Friday, March 31, 2017

Day 4 Januvia and Oatmeal Test

Oatmeal with ground flaxseed has become my test meal in the morning. Before DDay, oatmeal with berries was a morning favorite. After DDay, I had tried to eat 1/2 servings of oatmeal while on Metformin, off Metformin and with a carb blocker.
Today was the test day since starting Januvia.
A whole serving too.. not just 1/2 serving like before. Major difference!
The carb count for breakfast is almost 20g. I woke up to a 98 glucose number and walked my daily route. When I ate breakfast I was at 93 and 40 minutes after eating I was at 167mg/dL.
Here is the real test, I waited 20 minutes.
Sitting around because I didn't want to mess with the numbers made me anxious!
I hate just waiting and wondering since damage occurs at high numbers.
Why? Because on/off Metformin my numbers would climb higher and higher for about 2 hours, then my numbers would start to slowly go down. Only 1/2 of a serving too. What kind of consequences would there be by allowing my numbers to climb? I ate a whole serving! I knew it would be bad, all bad and I prepared to run ot the door in anticipation of  the new number. The new number?
Drum Roll Please - 143!!
 After about 30 minutes - 109!! Take a look!!  This is AWESOME!!
Dropping Glucose Numbers


Monday, March 27, 2017

Day 3 Januvia and Fasting AND A Low Glucose Number


Meal Count for the Day
132 carbs for the day
Too Low
68 mg/dL



Woke up and tested at 95!
What?!
A number less than 100mg/dL in the morning??
Wow, can you say wow!?!
My breakfast: eggs and 1 slice of toast for 17 carbs
BUT
I stopped at a friend's house and all of us got to chatting. I realized I was HUNGRY. I mean HUNGRY, really really HUNGRY. I checked my watch and it was 3pm! I hadn't eaten before I stopped by at noon thinking it would be a quick stop and when it wasn't, I was not prepared! I left and headed to Miller's Ale House to eat with another friend. I looked at the salad menu and thought about the Apple Walnut salad - NOPE! 97 carbs in this delicious sounding salad.  I opted for the Chicken Philly (website says 71 carbs), swapped out a side salad (hold the croutons) for the fries. Keeping carbs down still.
Now here is the surprise I got. I tested after ordering and had a glucose number of 68. Say what??  68! You heard me right. I cannot remember ever having a number in the 60s since I started testing 5 years ago. I was starving, shaky, and a bit light headed. (Next time I will do a second test as well)
When the sandwich came out, I took off the larger top half of the roll and ate the rest in about 10 minutes. I was soooo hungry and it tasted sooooo good. 
 I figured around 50ish carbs without the bun top and a salad. 
Is that a good guess? I think so since my # was 112 mg/dL when I tested an hour later. Don't think I needed to worry about a spike.
Miller's Ale House
Apple Salad to Avoid

Now I need to back a small bag with some snacks and carry it with me. 
                                               Do you have snacks packed just in case??



 

Friday, March 24, 2017

Day 2 Januvia and Chili

Day 2 became a testing day.
Can you OUCH, yes, my poor fingers but testing is how I learn what I can safely eat (usually! LOL)
I have a chili recipe that I make that I do pretty good on as far as my numbers go. 
I really thought I would do better since I started out at an 88 mg/dL. Which by the way, 88!! Wow. Love seeing that number! Still I was a bit disappointed at the the numbers after eating. As you can hopefully see, I climbed up to 131, climbed more to 151 and reached a peak at 163 almost 2 hours later. Twenty minutes after the peak, 
a 95 mg/dL Crazy, right??  No, crazy me! I realized while writing this out that I ate the chili with corn tortillas (making a form of tacos) which added 20 carbs! I made my lunch a high carb meal at 51 grams!!  Oops. I have to admit the glucose numbers were actually pretty good once I factored everything in. 
Glucose Numbers in S Health


Monday, March 20, 2017

Day 2 Januvia and Cloud Bread

I woke up to a 92 mg/dL fasting glucose which is exciting! Cloud bread..... not so exciting. I saw a recipe for Cloud Bread which is a low carb bread made from cream cheese or cottage cheese, eggs, cream of tartar, and sweetener. I made it. I don't think I whipped the egg whites enough because they weren't as fluffy as the pictures from the recipe webiste showed. They weren't tasty either - super egg tasting which was too much since I was using it like "toast" for my eggs.
 Now the debate...do I try again???
Cloud Bread

Maybe.... I'll let you know if I try again!





Friday, March 17, 2017

Day 1 Januvia and POPSUGAR

Today was probably not the best day to test out Januvia. I didn't go on my usual walk due to rain, extreme wind, and cooler temps. I sat around most of the day and this evening I had my homemade chili which doesn't usually cause a glucose number spike but that was testing in the Metformin days. I ate at 7pm a meal that is around 50 carbs but high in protein (22 carbs) and fiber (11 grams). I was at 103 mg/dL and 1.5 hours later at 148 mg/dL. I wasn't sure if I was heading up or down so I decided to do a little work out. I love PopSugar and this core and arm workout was great. PLUS I got the bonus of a 103 mg/dL after. Oh yeah!
POPSUGAR Workout
Do you have any workout videos you like? I love YouTube!



Monday, March 13, 2017

Januvia and Me, First Date

Okay, maybe it isn't a first date but I have that type of anxiousness about taking Januvia.
You know the questions - will I like him/her? Will they like me? 
Will I like Januvia? Will it help with glucose control? Will I gain weight back?
OR 
Will Januvia not like me and upset my stomach, give me headaches, rashes, or cause my mouth and throat to swell up like when I eat shellfish?
I have a 30 day supply.
No refills - DR AUTH REQUIRED
Guess my Dr wants to see how the date turns out too.
Januvia Prescription

Friday, March 10, 2017

Januvia Instructions

I wanted to start taking the new medication, Januvia, after I did a meal test of oatmeal and flaxseed. I read the paperwork that came from the pharmacy and looked online for any instructions on when or how to take it. I found it Januvia can be taken with or without food. Okay. How about am or pm? Nothing. Just take it at the same time each day.
Januvia Instructions - Google Search

 I decided to take it at 9pm. I went to bed at 106 and woke up at 91! Wow wow wow. I haven't woken up to that low of a number in a long time. 
I'll keep you posted on how it goes!



Monday, March 6, 2017

Testing Plexus Block with Oatmeal Breakfast

My previous blog was about not being on Metformin (or any diabetes medication) and eating oatmeal to see where my numbers went. It didn't go well.

I had gotten a sample of Plexus Block, a carb blocker that promotes healthy blood sugars. We all know, as diabetics, that is the issue! High glucose in the blood stream causes so many health issues so I would love a product that would let me eat my high carb sour dough bread and pizza!! Bring it on! I also love oatmeal for breakfast and since breakfast is my easiest time to test food/exercise/drugs, I decided to give Plexus a try. At 7:50am I tested at 101 and took the block. I ate at 8am the same oatmeal breakfast I had yesterday. 1/2 serving of oatmeal with 1T ground flaxseed. By 8:45am I tested at 189. Yikes - ran out the door for my walk/run.
Yikes! 189 and rising!!

I tried but looks like Plexus Blocker isn't the product for me.



Friday, March 3, 2017

Off Metformin For a Few Days

I stopped taking Metformin to go on Onglyza. It took a week for the insurance and my doctor to decide on Januvia instead. I headed to southern Nevada and forgot to grab the new prescription! I thought I would take advantage of the fact that I had not been on any medicine and eat 1/2 serving of old fashioned oats with 1T of ground flaxseed. 17.5 carbs. My glucose was at 104 at 8am when I ate. 8:30am I tested and..... drum roll please.... I was at 170! Oh crap because I knew it would only go up so out the door I ran for a long walk/run. That is where I walk and then jog for a bit, rotating the walk/jog until I am done. After a 45 minute view of the outdoors, I tested at 114. Whew.

What do you do when you spike? How do you get it lower - fast? Do you avoid that food forever?