Hello all,
I am a new diabetic in denial. My wife is scared for me. I have just retired from the Infantry U.S. Army about 3 weeks before i retired I was diagnosed that was 90 days ago. My Blood sugar test with the Accu Check was 410. I know how was I still fuctioning? I wasn’t verry well. I now average about 210. I dont check everyday. I know i should but I dont. I am 42 and have the body health of a 52yr. I feel alone and cant seem to wrap my brain around this whole thing. I am looking for some help and some guidance. I have been educated briefly about carbs and diat. I have been told to check my blood 3 times a day but what am i realy looking for? I know when I feel like crap my blood has diped into the normal range aroud 110. Anyway So what do i do ? Thanks
Scot
You joined the right community:
1-Relax,you have many experienced members who are better than professionals
2- Food,CHO counting,healthy food
3-Exercise,walking is relaxing
4-Regular Bg checking pre& post meals ( normal range is your target)
5- Screening & regular check up: retina, urine for protein,lipids,BP…
6-Poetry!!!
Hi Charles, it’s qutie frightening when you are newly diagnosed. I made the mistake of googling “diabetes” and I was so overcome with what I read that I had to excuse myself and lie under my desk for a while to recover ! There is plenty of good news out there, let your wife know. For example I write about my experience in getting back to normal on my blog http://www.diabetorati.com and see for example:
Early detection key to avoiding diabetes, new guide stresses
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/09/18/prediabetes.html?ref=rss
I guess that you’re disciplined, being from the Army, and with that you can win against this condition, and especially if you build in exercise and training rigor which is where most people fall down.
I’m sure that you’ll get good support from Tu Diabetes so keep posting.
Regards, Walter Adamson
I
Hi Scott,
I am assuming you prefer to be called Scott since you signed your post as that. Welcome to our family. You have asked some pretty good questions to start with. I think the first one was when you check your blood sugar what are you looking for? Your target goal is around 100. This may not be comfortable to you right away since you are more accustomed to higher numbers. So what you want to do is start pulling it down slowly. The lower you can keep your numbers the more healthy you will be. Your A1C is high because your blood sugars have been out of control over the past 3 or 4 months. That is what the A1C measures. Since you are on oral meds you will not be able to bolus for anything you eat and will have to control your carb intake. Has anyone taught you how to count your carbs? If not then that is a goal for you as well. And remember different foods affect different people of course, differently. Trial and error are the only way to find out how foods affect you. And you will only know how they affect you by checking your blood sugar. Also a good thing to do is write down each day everything you eat and the blood sugar readings for the day. I would check it the first thing in the morning two hours after eating and before each meal. Then check it again before going to bed at night. Please record all of these. By the time you will have gone through a week you will have a pretty good idea how things affect you. In order to drop your blood sugar you have to drop the amount of carbs you eat. Read all labels. Carbs are listed on the back Since you are just beginning I would not go more than 4 weeks without seeing the doctor and getting new orders. And of course he will need to see how you have been doing so take your log book with you. It won’t give him much information if when he asks a question you can only answer, oh not too good… By looking at your log book he can tell how to change your medication. All of this adjusting takes time Scott. And there are no dumb questions or dumn mistakes. We have all been beginners at one time. I hope this has been helpful to you. Please come back and tell us how you are doing. I am so glad you have joined us. In no time at all you will be the one lending a hand to someone else and guiding the way
Try not to panic about feeling like crap – if your blood sugar has been very high for awhile, it’s totally normal to feel weird until your body gets used to being in a lower range, especially if you bring it down fast. For me it took about a month of feeling shaky, anxious, sweaty, dizzy and SUPER hungry all the time. Nobody had told me to expect that and it was scary! Another thing nobody mentioned was that your vision could get blurry for awhile as your eyes adjust – for me, that part lasted about a week. It isn’t permanent and it doesn’t damage your eyes.
Message boards like this one are a great source of information, and so are books – a good one to start with is Gretchen Becker’s “The First Year with Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed.” http://tinyurl.com/4lyz5x
After you’ve read that, here’s another great one: Jenny Ruhl’s “Blood Sugar 101.” http://tinyurl.com/4vvvuz
As for checking your blood, the point of that is to help you learn how your diet and exercise affect your blood sugar. So what you’re looking for is not just the number itself, but the difference between numbers – for instance, if you test before a meal and it’s 110, then you eat lunch and an hour later it’s 330, then you have some information you can work with. Maybe you decide not to eat that same thing for lunch again. Or maybe next time you only eat half as much of it. Or take a long walk or lift some weights after eating. If you walk for 45 minutes and test again and it’s gone from 330 to 200, then there’s even more information.
That right there is 3 tests – before the meal, an hour after, and another hour after that. Test strips are expensive and it’s no fun getting poked but testing a lot (especially at first) was what helped me feel informed and empowered instead of afraid. As a result, I now know that exercising every day is critical, and I try to keep my carbs pretty low, and consistent from day to day – around 75 grams a day. It makes a huge difference, when I can manage to do it.
You are definitely not alone. There are tons of people on this site who look forward to answering questions and sharing what we’ve learned. So ask away!
P.S. Your wife may want to check out the “Type 3” forum – for “those who have a loved one with diabetes.”
Sounds like I did about a year ago when I was diagnosed. Did feel a little strange for a while, as my blood sugars started coming down. Your blood sugars went up gradually and now they are coming down fast. Gonna take a little time to feel right. When you do, though, you will feel much better than you probably have in quite some time. Test, watch your diet, exercise and you will get this under control. I went through a 5 session diabetic training, 2 with a dietician that my wife attended too, and that helped me a BUNCH! You might want to talk to your doctor about that.
Scot, you have gotten good advice. Just wanted to add that I think you are in the right place. I just discovered this place about a month ago when I was struggling and needed others like me to share with, and it’s wonderful support here. I know sometimes it feels like everything is coming at you at once (count carbs, write down diet, test test test, figure things out…overwhelming all at once).
I guess my advice would be not to worry about getting it all right at once. Chip away at it as you are able, gradually making the lifestyle changes that will help you get control of your diabetes. One day at a time. And stay in touch with friends here, both you and your wife.
Oh, and exercise…that is a good one to start right away. You know how when most people exercise they have to wait for long-term results (fitness, weight loss, whatever)? For diabetics, we get IMMEDIATE results. Try testing just before even a brisk walk and just after, you will see what I mean!
Hello Scot
You have rec’d great advice and it will be hard to adjust but it does get better. You have to be open to change and new eating habits. I think the most important thing is letting your wife in. You don’t have to live with diabetes alone. Invite her to classes with you and even to join this community. I would also like to say “THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COUNTRY”
Wow, there are a lot of great responses here. I was diagnosed as a Type-2 on January 11 of this year. I am 38 and though I have not been leading a healthy lifestyle, I never thought that I was that bad off. I have always been pretty healthy. You see, I am a football player gone soft. And I have continued to eat and drink like I did in the good o’l days. You can read my January 28 post in my blog at blog.daters.net. This was all I could get out once the initial shock subsided somewhat.
It is important to know that you are NOT alone. I still struggle with testing my bg (blood glucose) every day, three times a day. At first, I was embarrassed to let others see me test my blood sugar, but I quickly got over that. I have even tested some of my family and friends. I have found that the testing actually helps me to determine what I should be eating.
The meter. I have a FreeStyle Flash that I am using until I run out of test strips for it, I will then be moving on to the FreeStyle Lite. I love these FreeStyle meters! I have determined that the book they give you is useless. It does not do anything. I have found that SugarStats.com and LogForLife.com are much more useful. I just use the meter to test, and then enter my data at the end of the day to these sites. You get useful statistics that are meaningful. LogForLife.com is new, and you have to sign up to be a beta tester.
I am still working on meeting with a Dietician to get properly educated about that aspect of all of this. Like you, I begin to feel like crap when my bg dips into the normal person range. Even more so when it is in the 70’s - 90’s. I have discovered that a quick “something” usually helps me feel better, like a banana or something like that.
I recently discovered that I suffer from something else that has plagued me for years, but I was only able to put a name to recently when I decided to start informing my doc of other things I normally just considered “getting old”. Sleep Apnea. For the past several years, I have woken up tired, sometimes with headaches, and I generally feel like sh*t for the rest of the day. My Mom and even my wife have commented on me stopping breathing while I sleep. Also, I snore like a band saw.
I just finished a sleep study yesterday, hooked up to hundreds of wires (slight exaggeration, but not completely), etc. They actually hooked me up to a breathing machine in the middle of the study. I can’t even remember the last time I felt so good when I woke up yesterday morning. I still await the results…
Hang in there man it’s not the end of the road, just a different one. It helps to talk to people who have this in common with you, I have found. As supportive and concerned as my wife has been, there are times that I feel that she dismisses me out of hand and treats me like a hypochondriac. It can be frustrating and it is at those times that sites like this one come in handy! 
Thank you for protecting our Country.
hello Scott.
My Doc recommended a book to me the day I was diagnosed called “Type 2 The First Year” by Gretchen Becker. She covers everything from the psychology of acceptance to diet and medications. I recommend you pick up a copy, too.
Another thing, Abbot has an excellent website with tons info. It also has a free program to monitor, and analyze blood sugar, and carb intake. This program has a database of foods (including fast food) that may help you in watching diet, excersize and blood sugar. You can find it :here
Everyone has given you excellent advice already, so I will not parrot them. I will add that with an A1C of 12 don’t be afraid to use insullin as a second drug of choice. Everyone told me they wish they had started it sooner and I can echo that, too. I started about 3 months ago and today my BS hasn’t been above 150. Needless to say I am thrilled.
good health
danny
Dear Scot,
I am new to this as well. I’m not in denial, just scared. I’m only 44 and not overweight or in bad health, so why me? I don’t know why me, or why you. But now that I do know I can change things so I can live longer and be healthier for however long im around. And so can you, for yourself and your wife and family. It’s only been three days for me and even though I don’t feel great yet, I feel better. I’ve gone from over 650 to 323. I feel overwhelmed with all the things I’ve been reading on this site, but I think it’ll only get better if you take care of yourself. SO why not try that, ok? I can’t give much advice on what you should eat or give technical advice but you can get all that from people on this site who know and your doc. Just accept it and make a couple changes, or 1 change at a time. Just try, don’t give in to fear.
hang in there, amy:)
Denial is a wonderful thing, it let’s your mind play tricks on you…I know I was in denial when I was diagnosed too, and to some degree am still in denial. We all go thru this, we wonder why us, I do the right things, I try to eat right, I try to exercise…all I can say is, this is what it is, you have it and now we have to help you deal with it. We all slip up and sometimes I know I do, still forget that I have it, when I see all the great things to eat out there and then I wonder what would this do to my blood sugar? I can then see that I probably should not eat it. But hey sometimes we have to endulge, cheating is not some end of the world thing. Enjoy your life and please take care of yourself, we want you around here for a long time to come. Blessed Be and Love & Light. Beth
Hi,
thanks for the Info. One problem i am running into at the moment wijth checking my blood is Cost. Its like 1.00 per for my Blood Checker. Once the VA can get my claim through I will be able to check it more often. Counting Carbs I was told I should have 70 for Breakfast a 15 carb snack than 70 for lunch than another snack 70 for dinner. and than a light snack before i go to bed to help keep sugar low through the night. In the morning i cant seem to keep it below 150 sometime its higher but 150 seems to be as low as it will get. than durring the day usualy 120-130 around noon i crash to 100-111 and i feel like garbage. than back up to 140 around dinner. I feel like a yo yo. Excercise I know is Key I whent and got a gym membership but getting there isn’y easy. Life happens and before i know it its 10:00 pm and i have to get some sleep before 0600 rolls around. I am also fighting depresion with meds No fun. I fikgure once the dust settles from being newly retired and My wife finishing up her BA new Job and so on I will be able to a better job of managing my Sugar.
Thanks for the replay and I hope that you are doing well. 
Wow thats alot of info Awsome. Yea the strips are about a Buck each so it gets costly. I’ll have my wife check out the type 3 Forum she already rides me and watches me like a hawk when i eat. Seems that the only way I can get my sugar down to the Normal range is not to eat. I know thats wrong but when I get busy I forget than i check my blood and im down in the high 90’s or low 100’s I feel like crap but My sugar is down LOL
Hi Scot,
It was great to see you respond on the other page. That tells me you are still hanging in there and working on things. I am very proud of you for that. It has taken work to get yourself this far and I know it hasn’t been easy. All of us go through what you have been doing and it is never really comfortable in the beginning. How are you feeling now? Are the lower blood sugars any easier to handle? How are the pills working for you? I will try not to pepper you with too many questions. It is just so great to see you back here again. Please keep coming back and let us know how you are. In this family we do a lot of sharing and a very, very great deal of caring about each other. That is why together we can all get through anything. Keep hanging in there.
Scott,
I was diagnosed 2 weeks before my 38th Birthday this past summer and was very overwhelmed as well. I go married the end of May and moved from NJ to St Louis right after the wedding. I started a new job a week later here in St Louis. Beginning of July my new wife and I bought a house and moved in a week after I was diagnosed. I understand the overwhelming feelings but, they will go away. I was told that my blood sugar was over 650. With the help of my doctors my numbers are 96 for the last 30 day avg according to my meter. Since my diagnosis I met with my GP, my endocrinologist, a diabetic educator, and a diabetic dietitian. Although in my case I am on insulin shots the team I have been working with has been a great resource. In addition the people on Tu Diabetes have been amazing. As one person we can only read so much but the collective knowledge here on this site your cup will runith over. People here from all over the world chances are have already gone through some of what you are now going though and we are all still here. Keep posting questions and enjoy reading the replies people here share their thoughts and in many cases already have been a help to me already. You are not alone.
Good Luck!!!
Ron
I was like that too, when I was diagnosed. I still forget to check, sometimes. (Or just don’t because I don’t want to, which is not great to admit.) It’s difficult for everyone. I had big denial problems, among other things.
The biggest thing you’ll come to realize is that you’re not alone. This community alone can prove that to you. I was fortunate enough to have gone to a diabetes summer camp where I learned it, too.
Hang in there. You’ll be okay, and everyone here I’m sure will be very, very helpful. You should also consider seeking out ADA chapters in your area of residence.
I feel for you man. Im kinda in the same boat. My sugars are whacky and I am new to this as well. I know I can lose weight…but I have an injured back. I joined here for support and people have been very welcoming. Ill try to catch up with you when I can.
Hi All,
I whent to the doctor yesterday and I got good news. My A1C is at 6.5, No protene in my urin, and my BP is awsome. he told me that my diabetes is under control. So i get to stay on the Metphormin and no shots! My Blood Sugar could still come down it was 135 when I was tested but he said that whatever i am doing to keep it up. I now go to the gym 3 times a week, I try to cut down on the fast foods and the high carb stuff, drink a little more water, and follow you guys advice. The help that i have recieved from everyone is Fantastic I dont know how to thank all of you. my Myspace addy is www.myspace.com/hangmantroop if anyone wants to check it out. I’m on it fairly often.
Hi Scot,
CONGRATULATIONS on the awesome news. Your excellent report calls for a happy dance. What a great job you have done. I know it was not easy but you have really done well. PROUD has to be spelled with capital letters for you. Hang in there.