Diabetes what it means to me today

These are my thoughts on diabetes today


1. I brought in a greek yogurt with caramel for a co-worker to try. It was 10am when I gave it to her. She opened it up right away, put a spoon in and ate it. My jaw almost dropped to the floor. She didn't test her blood sugar, she didn't bolus, she didn't think about what she ate for breakfast and what she is going to eat for lunch. She didn't think how many carbs the yogurt was or how it was going to affect her blood sugar. She just ate it!

2. Trying to eat better this week and realized when I got my pump 4 years ago that the brochure for the pump talked about sleeping in, eating pizza for dinner, eating chocolate chip cookies late at night. I believed it all. I thought I could eat anything at anytime and if I just counted the carbs I would be ok. My A1C was 8.3 3 months ago and just recently 7.8. I thought I didn't want this disease so why should I have to eat different than before. Boy was I wrong. I do need to watch what I eat, I can't eat a big bowl of cereal for breakfast or 3 slices of pizza for dinner with chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

3. My husband knows almost nothing about my diabetes. Do I keep it from him? Is it too overwhelming for him? Is he scared of the complications.. Too much to think about. At least he knows what type I have. That is a start!

4. I am going to see a nutritionist next week at the endo's office. I need to lose 20-30 lbs. Stupid hypo episodes do not help!

5. My mother was a Type 1 diabetic. She passed away at the age of 53 from complications of diabetes. She did not exercise, did not eat well, she has high blood pressure, high cholesterol and was not in control.

I am not going to be like her. I am going to control my weight, my A1C. I do not have high blood pressure and my cholesterol is fine.

6. Having Type 1 Diabetes and hypothyroidism is a really big pain! Keeping my thyroid at the right level is hard to do. When it is not right I get migraines and irregular heart beats.

7. Any time I exercise rigorously my blood sugar goes low. I turn off the pump 30 minutes before exercising and drink OJ. I still go low. I end up drinking OJ while exercising just to keep my blood sugar up. Seems like I am not getting the benefit of exercise when it takes so much time and effort to plan it all out and the extra calories I drink with the OJ.

8. Had a very bad hypo last week while at a cabin with my husband and kids. Felt like I was going to pass out. Shaking and sweating. Drank OJ and then a Sprite. My blood sugar finally went up, but my stomach felt terrible after the combination of the two drinks.

Rebecca

Rebecca,

Do you ever use glucose tabs? I know lots of people don’t like them because of the chalky taste, but I swear by them because they are fast-acting and generally keep me from bouncing too high from treating a low.

For me, I eat pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want, but…I have become much better at not overdoing it - eating small portions because I know how bad I will feel later if I overindulge. A really good example is chocolate. When I get an overwhelming craving for it, I will have 3 Hershey’s Kisses, about 8 carbs (dark chocolate, please!). I savor each one and the craving is satisfied.

Good post!

Fair Winds,
Mike

Mike,
I have used glucose tabs and I hate the taste of them. They taste like chaulk. Carry a tube in my purse just in case. I’d rather drink 1/2 can of coke, juice or OJ.

Type I with hypothyroidism here too. I’ve lost quite a bit of weight through diet and exercise over the past year. For strenous exercise, I turn my pump down about 2 hours before hand. I also eat something with complex carbs before exercising. Then I test every 20 minutes while exercising.

Check out/google John Walsh’s article about ex-carbs - he has great info that helps in this area.

I also don’t eat low-carb. I think if my eating, if anything, as eating smart carb.

Dear Rebecca…how i understand you. Especially on no.4. Heck. It’s so hard but i am SURE it’s possible ! I am excited because in two weeks i’m gonna have an entire week at a specialized clinic of diabetes education. I hope to get out of there, more hopeful, I do not wanna end up like your mother as well. I still am rebel about my illness, i haven’t got over the anger and frustration period and i wonder if i ever will. I have a long lasting and very hard to treat depression that is directly due to the high and lows, of living with diabetes. I feel limited by it, and it’s not so much about the food but more about not being able to follow others like i would want.
I can never just skip a single snack or i’ll go hypo. That is just the most frustrating thing ever when it’s time to be active among others. Because of the fear induced by hypos, i’ve developed an obsession with food.
I feel i am in prison and the cage is my body. Also, i have lost complete interest for sex since the last 4 years.

BUT still, i have hopes inside that some parts of life remain interesting, and that diabetes will give me some freedom so i can exist out of this stupid and unfair illness.
ps: and glucose tabs are the best, even with their taste.

Im fond of the liquid gluco-shots vs the tabs, esp if im “really feeling” that low… Works a little faster than the tablets, taste decent, easy to only take (half) a dose (but you wont crave them for a casual snack), only gotcha is they are a little pricey per bottle…