medications

[jeannies]

I have high blood preasure.  My doctor has me own lotensin or it's generic version.  My blood preasure has been high since before I found out I was a diabetic.    He also has me on pravachol.  My cholestrol was high before I was told I was a diabetic.  It has read the same since I have been on this drug.  Would it be wiser to change either of the drugs or to add plavix?  I have been on pravachol for at least 6 years and diabetic only two.

Another area I have noticed in your forum, is the effect of caffine on blood sugars.  My blood sugars do go up when I drink caffenated products. I can not have products with nutrasweet as they do make me ill.  I am limited to what I can drink.

Any help would be appreciated

[JDRF-Team-ES]

Sounds like you have a lot of medical things going on, which always makes life even more complicatd for someone with diabetes.  I am not a doctor and your questions really should be addressed to a physiscian familiar with all of these issues and your particular health history.  Finding the right medications and the right combination of medications can be a little tricky.  These are not matters to be trusted to your friendly volunteer or even someone you know with similar issues.  So, my only advice is to go back to your physician or if you are not comfortable with the advice you are getting, get asecond opinion.

As far as the caffeine and Nutrasweet issue goes, you might want to try a natural sweetener called Stevia. You can get it in health food stores and it is all natural and not made from any chemicals.  The only problem I have had with it is that it dissolves better in hot or warm drinks than in cold drinks.  If caffeine raises your blood sugar, you might want to try some of the flavored herbal teas.  There are so many varieties and flavors and with the Stevia, you could still have that sweet treat without raising your blood sugar. I really like the Raspberry herbal tea and it is especially good iced.  Good luck.

[jeannies]

Thank you for your comments.  What kind of questions should I ask him?  My blood preassure used to only go up when I went into his office.  The old white coat syndrome.  The cholestrol hasn't gone down but he didn't seem to be concerned at first until the new standards came out.  Even off the pravachol for 2 months when my husband was down last year, then going back on it showed no difference.  So I do think that the medicine is not working.  I just hate to keep adding new medications to the list.  My diabetes is diet controlled.  I don't know if I'm getting the right questions to him or the right answers.  So I feel stuck in coming up with the right questions.

[JDRF-Team-LRS]

Hi Jeannies,
Another volunteer, non-physician here.  I'm a long time Type 1 diabetic.

If you're not being followed by an endocrinologist for your diabetes, I'd recommend that you ask for a referral to one.  Endos specialize in our disease (among others) and will be able to help evaluate your meds.  You seem to be on top of your "numbers" and that's terrific.  Bring those numbers along with you to your appointment and tell the doc that you'd like to have better numbers -- be as specific as you can.  Perhaps s/he will recommend diet or exercise changes in addition to all that you're doing.

Another sweetener that's not artificial is Splenda.  It's an variation of a sugar molecule, and unlike Sweet 'n' Lo and Nutrasweet, it has nothing fake in it.  That's available all supermarkets and large drug stores, Walmart, etc.

In the warmer weather, I've "discovered" the joys of iced decaf.  I recently gave up caffeine due to the spike I could no longer pretend didn't happen.  ;-)  Some of the herbal teas are a real treat, too.  When all the "can't do this 'n' that" starts to get you down, try to shift your focus to all that you CAN do and all that you ARE doing to keep yourself as healthy as can be.  That might lift your spirits a bit.

Hope this has been helpful.