Anyone who has cats is more than familiar with ammonia odour that comes from the litter box.

If you occasionally detect the same kind of “kitty litter smell” from your sweaty clothes, shoes or a trip to the bathroom, it is likely caused because, as a diabetic, you are “successfully” following a Low Carb diet.

Our bodies want to burn carbohydrates (converted to blood sugar) for fuel because they are the “easiest” (thing) to metabolize into sugar.

But particularly if we eat low carb and are… read more

We may have already answered this but my fasting blood sugar is always below 6. However today it was 6.1. I seemed to eat the way I normally do with carbs under a 100, steps of 11,000, and no evening snack. However I did wake up early and just stayed in bed for awhile. I did have a medium size apple in the afternoon. Baked chicken for dinner and green beans. But today I was at 127 fbs. Usually in the low 100’s or 90’s. But now that I think of it I may have missed taking my metformin. I did take… read more

Once or twice, over the past 2 months, I felt light-headed and unwell. I took my bg and had numbers in the low 60's. What does this mean and is it healthy and normal? Is it simply a matter of my body adjusting to my new 1500 calorie/50-70 carbs eating regimen? Before making these changes, I ate a steady supply (over-abundance) of calories, fats and carbs and so never felt light-headed. Also, often I can't eat the full 1500 calories without exceeding my carb and cholesterol limits, so sometimes… read more

I don't take diabetes medications and never have yet I wanted to "stick test".

In Canada while the price of drugs is a fraction of that in the US, test strips for home glucose meters do not share that particular bennie - regardless of brand they cost about a buck a strip.

So for me to make it viable I needed to get a Doc to "write a prescription" which would then allow me to send the bill to my insurance company (private).

Our publicly funded assistance for Diabetics will only cover the cost… read more

When I woke up this morning I knew my sugar number was low because I was very nervous and the light was affecting my eyes , but I was wondering what would happen while I slept . My number was 66

A little lighter topic today.

The first recorded cases of Diabetes were found in some ancient texts (Egypt 1552 BC).

They had figured out the symptoms but no information on any way to test – probably simply observational.

The next (recorded) reference was India (1000BC) where the disease was named “Madhumeha”.

By 600 BC there was finally some guidance, a way to “detect” diabetes.

So what was the first test?

It was Ants – ya, the little bugs.

The physicians noted that if the “patient”… read more

For many of us we are constantly dealing with High sugars so when we see an unexpected Low it kinda freaks us out and we may tend to over-react.

First we need to understand what is "low" and what is "dangerously low".

Simply "low" is defined as any blood sugar level below 4.0 mmols or 70-72 points.

Dangerously Low is loosely defined as below 3.0 mmols or 55 points

If you drop below 2.0 mmols or 35 points you won't need to take any action because you will be Brain Dead.

So yes, there is low… read more

I have two testers. One is always around 20 points higher than the other. I test at the same time with the same finger. Is there one tester more accurate than another?

As Type 2's, besides everything else we need to worry about, we should keep an eye on our kidney function as well.

Kidney disease is quite common in Type 2's, about 40% will experience some degree of Kidney disease (but some is simply reduced function).

However, while kidney disease is the 9th leading cause of death in "sugar eaters", in Diabetics it rises to Number 3 (about 15% of Type 2's).

Some may be familiar with an eGFR test (which is often included with your A1C test).

An eGFR… read more