have my glucose meter to see if any of my favorite no no foods or drinks would effect my blood sugar in a negative way. I went out for Mexican food and had a Margarita with my dinner. It did not effect my blood sugar negatively. I had learned previously after much research that it is safe to have up to 2 serving sizes of alcohol per day while you are nursing. I researched donating breast milk for the NICU. Not only did I learn that they do the breast milk donation program to make real breast milk formula for the premature babies that some times can not latch on and nurse yet, and that it saves lives of infants, but that according to their standard of what is acceptable quality breast milk allows 2 servings of alcohol per day. If its safe for the NICU its good enough for me. I don't drink every day but it is nice to have a final word on the matter.
I also wanted to test some of the other no no's. Yesterday for dinner I had two slices of pizza with white bread crust. The white carbs are the no no here. It did not effect my blood sugar negatively. I had a soda yesterday after noon, no negative effect. I went to the drive in movie and just let it go just to see. I had chili cheese fries and a large soda and a hot chocolate over the course of 2 movies and no negative effect.
The only thing I have noticed weird about my blood sugar is that according to what I know at this point that your after you eat blood sugar taken 2 hours after eating should be higher. Mine is the on the same scale before and after. I have been eating 5 times a day for a very long time now. I have always experienced this strong hunger some times dizzy, light headed, irritable and hands shaking about every two to three hours. It does not make any difference even if I stuff my self I will just be hungry again any way. I just eat until I am full and stop cause I know I will be hungry again soon any way. I did not think of my meal sizes as small. I can usually hold like 2 pieces of pizza. So I guess that is kind of small compared to what some adults my age eat.
I guess for me after getting so worried at hearing the term diabetic that it is a little anticlimactic for my blood sugar to be a lot more normal than I was expecting. I guess I always thought that this savere hunger came from having low blood sugar and that's why I eat so often. Feeling this hungry feels to my body like I am in danger of my blood sugar plummeting and that I might pass out or something. When I check my blood sugar though it shows that it is just still at mid ground. I also have to keep my temperament in mind because I am dealing with small children all day every day and when I am shaky and irritable it makes it more difficult to keep my cool with the constant chaos.
The diet information that I found online is simple and easy to understand. For high blood sugar basically you need to eat less sugar obviously as in sugar sweet drinks and candy. Sugar can also be found hiding in all kinds of foods that you buy at the grocery store so it is important to read labels. White carbohydrates break down as sugar in your body so they are to be avoided as well. 100% whole grain breads and pastas are good for you and high in fiber. I found some foods can help reduce your blood sugar as apposed to just not making it higher. Peanuts are one of the major contributors to lower blood sugar. One web site said that people who ate peanuts or peanut butter 5 times a week had consistently lower blood sugar. Peanuts are not the only nut on the helpful list other nuts as well are attributed with reduced blood sugar. It says to try to eat unsalted nuts because the sodium level of eating nuts that often can be dangerous. I also found that spinach helps reduce blood sugar. Vinegar also reduces blood sugar. There are several others but that is a good start.
To help reduce cholesterol the formula is simple. Take in less bad fat and put in more good fat and increase fiber to keep every thing moving along. Nuts were on the cholesterol list as well as the diabetes list. That makes one easy diet change. Olive oil is a healthy form of fat for your diet. You can eat about one tablespoon full a day. This goes well with my spinach and vinegar from the diabetes diet. Spinach salad with home made vinaigrette any one. Soy is good for cholesterol. I had to read the back of the package to find a soy milk that I can stand the taste of that had a reasonable sugar level. There are many other things, I just wanted to give some basics. These are things that I found helpful easy tips and wanted to share.
I also looked up some of my favorite foods and drinks to see if they would still be OK for me to eat. Things like pizza and sushi, because of the white rice, and alcohol can be hard on your blood sugar. One of my favorite foods is feta cheese. I was glad to find out that it is a lower fat cheese and a good nutritional source as well as other low fat cheeses for diabetics to eat as snacks and with food.
Here are some of the helpful websites that I found.
http://www.joslin.org/info/Fitting_Alcohol_Into_Your_Meal_Plan.html http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com/2007/08/14-foods-that-lower-cholesterol/
http://www.ivillage.com/lima-beans-7-foods-lower-blood-sugar/4-b-337499
I just realized I was calling the insulin level term the wrong term. It is not AIC. It is A1C. Sorry about that. I am just learning all of this myself.
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