Blood sugar

[Princedietrich]

A good friend and colleague of mine has recently been told he's borderline (if not full-blown) diabetic and has been put on metformin, effectively grounding him. What's the safest most effective way for him to get his blood sugar down (WAY down) and under control in a hurry?

 

[11daysoff]

Get him on a good exercise program and a moderated low carb diet. If he is already skinny and in good shape, he could be a type 1 diabetic which is a whole different animal. Get him a good endocrinologist instead of a normal MD, they're much better at treating diabetes. PM me with other questions.

 

[Rally]

A good friend and colleague of mine has recently been told he's borderline (if not full-blown) diabetic and has been put on metformin, effectively grounding him. What's thesafest most effective way for him to get his blood sugar down (WAY down) and under control in a hurry?

Lose weight if he is over weight, drink half your body weight in ounces of water. (so 200 pounds, 100 ounces of water daily) throw in some sea salt (look up water cure), cut the carbs, no bad sugars, like soda, ice cream, etc. Careful on the fruits. Take chromium daily. I'm guessing he has lead a unhealthy lifestyle and its finally catching up with him?

 

[BoilerUP]

My wife lost her medical due to being diagnosed with diabetes she was 21 years old and weighed less than 130lb.

Contrary to popular belief, you CAN get a medical as long as you aren't insulin dependent. My wife was initially diagnosed as a "Type one and a half" and controlled her sugar with a radical diet (cottage cheese?!?) and exercise, in addition to taking Metformin for a couple months. She actually got a First Class reissued to her, but two months later she could no longer control the sugar well and decided to go on insulin because her career wasn't worth her life, especially at that age.

If its not Type I, the best thing your friend can do is what was already said - lose weight yesterday, drink nothing but water, do cardiovascular exercise at least 30 minutes a day, EVERY DAY...45 or 60 minutes would be better. Cut waaaaaaaaay back on carbs. Drink very little or no beer, only dry wines if any alcohol.

I highly recommend Virtual Flight Surgeons; for $40 they'll answer every question your friend has and step him through the process, even assisting with the FAA. VFS is the same people as ALPA Aeromedical, and while AOPA does great work (I've used them as well for various stuff) $40 is a low price to pay to have an MD walk you through this process.

 

[Hugh Johnson]

VFS. Word. Great group, well worth the $40.

 

[Princedietrich]

Thanks for the info, I've passed it along. Hopefully he can get everything straightened out with minimal fuss.