Would you trade your life with diabetes for a life in prison without it? Now I am not talking about prison that murderers go but more like a federal type prison. For me personally I’d do it. First of all I have no real freedom anyway and being I feel ill/horrible 90% of my existence anyway I have no quality of life so being locked up I’d be missing nothing. Of course If I no longer had it I wouldn’t want to rotting in prison but just to not go through another day of this I say lock me up! Did I mention I can’t stand this F*******G disease!
I wouldn’t. I was diagnosed in 1966 and my diabetes never stopped me from doing anything. Do you have any idea why you feel so crappy? I’m hoping something can be done. I had a rough spell in the 90s and discovered that for some diabetics, they are missing vitamin C. It takes a similar pathway into the cells, so if your glucose is high, or you don’t take a lot of insulin, you can end up with low C. I started taking some and felt better soon.
Yeah, I feel crappy from the sugar swings which are unavoidable. I am constantly in a bad mood and or total distress. Once my sugar surges past 100 mgdL or dips lower then 80 bad things start to happen. I’d sooner rot in jail as a non diabetic. There ain’t no way vitamin C is gonna fix my problem. Truth is if they don’t figure out how to cure it my only peace will be death.
A guy I knew was in jail for like a month (stole judges xmas lights, got caught, blew off court date to be fined and get slap on the wrist…) and said “you know like a burrito? That feeds 8 people there…”. Apparently Cops is very popular, although this was like 10 or 15 years ago, but still, no thanks…
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Just out of curiosity, I notice on your profile that your A1c is 8.5% and that you’re on shots. Have you considered going on a pump or getting a CGM to get tighter control, if highs and lows feel so bad? For me the pump increases my quality of life by a TON and I would never go back to shots unless forced to. If I could afford it, I think the CGM would be equally as beneficial to me.
If you only feel good in a range of 80-100 mg/dl, though, then would it really be solved by not having diabetes? Even non-diabetics don’t stay within that range 24/7.
I personally wouldn’t rather live in prison than have diabetes. What would be the point of not having diabetes if you couldn’t do anything with your life anyway?
I would bet most that would respond “no” are likely asymptomatic to the sugar swings. My father also is ID and can walk around with 350,400 sugars and not feel a thing for the most part. I know another local lady that feels fine unless she goes real low. If any of you had my sensitivity I’d bet anything you’d beg to be locked up to get rid of the chaos I go through. No sugar swing symptoms = easy diabetic life.
Gary, this is not the first time you’ve talked about how crappy you feel. I don’t know what part of it is physical and what part emotional, but seems to me that you need more help than we can give you.
My first stop would be in 2 places (yes, I’m superwoman!): a good endo who could talk about alternatives for treatment, and 2) a psychiatrist or psychologist who could help you deal with the emotional aspects. Unhappy emotions DO make the whole life with diabetes worse.
Second, I would really examine your lifestyle and eating habits. For me, limiting carbs, and trying to eat healthier made a huge difference. For AcidRock, I know that exercise makes a difference. For you, I don’t know – you have to figure that out for yourself.
The other thing that made a huge difference for me was the pump, because it freed me from forced routine, which I hated. I don’t know if you are old enough to remember the days of R and NPH, but they were a nightmare. And I’M a free-spirit. In fact, when I talked with a CDE about my pump, the first word that came to mind was freedom.
What I’m encouraging you to do is get to work on it. I KNOW you hate it – who doesn’t? But the only one who can start you on the road to feeling better is yourself. Work up the courage – it CAN be done!
Good luck!
Jail…No way. I have never felt inprisioned by diabetes. I have been thru all the stages of coping with diabetes and hung out in some stages way too long. I have never let it overwhelm me but rather have always went about controling it and not letting it control me. Just remember that your the master of your destiny and not this F********G disease.
I think I’m still pretty aware that diabetes suxx however I am pretty certain that jail suxx more? I haven’t watched Oz but I make jokes about it all the time!!
I agree with Natalie that a pump can= freedom (and, FWIW, I went from R/NPH to a pump…in 2008…talk about suxx!) but the other thing I got with the pump was much better data to fiddle with stuff with. It gets rid of DP, which pretty much can make every day start with a very unpleasant challenge. It also shows pretty clearly “hey, here’s a time you might need some more insulin…” and you are good to go. A small difference in dosage (ratio or rates…) can make a big difference in outcome. I just lost .6 on A1C but know some of what was going on and am back to the salt mines. I’d rather do about 1,000 other things (at least…) but knowing that I have good data makes beating up diabetes a bit easier.
I think all of us face challenges and hardships in life, whether it’s being sensitive to blood sugar swings with diabetes or having numbers that are difficult to control, diabetes complications, hypoglycemia unawareness where your first symptom of a low is being unconscious, or things completely unrelated to diabetes … Wishing it away or hating it doesn’t really do anything to change it. Are there things you can do to help get better control or otherwise deal with the way it makes you feel (in the same way as some people need to learn to live with chronic pain, etc.)?
Gary, I have had type I for forty years. I went to college and did what I want to do, I have a 27 yr marriage and some wonderful critter kids. There is nothing that diabetes has prevented.
You have to have a go getter attitude, get out there and show the world what you can do.
If the world says you cant, then say yes I can!
If you need medical assistance, maybe some extra tools, you have so many available today that I did not have in 1970. So many. If you can just buckle down, work to obtain some help that way, and give your diabetes a bit of attention, you will make it. Then, set out to do something wonderful.
Problem is sugar swings cause depression and distress so its like what came first the chicken or the egg? Endo can’t do jack ■■■■. Half of them don’t even know diabetes as much as we do. BTW I still use NPH and R, Humalog, Novolog, Apidra and its all the same crap. Just different peak times. I’m sick and tired of living my life around blood sugars. Can’t stop talking about em, thinking about em, worrying about em… On top of that I’m sick to my stomach thinking Merck bought Smart Insulin and hasn’t done a god dam thing with it. Same thing with Curedm’s Pancreate. Two potential therapies sitting in the closet somewhere while my life is flashing before my very eyes. It’s like “ho hum” we’ll get it when we get it. They should all drop dead!
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Well said Laura!
^ This is a joke correct? Show the world what? 90% of my day I’m in total distress. I’m beginning to think there are two kinds of diabetes. Mine and everyone else’s.
Well, that’s easier said than done!
For example, today I was walking for a longer while. Just walking, nothing you’d think could cause any problems worth mentioning. But with diabetes, it can!
I mean, I was just walking. Not running, not carrying anything heavy, just WALKING and my bg dropped twice!
But does this always happen? NO! On other days, my bg may rise from the very same activity… isn’t that annoying? Frustrating? For me it is.
On the question diabetes vs prison:
I think I’d still decide against prison… yes I do hate diabetes and what wouldn’t I give to be free - but that’s the thing: I wouldn’t be free in prison either, would I?
No way that I would give up my life to sit in a prison cell. Prison is prison, regardless of whether it is a federal one or not. I have been at this for 27 ½ years and have complications. I have gastroparesis and my food choices are very limited. I also have neuropathy and have to use a walker. There are a lot of things that I can no longer do because of diabetes, but I still have things that I can do and want to do. I plan on living life to the fullest and won’t go down without a fight. I would not willingly spend one day locked up.
I know from experience that BG swings can affect mood – and depression is SERIOUS. That’s why I asked if there was an emotional component to your struggles. Would you at least consider talking to a psychiatrist about it? When I was depressed last year, I sent myself into a coma and almost died. NOT worth it. I know that some people sneer at anti-depressant medication, but for me, it’s the difference between life and death.
I don’t know what exactly would help you, but I do know you have to seek it out. Please?
No one’s joking here. We are all concerned about you. I haven’t experienced the wild BS swings you are taking about but I’m sure that others have and that you are not alone. I’m concerned that you are not getting the support that you need from your doctors and diabetes care team if you have one. Please seek out as many resoures as you can find, someone out there has the solution to your problem.
For the other members of our family please lets help Gary find all the resources availiable to him. I’m going to recommennd that a visit with a dietician might be helpful. If your diet isn’t under control then controling this disease is all the more difficult.
No Gary, it’s really not.
When I was diagnosed I was 11. My Mom had to promise me ballet lessons when I got out of the hospital, so I would even let them take me. In those days, we had to go to the hospital to be put on insulin.
We had no meters, we had no pumps or syringes with little tiny needles.
And you know what, many of us made it through that.
You have so much more hope, so much more to help you.
Given that we all have different situations, insurance, doctors and tools available, no one here can tell you you have to use a pump or you have to …whatever.
You have to use what you have access to.
But you can make it work,
You really can.
My symptoms can vary and nothing is 100% consistent except I generally don’t feel well. There are clearly forms of mental disturbance which are very difficult to explain. In a nutshell the lows seem to cause some form of anxiety/distress and sadness combined. At the same time I could be very irritable. The highs create more of a physical disturbance almost like radiation of some sort going through my body, flu like symptoms, severe hunger as well as mental fatigue. Sometimes when coming up from a low I can feel a spike that makes me feel worse. I get this buzzy like feeling causing irritability. It all sucks. On top of all that over the last year I’ve slipped into a few severe lows while sleeping and if it weren’t for my mom calling the paramedics I’d be dead. She’s in her 70’s and ain’t gonna be around forever. What will happen to me then if that happens again? I’d sooner rot in prison with my health restored. I’ve considered anti depressants but I honestly can’t imagine they would be able to camouflage sugar swings to where they wouldn’t be a bother. On top of all that I have no medical Insurance.