I guess I am kind of getting tired of this disease and I want to here from other people with the same problems. I can't talk to anyone about these issues, the doctor's don't really understand the "living with it" part of the disease. Things don't always go as planned and to be honest I see a lot of post's on this site where people kind of pad their stats. For example" I checked my sugar at 2 am and it was 90", to me that is padding, because there are some 2 am's that are not 90. I don't have a standard formula, everyday is different, I can have 90 at 2am one morning and then the next morning it could be 40 or 300. If i miss my mark, high or low, I have problems. I wish I could find a Support group locally so I could talk/network with people with the same problems. I know what to do to get my BG under control, but I do not always feel like dealing with it.
Long time diabetic - looking for sympathy
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Good to have you with us, bnenyiii. Lotta support & empathy here - and maybe even a little "padding" . . . y'think? 
Have not been diabetic nearly as long as most of our members, and I'm not even on insulin yet, but the other day I woke up cranky, & was just plain done with it. Didn't wanna test, didn't wanna take meds, didn't wanna eat breakfast - just tired of diabetes every time I turn around. And I monkeyed around until nearly noon before I finally got my head squared away. The eternal vigilance required is possibly the most tiring - there's never a respite.
Tell us more about yourself & how you manage. From your other posts I know you're pumping - how long you had the pump?
Have not been diabetic nearly as long as most of our members, and I'm not even on insulin yet, but the other day I woke up cranky, & was just plain done with it. Didn't wanna test, didn't wanna take meds, didn't wanna eat breakfast - just tired of diabetes every time I turn around. And I monkeyed around until nearly noon before I finally got my head squared away. The eternal vigilance required is possibly the most tiring - there's never a respite.
Tell us more about yourself & how you manage. From your other posts I know you're pumping - how long you had the pump?
Thank you Shanny for your Feedback!! I have had it for at least 5 years, I guess that is not as long as I thought. But regardless, I know what to do, for the most part. I just get tired of being attached to my pump, meds, and BG Meter. I watch other people eat with no regard for the carbs and I am honestly envious. I don't have a standard day as far as Carb Intake, meaning I eat what I want to eat. I do watch my Portion Size and try to balance my diet. I usually try to eat more protein and more Vegatables and less carbs. With the Pump If i count the Carb correctly then there is no problem. But then I have my activity level's and Carb type to account for, etc etc. My last A1C was 7.1 and my doctor was okay with that. I lead an active lifestyle, I play Softball two nights a week and Tournaments roughly every other week. League Nights are the biggest pain, because the Margin of Error is extremely high. During the game I try to keep it 150-200, which is agreed upon with my doc because sometimes if I do a lot of running my sugar can drop a lot and fast. Then after league night, I go home and my sugar typically goes low, then I eat and after two hours (which can be 2-3 in the morning) my sugar drops and I fortunately wake up. It just makes for a horrible day when I don't get enough sleep and my sugar was low. I tend to binge when I wake up with Low sugar and then Wake up with a high sugar at 8-830am. I don't know what I am trying to say, I am just saying it. Hope everyone doesn't mind me rambling. Tournaments are easier because they are usually done before 6pm and I don't have to wake up early Sunday morning. Which means I can get my BG under control 3-4 hours after a sporting activity. I don't have that Luxury on league nights. I was playing 4 league night's a week and I quit one team with some good friends on. I feel guilty for quiting and Feel depressed about that etc. I will be good, I just need to offload this stuff to take the weight and perspective out of it. I should always be greatfull for what I have because I have it better than a Lot of people. Still sometimes, it gets to you.
I have the Minimed 722 pump with a basal of 21 units per day and avg 60 carbs per meal. my a1c is 7.1 and my Good cholestoral is borderline. Everything else is good as far as blood testing goes.
What do you do for your diabetes?
I have the Minimed 722 pump with a basal of 21 units per day and avg 60 carbs per meal. my a1c is 7.1 and my Good cholestoral is borderline. Everything else is good as far as blood testing goes.
What do you do for your diabetes?
My doc put me on metformin right away, and it's been a great help - not only in stabilizing my BG, but in curbing my appetite which generated some weight loss which reduced my insulin resistance which . . . (kinda like the old lady who swallowed a fly - heheh )
But his original advice was to keep carbs under 100g per day, and that didn't drop me low enough. I began hearing the admonition "eat to your meter", so I started testing everything I ate for awhile, & eliminated or sharply limited anything that ran me over 140. So with eating to my meter & logging all foods & readings during those early months, I found myself getting about 50g-60g of carbs per day, and that keeps me pretty well controlled. My meals are mainly protein & fats, and high-fiber veggies. May have felt deprived to begin with, but rarely notice it now.
I'm getting old and I'm sedentary, but so far, so good. Most days I don't wake up quite as cranky as the day I described in my earlier post.
) But his original advice was to keep carbs under 100g per day, and that didn't drop me low enough. I began hearing the admonition "eat to your meter", so I started testing everything I ate for awhile, & eliminated or sharply limited anything that ran me over 140. So with eating to my meter & logging all foods & readings during those early months, I found myself getting about 50g-60g of carbs per day, and that keeps me pretty well controlled. My meals are mainly protein & fats, and high-fiber veggies. May have felt deprived to begin with, but rarely notice it now.
I'm getting old and I'm sedentary, but so far, so good. Most days I don't wake up quite as cranky as the day I described in my earlier post.
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Have you tried using temporary basals during games. I find it works best to start them 2 hours before the game starts and then let them run for 3 or 4 hours after the game ends.
It is kinda funny that you play softball because living with diabetes is like being in a softball game. The pitcher doesn't always pitch a perfect game(variable blood sugars) and fielders may make a few errors(miss counting carbs) and batters do strike out(rapid onset of low glucose). But even with all of these things happening you can still win the game.
Have you ever considered using a CGMS to fine tune your basals. I didnt realize how much mine needed to be changed until I went on one and now for the last couple of years I have had A1Cs under 6.5 oh yea my lowest rate is right after midnight until 2:30 am to eliminate those lows you talk about.
Don't let the lttle things get you down and remember everything is a little thing.
It is kinda funny that you play softball because living with diabetes is like being in a softball game. The pitcher doesn't always pitch a perfect game(variable blood sugars) and fielders may make a few errors(miss counting carbs) and batters do strike out(rapid onset of low glucose). But even with all of these things happening you can still win the game.
Have you ever considered using a CGMS to fine tune your basals. I didnt realize how much mine needed to be changed until I went on one and now for the last couple of years I have had A1Cs under 6.5 oh yea my lowest rate is right after midnight until 2:30 am to eliminate those lows you talk about.
Don't let the lttle things get you down and remember everything is a little thing.
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I have to admit that having diabetes can be a royal pain. The testing, the shots, the oral meds, carb counting, figuring out my insulin needs and on and on. I miss the days when having a snack meant getting out a bag of corn chips without having to worry about what eating them would do to my blood sugar. I have days when things go as they should, meaning that the amount of insulin that I figure that I need is going to cover my carbs. And I have days when my best attempt to control my blood sugar is a struggle. Getting some strange test reading that really doesn't make any sense. Once you get the diagnosis of diabetes, it is going to take effort everyday to do the things that will help us to control our blood glucose the best that we know how.
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Hi there! Good to meet you
Have you tried setting a lower temporary basal rate when you exercise? Thats what I do on the days I go to the gym. If I didnt I would be low most of the day.
I do a Temporary Basal rate of 65%. I will drop it to 55, 45 and 35 % if i sense that I am in a Down swing. If I overcount my carbs and do a lot of running, my BG will drop for 3-4 hours, i usually pick up on it and drop my basal untill it stabilizes. It is a journey, but I have grown pretty familier with it. When I play I am just making it work there is no set formula and I have to adjust Basal's, my carb counting, and my Bolus's throughout the day. Not really the carb counting, but my Insulin Sensativy is different when I am running around so I have to look at the Carb intake. That's why I eat the Light Protein meals because sometimes during activity I can back off on a Bolus and my sugar doesn't sky rocket. Then you have a game where you don't do much, then I increase the Basil. I kind of wing it if you get my drift. When I was on Lantus and the Novolog Pen, I did not have any options, execpt to eat or to eat and Correct. Cause I don't correct without eating during activity. Usually I use gatoraid to correct or to raise my BG.
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Looks like you are doing it like a pro. This is what todays technology was meant to do. It forces you to take charge and has made it easy to do. You must admit that as hard as it is it is much better than being on MDI. Good luck and don't forget to have fun.
Well don't deal with it then and enjoy a shortened painful life. Do you think cancer victims don't feel like dealing with their chemo or kidney patients don't feel like dealing with dialysis. You have a choice just like they do, but the outcome will be the same if you don't do what is required.
Who cares what other people do? No one continues to eat everything they want forever. Weight gain, heart problems or diabetes is waiting for them down the road at some point.
Are you happy with with an A1C of 7.1? You shouldn't be and if your Dr. is happy with it I would find another Dr.
The bottom line is that this is your life and no one else's. Take control and make the best of things.
Good Luck!
Dang Jay, Looks like I hit a nerve or something. Maybe you a feeling bad about your readings and how your treating your body. I am not satisfied with the 7.1 A1c but it isn't horrible. I need to get it down lower but the recommended level is >7. I can't just snap my fingers and make it happen. I think that my doctor was okay with the 7.1 because she knows that I play softball league nights and that it is nearly impossible for me to have balanced BG after sporting events. I need at least 4 hours to get it Balanced and I don't get that for league nights. Most of the time I run high after Games because I honestly want to be able to go to sleep and not wake up in the middle of the night with a low reading. If i eliminated the sporting event's, I have decreased league nights, My A1c would drop significantly. This disease is not a "take a pill and forget about disease for me atleast" I am constantly adjusting things and there is not 1 correct way. You have to live with it and I am doing just that. posted on this forum because I was in a rut and with the help and kind words from everyone I am digging out of the rut. To be honest I don't appreciate your hostility, and I now question your motives for posting that way. You must be having problems and I am truly sorry to hear that.
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I just wanted to say Good For You for standing your ground. To many people think that it is all about what you eat and don't understand what it is like trying to second guess what your body is doing and even harder what it will be doing in 2 hours. Take care and have fun in all you do.:flame:
Hi bnenyiii. We all get down in the dumps from time to time. Sorry you're there now...but it will pass.
There are a couple of things you might do to alleviate the stress. Have you thought of taking a "pump holiday" and doing MDI for a while? Also, if you have these books you might re-read them, follow the testing protocols and adjust your insulin regimen (with the wide swings you're reporting, resetting your insulin doses might make a difference in how you feel): Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner and/or Pumping Insulin by John Walsh.
I agree - sometimes it's hard to watch people blithely eat a bag of chips or a nice creamy serving of mashed spuds and not have to anticipate how much insulin they'll need. And constant BG monitoring can be a pain in the proverbial arse. Oh well....we just have to buck up and do it, I guess. The alternative is just not that appealing!
Feel better soon.
Best,
Jen
There are a couple of things you might do to alleviate the stress. Have you thought of taking a "pump holiday" and doing MDI for a while? Also, if you have these books you might re-read them, follow the testing protocols and adjust your insulin regimen (with the wide swings you're reporting, resetting your insulin doses might make a difference in how you feel): Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner and/or Pumping Insulin by John Walsh.
I agree - sometimes it's hard to watch people blithely eat a bag of chips or a nice creamy serving of mashed spuds and not have to anticipate how much insulin they'll need. And constant BG monitoring can be a pain in the proverbial arse. Oh well....we just have to buck up and do it, I guess. The alternative is just not that appealing!
Feel better soon.
Best,
Jen
No problems here at all. I have accepted the disease and do what I have to do to stay in control. I agree with you 100% that things are always changing and I have to make adjustments, but I don't resent the disease or the habits of others because of it.
I certainly had no malice intended toward you. If I didn't care about your well being, I wouldn't have taken the time to post.
On most of these forums I think there are too many cheerleaders and not enough realists sometimes. Most diabetics are looking to rationalize there poor choices and if enough people pat them on the back they continue it. Who does that help?
Again, I wish you the best. Keep up the fight. What choice do we have?
Jay
What you are saying here makes no sense to me cause I know nothing about you. Just out of Curiousity what is your situation? A1c, Med etc. I kind of think that I am dealing with it... I only put the bad things on this website, but there is a lot of good. I need to work on Posting good things that I am doing on the forum. I do a lot of things right and I am working through the things I do wrong thru this site. I registered a year ago, posted one thing and never posted again till recently. the last couple of month's I was getting stressed and I actually called my old Dietitionist's because I know I can work on a better diet. Mine is good, but I need help to make it better, whatever, I called her and she called me back left a voicemail. I never called her back avoided it. I think what I needed more than a Dietition visit was to chat with other people that have the same problem ""you guy's and gal's"". Doctor's Nutritionist's, nurse's all know the med's and the symptoms, some know a little about the "living with it" part, but none know like we know. I just need to talk to people I am feeling a whole lot better than when I originally posted on this Thread.
I do care what other people do and I think you do as well, or you wouldn't have posted..
It did kind of rub me the wrong way how you tell me what I am doing wrong, (which your correct I should do better). Then you don't give any info on yourself and criticize what I am doing. That Kind of leads me to believe that maybe your not doing what you should do. You read my post and it is kind of like your story, so you give me advice that perhaps your not taking, I do that all of the time? I read people's post all day and I here parts of my story and it makes me feel better and not alone or it let's me see something about myself that I didn't see before. I post something on here and read it and read people's feedback and I learn things about me that I just can't see from the 1st Person view.
Post something on here about yourself, I want to know and I am sure everyone else wants to know as well.
Count me in . . . I too, would like to get to know you better, JayV. We come together here to support one another - not just to critique.
There is really not much to tell. I was dx'ed as a type 2 about 3 years ago after routine blood work revealed a high fasting number. GTT followed and I was officially a diabetic. I began reading and studying everything I could get my hands and kept detailed notes on what did and didn't work for me.
You have to be in charge of this disease yourself, most doctors are pretty clueless.
I am 47 years old have a 3 1/2 year old son. My latest A1c was 5.2 and has never been higher than 5.5 since dx.
I take 1000 mg. metformin daily and control the rest with diet(low low carb) and exercise. If I go over 120, I am not happy.
Anything else you want to know just ask.
Thank you, Jay. It's always good to meet others who take responsibility for their condition and effect the lifestyle changes necessary to maintain control. We're all in this together & we each choose the methods that work best for our individual circumstances.
Our type 1 friends like bnenyiii, don't have quite as much wiggle room as we type 2s who aren't even using exogenous insulin yet. Just having the freedom to come here and let their hair down when they get tired of the diabetes wars may be all the respite they need to go back & fight stronger.
We need this site to be about good realistic management of diabetes, and once in awhile realistic management includes just needing to bitch & moan a little bit. It's good we have a place we can offer our complaints to people who understand what we're going through and how tiresome is the eternal vigilance required to hold diabetes at bay, not even to mention what bnenyiii brought up in another thread - the people who think all he needs to do to survive is eat less. Somehow the myth persists that we diabetics brought this all on ourselves, and of course, believers in that myth are never shy about telling us what they think, are they?
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I'm too old & thick-skinned to care what anyone else thinks anymore, but then I'm not competing in team sports & strenuous exercise which tax my ability to manage my diabetes. You all have my utmost admiration in the vigorous endeavors you undertake despite the risks involved.
Our type 1 friends like bnenyiii, don't have quite as much wiggle room as we type 2s who aren't even using exogenous insulin yet. Just having the freedom to come here and let their hair down when they get tired of the diabetes wars may be all the respite they need to go back & fight stronger.
We need this site to be about good realistic management of diabetes, and once in awhile realistic management includes just needing to bitch & moan a little bit. It's good we have a place we can offer our complaints to people who understand what we're going through and how tiresome is the eternal vigilance required to hold diabetes at bay, not even to mention what bnenyiii brought up in another thread - the people who think all he needs to do to survive is eat less. Somehow the myth persists that we diabetics brought this all on ourselves, and of course, believers in that myth are never shy about telling us what they think, are they?
I'm too old & thick-skinned to care what anyone else thinks anymore, but then I'm not competing in team sports & strenuous exercise which tax my ability to manage my diabetes. You all have my utmost admiration in the vigorous endeavors you undertake despite the risks involved.
Thanks Shanny.
Actually I forgot to add that I have begun to experiment with insulin(Lantus and R) to try and get my morning numbers down a bit lower. The dawn phenomenon is a tough opponent.
I should also say that I am a Bernsteinian at heart and that has a lot to do with my thoughts on controlling the disease.
Actually I forgot to add that I have begun to experiment with insulin(Lantus and R) to try and get my morning numbers down a bit lower. The dawn phenomenon is a tough opponent.
I should also say that I am a Bernsteinian at heart and that has a lot to do with my thoughts on controlling the disease.
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The thing with type 1 diabetes is that it doesn'y matter what you eat you are going to have to take insulin to cover your food consumption. It really doesn't matter what you eat as everything has you eat is going to raise your glucose levels if you dont take insulin. The real problem is that the insulin that is available today is to slow and does not react the same day in and day out. There must be about a thousand variables that effect how your insulin is going to work when you take it. Now with all that in mind you also have to take into account what else did your food contain. How much fat, how much fiber, and so on. Then you need to ask yourself do I take this bolus all at once or do I want to spred it out ofer an hour or two, or do I want a portion of it up front and the rest spread out over a few hours. There is no exact science that makes it all easy. It makes it better than it has been in a long time but the work is neverending and every type 1 will make mistakes on carb counts and insulin doses. So when giving advice to type 1 diabetics keep these things in mind. No 2 days are the same and every day is a new crap shoot. Some times we are lucky and sometimes we are not.
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