Fasting BG 2021

[walkerwally1]

96 this morning.  Weather report said it was supposed to be cloudy today with a chance of thunder storms but right now it is sunny with only high wispy clouds.  Maybe it will get cloudy later, or not.
I saw my doctor yesterday and the biggest concern was my kidney numbers which are higher than normal.  I don't know why, my A1c in 5% and I don't know what else would be responsible but it is something to keep an eye on.  I told her about my problem with my muscles and that I can only walk for a limited number of steps before they begin to feel like I was climbing a mountain and have to stop.  She thinks it may be due to the statin I have been taking.  It is only 10-mg of Atorvastatin but she still thinks it may be causing the problem.  I know that a lot of doctors have blamed statins for this kind of problem and I was surprised that she thought the same.  About 5 years ago with another doctor I was taking 40mg and didn't notice any problem but she cut it down to 10mg.  My lipids have been quite good for quite a while but I am going to stop taking it and see if it makes a difference. 

[Grammabear]

96 this morning.  Weather report said it was supposed to be cloudy today with a chance of thunder storms but right now it is sunny with only high wispy clouds.  Maybe it will get cloudy later, or not.
I saw my doctor yesterday and the biggest concern was my kidney numbers which are higher than normal.  I don't know why, my A1c in 5% and I don't know what else would be responsible but it is something to keep an eye on.  I told her about my problem with my muscles and that I can only walk for a limited number of steps before they begin to feel like I was climbing a mountain and have to stop.  She thinks it may be due to the statin I have been taking.  It is only 10-mg of Atorvastatin but she still thinks it may be causing the problem.  I know that a lot of doctors have blamed statins for this kind of problem and I was surprised that she thought the same.  About 5 years ago with another doctor I was taking 40mg and didn't notice any problem but she cut it down to 10mg.  My lipids have been quite good for quite a while but I am going to stop taking it and see if it makes a difference. 

Wally - Obviously I am no doctor, but I do have a fair amount of experience with statin drugs.  I experienced the same thing as you are having with legs feeling extremely tired after walking a fair distance.  My Dr. had me quit one statin and start another which produced the same side effects.  I then quit the statins completely much to my doctor's dismay.  But after about 6 months I could walk almost as good as new, so here is wishing you much success and I hope you feel better quickly.

[bigskygal]

92 this smoky morning.

86° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 97°/55°. But I doubt it will get that high.

Gastro appointment went fine. Tamagno, not a new dr just a new office. It took me a full hour to get there which didn't make me happy. Everything the same so that was good. We reviewed my lab work and he was totally surprised at my 5.2% A1c. Then in my after visit printout he puts under Orders from today's visit: "Continue to try to keep your diabetes under as good control as possible." Whaaat? Isn't that what I have been doing all along???

[Grammabear]

92 this smoky morning.

86° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 97°/55°. But I doubt it will get that high.

Gastro appointment went fine. Tamagno, not a new dr just a new office. It took me a full hour to get there which didn't make me happy. Everything the same so that was good. We reviewed my lab work and he was totally surprised at my 5.2% A1c. Then in my after visit printout he puts under Orders from today's visit: "Continue to try to keep your diabetes under as good control as possible." Whaaat? Isn't that what I have been doing all along???

Barbara - If your gastro doctor is the one who wrote the diabetes comment, at least he acknowledges that you have diabetes.  Wasn't there a doctor you saw that said with your way of eating now, you were cured because your A1C was so good?  At least he checked your A1C which is more than my GP does.  Happy for your results.

[skb]

Sorry, this is going to be a long post, but many thanks if you do read it.

In India, there is a saying which translates thus "It is foolish to show the light from a lamp to the Sun". I say this to emphasize that all of us here have been health conscious people for over a decade, and we have used dietary correction as a major step to health improvement in our lives. So, for me to write what I am about to, is in reality 'preaching to the choir'. But even so;

Statins work to lower cholesterol by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis. This enzyme has other critical functions (some say 40) in the body, which also sadly get affected. The most often mentioned, being the production of CoQ-10, a key mitochondrial antioxidant.

The emerging view in science is that cholesterol is not good or bad. It just is. It is a key component of life. In fact the brain is 25% cholesterol. Just because we have learnt to measure it does not mean that we should control it. The reasoning linking high cholesterol level to Heart Disease is inconclusive, flawed and certainly 'a-priori' reasoning. You must have heard the firemen analogy to explain the presence of cholesterol in arterial plaque. I'll use another one for Statins.

If you found that your flat tyres are being caused by screws and nails on the road, would it be a good reason to shut down the manufacturing of screws and nails. You would lose more than half of the products known to man, if that was to be done.

Disclaimer – I am not a doctor nor a research scholar. I have read what I said, from some of the most respected and knowledgeable people who are. And that is good enough for me.

[Tamagno]

138 this morning.

Thanks for the explanation, SKB! A lot of people have had very bad side effects from statins and for nothing. Sadly, there are many drugs with the same sort of problems.

BigSkyGal, I'm so glad your A1c is so good and that the rest of your report was good as well.

One thing I learned from my wife who's been practicing for years at a hospital clinic is that there are many requirements that Medicare demands in keeping patient records. One is that they have to indicate patient "progress" which is why, BigSkyGal, your doctor wrote his comments the way he did. (As a clinical psychologist this was even more absurd for my wife to write those progress reports.) Medicare has the habit of showing up unannounced and going through records. Any deviation from their demands results in huge fines - practitioners have to take it seriously.

Those questionnaires you get after a doctor visit aren't for the doctor's office, they're for Medicare. If they get too negative, Medicare investigates.

Kind of makes you feel warm all over knowing that government agencies are doing such a thorough and well-informed job of managing your health, doesn't it?

[Grammabear]

122 this morning.

Tamagno - Yes, it is indeed comforting to know "Big Brother" is looking over my shoulder when I make a Podiatrist appointment.  If it is even '1' fricking day too soon, Medicare will not pay for it.  Same thing holds true for refilling prescriptions.  If I try to refill the insulin prescription too soon, they will not even fill it.

[walkerwally1]

92 this morning.  It is cloudy this morning and a bit cooler but probably sunny later in the day.
Yeah SKB, I am aware of several doctors that have detailed problems with statins but I have been taking a statin for a long time with no apparent problems until now.  When I first started on a LCHF diet it controlled my bg quite well but my lipids were quite high.  My doctor then put me on a 40mg statin and things got better and I felt no side effect.  My current doctor about 5 years ago cut the statin down to 10mg and my numbers were also quite good. I don't know what I could do different with my diet to  keep my cholesterol lower but I will see how it goes.  I don't know if the statin is causing me a problem but I will see how stopping it works.  My Cardiologist has me do an ultrasound of my arteries a couple of times a year and the plaque on my arteries is pretty low so there is that.  I thought that only 10mg was not going to be very bad but my doctor said it didn't matter it still could be the problem.  I am glad she has an open mind about that.
Yes, Medicare does meddle for sure. My doctor had given me a prescription for test strips for 4 a day and when Medicare saw my A1c they decided that I only needed 2 a day.  Didn't matter that one of the reasons my A1c was low was because I tested.  They always believe they know more than your doctor.  I can understand them wanting to cut down on fraud from people not using the strips and selling them but that is the reason I had to give my doctor a record of my testing to prove that I was using the strips.  That didn't seem to matter to them. 
Grammabear, every RX insurance I have had will not refill a prescription if it is "too soon" unless you can convince them that there are circumstances like being on a trip out of town.  It seems to be pretty universal. 

[bigskygal]

101 this morning. The smoke is marginally better, I can almost make out the outline of the mountains surrounding me.

89° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 97°/57°.

Kathy, it is my pcp that has said I am "cured" of diabetes. At least my gastro understands I am just controlling it!

When I was first diagnosed (2012) I don't remember if my cholesterol was high or not but my pcp put me on a statin. I think it might have been standard operation at the time. I took it for a while, but stopped, don't even remember what my problem with it was, but it was something. Never took another statin since and my cholesterol is fine.

I don't get my rx'x through medicare, I get them through my supplemental ins. They will fill any amount the dr writes the script for. My pcp tried to tell me I only needed to test once a week which I declined. He asked how often I test and I made the mistake of saying 2x a day (I neglected to say I often did more). I was getting 4 srips a day, but after this visit unbeknownst to me, he dropped it to 2 strips a day! I didn't know until I picked up the refill at the PO. I am pi$$ed to say the least!

[skb]

I often say that Pharma & Food industries have the medical world in a tight vice like grip. Maybe there's the third angle of Insurance also. If you look at the funding of the Education sector (especially Higher Education) and R&D, Pharma and Food are the biggest contributors and therefore they control it. I'm told that in UK it is mandatory for a physician to prescribe a Statin to anyone having Total Cholesterol over 200. If they don't do so, they stand to lose their license.

Then there's the aspect of moving goal posts. The NCEP III guidelines are markedly different from the earlier ones. I have a box file of my blood work reports going back into the early 80s if not the 70s. I see that in a very old report my LDL shown as 166 is within the normal range, and now they want it to be below 100. They are definitely setting goals that cannot be achieved unless they are drug induced. This is absolutely contrary to 'The Scientific Method'.

[Tamagno]

145 this morning.

Interesting that you have a file going back so far, SKB. I would suggest adding another major player in control of health care and that's governments. Somewhere, floating around near the bottom of things are doctors and way below them patients. Between all of them, its amazing health care is as good as it is.

I'm currently in the market for a new walker (rollator). My current one is falling apart and its time to trade it in. I want one that is light enough and easy enough to fold that I can get it in my car myself. I also would like something with large enough wheels to be used in grass and on dirt - sort of an SUV of rollators. I've been amazed to discover that you can pay $2,000+ for such a thing!

[Grammabear]

100 this morning.

Tamagno - Maybe you would find a 'folding rollator' helpful.  My cousin had one such device whilst she was recovering from hip replacement surgery.  She was pleased with it.  I hope you have good luck in your search.

I don't know how it is in other parts of the country or in other countries, but in the midwest each and every night we see drug advertisements on the television.  The 'new' drug or even old drugs, are portrayed by younger, happy and healthy looking individuals with a certain physical problem that the drug will just happen to fix.  Then, at the end of the commercial they give, in rapid fire speech, all of the side effects of said drug.  These are what our commercials are made up of.  That is when the "mute" button on the TV remote comes in very handy.

[walkerwally1]

85 this morning.  It is going to be sunny today with a high of about 105° so a nice day for here.  Humidity is low again so the swamp cooler will work well. 
Yeah, we get ads for drugs constantly on TV.  The long list of side effects is required by the government which I think is stupid.  This is something that should be left to the doctor prescribing the drug and there is always a fact sheet included with the prescription.  I have Psoriasis and once there was an ad for an oral medication that listed possible side effects and one of them was death.  That ended my interest in that.

[bigskygal]

107 this morning. The smoke is much less today, I can even see the clouds in the sky.

90° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 90°/66°.

Oh man the amount of drug ads on TV is crazy! And if you listen to the side effects at the end most are scary. And yes, I have heard a couple that list death as a possible side effect. I guess you would have to be really sick to take that risk...

[walkerwally1]

107 this morning. The smoke is much less today, I can even see the clouds in the sky.

90° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 90°/66°.

Oh man the amount of drug ads on TV is crazy! And if you listen to the side effects at the end most are scary. And yes, I have heard a couple that list death as a possible side effect. I guess you would have to be really sick to take that risk...

Yeah I agree but this was for  Psoriasis and that is hardly a life threatening illness.