Yes, you read that right. I adjusted my diet... and now, with no insulin, always wake up under 90!!
The test results...
c-peptide - these are released whenever you release insulin from your pancreas. Since it is so hard to test "insulin" they test the levels of c-peptide. The amount was very small. Which means I am type 1 diabetic. Its still so crazy to think!!! Anyway, for me it is encouraging because my pancreas IS still releasing a small amount...there is still hope for me to restore my pancreas- as long as I can stay off of the insulin
Here's why: Just like all of your other organs, the cells regenerate over time. I was told about every 6 months you basically regenerate all of your organs. So, whatever is wrong with my pancreas MAY heal itself over the next 6 months (of course, it may take longer...that's just an average) or so as the cells are regenerated. BUT... if my pancreas becomes dependent on the insulin then it will rely on it so much that it will never create insulin again (i haven't been able to find out if that were to happen what the chances of the pancreas possibly recreating insulin is - but I know it is slim. Truthfully, this isn't talked about much at all....people don't know about this...doctors don't teach this kind of "therapy", which I will discuss later).
A1C - my A1C was 9. The A1c number determines the average amount of sugar in my blood over the past 3 months. Anything over 8 in pregnancy is worth worrying about. i asked what the range was (like is it 1 out of 10) and he said "Oh, no.. i've seen people with an a1c of 30 or 40!!" but 9 isn't good. It means my average blood sugar over the past 3 months was about 250. WHICH...also leads to the fact that I was a diabetic before pregnancy (since I am only 3 months at this point).
GAD antibodies - these are antibodies that attack your pancreas. I think I wrote about this before, but I can't remember so here you go... Nobody really knows the cause of type 1 diabetes. Some theories are that you have acquired a virus that attacks your pancreas which results in it not producing insulin. That's basically the GAD antibodies (there are a few other antibodies to test for... but its an expensive blood test...so we started here).The bad thing is that these "attacking virus's" or antibodies can actually cause scar tissue on the pancreas which also could inhibit insulin producing. Scar tissue might take a long time to heal... but anyway, you've got to get the antibodies gone first. Well, these test results didn't come back yet... to be continued...
p.s. another theory of why the pancreas stops producing insulin is an allergy to MILK. Yeah, crazy, huh. Which is why i've cut it out at this point. Not worth the chance (plus, I only drink milk in cereal and I don't allow those carbs in my diet).
Everything else came back normal (thyroid, kidney, whatever else he tested me for...)
So, I told the doctor that I was off of the insulin at night.
He was LESS THAN pleased.
He told me that I am starving the baby. I must not be getting enough calories to have a number like that. He told me that I am probably spilling ketones which is just as dangerous for the baby as high blood sugars. He also said "Even if you don't need it to keep your number down... I want you to take at least SOME insulin at night" to keep my ketones even. I could not convince him that I was getting enough calories!!
I wanted to SCREAM!!!
So, what did I do when I left the doctors office??? Did I immediately inject myself with an insulin shot!!
Heck no!!!
I went to the store and bought ketone strips!!!!! And guess what... NO KETONES IN MY URINE!!
So, that will be part of my daily routine.
By the way, i have now gone 2 days without any insulin (day or night). My numbers have not gone over 150 and my waking number is always under 90.
For reference, here is what I am doing:
A large breakfast, medium lunch, small dinner and a bedtime snack if I am feeling hungry.
Salad at every meal (with oil and vinegar for the dressing). I've cut out red meat (for the most part... i'm sure I will cheat a little). I've cut out milk (for the most part.. i did read that if you find ketones in your urine to drink milk so I may have a glass from time to time). I have at LEAST one carb at every meal (depending on my blood sugar number and what activity I plan to do after the meal)... however, I am extremely choosy about the carbs. plain oatmeal made with water, any beans, and apples are the main carbs I eat. None of these shoot my blood sugar over 150 (that is because of the fiber) AND of course, there are carbs in vegetables which I eat a lot of. I've cut out all fatty foods....Well, bad fats... I enjoy Avacados (when I can afford them. heh.) and nuts as a snack if I am feeling hungry in between meals.
If I know that I am going to be doing some physical activity, i will eat an extra carb to cover the energy that burns the carbs.
I bought a juicer the other day. I've played around with it a little bit but haven't made any of the juices that are recommended in the little books it came with. I bought it on craigslist and they threw in 3 OLD (like from the 70's) books about juicing for health. In those AND in 2 of the books I got from the library they talk about the "insulin generator" juice which is supposed to promote insulin production. I plan on drinking this juice everyday.
That says how determined I am. The juice includes brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, and string beans (BARF) . BUT... if it gets my pancreas to increase insulin production... its worth it.
I mean.. i drink apple cider vinegar every day now...for goodness sakes (another trick to keeping blood sugar low)!!!
By the way, for those who are interested...juicing is extremely beneficial because you are able to extract a more concentrated amount of nutrients from the food. THAT'S why they always say "chew chew chew your food" ... yes, there IS the choking factor.. but its also that the more you chew the more nutrients you get. Juicing, however, removes all fiber from your food... therefore it shouldn't be the ONLY way you get your veggies.
What I found incredibly interesting was that these books written back in the 70's talked ALL about adjusting your diet to produce more insulin... they talked about your pancreas becoming reliant on the artificial insulin... that was 40 years ago!!!!!
YET... doctors are so quick to diagnose type 1 diabetes and throw you on the insulin without first trying the natural option (of course, i would say that the majority of patients would probably prefer that option over giving up meat and milk and eating a salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). I believe that if that c-peptide number is greater than 0... there is still hope. Heck, i don't know... there might still be hope if that number is 0...
Anyway, I'm not going to give my pancreas 6 months off of its duties while I finish out this pregnancy. I'm going to MAKE THAT BAD BOY WORK!!
Feel the burn, baby... feel the burn! haha.
And continue to pray that God will heal my pancreas and restore the insulin.
In other news.. i was laying on my stomach on Thursday night and I felt the baby give one swift kick!! haha. It made me jump!! I think it was especially hard because I was laying on my stomach so it pushed against the bed. :-) It felt so good to know that there is a strong healthy baby in there!!
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