I just joined this site today, and am still very much in the standing in the doorway looking around the room phase. I'm 35 (wow, I feel like someone admitting an addiction just typing that much)... and I've had Type 1 for 32 of those. But I'm only just now getting involved. Most of that is thanks to the internet... it makes these things so much easier, but it's also because it's always been a very personal thing for me. No one in my family has diabetes. I guess I just got lucky.
I'm proud to say that for most of those years, I've had no major complications. I'm starting to develop neuropathy though... and am still in the knock-down drag-out fight stage of diagnosis of these things. I find that most doctors (specialists) want to treat your stomach - not your diabetes. It's very frustrating. I was diagnosed with gastroparesis last spring, and am now fighting what they believe to be neuropathy of the small intestine. Anyone out there have this stuff? Any suggestions or advice would be paramount.
Hi cr88te, Good to see you here on this site. There is a lot of good information and scoop from people on here. Glad to hear of minimal complications. My advice is to keep your A1c down below 6. Not sure where you are now with that. I don't eat many carbs in a day (now that I am a bit older). I eat healthy (alsway have). I also test often and make "intelligent" Bolus corrections when needed. I don't have gastroparesis. So, I can't help you there. Hope that helps a bit :) Ken
Thanks! I'm really glad I stumbled upon this site (I was trying to explain to someone what the earlier pumps looked like, and Googled that, and I guess someone posted a picture through here... and thus Alice fell into the rabbit hole so to speak). It's encouraging to read about folks like yourself who've dealt with it so well for so long ... gives me hope. When you feel like you're in it alone, it can get pretty dismal at times. I do need to work on my A1c... I'm a very clean eater and super active... but it's still a struggle for me.
Hi, and welcome. Your gastroparesis and neuropathy may very well improve with tighter and better control. I had some mild gastroparesis some time back, and now that I've um, (grins) gotten my butt in gear and have gotten better control, Im not having any issues with it. Key to gastroparesis, eat smaller meals and easier to digest foods. Used to work in GI, and we'd tell all our patients maybe to eat things like soups, or even things like boost or ensure (with diabetics maybe something more like glucerna or even some protein shakes, I personally love the Atkin's milk chocolate one) and then one normal small meal a day, but slow eating, smaller portions, taking Reglan if you need it, and listening to what your stomach is telling you, When it says full listen. But definately smaller meals is key to gastroparesis. Avoiding food that are heavy and take longer to digest, like steak also really helps too. Are you on an insulin pump or take injections? Im starting my pump on Tues, but from my understanding one of the bolus features, (i THINK, it's the square wave bolus) is really good for people with delayed absorption of food. So that might be something to consider as well. Good luck.
Welcome to TuD. You will find that many people here will jump in and help or at least steer you in the right direction. Very kind and knowledgeable people. :) I am glad you are here and wish you the best. Robyn
Thanks! I have the gastroparesis under pretty good control right now. I've found that drinking Kefir first thing in the morning (just a small 'dose') has helped me a ton. My big struggle right now is the small intestine bit. I'm on Xifaxan to try and kill off bacterial overgrowth from that, and the Xifaxan is wreaking HAVOC on my blood sugar. It's a real Catch 22 situation.
I'm on a pump... since 2001 now. I love it. Best of luck to you on that path. :)
Thanks, Im excited about it, I have horrible hypo unawareness so Im really hoping that I can minimize those low's a lot better this way. Gotta love those catch 22 things. ; )
:) the first few days on a pump were kind of strange to me... I guess I'd trusted the needle for so long that it was hard for me to trust a machine to do that stuff for me. I also felt like I couldn't bend at the waist at first, like something would hurt terribly if I bent wrong. HA! My how things change. I vacationed in Puerto Rico last year, and my pump died while there, so I had to resume shots for a couple of days. I felt completely naked not wearing that thing in my pocket. I kept checking for it.
