Does anyone know any helpful tips for diebetes?

Question

I came down with Diabetes a year ago this august. It still isn't under control after being on 4 different meds and changing diet with exercise. I'm fed up with 2 foms of insuline because i hate needles and i hate having to swallow 2 differnt kinds of pills because i feel i'm poisoning myself and have always hated taking pills for any reason. Any one out there know of any alternative i can try?

Answer 1

first of all get a really good endocrinologist.
i had a terrible time because my hmo had never tested to see if i was type one or type two diabetes. then i was actually resistant to one insulin, then allergic to a pill as it was a suplha drug derivative! once i was not dealing with idiots, i got my diabetes under control in 48 days ...
try asking your current doc if you can try Lantus (human dna shot) at night (it works over a 24 hour period) via a pen device, and Humalog fast acting with meals and throughout the day when your levels need to be lowered--it works in about 15 mins to lower it--also an easy to use pen.
also get the small book about eating for your blood type, it makes a big difference. "diabetes fight it with the blood type diet" by dr peter j d'amamo.
also, if you eat protein, like a steak, combine it with a baked potato so that the protein is not converted to sugar faster than it would be alone, and jack up your levels.
it is not a nice disease, so you have my sympathy. i am going to try drinking the decaf coffee to see if i can cut my insulin back. there was a study announced yesterday that women who drank decaf-coffee, 6+ cups a day were 33% less likely to develop diabetes.
another thing my hmo did not teach me how to do was count carbs. they had me counting calories, so my math was a pointless waste of time. yes watch calories so you can keep the weight off, but it is the counting of carbs that gets your insulin dose right... you have to work out your ratio=how much insulin it takes one unit to lower glucose. a useful tool is put out by Aventis, looks like a ruler, and you slide numbers along to get your correct dose for eating or correcting a high sugar level on the other side of the slide rule thingie.
the body responds better to real human dna insulin than the synthetics or pills
also get the "diabetes carbohydrate and fat gram guide" book put out by the american diabetic association.
good luck.

Answer 2

The best NATURAL answer to Diabetes is Bitter Melon.

This vegetable is available in all Philipino markets. I think some Indian grocery shops also have this vegetable.

Wash the vegetable and eat it raw - about half the vegetable per day and check your sugar level after about 4 days - you will see the difference. Of course I must warn you that the taste of it is very unpleasant. Once you know that it is good for you you will come to like it.

I know a person who was injecting insulin daily stopped it after his wife started to crush the vegetable and made him to drink a half cup of this juice daily.

Of course you have to have it raw. Boiling it or cooking it and eating it will have no results. So I am not sure how well your dad will enjot it.

If you get good results post it as a question in this section so that others will know the value of this vegetable.

Answer 3

dont get too frustrated the first year can be the worst!!! you havnet been diabetic long enough to have it under perfect control!!! the body doesnt work quiet that way unfortuantly.....keep you chin up though, you made it thru the first year !! Like a few other ppl hv suggested I woudl mention the pump to your DR, Im on a Minimed & the 2 years Ive been on it Ive never been healthier & trust me in my case that says A LOT!!! Try to follow your Dr's orders as far as diet & exercise, trust me i know its apina in the a-- but in teh long run it WILL be worth it!!! I wasa very badly behaved diabetic for a very long time & Im starting to feel the reprocussions of my actions as Im gettin a little older(Im only 31)....but like I said dont gie up hope yet, the 1st year is pretty much the hardest as far a gettig all your meds figured out...you should start to get em more accurate soon!!! GOOD LUCK & much luv!

Answer 4

Diabetes is very challenging. There is no silver bullet. You must hang in there and do what it takes to keep your glucose levels within normal limits. The alternative is to not do nothing, lose your eyesight, have your kidneys shut down, develop painful nerve damage in in your hands and feet , possibly resulting in amputation of your feet and legs. I am sorry to be so grim, but you need to understand the possible results of not managing diabetes. Your diagnosis was recent. It takes a lot of time to find out what works. You need to monitor your glucose level and be honest in reporting your diet and exercise to your doctor...even when you do not adhere to your prescribed diet and plan. Your home blood work and journal will let your doctor know how the medicines are working and possibly why they are not working. Diabetes is a high maintenance disease. It can be discouraging, no doubt. But you are worth the effort. You can manage it but you can't cheat it, hide from it or challenge it. In your situation, you could be poisoning yourself by not taking your medications correctly.

Answer 5

Here is a five minute documentary about a group of people with diabetes that changed their diet for 30 days and are NO longer diabetic. They're also making a longer documentary with Woody Harrelson, which should be out very soon. The good news is that this type of diet prevents and reverses almost every disease or so-called dis-ease. So watch this video and tell everyone you know about it, so we can put an end to all of this needless suffering!!!

http://www.rawfor30days.com/video/rawfor30.swf

Answer 6

number 1. you canNOT get off medications without doctor's consent
number 2. there are no other alternative medicine for diabetes, and there is no cure for it.
number 3. if you really want to get off it -- try talking to your doctor first and incorporate a strict diet in your lifestyle -- kinda like experimenting -- eat foods that is allowed only, and have periodic blood tests taken -- to see if the condition is somewhat stabilizing because of the lifestyle change. if it improves, your doctor may want to start weaning you off some medicines -- but not completely take them out. hopefully he'll get you out of the insulin shots you have to take.

please don't think that diabetes is something that can be easily cured. if not treated properly -- you can risk kidney failure and other organ failure eventually if you don't take good care of yourself.

here is what happens in the body (for a diabetic person)
if sugar is not metabolized by the insulin, they end up in your blood and your tissues -- the end product of this is KETONES -- ketones are very acidic and travel in your blood -- which will eventually end up in your kidneys, making the kidneys very sick. when the kidneys get sick -- the lungs start to hyperventilate to compensate for the acidic kidney -- your lungs get tired, your heart gets tired -- and this disrupts the cardiopulmonary cycle -- which will later on result in loss of oxygen in your brain -- and that's why some diabetic people get stroke or are in a coma.

the reason why you're taking insulin shots is so that the sugar is metabolized by all those insulin, instead of going to your tissues and turn into ketones.

this is a serious disease that needs to be taken care of. if i were you, i wouldn't care how much injections i need to do a day -- as long as my organs do not fail.

if anybody thinks that medicines are bad -- it could be -- but one of the reasons why you need all those chemicals/medicine is because of the stuff that you put in your body -- ie sugar -- they are processed, also "bad carbohydrates" -- processed carbohydrates like bread and white rice -- which are chemically tampered, do a lot of harm in your body.

if you want to incorporate a healthy eating habit -- try going for organic, and fresh foods instead which are low in sugar. (fruits are high in sugar, so beware). you can never go wrong with vegetables.

based on experience, the toughest patients to take care of are in the diabetic group because of too much medications -- if there are other conditions besides diabetes, those MIGHT remain untreated because a lot of medications are contraindicated when a person is taking medications for diabetes.

Answer 7

Get off that Pharmaceutical Junk! Its a dead end. The cause of the diabetes was not A LACK OF DRUGS! That's the TRICK they play. They have no interest in solving the problem, and getting you off their pharmaceutical CRACK.

Explore the meaning of a "low glycemic diet." That alone may liberate you.

Cleanse your body. Your endocrine system, burdened from poisons that have not been eliminated, is out of balance.

Explore supplements like "Alpha lipoic Acid," also known as "nature's insulin." Or, supplements like "Glycemic Health" by Gaia, or "Glycemic Vibrance," by Vibrant Health. There are hundreds of natural allies out there in your path towards balance and wholeness. Drugs will never heal. They only postpone an inevitable and horrible death - profitable, no doubt.

Answer 8

Do you got type 1 or 2. If you got type 2 you can still fix and control it when your at your ideal weight and with a diet. Its sad you feel your poisioning yourself with the meds they help you cause your pancreas don't produce the hormones you need to keep a good blood level. I know its hard but I have no ideal how old you are I got a 10 yr old I'm learning about this with. But the best thing to do it talk with your dr.

Answer 9

Are you Type 1 or Type 2? if type 1 youll have o take insulin and you need to be on the pump. I've had one and it rocks. If Type 2.....people on here are right. Get your diet under control unless you just love drugs and especially insulin.
Good Luck.

Answer 10

Try going on a pump! You have to know how to give yourself a shot, but its totally worth it. I have had one for seven years, and I love it! I still have to test my bloodsugar, but I only have to put a needle in my stumach once every could of days. Infusion sets are pretty comfortable, too. I wear an Animas pump(http://www.animascorp.com/index2.shtml), but I've had a minimed (http://www.minimed.com). Cosmo (http://www.cozmore.com/default.cfm?PID=1.44) and DCtronic are also suposed to be pretty good brands.

Something I've noticed about my own diabetes is that its easier to manage at parties if I eat controled amounts. I can give myself more accurate dosages of insulin if I eat a package of M&M's, rather than a handful.

Good luck! And, talk to your doctor about a pump.