Hi! I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but you guys seem like a gold mine of information and experience. I've already learned a lot reading through the forum and researching. I feel compelled to lay it all out here in the hope that you all will be kind enough to answer some of my questions, even if they seem silly :-)
I'm a 33 year old woman dx'ed 2 weeks ago. I'd been in a bad state for months. I was exhausted, achy, loopy, cranky, with loads of fluid in/out, ravenous hunger, boils, abscesses, colds/flus, blurry vision, headaches, high body heat, super dry skin, and recently, yeast that won't stay gone. I'd also lost about 20lbs while eating massive amounts of food. I thought that part was a miracle, ha!
Q- Are all these symptoms common? Will they all go away when my bs is more normal? Any tricks on dealing with these issues?
I finally saw my GP, but he wasn't really concerned and didn't get any tests done. Luckily, I had an obgyn appt soon after, and she agreed to do blood work. I was surprised to get a call from her early the next am. She told me I had severe diabetes and that she'd made an urgent appt with an endo for me that day. She's awesome! My blood sugar was about 500, and my A1c was 11.8.
Q- How dangerous was it to go around like this? What would've happened if I hadn't gone to that dr? Do you think it's likely my body was damaged from having my bs so high for possibly months?
At my appt with the endo, I was given a novolog pen, 70/30 mix, and a glucose monitoring kit. My instructions were to test and inject 10 units 3x/day before meals with 60-85 carbs each. My bs stayed in the 400's.
My next appt a few days later covered more information and answered some questions, and I was put on a schedule to slowly increase my dosage to bring my bs down. Blood was taken for a lipid panel, metabolic panel, and antibodies.
Over the next 10 days, my bs was between 250-400 while I ratcheted up my insulin to 20 units 3x/day. My thirst is less, but I still feel like a mummy... dried up! My infections are gone, but I must take diflucan every 4 days to keep yeast away. I swelled about 10lbs so far and have a constant headache. I still get loopy, hungry, and super tired. Exercise (even heavy housework) makes me feel AWFUL.
Q- Is it normal to still have these symptoms? Will this all stop once my bs are under a certain #? If so, at about what #? What's causing the headache? Will anything make it go away?
My last (3rd) appt was yesterday. My endo dx'ed me as having type 1 due to the presence of GAD antibodies (8.1 U/mL) and the way I presented. I'm still surprised that it's not type 2, I didn't even know that adults can just suddenly have type1 D before all this! I was negative for the other antibodies. I switched to 4 meals/day (and 20 units novolog mix before ea meal) with a goal of 50 carbs/meal. Told to only test before each meal.
Q- Is there any way it's not type 1? Are there any other tests that could give more insight, or a possible change in dx? Is there anything I should ask my dr to change his instructions on? Is there anything else I can do right now to improve my progress?
I'm concerned about my other test results. Dr. says it's likely all from the high bs, but I can't find much info on internet searches.
My microalbumin was high (28 ug/mL, normal 0-17), and the microalb/creatine ratio followed suit (69.5 mg/g). I was told to use less nsaids (so hard w a bad back!) and go light on meat consumption.
Q- How bad is that? Is it likely that my kidneys will go back to 100% with better bs? How do you know when there's permanent damage? Is high protein from veg, soy, dairy, and grains ok? How much will eating meat affect me? Is there anything else I can do to be kind to my kidneys?
My triglycerides are crazy high at 959 (0-149 normal), cholesterol is 357 (100-199 norm), hdl is low at 30 (39+ norm). I was instructed to eat low fat, retest later.
Q- Anyone else ever have numbers like that? Did they go to normal quickly once your bs was ok? Am I at risk for any extra problems right now, assuming those levels haven't been a long term thing? What do I eat??? Does having four meals consisting of 400-500 calories, 50g of carbs, low in fat, and no/low meat seem ideal for me? Any suggestions?
Lastly, I want to lose weight. I've been overweight for over a year now, and really want to get back in shape. I spent the 5 months after the 'big gain' eating clean (veggies, lean meats, good fats, high fiber carbs, some fruit, etc), lowish calories (1400-1800/day), and doing 4 hrs weight training, 5+ hrs cardio per week. I've been heavy before, but was always able to get back to normal this way. After 5 mo, I did look a little better, but didn't even drop 1 size. Scale showed only 3lb lost. I got frustrated, the mega hunger had started, and I went back to poor habits. That's when I started losing weight due to the D. Not a magical metabolism fairy, much to my disappointment ;-)
Q- Was my inability to lose weight related to D? If not, any theories? Any advice on effective weight loss strategy? Is there anything different I should do because of the D? Is there anything that will lessen the hunger? Are there any prescriptions or supplements that would help me?
If you made it this far, THANK YOU! I appreciate any and all guidance you feel like sharing.