Diabetes and me

My
mother was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2000. I knew because it ran in
our family that I would eventually get it, but did not think it would
hit me until I was at least my mothers age.

For most of my teenage and adult life, I have had medical problems. It all started when I was about 15, my periods became very irregular, ie; I
would have it one month, and then not have it for 3 months, or longer
and then I would have another. When I was 20, my periods stopped
altogether. I wouldn’t see another one until I was 24.

Around the time my periods started acting wacky, I also started developing these boils. Some were very small, and some got to be very large. They
were a huge inconvenience on my life. I cannot even begin to tell you
how many events I missed because of them. Birthdays, holidays, school
and even work. They started in my armpits, and eventually made their
way to my inner thighs. The first one that I had lanced was larger than
a golf ball and was so deep in my armpit that I couldn’t sleep or even
put my arm down at my side. My doctor at the time thought I was
allergic to something in my deodorant so he made me switch to this
crystal deodorant that you wet down and then rubbed on. Lets just say,
I wasn’t “the stinky kid” but it was not as effective as they say.
Well, he thought if I changed my 'odorant that the boils would stop.
They didn’t. But they did decrease in size and I did not have another
one that size under my arms ever again. A year or so would then pass,
and I was still getting little ones and eventually I stopped getting
them. Shortly after, I started getting them on my thighs, and these
were the big painful ones. Being a big girl by now, they inconvenience
my life so bad I couldn’t walk at times…or if I could, I would walk
in such an odd way that it would put pressure on my back or my hips and
it would take at least a week to recover from that. Here I am, a
youthful, charismatic girl and I am in such pain all the time I can
barely stand living. I went to doctor after doctor, and none of them
could figure out why I was getting these. I was told to stop using body
puffs and use a washcloth, to use only antibacterial soap, to bath
myself more (like I wasn’t cleaning myself properly or something), that
it was staph infection and there was no way to get rid of it. For the
past 15 years I have dealt with these nasty things, and its finally
gone. I read up on them, and tried treatments from the web. Most
websites state that boils are one of the first symptoms of Diabetes
that a person will get. Hmmm. Really.

I was put on insulin on December 6th, 2007, and I have not had a single one since. Amazing isn’t it? My doctor didn’t think it was related until I
told him I have been dealing with these for the past 15 years. He still
isn’t sure its related, but he thinks I may have been showing signs of
diabetes or insulin resistance since then.
So
it got my brain thinking. If it was because my blood sugar was out of
control, then when I became under control with pill form medications
they would have stopped. But they didn’t. I continued to get them. I
have been doing remarkably well on insulin. So, have I been a Type I all along? It has solved a lot of the
problems I was having, and my body is at least healing. Yes, I still
have a lot of scars, but that can be treated cosmetically. I am
relieved that this is finally going to be over knocks on wood



I have been dealing with this pain for so long, that I’m kind of afraid
to get used to it, and sometimes I’m finding it hard to not have that
pain. Its been apart of my life for so long that I’m finding it hard to
function without it. I still find myself looking for them while I
shower, or after I get out of the shower, or while I’m getting dressed.
I wonder how long it will be until I finally stop that, and get used to
not having that pain in my life.

So, here is to a great start to 2008! I hope it will continue this way.

I hope it continues too! You’ve given me some things to think about as I’ve been dealing with a non-healing wound for nearly a year now. Earlier today I was wondering if going on a sliding scale insulin regime would help speed up the healing process.

Before I was diagnosed in 2006, I’d had near constant thrush infections and these went away within a month of changing my diet. I still have the issue with the wound though, and constant infections, so I wonder if it was just coincidence I was wondering about insulin and you decided to write about your experience? Thanks so much for writing - and I will see if I can go on a sliding scale to see if it makes a difference.

Happy New Year!

It’s good to hear 2008 is off to a better start. I’m sure you will find lots of great support and tips here.

I am glad you’re doing better.Before I had diabetes I developed an itchy rash that was mainly on my legs.An alert doctor gave me a bloodtest paper.I believe he didn’t want to scare me.The bloodtest was for a medicine I was taking but in the end it was originally for my blood sugar.