Sorry Natalie but I disagree with just about everything you said.
I am not saying that depression is related to diabetes. I will not discuss further with you because I actually have a degree in psychcology and have studied it well. I have been depressed myself for over 20 years.
I will agree with you that I should have said low blood sugars cause extreme sadness that can disappear on a moments notice…as soon as you eat something. But I even disagree with that. Moods are very variable. If you won a lottery ticket, you would be happy suddenly, but it wouldn’t change the undelying depression. You wouldn’t suddenly be happy all the time.
The reason it is important is that if Karebear is having frequent lows, that would contribute to the depression she is feeling.
Dear Natalie:
If you knew that I completely cured a devastating case of neuropathy in myself that was brought on in 8 days and I did it though supplements and all on my own, with a boy friend who moved in to take care of me because the stupid drug I was put on made my bloood pressure go down to 80/50…then you would understand my position…and my comments to you about not liking anything you said. Oh, I know you mean well and you think I know nothing about what I am talking about…but my doctors ask me what supplements I am taking. One of the two doctors has asked several people to talk to me, given they have neuropathy, and I do it as a favour to my doctor and to the people.
I don’t have it all memorized. In fact I don’t follow all that nearly as closely as I did 8 years ago. My interests are actually focused on other things these days. But for anyone to tell me supplements are wrong is like telling Jesus to shut up and that God does not exist. I personally believe very strongly in God and thank him for giving me the disease of neuropathy when he knew I would figure it out. I didn’t know at the time and felt like I would have to commit suicide, but knew I could not, so I had to figure out something and I already knew supplements would be the best approach, but I had no idea it would work.
I often wonder if my diabetes is going away as I take so little insulin and yet am 100% dependent on insulin after 30 years on it, and I do it through supplements, so your comments are totally wrong about supplements being of no value.
Since you are on a pump…I ask you… should I go on a pump when my TDD of insulin is as low as 4-15u daily? It hardly seems worthwhile.
I am currently going through 7 seminars on the pump as the Lantus is so unreliable. In the first seminar I learned that plastic degrades insulin and wow that answers why the lantus does not work for me…it gets worse as the time goes on for each cartridge. So I plan to switch to glass cartridges when these Solostar disposable pens are finished. I had used lantus fine for 5 years when it was in glass vials.
You don’t have to answer because I’ve already figured out my plan.
I would say you have a lot of extra weight on you, so it is too bad you did not understand supplements years ago, to have avoided that problem. You might never have become diabetic.
But I would say, without a doubt, that you are staying a high weight because of insufficient knowledge about diabetes and supplements.
Your A1c is very high, which is surprising for a person on the pump.
But then I realize that if people are depressed they might tend to eat more than they should. All the more reason to have the benefit of supplements.
Janina said:
“I would say you have a lot of extra weight on you, so it is too bad you did not understand supplements years ago, to have avoided that problem. You might never have become diabetic.
But I would say, without a doubt, that you are staying a high weight because of insufficient knowledge about diabetes and supplements.
Your A1c is very high, which is surprising for a person on the pump.”
And Janina is wrong. I have exactly 8 lb. of extra weight on me – no one would call that a lot. And I am not staying at a high weight – I expect to be at BMI 24.9 within a month. I expect it to continue going down in the future.
My next A1c will not be very high – My doc and I expect it to be in the high 5’s or low 6’s. I experienced a high A1c due to eating too many carbohydrates, and not dosing adequately for them. I learned my lesson. Not supplements. Just reduced carb eating.
Janine… I do appreciate your input on suppliments and your experiences. That being said… to have a discussion is about sharing our experiences with eachother, not telling others what to do, or disreguarding their own input and experiences. Your having a degree in psychology…well you should know that! I too am trained in the field of helping others, and it is MY experience that EVERYONE has experiences that are true for THEM, and it is a wonderous gift to be able to share and EXCHANGE thoughts and ideas with eachother. It is not who is right or wrong…its about we as spritual beings haveing a human experience and being able to discuss without blame or disreguard for others beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
Keep sharing you knowlege Janine but please, do not look down on others because they may not agree with what works for you. We all have choices and each choice we make is a lesson and a blessing. There is no such thing as a mistake…and THAT is MY experience and MY opinion.
Oh I agree with you, but perhaps you should have directed that comment to Natalie at exactly the same time. I am very pleased that she is doing as well as she shows with numbers and that show she is on the downward trend. But because of her total attack on my message, which I disagree with, I will be bowing out of this conversation after this message. And more likely I will just also not bother to contribute to the site.
I fully agree with everything you have said, and I also fully agree that it is a part of psychology. I suppose I could have said nothing and not got annoyed. And just walked away so to speak, but then you might have thought I agreed with what she said and I do not. I am a thorough believer in supplements because they cure problems in health. But it is not a simple procedure. I always find great success with them because I go by what I have read on each supplement. And we all know that supplement manufacturers have different reputations. Also the book I am going to recommend points out a lot of the consequences of too much of each supplement. It is like a dictionary, so it is quite a good resource.
I am not someone who likes any sort of fight. I just walk away. But I am saying that orthomolecular medicine is the way to approach any health issue, first, before you agree to have some body part cut out or disabled.
Each person should be their own primary doctor and use doctors as consultants. No doctor will spend as much time on your problem as you can yourself. I fully know you already have this in mind and I say more power to you. With you, you could say it is “preaching to the choir” and you already understand my approach, so I have nothing left to add except recommend one of my favourite books that just happens to be on sale.
I recommend the book Dr Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution, as it is the best I have read and just happens to be on super low clearance price because it is about 10 years old, and sadly the doctor died so it may not come out for a while in reprint and it might disappear quickly. especially at that price of $6 on amazon.com the USA branch. In Canada it is $22.04 at amazon.ca.
If you choose not to buy the book that is your choice, but it was the main book that taught me my approach to supplements 10 years ago and so it was the basis for how I cured myself of a suicidal level of neuropathy. But nowhere will you find the way I did it as I brought my thinking together from years of reading including the Internet.
I am giving you the heads up on an excellent book as ONE of many resources for solving all of anyone’s health issues. This is a general recommendation to anyone reading, not just you. I am NOT telling you to buy it…it is a strong suggestion, and if you don’t buy it that is fine with me. But notice the 5 star rating it is given in both countries and the low clearance price. and you will see that I am just giving a friendly, wise recommendation. And also telling you both that Natalie’s attack was quite abrupt and that was because she believes the opposite of me, which is fine, but I had to restate my approach and then I walk away. I am a full believer that the orthomolecular medicine approach is the best…hands down. I won’t even enter a fight about it. The whole naturopathic medical industry is based on it. I see it as a foregone conclusion. It is not my personal opinion that is at stake here. I see it as logic.
Just look up the concept of “orthomolecular medicine” and there you go. I could give other great references too, but I have other things to do than convince people who do not understand the basic premise I am coming from. It is not my idea. It is Dr Linus Pauling’s basic approach and there are quite a few doctors who fully agree.
I am very glad that both of you are doing so well, and especially glad that Natalie is only 8 lbs overweight. I also feel that I am overweight by the same amount, no actually more, in that I am 5’ 6" and 139 lbs and feel better at 120 lbs, which is attainable as I was 124 just 5 years ago, and 128 just less than a year ago, but the gain is entirely due to insulin levels and lack of exercise, so I do know how to reverse it as I understand diabetes very well, but am always learning.
I am attending seminars on going over to a pump, but feel it is almost pointless, as I eat so little and take so little insulin…TDD of 12u for today…on a day after exercise I am down to 4u TDD…and it is all because of supplements and a low carb approach.
I predict that Natalie will have even better results in future, since she has a pump. It may be because she is still adjusting or maybe likes eating more than I do. I don’t recommend people follow my complete approach, but I won’t give up either.
The opposite of my approach is a woman I help who is about 250 lbs and who lost weight of 35 lbs in 4 months in 20006 by reducing to about 45u TDD and then spent 11 months at 30u TDD and stayed even in weight through to 2007, but called me about a month ago and said she had regained and had been up to 106u a day.
You can’t understand how much that makes my heart CRY. I put in hundreds of hours helping her for free in 2003 to 2006 and she does understand what I taught her, but she threw out the Dr Bernstein book in 2005. She does take supplements still, as she was one that I helped eliminate neuropathy symptoms in during 2003-4 with supplements. The weight loss was the success of 2006 and she understands the concepts. But it made me feel like crying the whole Christmas season.
I like to hear people have excellent results and figure out a way that works for them, but I don’t understand the way the medical industry is poorly handling the diabetes and overweight issue. Oh I do understand it, but I don’t approve of how they approach it, but that is a whole different topic that covers multiple disciplines including psychology.