I think you are right that there is a trade off between quality of life and fanatical control. Of course unless fanatical control turns you on. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I did 2 hours each day of fairly intense exercise and yes the BG was much much better but today I feel dead and wonder if I go to the gym tonight if I will be sore for a week. A happy diabetic at 7.5 may be better off than a miserable one at 6.5, so I think your fealings about all this is improtant and the target of the best possible BG without super human effort may be the most reasonable for most.
I agree in principle, but I despise the choice of words that this argument always throws up: self-control, excuses, lack of this and lack of that. Perhaps it’s a cultural difference in that I, as a Brit, find these words puritanical, holier-than-thou, smug and self-satisfied and on a purely practical level they’re as much use as a chocolate teapot when it comes to really helping and fostering change in somneone’s way of life. They would certainly put me off and are apt to drive people further into denial.
I totally see where you are coming from here. The lows and highs that may end up in a good a1c are not a good option either, just like Scott talked about above. I should have been more clear with my gripe towards the ADA and their standards ;-). I have had doctors tell me that my a1c of 8.5 was pretty good and I must be taking care of myself (which I totally wasn’t). I think it is really important that we go to a doctor who really gets diabetes and doesn’t just look at the ADA handout they get at medical conferences as a reference to treat us. They need an understanding of the disease and what we go through trying for the best control we can get.
You are totally right on the other things that can interfere with control like cancer or gastropariesis. Depression will sap your will to keep control and cause other body hormones to get out of whack, making it harder to have the control you want. I think what is the most important is our intentions and how we try, not what the a1c says. I don’t want to be defined by what my a1c is, I am more than that. I hope that makes my points more clear and I was not offended, this just allowed me to clarify…
Go and tell someone that he lacks self-control, tell him to stop making excuses, insist that he pulls his socks up and raises his game.
You’re not making a good start with words like this. It’s the blame game again, it’s telling people they are completely at fault, that they are responsible for everything bad that happens to them, it’s not a good way to foster and encourage sustainable change for what will hopefully be for the better.
DIABETES is the problem, yet it is the diabetic who is made to feel guilty if he appears/admits to having difficulties or produces errant BG readings.
We need to be kinder on ourselves and less judgemental.
I have been bad, last a1c was 7.1 I am testing more and jump on highs quicker, and am working on getting my ratios more right. As for weight gain, it can cause weight gain. If you have been running high for a while you are also running partially dehydrated… Once you get back to normal you will start keeping a proper amount of water and it will look like weight gain. Its not really the same though, since your fat to muscle ratio doesn’t change. Also, if you are running high because of over eating and get the blood sugar under control less of the calories are ending up in the toilet. The way to defeat that is cut back on the calories per day and by doing so the number of carbs. It sucks a lot at first, but I have had good things happen since I cut back to 1000 to 1500 calories a day. I just wish I could lose it faster.
Everyone’s body is different and we all know how your numbers can go haywire for no apparent logical reasoning… And we can drive ourselves insain chasing numbers and correcting to make our numbers “just right”. My stress level has been raised just reading this thread and in turn it might have caused some kind of hormonal imbalance and raised my BG… Who knows! We are all different in how we react to this disease. Sure, we all have this disease in common. Some T1 or T2. I think this forum is all about the support everyone needs and looks for when coming to this site.I guess there is some “excitement” stating your opinion about this disease.My thread about insurance companies dropping you because you went over the “grey” area and became a T2 lasted for months.
But to wrap this up I think I am safe in saying, above anything else, we could gladly do without this disease , since we don’t have that choice… (and PLEASE don’t anyone bring up RAW FOOD DIETS! and Cures or God has cursed me cuz he doesn’t listen to my prayers nonsense, at least not in this thread) TUDIABETES is a nice place to B*TCH about our frustrations to others that understand, but lets not get personal.
Dolores,
I see from your profile, that you have the rare Type 1.5 diabetes… I think this may be coloring your perception of what it is like to have Type 1 diabetes.
My son, Logan, is 5 years old, and he was diagnosed about 6 months ago with Type 1.
I can tell you from daily, grueling, heart rending personal experience, that there is no such thing as “x plus y =z” with type 1.
I think you have a genuine curiosity about why it is hard for people to keep the AIC’s down, and so I am going to give you my experience so far.
Growth Hormones- Logan is growing (like a weed) when he is in a “growth spurt” his body reacts differently to the insulin we give him, so even if we give him EXACTLY what he is supposed to have, sometimes it is not enough, and he is high.
Ilness- Recently, we were totally caught off guard by frightening, astronomical numbers that we have not seen in MONTHS… I took him to the Dr. … he had two ear infections… when the body is fighting off infection, it has a harder time getting the sugar out of your blood, because it is so tired from fighting infection.
Stress/exercise- while these can sometimes cause a low… people with type 1 often for no apparent reason, experience a HIGH when stressed, or even after exercise. MAKES NO SENSE, BUT IT HAPPENS.
Especially in children, shared food, or just “being five years old” and forgetting that he no longer has the freedom to have even a graham cracker without alerting me, can raise his blood sugars, even though I watch him like a hawk. He has a twin, and sometimes they mess up and swich plates, or share snacks, just out of forgetfulness.
Basal rates on the pump need adjusting. Every growth plateau has it’s own insulin needs, it takes us a few days to plot out his numbers and see if we can find patterns. Sometimes the basal rate needs adjusting, but we are not mind readers! We have to see what his body does for a few days before messing with his ratios and insulin.
Unknown factors- seems like a lame one, but sometimes he has high numbers, and we can’t atribute it to any of the above. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we want to put our heads in a bucket… but we never give up. It’s a total battle.
It could be cost for some people, I know we would not be on the Omnipod if it wasn’t for our insurance… and I know that is helping his AIC already. Just a vial of insulin is $300 at my drugstore, if you don’t have insurance!!!
We test Logan’s blood almost 10 times per day, so I can’t speak to that question.
I don’t think anyone is OKAY waking around with high blood sugars… maybe not AWARE, or maybe battling depression, or who knows what, but I DO KNOW THAT IT IS NOT SIMPLE, IT IS NOT A BLAME GAME, AND IT IS THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER TRIED TO MANAGE. We are smart, caring, tech savvy people, and this disease has us shaking our heads in frustration.
Be aware that dissing on peoples AIC’s is something even I know not to do, and I’ve only been on this path six months.
It’s like attacking someones marriage or childrearing, it’s extremely personal, and complicated.
I hope this helps you understand a world that I hope you never have to fully join.
Jen
My A1C is 6.1. my control ranges between the high 300’s and low 50’s on a daily basis. So am I under control? the answer is of course no. I am not fooling myself or others , I mean the docs see it, I see it and all who look behind the numbers can see it. I suggest no one rely on one number for anything. One needs to look at the whole picture. i do not think I was near as bad as a former A1c of 11 showed, and not as good as a 6.1 shows today.
I agree and, even though it is for your minor son, it applies very much to me. I am sitting here crying my eyes out. I could barely read all the messages. My heart is broken and I am struggling with everything that I have been burdened with. Guilt not being the least of them.
One other thing that I don’t recall reading is the subject of PAIN! I am in intense pain everyfrig*in’ day. Some days more than others. And some of these conditions set in BEFORE I was ever even “pre-diabetic.” So I don’t appreciate the feeling of condemnation I got from this particular discussion. We are human. Frail human beings who don’t have it all together. We will never have it all together for more than a few minutes at a time. Remember, walk a mile in my shoes before you condemn. We should only ENcourage or DIScourage.
With this, I agree Robyn. I quit this discussion. If I want the abuse and to cry all night long, I’ll go out in the street and stand in front of an oncoming bus!! At least then it will true that I am totally responsible for all my injuries!
Well, as I said before in this thread Lois, I have much sympathy for those that have a difficult time controlling their diabetes due to other physical ailments. I do not know who or what is making you cry, nor do I know why you quit this discussion and then went to continue it in another thread on the same page, but I doubt there is a single participant in this thread that doesn’t understand and appreciate that severe chronic pain could defeat even the best measures of self-control as they relate to good diabetes management.
I also think you are going to find that Type 1s such as myself who have had no choice but to learn excellent self control in order to manage their diabetes well are not going to sympathize much with those who claim self control is something you are born with or given as a blessing and so have no chance to create it in their own lives. We know differently. I’ll tell you right now, before I was a Type 1 (I was 18 when diagnosed), I did not have good control of my diet or exercise regimen, I was using drugs recreationally and often, and I might have even said at the time that it was because I wasn’t born with or blessed with (I still believed in god then) enough self-control to act differently.
And finally, I want to say that it is not a judgmental position for me or anyone else to have. I will not claim that I have good self control in every area of my life and that because someone lacks self control when it comes to food, that it makes me a better person. That is definitely not the case. There are some things I have poor self control with but looking back at my own efforts towards better diabetes management encourages me and makes me feel as if I can get those things under control if I apply myself similarly.
That is all I am trying to do- encourage people to take as much control over their own diabetes care as is physically possible because that consistently results in the best outcome, mentally and physically. I’m sorry if you thought I was trying to be judgmental or offensive. There were a number of years where I did not exercise self control with my diabetes and that period of my life defines regret for me personally. I know that it doesn’t have to be a permanent state of mind.
This is a topic about which I’ve written in some form or another several times. Dolores has articulated it much less critically (and rudely) than I’ve seen others do it, but the heart of the issue remains the same. Having been someone with A1c’s that hovered in the teens for years, here are some of my thoughts:
I am so sorry you have so much pain. I took care of my father,grandmother and mother, all had health problems and I can understand your feelings. I wish you well, Lois.
Hi Dolores, there are many reasons why some of us like me have issue’s getting there A1C down. I wish I could say it was denial or self control problems but I can’t. For 12 years i have tested my BG every 2 hours waking and 2 times in the night. I know the first couple of years after so many low’s I just got scared of normal. I think the last straw was my 10 year old daughter (at the time) coming home from school with a friend to find her mom passed out. That was it for me. The first 2 years before my pump I never had a normal BG without it going low. ON the pump it is about 50/50 chance of going low but I watch it and do my best. Sometimes we with higher A1C have other diseases that make it harder, diseases that effect digestion and insulin sensitivity daily so patterns are hard to pin down. I keep trying though and someday I hope I will have an AIC of 7 something I have never been able to achieve. Maybe my next one. I am really honestly happy for the good AIC’s people have. I know there are people who deny and even some who just don’t care. But sometimes despite best efforts life’s circumstances don’t help.
These are great posts! I totally am with you on this! For anyone who hasn’t checked these posts, please check them out. They really get you thinking in a realistic way…
my a1c is 7.8, and i wish i never got it taken because the test cost so much. It makes me nervous to have to take my medicine, afford the doc, afford test strips it just seems easier not to do those things when you can’t afford it. What’s the point in trying so hard when there is a possibility of not being able to CONTINUE the track you’re on. Diabetics don’t get food stamps, and hand outs of food are usually junk boxed stuff. Insulin and money don’t grow on trees, and insurance and jobs are very rare right now. It seems easier to hold my breath and wait then to feel like i’m drowning from trying so hard. Then again i guess it doesn’t help that i was diagnosed with diabetes but never told how important it was, i was just diagnosed and expected to survive without insurance and any basic knowledge. I may be in denial but sometimes i’d rather forget i have diabetes. Right now i find it hard to check my blood sugars because i don’t have money for test strips, and who knows if i’ll ever get my insulin that i requested from the main companies. I have notice a big connection with my difficult 3rd shift job: i can’t sleep, i can’t accomplish errands, bills suffocate me, worry over which is more important gas or food, and the stress of losing my job hovers over me constantly all this connects to money which connects to how much you can afford your diabetes. ALL THIS can affect your a1c. I wish it was as easy as x +y = perfect a1c
Boy, do i know what you are talking about…watched my mom struggle with this diabetes crap all her life, no money no insurance and no ex-husband to pay child support for 3 kids…I struggled many years myself…medicine or test strips?? choose medicine and was not able to test myself and went into DKA and now i do have it easier, but it is still very expensive to take care of yoursel and thsi diabetes is very expensive!!! hope things get better for you…maybe i can send you some test strips? what kind do you use?
