I have had allergies and asthma all my life but it never really bothered me much. My allergies were the worst in the Spring and Fall of course and I could never breathe through my nose till I had sinus surgery about 11 years ago. Since then I’ve had two sinus surgeries and another one to open up my throat larger and remove my uvula.
I’ve also have some mild hypertension for the past 20 years easily controlled with meds.
Now I was diagnosed with diabetes type II about four years ago now. My asthma is out of control, my allergies are horrendous, my blood pressure is hard to control and they’ve greatly increased my meds for it. My prostrate is swollen; my legs, hands, feet, nose and lips get numb at the slightest chill in the air and I just seem to be falling apart at the seams. Is this really normal. Oh, and my back is giving me lots of problems.
I should tell you that up till that time, I was extremely active. Hiking all the time, walking, biking and lifting weights. I’ve lifted weights from middle school till about, that’s right, four years ago. Now I have trouble walking around the block without getting totally winded.
I went from talking nothing for asthma and allergies to using an inhaler, taking Singulair, Clariton, Advair 500/50 and using a nebulizer when needed. Now they are going to add Cromolyn to that or maybe some other thing that I can’t remember but it causes heart palpitations. More on the heart shortly. 
I don’t know why I’m even writing this except maybe to vent to clear my head about it.
My blood pressure being out of control has caused Stage 1 of an enlarged heart, hardening of the left ventricle and an intermittent slightly leaking valve. I feel chest pressure most of the time and occasionally have some very powerful chest pains.
On another note: I am near sighted and have been since I was a kid. At about the age of 40 I transitioned into bifocals and within a couple more years trifocals but my near sightedness stayed about the same. As a matter of fact, my near sightedness hasn’t changed very much in a long, long time. Till about a little over a year ago. My left eye changed radically and got much worse. Now my left eye is much more worse and in fact it looks like I’m looking through and semi-transparent piece of white paper. It’s blurry and I see double through my left eye.
Now, I’m no Spring chicken, but I’m only 57! I’m a photographer and artist and needless to say this is hindering my work radically. Most of my work in the past 6 years has been working on art pieces and model portfolio work. I can still do it, somewhat. Where I used to do 12 hour photo shoots, I am now limited to about an hour depending on the weather, location and how I’m feeling. It’s getting very frustrating for me.
I used to have an extremely strong back. Now when I do dishes, my back kills me from leaning over the sink. If I walk too much and don’t get out of breath, my back is killing me and so are my knees. When I do laundry, my back kills me from folding.
Now let’s talk Cholesterol. Both my parents had high cholesterol so I had my checked regularly. I was told I had nothing to worry about because my levels were excellent. Then, you guessed it, four years ago they went bezerk. One time my Triglycerides were 1601.
So somebody please tell me, is this normal for diabetics or am I just aging much faster than normal? Do other see this kind of thing?
As a summary, here is a list of my meds that I now take:
Aspirin 81 mg Once per day
Actos 15 mg Three times a day
Metformin 850 mg Three times a day
Zoloft 50 mg Once per day
Cozaar 25 mg Three times a day
Vytorin 10/40 mg Once per day
Advair 850/50 Twice per day
Flomax .4 mg Once per day
Singulair 10 mg Once per day
Claritin 10 mg Once per day
Flovent inhaler two puffs as needed up to three times per day
Lantus 45 units Once per day at night
Humulin R Sliding Scale 4 - 12 units depending on glucose level before meals
