I guess acceptance is looking death right in the eyes and knowing it is just a matter of time. Maybe we are not meant to live this long.
I know my heart will not keep up with all this strain on it. My attempts to lose weight have failed, no matter what I have done.
I am no longer on any medication, and the blood shot eyes, shaking, blurred vision, waking up sick to my stomach, and really bad attacks of sleepiness are back.
There is nothing to take. All of the others can cause pancreatitis, heart failure, kidney disease, or weight gain, which would load my poor heart up more.
It has become neurotic listening to diabetic educators. They must think we can prescribe our own drugs. “Why don’t you try glipizide?” Why don’t I? Because I do not have a prescription pad.
I think they have bits and pieces of information and throw it out, but they are not more “expert” than anyone on here.
I am tired of feeling like someone in the dark, bumbling along blindly, not knowing what to do.
Frankly, no one knows what to do, yet all I hear is how we can control this disease.
How?
Taking glucose readings mean nothing. So I get a high or low reading. Okay, I know what it says. But I can’t change what is happening.
I know I have to accept this is the slow decline to my life. I am not willing to become an invalid, or lose my job or my health insurance. If I lose my job, I have no income. I am not willing to be subject to the state aid people who think we are all morons and they are the intelligent ones. I cannot bear it.
Maybe man was not meant to live this long. It sure seems like it.
But beyond that, there is NO NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT. You can control diabetes perfectly without losing a pound if you cut back on the carbs. It isn’t easy but it is a whole lot better than letting yourself deteriorate. Buy yourself a copy of Protein Power and eat exactly what they describe for two weeks and see what happens. You might amaze yourself at how much better your feel.
If cutting the carbs doesn’t do the job, then you need insulin. End of story. Insulin causes NONE of the side effects you listed. It always works when prescribed properly. In many states you can buy R and NPH insulin and some needles without a prescription.
I cannot stress how much better you will feel with your blood sugar back in control. High blood sugars which swing up and down cause depression. Flatten the blood sugar and you will feel so much better.
The blurry vision is from fluctuating blood sugars not anything more serious and goes away when you cut the carbs.
So hang in there. Join one of the low carb support discussion groups if you need practical help in getting started and sticking with it. When you diet only to control blood sugar you can eat enough to feel completely fed and not have the whole dieter’s misery thing to deal with.
Renee, I can’t have dairy, no cheese or sourcream…but your recipe sounds good. I do eat low carb. No grains, just tofu, soy, fish, eggs, meat, and vegetables. Occasionally some low sugar fruit like blueberries. I am very familiar with low carb, since I was on the Atkins diet long ago.
It is hard when you cannot have dairy though!
Jenny, will look for the book…I have a coupon for Borders! I REALLY have to lose weight. I have been dealing with chest pain and am going to a cardiologist next week. My doc has me on two BP meds, one being an ACE inhibitor to protect my heart. My family dies of heart attacks and strokes. Being heavy is burdening my heart. It is very very hard for me to lose weight because of my insulin resistance.
But I have to lose weight, because if I don’t my heart is gonna give out.
It also makes me feel like a mushroom. Carrying around extra weight is tiring, and that adds to the diabetic fatigue.
I went to the store today and read every label. The only sugary food in the house is raisins for my son.
I bought vegetables, meat, tofu, crumbled soy for adding to dishes (low carb).
I am going to have to come up with QUICK stuff I can grab before work and eat at work when I don’t get an official lunch time. I have used some peanut packets (peanuts, no sugar) or walnuts, or small cans of plain tuna or salmon. Drab, yeah, but quick, and I can pack it and eat it in minutes, and it will keep…
I will ask my doc about the insulin, but I bet he will say I am not bad off enough for it.
I have gotten aggressive with him, and sometimes, using colorful expletives, such as “my ■■■” really will make them stop the ignoring and dismissing.
Jenny, something about what you said about not dieting to lose weight, but to control blood sugar…years ago, I went on Atkins, just to try it, not to see if I could lose weight on it, but to see if I could do it, first. I wanted to lose weight, but just focused on eating low carb. I didn’t eat steaks dripping in butter, but I did eat lean meats, fish, lots of big salads full of vegetables, some nuts sprinkled on them, maybe chicken or meat in it. I lost 7 pounds in 2 weeks, and I would attribute half of that to water weight, but still…
Renee, if you mean General Tso’s chicken, yeah, tasty stuff but one of those with a nice sugary sauce. Try getting some plain Wasabi powder and mixing it with low sodium soy sauce (that’s what the Japanese restaurants do) and it’s a nice spiced up sauce to dip meat or vegetables in.
Olives are good too, and the oil in them is good for you. Dieticians will say no. “Too much fat!” they say, but then they tell you to have 2 cookies.
I know that 2 cookies will make me have nightmares about having cookies and I will crave sweets.
Renee, appreciate the offer. I just don’t weigh often because it demoralizes me. I went 6 months on 1200 calories and an hour of exercise a day and lost 4 pounds. My doc thought that was great. I then gave up exercising, because I thought I was wasting my time.
A question about Metformin…does it cause excessive diarrhea BECAUSE someone is eating too many carbs, or it just DOES that?
I read somewhere that if you eat too many carbs, it will give you the runs.
Renee, I would like someone to share ideas with and support with for losing weight, because it is so hard for us. I don’t know if I will get off the hypertensive meds if I lost weight, because my mom has always been skinny, and she has high blood pressure and high cholesterol (familial).
It is going to be my goal to eat low on the food chain.
Sort of like a hunter.
Who has stir fried vegetables!
i think you should look at this disease as a burden but a chance to take advantage of a healthy lifestyle; i know many non-diabetics who are very unhealthy compared to myself and other diabetics i know. I think if you incorporate a bit of non-strenuous activity such as walking a little bit everyday it will really help reduce stress and keep a balance with your sugars; I have found that not thinking about the negatives that could come ahead and just living each day has really helped my sugar fluctuation. We could always have much worse, but i’m quite glad to have something in the power of my hands to control and take to my advantage of being forced to live a healthy lifestyle. You have to look at how you can control this disease and not let it control you, i’ve felt every bit of frustration from worrying about complications to wondering what my peers will think of me injecting insulin or going on the pump, but worrying is just not worth it and will only make things worse; screw those who may look at this disease as a disability, we are completely able and in control of our own lives - you just have to wake every morning and smile that you are alive and today is just another challenge and step to reaching another goal in life, take advantage and control and don’t let it get you down, be happy for what you have accomplished thus far
