Best thing I saw today, "Diabetics do it 3 times a day" haha

[Revvy]

Well hello there tudiabetes bloggers and random googlers,

sooo life has been interesting lately. Guess what, my A1c went up. 7.3 and i have dangerously low B12 and vitamin D levels. fun fun. So since my pump has not been doing wonders for me ( i was a 6.3 a year ago before i started, now im higher…defeating the point of the pump?!) and ive been diabetic for 5 or 6 years now and i STILL don’t have any decent control over my BG at alllll-- I am thoroughly frustrated.

I saw a new Endo about 2 weeks ago. she wasn’t really all that great. She new next to nothing about the pump and any questions i had she referred me to other doctors/specialists or told me to call medtronic. great. listen lady, If i wanted to call medtronic when im experiencing a high of 350 I would- the point of coming to see you, my lovely new Endo was so that i could get better help! arg! …i wish i still lived in NY, my old Endo was fantastic! oh well- the positive of this doctors trip was that she referred me to a diabetes center nearby where i shall be venturing to next week for a 3 day CGMS test. basically i get to be hooked up to a Continuous glucose monitor ( i wish i could afford one of my own :/) for 3 days and on the 4th day i report back to my doctor, they unhook me and upload the results of the past 3 days. to better see the trends of my BG levels in connection to food, sleep, exercise, etc etc. Im hoping this will help me out.

2 weeks ago i was having hypos every morning. I’m talking numbers like 38, 45, 62…real lows here. then the Endo changed 2 of my basal rates. now Im high all the time. i hate the balancing act of diabetes!!

in better news, I’m becoming even more open with my diabetes. I used to be really hush hush about it and hide it. But frankly that just makes things difficult. And since i don’t eat normally (i limit carbs to usually 35g or less, im a vegetarian, and i hate guessing what restaurant foods are so i don’t really eat out much these days), its a HUGE damper on my social life. [another thing i want to get my BG levels stable so i can at out again and socialize normally. meh] but i digress, like i was saying, I’m finding it easier to just blatantly state that Hey yo, Ive got diabetes, so no, i cant go out for pizza, sorry. while yes sometimes people are uncomfortable or don’t know what diabetes is, or my favorite reaction " oh that’s cool, my grandpa has diabetes"…grr…im finding more so that a lot of people are cool and don’t mind it. (still finger pricking does make alot of my friends queasy lol)

oy. well… I guess eventually my eating will get back to a normal level that i can accompany my friends out to dinner without bringing my own food or just eating salad.

Somedays i curse my diabetes, sometimes I’m thankful for it for the better/stronger person its made me. The other day I was in a supermarket and I saw what appeared to be a cancer patient. Seeing someone who has another disease always makes me grateful for the life i do have, even if i cant eat normally and i have to be connected to my pump, I guess i’d rather have this nuisance than have something worse.

It just gets to me when my perfectly healthy friends down an entire container of ben & jerrys and all they get to complain about is how fat they are. lol.

long rant. lots of incorrect grammar and some typos, hooray!

[Kelly_Rawlings]

3 times a day? How about 8-10?

I think you’ll be amazed by the CGM experience. It reveals a lot about how your body reacts to timing of boluses, meal size and content, etc. The only downside is that it would be better to get several sessions with the temporary CGM rather than just one (which is what most insurance plans cover). The first wearing may reveal some issues (say with basal rates or carb grams and counting), but then it takes a while to tweak all the numbers and it would be nice to wear the CGM while doing that. Still, it’s a great start.

Like Jim, I’ve been amazed through the years at how long it can take to customize your own pump program and meals and … life. The target blood glucose ranges and insulin-to-carb ratios we’re given at first are just starting points. Unfortunately, it takes months of testing and adjustments to fine-tune. And when life changes (gaining or losing weight, the menstrual cycle, new job, new kid, aging–life’s rich pageant) it has to be done all over again. I wish health care providers were a little more open to expressing this. It’s not like “strap on pump, instant control!”

Although you can see by my A1C that I’ve still got some work to do, I find that several things have really helped me tighten control WITHOUT debilitating lows. 1) Frequent basal rate testing. 2) Fine-tuning my insulin-to-carb ratio for various times a day. I used to use 1 unit rapid-acting for 15 gram carb. I resisted changing for years (I’m sure a psychiatrist would enjoy figuring that one out) until I finally concluded that I really NEED 1 unit to 8 grams at breakfast and 1 unit to 12 grams at other times unless I eat less than 30 grams of carb at the meal or I’ve exercised for more than 30 minutes. 3) I’ve tried to use chalky glucose tabs instead of other things to treat lows. I think I overtreated lows for years, which lead to later highs, and more corrections–viscous cycle! 4) Regular exercise. I’m lazy. I hate it. But my blood sugars love it!

Good luck. Can’t wait to hear how the CGM experience helps you!

[Joe]

hey Revvy, nothing more to add 'cept 7.3% low D, low B12… me too exactly. You are not alone!

[Revvy]

to Jim: you cut out ALL carbs? or just most of them? I thought i was cutting alot of them out >< I’m a vegetarian so it is a bit hard to eat low carb since alot of meat substitutes do have some carbs as opposed to things like chicken being 0 grams. Im convinced my roller coaster numbers are due to wrong carb ratios and basal rates, ive never been stable- even on shots. and ive tried like every insulin out their. Right now im on Apridra, and i still have to wait 30 min for the medicine to “kick in”, in a manner of speaking, before i start eating, otherwise i will end up 300 after a meal. its pretty ridiculous

Kelly: thanks for sharing your own experience with the CGM, i have even more hope now! and AH OMG! yes i completely agree with you on life’s fun changes, weight, the cycle, school- and how providers need to realize that its not a one time setting and bam you’re good to go. I would love to have some personal one-on-one team care but i’ve yet to find that so for now, all you lovelies at TD have given me a lot better advice then some of my docs lol.

Joe: yay! i thought maybe it was just be because I am a vegetarian. hmm. do you do /take anything for your low levels of D and B?

[Joe]

yea doctor put me on Rx D, once weekly and I take a boatload of generic B12 (2000’s) from CVS. I get a new blood panel in about 3 weeks and I’ll report back if it’s working! low b12 seems scary to me, too many nerve ending complications so I got right on the vitamin bandwagon after I got my first “bad” blood panel. hope you are feeling better!!!