Guest guest Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Greetings! In trying to manage my pancreatitis I've severely limited my fats/proteins since September. I've been taking my fasting blood sugars, and they continue to increase (121) (I'm eating mostly carbohydrates). I'm wanting to do anything I can possibly do to prevent diabetes, and I am really wanting some ideas. I am seeking to exercise more, honestly I haven't been feeling that well, so I do the best I can in that area.. My understanding is that if I were to get diabetes that could be fatal for me, I don't understand much about this, I'm trying not to be fearful (but I am) I still don't really know what's going on with my pancreas yet.. My wife wants them to go in and cut the sphinkter for the duct that goes to the pancreas. They did the common bile duct already - I don't know anything about this stuff.. I see the GI on the 15th. Please email me directly if you know of anything that I can do to help myself. Rick Nickles on_the_move4ever@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 7, 2004 Report Share Posted June 7, 2004 Rick wrote: >In trying to manage my pancreatitis I've severely limited my fats/proteins since September. I've been taking my fasting blood sugars, and they continue to increase (121) (I'm eating mostly carbohydrates). I'm wanting to do anything I can possibly do to prevent diabetes, and I am really wanting some ideas. Rick, The first thing you could do would be to stop eating so many carbohydrates. Normal, non-diabetic blood glucose levels are from 70-110. If you're trying to get your blood glucose down to a normal level, one thing that would help you would be to adjust your diet so you weren't eating so many carbs. Carbohydrates make your blood glucose rise and stay high for a longer duration than anything else. You get a very rapid rise with sugar, but a sugar high also drops pretty quickly. Protein causes a slow, delayed rise for most people. Limiting carbohydrate consumption, (and sugar is a carbohydrate, too) is one thing that will help to keep your blood glucose stable. I realize this is hard, knowing that with the low-fat diet recommended for CP, carbs end up being an important part of your daily diet. I've got CP AND type 1 diabetes, so I have to walk the middle of the road. The best diet for diabetes is high fat, high protein, low carbs.....while the best diet for CP is the complete opposite; low fat, low protein and high carbs. When you're dealing with both diseases at the same time you really have to try hard to accommodate both, moderately. Moderation seems to be the key here. I eat what is called a " moderate carb " diet for my diabetes, keeping my daily carb intake nor more than 110 grams, preferably much less whenever possible. At the same time, I try to limit my fat intake to no more than 25-30 grams per day. It's hard to do this, but not impossible. I've actually been doing this for a year now, and managed to gain weight at the same time! I needed to gain the weight, believe me. I was one of those malnourished, malabsorbing nearly emaciated CPer's. Now I look normal again. Sugar, of course, is also a no-no. It's not good for either disease, so it's best if you can learn to get by without it as much as possible. Because of my CP, I'm not able to eat all the fats that other diabetics are able to, but I have increased my protein intake to nearly double what I'd do before. I'm eating a lot of chicken, turkey and fish, and a lot more nuts than I used to. I take pancreatic enzymes, and they have done their job by allowing me to make these increases in protein without any discomfort after eating. Exercise as much as your illness will let you. I've found that walking and bike riding are excellent sources of exercise, and I can also lower my BG's by 40 points by running or fast walking up the stairs 10 times....but of course I can only do that on days that I'm really feeling well, and it's not something that someone could do every day unless they were really fit.....which I'm NOT! Swimming brings down my BG's also, but I have to be careful with this because it can bring it too low too quickly, and it's hard to keep testing when you're in the water. I don't know where you stand weight-wise. If you're overweight, you can improve any diabetic tendencies by getting your weight down to what's normal for your height and body type. I know that many type 2's are able to control their diabetes strictly by diet and exercise. Talk to your doctor about this on the 15th and ask him what you can do. Your fasting blood glucose levels are already over the non-diabetic range, so I would seek his advice on what you can do to get them back to normal and keep them there. You might also ask him to order an HBA1c test for you to see what's been happening for the last three months. This is a blood test that will show you what your blood glucose level has averaged for the past three months. It's an accurate tool to chart your blood history, and the gold standard for determining diabetic levels. I can't, and wouldn't, try to advise you on any type of surgical procedures, that would be up to your doctor. If he feels there's something that would help you, then of course, that would be a decision for you to consider carefully beforehand. Whatever it is, I wish you well. I hope this information helps. If you have any more questions, please post again. With love, hope and prayers, Heidi Heidi H. Griffeth South Carolina SC & SE Regional Rep. PAI Note: All comments or advice are personal opinion only, and should not be substituted for consultation with a medical professional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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