Hi and thanks to all welcoming me to the site and group.
I have much to learn about the big “D”, so will be picking everybody’s brain from time to time. Still in the whirlwind stage…big massive denial when the doc first brought it up. I just figured losing 50lbs over 5 months and my BG going up was due to stress…at the time the ex and I where traveling down the road to the other big “D”. Now that “that” is behind me its time to face reality. After a month on Metformin 500 mg x 2 a day, my BG’s still where up in the mid 300’s. The doc wanted to go straight to insulin once a day. I resisted, so she up the Metformin to max 1000 mg x 2 a day and added Glimepiride. Seems to help…checked this morning BG 92 then after lunch 150. Still trying to get my head wrapped around this…life style change will be next…exercise and eating better…any help, suggestions or kick in the pants…lol
Tracy-
Don’t be scared. This is a controllable disease. You have to make it a DAILY part of your life and attack it head on. It sounds like you’re on the right path. You know your numbers. You know what you need to do. So, here is your KICK IN THE PANTS! Take it one day at a time and realize that this is simply a part of you.
Erin
p.s. welcome to TuDiabetes!
Baby steps = Giant leaps…
Been telling myself that for 12 years with the “D”…moment by moment
Hugs and welcome to tudiabetes!
Hi Tracy,
Welcome! I left you a message on your page & noticed that your diagnosis date was 11/60. I’m guessing this is an error.
It is scary & overwhelming. Do know how you feel. We all do–you’re among family here. No kicks in the pants. Well, at least not yet:)
Glad the increase in Metformin is helping. If it ceases to help you get better control, or you have side effects from the meds, please don’t resist using insulin. Glad to hear that you’ve a doctor who suggested it because too many don’t. Insulin will save your beta cells & for some Type 2s helps greatly. I’m Type 1 & have no choice, but I can share that it’s no big deal to take injections & doesn’t hurt.
Exercise & a good diet are the best tools. If you’re not doing this already, learn to count carbs. Check out low carb diets because they help immeasurably. With less carbs, you might need less meds, too. Keep testing & log those readings. Your doctor will be able to assess what’s going on with a record & you’ll be better able to control your BG by seeing how different foods effect you.
Hello Tracy and welcome!
I swear I have heard your name for some odd reason in relation to your profession and company you work for. It is a pleasure to have this opportunity to reply to your new membership.
I am a 48 year old male, business owner of 25 years, a student perusing a PhD in psychology and I live in Portland Oregon. I think I have some positive input for you that will help relieve some of your anxieties about your health and living with diabetes.
I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2001. When the news came I thought to myself, “Okay, I am a big guy I will just loose some weight and reduce my sugar intake”; thinking further that this will be easy and no big deal since I have always drank diet pop and do not add sugar to anything anyway, (i.e. cereal) as a regular habit. My girl friend at that time called me from her cell phone while she was in route home to ask me how my doctor appointment went. I told her I was diagnosed with diabetes. Instantly I could hear a pause and that she was quietly weeping with the news. From my mindset I told her, “Oh sweetie… it is okay and really not that big of deal… I will be fine”. As with you, I was in denial, but in a different way. I just did not know much about it and my grandmother had it and died at 70 or so and I thought that was a normal life span anyway; I was naïve.
As the first year or two went on my blood sugar levels went up and down. I assumed that if my levels stayed under 200 or so I would be fine, because I was told that some levels reach 300, 400 and higher and people did not die; this is not to say that an extremely high or low level can not be of great concern. Well, to my surprise I learned that it is not necessarily the sugar level at the moment, but how well one can keep their levels close to the 112 mark over their lifetime; it is the high levels over time that slowly causes the damage to the heart, kidneys, arteries etc.
In my case, I developed extreme neuropathy in my feet. That is where the nerves have become damaged and causes a burning and/or stinging pain. My sudden onset of neuropathy after my initial diagnosis of diabetes was in part, attributed to prior foot damage from many years on ladders, current lack of exercise and being a smoker.
What I am trying to offer you is the assuredness that many people who have diabetes actually live long and healthy lives if they keep their sugars levels as normal as possible by getting some type of exercise and eating healthier. The most ironic thing you will find is that if we eat as our species was originally intended; fruits vegetables, low fat and higher fiber foods and protein our levels will stay on track and the weight will automatically drop. This was a discovery I found to be a proven theory as personally doing for a year; last year and I dropped 75 lbs. It is actually kind of cool in an odd way of thinking, because now out of biological demand, as my neuropathy pain increases my blood sugar levels are relative and as my blood sugar levels raise, so does my weight over time.
My last comment as a reference to my validity, is through my higher education and the knowledge that prior to 1950, when the history of human eating habits changed from the previous thousands of years of mankind, the obesity rate and diabetes rate are not only parallel, but were non-existing health issues in our past societies.
Hey, it is a pleasure to meet you Tracy and anytime you want to chat; feel free to write. You are going to do just fine. (:
Sincerely,
Reed
Hi Tracy. Welcome to TuD! I am relatively new to this site myself. I have found that the best thing you can do is take things one day at a time. I know it’s easier said than done, but it really will help. I find myself struggling daily with the “what ifs” and then I have to remind myself to just take a deep breath and focus on the now since there are no guarantees for tomorrow. I hope this great group of people will help you as much as its helping me 
Julie
Dear Tracy. Welcome to our group but I would be happier you were not here. Kind of like welcoming a friend to hell. Dont worry I am much too tired to kick. Fasting BG 92 and 150 after lunch is a dream. The only thing I wonder about is if I would of have been allowed insulin at an early stage would some of my pancreas be still alive today? Actually I dont even know if any part of my pancreas is still alive, not sure if I am allowed to have some tests that could determine this. I guess I could stop the insulin and measure the BG and the Ketones and see how high things go. Our communist health care system was destroyed by a capitalist oil boom. Now that it is an oil bust, maybe they will go home and I can see a doctor. With a world wide crash there may be no home to go to.
Tracy, are you sure you are Type 2? The weight loss and the fact that oral meds didn’t seem to help much sounds like you might have LADA, or Type 1.5. That is late onset Type 1, and if that’s what you have you’ll be much better off with insulin. If you do have LADA you will need much smaller amounts of insulin than if you have Type 2 so you might want to talk to your doctor about this and get the antibody tests to be sure.