Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #150 on: August 26, 2008, 10:54:47 PM » by miff aka Missi

Wow you all are fast and ask good questions. Sorry I didn't have much info for you before. Here's more- Yesterday afternoon, my sister's co-worker got her phone and called me. "Hey Missi. It's K. We are calling 911 for B. She is crashing." Normally, she can tell when she is getting low, but it happened so fast that she didn't this time. I got there about the same time as the ambulance. Her blood sugar was 23. That scared me. BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 21 years and she's never had this problem, so I've never seen her like that.

So, here's what I found out today-- She was taking a U100 insulin. Her sugars had been running high for a few months. She had to change doctors because of insurance change. So, she went to Dr. D and he changed her insulin to a U500. So, that's 5 times more concentrated than the U100, right? He also took her off her basil insulin Lantis (sp?)- (slow release). So, her blood sugars are high in the morning, even though she hasn't eaten at night. BS around 90 when she goes to bed. But 250 or higher in the morning. So, Dr. D ups her insulin on all three injections. Her sugars still running high in the morning, so he ups it again. Sugars still high in the morning, so he ups it again and adds another injection before bed. Sugars still high in the am. So, he ups all four injections. She's eating constantly and gaining weight. Sick of eating. Crashing three times since July 7th, when he started really adding. So, come to find out------ She's taking the same amount of units of insulin as she was before, BUT instead of it being U100 it's U500. So, FIVE TIMES as much as she has ever taken. He has just about OD'd her on insulin. She is in the process of changing doctors, but can't get in to see the new one until November. I told her today, "It's your body. You are going to have to take care of yourself. Obviously, Dr. D is trying to kill you and Dr. M can't do anything right now. Do the best you can."

So, here's her game plan and thinking.--

She's going to go back to the first instructions that Dr. D gave her for the day time, log everything, and see what will work for her. Keeping close track of everything. (Thinking that she can do a better job of not killing herself than Dr. D)

She can't get the Lantis prescription until November. So, she'll have to deal with the high BS in the morning. (Thinking that her liver is dumping sugar at night to make them high.)

She was also looking at some natural solutions for the high morning BS. Milk thistle was mentioned. Anyone know anything about that helping?

She kept doing what the doctor said, because he told her she was going to be dead by the time she's 50 if she doesn't do what he says. He's yelled at her. He gets mad when she asks anything. He gets mad if the diabetes education people tell her something that he doesn't like (he's the one that sent her there). He was mad about her knowing that her liver was probably dumping sugar at night. She will be filing complaints about him.

Anything else you all can think of that might help?

I hope I made sense and wasn't just rambling. Cool

Hope I answered all the questions.

Thank you all,

Missi

« Last Edit: August 26, 2008, 10:56:57 PM by miff aka Missi »
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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #151 on: August 26, 2008, 11:12:52 PM » by mykidsmom

Missi,

When I was a gestational diabetic I was dumping sugar at night and my naturepath told me to do two things. 1) make sure I eat protein before bed and 2) get up and eat something in the middle of the night. Sounds strange; but it worked. I was able to keep my sugars under 100 in the AM. Has your friend read the book The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein? I highly suggest she do so. He is a type one diabetic and talks about how to live when the doctors are killing you. It would be very important for her to read this if she's willing.

patti

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #152 on: August 27, 2008, 09:12:14 AM » by BJ_BOBBI_JO

500 units?!?! Shocked

Didn't the doc at least give her a math formula to follow to calculate how much insulin to give herself when her sugar was way to high?

Goodness no wonder she was crashing.

Something natural that works for me is Wild Carrot Flowers also known as Queens Ann's Lace Flowers.

If you know which flowers they are you can eat the flowers. I don't care for their taste but they can be tolerated. But they don't taste so bad when fried up. One must be sure they know what wild carrot flowers are because there is a dangerous poision flower look a like but I forget its name.

A wild carrot flower has that dark dot in the middle of its white flower. The stems are hairy and the roots smell like carrots.

They grow wild all over the place right now. On the sides of roads, in yards, everywhere. Google research will show some stuff on wild carrot flowers and diabetes and what they look like. I always say one needs to study and know about the plant they are going to try. Wink

They have done me good.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #153 on: August 27, 2008, 09:30:01 AM » by lovingmomof2

Wow, that is more helpful. I am so sorry for your sister. I do have a few more questions for you. I have been diabetic for 17 yrs now and I take care of it mostly myself even through my second pregnancy.

Does your sister know how long her insulin lasts in her system? For example I use humalog, a fast acting insulin. It last anywhere from 4-6 hours before it is gone. I use insulin faster than most so it only last me for 4 hours.

I am on an insulin pump and highly recommend it to anyone. They make life with diabetes so much easier. The insulin pump only uses fast acting insulin, therefore I do not use a long acting insulin. If for some reason my pump stopped working and I had to do shots until the next morning when my replacement pump got to me. I would be taking shots every 4.5-5 hours and before I ate anything.

The specialist I had when I was pregnant told me that in the mornings you have a homone (I forget the name) that helps wake up your whole body, this same hormone also raises your blood sugar and that is part of the reason why it is so hard to get that morning blood sugar down compared to the other times of the day.

I like the recommendation above. I really think that your sister would be doing herself a service if she would learn and get comfortable taking care of herself without a doctor, if she had to. Finding a good doctor is important too. Most of the doctors I have had are really happy that I know what I know about diabetes and it makes it easier for us to work together as a "team" to take care of it.

There are times when doctors don't know what they are doing and are causing more harm than help. I had to got to the ER some years back because I accidently got over 60 units of insulin pushed in me. My ratio of carbs to insulin is 15grams to 1 unit, so this was more than I could eat off. Wink

Anyway in the ER they had me diconnect my insulin and they gave me 2 glucos tube injections, hot dog, ice cream, coffee, just about anything I could eat. Then they kept me over night for observasion. Well, needless to say the insulin was gone in 4 hours and my blood sugar was over 300 and climbing. The doctor, on call who never came in to see or talk to me, would not allow me to hook up my insulin pump. Now I know how my body works with the insulin and I know how many hours are in the night. I also know that if I am over 300 now and getting no insulin at all and having no insulin at all on board then every minute counts. I was so mad, I was crying. I told the nurse I don't care what the doctor says I am not getting sick on his account and I hooked my insuline pump back up and took the amount of insulin for my blood sugar and continued to monitor it myself until the morning when my mom came to pick my dad and me up. If I had listened to the doctor I would have been miserably sick if not in diabetic coma. I am only telling you this story so that you can try and encourage your sister to take responsibility for herself. Doctors can be good and can be great, but they are human and they can be wrong.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #154 on: August 27, 2008, 11:21:21 AM » by miff aka Missi

Quote from: mykidsmom on August 26, 2008, 11:12:52 PM

I had her read this thread and she's already looking for that book. Thanks!

Missi

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #155 on: August 27, 2008, 11:30:42 AM » by miff aka Missi

Quote from: BJ_BOBBI_JO on August 27, 2008, 09:12:14 AM

500 units?!?! Shocked

Didn't the doc at least give her a math formula to follow to calculate how much insulin to give herself when her sugar was way to high?

Goodness no wonder she was crashing.

She faxes her blood sugar readings to him and he tells her how many units to take. Like I said before, he gets mad a yells when she even asks a question. She only had a problem with her BS running high for a few months (not even extremely high) and then she had to change doctors because her insurance changed. But now she is going to regulate it herself. She's not new to diabetes, just new to this insulin. She'll get it figured out in a couple of days. I'll be sure to reminder her to read back here again and about the Queene Anne's Lace. Have you ever tried the milk thistle?

Missi

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #156 on: August 27, 2008, 11:48:53 AM » by miff aka Missi

Quote from: lovingmomof2 on August 27, 2008, 09:30:01 AM

Does your sister know how long her insulin lasts in her system? For example I use humalog, a fast acting insulin. It last anywhere from 4-6 hours before it is gone. I use insulin faster than most so it only last me for 4 hours.

I am on an insulin pump and highly recommend it to anyone. They make life with diabetes so much easier. The insulin pump only uses fast acting insulin, therefore I do not use a long acting insulin. If for some reason my pump stopped working and I had to do shots until the next morning when my replacement pump got to me. I would be taking shots every 4.5-5 hours and before I ate anything.

The specialist I had when I was pregnant told me that in the mornings you have a homone (I forget the name) that helps wake up your whole body, this same hormone also raises your blood sugar and that is part of the reason why it is so hard to get that morning blood sugar down compared to the other times of the day.

I like the recommendation above. I really think that your sister would be doing herself a service if she would learn and get comfortable taking care of herself without a doctor, if she had to. Finding a good doctor is important too. Most of the doctors I have had are really happy that I know what I know about diabetes and it makes it easier for us to work together as a "team" to take care of it.

I'll have to ask her about how long the insulin is lasting her. It's suppose to work quickly and then level off for 8-10 hours, but I don't know that is happening.

Yes, the doctor mentioned about the morning hormone. (I don't know the name either.) Anyway, he called it Dawn Syndrome aka Dawn Effect. She's doing more research about that too.

For the most part B has always taken care of herself. She's really not too dependant on the doctors and nurses to tell her what to do. When they've said, "Do this or that," she was always free to say, "Well, how about I try this?" But now-- she just got "hung up" with this certain doctor and now can't get out of his office fast enough. Since everything she needs is prescription, she can't very well change much at this point. She really has to get into the new doctor to get anything changed at that level. KWIM? She is going to do whatever she can to get control of this situation. Even if she has to just make Dr. D mad. At least she's got the prescriptions that she needs for now. She'll do more research and deal with what she needs to by herself. B can adjust her insulin just fine throughout the daytime (now that she won't be listening to Dr. D), but needs to get a handle on the morning high readings. She never had to deal with that before, because the Lantis took care of that.

Thanks so much for your help and encouragement.

Missi

« Last Edit: August 27, 2008, 12:02:32 PM by miff aka Missi »
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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #157 on: September 19, 2008, 08:06:07 AM » by leslieincali

I know there is a lot of info in this thread. Can someone point me to a list of sypmtoms for juvenile diabetes. I've had my son checked on the suggestion of a mom with two diabetic kids. The test came back negative. The Dr. treated me like I wanted something to be wrong with my son. Huh

Here are his symptoms:
Sneaks sugar, craves it all the time, he asks for hot chocolate as a snack

Has high energy a lot of the time and then just crashes, cries if asked to do something(I know this could just be laziness

)

Becomes really grouchy and violent out of the blue

His urine sometimes smells like maple syrup(Dr. thought I'd lost it when I told her this)

I try to feed lots of protein with healthy carbs. I give him cod liver oil and use good fats. We do have white flour on friday nights in pizza and we do dessert a couple times a week. We've gotten away from the sprouted grains since we left CA cause I can't find it easily.

Can someone have diabetes and test negative? I'm not really sure what to do with him. Thanks for any input or pointing me in the right direction. Leslie

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #158 on: September 19, 2008, 08:54:43 AM » by lovingmomof2

Quote from: leslieincali on September 19, 2008, 08:06:07 AM

I know there is a lot of info in this thread. Can someone point me to a list of symptoms for juvenile diabetes. I've had my son checked on the suggestion of a mom with two diabetic kids. The test came back negative. The Dr. treated me like I wanted something to be wrong with my son. Huh

)

Becomes really grouchy and violent out of the blue

His urine sometimes smells like maple syrup(Dr. thought I'd lost it when I told her this)

I try to feed lots of protein with healthy cabs. I give him cod liver oil and use good fats. We do have white flour on Friday nights in pizza and we do dessert a couple times a week. We've gotten away from the sprouted grains since we left CA cause I can't find it easily.

Can someone have diabetes and test negative? I'm not really sure what to do with him. Thanks for any input or pointing me in the right direction. Leslie

Wow! Okay, my brother and I both of juvenile diabetes. I was diagnosed when I was 7 and my brother when he was 8. I will list the symptoms I had and how I felt along with my brother's because we were both different.

Here are my symptoms
always thirsty- drank mostly water, my mom wasn't very big on giving sweetened drinks.
always hungry - I was so hungry I felt like I was starving (wich I was because of the diabetes). I would even cry for food. I ate things like toast with butter, fruit. I was never a big junk food person until after I was diagnosed and told I couldn't eat it anymore.
going to the bathroom a lot - due to the drinking a lot

Sometimes I would feel weak and sick and I would get headaches. When I was diagnosed my blood sugar level was around the mid 700's.

Now, my brother was the type of person that you didn't know was sick until he was REAL SICK.
His symptoms were:
always thirsty- only wanted water
going to the bathroom a lot- due to drinking a lot of water.
sneaked sweets- one time he ate a whole plate of cookies in the middle of the night

One night at a friend's house we were having pizza and my brother refused to eat and even turned down a piece of chocolate (my brother liked junk food, not that we ate it all the time). That is when my mom knew something was wrong. She used my meter to check my brother and it read "HI" which means it was over 500. She took him into the E.R. and of course at the time he was acting like a goon and they thought my mom was NUTS!!! They didn't want to test my brother for diabetes because he was acting fine. My mom pressured them and finally they called my Pediatrician who told them to do it. My brother's sugar level came back at over 1,200. It was amazing that he was still conscious.

Here are some other symptoms:
dry mouth
headaches
can't consentrate
bedwetting- often the first sign
high levels of sugar in the blood when tested
high levels of sugar in the urine when tested
unusual thirst
frequent urination
extreme hunger but loss of weight
blurred vision
nausea and vomiting
abdominal pain
extreme weakness and fatigue
irritability and mood changes

remember they may not have all of the symptoms. I would think that just like with anything there could have been something faulty with the test. If you feel that it really could be diabetes press for another test or if need be another opinion from another doctor. Diabetes is not something to play around with. I will tell you it is not the end of the world either, just the end of the world as you know it. I have lived with type 1 diabetes for over 17 years now. I used to pray daily and ask God to cure me, but now I have embraced it as my life and I really don't feel different/handicapped in any way. Sometimes I actually have to remind myself that I may need to take it a little slower. I feel like I am a normal person.

Usually when urine smells real sweet it is because of high sugar levels in the urine. I have had this in my first urine, when I was first diagnosed and still getting things under control.

Another thing that you could look into is hypoglycemia (low blood sugar, sometimes called an insulin reaction) - occurs when blood sugar drops too low. My father and sister both of trouble with this. If you eat sugar or too many carbs and not enough protein it can cause these "crashes" in energy.

What about a yeast problem? I think I have read that it can cause you to crave sweats and carbs. Just another possibility.

I hope you find out what is the problem and do let us know. Hope this helps.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #159 on: September 20, 2008, 08:15:12 AM » by leslieincali

Loving Mom,
Thank you for all that info. Wow, I appreciate that. I have another thread going about the maple syrup smell. There is actually a condition called Maple Syrup Urine Disease(I think they could have come up with a more scientific name Grin

). I am going to figure this out! Thank you so much!!! Grin

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #160 on: November 03, 2008, 12:37:41 AM » by Coles5

There is a book that is a MUST read for anyone with diabetes (type 1 or 2). It's called The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein. I think I paid $11 (that included shipping) from Amazon.com.

Patti,
Thank you so much for this information. After reading your comments, I went to Amazon and bought this book for my 7 year old Type 1 diabetic son. This has been the best purchase I have made!! It has made a HUGE difference in the way we now go about managing his diabetes. He has gone from 4-6 shots a day to 1 or maybe 2, and no more crazy high blood sugars or hurting feet. I cannot tell you how thankful I have been for you giving the information on this!! I had no idea this book was out there. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for some good answers to some really hard questions on diabetes. It can't be fixed, but it can be managed!
Coles5

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #161 on: November 03, 2008, 08:24:08 AM » by Mama Sita

Quote from: leslieincali on September 20, 2008, 08:15:12 AM

). I am going to figure this out! Thank you so much!!! Grin

Hey leslieincali,
Just wondering if you have found any more info pertaining to your son? I just want to encourage you--be persistant--YOU know him best!!

BTW, you can buy a blood sugar meter pretty reasonably at WM. You can monitor your son's blood sugar yourself. We did this for my DH when he had some odd things going on. Turns out it wasn't blood sugar problems, but protein deficiencies in his diet. However, we still monitor his blood sugar from time to time.

As for the Maple Syrup Urine Disease, I would get right on that. Apparently, the body cannot break down 3 specific amino acids, and therefore, they build up in the blood, and then become toxic to the brain and other organs. If left untreated, this can lead to both mental and physical problems....(Source: Wiki). You've probably already come across this information in your research.

At any rate, I would encourage you to take this very, very seriously. Keep banging on doors until someone listens to you.

I will be praying for you!

~MS

« Last Edit: November 03, 2008, 08:36:59 AM by Mama Sita »
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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #162 on: February 12, 2009, 02:02:59 PM » by lovingmomof2

Does anyone have a logbook or data sheet that they like and can recommend for recording blood sugars, insulin, exercise, food etc? I would like one that has a week at a time with the meals lined up, so that I can see at a glance if there is a trend from day to day.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #163 on: February 12, 2009, 02:56:37 PM » by Kati*did

The only log book I have ever found useful (with enough room to put all the necessary things) is one that Dr. Bernstein made. There is a copy of it in his book The Diabetes Solution, and he also tells where to get it in the book. I can't remember where, though.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #164 on: February 19, 2010, 09:35:24 AM » by healthybratt

Quote from: Good day family on March 04, 2009, 11:07:22 AM

I was wondering if any of you have an opinion on the pump? Most people I talk to really like it better, but we still don't have it. What about if you're doing an eating plan like Dr. B? Would the pump still be first choice with that kind of low carb diet? When my son was on the extremely low carb diet, he didn't need as many shots and he went low a lot... Any thoughts on if the pump would be worth it?

This topic has been split and moved here.

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,26496.0.html

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #165 on: March 15, 2010, 11:27:23 PM » by Jade

Anybody ever read There is a Cure for Diabetes by Dr. Gabriel Cousens? I'm hoping someone with experience with diabetes could tell me what they think of it.

And also, has anyone heard of using banaba leaf for controlling blood sugars?

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #166 on: March 16, 2010, 03:16:57 PM » by Mrs. B

Quote from: Jade on March 15, 2010, 11:27:23 PM

Anybody ever read There is a Cure for Diabetes by Dr. Gabriel Cousens? I'm hoping someone with experience with diabetes could tell me what they think of it.

I've not read his diabetes book, but I've read other books by Dr Cousens (he's a psychiatrist btw) and his primary focus is a vegan, raw foods diet. He is also into eastern spirituality, and it is a predominate theme in the books of his that I've read (they were required reading, otherwise probably wouldn't have bothered).
I would probably check out the Hallelujah diet if you are inclined in this direction as their info is free, I believe.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #167 on: March 16, 2010, 08:44:16 PM » by hi_itsgwen

A girl whose blog I've been following was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Diabetes runs in her family, and she wanted to be able to control it with diet. Following her Dr.'s advice to a T didn't bring her levels within range, and then she started seeing a nutritionist. Again, the diet and changes weren't cutting it. She found great success, though, in using the diet suggested by Karen Hurd, found here:
http://www.karenhurd.com/concern_diabetes.html

Here is the blog entry that tells about how quickly the diet started working for her:
http://bethany.preciousinfants.com/2010/02/22/it-worked.aspx

She also posts several recipes that she's tried using bean flour and such.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #168 on: March 17, 2010, 09:12:13 AM » by Kati*did

Quote from: Jade on March 15, 2010, 11:27:23 PM

I haven't read the book, but I have the DVD "Simply Raw" that's a documentary of the 30-program where people reverse their diabetes. Here's a link to the dvd: http://www.cultureoflifestore.com/p475/Simply+Raw+DVD+%28Diabetes+Documentary%29/product_info.html )

It's very similar to the NEWSTART program that I went through twice and mentioned earlier on this thread. Although the NEWSTART program isn't raw, it's largely raw and vegan. I believe they both work for the same reason: by eating the way they do, the people in the program are basically going through a radical but gentle cleanse and, generally, they are eating *way* more nutritiously than they used to. This works amazingly well for type II diabetes (I have seen many people at NEWSTART completely get rid of their type II diabetes), but in my experience, it only works moderately well for type I.

I think (again, just from my own experience) the reason it doesn't work as well for type I diabetics is because part of the premise is that when you eat the diet set out by Cousens and/or NEWSTART, you can eat as much as you want because you will get full on whole plant/raw foods without the calories coming to much. And this is true. You can eat tons of food on these diets and still have eaten very few calories...that's the nature of plant foods and high fiber.

The problem is that the type I diabetic can't really eat "as much as [they] want". Things like soaked (raw) buckwheat or oats for breakfast will still give me a high blood sugar after eating a small amount, and I'm left hungry. I also have to limit my fruit intake. The pancreas of the type II diabetic is still working, and when they begin to eat a very high nutrient diet that's also healthy calorie-wise, their body is able to use their insulin again and get back to normal -- especially as they lose weight.

I think the both programs are phenomenal for a type II who wants to get rid of it or for a type I who could benefit from some time on a diet that acts as a cleanse.

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Re: Natural Treatments for Type 1 Diabetes
« Reply #169 on: March 17, 2010, 09:57:31 AM » by Kati*did

Quote from: hi_itsgwen on March 16, 2010, 08:44:16 PM

That's a really useful site, Gwen! And I got some good recipe ideas from the blog you linked. Thanks!

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