On 07-05-05 THOM LACOSTA Outgassed to DAVE DRUM about Herbals

TL> DD> Sorry, I am _SO_ far behind in my FIDO replies. I do a 400mg
TL> DD> capsule of  GS4 (a water soluble extract) in a cup of tea at
TL> DD> least once a day. It  enhances the action of my body's natural
TL> DD> insulin and seems to lower my  fasting glucose levels. 

TL>I found some tablets in 400 mg strength....I am taking 1 per day, and
TL>I've noticed that the blood sugar is lower.....and my appetite isn't
TL>nearly as ravenous as before. 

At first I thought "How wonderful. An herbal remedy that does what this 
prescription stuff does." Then it dawned on me that what most of the 
drug houses do is to find, extract and codify (and PATENT) native, old 
wives', natural, herbal, etc. remedies and market them under newer, 
slicker names under prescription at VERY high markup - with the 
collusion of the FDA, Patent office and AMA.

TL> DD> I knew it was relatively effective when I began getting low
TL> DD> blood sugar  episodes (shakes, sweats, headache) shortly after
TL> DD> beginning usage. I  have dropped my dosage of Amaryl to 25% of
TL> DD> what my croaker prescribes.  

TL>The affects are not so profound here.....that would really be great
TL>to be able to reduce the meds....I am also on Amaryl and Actos.

My croaker tends to throw pills at everything. I had already cut his 
prescribed dosage (8 mg/day) of Amaryl in half before I started on the 
Gymnema. Fortunately, I am well read enough that I can sort of self 
medicate within his prescriptions.

TL> DD> The gymnema has also, seemingly, allowed me to start losing
TL> DD> weight once  more ... and, I if I can peel down to near 200# I
TL> DD> may be able to ditch  the other 2mg of Amaryl. The bad part is
TL> DD> that the pee pills that I have  to take are what caused the
TL> DD> diabetes - a side effect they didn't warn me about. FEH!!!

TL>Interesting.....I can attribute mine to heredity, bad diet and the
TL>real culprit, lack of exercise.  When I did a lot of physical work, I
TL>never had the problems with diabetes.

TL>I do know that exercise is a big help.....I am now riding my bike
TL>between 1 and 2 hours a day......feel a LOT better.

I get a fairish amount of low impact exercise. What caused my problems 
was untreated high blood pressure. Whooo Boy! Damaged my kidneys which 
led to bloating with fluids, which then caused the congestive heart 
failure, which led to .... Anyway - they wrung 100 lbs of water weight 
out of me in seven days in hospital. When I was released I took blood 
pressure medicine and pee pills. It wasn't until six months after I had 
been on the furosemide that I became diabetic. I am told by others that 
six months is pretty typical. I don't like it - but, it's nice to know 
that I am not excessively weird in what has caused my diabetes.

Fortunately my RD is most emphatically not a food Nazi. I can talk 
things over with her - and we trade tips about formerly "sinful" foods 
that are available in tasty versions that do not affect my glucose 
levels ... such as Edy's (Dreyer's on the left coast) and Blue Bunny I 
Scream in the "No-Sugar-Added" formulations.

ENJOY!!!
--------
UNCLE DIRTY DAVE'S KITCHEN --
Home of Yaaaaa Hooooo Aaahhh!!! HOT SAUCE and Hardin Cider 

"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you 
like and let the food fight it out inside."  --Mark Twain 



... "Rabbit au gratin de gelatine under tooled leather... drool, drool!"

"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope." George Burns
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