Testing at Christmas...

Last year, being my first post-diagnosis Christmas, I tested frequently and kept a strict rein on my diet.

This year, I've shed all the weight I needed and, since my numbers are good, had a much more 'traditional' Christmas, foodwise.

Fasting 4.6 then; breakfast involved orange juice and chocolate croissants - 2 hours after: 4.5

Big turkey + all the trimmings (but no booze, had to drive later) rich pudding and a large handfull of both chocolate and choc biscuits after.

2 hours after: 5.4 (highest in 4 months) Snacked last night, lots of cheese and biccies.

This morning, 5.0 and after a modest lunch back down to 4.5

( no meds yesterday or today )

OK, I've had my Christmas fun - back on the wagon now - apart from those last few chocs in the box, calling plaintively to me....

Anyone else let fly at Christmas a bit - and how long to come back down again?

Mark

dragongirl said:

I'm curious, Mark, as to why you dropped the meds for a couple of days (your profile says "oral") when I would have thought taking them would have ensured you could have "good feast" without worrying.

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I started initially on Met, then slowly reduced the dose (under Dr's control). I had some odd 'rebound' effects on Met that caused me to have a pseudo-hypo followed by a spike, so my doc put me on Glucobay (Acarbose) instead.

This stuff is a glucosidase inhibitor that delays digestion, so acts to turn everything you eat (except raw sugars) into a lower-GI diet. This is an oversimplifaction, but you get the idea; this also, in some more minor sense, mimics that way that your digestion changes after gastric-banding surgery.

The doc is sufficiently happy with my progress, after all the weightloss and exercise, that I can drop all meds if I want.

Being cautious, I've stayed with Glucobay - but, on this occasion, thought I'd stay off it to see what happened - really just a test of how my IR improvement has been maintained (or not, as the case may be) now that I've stopped actually losing weight and have stabilised - and cut back on the exercise a bit.

Unlike Met, it is not really taken up in the body, so no extended half-life before it is flushed out of the system. I'm happy with the results, so back on the wagon again and there I'll stay.

My doc said that Glucobay is quite a bit more expensive than Met (but still cheap compared to almost all other diabetic drugs), but bearing in mind the funnies I had before, I can stay on it.

It suits me so well that I'd pay for it myself, if the PCT kicked up a fuss.

Mark.

samcogle said:

It was good but back on the wagon today!

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And congrats on your good results too! Sounds as if your levels are maintained even lower than mine - any secrets to share?

Strange, not only do I not really miss these sorts of feasts, but half way through, realised that I wasn't particularly enjoying it (maybe through subconcious worry, perhaps) and feel happier now I'm back on a more normal diet and back on meds.

I'm only on a medium twice daily dose and have not really suffered from gastric distress - which I did a bit with Met, so no real hardship there.

My last A1c in mid-Nov was 4.7, next one due mid-Feb, so Christmas should hardly have any impact on it at all.

Mark.