[Richard157]

Hello Karen, welcome to Diabetes Forum! I am sorry to hear about your chronic neuropathy. Many diabetics have experienced some reversal with their neuropathy by getting very good control and not running so much high blood sugar. I had some neuropathy and retinopathy several years ago but now that I rarely see any blood sugar tests that are high all my complications are gone.

Have you had bad control like this all 12 years that you have been type 1? I highly recommend that you learn about carb counting. If you know the number of carbs in each meal and snack that you eat then you can determine the insulin dosages by knowing the number of carbs. Some people take one unit of fast acting insulin (Apidra in your case) for every 15 carbs they eat. Other people need 1 unit for every 10, or 5....carbs. It is different for each diabetic. Trial and error would determine the right dosages for you. I hope you will ask your doctor about this. It has helped me very much. I also limit my carb intake to 130g per day and exercise every day.

I have been Type 1 for 64 years and I am healthy. I hope you will get help and have better control soon. With good control you can have a long, healthy life. Do whatever you can to get that control.

Richard

 

[Richard157]

Karen, you should do whatever amount of exercise you are capable of doing, without pushing too hard and hurting yourself. That means 20 minutes for some people but for others it can be a 10 mile run or a 20 mile bike ride. I am 70 now and I walk for 1 hour each day on roads with some steep hills. On bad weather days I use my treadmill indoors. That is about my limit. You will have to be your own judge on deciding what you can do. You could gradually increase your exercise every few days and build up the muscles necessary to enable you to do a little bit more.