I am, Gary. I think they like having me back home. haha! My dad is a big worrier and even though I am 40, he figures if I am here, he won’t worry about how I am doing so much.
If I didn’t have here to come back to, I would still be stuck in a crappy relationship that I didn’t want to stay it, just because I needed a place to stay. Other than that, my cats and I would be out on the street - begging for Cat Chow.
I am doing very well with my D so far. I had a 9.2 A1C at diagnosis 4 months ago and cut it down to a 4.9! It mostly due to my diet. Yes, Type 1 have it so much harder. I am dreading the day when I might have to go on insulin. I am hoping to forstall that for as long as possible.
Mild type 2 is very manageable if your willing to stay on a strict low carb diet. Type 1 though offers more flexibility with food it can be a nightmare for many cause we have no help of our own insulin secretion and injected insulin results can vary. If you feel relatively fine count your blessings. I suffer with both physical and emotional distress from the sugar swings and I spend much time depressed and worrying about everything. Hopefully if and when the time comes that you may need injections Smart Insulin will be available. If you haven’t heard of it its a self regulating insulin which may offer us a life of normal sugars on a regular basis without walking on eggshells all the time. I am also hopeful something like Dr Faustmans plan works out in reversing the disease cheaply but its likely a long shot and even if it prevails quite a few more years off.
Yes, I am comfortable with my diet for the most part. I am sure I will slip every now and again but with an A1C of 4.9, I am assure by the lovely members of this site not to worry about a few highs. I have a lot of willpower when it comes to diet since I am used to modifying my diet as I have been a vegetarian for 20 years (and now a vegan). I guess I kinda had a head start in that department.
Hmm, interesting you mention the sugar swings because I still have some mood swings even though my sugars stay “normal” - although i read that woman with diabetes will have more moodiness - it might be hormones though. Although, right after diagnosis, before I went on meds and got my sugar under control, I had extreme mood swings, I think it might have been because my eating was all screwed up until I figured this thing out.
And worry? Whoa, I am the queen of worry! I have always been a big worry-wart - diabetes or no diabetes. It is exhauting. It is something I am used too though. My family are worriers too - I think I learned it early in life. So don’t “worry”, your not the only one out here frettin’ away.
Yes, I have heard of the Smart Insulin. I too hope that things will get better in that vein. Even better, why can’t they just figure out what causes this and find a way to reverse it? I know it is a complex disease but I honestly can’t believe they haven’t gotten further than this with it yet. I was shocked at the antiquated methods for this disease which is apparently an “epidemic”.
Not to rain on your parade, but I was at a diabetes research symposium a few weeks ago and listened to a presentation on the artificial pancreas study that is going to start with the whole system working together to manage BGs with any food eaten. The fact that might surprise you is the fact that have been discovered about the damage that low and high BG cause to your body, the physiology and function of individual organs. They have discovered that it only takes two hours of a a BG above 140, no matter who you are, to start to cause damage to your body parts. I was quite surprised at that stat along with several other new discoveries about how the body handles and manages glucose.
Good luck to you, but I truly hope no one thinks that they can successfully manage BGs w/o a meter. It is a dream of mine but in now way a reality at this point.
i’ve been on and off of insurance for years. without getting into details about it, i’ve been able to manage having insulin, but not always testing supplies. i also moved around a lot, between 2007 and 2010, i’ve moved over 20 times (for work and life style related reasons), meaning i’ve had to see new doctors to get prescriptions/samples, which meant dealing with lectures from doctors. -_-
it has been pricey and i’ve had to sacrifice normal things to make sure i had money for insulin. it was a struggle for a while, but i eventually came across dr. bernstein’s diabetes book and after reading it, i developed a better understanding of diabetes. using information in the book, doing medical research (i mean TONS of it), and experimenting on myself, i can now live with using very little insulin if i needed to (which i will in another 2 years for a short while). testing is important, but if it has to be sacrificed, routine is what will help you maintain sugars. if you eat the same thing every day at the same time and do the same kind of exercise, your sugars should fall into the same range (i do realize that stress, colds, other factors can affect sugars, which is why i said the same range). as bland and boring as this sounds, when you’re against the wall, this is one of the few ways i know to do it. i have no one to lean on other than myself so the times when i’ve had to do this, i did kind of feel a need to just surrender, but eventually things got better.
diabetes is the bread and butter of the medical community and not to get all conspiracy theory, but i know there are advancements that could alleviate a lot of costs for us, but industry is rather corrupt so i try to be as self reliant as i can.
