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Permalink Reply by Sweetbear on December 31, 2010 at 8:11am

I feel like diabetes controls my life too. It usually takes my about 1/2 an hour to pack for any kind of outing. I first have to find out how long I will be away from home. Then I have to figure out how many meals and snacks I have to pack for. Then I have to decide whether to bring refrigerated snacks or get out my cooler (another thing to carry around). Some friends have stopped asking me to join them because I give them the third degree about what we are going to do, where we are going, etc.

Whenever I hear someone say "I control my diabetes, it doesn't control me", I have to laugh (and sometimes cry). They must be fortunate, because it sure feels that my diabetes is controlling me. And because I am unemployed (just became a 99er - yuck!), I don't have any health benefits. I have to do a lot of self-diagnosing and research on my own. It is very discouraging.

As much as I hate hearing it from others, hang in there. I don't know if it makes you feel any better, but a lot of people say it to me, hoping it helps. Maybe it's all about the numbers; if enough people say it to us......

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Permalink Reply by Lila on December 31, 2010 at 4:21pm

Hi LiL MaMa, you said you don't feel ready for insulin? What's holding you back (other than being given the runaround by the docs). Insulin is your friend and will help you to manage your BGs. It will give you a lot more control. And it might be a little scary at first but you very soon get used to it. Indeed, my other half finds it easier to give an insulin injection than to put in contact lenses (administering to me or on himself - he also had to learn to poke himself in the hospital when I was being taught)

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Permalink Reply by Michael Hutch on December 31, 2010 at 7:00pm

this is my last bit of info for you

 

it may help put this whole damn thing in perspective...

 

in diabetes, as in life, sometimes its one step forward, and two steps back

 

this powershow talk (podcast) helps you get things right in your head, to help channel the anger, FRUSTRATION, and exhaustion, so its 3 steps forward, no steps back

 

http://www.diabetespowershow.com/DiabetesPowerShow___7.html

 

happy new new year 2011.

michael

 

 

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Permalink Reply by LiL MaMa on January 1, 2011 at 5:52am

I guess it's just the fear of the unknown you know? But also some days I feel exhausted and think I need to go ahead and begin the inevitable insulin and other days I have good numbers and I think "wow maybe I am not ready for insulin just yet". For example this morning my fasting BG was 101, which yes that is rare but still very good! It's usually 110-135 which is still under the 140 mark. So I wonder if my dr. may know what he is doing by saying I'm not there yet in terms of beginning insulin. But other days when I eat very little and spike to 200 I feel I am ready and frustrated! I guess right now my only fear is running out of insulin because of how fast my c-peptide is dropping and that concerns me but I am guessing I will be on insulin sometime before 2011 is over, I am just using this time to prepare and educate myself which is a huge blessing.

This forum has been such a blessing to me as well, you guys are all so awesome and caring and you really know your stuff! Happy New Year to each and everyone of you!!

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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on January 1, 2011 at 6:23am

We better know our stuff, or we wouldn't be here to tell you about it, LOL!!

Happy New Year to you too, and may your problems get solved sooner rather than later!

Smiles,

Natalie ._c-

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Permalink Reply by BadMoonT2 on January 1, 2011 at 6:28am

I wonder if your Dr's reluctance to put you on insulin is that your pancreas is putting out variable amounts of insulin as evidenced by your erratic blood glucose numbers. This would make it impossible to compute the correct insulin dose. Add to this the fact that you would be a new user trying to navigate a difficult learning curve.

As regards exercise, you have to adopt a regime you can stay with for the long term. It will do you no good to burn out, diabetes is a marathon not a sprint.

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Permalink Reply by LiL MaMa on January 1, 2011 at 6:46am

Didn't think about that...you may be right.

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Permalink Reply by Natalie ._c- on January 1, 2011 at 9:36am

I was still producing my own insulin when I went on shots. Exogenous (shot) insulin suppresses your own production, and gives your beta cells a rest. So, like Lynne is doing, you can be on tiny doses, and still get some sort of control, even if not perfect. And it gives you time to learn about insulin, before you lose all insulin production. Even a little bit of your own insulin production makes it easier.

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Permalink Reply by Trudy on January 1, 2011 at 8:08am

Lil MaMa, I wonder if your doctor would consider putting you on a pump.  If you keep careful records, you might find that you are producing insulin at certain times of the day/night.  The easiest way to deal with regular production is with a pump, which can give you next to no insulin at such times and exactly what you need the rest of the time.  You really need to keep complete records for you and your doctor to figure your production times out.  You can also plan to work around the situation on MDI, if you have an idea of what's going on.

 

Just a thought, since I7 years after my dx, I still make a little insulin from about 11AM until about 4:00PM.  On the pump I can program it for a small amount of basal during those hours.  When I'm on MDI, I take three doses of Levemir:  a little first thing in the morning, a little around 2:30PM, the largest dose at bedtime.  Sounds worse than it is; you just get into the habit of doing what you have to do.  Anyhow, good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Trudy on January 1, 2011 at 8:26am

Hi Lynne, yes I was responding to your post.  Your patterns sound similar to mine.  My BG's start going up around 7:00 in the morning, so on MDI, I give myself a little Apidra to fill the gap until  the Levemir takes effect.  I thought my 3 shots of Levemir was peculiar (my endo still does!), but on one of our TuD discussions a number of people said that they also take three.  One advantage is that there are virtually no Levemir peaks to deal with.  When I was on Lantus, I had peaks (lows) with two or even three injections; Levemir is so much better for me.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly WPA on January 1, 2011 at 9:00am

I am someone that also did 3 shots of Levemir.  I knew that I was not getting 12 hour coverage by doing basal testing – my Levemir started fizzling out between 7-8 hours.  If I increased the Levemir, I could extend those hours but then I was running low.  When I did basal testing, I also did it for a full 24 hours so I know that I had fairly even coverage throughout that period.  Doing that worked a lot better than the Lantus rollercoasters I had! 

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Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on January 1, 2011 at 9:28am

It just has a short term, Novolog/ Humalog/ Apidra so, instead of Lantus/ Levemir, it dispenses a thin trickle or drip of 'log all day to cover your basal needs, along with a blast of 'log when you are eating.   The advantage of this is that you can turn it up, if you get sick and are running high, take steroids, etc. or turn it down if you exercise.  I have noticed that a very small change in basal, like .90/hr to .95/ hour will get pretty significant results?  I think that it's hard to duplicate that with shots.  The manufacturers of Lantus and Levemir sort of suggest that they are 'peakless' but I think that some people have noted them peaking, not like 'logs but little bumps?  This can make interpreting data more challenging? 

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