Fasting BG 2021

[Tamagno]

248 this morning (failed CGM sensor).

Wally, I hope your BIL feels better quickly. Must have given you both quite a scare. Often these are very treatable and I hope that's the case for him.

Well, I thought I'd posted yesterday but I guess my somewhat lengthy and undoubtedly overly philosophical treatise on dreams was not meant to be read - likely just as well.

Anyway, as of today my wife is retired from her clinic position but will keep her private office and work two days a week on a limited schedule. Should be interesting for us both.

[Grammabear]

114 this morning.

Wally - How is your BIL today?  I am glad you called 911 for him.  I hope when he gets home, he will rest a little.  Also, after reading your post about dreams and learning of your service in Vietnam - "Thank you for your service to our country".

Tamagno - Retirement is a whole another world.  Hope that both you and your wife will find happy things to do.

[walkerwally1]

84 this morning.  BIL came home yesterday and is doing well.  He had an artery completely blocked and they put a stent in and just had to stay in the hospital overnight.  He has some meds to take and was told to take it easy for about 2 weeks to let the stent become attached so it won't move but he is feeling good.  I looked at his discharge papers and his lipid panel is really quite good.  Everything is within the normal range, cholesterol 159, so interesting that there would be a blockage.  He is much more receptive now to observing a healthier lifestyle.  We will see how long that lasts.  I'm glad we called 911 instead of waiting to see if it got better.  Just a lesson that it is not wrong to get help even if it doesn't seem that bad. 
Grammabear, I am just fortunate that I have never had any kind of PTSD from the experience.  Some have had real problems dealing with it but I was able to adjust and bad dreams have never been a problem.   

[bigskygal]

87 this morning. Still smoky but somewhat better. I wonder if I will ever see the sky this Summer?

81° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 82°/54°.

Wally, glad to hear BIL is doing well. You were smart to call 911 right away. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for him to look at his eating habits.

Tamagno, Grammabear is right, retirement is a whole different world. Of course since she is still going to be working some, you will still have some alone time. When my late DH retired I too retired as we moved up to our weekend place in the mountains. It took a bit of adjusting to get used to being together 24/7/365 but we enjoyed travelling and camping so it was a fun time.

[skb]

I looked at his discharge papers and his lipid panel is really quite good.  Everything is within the normal range, cholesterol 159, so interesting that there would be a blockage.   

That's a well known fact. In the UK there was a study which looked at lipid panels of a 160,000 patients admitted to hospital for various kinds of heart related issues. This is exactly what they found. Further follow up revealed that mortality was lowest among the patients with higher lipid numbers. Go figure.

113 today morning. My strips were ordered quite a while back and I think that the moisture has got to them. I'm getting readings all over the place without plausible cause.

[Tamagno]

179 this morning.

Wally, I'm glad things are going well for your brother-in law. Its surprising how quickly people are sent home following these episodes. 

I wonder when the medical community will change their stance on cholesterol? Heavens, that could mean that McDonalds will once more be making those yummy french fries with trans fats!

[Grammabear]

100 this morning.

My PCP doesn't even check my cholesterol anymore because I am allergic to statin drugs.  I do take fish oil capsules to try and moderate my numbers which are not good according to her.  On the other hand she does recommend things like eggs, butter and whole milk yogurt for healthy eating.  It's hard to know what is approved by the medical community anymore.

Wally - Did your BIL receive any medical advice on what he should be eating when he was discharged from the hospital?

[walkerwally1]

98 this morning.  Starting to get some smoke from the fires in Northern California all the way down here which is unusual as the winds usually go to the East.  One fire has become the third largest in California history and has completely destroyed one town.  Two fires in the local mountains are 95% contained.
My BIL hasn't been given any information yet other than taking the meds prescribed but has an appointment with the doctor in two weeks.  That doctor wants to get his cholesterol even lower and has prescribed a statin.  I don't put much faith in doctors diet recommendations.  He will be setting up an appointment with a local doctor.  He has never had a PCP and didn't think there was a reason until now.
Grammabear, I don't understand why your doctor doesn't check your lipids even if you are allergic to statins.  There are other ways to lower cholesterol and triglycerides are important also.  My triglycerides were over 500 at one time and diet helped but I have been taking Fenofibrate for a  few years and they are now well within the normal range.  I also like to keep track of HDL and diet can help with that.

[Grammabear]

Wally - It might be different for you as you are a veteran, but my PCP does not get reimbursed very well for my care from Medicare.  She does not run an A1C for me only once a year even though I am Type 1.  She is not a bad doctor, but she does take heat from her Boss when she does not prescribe statin for everyone diabetic.  It is all politics in a way.  Everyone wants a piece of the "pie".

[bigskygal]

119 this cloudy/hazy morning. Not quite sure where that came from but oh well.

82° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is much lower at 66°/52°. The smoke cleared out fairly well yesterday, some of today's haze may be smoke...

It does seem odd Grammabear, that your pcp doesn't check your cholesterol. Mine always checks mine. And since he hasn't lectured me on the results, I guess the numbers are OK.

[skb]

A doctor is usually fed info and statistics by reps of the drug companies. In the end all they remember is which drug is for what condition and their interest doesn't go beyond that. However, the most important aspect of any drug's working is it's metabolic pathway. What happens to the drug after you take it. How does it go about carrying out its intended mission. More importantly, is there any collateral damage. If they started looking into these things prescriptions would come down by more than half. There are 2 very important stats for any drug which are ignored, the efficacy and the %age of people likely to benefit. Both of these are pretty low for almost all known drugs. Drugs should be used only as the last resort and not as a first choice. 

135 today morning.

[bigskygal]

A doctor is usually fed info and statistics by reps of the drug companies. In the end all they remember is which drug is for what condition and their interest doesn't go beyond that. However, the most important aspect of any drug's working is it's metabolic pathway. What happens to the drug after you take it. How does it go about carrying out its intended mission. More importantly, is there any collateral damage. If they started looking into these things prescriptions would come down by more than half. There are 2 very important stats for any drug which are ignored, the efficacy and the %age of people likely to benefit. Both of these are pretty low for almost all known drugs. Drugs should be used only as the last resort and not as a first choice. 

135 today morning.

Amen!

[Grammabear]

115 this morning.

skb - Amen to your post.  For me the statin drugs inflicted more misery and pain than they were supposed to fix.  I have a known sensitivity to a lot of drugs and sometimes the doctors lecture me like it is MY fault their drugs do not work for me.  Never once has any of them said "maybe we can find something that will work for you."

It is raining at my house today which is the first time in weeks.  It is so good to see rain and maybe we will get enough to make the grass turn green again.

[Tamagno]

133 this morning.

I know an MD who took statins, wasn't careful about foods you're not allowed to eat while on them and lost most of the muscle in one calf.

A similar example is Xarelto which is a blood thinner similar to Cumidin. Its not covered by any part of Medicare and costs about $350/month. If you look closely at its efficacy stats you soon realize its no better than low-dose aspirin.

Best to simply avoid prescription meds whenever possible.

[Grammabear]

133 this morning.

I know an MD who took statins, wasn't careful about foods you're not allowed to eat while on them and lost most of the muscle in one calf.

A similar example is Xarelto which is a blood thinner similar to Cumidin. Its not covered by any part of Medicare and costs about $350/month. If you look closely at its efficacy stats you soon realize its no better than low-dose aspirin.

Best to simply avoid prescription meds whenever possible.

Wow!  That MD sounds a lot like my reaction to statins.  I took Crestor every day for over 3 years.  One morning I woke up with severe pain in my legs and could barely get out of bed.  I called the GPs office and got an appointment.  I could barely walk enough to make it into the office.  GP took me off one statin and put me on another.  It also produced the same severe muscle pain.  It took me almost a year after stopping all statins before I could walk unassisted.