Thank you all for your warm welcome. Looks like the tradition here is to tell you all a little about my diabetic odyssey. I believe my story starts with PCOS and major fertility issues, but I was never diagnosed until I was pregnant with my second child. In my 22nd week I got news I had gestational diabetes. They started me on insulin right away since my numbers were so high and they wanted me to be in control as soon as possible. The education I got was quick and short ending with a snappy, “as soon as the baby is born you’ll be fine.” They were wrong. After the baby was born, my blood sugar remained at a constant 167 for days and days.
I know that’s not a super high number, but it’s far from normal. Frankly, I can’t really remember exactly what treatment plan I was on from the birth until more recently. I believe I was still using insulin until about 2007. At that time, I had stopped nursing and was ready to pay some attention to what was happening with the diabetes. (I was still waiting for it to go away, 5 years after my son was born.) So, I took time and went to a bariatric physician who has a program for weight loss that is specifically designed for diabetes. I switched to his eating plan and went on Metformin and Januvia. I lost a bunch of weight and started to feel great. When the physician was hit by a car while riding his bike to work, the practice sort of changed and I stopped going. I continued a half-hearted attempt at the eating plan, but kept up the exercise routine.
In January of 2009, I decided I was feeling good, looking good, and…heck…I just didn’t need to think about the diabetes “thing” any more. Certainly I was done with that. I dropped the drugs and testing all together, thinking I was just fine. I hired a personal trainer to continue my physical work and mosied along under the assumption all was well. I tossed out everything related to diabetes and decided I was done with all that.
In November, I started feeling a bit tired, and something deep inside asked,“So…what’s that blood sugar of yours doing?” I told myself it wouldn’t matter much. I told myself I would call my doctor in January or February and go in to see what’s going on. I’d check in with him after the holidays. Oh, and did I use that as an excuse for enjoying the world of Holiday Junk? You bet I did.
So near the end of 2009, I started thinking I might have some sort of UTI and put off calling the doctor until the next day. I did this several days in a row, chugged down a bunch of cranberry juice thinking that would send the UTI on a run. Unfortunately, all the juice did was send my sugars soaring and spilling out the urine like it does. When I got up from dinner on January 4th, 2010, I had sudden and intense pain. It was worse than anything I’d ever experienced before, including labor, so I told my husband to drive me to the ER. Once admitted, I learned my glucose was at 310–the highest number I had ever seen other than the glucose tolerance tests, and that my Ha1C was at a 10.
The ER doctor was really wonderful about not making me feel like an idiot. He gave me IV antibiotics and a Rx for Metformin to get me started. I bought a new glucose monitor on the way home from the ER. I renewed my exercise regimen and started paying attention to food again. I’ve lost about 8 pounds since January and have been feeling much better. My latest Ha1C was down to an 8.4, so I’m making progress. My doctor is sort of a control freak, and wants me to get down to a 4 or 5 this year. He’s put me on Byetta in addition to the Metformin this time around. I took my first injection this morning.
I was looking for information on Byetta last night when I found this site. Nice to know there are others out there who are on the same set of drugs I am and that it’s working. As a mom to two active and healthy children, a husband who can stop the fork halfway to his mouth and declare he is done eating, my biggest challenge is being around foods I should consume in tiny doses, and a hectic lifestyle that makes timing things tricky. I was so worried about timing my evening Byetta, I was injecting myself at a red light on the way home so I could get the 45 minutes in before eating.
Anyway, I’m here…hoping to make peace with this thing that’s not going away and maybe make a few friends at the same time.
Welcome to the community, Lauriero! Glad you found us & jumped right in. Thanks for sharing your story. Lots of kindred spirits here to share with.
Congratulations on your progress.
Welcome to our family!! Thanks for sharing your story.