Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by sweety1691 on May 12, 2012 at 11:04am

hmm there is a price problem..... but i do not want to go to my doctor at this point of time though he is among the best doctor..... because i do not want my parents to know about this... as the so called councellers always say now u are big enough try and manage your diabetes yourself and stop troubling your parents....

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on May 6, 2012 at 2:52pm

I would second the folks who say try using different insulin, but I do not know if what we're recommending is actually available to you in India. If it is, then go for it — it will definitely be better than what you're using. If it isn't, then I would suggest that you need to experiment with an ultra low-carb diet — and given how much I love Indian food myself it hurts to even suggest this, but it means giving up rice, breads, potatoes, and anything sweetened with sugar and focusing on legumes, meat, and leafy vegetables above all. So instead of your chapati, some lentils with spinach, maybe. (My parents had an Indian exchange student living with us when I was just a small child, and chapatis are comfort food to me... so I really hate saying that... but it might help.)

Did a quick search on insulins in India, and it doesn't look to me like there are any available products that separate short and long-acting insulins — Novo NOrdisk lists only mixed formulas. But perhaps trying one of those is the answer.

But DON'T blame yourself and don't give up! This disease is a tough one to figure out (and then just when you do, the weather changes and you have to adjust) but you will find the right keys to unlock your patterns if you persevere.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by sweety1691 on May 12, 2012 at 11:09am

it is actually a very tough job.... i have no problem in sacrificing oily but yummy stuff like paranthas and puri but.... cant replace chapati as in that case my mom will surely give a 2 hour speech on regular basis as it is a must take diet in india... but i will surely try to convince her.... fingers crossed... :) thanx :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 6, 2012 at 3:34pm

I agree with above comments. 70/30 N+R is terrible. Mixing the insulins averages out their effect. Regular is okay, but NPH is bad new, period, IMO. If Lantus or Levemir are unavilable, switch to Lente, or better yet UltraLente. And do not mix it with anything. Take 2 shots if necessary.

Gary is technically correct. From what I gather, most of us T1s have very poor control. With proper diet, treatment, and detrmination it is possible to achieve normal or near normal BG levels. It's not easy, but you can do it.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gary on May 6, 2012 at 4:02pm

The way I see it If you can still enjoy life with sugars all over the map then your a better person then I. Near normal glucose is possible a decent percentage of the time but at a price to pay of many hypoglycemic episodes. Also if you don't mind being a pin cushion testing all day long and live a very structured simple life trying to avoid stress at all costs. To this day I am still baffled how many diabetics are rather ok living with it. I feel like I get run over by a mac truck nearly every day with a few peaceful moments here and there, I don't think I can ever accept the fact of my reality.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 6, 2012 at 6:11pm

According to your profile, you have been diabetic (t1 i'm assuming) >30 years. You should be used to it by now.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by sweety1691 on May 12, 2012 at 11:18am

i am 20... and no i am not used to it yet.... actually it has worsened in college days.... school days were the best.....

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by christy on May 6, 2012 at 6:40pm

Gary Im not trying to minimize your issues, I truly think u are miserable feeling...but maybe ACCEPTACNE is key. I mean life is unfair and its a crappy hand we've all been dealt, but we can either try our best, keep our blood sugars under as good of control as possible OR we can cry about it day in and day out, and nothing changes and we are miserable. I refuse to let D do that to me. I've been diabetic close to 30 years, but I refuse to cry and moan about it and let that consume me, Im going to live my life to the absolute fullest I can. Maybe if you just learned to accept your fate, maybe that would be HALF the battle.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by acidrock23 on May 6, 2012 at 6:45pm

Yeah, I don't even bother being bothered by it. it's there.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on May 12, 2012 at 8:10pm

I'm not trying to discourage. I'm just being accurate.

I've had poor control for most of my life. Despite my best efforts, and those of my doctors, my BG has often spiraled dangerously out of control. As a 130lb 14 year old, at my doctor's direction, I remember injecting over 75u at a time every day. When I visit a doctor, they always tell me a lower my A1C is preferable, but the only advice they can offer is to take more insulin. When I ask how I am doing, they usually reply "a lot better than most of my other T1 patients."

I live in the US. Arguably, the richest and among the most technologically advanced country the world. I can only imagine what it is like to be T1, among the 2/3 of the world that don't have running water, or where a bottle of insulin or test strips = a week's salary.

It's simply the truth. Bad became the new normal when it replaced terrible. Treatment can only improve, but will be slow and difficult.

I have finally achieved some measure of good control with a very restricted diet, largely thanks to information i've gotten from this site.

Everyone says "get a pump" or "use synthetic insulin". These options are available to only a small minority of us, are very expensive, and are not always effective. In my experience, humalog, novolog, apidra etc. are only slightly different from Regular.

First of all, the poster needs a basic understanding of diabetes. Hopefully, she has access to the books others have recommended. Then, she needs the confidence to tell people: "I can't eat this", or "I need to take a shot now." And she needs to understand how vital this is.

I agree that there are T1 members here with excellent control. Unfortunately, they are very much the exception, rather than the rule.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by sweety1691 on May 23, 2012 at 6:23am

^-^

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on May 6, 2012 at 4:08pm

If you can afford the mixtard, you can afford to get NPH and R. And you can establish a proper basal (NPH) insulin dose to keep your fasting blood sugars stable during the day. And then when you eat, you can count the carbs in your meal and dose you bolus (R) properly. I really liked the book "Using Insulin" which helped me understand insulin management. Have confidence, you can get better control.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page