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Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 8:11:05 AM
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R8chel
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This is a thread for anything related to Diabetes.
Please post your struggles, encouragement, healthy eating tips and ideas, exercise plans, coping skills.... you name it!
Disclaimer: Nothing posted here should replace any doctor's advice. Please talk to your doctor before changing your eating habits or lifestyle.
Please do not try to 'fix' anyone else!
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 8:12:20 AM
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R8chel
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...... Hi, my name is Rachel. I have been living with Diabetes for less than 10 years now.
I will be back to post more later!
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 2:44:13 PM
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rayofson
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I found out that I have diabetes in the hospital emergency room after a heart attack. They checked my blood sugar and it was between 500-600. They kept giving me injections of insulin and it didn't go down very much. Finally the Dr. came in an said that I was "full-blown diabetic".
After a hospital stay and seeing the dieticians, I was sent home to try and figure out the real-world of carb counting. The primary care physician put me on Metformin (Glucophage), and the daily insulin injections became less and less until I didn't have to stick myself every day, only when the blood sugar went high. The more I figured out the carb count thing, the less I had to make insulin corrections until that went away too.
I still count carbs, but I haven't had to inject insulin in many months now. Not having to take the insulin is a major incentive to stay on the carb counting diet.
Over the last 15 months or so, I've lost about 70 pounds. In that time, it seems that I'm more tolerant of foods that have a higher glycemic index. Things don't spike the blood sugar as bad as they used to, but I still watch what I eat and still avoid some foods altogether, like cake, pancakes, juice...stuff like that.
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Please don't feed the Ogre.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 2:48:41 PM
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Miss Giggles
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quote:
ORIGINAL: 2jsmom
It can. I work in a hospital lab and we see that quite a bit. Infections can make the numbers go up too.
Yeah I knew about the infections but wasn't sure about the stress.
I am at risk for it, i just had a physical so hopefully I don't have it yet. But yeah I am real stressed out right now.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 3:39:26 PM
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2jsmom
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I hope pre-diabetics can join in here too. My husband and I are both on the border. I've lost 38 pounds and started exercising nearly every day. That and changing my diet has brought my numbers back into normal range for now. With our family medical histories and a pre existing condition of mine, it's pretty much inevitable that we'll be facing diabetes some day. We're just trying to put it off for as long as we can.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 5:08:52 PM
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doinkdom
Posts: 3488
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Type II Diabetes here. Taking Metformin.
I found that if I eat one leafy salad a day and do nearly any kind of exercise every other day...it keeps my sugars in check.
I'm tellin' ya...for me...cutting out all fast food was a huge part of bringing down my blood sugar levels. A HUH-uge part!
Now...my blood sugar is around 110 all the time.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 5:26:40 PM
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Mrs.Wifey
Posts: 526
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Insulin Resistant here... I have been on and off of Metformin, it makes so stinking sick that I am opting to control things with diet/exercise. I may try something like Actos but I haven't had a sit down chat with my new doctor yet.
Both of my parents are diabetics so I know it's coming, we've already made many of the necessary lifestyle changes which is a big help.
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Ryanne- trying hard to be my husband's girlfriend and my daughter's mother.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 8:03:27 PM
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Elena1030
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I applaud all of you who are working hard to lose weight and eat healthy so that you can get off of insulin/pills.
I'm type 1, so I'm on insulin till a cure is found. I was diagnosed in '86, late summer before going into 6th grade. It was a tough adjustment.
I can eat anything I want, as long as I bolus (take an amount of insulin, via pump) for the total carbs (be they starchy or sugary). Still it's wisest for me to eat healthy, as every human should.
What frustrates me the most is how unpredictable my diabetes can be. Some days, it takes seemingly forever to get blood sugars to come down. Other days they plummet.
Plummeting often happens when I'm more active than usual (like when doing blitzkrieg cleaning!).
What are your frustrations?
What helpful tools have you found?
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"LORD, You light my lamp; my God illuminates my darkness."—Psalm 18:28, HCSB
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 8:12:33 PM
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rayofson
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The other meds that I'm on (blood pressure, diuretics) plug me up so badly that the Metformin makes it a little better.
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Please don't feed the Ogre.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 9:50:56 PM
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JustaFan
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I'm curious, how low can your blood sugar go before you start feeling uncomfortable? I am still able to function when mine is way down. I've been down to 49, and was still able to walk around. It was not a good feeling, but I was still okay. However, my father, is also diabetic. He says he begins to feel shaky when he goes below 100. Me, I feel upset with myself if I'm not below 100 in the morning.
What kind of levels work for you?
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/19/2009 11:14:52 PM
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cherish405
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I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a couple of years after being diagnosed with PCOS.
We have a different system over here. We're supposed to keep our blood sugars between 3.5 and 7 here. Eight is badly controlled and then anything over is horrendous. When I was first diagnosed, I think I was something like about 23.
For me, going below 3.5 doesn't feel comfortable. I start feeling off at about 4, but I'm still ok. Years ago I had surgery and was told to continue taking diabetic meds. I was hysterical. I was screaming for somebody to undo the surgery I'd just had done, and if nobody would do it, I'd do it myself. On an offchance, I took my blood sugar level. It was 1.8. No wonder I'd gone completely loopy! I wonder how much long and I would have been in a diabetic coma.
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Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend;
inside of a dog, it's too dark too read
~ Groucho Marx ~
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 6:51:19 AM
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A-Mighty-Oak
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I've been told that if your sugar goes below 100, that you need to up your blood sugar count immediately.
Also, what is wrong with Metformin? I am presently taking that and it seems to be helping me. I am having a hard time with my diet right now but seem to have settled on Raisin Bran cereal and fat free milk. Its the only thing that doesn't make me feel sick at all.
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Humbleinspirit's new home
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 8:08:19 AM
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R8chel
Posts: 968
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...... y'all make me smile! I love the encouragement here!
Questions of the day:
What symptoms did you have leading up to the diagnosis of diabetes?
What type of diabetes do you live with?
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 8:12:31 AM
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R8chel
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...... I guess I'll answer while I'm here! 
A few years ago, I kept getting really shaky around 2 pm. It was very hard to focus on my work.... after a few weeks of this I finally went to the doctor. The doctor said everything was fine... but just to humor me, he sent me to the hospital to take the 'big' test. The results were positive. (What an icky test... right guys?  )
I am 'borderline' diabetic. I can still control my blood sugar levels with diet and exercise.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 9:49:12 AM
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cherish405
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Symptoms I had before being diagnosed? I didn't know that they were symptoms at the time, but I was feeling really tired all the time, and I started getting a lot more thirsty than usual.
_____________________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend;
inside of a dog, it's too dark too read
~ Groucho Marx ~
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 11:53:38 AM
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JustaFan
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quote:
been told that if your sugar goes below 100, that you need to up your blood sugar count immediately.
My endocrinologist says anything above 80 is all right. Keeping it between 80 and 120 is the goal. Or, keeping your A1C at 7 or under.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 11:56:06 AM
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JustaFan
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quote:
Also, what is wrong with Metformin? I am presently taking that and it seems to be helping me.
I have been taking it for about three years. At first it made my stomach mildly upset, but that went away.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 11:56:53 AM
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A-Mighty-Oak
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My diagnosis was made from a separate reason of being in the hospital. I do know I was tired a lot before that and sometimes would get sick and not hold down food at all.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 12:44:45 PM
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Mrs.Wifey
Posts: 526
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From: The Gorgeous plains of Colorado
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quote:
Also, what is wrong with Metformin?
Nothing is wrong with it per se, I just have bad side effects. Both of my parents take it without any issues at all.
quote:
What symptoms did you have leading up to the diagnosis of diabetes?
I don't really have any "symptoms" because I don't have full blown diabetes. My symptoms are more in the way of PCOS which is exacerbated by my being insulin resistant.
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Ryanne- trying hard to be my husband's girlfriend and my daughter's mother.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 10:01:30 PM
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rayofson
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I was told to keep the blood sugar between 70 and 120, with an upper limit of 150. Higher than that and it's the insulin to bring it down. If it gets below 80, I start getting shaky. Usually I can maintain it between 80 and 115. On occasion it gets up to 135 or so, which tells me that I'm not counting carbs closely enough.
Years ago, there was a fasting blood sample at work for a physical. The test results came back with a blood sugar level of 42. The nurse was very concerned about that. I was diagnosed at the time as hypoglycemic. My dad has that too. If I fast, the blood sugar drops out the bottom. The nurse wrote an official note that I was encouraged to eat. That was humorous to my friends because I've always been known as a big eater, so I kept that on my desk for years. 
_____________________________
Please don't feed the Ogre.
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RE: Living with Diabetes... - 6/20/2009 10:07:03 PM
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rayofson
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One thing that I would suggest if anyone is having problems with maintaining blood sugar within limits by diet, is to get rid of the white bread. Throw it out and buy (or bake your own) multi-grain high fiber bread. The best ones for blood sugar are the ones with the highest fiber content.
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Please don't feed the Ogre.
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I'm not a fan of Metformin either, but I continue to take it cause it helps me for now. The dr. gave me a prescription for something else, but my insurance would not cover it. 
