[KwanYin]

Hello! I am new to this forum/site. I was dx'd last December and my diabetes is fairly well controlled. However, I am really sensitive to changes in my BG. I manage symptoms through fairly strict carb control and a nightly dose of Levemir (5 units).

My high bg cropped up during a routine annual physical...via a WHOPPING Fasting sugar of 105. Oddly, I HAD had symptoms of Neuropathy! My internist asked how I'd been feeling and I said there was nothing new except I had this odd "tingling in my fingers and this weird intermittent pins and needles in my heels and bottoms of my feet" that had just started maybe a month prior.

Well, she called 3 days later with the high FBS # and asked me to come in for an A1C. She was not worried, pronounced it Pre-diabetes, just told me to up the exercise and cut a few carbs and come back in a few weeks and see if I'd moved my FBS.

Well, I did not take it so lightly b/c my dad (an Internist himself) was a late onset insulin dependent diabetic who had been dx'd at just about the same age I was AND his sister was as well...and she'd had her leg amputated and died of diabetes complications!!!!!!!! I'll never forget the day my dad called me at college my Freshman year and said "Honey, my sugars are out of control and I'm going to have to go on insulin." He really had a defeated note in his voice...which I now am sad that he felt! because, I know it was not his fault at ALL.

He was slender, no high BP or cholesterol and he was fit and active. So was his sister.... I have now traced the diabetes, I think, back to his grandmother and discovered that my 2 1st cousins have it as well.

I recently gave blood for a MODY genetic test, so I'll find out in about a month. I am antibody negative, so am not Type 1. My BMI is 22.5 and I am not insulin resistant, but insulin deficient according to my Endo.

Always looking for more information and support...so look forward to meeting other diabetics on this site!

Kwan Yin

 

[Gizmo]

Hi, Kwan. Unfortunately, Neuropathy can happen with pretty low bg's. Many of us, including me, has it, some have got their bg down low enough and kept it low so the Neuropothy reversed itself. Mine has been down for the past 4 months, but I know it can take over a year or more for nerves to heal, so now I'm just waiting it out, but it is better than it was, so maybe you can take some encouragement from that.

We're glad you found us, welcome to the forum.

 

[Shanny]

You are wise to trace the history of diabetes through your family & to study your options carefully. Getting the proper tests for a solid diagnosis is half the battle.

We're happy to have you join us & I hope you find the good advice & support here that I have found the last coupla years.

Welcome aboard!

 

[jwags]

Welcome to the forum. MODY is one of those types of diabetes that a lot is not known. I think there are 9 or 10 versions now and each one presents totally different. Most present in childhood. The one thing I want to comment on is that 20% of Type 1 present negative for antibodies. So it is possible that you are LADA or Type 1.5. More and more people are being dx'd with all types of diabetes today. The best thing you can do for yourself is to start looking at the ingredients in your foods. Opt for real food, with no additives, chemicals or hormones. I think the worst additive is HFCS. Once you start reading labels you see it is in everything, especially salad dressings. So even when you are eating healthy you may be fooling yourself with the dressing. I do think all of these additives, antibiotics and hormones in our foods messes with our endocrine system which leads to higher bgs. Although your fasting is only a touch high the important number is the 2 hour after meal bgs. Ideally you want them as low as possible but definitely not over 120-140.

 

[KwanYin]

Hi, Jwags and thanks for your thoughtful and informative response!

I am not familiar with HFCS...so I'll have to check it out. I rarely eat prepared salad dressings. I make my own vinegar and olive oil dressing for salads at home, although I sometimes do eat Hellmann's mayonnaise...but rarely.

I am complete agreement about the 2 hr post-prandial bg. And I am rather fanatical about it! Personally, I am alarmed when I get into 130's range. I never like to go over 120 if I can help it.

I find that my neuropathy symptoms abate if I can get my A1C below 5.4. Over that, and it returns. I have the tingling fingers and the pins and needles in my feet now, so I know when I see the endo next week it is not going to be great news. She ran GAD's and C-peptides again (now that it is 9 months post dx) -- I'm sure she is checking me again for LADA to see if anti-bodies have developed or if there has been a reduction in my insulin production. We'll see. I agree, I very well could turn out to be a 1.5. We'll see.

And YES, I have eliminated ALL prepared foods, boxed foods and virtually all canned foods except for the tomatoes and beans I put into my turkey chili recipe. I eat fresh, local and as natural as I can. I spend more, but eat less of the the really good stuff!

Thanks for your warm welcome!

Kwan Yin

 

[jwags]

The HFCS is High Fructose Corn Syrup. If you don't eat many processed food you are probably avoiding it. Diabetes can be a mystery sometimes and no one really knows how it gets started. I thought I did everything right, too. I had no family history, I was vegetarian and exercised a ton. I still got D in my late 50's. I am considered a Type 2 but am quite thin and muscular, so not your typical Type 2. I just accept I have diabetes and try to keep those 2 hour pp's as low as possible. I have found by eating certain foods I can get it below 100.

Also all neuropathies are not caused by diabetes. Have your doctor look at other causes.