1. < Diabetes & Endocrine System

Another confused diabetic

Posted by justme67 @justme67, Mar 20, 2018

I just saw my Doc today and told him that, even though I have been following my diabetic diet, my blood sugars would spike at times. Now, I also have a chronic cough, so along with cough medicine, I use “sugar free” cough drops. I know that there is sugar alcohols in the drops that can spike, or at least raise my blood sugars. But my Doc goes into this big chemistry explanation of how this and that doesn’t get absorbed by the body so there IS NO WAY THAT YOUR COUGH DROPS COULD BE THE CULPRIT!!! It’s THE FOOD YOU ARE EATING!!! Now, I live in a NURSING HOME (AT THE AGE OF 50 and have been in 3 different ones since I was just DAYS AWAY FROM MY 35 BIRTHDAY!!!!) and they don’t even HAVE a diabetic-friendly menu so I have to pick what I know is the lowest in sugar for each item for each meal. (I’m getting tired of sliced turkey, baked chicken, or ham for the meat and green beans or peas for the veggies. Sometimes they will have ham salad or tuna salad, 3 bean salad but not often enough. I’m just tired of the menu and my Doc.

But the real thing is that I don’t know why else, when I don’t take a cough drop, is my blood sugar spiking? That’s the confusing part. ???

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Diabetes & Endocrine System Support Group.

danybegood1 | @danybegood1 | Mar 20, 2018

@justme67, Hi..Dany here. Nursing homes that don't have a diabetic menu? My gosh, by now I can't stand chicken or turkey either. I could eat ham though. And it doesn't sound like you're eating anything with flour or other carbs either. Can you go somewhere else? Do you have family nearby? Concerned, Dany

REPLY
3 replies
Moderator
Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | Mar 20, 2018

Hi, @justme67 -- I'd like to add my welcome to @danybegood1's to Mayo Clinic Connect. That definitely sounds frustrating to be following a diabetic diet and still have your sugars spiking.

I'd also like to introduce you to @retiredteacher @vdouglas @jbruno1963 @hardworkn @dolo @pdilly @maurtura who may have some insights on your sugar spikes from their own experiences or those of a loved one who has diabetes.

I'm also wondering if you have any other options for a place to stay where there might be a menu more friendly to your diet?

REPLY
8 replies
JK | @contentandwell | Mar 21, 2018
In reply to @danybegood1 "@justme67, Hi..Dany here. Nursing homes that don't have a diabetic menu? My gosh, by now I..." + (show)
@danybegood1

@justme67, Hi..Dany here. Nursing homes that don't have a diabetic menu? My gosh, by now I can't stand chicken or turkey either. I could eat ham though. And it doesn't sound like you're eating anything with flour or other carbs either. Can you go somewhere else? Do you have family nearby? Concerned, Dany

Jump to this post

@justme67 @danybegood1 I totally agree with Dany. It's inconceivable that in this day and age a nursing home would not have a diabetic menu or monitor your choices in the kitchen. Ham of course tends to be high in sodium which isn't good for you either. You are not a senior but many people in nursing homes are and as people age they are more apt to have developed diabetes, and also to be on a reduced sodium diet. I have both problems.
You, or someone to represent you, should talk to them about your diet in the nursing home. Something should be done.
JK

REPLY
nancylh | @nancylh | Apr 11, 2018

Hi Just Me,
I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the blood sugars. I asked my diabetes educator a similar question. She explained something about the liver and the insulin but would not reiterate it in a portal message and i didn't quite grasp it. I won't be able to ask her for the explanation in person for another six months. My take on it though, is that it is part of the disease process. It's like if i do eat a higher carb menu (and i understand that you are not) my blood sugar actually goes down. Mine is all over the place and mostly i eat the same stuff every day. I too have a chronic cough and use sugar free (i hate the chemicals) cough lozenges. Does the cough syrup you use contain sugar?

I tried to research this a bit right now, but then i read how three of the meds i take can cause blood sugar to rise. Lovely. Guess i need to see a pharmacist soon.

Aside from eating simple carbs, smoking, and lack of exercise, there were things like too little sleep, stress, portion control of foods.....there is too much info out there and i'm not sure what is right and what is wrong. A diabetes educator or other medical professional would be the best way to get the proper information. Sorry, i haven't been much help. I'm still fighting the diabetes II diagnosis.

As for the diet in rest homes, i totally understand that. My mom is in a nursing home, best one in the county she is in. She has very tricky to treat hypertension. She is also on Coumadin and from what i read in her medical record is pre-diabetic. She hates the food. She finally got them to understand about not eating "green" vitamin K rich vegetables unless it was done in a specific manner so now they give her green jello and carrots constantly. And ham, very high sodium content. My mom sends most of the food back. I try to get there once a week and take some good food, but it hardly balances the "one diet fits all" food she eats the rest of the week. They'll give her a sandwich in place of the supper entree if she asks, but that is about it. Not sure if there is a fix for nursing home diets. I was shocked when i found out that they do not accommodate medically necessary dietary regimes. She pays an astronomical fee per month to live there.

I hope you can figure out how to regulate your blood sugar to eliminate the spikes. I'm sorry i can't help more, but i've only had this diagnosis about three months and have not had time to study up on it. I did however, want to reach out to you and attempt to give some support. I wish you the best

Blessings

REPLY
4 replies
JK | @contentandwell | Apr 11, 2018
In reply to @nancylh "Hi Just Me, I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the..." + (show)
@nancylh

Hi Just Me,
I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the blood sugars. I asked my diabetes educator a similar question. She explained something about the liver and the insulin but would not reiterate it in a portal message and i didn't quite grasp it. I won't be able to ask her for the explanation in person for another six months. My take on it though, is that it is part of the disease process. It's like if i do eat a higher carb menu (and i understand that you are not) my blood sugar actually goes down. Mine is all over the place and mostly i eat the same stuff every day. I too have a chronic cough and use sugar free (i hate the chemicals) cough lozenges. Does the cough syrup you use contain sugar?

I tried to research this a bit right now, but then i read how three of the meds i take can cause blood sugar to rise. Lovely. Guess i need to see a pharmacist soon.

Aside from eating simple carbs, smoking, and lack of exercise, there were things like too little sleep, stress, portion control of foods.....there is too much info out there and i'm not sure what is right and what is wrong. A diabetes educator or other medical professional would be the best way to get the proper information. Sorry, i haven't been much help. I'm still fighting the diabetes II diagnosis.

As for the diet in rest homes, i totally understand that. My mom is in a nursing home, best one in the county she is in. She has very tricky to treat hypertension. She is also on Coumadin and from what i read in her medical record is pre-diabetic. She hates the food. She finally got them to understand about not eating "green" vitamin K rich vegetables unless it was done in a specific manner so now they give her green jello and carrots constantly. And ham, very high sodium content. My mom sends most of the food back. I try to get there once a week and take some good food, but it hardly balances the "one diet fits all" food she eats the rest of the week. They'll give her a sandwich in place of the supper entree if she asks, but that is about it. Not sure if there is a fix for nursing home diets. I was shocked when i found out that they do not accommodate medically necessary dietary regimes. She pays an astronomical fee per month to live there.

I hope you can figure out how to regulate your blood sugar to eliminate the spikes. I'm sorry i can't help more, but i've only had this diagnosis about three months and have not had time to study up on it. I did however, want to reach out to you and attempt to give some support. I wish you the best

Blessings

Jump to this post

@nancylh I really cannot respond much to the diabetes communications. Although I do have mild diabetes it is very well under control with diet. My doctor has told me I really only need to test in the morning, and not even daily.
Prior to my PCP handling this I had an excellent endocrinologist. I asked him once about why if I took my blood sugar early and then again a bit later without having eaten anything it was sometimes higher. He explained but I really cannot remember exactly what he said other than it was your body making up for the low blood sugar, and it happens.
Regarding your mother and the nursing home, I cannot believe they do not accommodate patients with dietary restrictions! That is unheard of. I presume you are sure they are aware of her restrictions. I was once in the hospital and for the first day or two I was getting all kinds of food. Then they realized that I had diabetes and suddenly I was no longer half of the stuff I had gotten.
JK

REPLY
Gary, Alumni Mentor | @gman007 | Apr 12, 2018
In reply to @nancylh "Hi Just Me, I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the..." + (show)
@nancylh

Hi Just Me,
I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the blood sugars. I asked my diabetes educator a similar question. She explained something about the liver and the insulin but would not reiterate it in a portal message and i didn't quite grasp it. I won't be able to ask her for the explanation in person for another six months. My take on it though, is that it is part of the disease process. It's like if i do eat a higher carb menu (and i understand that you are not) my blood sugar actually goes down. Mine is all over the place and mostly i eat the same stuff every day. I too have a chronic cough and use sugar free (i hate the chemicals) cough lozenges. Does the cough syrup you use contain sugar?

I tried to research this a bit right now, but then i read how three of the meds i take can cause blood sugar to rise. Lovely. Guess i need to see a pharmacist soon.

Aside from eating simple carbs, smoking, and lack of exercise, there were things like too little sleep, stress, portion control of foods.....there is too much info out there and i'm not sure what is right and what is wrong. A diabetes educator or other medical professional would be the best way to get the proper information. Sorry, i haven't been much help. I'm still fighting the diabetes II diagnosis.

As for the diet in rest homes, i totally understand that. My mom is in a nursing home, best one in the county she is in. She has very tricky to treat hypertension. She is also on Coumadin and from what i read in her medical record is pre-diabetic. She hates the food. She finally got them to understand about not eating "green" vitamin K rich vegetables unless it was done in a specific manner so now they give her green jello and carrots constantly. And ham, very high sodium content. My mom sends most of the food back. I try to get there once a week and take some good food, but it hardly balances the "one diet fits all" food she eats the rest of the week. They'll give her a sandwich in place of the supper entree if she asks, but that is about it. Not sure if there is a fix for nursing home diets. I was shocked when i found out that they do not accommodate medically necessary dietary regimes. She pays an astronomical fee per month to live there.

I hope you can figure out how to regulate your blood sugar to eliminate the spikes. I'm sorry i can't help more, but i've only had this diagnosis about three months and have not had time to study up on it. I did however, want to reach out to you and attempt to give some support. I wish you the best

Blessings

Jump to this post

Hi @justme67 and @nancylh. I have had type two diabetes since I was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis and now that part of my pancreas has been removed, I am a type 1.5 which simply means that I don't produce enough insulin and I likely also have some insulin resistance. I have learned that there are a very large number of things that can cause your blood sugar to do illogical things. Your body naturally spikes your blood sugar at somewhere near your waking time as that is just a way the body wakes itself. I have never been able to determine if that happens at about sunrise for everyone or near the time you typically wake. Any type of illness will make it less stable and infection is the worst. I assume that an increase in white blood cells causes either an increase/decrease in insulin production or use. I have had it work both ways. The other items I think you mentioned such as stress, some medications, etc...are all factors in blood sugar. So, I don't know if any of this is helpful or not, but I have found that I have learned over time at least some of the ways my body responds to different variables. This would be a great place for anyone with some amount of medical training to step in and help us all with any further insight.
Blessings, Gary

REPLY
nancylh | @nancylh | Apr 12, 2018
In reply to @nancylh "Hi Just Me, I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the..." + (show)
@nancylh

Hi Just Me,
I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the blood sugars. I asked my diabetes educator a similar question. She explained something about the liver and the insulin but would not reiterate it in a portal message and i didn't quite grasp it. I won't be able to ask her for the explanation in person for another six months. My take on it though, is that it is part of the disease process. It's like if i do eat a higher carb menu (and i understand that you are not) my blood sugar actually goes down. Mine is all over the place and mostly i eat the same stuff every day. I too have a chronic cough and use sugar free (i hate the chemicals) cough lozenges. Does the cough syrup you use contain sugar?

I tried to research this a bit right now, but then i read how three of the meds i take can cause blood sugar to rise. Lovely. Guess i need to see a pharmacist soon.

Aside from eating simple carbs, smoking, and lack of exercise, there were things like too little sleep, stress, portion control of foods.....there is too much info out there and i'm not sure what is right and what is wrong. A diabetes educator or other medical professional would be the best way to get the proper information. Sorry, i haven't been much help. I'm still fighting the diabetes II diagnosis.

As for the diet in rest homes, i totally understand that. My mom is in a nursing home, best one in the county she is in. She has very tricky to treat hypertension. She is also on Coumadin and from what i read in her medical record is pre-diabetic. She hates the food. She finally got them to understand about not eating "green" vitamin K rich vegetables unless it was done in a specific manner so now they give her green jello and carrots constantly. And ham, very high sodium content. My mom sends most of the food back. I try to get there once a week and take some good food, but it hardly balances the "one diet fits all" food she eats the rest of the week. They'll give her a sandwich in place of the supper entree if she asks, but that is about it. Not sure if there is a fix for nursing home diets. I was shocked when i found out that they do not accommodate medically necessary dietary regimes. She pays an astronomical fee per month to live there.

I hope you can figure out how to regulate your blood sugar to eliminate the spikes. I'm sorry i can't help more, but i've only had this diagnosis about three months and have not had time to study up on it. I did however, want to reach out to you and attempt to give some support. I wish you the best

Blessings

Jump to this post

Thanks, Gary

REPLY
nancylh | @nancylh | Apr 12, 2018
In reply to @nancylh "Hi Just Me, I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the..." + (show)
@nancylh

Hi Just Me,
I can empathize with your frustration at the rise and fall of the blood sugars. I asked my diabetes educator a similar question. She explained something about the liver and the insulin but would not reiterate it in a portal message and i didn't quite grasp it. I won't be able to ask her for the explanation in person for another six months. My take on it though, is that it is part of the disease process. It's like if i do eat a higher carb menu (and i understand that you are not) my blood sugar actually goes down. Mine is all over the place and mostly i eat the same stuff every day. I too have a chronic cough and use sugar free (i hate the chemicals) cough lozenges. Does the cough syrup you use contain sugar?

I tried to research this a bit right now, but then i read how three of the meds i take can cause blood sugar to rise. Lovely. Guess i need to see a pharmacist soon.

Aside from eating simple carbs, smoking, and lack of exercise, there were things like too little sleep, stress, portion control of foods.....there is too much info out there and i'm not sure what is right and what is wrong. A diabetes educator or other medical professional would be the best way to get the proper information. Sorry, i haven't been much help. I'm still fighting the diabetes II diagnosis.

As for the diet in rest homes, i totally understand that. My mom is in a nursing home, best one in the county she is in. She has very tricky to treat hypertension. She is also on Coumadin and from what i read in her medical record is pre-diabetic. She hates the food. She finally got them to understand about not eating "green" vitamin K rich vegetables unless it was done in a specific manner so now they give her green jello and carrots constantly. And ham, very high sodium content. My mom sends most of the food back. I try to get there once a week and take some good food, but it hardly balances the "one diet fits all" food she eats the rest of the week. They'll give her a sandwich in place of the supper entree if she asks, but that is about it. Not sure if there is a fix for nursing home diets. I was shocked when i found out that they do not accommodate medically necessary dietary regimes. She pays an astronomical fee per month to live there.

I hope you can figure out how to regulate your blood sugar to eliminate the spikes. I'm sorry i can't help more, but i've only had this diagnosis about three months and have not had time to study up on it. I did however, want to reach out to you and attempt to give some support. I wish you the best

Blessings

Jump to this post

Thanks, content and well.

REPLY
vanin11 | @vanin11 | Apr 13, 2018
In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @justme67 -- I'd like to add my welcome to @danybegood1's to Mayo Clinic Connect. That..." + (show)
@lisalucier

Hi, @justme67 -- I'd like to add my welcome to @danybegood1's to Mayo Clinic Connect. That definitely sounds frustrating to be following a diabetic diet and still have your sugars spiking.

I'd also like to introduce you to @retiredteacher @vdouglas @jbruno1963 @hardworkn @dolo @pdilly @maurtura who may have some insights on your sugar spikes from their own experiences or those of a loved one who has diabetes.

I'm also wondering if you have any other options for a place to stay where there might be a menu more friendly to your diet?

Jump to this post

Just read your post, my wife and I found an excellent product for cough suppressan, it's Sambucus and made from Elderberry, works very well for us and is available in sugar free.its available at Walgreens in the U.S. and health food stores.

REPLY
JK | @contentandwell | Apr 13, 2018
In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @justme67 -- I'd like to add my welcome to @danybegood1's to Mayo Clinic Connect. That..." + (show)
@lisalucier

Hi, @justme67 -- I'd like to add my welcome to @danybegood1's to Mayo Clinic Connect. That definitely sounds frustrating to be following a diabetic diet and still have your sugars spiking.

I'd also like to introduce you to @retiredteacher @vdouglas @jbruno1963 @hardworkn @dolo @pdilly @maurtura who may have some insights on your sugar spikes from their own experiences or those of a loved one who has diabetes.

I'm also wondering if you have any other options for a place to stay where there might be a menu more friendly to your diet?

Jump to this post

@vanin11 Being at the tail end of having bronchitis for three weeks with a terrible cough this caught my attention. Unfortunately when I googled it, it says"

"Medications that decrease the immune system (Immunosuppressants) interacts with ELDERBERRY
Elderberry can increase the immune system. Taking elderberry along with some medications that decrease the immune system might decrease the effectiveness of medications that decrease the immune system. Some medications that decrease the immune system include azathioprine (Imuran), basiliximab (Simulect), cyclosporine (Neoral, Sandimmune), daclizumab (Zenapax), muromonab-CD3 (OKT3, Orthoclone OKT3), mycophenolate (CellCept), tacrolimus (FK506, Prograf), sirolimus (Rapamune), prednisone (Deltasone, Orasone), corticosteroids (glucocorticoids), and others."

Which means I cannot take it, being on an immunosuppressant, sirolimus. Those of us who are post-transplant have to be very careful of everything we take.
JK

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