[novamoe]

Hi. I am a type 2 diabetic and lately have been having real trouble with my AC sugar. As I am in Canada, the system we use is a little different for measuring glucose levels. Ideally I should be in the 5-6 range. Mine are normally around 7 in the morning, however the past two weeks morning readings have been anywhere from 8.4 to 11 this morning !! My last A1C was 8.0 down from 8.8, a year ago but my next blood test will most likely show this latest rise in Ac levels. I have major surgery coming up at the end of May (knee replacement) and I am concerned that the next step may be insulin. I really want to get my levels down so that insulin is out of the picture . I guess I just need to hear that I can do this and need a little moral support.

Thanks for listening !!

 

[jwags]

As a diabetic you need to do whatever you need to do to get bgs as close to normal as possible. A normal HbA1c is in the 4.0-5.5 range. What drugs are you using now to get your bgs down? An HbA1c of 8.0 is an average bg of 183 which is very high. I know you are afraid of insulin, but many find they can lower bgs quite quickly on it and then rotate back to oral meds. Insulin is a hormone and if you are deficient in it, you may need it. Also how is your diet? Do you count carbs? Many of us find we need to keep carbs fairly low to manage our bgs.

 

[Joshua Shorter]

Welcome to the forum! We are glad you're here. I hope you come back and post often. You can rant, question or offer advice to anyone. I agree with jwags, it is important to keep your A1C as close to normal as possible. I could ask questions but they would be the same asked in reply #2. Let us know! Good luck.

 

[novamoe]

As a diabetic you need to do whatever you need to do to get bgs as close to normal as possible. A normal HbA1c is in the 4.0-5.5 range. What drugs are you using now to get your bgs down? An HbA1c of 8.0 is an average bg of 183 which is very high. I know you are afraid of insulin, but many find they can lower bgs quite quickly on it and then rotate back to oral meds. Insulin is a hormone and if you are deficient in it, you may need it. Also how is your diet? Do you count carbs? Many of us find we need to keep carbs fairly low to manage our bgs.

Thanks so much for your reply. I just posted another blog this evening. It's been a rough day and your reply has been helpful. I guess the reason I feel so badly about the high reading is because I am completely responsible for them and I do know better. I just let myself go wild while we were away and now I feel very stupid about the whole thing. I am hooping i can get this whole thing back on track. As for carbs, we were eating out every day for five weeks ..need I say more??? Thanks again for replying and wish me luck on my new journey back to health.

 

[Guest]

welcome Novamoe we aren't always in perfect control of everything... goodness we'd all be perfect then wouldn't we! I just want to encourage you to just keep doing the best you know how and that means lots of trial and error along the way to find out what works for you. What works for one diabetic may not necessarily work for another. But if anything it's good to be able to communicate with others who have the same ailment as yourself. We do all share stuff we know and offer support as best we can. I was going to ask... do you get a lot of pain with your knee? If so.... do you notice your BGLs soaring with the pain? Food and exercise isn't the only thing to consider with diabetes... there's many contributing factors that don't help us with management. It's good to hear your HbA1c was going down at least Keep us posted on how you're doing.

 

[novamoe]

welcome Novamoe we aren't always in perfect control of everything... goodness we'd all be perfect then wouldn't we! I just want to encourage you to just keep doing the best you know how and that means lots of trial and error along the way to find out what works for you. What works for one diabetic may not necessarily work for another. But if anything it's good to be able to communicate with others who have the same ailment as yourself. We do all share stuff we know and offer support as best we can. I was going to ask... do you get a lot of pain with your knee? If so.... do you notice your BGLs soaring with the pain? Food and exercise isn't the only thing to consider with diabetes... there's many contributing factors that don't help us with management. It's good to hear your HbA1c was going down at least Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Thanks so much onlymep. Encouragement is always accepted . Because I had my sugars under control for so long I guess I thought it would stay that way no matter what. I see you are on insulin. Did you start with pills and then go to insulin?

Yes my knee gives me pain as soon as I stand or walk. I am so glad to be getting a replacement. It has taken two years just to get on the list for replacement and another nine months to actually get a surgery date. Our health care system here is in a dire condition, and wait lists are very long.

Thanks again for your support. I am determined to get back on track but I guess that won't happen overnight.

 

[Guest]

Thanks so much onlymep. Encouragement is always accepted . Because I had my sugars under control for so long I guess I thought it would stay that way no matter what. I see you are on insulin. Did you start with pills and then go to insulin?

Yes my knee gives me pain as soon as I stand or walk. I am so glad to be getting a replacement. It has taken two years just to get on the list for replacement and another nine months to actually get a surgery date. Our health care system here is in a dire condition, and wait lists are very long.

Thanks again for your support. I am determined to get back on track but I guess that won't happen overnight.

You're welcome
Control of my diabetes so far started as diet and exercise at first for a couple of years approx, then I was placed on metformin (which didn't agree with me), I was kept on it for 5+ years and they started introducing all sorts of other drugs to try and get my BGLs under control. Since 2007 I've had numerous types of infections to deal with and I've had a tonne of antibiotics to treat them all. I then finally got placed on insulin in February 2010 after I insisted on getting diagnostic tests done again and it showed that my pancreas wasn't producing enough insulin... probably why oral meds weren't working for some time. I've found insulin to be better to control my BGLs. I'm now used to the 4 daily injections I have on average... but I'm on a relatively low dosage my endo tells me. I was recently diagnosed with a chronic stomach disorder (possibly from all the drugs I've been taking, starting with the metformin) so now finding BGLs a bit tricky to manage. I'm currently waiting for another test on my stomach to be done (gastric stomach emptying). I still haven't got the treatment bit finalised for that... gastroenterologist still trialling things with me, and my GP and endocrinologist are always wanting to know what's going to keep track of my BGLs and what's happening. Don't be afraid to go on insulin if you have to... I'm thinking it's safer than the oral meds actually. It's certainly had less side effects for me... although more prone to hypos I suppose.

 

[moon]

Because I had my sugars under control for so long I guess I thought it would stay that way no matter what.

The good news is since you had such great control, you know how to do it and get back to that place. It's also a cautionary tale to me, a newly dx'ed diabetic, that we have to remain vigilant, something that isn't always easy to do. I can understand becoming complacent after a long period.

Welcome to the forum - a wonderful source of information and support. It has been invaluable to me as I hope it will be to you.

 

[novamoe]

The good news is since you had such great control, you know how to do it and get back to that place. It's also a cautionary tale to me, a newly dx'ed diabetic, that we have to remain vigilant, something that isn't always easy to do. I can understand becoming complacent after a long period.

Welcome to the forum - a wonderful source of information and support. It has been invaluable to me as I hope it will be to you.

Yes you do get complacent after a while and when things go wrong it kind of brings you back very quickly. I know I'm now on a mission to get myself back on track. Wish me luck and thanks for your input. It all helps .

 

[novamoe]

You're welcome
Control of my diabetes so far started as diet and exercise at first for a couple of years approx, then I was placed on metformin (which didn't agree with me), I was kept on it for 5+ years and they started introducing all sorts of other drugs to try and get my BGLs under control. Since 2007 I've had numerous types of infections to deal with and I've had a tonne of antibiotics to treat them all. I then finally got placed on insulin in February 2010 after I insisted on getting diagnostic tests done again and it showed that my pancreas wasn't producing enough insulin... probably why oral meds weren't working for some time. I've found insulin to be better to control my BGLs. I'm now used to the 4 daily injections I have on average... but I'm on a relatively low dosage my endo tells me. I was recently diagnosed with a chronic stomach disorder (possibly from all the drugs I've been taking, starting with the metformin) so now finding BGLs a bit tricky to manage. I'm currently waiting for another test on my stomach to be done (gastric stomach emptying). I still haven't got the treatment bit finalised for that... gastroenterologist still trialling things with me, and my GP and endocrinologist are always wanting to know what's going to keep track of my BGLs and what's happening. Don't be afraid to go on insulin if you have to... I'm thinking it's safer than the oral meds actually. It's certainly had less side effects for me... although more prone to hypos I suppose.

Hi. Sounds like you've had quite a journey with your diabetes. I know the Metformin can cause tummy problems but so far I have avoided that. You must be frustrated at times. Thanks for the advice about insulin...it makes me less apprehensive and thanks for answering.