Hi everyone! It’s been a long journey back to Tudiabetes. I don’t even know where to begin. It’s been two years since Mom’s death due to complications of diabetes—resulting from several hypoglycemic comas while in the nursing facility. She was originally sent to the facility due to her osteoarthritis in her hips but the nursing staff overdosed her on insulin and she slipped in a coma in the middle of the night. She was in a coma for week and we got her out of that coma, but she kept having them. The doctors diagnosed her as “brittle” diabetes. The last one took her life.
My RA has never been under control and after her death, it went “Girls Gone Wild” (pun intended), which opened the door for my diabetes to follow suite. I failed several oral medications–Metformin, Metformin ER, and Januvia. I had serious side effects with each drug and they did not help control my A1C to boot. Finally I asked my endo to just let me do diet and exercise. I basically starved myself down to an A1C of 6.3, but that’s basically me eating two meals a day of a boiled egg for breakfast and a 1/2 a cup of chicken salad for lunch every day, nothing else. And I still fight allergy attacks.
My CRP levels with my RA remained high and I’m at my maximum dosage for Remicade 1,100 mg a month while trying to minimize the prednisone even though it helps to control the RA. Note: Remicade is supposed to be taken every 6 weeks.
This past Monday, my endo told me that it was time to move to the next phase of diabetes drugs for me—Trulicity, 0.75 mg. We shall see where it takes me… the first shot made me feel better than I felt in a long time. But if my BGs start lingering between 140-150 I need to contact the endo, and she will start me on insulin immediately. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but my BG will do that with just my next infusion.
Starting the new year, my new boss is changing my work hours from 7 am to 5 pm to 7 am to 10 pm Monday - Thursday, and 7 am to Noon on Fridays. 2018 is going to be a hard year for me.
The good news is my thyroid is maintaining on the current dosage of 150 mcg. Yay?
My only stepdaughter lost her step dad to a nightime hypo.
When I was in a San Jose hospital in 1995 for surgery, I had to fire the idiot endo that was “in charge” of my diabetes (not my regular endo) because of the STUPID way in which he had written orders for insulin. I had to prevail to the clowns that ran that hospital (ie, the hospital administrators) to designate myself as solely responsible for my diabetes for the remainder of my stay (a couple of days, thank god).
Wow. What a couple of years! Welcome back. Sorry about your mom - that is horrifying. It sounds like you are getting yourself back on the road you wish to be on. Good for you! One step at a time, and it sounds like you’ve made some big ones. Welcome back.
I am so sorry to hear of the many issues. If I can help you with any diabetes / RA questions please feel free to reach out. I have failed 6 RA biologic meds over the last 17 years and I get some of the ins and outs of the various options.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome back. it’s been a hard adjustment, but I’m making it. Mom was not only a great mother but also my best friend. I was her miracle baby so we had a very special bond.
The first couple of days after the Trulicity shot I felt wonderfully energetic, but I’m slowly beginning to feel the fatigue, tiredness and achiness creep in again which I’ve been blaming on my RA. My BG numbers are also slowly climbing up again but not enough to alert my endo yet.
It’s really hard being a Type A Personality and failing RA and diabetes medications—it’s hard on the ego.
I have autoimmune disorders (my son is type 1, mine are not diabetes) and am taking medications for the symptoms my issues give me. I find my checkups discouraging. There’s never any good news. It just is what it is - no cure, no solution, just manage symptoms as best as possible. I once had an improvement in blood work - so slight and too immaterial to matter - but it felt like a ray of sunshine in what is normally a painful routine. I always get emotional. There’s nothing I can do, may have been nothing I could have done to prevent it, and despite my desire and motivation to make it better, I just can’t. It’s no fun and I can relate to your Type A comment.
