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Where Are You In Your Journey To Get Better Control of Diabetes?

5K views 36 replies 13 participants last post by  Cricket 
#1 ·
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Although I fully realize the path is never straight, where are you RIGHT NOW, in your journey to get better control of your diabetes?

After diving head first into the abyss at the end of last year, I am back on track with new determination. I am also setting new goals for myself, including finding time to walk every day, even if it is just a walk around the block.

Do you have specific goals to improve your health in 2019?
 
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#2 ·
I'm still maintaining my A1C. Periodically, I cheat. But my goal for the new year is to do more cardio. I do a lot of resistance band exercises. I have this fantastic apparatus called the "Chair Gym," and while it raises my heart rate a little, I feel that I need to incorporate more cardio.
 
#3 ·
Right now? Buckling down after the holidays. I haven't changed what I eat except for fewer bites of seasonal treats. But what I do for exercise has changed with the seasons.

I want to put my bike on a trainer in the basement but that means rearranging the furniture so I can at least watch TV or read or something or I never will get down there and pedal. Which means I have to negotiate rearranging furniture with my DW because the bike takes a lot of room.

I also would like to start weightlifting, at least informally. My goal is to be able to pick up my older granddaughter (currently 50 pounds); I can do that now without difficulty, but she's not going to get lighter. :biggrin: so I want to keep ahead of that curve. Gotta find some place to lift (the nuts and bolts of getting there, paying for it, etc.)

I just mostly need to get off the couch and get the ball rolling. Maybe writing this here will help.
 
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#4 ·
For me, I want it to be easier when hiking trails with a lot of inclines.
 
#5 ·
I believe my best diabetes control was weight loss. Purchasing a proform threadmill. I exercise after each meal. After getting my weight back to 230 from 320 lbs, regardless what I eat now, my A1c stays in check. I excercised daily, even day's I didn't feel like it, I'd pound the threadmill for 15 minutes, super slow pace. Key was to stay consistent. When I was 320 lbs, I couldn't eat anything without spiking BG's way up there. Even a super tiny meal, kicked BG's to 300,. I could eat sandwich crumbs, have a BG spike, crash and burn, had to take a nap. Once I got my weight under control, I can eat almost anything now, small meals thoughout the day, including ice cream :wink2: Control was the key to my survival.
 
#6 ·
I'm turning over a new leaf for the New Year (or going back to better habits). I'm going to start walking again--actually started that yesterday--and drinking more water. I've had some blood sugar results as high as 150 in the last week and that SCARES me!
 
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#7 ·
I would like to continue with intermittent fasting and trying to get more exercise (bike riding specifically). It seems to be helping quite a bit right now but the weather is COOL outside.

If you get a trainer for your bike @itissteve, get a good fan too. I can get pretty sweaty hot with it 68-70 degrees in the house without a good breeze blowing.
 
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#8 ·
If you get a trainer for your bike @itissteve, get a good fan too.
Thanks, mbuster! I got a fan blowing on the trainer toward the end of last winter when I first set it up. I notice now that I've lost so much weight that I don't run as warm as I used to, but it's still work on the bike and I like having the breeze. It's also one more aspect that makes bike-on-trainer feel more like real bike riding...
 
#11 ·
I'm always on a journey to get better control of my diabetes but at the same time I don't get frustrated if I slip up, which I usually do several times a week. I sometimes wonder if high expectations from both the person with diabetes and that person's health team doesn't some times contribute to ones decline of mental health.
 
#12 ·
I've gone from excellent control to somewhat slack, and then back again - sometimes every few months and now and then weekly. If it weren't for this forum, I probably wouldn't stay motivated. In helping and encouraging others I'm doing the same for myself.

So, I'd say I'm mid journey with ups and downs. Usually more ups, though.
 
#15 ·
I tend to find that when I have nothing in the pantry that I really really know I shouldn't eat, I don't have second thoughts about it and don't end up telling myself that maybe a little won't hurt.
 
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#18 ·
My last A1C was pretty bad - 8.2% Having said that my A1Cs have run in the 8s for as long as I've been going for A1Cs - doesn't seem to have a negative impact on me - at least not for the last 52 years anyway.
Having said that I still prefer to get my A1Cs in the low 7s or possibly in the 6 range so I tried splitting my dose of Lantus which didn't seem to make much of a difference for me - a forum member suggested Tresiba and my doctor was all for that and after about a week of making adjustments my BGs have really improved significantly.
So I'll get another A1c end of April and I suspect it will be much lower next time (if this trend continues).
 
#19 ·
My journey’s just beginning. Have been dx as prediabetes or so I guess, maybe borderline T2 if there is such a thing. Started titration of Metformin 6 days ago at 500 mg. Two pills beginning tomorrow and so on. Having a hard time coming to grips with this diabetes inevitability. What is a normal BG for one doesn’t mean that’s the same for everyone. So my daily (morning) fasting is around 138. That’s were it always is or has been since I’ve been monitoring it for the past month or so. Idk, it’s like my BP. It’s always been around 140/90. Dr’s say it’s too high take this or take that, we want it lower. Maybe for me, that’s just what it is. So I take a pill to lower my BP and it does that, but the trade off is my BG goes up. Maybe it just comes with the aging process, idk. Time to go scrap the calluses off the side of my big toes!
 
#20 ·
Dr’s say it’s too high take this or take that, we want it lower. Maybe for me, that’s just what it is. So I take a pill to lower my BP and it does that, but the trade off is my BG goes up. Maybe it just comes with the aging process, idk.
While we're not doctors and we can't dispense medical advice like one, many of us have been where you are. It doesn't have much to do at all with age. Many of us here have lowered our metformin doses or even gotten off it entirely by changing what we eat. There might also be a different medication that doesn’t raise your BG while it lowers your BP.
 
#25 ·
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Although I fully realize the path is never straight, where are you RIGHT NOW, in your journey to get better control of your diabetes?

After diving head first into the abyss at the end of last year, I am back on track with new determination. I am also setting new goals for myself, including finding time to walk every day, even if it is just a walk around the block.

Do you have specific goals to improve your health in 2019?
Today is my doctor's appointment. I am crossing my fingers that I didn't do too much damage to my A1C. I realize that my major fall (linked above) means it is going to be higher but if I am back in the 6s, I will be crying my eyes out. My fasting numbers still haven't fully recovered.
 
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#26 ·
Wishing you well with todays visit. Even if your numbers are up, remember, **it happens. You know that what you've done before will get them down because you've been there. You just have to do it again.
 
#29 ·
I hope your visit went well @Cricket I was doing great last fall, but then I fell into the abyss also. I gained weight, suffered from a lot of stress, had vertigo twice and a flu-like illness. My numbers have been horrible! When I went to the doctor for "you have what everybody else has" he reminded me that I was due for a diabetic checkup. Ugh!
 
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#33 ·
It looks like the blood pressure med (Ramipril) is raising my blood glucose.

So frustrated right now.
 
#34 ·
It looks like the blood pressure med (Ramipril) is raising my blood glucose.

So frustrated right now.
 
#35 ·
I may be wrong. I have been doing some research and the more I read the more I realize my mostly hyperthyroid symptoms are acting up again. Kinda kicking myself for now realizing this sooner. Yes, (sighs) I am gonna look up some supplements because I really don't want surgery on my thyroid if I can avoid it.
 
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