Online sources for diabetes information – Part 2

This is an area that you may or may not interest you. Some do not like technical and news items. Please be careful when believing all you read. Some of the hucksters ply their snake oil big time on the internet. Even what may be a reliable source can publish bad information and many do when it comes to some of the studies they publish.

On the topic of studies, please read the following blog by Jenny Ruhl. It may take several readings and applying this to several studies before you will begin to follow how some of the studies are so poorly constructed and to be able to see why they are not what they appear to be wanting you to believe.

News and information on diabetes:

http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/index.php  Do take time to read the Letter from the Editor as there is often good information contained there.

http://www.diatribe.us/home.php  This source of news is interesting as they cover the major diabetes associations, organizations, and finding unusual news items.

http://diabeteslivingtoday.com/  This unusual duo broadcast a weekly radio broadcast and puts out information on their website.

http://www.diabeteshealth.com/  This source is excellent with many diabetes writers posting their blogs on this site and you are able to get emails when your favorites post a new blog.

Diabetes education and support organizations:

http://tcoyd.org/  Steven V. Edelman, MD Dr. Steven V. Edelman, MD is the driving force behind this site and they have conferences nationwide. In addition to good news and education for the medical community, they have education for the patients and caregivers as well.

http://behavioraldiabetesinstitute.org/  This organization is based in San Diego, CA deals with the psychological side of diabetes and how to deal with this part of your life.
While this organization is still limited to Southern California area, the message is still there and provides some good guidance for those of us with diabetes.

http://www.diabetes-solution.net/  Dr. Richard K. Bernstein has type 1 diabetes and is very vocal about what can be accomplished with keeping in under tight control. He has several related websites. These sites are good for all types of diabetes and Dr. Bernstein is read by all types of people with diabetes. He also has several books that are excellent references for us. Check out this books on Amazon dot com.

The forum site is located here.

Use the following in your search engine to fine more on Dr. Bernstein - “dr bernstein diabetes”.

http://www.diabetes.org/  This is the site for the American Diabetes Association. It is a very large site and will take you a lot of time to find all the information that may be of benefit for you. Check this reference for type 2 information. While the ADA is more for the medical community, there is much information that we can use as well. Take time to explore as much of this site as you have time for.

http://www.mendosa.com/  This is a premier site for type 2 people with diabetes. While David Mendosa writes for more than just type 2 diabetes, he has excellent diabetes information to help all of us.

http://ndep.nih.gov/  While this is a government website, the information on diabetes is good to read.

http://diabetes.webmd.com/  Please read this site with care. There is much good information with some poor information sprinkled in.

Specialty diabetes information:

http://ginews.blogspot.com/  For those interested in learning more about the glycemic index and glycemic load, this is an excellent site. And the GI News letter is good to have. I started out as a big advocate of the GI and GL information, but that has waned to the point that I know there is often conflicting evidence available from reputable sources and treat it accordingly. I will continue to use this information as a guide, but only a guide.

http://jcem.endojournals.org/  The is the website for the The Endocrine Society. Many studies are published here.

http://www.glycemicindex.com/  The website for the Glycemic Index.

This a very small list of what is available on line. It is by no means complete and over the next months I will try to post more sites about diabetes.

What type of patient are you?

Are you one of the patients that your doctor loves to see, or does not want to see? Does your doctor like talking with you and including your feelings in his visit, or does he do the necessaries and tell what he found, write a prescription and out the door?

How your doctor perceives you will affect the thoroughness of his exam and what he does or does not do. If you are a patient that asks a lot of questions, how does he respond? If you object to a medication he wants to prescribe, does he quickly write it anyway, or talk with you about why and listen to your reasons?

Then WebMD has a video discussing patients and what make different type of patients and the myths involved. See this video here.

Trisha Torrey talks about a patient that knows how to stand up for himself and is probably thought of as a lousy patient, but does get the care he deserves. And he probably is able to do this because they know who he is and why he is this way. Not all patients have his background and don't know how to advocate for themselves.

I found out this week what kind of patient I am. Both sides and my bad side unfortunately was very bad. I am currently fighting pneumonia and and the care I was getting did leave a lot to be desired. After the diagnosis was made she – the Emergency Room doctor said she was prescribing Levaquin. I asked her why and what I thought was politely, but was told I had no other choice. I waited until I had the prescription and asked why she would not consider another antibiotic. All I got was this answer - “this is what I am prescribing”. I said okay and as I was walking out, turned and asked her what her commission was for each prescription? She in not too pleasant terms said if I did not want to take it, then she would see me at my funeral.

I don't take lightly to doctor threats and said she had better hope I never found out what her commission was as it would be sent with my report to the medical boards and the State Attorney General, and in the state of Iowa they generally don't take kindly to doctors taking kickbacks. Out the door I went.

After taking the first tablet, and that was a mistake, I went to bed, but I did not sleep but a few hours. I woke my wife when I started screaming in pain. I made it to the room with the porcelain fixture and just in time. Everything happened. I was not well at all. So back to the ER I went hoping that doctor was not on duty. She wasn't.

Another doctor was, and the ER nurse took one look at me and said to get the doctor as soon as possible. In the meantime the vitals were taken and the nurses were waiting for the doctor. When he asked how I was, I just mumbled not good, to which he agreed. He had looked at the records from the day before and asked if I had taken the first Levaquin, to which I affirmed. He saw my legs moving and asked what was happening? I told him it felt like someone was scraping and stretching my nerves.

He said before he did anything, he wanted to get my liquids on the way back up and with a dose of medicine to settle my system and ordered an IV started. Later he came in and ordered a shot for my pain. After that I slept for a while. When I woke they had an IV antibiotic hooked up and started. Doc said this was in place of the Levaquin for a few days until I could tolerate oral medication again. Then they finished the original IV and sent me home with an appointment for the next two days for more IV antibiotics.

So today, I happened to see the same ER doctor and he has me on another antibiotic and not Levaquin – whaa-hoo.

Now I will see how things progress. I am not happy with the way I reacted with the woman doctor, but I admit that threats, even in appearance, set my blood boiling. And the fact that she would not listen to any objections only fueled the temperature.

Added:  I still think I was in bad taste for my comments, but after reading this blog dated Thursday, August 20, 2009, I can only wonder if I am closer to reality.

On line sources of diabetes information – Part 1

Forums: Often not always the best source, but if used wisely can be of benefit in making you realize that you are not alone in your struggle. Often you may find a tidbit or gem that you can use that is very beneficial. You may join or not, but most information is available to be read, but joining can be beneficial. I am a member of a few of the forums, but very inactive recently, which may be the cause of being dropped by a couple of the forums, or for other reasons. Or it maybe because I erased all the cookies and without them they won't allow me back even with the correct password.

On all the sites listed below, be sure to check out the site map and listings in the right or left parts of the site, if they have a site listing. I know the first source below does and I have discovered much information this way. This is one of the more robust sites and some are very spartan or don't include a site map.

http://www.dlife.com/diabetes-forum/  This is a good source of information and includes some blogs, many recipes with nutritional information, and information about their TV program. If you join and post something do not expect you first to appear for about day or after the weekend. Read the first post in the introduction section for rules. This is their way of trying to avoid most spam, but some are very tricky and post good posts to start, but after a few, then they spew forth their spam. Then they are quickly reported by members and deleted by the administration and banned.

http://www.tudiabetes.org/  A strong forum, blogs, and other information. Its owner is very active in other endeavors, promoting diabetes information for the benefit of the patients.

http://www.diabetesdaily.com/forum/  A decent forum and excellent blog site. Just beware of not using hyperlinks. Try not to create them accidentally as you will be warned and then on continued use, you will be banned. This is an area where this site has little or no tolerance. It does have a recipe area.

http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/  Another decent forum, but be careful as they are not too tolerant of links and hyperlinks, but a little bit nicer about letting you know and explaining where you went wrong..

http://www.diabetesforum.com/forum.php  Another good forum, and I give them high marks for trying to eliminate member created spam – one or two word meaningless posts. They will tolerate some links and hyperlinks, but don't abuse them.

http://www.dailystrength.org/c/Diabetes-Type-2/forum   I am not familiar with this site.

http://forum.americandiabeteswholesale.com/  At one time this was a good forum. It is still trying to be, but participation is very low.

http://forums.joslin.org/  A good site, but many good members have been silenced by bullies of low carbing. Some excellent members still participate, but do so cautiously.

http://www.diabetesnet.com/forum/forum.php  I am not familiar with this site.

http://www.diabetesfiles.com/forums/forumdisplay.php  I am not familiar with this site.

There are other diabetes forums, but many are very inactive. Some are in other English speaking countries, but they tend to discourage members outside their country. My biggest complaint of most forums is the members that join and very seldom of ever participate in any discussions. The sites keep them on the active member list to keep membership numbers high for advertising incentives.


Blogs: Bloggers come and go from the internet almost daily. Many have been around for several years. Here you will have to select those that appeal to you. Whether it is for the information they present, their humor, their outlook on life being a person with diabetes, or their style of writing.

I read probably too many, but some are definitely for the information, and others for their positive outlook on life. I read type 2, type 1, and LADA bloggers. The following are presented for your information and to get you started.

http://www.dlife.com/diabetes-blog/

http://www.diabetesdaily.com/blogs/

http://www.diabetesforums.com/forum/blogs/

Be careful with the following sources. This was put on line when the site was started and no updating has been done. There are now many dead sites where the site no longer exists or they haven't posted for two or more years. You will need to find the ones that suit you. There are some excellent sites so don't get too discouraged by the number that are no longer viable. Plus there are many new sites that are not included.

These are lists of bloggers and have the URL's so you can start reading and decide whether you want to bookmark them for future reading.

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/  (contains all of the following)

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/type_1

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/type_2

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/type_15  (LADA)

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/parent_of_a_child_with_type_1

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/familyfriends

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/international_blogs

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_bloggers/others

http://www.thediabetesresource.com/listing/guide/diabetes_and_pregnancy

The following Blog sites are being worked on almost daily. New sites are being added as they are found and new lists will be added as they are finalized. I like to ask permission for those I list and Bernard Farrell just makes hopefully weekly updates.

http://t2bloggerlist.blogspot.com/  My list of type 2 bloggers

http://www.diabetesdaily.com/farrell/

There are other organizations working on lists of bloggers and other social media lists, but as of now they are not available. I will post this information when and if these become available.
I am also working on a list of other sites of diabetes information.

Some of the ideas for losing weight.

How often are we bombarded with “lose weight”. Being overweight, I hear it daily. My wife is very active in expressing her feelings, but I have been able to lose in spite of her expressions and cooking. When I do not eat a large portion of what she cooks, then I am facing the accusation of “didn't you like that?”. I don't like answering that, but I finally said, what about the weight you want me to lose? At least that did open the conversation. She has a better understanding of the fact that I want to lose some pounds and without cutting the carbs, it just won't happen. We are still discussing the level of carbs, but I am sticking to my number despite the points on the other side.

No, I have no intention of disclosing the number, but so far I have dropped five pounds in the last two weeks. Prior to that I had dropped ten pounds in five days, but I knew why that happened. I was ill and could not keep food in or down. I was even having difficulty is keep my meds from coming back. I was very thankful I am on insulin and was able to cover any variations with insulin. My heart medications did suffer and I am not sure whether I received any or no benefit.

Tom Ross has suggested in his blog that we record everything we eat and the time and carb count. This is starting to help as I now can see when I exceed my carb limit for the day or when I short myself and by how much. It does happen both ways.

I have found that there is some exceedingly bad advice on the internet for losing weight. Many sources are still back in the dark ages and want to preach their no or low fat and high protein swill. And then there others that push carbohydrates to the excess. It seems that there is no middle ground and each argues their side ad nauseam.

At least, there are some studies, but I am not sure if they can be trusted. I found this article very reasonable and to the point. I admit that after the post by David Mendosa on January 18, 2010 really gives me more hope. While my cardiologist may not agree, I am comfortable with this. John Phillip has a series of blogs on weight loss and most is from the nutritional aspect plus the lifestyle changes necessary.

I am very uncomfortable with the article on Web MD. The percent of carbohydrates is way out of line for me. Before I go farther, I want you to know that what works for me may not work for you. You must set you own goals, adjust them as needed for your body chemistry, and learn to live with your decision. That is one reason I will not say that you must do this or do that, or use this percentage breakdown. This needs to be a lifestyle change and not a diet, plus make sure, if it is possible for you, that exercise is the key to accomplish this.

Yes, I vent on some diet religions because they do not work for me. And I call them religions because some preach and preach and preach about their way as being the only enlightened way. To which I say (well it is not printable). And don't even think about putting your religion in a comment. It won't pass the moderation.

Just take the time to develop what works for you, adapt it if necessary, but do give it a good and honest effort. Be prepared when your weight lost hits a plateau and you stop losing weight for several weeks. This is the time to shake things up and apply some of the tricks that other people have had success with and have broken the plateau.

Tom's recording of foods, time and carbs consumed works very well for me and has worked to avoid the plateau effect, but it does not work for everyone. Some people do use smaller plates to cut down on their food intake. Others have had success by going from walking to swimming, or walking to running, or even riding a bicycle. These a just a few ways of getting past the plateau effect.

Make sure that you consult with a good diabetes dietitian to maintain a good nutritional balance and don't go too low on total calories.  This article on Health Central was just published on 8/24/2010.  This may well work for getting off the plateau.

Leafy Veggies reduce Diabetes Risk

This is a topic well discussed. The BBC has a article out on it. A Sweet Life has a blog on it. John Phillip also talks about fruit and vegetables but in a whole different aspect – losing weight and probably not from this study. And David Mendosa has a blog on Health Central on this topic. Each has their own part that they chose to highlight. I have to agree with Mr. Mendosa, something that can reduce to risk of type 2 diabetes should also be good for those of us that already have type 2 diabetes.

We need as part of our daily food intake about five portions of fruit (be careful here if you have type 2 diabetes) and leafy green vegetables. This is to include broccoli and cauliflower. Some of the benefits are the high levels of antioxidants such as Vitamin C. Also there are many other nutrients such as magnesium, potassium, and the phytochemicals, lutein, and beta-carotene. Also don't forget that leafy green vegetables are high in dietary fiber and contain folic acid.

So when you turn up your nose at leafy green vegetables, if you don't have type 2 diabetes, remember that these could well reduce your risk of getting diabetes. If you already have type 2 diabetes, then this could well be the low carb help you need.

Things for you to remember immediately after diagnosis

Five suggestions for you when first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes:

Forget about the past. While this may not always be easy, there is nothing you can do to change the past. You can always start changes now and that should be your focus. We have many more tools at our disposal today than were available in the past and there are more tools coming on the market every year. We now have many resources that were not available even five or ten years ago. Investigate the forums available today. Investigate the social media and the many blogs with information, the Twitter diabetes outlets, and the Facebook pages devoted to diabetes. And lastly check out the diabetes podcasters and vloggers if this interests you.

Be careful to not over do things and stay away from extreme changes. This is an area where reason is often thrown out the window. Many people do need to loose weight and go on a crash diet immediately. Not that I blame them. They are right in wanting to shed the extra pounds as this will reduce their insulin resistance. They need to realize that after they loose a few pounds, they may hit a plateau and not loose additional weight. They the become discouraged and even some have minor depression and out the window goes their resolve.

A lifestyle change is the course they should follow. This will take some time and dedication, but then the pounds will come off and their desire for food will decrease. However, remember that the key to all this is exercise. And I mean exercise, whether is running, walking, swimming, using indoor equipment, or lifting small weights in a wheelchair. I realize that some people cannot exercise because of other medical reasons, and that has to be okay. The lifestyle change then becomes even more important to aid them in reducing their weight.

Realize that it is not your fault. For those with type 2 diabetes, genetics has a part to play in your diagnosis. So the fact that you have developed bad habits in the past does not mean that it is your fault. The genetics helped determine whether you were susceptible to get diabetes when the conditions were right. You have little or no control over getting diabetes or not. So learn what you can do today to strictly control your diabetes. What you don't do now, that is your fault.

Above everything, relax and don't panic. Please relax. I know that this is not what many people do and by letting panic and stress take over, you are only making your diabetes that much more difficult to control. Learn that stress is bad for diabetes and can make strict control more difficult. Take time to find ways to reduce stress and know what works for you to keep it to a minimum.

Be prepared to accept different treatment options. This is an area where your doctor may have some excellent suggestions based on your recent history. Some doctors do abdicate their responsibility for what ever reason so be prepared.

Depending on your blood glucose at diagnosis, you may want to consider starting on insulin and after getting control of your diabetes then going to oral medications and then to no medications. Or is your diabetes is caught early, starting on oral medications and then moving to no medications if possible. A lot will depend on other medical conditions and your ability to control you weight with nutrition and exercise.

Just remember that others have been down this road before you and speak from experience. These are rules that most people want to ignore for some unknown reason. Granted the diagnosis is a shock to most individuals, and this will take over for some.

Overall, 15% of people with type 2 diabetes don't take any medication (controlling blood sugar with nutrition and exercise alone), and 57% take oral medications alone, without injected drugs like insulin. Sixteen percent of people with type 2 diabetes take insulin only, and 12% use a combination of insulin and oral medication.