Work Sandwich Box

[ardvark]

He was one of the consultants that did the op to put two stents in me.

 

[HSSS]

He was one of the consultants that did the op to put two stents in me.

So a heart dr not a diabetic specialist. He may be great in his specialism, but unfortunately not in this, in my experience of living it and from almost all the knowledgeable reading materials I’ve looked at. As jo says above, try it out both ways and make your own decision. You’re likely to prefer his method as it’ll give lower numbers. Because it’s the record of a broken system before you stress it with food. Not the real picture of what’s actually happening when you add food into the equation. I rest my case and wish you good luck and good health.

 

[briped]

He was one of the consultants that did the op to put two stents in me.

I'll have to agree with Jo. Even if he's an excellent surgeon he may not have great knowledge of how to control blood sugar.

 

[ardvark]

All I can go by is what I've been told by the powers that be. At the time I was'nt in a position to question.
It may sound a bit dramatic but I'm still sucking wind and that's what counts.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

All I can go by is what I've been told by the powers that be. At the time I was'nt in a position to question.
It may sound a bit dramatic but I'm still sucking wind and that's what counts.

Ardvark, honey.. You keep asking advice, and then telling people who answer you, you won't follow it anyway, because we're not doctors... You do understand that gets a bit frustrating, as we're just trying to help.

But yeah, you're still breathing. I hope you may do so for a long time yet.

 

[lovinglife]

Just a quick note - you keep saying any extra carbs will be used up by your body at work through activities- not true for diabetics with T2 - our ability to use carbs is broken, so, no extra carbs will not be used up, except to push your blood sugar higher.

Reducing your carbs and testing each meal before and 2 hrs after to keep you range is the only way to go - but I'm sure you've grasped that by now with the advice from numerous members. You should be allowed time at work to test - it takes seconds and really is the only way to get the very best information about YOUR diabetes and how YOUR body is dealing with any carbs you are eating

 

[ardvark]

Ok point taken.
Before I go can I explain what I have on my plate atm
I know I'm not the only one in this situation but I'm trying to look after number one.
It's been said that just because a consultant says something it does'nt mean they are right
In a situation like this who do you take advice from?

 

[Listlad]

Ok point taken.
Before I go can I explain what I have on my plate atm
I know I'm not the only one in this situation but I'm trying to look after number one.
It's been said that just because a consultant says something it does'nt mean they are right
In a situation like this who do you take advice from?

That’s a great question. And one that I pose to myself. At the end of the day it is best to take in as much advice as you possibly can and then see if you can identify the solution from the available advice. In my world, the world I work in, I could line up 10 experts and each would come up with differing opinions.

To be fair, I think this crowd have a lot to offer and my understanding has been helped enormously. Although not under the same circumstances as yourself I am facing a similar dilemma and will sometime over the next few weeks have to deal with my medical team at my local practice.

One thing is for sure in my case at least, I will get more time here on this forum than from my GP.

 

[briped]

In a situation like this who do you take advice from?

I took advice from the very experienced members of this forum. I do have a younger sister who's brain damaged because the professionals didn't believe my mum when she told them that the baby was on her way, so they didn't have oxygen ready for her. That was the third time my mother gave birth.
My point is that one shouldn't trust pros blindly. Use your common sense. What would you lose by following the advice given on this forum and test right before a meal and two hours after? Nothing. Testing is not risky, but not testing in a sensible way can be.

 

[HSSS]

Ok point taken.
Before I go can I explain what I have on my plate atm
I know I'm not the only one in this situation but I'm trying to look after number one.
It's been said that just because a consultant says something it does'nt mean they are right
In a situation like this who do you take advice from?

We’ve almost all had the same dilemma regarding our diabetes at some point with some specialist, go, or nurse. We understand the confusion when given “professional” advice that conflicts with a combined enormous number of years personal experience such as on here. Some people find it very difficult to question a dr, especially older generations.

The medical profession is a difficult one full of people doi;g their best but even now such a lot of it is trial and error and guesswork. New evidence comes out constantly. This one specialist has trained for a long time in his speciality. How long ago did he train in diabetes? Is it within his realm of current knowledge? In your experience have drs always been right?

After a heart attack I am sure you are feeling very vulnerable and confused and probably scared and shocked too. We can only tell you our experiences. You have to choose whether to listen to us, or not. Have you seen your own gp or diabetic nurse? Have you done much reading on the home site here or on other reputable sources? Maybe look up dr Jason Fung, or the work of dr Bernstein if you want other medical opinions.

What would you lose by doing it the way we suggest? As far as I can see you’ll only gain information and lose nothing. Once you see for yourself what each meal does you can make your own choices about what is good for your body.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Ok point taken.
Before I go can I explain what I have on my plate atm
I know I'm not the only one in this situation but I'm trying to look after number one.
It's been said that just because a consultant says something it does'nt mean they are right
In a situation like this who do you take advice from?

That's why I hammer on the meter so much. I didn't know which way was up when diagnosed either. (And at the time I was told I probably had cancer. I didn't, but it was all a lot to deal with. If it had been, well, you probably know how fast liver cancer kills, and they thought mine was one big tumourous mass. Scary times.). So while dealing with a cancer scare, everyone else was on holiday. Diabetes nurse, endo, GP, dietician... I was on my own. So I read, and there was SO MUCH conflicting advice! By the time I had my first proper appointments, I'd already halved my HbA1c and gotten it into the prediabetic range. Shortly after, the non-diabetic range. Without professionals helping me eh. By the time they chimed in, I'd already made up my mind about what worked for me, and what didn't. (I have a wonderfully supportive GP by the way.). Simply by reading loads of advice, and testing -literally- what they were telling me. Eat this, don't eat that, bla bla bla... I read so many books and half the internet, and I tried stuff. And when you test around meals, you find out in a hurry what doctor wrote a book just to line his pockets, and who wrote one that makes sense and actually helps. (Like Dr. Jason Fung).

Test. Don't take anyone's word for anything, not mine, not anyone's. Diabetes is a measurable condition, and *you* can measure it. Take your own blood's advice, that won't lie to you.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ardvark]

To add to confusion
My first test before breakfast 5.6
For breakfast I had a cup of tea with 2 sugars and 4 wheetabix no sugar
My second test 12 midday was 5.8
Dinner was just before 1pm
2 wholemeal thins with 3 slices of ham on each with a bit of cottage cheese as well, a baby bell, a home made muffin a tub of manderins and a glass of no sugar orange squash.
Two hours after dinner did a test 7.2
How do we explain this?

 

[JoKalsbeek]

To add to confusion
My first test before breakfast 5.6
For breakfast I had a cup of tea with 2 sugars and 4 wheetabix no sugar
My second test 12 midday was 5.8
Dinner was just before 1pm
2 wholemeal thins with 3 slices of ham on each with a bit of cottage cheese as well, a baby bell, a home made muffin a tub of manderins and a glass of no sugar orange squash.
Two hours after dinner did a test 7.2
How do we explain this?

Honestly? No idea. Though I would've liked to know what your numbers were 2 hours after 4 weetabix. Curious, that's me.
We're all different. Maybe your insulin resistance isn't anywhere near as bad as mine? Maybe there was a spike & you missed it? Maybe the heart issues had something to do with it? I wish I had all the answers for you. You're certainly an interesting puzzle. The after dinner 7.2 could be a slower uptake of carbs due to the fats though. (Ham, cheeses).

Yup. Puzzle.

 

[DCUKMod]

To add to confusion
My first test before breakfast 5.6
For breakfast I had a cup of tea with 2 sugars and 4 wheetabix no sugar
My second test 12 midday was 5.8
Dinner was just before 1pm
2 wholemeal thins with 3 slices of ham on each with a bit of cottage cheese as well, a baby bell, a home made muffin a tub of manderins and a glass of no sugar orange squash.
Two hours after dinner did a test 7.2
How do we explain this?

Aardvark - I think everyone goes through the which of this bunch is right period, post diagnosis.

What I did was to listen to what everyone had to say, then I did my own research, reading, reading and more reading.

I too did I lots of testing, but if I'm honest, it was a lot more structured than yours appears to have been so far.

You define when you are able to test, at strictly defined times. Why is this ? Is there a reason why those specific slots? A test takes less than 30 seconds, so there is virtually no disruption for you, unless you work in some specialist environment.

I know you say you weren't diabetic before your heart attack, but the reality is likely to be that you were diabetic, but just hadn't been diagnosed. T2 is usually a creeping onset, over time.

Now is the time to invest in yourself and your health.

Post edited to correct nonsensical auto-correct.

 

[ardvark]

I'm a paint sprayer and work in a not very nice area. To get all my clobber off to do a test would take about 10 minutes from stopping to starting. To save all the hassle from various people I'll do the test at break times. So my dinner time one will be 1pm then I'll have me dinner ofter I've done it.
As for me being diabetic before the attack. Work sends me for a lung function and blood test every 6 months just to make sure the spraying does'nt effect me. Nothing was raised with my last test which was just before Christmas.
The consultant told me that everyone who has a heart attack there body raises it's blood sugar as an defence type thing. The blood sugar naturaly comes down after a while. Mine did'nt. It still may yet but untill it does he'll put me down as type 2 diabetic.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I'm a paint sprayer and work in a not very nice area. To get all my clobber off to do a test would take about 10 minutes from stopping to starting. To save all the hassle from various people I'll do the test at break times. So my dinner time one will be 1pm then I'll have me dinner ofter I've done it.
As for me being diabetic before the attack. Work sends me for a lung function and blood test every 6 months just to make sure the spraying does'nt effect me. Nothing was raised with my last test which was just before Christmas.
The consultant told me that everyone who has a heart attack there body raises it's blood sugar as an defence type thing. The blood sugar naturaly comes down after a while. Mine did'nt. It still may yet but untill it does he'll put me down as type 2 diabetic.

Just another one of my silly ideas...

My husband works in paint wholesale. So I know he sells large amounts of gloves to keep hands from getting in touch with paints. (The water-based stuff can irritate as much as the solvant stuff). Would that be an idea? To keep your hands accessable for testing?

Other than that, blood tests for painters usually only look for toxic levels (have you heard about the Chrome-6 paint fiasco here in the Netherlands? Millions in damages, but those people aren't going to be able to just buy their health back!), and what is called Painters Disease here. (From working with solvents for decades). Diabetes doesn't show up in bloodwork unless it is especially tested for...

 

[Listlad]

Quoting DCUKMod from above. This is how I see it @Aardvark

“What I did was to listen to what everyone had to say, then I did my own research, reading, reading Andrew reading.”

I try and read others posts on others threads and eventually it falls into place, well most of it. Plus of course questions. When I turned up here just a few weeks back I fell right into it hook line and sinker, from all the nonsense I had been hearing from the experts outside of the forum. Sure there is a bit of “noise” amongst the forum responses but you eventually get to sort the wheat from the chaff in your own mind.

I presume reference to Andrew is a typo...

 

[ardvark]

The blood tests are for Isocyanates which in some paints I use, they test for various things at the same time.
Cholesterol is one for the things they tell me about.
As for gloves, I wear cotton gloves under rubber ones and when I take them of they are damp. For a test you need to wash your hands first. Also you need a clean enviroment. A spraybay is not clean enough as far as I'm concerned

 

[JoKalsbeek]

The blood tests are for Isocyanates which in some paints I use, they test for various things at the same time.
Cholesterol is one for the things they tell me about.
As for gloves, I wear cotton gloves under rubber ones and when I take them of they are damp. For a test you need to wash your hands first. Also you need a clean enviroment. A spraybay is not clean enough as far as I'm concerned

Alcohol swabs; i have some in my testing kit always. But yeah, I see your point.

 

[ardvark]

Just done me 5pm test and it's gone down to 5
Is it me or there something wrong?
After the dinner I had according to some my test results should have been sky high.