Day 74

1:10 p.m.

Well, I started my day learning a new lesson.My fasting BG was much higher than normal - 117. 

I had a pretty big lunch yesterday so I was not hungry at supper time and thought I would skip supper and just eat a bedtime snack of peanut butter. But, at bedtime I still wasn't hungry and the thought of a spoonful of peanut butter was making me feel as if it would gag me, so I passed on that also. Got up this morning and took my BG and had 117. So I thought "Well, lesson learned. I cannot skip meals even if I am not hungry".

For a brief second I wondered if it was failure to take my meds. At lunch I looked over and realized I had forgotten to take my evening meds - not just last night but the night before also. That is practically inexcusable since I have an alarm set on my cell phone to remind me every evening. Problem is - the cell phone sits in my den with me and not in the kitchen, so I have developed a bad habit of hitting the alarm button without getting up to go take my pills. But then again, my understanding is that it took time for the Metformin to build up in my system, so surely missing 2 nights in a row did not affect my BG that quick. So, yeah, skipping supper is looking like the guilty dog again.

So, new rule is I will eat supper,even if it is a small supper, whether I am hungry or not. I also plan to place a small travel alarm in the kitchen (where I keep my daily pill organizer box) - that will surely make my lazy behind get up and go to the kitchen to shut it up.

Day 73

2:30 p.m. 

Fasting BG was 101 - not as low as I would like it, but better than 110.

Hubby took me out for my Margarita Lunch today. BG was 154. I have been shooting to stay under 150, but some people on the Diabetic Connect discussion boards say their doctor says 160, yet others say their doctor says 135. Hard to know. It is one of the questions I have for him on my follow up in May. Until then I will just keep shooting for 150.

Some days my fingers feel like pincushions, some days not so bad. Today is a pincushion day. Wonder what makes them feel more sensitive on some days more than others?
Just another wonder in my mind.

Day 72

9:30 p.m.

Fasting BG was back up - my spoonful of peanut butter failed me. But I will try again tonight and hope that last night was just a fluke.

And I had a really good lunch that didn't hit my carbs hard. Had Sauerkraut and Wieners - love that, just love it! 

And tomorrow I will have a Margarita Lunch date with hubby dear so I will see how hard a Margarita with my meal hits my sugar. Hoping for the best.

Day 71

9:15 a.m.

Fasting BG was 99 today.I'm not sure what is considered a "high" fasting number, but mine has been creeping up for the last couple of weeks - not significantly, but enough that it affects and limits my choices for breakfast (which I rarely ever ate until my diagnosis in Jan.).

I send my glucose #'s to my doctor every other week and I even pointed this out to him (this past Friday) but he was not really concerned - he just said that my "Glucoses look quite good overall." So I have to assume my fasting BG's are not high enough to be a "medical" issue.

From my diagnosis until recently my fasting BG was in the 90's (even a couple down in the 80's). But these last couple of weeks they have been consistently in the low 100's (102 - 111). And, while that may not be high it does mean I have to choose a breakfast that raises my BG less than 38 - 47 points. Which has been a struggle since cereals and oatmeal seem to hit my sugar hard. Even just my morning coffee with Splenda was causing a 26 point rise by itself. So, though trial & test I found that Truvia has less effect on my BG - so my coffee now gets sweetened with Truvia (every little point I can knock off helps).

But my fasting BG was still starting higher than I wanted it to so I tried a few of the recommendations I read in the discussion boards on Diabetic Connect (my favorite Diabetes forum). I tried a handful of peanuts at bedtime - no help. I tried cashew nuts - no help. I tried some sliced ham and American cheese - no help. So I bought a jar of peanut butter (a food that has not been kept in my cupboard since my children got grown & moved out). I ate a spoonful Sat. night just before bedtime and my fasting BG for Sun. morning was 97! I again ate a spoonful last night just before bedtime and my fasting BG for this morning was 99 (not as low as yesterday, but still below 100)!

So far the spoonful of peanut butter seems to be helping so I will be eating peanut butter at bedtime going forward. 

I am so glad I found the Diabetic Connect group (you can link to them in the sidebar) - there are so many great people on there who have so much hands-on experience to share. Always so helpful and friendly to the "newbies"!

Day 70

9:30 p..m.

Fasting BG was 97 - YAY!! Under 100, just where I like it - only because it takes the stress out of what I can eat for breakfast.

And, I ate a spoonful of peanut butter last night just before I settled down for the night. I read in a discussion board that peanut butter at night helped some people. maybe I will be one of those people it helps. We'll see. I'm going to eat another spoonful of it tonight and see if tomorrow is another good fasting BG day!

Have another headache, but I took a couple of Aleve for this one rather than Excedrin PM again. Not sure what is causing me to get headaches - I generally blame stress. And it's not that anything particularly stressful has happened, it is just that I get stressed real easy. And I believe I suffer from Noise Anxiety, so having a hyperactive 6yo for the weekend is a guaranteed stressful weekend.

Okay, off to eat a spoon of peanut butter and settle down so my Aleve can do it job.

Day 69

6:45 p.m.

Fasting BG was down to 102, and I slept well last night (without Excedrin PM, I might add).

But if stress does cause a rise in BG, I may see a high number when I test at 7:30. I ate food that I have eaten & tested and it did not cause a spike, so if it is high then I will certainly blame stress. I get stressed quite easily, and today I have had an extra dose of stress just from trying to guide a 6yo in a game that is probably a year or two ahead of her age. But I made the mistake of introducing her to it a week or so back and she loves it, she just doesn't have the ability to read the tasks or the reaction time to be even close to okay at it if left to her own abilities. And I say "okay" because that would precede acceptable or good or excellent. And she has wanted to play it ALL day.

Then I had to follow that with getting her shampooed and bathed without getting her cast (cast from her hand all the way up to practically in her armpit - so not a lot of room for securing a plastic bag to keep it dry).

But . . . I did manage to get her bathed and shampooed without doing damage to the cast and I finally told her she had played on the computer enough for one day, so now she is in the other room playing with dolls and I am about to take something for a stress headache.

Day 68

9:30 a.m.

Well, fasting BG went back up to 110 this morning. I did not take 3 Excedrin PM before bed last night, so now I have more suspicion in regards to how well I sleep affecting my fasting BG.

I also tested oatmeal again this morning using Truvia to sweeten both the oatmeal as well as my coffee - oatmeal failed again . . . or, maybe not! If I subtract the 6 points difference of my fasting BG for today to balance out to what I had yesterday, then the oatmeal would be within range. I really need to figure out how to get the fasting BG down & keep it down so that breakfast does not start with a handicap everyday. Tomorrow I will retest the Jimmy Dean Breakfast bowl with the Truvia sweetened coffee to see if I get a repeat of yesterday. Of course I will have to do some math based on my fasting BG. Ugh! Have I ever mentioned that I really never cared for math? This is karma getting me back for not giving match the attention it deserved in school!

Okay, enough ugh. I found a nifty page on one of my bookmarked websites that I want to share - Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator

A good article about your resting metabolic rate. there is also a calculator to figure out how many calories you would consume to lose 1 pound per week or how many calories to maintain your current weight. Handy handy!

Snipped from that article: 

Calculating Your BMR
The easiest way to measure your BMR is to use an online calculator, like the one at My Calorie Counter. This calculator factors in your height, weight, gender, and age, and activity level, then assesses how many calories you need to eat daily just to maintain your current weight.
You can do the math yourself, using the appropriate equation:
 
• If you’re a man, your BMR is equal to: 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years). For example, if you’re 170 pounds, 5’11”, and 43, your BMR is 66 + (6.23 x 170) + (12.7 x 71) – (6.8 x 43) = 1734.4 calories.
• If you’re a woman, your BMR is equal to: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years). For example, if you’re 130 pounds, 5’3”, and 36, your BMR is 665 + (4.35 x 130) + (4.7 x 63) – (4.7 x 36) = 1357.4 calories.

Next figure out your total daily calorie requirement by multiplying your BMR by your level of activity:
• If you rarely exercise, multiply your BMR by 1.2.
• If you exercise on 1 to 3 days per week, doing light activity, multiply your BMR by 1.375.
• If you exercise on 3 to 5 days per week, doing moderate activity, multiply your BMR by 1.55.
• If you exercise 6 to 7 days per week, doing vigorous activity, multiply your BMR by 1.725.
• If you exercise every day and have a physical job or if you often exercise twice a day, multiply your BMR by 1.9.

If the man in the example exercises 3 days a week, doing moderate activity, his daily caloric requirement is 1734.4 x 1.55, or 2688.3 calories.

If the woman in the example exercises 6 days a week, her daily caloric requirement is 1357.4 x 1.725, or 2342.5 calories.

This calculation gives you the number of calories you burn in one day at your current level of activity; in other words, this is the number of calories it takes to stay at the weight you are if you don’t change anything.

Day 67

12:30 p.m.

BG was 102 this morning. I took 3 Excedrin PM at bedtime again. I also had my Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowl this morning and had my coffee sweetened with Truvia again today and my BG was only 127 after breakfast. Splenda sure is looking guilty right now. Saturday or Sunday I will test my Jimmy Dean and have my coffee with Splenda and if my BG is is high again I will just eliminate Splenda going forward.

Of course, with Diabetes I don't think anything is guaranteed considering I was using Splenda for two months before it started acting on my BG. So who knows, eventually the Truvia may hit my BG too hard also. I don't know what I do then. As much as I hate the thought of it, insulin may be in my future again one day. But knowing I have done my due diligence to control my BG with diet & exercise I certainly won't look at it as having failed. Sometimes the pancreas just doesn't do it's part to help.

Day 66

10:00 a.m.

BG was down slightly - down to 102. I slept better last night, but then again, I took 3 Excedrin PM followed by a nice warm shower about 8:30(ish). Not sure what time I fell asleep, but it was shortly after I laid down with the TV on because I honestly can't recall seeing more than part of an episode of House Hunters International. 

I also tested the Truvia sweetened coffee versus the Splenda sweetened coffee of yesterday (wasn't really hungry this morning so it was a good opportunity to test it since yesterdays coffee was sans breakfast also). The results: Truvia just kicked Splenda's backside! The Truvia sweetened coffee only raised my BG by 4 digits - 102 to 106. I plan to repeat both as a double check, but right now it looks like Splenda is on it's way out the door!

I'll eventually get around to testing the nighttime snack of peanut butter on crackers, but these last few nights I have not felt any after supper hunger so no snack was required or eaten. 

Day 65

9:30 a.m.

BG was 105 again - no snack last night & I even slept better last night than the last few nights, but still a higher BG that I expected. And I am feeling somewhat frustrated by the struggle to find a breakfast that is quick & easy & still [plays well with my BG. And yes, it really needs to be quick and easy since I'm not and never have really been a "morning person". But today the frustration has caused me to sit here and search for possible solutions online, which means I actually skipped breakfast (even though I know I shouldn't). But I did, and having done so I thought "Well, let me check and see if my BG has dropped to a better number and maybe I will just eat a late breakfast" . . . Well What the Heck? My BG was up to 129! WHY? All I had was half of my cup of coffee and I used Splenda and sugar free coffee-mate! What is going on here? Geez, I see more testing of theory in the near future. I now need to test "just" coffee with Truvia and sugar-free coffee mate against coffee with Splenda and sugar free coffee-mate and hope it tests better because I really would rather drop coffee completely rather than have to drink it black. If it is just the Splenda, well, I can fix that. I also need to test my oatmeal with coffee using Truvia and sugar free coffee-mate, and test oatmeal with no coffee at all. Probably a few other combination's to test out also, but for right now I need to hunt for information on the possibility that my fasting BG would continue to go higher as a regular occurrence if I skip breakfast as a habit (not that I plan to, but I need to know either way).

For general entertainment, I found the following interesting. Seems a lot of people we hear of has/had Diabetes, but you never really heard them referred to as Diabetics. Just an example of how Diabetes does not  really define a person.

Famous People with Diabetes

Diabetes is a pain, but it doesn't have to stop you from achieving your greatest ambitions. Here are some people with diabetes that have risen to the very top of their respective fields. If you have someone to add, please post a link in the comments!

Actors/Directors

• Jack Benny, '50s television host
• Halle Berry
• Wilford Brimley, of television and films, "Cocoon" and "The Firm"
• Delta Burke, of television's "Designing Women"
• James Cagney, producer, director and actor
• Nell Carter, of the television show "Gimme a Break"
• Dale Evans, actress, singer and wife of Roy Rogers
• Stephen Furst, actor on the television shows "St. Elsewhere" and "Babylon 5"
• Jackie Gleason, funny star of "The Honeymooners"
• Gordon Jump, actor on "WKRP in Cincinnati"
• Mabel King, actress who played Mama on "What's Happening"
• Marcello Mastroianni, actor who appeared in 142 films
• Jerry Mathers, actor of "Leave It To Beaver" fame
• Mary Tyler Moore, actress and star of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". Read her Larry King interview where she discusses her experience with diabetes.
• Richard Mulligan, actor on the television show "Empty Nest"
• Minnie Pearl, entertainer, actress on the variety show "Hee Haw"
• Aida Turturro, plays Tony's sister on the Sopranos
• Ehster Rolle, actress on the TV Show "Good Times"
• George C. Scott, Academy Award-winning actor
• Jean Smart, actress on "Designing Women"
• Kate Smith, singer, actress who sang "God Bless America"
• Spencer Tracy, famous leading man of Hollywood movies
• Mae West, actress
• Jane Wyman, actress on "Falcon Crest"

Political Leaders

• Rania Al-Abdullah, Queen of Jordan
• Yuri Andropov, former premier of Soviet Union
• Menachem Begin, Israeli prime minister
• Lucille B. Chapman, a five-time Menominee Indian tribal chairwoman
• James Farmer, civil rights pioneer
• Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet premier
• Janet Jagan, president of Guyana
• Fiorello LaGuardia, New York mayor and the airport's namesake
• Winnie Mandela, South African anti-apartheid leader
• Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the infamous Chilean dictator
• Anwar Sadat, Egyptian leader
• Mike Huckabee, Republican Presidential Hopeful

Business Leaders

• James Conkling, founder of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
• Bill and John Davidson, heads of Harley Davidson motorcycles
• Tom Foster, former head of Foster Poultry Farms
• W.L. Gherra, of Payless Drugs
• Howard Hughes, industrialist
• Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's fast food restaurants

Musicians

• Nat Adderley, jazz trumpeter
• Ray Anderson, jazz trombonist
• Hoyt Axton, folksy baritone, songwriter and actor
• Syd Barrett, of the rock group Pink Floyd
• Johnny Cash, legendary country singer, known as "the man in black"
• Carol Channing, Tony Award-winning singer/actress in "Hello Dolly"
• Mark Collie, contemporary country star
• David Crosby, member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• Miles Davis, legendary jazz great
• Freddy Fender, actor and country singer
• Ella Fitzgerald, jazz vocalist
• Mick Fleetwood, singer in rock band Fleetwood Mac
• Jerry Garcia, lead singer of The Grateful Dead
• Dizzy Gillespie, jazz trumpeter
• Mahalia Jackson, singer
• Waylon Jennings, country singer
• B.B. King, rhythm and blues star
• Patti LaBelle, pop singer
• Peggy Lee, '50s songster
• Tommy Lee, of heavy metal band Motley Crue
• Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway composer
• Meat Loaf, singer
• Bret Michaels, lead singer of the rock group Poison
• The Pump Girls
• Elvis Presley
• Brad Wilk, member of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave

Scientists

• Morris Braunstein, scientist
• Thomas Edison, inventor
• Albert Ellis, psychologist, rational emotive therapy
• Cynthia Ice, developer of Lotus software
• George Minot, first person with diabetes to receive Nobel Prize in medicine
• Lois Jovanovic-Peterson, scientist, endocrinologist, author of "Diabetic Women"

Sports

• Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricket star played from 1984-2002
• Arthur Ashe, tennis legend
• Walter Barnes, former Philadelphia Eagle turned actor
• Ayden Byle, runner
• Bobby Clarke, hockey player for the Philadelphia Flyers, Flin Flon Bombers
• Ty Cobb, baseball player for the Detroit Tigers
• Scott Coleman, first man with diabetes to swim the English Channel
• Buster Douglas, boxer
• Kenny Duckett, football player for the New Orleans Saints
• Chris Dudley, New York Knicks basketball player
• Del Ennis, baseball player
• Curt Frasier, hockey player for the Chicago Black Hawks
• Bill Gullickson, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds
• Gary Hall, Olympic gold medalist in swimming
• Jonathon Hayes, tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs
• Catfish Hunter, pitcher for the Oakland A's and the New York Yankees
• Jason Johnson, pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles
• Billie Jean King, tennis player
• Ed Kranepool, baseball player with the New York Mets
• Kelli Kuehne, LPGA golfer who wears a pump on the golf course
• Jay Leeuwenburg, offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals
• Calvin Muhammed, football player for the Washington Redskins
• Steve Redgrave, 5-time Olympic gold medalist and type 1 diabetic
• Jackie Robinson, baseball star who broke the color barrier in the Major Leagues
• Sugar Ray Robinson, boxer
• Ron Santo, third basemen for the Chicago Cubs
• Art Shell, NFL player and coach
• Michael Sinclair, defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks
• Bill Talbert, hall of fame tennis player
• Scott Verplank, a golfer on the PGA tour and a member of the recent Ryder Cup team for America, is a type 1 diabetic.
• Jersey Joe Walcott, boxer
• Wade Wilson, NFL quarterback
• Bob Woolmer, cricket player and coach has type 2 diabetes

Writers/Reporters

• Richard Bartlett, film
• June Bierman, author of books on diabetes
• Fran Carpentier, editor of Parade magazine
• Sylvia Chase, ABC News Reporter
• Ernest Hemingway - 20th Century Novelist. Born on July 21, 1899, Ernest Hemingway grew up to become one of the greatest novelist of the 20th century. He wrote such works as The Sun Also Rise, 1926; A Farewell to Arms, 1929; and For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940 just to name a few. He also received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.
• Walt Kelly, animator and Disney founder
• Bruce Andrew Peters, internationally published, award-winning photojournalist
• Mario Puzo, author of "The Godfather"
• Anne Rice, "Interview With a Vampire" author
• H.G. Wells, writer, "The Invisible Man" 

Source:  http://www.diabetesdaily.com/wiki/Famous_People_with_Diabetes