How are you doing?

So it’s been six months and I am doing pretty good. I got my A1C down to 5.9 from from 14 about two months ago and I feel like it might be even better now that I have my CGM. it’s hard some days and I swear I can still feel my BG dropping or rising quickly. It still makes me feel anxious. My CGM has changed my life with that though and I am thankful.I was depressed for a couple months after my diagnosis, sleeping in and then doing the treadmill for a couple hours just to see how much I could drop my BG or what I could eat without injecting for it. I have learned a lot, but am still learning. I realize I am in control of a lot but not really. I eat low carb but still have a bite of dark chocolate or a half of a peanut butter cookie here or there. Like tonight, I had a salad for dinner but I had a margarita for the first time in 6 months, and then a bite of my daughter’s desert. It was good, but not as good as I thought it would be. I can taste any kind of sweetener a mile away and I’m pretty lucky bc I don’t love it. I do miss bread though, I miss it a lot. There’s nothing like a warm baguette and butter, oh well. So anyway, I still exercise 5 days week. It helps me a lot. If I don’t my insulin needs go up and I feel sluggish. I take 12 units of Lantus each night. I’m still thinking about splitting my dose. I don’t have as many night time lows anymore but when I change my workout up I start to see them again. I take Humalog at meals, but not a lot. Sometimes 2units or maybe 4 if I think I’m going to actual eat some carbs. I try to stay under 10 units a day.
I have gained back 16 pounds. I don’t want to gain anymore. I think I want to switch to Levemir as I feel like maybe Lantus is making me put more weight on.
Occasionally I have weird dreams like my BG is 500+ for no reason at all and it wont come down or that I am scarfing down a hot fudge sundae and I remember that I’m a diabetic but I have no insulin or the worst was when I dreamt I took a bath with my CGM and it electrocuted me. Those dreams suck.
For the most part I’m doing okay, pretty good actually. I have moments where I still can’t believe this is me, my life now, but it could be worse. I thank god for this site and the people that write and support each other here. It helps so much to check in and see what people are discussing, etc.
So anyway, how are you doing?

hi Molly! i am also at the 6 month mark and much better than i was in december. my a1c is the same as yours, no cgm tho, am lusting after one! it would be great to have one but i live in spain and we have socialised medicine here. unless i win the lottery, ill be without a pump and cgm. i shouldnt complain, my gp is excellent and s0 is my nurse, making up for the dinosaur that is my endo....
i wasnt depressed as much as angry for the first couple 0f months. really angry. didnt do very much for me, recognised i was angry and didnt want to be, not very fun to feel that way. i still get the "i cant believe this is my life now" moments while sticking insulin in my bag to go out and have dreams about lows or being forced to eat carbs without insulin, weird stuff!
i did start on lantus and last month switched t0 levemir because the lantus was really painful even 30 minutes later at the injection site. what a difference, i no longer put 0ff the injections. i have to inject 5 times instead 0f 4 but for me its worth it, no pain. i had to up the dose from 2 units a day t0 4.
i miss cereal and mindless grazing and binging on chocolate and thought i would be miserable eating like this but it is what it is, its gotta be done and thats it. i wish diabetics HAD to eat chocolate to live, that would be so much better!
friends and family are really supportive, tho sometimes they might say things that can be annoying. if you havent yet, look up mr mike lawson on youtube. here is a link to one of his videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYQcBgYm9V4. he made me feel much better about this whole load of crap in the first few months. i think i have watched his diabetes police video about 743 times now.
this is a great site! i dont post much but am learning so much from it, the most important being that there is no one way to deal with diabetic situations, that i cant trust what most people in the medical field tell me and that trial and error is 0k!
good luck for the rest of your first year (and beyond!)

I was diagnosed 2 months ago and also had problems with Lantus being painful and causing me to gain weight- 20lbs in 2 months! That has been really depressing, especially since I have been so careful about the low carb diet. I brought my A1c down from 14 to 6.8 since my diagnosis so my CDE thinks I'm doing great, but the weight gain is really frustrating.

A few days ago I switched from Lantus to Levemir and am happy so far- it doesn't burn and hopefully I will be able to lose some weight. My BGs are kind of wonky right now- somewhat higher after breakfast and lower in the evening. They're within range, but just not where I want them to be. Maybe Levemir has a slow onset...

I miss bread, too. I love baking, and it sucks to no longer be able to do it anymore on a regular basis. I'm learning to bake low-carb, but it's definitely a compromise. Thank goodness for all of the low-carb baking blogs and diabetes blogs. They have been a real source of comfort for me. Can't imagine what it must have been like to get diagnosed before there was a DOC.

It's great to hear from people who are figuring it out! I agree that the online connections are awesome. Before I stumbled upon the DOC (2008...), I had met like 2 or 3 people w/ diabetes in my life, and didn't make any connections with any of them.

its so great to have all of the veterans here to advise and suggest possible solutions to whatever D may throw at us. its so very good t0 hear from people in the same place, its not so scary and you dont feel like a complete spazz not knowing the answers t0 these probably very basic questions!
i wish none of had to be here....ho hum...

rennie,
when i switched to levemir i had to double the dosage, dont know if that will be the case for everyone. i was quite resistant to upping the units, like it was going to make me "more diabetic" (duh) but did get better morning numbers. i still dont get numbers as good as with lantus. i dont know if the honeymoon is screwing with the numbers but i find that when i eat reeeaally low carb for my evening meal the levemir is 0k. i love all the variables, so much more exciting, makes me feel like im in an epis0de 0f H0USE....

I'd bet $5 that our doctors probably wouldn't be able to answer a lot of the questions people ask here. I guess many of them might be able to venture a guess but I suspect they'd balk at actually answering them unless you had an appointment. And they'd still go "hmm, your numbers look _____ and I'll see you in [3/6/12] months..."

I'm 38 years into my diagnoses and still do things I shouldn't so ur doing GREAT! Good for U!

P.S. the bread thingy??? I have now gotten to where I just don't like it

I'm the same way with sugar; after 17 years not eating it, when I get a drink that has sugar in it by mistake, it tastes nauseatingly sweet to me.

I miss good bread more than anything. Once in a while I'll indulge and have a piece slathered with butter. Thank goodness the occasional doesn't cause cravings for me! My other huge indulgence is a chocolate croissant from the wonderful bakery right across from my endo's - I get one after my app't. every 6 months LOL.

You guys are all doing GREAT! I'm impressed at how quickly you've figured things out. Please keep posting ;)

Hi Molly,

Treat yourself! If you really would like a small piece of baguette with butter, go ahead. I eat bread every day and don't find it very difficult to dose for. You're doing great but it doesn't sound like you're counting carbs yet. If you aren't, I suggest taking a class or meeting with a CDE and learning. It will give you more freedom and more confidence.

I doubt that switching from Lantus to Levemir will make a big difference with weight gain but I wouldn't sweat it. You were starving with an A1c of 14 and your body is catching up. You certainly don't look at all heavy in your picture.

Maurie

funny! I loved the video! Wish you could get a CGM or a pump. I’ll never really understand why we just can’t get what we need insurance wise. That is what it’s supposed to be for. I’m glad you wrote. It’s a perfect example of how this site connects us. Good luck too. Keep us posted on Spanish D.:slight_smile:

I have found that mornings are more unpredictable bc of the dawn phenomenon. Without my CGM I wouldnt have been able to see that somedays my BG goes up on it’s own and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m sorry you has to deal with that type of weight gain. That is sooo frustrating and scary too. I wish it could be easier. Especially for all the effort we put in and restraint. Just know you aren’t alone. Two months in is really new. Hang in there. Pls write about how Levemir is working for you. -M

Me too

Thanks Maurie! I’m not heavy,but never have been. I’m kind of a breadaholic as one piece is not enough so I’d better just abstain. I do count carbs but I still am not very good at it. I think it’s easier to low carb as I don’t spike and it keeps me from craving foods I just can’t accommodate for. I read bernstein’s book as one of my first books on D. And somehow have locked onto the never inject over 7 units rule. Thx for writing. You are right I had lost a lot of weight bc of D. I thought my weight loss was bc of a new intense work out I was doinuntil sing 20 lbs was awesome as I had been trying for a decade to lose 10, until I realized I was the sickest I’d ever been. I’m still trying to regain that balance of where my weight should be and where I always wanted it to be. I’m much healthier now and am thankful. It’s just crazy. All of it really!

Sorry I still can’t figure out how to edit on my ipad. I needed to correct …new intense work out I was doing. Losing 20# was awesome… I hate to sound weight obsessed as I’m not. It’s just one of the side effects that has been having an impact that I really wasn’t expecting. D is hard enough .

Thx. 38 years is a long time. I give you a lot of credit. Is it routine or do you still need to think about it all the time? Looking fwd to the day I don’t like bread. :slight_smile:

Congratulations on your success and thanks for sharing it with us. Might I suggest changing the A1C on your profile to match your latest reading(some like to keep their diagnosis # as well). It can be cathartic just to type in that 5.9 and it adds context to any advice/experiences you post.

My most recent test was 5.8 down from 5.9. The change may be statistically insignificant or just the result of normal imprecision in the test but it still felt good to change that one digit.

Good suggestion on the TuAnalyze BadMoon! That's one of my favorite things about Tu, even though it doesn't pop up in conversations on the forums all that much. I like it because it's a way to feel engaged with the bigger world of people with diabetes.

Now it's just routine for me. Give it time it will be for u too.