I have been lurking in the forums for several months now and I finally decided to join and share my story so far. I am 37 years old and live in Billings MT.
I was diagnosed with type 2 in October of 2010. I was by accident that I was diagnosed. In August of 2010 I started having left intercostal pain. I didn't have a regular physician so I went to an urgent care office, thinking they would find something minor, give me a prescription, and send me on my way. They did some basic blood tests and everything came back normal. A couple of weeks later the pain was getting worse so I went back. They referred me to Internal Medicine for a more thorough exam. When I was finally able to get in to see a doctor, he ordered a number of blood tests to diagnose the pain. A week or two later, I got my test results in the mail. It included a note that my blood sugars were high and that I needed to get an OGTT test done. I got the test done and met with my doctor soon after. He said I had diabetes.
For medications, I started with metformin 500mg once daily and over a couple of months built up to 1000mg twice daily. I started using Lantus in January 2011 working from 10 units a day up to 44 units. The past couple of months I have been able to drop down to 40 units a day.
My A1c has been 9.0 in October 2010. 8.4 in January 2011. 7.3 in April 2011. And 6.3 in July 2011.
The one big challenge I have had since being diagnosed is finding local support. I go to see my doctor and the diabetes educator every three months, but beyond that, I cannot find anything else for education or support for diabetes anywhere in the region. I have a couple of friends who also have diabetes, but they don't work at controlling their sugars. I have tried the American Diabetes Association, but their local office's address is a mailbox at the UPS store and their phone number is a voicemail box that I never get calls back from. We have two hospitals here, one I just found out has a monthly support group but they are taking the summer off and the other hostpital is not in my insurance's network. So outside of this forum, what other resources should I look to for support?
I was diagnosed with type 2 in October of 2010. I was by accident that I was diagnosed. In August of 2010 I started having left intercostal pain. I didn't have a regular physician so I went to an urgent care office, thinking they would find something minor, give me a prescription, and send me on my way. They did some basic blood tests and everything came back normal. A couple of weeks later the pain was getting worse so I went back. They referred me to Internal Medicine for a more thorough exam. When I was finally able to get in to see a doctor, he ordered a number of blood tests to diagnose the pain. A week or two later, I got my test results in the mail. It included a note that my blood sugars were high and that I needed to get an OGTT test done. I got the test done and met with my doctor soon after. He said I had diabetes.
For medications, I started with metformin 500mg once daily and over a couple of months built up to 1000mg twice daily. I started using Lantus in January 2011 working from 10 units a day up to 44 units. The past couple of months I have been able to drop down to 40 units a day.
My A1c has been 9.0 in October 2010. 8.4 in January 2011. 7.3 in April 2011. And 6.3 in July 2011.
The one big challenge I have had since being diagnosed is finding local support. I go to see my doctor and the diabetes educator every three months, but beyond that, I cannot find anything else for education or support for diabetes anywhere in the region. I have a couple of friends who also have diabetes, but they don't work at controlling their sugars. I have tried the American Diabetes Association, but their local office's address is a mailbox at the UPS store and their phone number is a voicemail box that I never get calls back from. We have two hospitals here, one I just found out has a monthly support group but they are taking the summer off and the other hostpital is not in my insurance's network. So outside of this forum, what other resources should I look to for support?