Diabetics Only Please?

Question

I have some questions for someone suffering w/ diabetes ... (type 2 I beleive ... not born w/ it but got it as a child) ... how hard is it to maintain your blood sugar? if you eat junk food like m & m's, diet soda, fast food, other candies ... how hard is it to level it out?? And if you continue to go into DKA, how does this effect your body???

This is not for me ... I am not a diabetic, my step sons mother is and she's been in the hospital a lot for DKA ... I just want to know how hard it can be to keep your diabetes in check, it seems she does it on purpose and it scares me on what to tell my son since he knows that she does this on purpose.

Answer 1

As a diabetic you shouldn't eat anything with sugar in it. I realize some dr say it's ok on occassion, but the problem with that is, they assume that the diabetic knows what "occasional" means. When I was in my teens and youth, I didn't want to deal with the fact that I had diabetes, so I ate what ever I wanted. The immidiate result was really high glucose levels for very extended amounts of time. Your body will aclimate to high sugar levels, but you will definately suffer long term consequences such as nueropathy and high blood pressure, which over time will lead to loss of feeling in the feet and hands, osteoperosis, reproductive organ malfunction or failure, blindness, strokes and/or heart attacks.
I used to be out of controll with my blood sugar levels. The day they told me I was blind and that it would permanent if I didn't get it under control, I fixed it. Surgeries reversed the blindness, but the long term effects of being out of controll had already begun to affect me. I eventually ended up on dialisys and have begun to lose some of the feeling in my right foot. I was on dialisys for two years before getting a kidney/pancreas transplant. Any one of those complications will bring your normal life to a screaching halt.

I know, It's really hard to eat right all the time. After a month or two of eating right and exercising, it will become second nature to you. I don't eat very much starch foods or carbs. Back when I went blind, that was one of the things I cut out of my diet and that was 18 years ago. I had my transplant 6 years ago, but I was so in the habit of not eating starchy and high carb foods, that even now, I feel like I have a brick in my gut and I weigh 500 pounds if I eat the average amounts of these foods. No, I'm not pencil skinny, nor would you or anyone else ever guess there was anything wrong with me in the first place. once you start eating right and working with your diabete's instead of against it, the easier it will be to live life like it should be lived.

Whether you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, you listed some of the key foods you should stay away from. As hard as it may be, stay away from candy, foods that are high in sugar, soda pops, fast foods, fatty foods and carbs. People will tell you don't cut all carbs out of your diet, Thats what gives you energy for your muscles. And thats true, but if you eat a well balanced diet, you'll get plenty of carbs from the fruits and vegatables you eat. Yes, there is carbs in those foods.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

if you eat these junk foods or any fast foods yes it will make your BS go up and you will go into DKA the effect on your body will be kidney damage or failure heart problems high blood pressure a whole lot of things she needs to at least take a little more insulin to save herself and be there for her child I know that because I've tried that but after I had 2 kids I started to straighten myself up. If she took diabetes in her teen years than she's more than likely a Type 1 so she is probably taking insulin shots are on a pump. I've had diabetes since I was 10 and my daughter took it at 11 and both of us are Type 1's my husbands mom was a Type 2

Answer 5

DKA can kill. To answer the junk food part, I have Humalog for that--fast acting, short duration (2-4 hrs). I also use Lantis (the 24 hr stuff). the longer I'm out of control (ie >140 for x # of days) the longer it takes to get stable at a "good" blood sugar. Walking often--several times a day for 15+ mins ea. helps jump start the food processing. Good luck--diabetes sucks!

Answer 6

Marlene -

Don't eat things like M&M's. You will never be able to level it out. It will only make it harder later in life.

I find it very hard to level my blood sugar out. Some people find it easy. Even with all of the medications I find that the only thing that lets me control by levels is controlling my diet.

Keep it down so that there is no possibility of DKA. Be strong - this will change your way of life but will not stop you from being normal.

Answer 7

Diet Guidelines
http://www.diabetes911.net/readit/chapter10.shtml

Blood Sugar Management
http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowContent/blood_sugar_management/

Answer 8

Answer --> http://DiabetesGoGo.com/?HBKg