Need a Opinion

[sweetsekar]

I am suffering from Diabetic condition for last eight years. I was reasonably controlling the situation with Metformin 1000 mg 1 tab and Diamicron MR 60 mg 2 tabs / day until last year. Currently my HBA1C is not within the required range, it is increasing from around 7 to around 8.4 ( last year) Otherwise with the tablets my FBC is 120 -130 and my PP 2 hrs is around 160. Hence the doctor increased the dose to Galvus 1000/50 2 tabs and Diamicron MR 60 mg 2 tabs. still my 8.3 - 8.4 ( Current) is unchanged with good walking exercise ( 5000 steps/day) and diet control as well. Now I have consulted an Endocrinologist but he has increased the medicine doses heavily as follows: Actos 1, Saxagliptin 2.5 mg 2/day. Metformine XR 1000 mg - 2 / Day plue Diamicron MR 60 mg 2 tabs/day. I am frightened to take all the tablets after reading the side effects. Now I am taking all except Actos ( due to its warning side effects) . Is it safe to get into insulin rather than taking all this tablets to reduce my HBA1c adverse condition.

[shrisamarth Volunteer]

What do you eat ? Looking at your BS levels and medicines prescribed to you, possibly you are eating too much carbs than you can tolerate.

Insulin is better option than drugs but that too will fail if you don't reduce your carb intake.

[sweetsekar in reply to shrisamarth]

I eat wheat Rotis without oil 2 in the morning 3 for lunch and 2 for Dinner with two tea/coffee /day without sugar. If I am hungry in the evening some fruits (oranges, avocado, apple). Only on weekends I take rice for lunch. (only one day in a week). My weight is 62 kg for a height of 5'.5''. Walking atleast five days in a week for 5000 steps atleast.

[patliputra]

As rightly pointed out, details of your diet is unavailable ,though you did mention about restricted diet. Please note that management of diabetes starts in your kitchen. Please consult a good diabetologist and please don't be afraid and go for insulin. In between ,if you can, get insulin assay done,both fasting and pp along with blood sugar.

[srinigo]

Dear Sweet

I am diabetic for 15 years and have seen A1c LEVELS OF 8.5-9.0. I was on Insulin( 30/70 and later 50/50 ) for several years.

I have tried all diets including LCHF . I am a South Indian and it is common in our household to use ghee and oil in reasonable quantities every day.

I stopped insulin and switched over to Ayurvedic products. I also take Metformin 1000 mg and Glicazide 240 mg per day.

I switched over to Brown Basmati Rice and lots of vegetables. Instead of curd rice I have Cucumber and Carrot raitha. This gives a filling effect. I have lung problem and my walking is restricted to 45 minutes indoor. I also do some breathing exercise.

My PP came down to 100-120. In order not to go hypoglycemic, I maintain a PP of about 130 average with control on my food. Now A1c level is around 6.5.

This is my personal experience and I thought I will share this in this forum. Each one has to do experimentation with medicine and diet and record the same and evaluate the best medicine/diet regimen for optimum results. If you have any clarifications needed, you may mail me at [e-mail]

[Hidden in reply to srinigo]

Great to hear that you are doing well, Srinigo. You would do even better if you go for PARBOILED Basmati rice. This contains more resistant starch, a hot subject on many websites. Cooling down after the rice is cooked is highly recommended. This can be done by putting it in the fridge and eating it later. It's OK to warm up the rice when needed. Cooling down the rice increases the resistant starch which helps with glucose metabolism - lessening insulin resistance, etc.

[srinigo in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Cjuan for the suggestion. Parboiled Basmati is what I take and I did not want to give publicity for the product.

There is yet another Brown rice which I am trying now which gives nearly the same results as that of Basmati but a lot cheaper ( about Rs 90 cheaper).

The traditional method of cooking rice in open vessel and then filtering out the starchy water - we call it Sothu Kanji in Tamil,- is yet another way of bringing down the GI of rice.

The dictum -more white the rice,-more dangerous for diabetics is true.

Any brown rice, preferably Basmati or Parboiled Basmati is better.

Some one suggested that both rice and wheat should be avoided. This can be possible only if one does not go out on travel. We have to strike a balance on our medication and diet and ensure that we do not over eat. %0 % food, 25% water half an hour after food and 25% empty stomach ( taught to be by my elders 60 years ago) is still relevant and helpful for diabetics.

[Hidden in reply to srinigo]

Glad to hear again that you have been experimenting and following your own intuition and experience. Yes, parboiled basmati is quite expensive but I don't mind that as I don't eat much rice generally.

Wheat is considered bad because of [1] gluten content [2] most of the grown wheat is GMO and this has been linked with increasing intestinal permeability which causes allergic-like reactions, etc. You might have come across the doctor who wrote "Wheat Belly" and he even has a website online. It's a great book to read. He recovered from diabetes when he changed his lifestyle and opted out of wheat altogether.

If wheat comes from your own country and certified free of GMO and also organic then it is OK I guess. Still, modern wheat is not the same ancient wheat as industrial greed has tinkered much with its genetic material and hence our bodies find it hard to metabolize properly.

There are now available on the market electric cookers that are specially designed to remove the Sothu Kanji by mechanical means. No, I prefer the old fashioned way, haha. Beware too of high arsenic content in rice - this is a troubling affair as analysis of rice samples from Asia have shown an increasing trend in this externally-derived toxin.

[Hidden]

Hi Anup, congrats on your success. Could you provide details of your LCHF - quantity of carbs and fats, and what fats do you use? Saturated or unsaturated? Cheers.

[Hidden]

not necessarily if one focuses on the resistant starch they contain. This is done through cooking and then cooling them down before consumption. Rice and potatoes form resistant starch when cooled and the glycemic index is a lot lower. One can cook a lot of them and leave them in the fridge and then reheat when needed. Stevia and monk fruit can replace sugar as sweetener.