I'm glad your blood pressure has improved. Good luck on the weight loss and monitoring thingies!

You're headed in the right direction! If *I* can do it, *you* certainly can!

I'm glad the blood pressure medication is working. And I'm glad that you're on top of things with the rest of it. (What's A1C?)

My levels were at a 7. I went on Weight Watchers and really paid better attention to my food choices and it went down to just above 5. I also take Glucophage.

Pesach strikes me as a good time to cut down on carbs, since chometz is like, 95% carbs. Or is it eliminating kitniyot that you're thinking will be difficult?

PS to [info]kadymae - he thought the hibuscus tea was a good idea.

Yay! Now that's a good, informed doctor.

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As an aside, fresh brocolli or spinach, sauted with minced garlic and a good drizzle of olive oil, splashed with red wine vinegar/lemon juice makes a delicious side that goes well with chicken, fish, and red meat.

Yay for lowered blood pressure!

I've used the Lifescan OneTouch Ultra meter for years, and I like it. If you choose to, you can test using blood from your forearms instead of your fingers (fewer nerve endings, less ouch) and there's a fancier version than the one I have that lets you do all kind of fancy computer-syncing things.

I started Weight Watchers a month or so ago, and have lost 10 lbs. I'm a Type 1 diabetic, so if it can work for me...
(not that I'm necessarily reccommending that you join WW, just wanted to provide some evidence that this whole diet-excercise-monitoring thing really can work)

good luck with everything.

I'll second the OneTouch Ultra recommendation (not diabetic, just prone to occasional hypoglycemia — or used to be; hasn't happened in several years).

Yay improvement!

A food diary's a good idea. You might find, as my dad did, that there's particular foods that mess with your blood sugar more than others; always useful data.

My husband uses the OneTouch Ultra, and really likes it -- it works so much faster than the old one he used to have, which makes testing his blood several times a day feel reasonable instead of like a drag.

I don't know off hand, but I could ask Victoria. She is a friend of my sister-in-law Jan and the aunt of my two young friends who are diabetic.
They, Breanna & Devin, have insulin pumps and just dial their dose.

I know there are a few that you can take your blood sample from anywhere on your body instead of just your finger. I think that would be the best.

PS, MamaDeb, remember that the cake writing gel/icing is the same thing as the expensive stuff you can get by script from the pharmacy. Just that it has food coloring in it.

Two colors to avoid- Red, because it tints your mouth and if some reason you keel over, the EMTs will think you are bleeding in your mouth.

Blue- because it can tint your lips blue and they will think you aren't breathing (a fellow asthmatic reminded me of this!)

Yikes that is an awfully high A1C! I hope you can get things under control! I've taken metfomin xr and actos together and the combination helps me keep my weight down considerably since the mild nausea counteracts the actos weight gain...

Sympathy. Not diabetic myself, but overweight.

1500 is doable.
I've been mostly doing it.

Wound up being incredibly high in salt though- as I'm not at this point in time, worried about my blood preassure... I also don't have the difficulty of doing all this and keeping kosher- There are some greater number of food options/combinations that wouldn't work for you.

Good luck

I have this one and love it. It's very easy to use.

My wife and I like the Ascensia Breeze. I'm jealous - I've got the Glucometer Dex, which is it's predecessor, and she's got the Breeze. I want one of my own!