So, I've been a diabetic for almost 8 years now and, I can't even deny it, a really crappy one. I don't test as often as I should, don't shoot very often. A few years ago I ended up in the hospital twice in 6 weeks with DKA. Now, you'd think that this would have made me change and become an amazing diabetic, well it didn't. I've been walking the fine line between just high blood sugar and DKA for the past few years and have been paying the price. I've been dealing with the obvious constant thirst and frequent urination, as well as ridiculous headaches and blurry vision. When these got to be too bad I would take my insulin for the next few meals and then I would just drop back into my poor diabetes habits.
Then at the beginning of last semester I got an UTI from excessive urination at night. And few months ago I started noticing that my hands and feet would go numb a lot and I was getting random joint and lower back pains. After a little WebMDing I think I'm starting to experience diabetic neuropathy. This freaked me out a little thinking that I will have to deal with these ridiculous pains for the rest of my life. Then, I got sick for like the millionth time for the semester and I decided that I was fed up with my poor health.
So I sat down and thought about why my past attempts at taking care of my diabetes haven't worked. I realized it was because it was because the whole task is super overwhelming. I decided to break it down like I do with my school work, into little baby steps.
So for the last week and a half, I've been concentrating on testing my blood sugar and taking insulin at every meal. I'm not working on counting carbs or anything yet. When this starts to become automatic I'm going to try to test and shoot for everything that I eat (which I think I'm going to start on Monday). When I get into doing that I'm going to start adding in counting carbs. And then I'm going to add start working on my diet and maybe exercising (I'm not big on exercising, but my school does have a pretty good gym so who knows)
I'll keep my blog up to date with info on how it's going. Hopefully this will be the last time I have to talk about trying to become a better diabetic :D
excellent plan! reminds me of a great post here, how to make those baby steps
http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/simplestepsforhealth/forum/topics/start-small
let us know about your progress!
Well done! Its a horrible overwhelming diagnosis and so much to learn in how to live with diabetes. People on TuD are so very helpful so don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions. Welcome.
Baby Steps, that's very right way to go... ! Happy to hear!
Yes, and let know your progress too.
Or... if you loose all again,let know and hopefully will be here and try to give you the support to get back on the track again.
Half the battle is admitting it, and starting those first baby steps! We are all proud of you, and are glad you are taking those first steps. You can always find strength and encouragement here on this website. Wishing you the best...