Sick of being sick with diabetes

 I haven't been on the board for a while, mainly focusing on health... thought I would update and ask for advice- I'm going to describe this diabetes and wonder how much like being diabetic not being able to eat carbs after surgery would be??


I have been diagnosed diabetic as you know, and am eating low carb fairly religiously.
What really, really, REALLY sucks is there is no ******g thing I can eat half the time.
I am sick to death of meat wraps (I hesitate to call them burritos, they have no yum in them) and just eating meat and veggies.

I’m a picky eater and there are also things that I can’t digest like raw onions, cooked or non cooked peppers, etc.

I thought maybe I could eat nuts as a snack but even nuts are not that healthy they have a lot of fat.

One day I was really hungry and we needed to shop so my daughter brought home a Quizmo’s sandwich (foot long) chicken carbonara. Which is one of my faves, bacon, chicken, carbonara sauce ( have no idea what’s in that, don’t tell me) and cheese and mushrooms and of course I did ask her to have it put on whole wheat bread. Normally I would have eaten half and then eaten the other half but I was so hungry., (apparently being starving is part of BS –blood sugars) that I ate the whole thing, then went to the grocery store.

After a half hour I was sweating, I was dizzy and feeling like I was going to vomit. I had to go sit in the restaurant/deli area and get Corwyn (thank goodness he was with me) to go buy me a bottle of water. I tested my sugar and I was like 102 or something which isn’t that high, really. I was feeling so sick I called John to ask him to come bring me home but he was stuck in traffic in LA and could not come. I didn’t cry but came damn near close.

I am really tired of being sick and not being able to eat stuff.
Last night after a healthy meal I ate one cookie (very small one at that) to try it, because a coven member had made a new recipe. You guessed it. About a half hour later I was feeling sick again. I should have stopped with one bite. Other than those instances and once in a while eating a few more carbs than I should I guess I am doing well because my endo told me my A1c hemoglobin was 5.6 and my overall sugars were not that high. Also I had lost about 6 lbs in 2 weeks. Part of it is that the medicine also makes me feel a bit nauseous so I really don’t feel like eating much.

I got on the scale yesterday and it said I was 237.5 which means I have lost more weight than since I was 255. But I hate being sick to keep me from eating. :(

Lisa

hi! after i had surgery i left  the hospital on NO MEDS. i have heard that is fairly common with roux-en-y patients. i continue to have a pretty low tolerance for sugar though (which i am glad) after surgery eating wont be the same for you anyways you will be making a lot of adjustments with each new phase as well as when you are able to eat all foods again. in months 2-4 i threw up religously (my head and my stomach refused to be on the same page so i paid the price lol). i still have my moments where i have to throw up cuz i ate the wrong food or didnt chew good enough (damn you chicken!) but back to you...def talk to your doc about the meds making you sick though im sure they can work with you and help adjust the dosage or the actual med.

I am not quite sure what you are trying to say.  I think you haven't had surgery yet?  I WAS a diabetic before surgery, after 2 weeks, bye bye pills and I have yet to have a problem.  

First of all, diabetes....no carbs, bread is the enemy.  Carbs turn to sugar, hence sugar highs. But you said you were feeling sick and you tested your blood sugar and it was 102?  Who told you 102 was high?  It's within normal range.  Have you called your doctor about the meds making you sick?  One cookie, well you may have well just have eaten a teaspoon of sugar.  

Eat 6 times a day, very small meals.  Eating irregularly will cause highs and low with your BS, not what you want.  Take your blood sugar everytime you feel sick, don't matter how many times a day.  You can eat the mushrooms, the chicken, the bacon, the cheese, but you don't know what is in the sauce so don't have it.

Listen the bottom line is this, eat poorly with diabetes, you can go blind, lose limbs, lose your life.  So which is it you want, to watch your diet, or have one of the above mentioned.  Go and get yourself a cookbook on diabetes.  They are all over the place and plan your meals.  I KNOW how hard it is, I have been there, and for a long time I was compliant.  Then before surgery my sugar level was high because I too got sick of following the rules.  I imagine if I had followed the rules I would have never gotten fat as I was in the first place and ended up with diabetes.  You need to tell friends and anyone, sorry I can't try your foods, I am a diabetic.   

So get with it.  I am not here to sugar (no pun intended)coat things for you.  No compliance with being a diabetic, you will pay dearly.  Do not be fooled by sugar free foods, ie candies and cookies and such, look at the carbs on all of it.  High carbs, throw it out.

Good luck, and weightloss and exercise is the best medicine towards diabetes.

Diane

 i am still considering the surgery though with the weight loss I am having (i am actually being pretty compliant- food wise-the instances I mentioned were two in 2 months. I am starting to think that I am borderline, anyway. However I am testing, taking my meds, and doing my best. I refuse food I cannot eat every day and that is such a challenge for me.

 I have not had a surgery. When I was 261 I was seriously considering it and when I was dx'ed I also started thinking about it again. I suspect that I won't qualify if I lose to much more weight, though?

What I wanted to know was frankly, if dumping is like being diabetic (feels like it) I don't know if I want the surgery. Does that make sense? I have been miserable because of this whole eating thing. I am a busy busy person and it is driving me crazy to try and do what I do during the day, find time to exercise, and eat the way I need to not to be ill.

Maybe it would be easier if there weren't foods I could not digest already, such as peppers and raw onions, etc. I need to find some meal replacement foods or snacks for when I am on the go so I can have something and not be starving all day and be sick. Because I can't just grab a burger.

Yesterday I was starving and had to get a meal before work. I went to Baja Fresh and got fajitas. Told them to keep the rice and beans (too many carbs) and I got corn tortillas, steak, etc. I ate three fajitas wrapped in corn tortillas with some Guacamole and a smidge of sour cream and salsa. After that my sugars were still OK. Probably because I gave up the rice and beans.

If I have the surgery, am I trading being nauseous for a long healing process and possible other health problems down the road? I'm trying to look at my options.

I'm also trying to find some FOOD I can eat and I know if I am doing low carb that the folks who have had WLS will be ones who can point me at stuff that tastes good.

I want to live to see my 10 year old son have kids and grandkids so I am doing my best to eat better. It's just really hard.

Why don't you check out the DS board?  From what I hear you saying, maybe RNY is not the surgery for you, but why not check out DS?  You still have to eat low carb-especially in the beginning, but ANY weight loss surgery will say protein first.  After surgery our stomachs are much smaller, so eating enough protein and staying hydrated will be enough to force us low-carb for a few months.

The DS allows more freedom of food choices after those first few months and even more so year or two out.  Once you get in your protein, you can eat pretty much what you want (sort of like a normal person) and keep the weight off.  DSers do not have a stoma stomach, they keep their own stomach, however the surgeons cut a good chunk of it out, leaving you with a stomach the size of a a banana.  It is still your stomach though, so most of the digestive process is still the same.  Because DSers keep the pyloric valve, there is NO DUMPING. 

You may decide surgery is not for you, and that is ok.  But the other plus with DS is that it is a CURE for 98% of those who choose DS as their surgery of choice.  Those are great stats!  Also the chance of regain is much lower with DS.  Oh, and if you have a lower BMI but have co-morbidities you are more than likely still eligible for surgery.

Some negatives:
DS is highly malabsorbitive.  While that is key in keep the weight off in the future it also requires a LIFELONG committment to taking vitamins and getting labs down once or twice a year. 
Not many surgeons do this surgery and many insurances balk at covering this surgery.  As it becomes more obvious of it's benefits insurances are relenting, but the money is with RNY not the DS, so you could have a fight on your hands.  RNY is covered more easily and sometimes getting a surgery done in a few months vs a year is appealing.  Just because it is not covered as easily or have as many surgeons doing it does not make it a bad surgery.  Surgeons doing the RNY have to take more schooling to do the DS.  That would take time away from the RNY surgeries (money makers) to learn something that may or may not be covered by insurance (fewer people doing them).  It is easier to just stick with what they know.  Hopefully that will change as more doctors are seeing the benefits of DS.
I have heard the gas is INSANE until you can figure out which foods are danger foods.  I also hear that it settles after a few months and is not bad, but that is a side-effect to be aware of.

Anyway, go to the DS board and ask more questions.  Know all your options!

I have a friend who is not overweight and very diabetic.  He is 62 and just got his diabetes.  He eats fresh vegetable and chicken.  He is so good about eating, and he is a busy man with 14 or more hours of work a day, his sugar level is great.  You can always have a taco, eat out the insides of it,  Eat the fraitas, throw OUT the torilla, eat beans, high in protein and the carbs are ok for those, salsa is a good choice.  There are lots of choices on the road for eating if you need to stay compliant, but you need to educate yourself more about your diabetes.  Also, I don't dump, not everyone does.  Sure if I ate a LARGE piece of cake, I will get sick, but if you do not overdo things with RNY, most people don't have a problem with it. 

I will just continue to tell you, don't learn about your disease and how to control it there are ramifications.  I have lost a brother in law and a good friend to diabetes.  My friend lost limbs before he was found dead, and he was only 43.  My brother in law, a non compliant diabetic was found dead in his apartment, and diabetes took his life also.

Learning to live with diabetes is not going to be easy for you, and WLS doesn't always work to cure it.  You really do need education, because from the sounds of your letter and what you are eating, you are making poor choices.  Talk to you doctor, he will be the best one to advice you what you really need to do. 

Good luck, Diane

First, I am diabetic and had recently had RNY surgery and my diabetes has not abated.  Your meds may be making you nausous.  Some Holleywood types actually went to their doctors and asked for some of these meds so they could lose weight--it was a fad for a while. 

After surgery it may take a couple of months before the diabetes goes into remission.  Notice I did not say cured.  You eat a lot more protein but are allowed some carbs after surgery.  The trick is to get in enough protein then eat other thigs.  Not easy.  Sounds l**** it should be but....small stomache pouch only allows so much and you will throw up.  You feel back pain, feel like something is stuck, like you just want this to be over.  How do I know--well yesterday I threw up for over 12 hours on and off.  Today I am sipping water because I couldn't even drink anything in that period.  How did it start--don't know I am too new at this.  I had tight control of my diabetes and was on one med before meals, Prandin.  Now I take nothing and my range is 130-145, all the time.  My doc said no med if I stayed under 200.  I have no idea if this helps you.  Surgery is not for eveyne.  For me, after a liftime of battling and lose the weight game I was ready to try a new approach.  Keep reading.  Being informed is your best option.  And I hope you feel better, either way.

1.5 years ago I was diagnosed as being pre-diabetic with a blood sugar level of 115.  High, but not tooooo bad.  The doc put me on metformin and it immediately made me nautious.  Then she put me on Glumetza which is a time-release pill and I did so much better.  It's a bit more expensive but you take it once a day and it works great. 

Any way you look at it being diabetic we have to make good food choices no matter what.  If we choose to have surgery, we have to follow a rigid diet and make excellent choices or pay the price.  Diabetes will eventually kick your butt if you don't follow the prescribed eating habits.  It will KICK YOUR BUTT hard!  It may take a while but years down the road if you don'****ch what you eat you may end up sitting on a guerney in some hospital ER with a black infected foot facing amputation surgery and in your mind you'll be saying....."I wish I would have done this right from the beginning".

You're struggling now, but when the time is right for YOU, you will make the choice/.  It took me 2 years to finally take the first big step towards qualifying and getting my surgery.  I am at such peace with my decision knowing that it is right for me for the rest of my life.  I have researched the hell out of it all (I'm a knowledge junkie) and made the best choice for ME.  My family supports me and that is important.

We are always here to listen and share our life experiences.  The wealth of knowledge on this board is astronomical and everyone is non-judgemental.  They'll support you when you need it and I can guarantee we'll kick your shins if you need it too!

Take care and feel free to ask away.  Remember with diabetes............"If it's White, it ain't right"
(I have a bachelors degree in English Literature - do you know how hard it is for me to say "ain't")

The DS does have a 98% "CURE" rate for diabetes.  It does not put you in remission as the RNY does.  If you have the RNY and regain your weight the diabetes can come back.  There is a metabolic change when you have the DS when the lower portion of the intestine is moved up to the duodenum, your food reacts differently than when food goes down through the first part of your intestine.  There are some normal weighted people who have gone to Spain and Brazil just to have the switch portion of the DS done to "CURE" their diabetes.  In Europe surgeons have been doing this for 15 yrs. 

I've been off all my diabetic/cholesterol meds since a few days before my surgery in Apr.  My 3mo labs my fasting glucose was 81, and my HGBA1C was 5.5, I expect it to be lower at my 6mo labs.  I'm down 56 lbs.  My cholesterol is as low as it was on meds. 

There are a few rules if you get the DS - this is for life:
1 - eat protein first
2 - drink 64oz of liquid
3 - take your vitamins (needed for both RNY & DS)

Come over to the DS forum to learn more.

I have Kaiser and had to fight them to get my DS as Kaiser only does the RNY & band.