[ivy4u]

Hi everyone. My name is Ivy. I am 37 years old and was diagnosed about 4 years ago with type 2 diabetes. Since then I have not had much luck with control. My doctor started me with Metformin and had me go on Weight Watchers to try and control my sugars. While the Weight Watchers worked for awhile, the Metformin was not doing much. So my doctor added Amaryl (Glimepiride). This did not work either. At this point my AIC readings were anywhere from 10-11. That is when my doctor decided start me on insulin. I was taking Lantus and Apidra and my oral meds, in hopes that something would happen. In February of 2011, I ended up having Pulmonary Embolism and had clots in both legs and my lungs. It was so severe that I had to be life flighted to a nearby hospital. At the hospital, my doctors ran tests and saw that my numbers were out of control. They took me off all my oral medication and increased my insulin to 40 units in morning and 40 units in evening and still take apidra. I was also told to get back on Weight Watchers to help get my weight down and decrease my sugars. I did weight watchers for awhile but eventually quit becuase instead of losing weight i was gaining weight which my dr said was due to insulin use. They even tried weight loss drugs which did not help either. So here I am still struggling. My latest AIC reading was 9.6 and nothing has changed for me. I am looking forward to reading everyones posts and any helpful information anyone can give me.

 

[PC76]

Hi Ivy,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You've been through a lot. So as of right now you are just on insulin? And nothing has changed yet? Are they uppiong your dosage at all?

I'd suggest trying a low carb diet with high fat. It seems to work very well for people around here for control and for weight loss. Weight watchers doesn't monitor carbs, it does points, so eat whatever just saty under the point assigned to it? So Big Macs are still in, right? Cut out the breads and cereals and bring on the bacon, sausage, eggs, steak, all the good stuff.

I hope this helps. People around here are very knowledgable and know what is going on in the "Diabetes World". Ask anything you wnt, we are please to help.

 

[foxl]

Ivy, what you have been through! My goodness.

I have had better success eating low carb, which weight watchers is not.

But, has anyone done any antibody testing on you? Those are awfully high numbers for someone using insulin.

 

[ivy4u]

Hi Ivy,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You've been through a lot. So as of right now you are just on insulin? And nothing has changed yet? Are they uppiong your dosage at all?

I'd suggest trying a low carb diet with high fat. It seems to work very well for people around here for control and for weight loss. Weight watchers doesn't monitor carbs, it does points, so eat whatever just saty under the point assigned to it? So Big Macs are still in, right? Cut out the breads and cereals and bring on the bacon, sausage, eggs, steak, all the good stuff.

I hope this helps. People around here are very knowledgable and know what is going on in the "Diabetes World". Ask anything you wnt, we are please to help.

They aren't upping my dosage of my Lantus at all. My doctor has me on sliding scale of apidra plus carb counting which doesnt work. It doesn't bring my sugars down to where they are supposed to be, so I add extra units to bring it down to where it needs to go, which is probably not a good thing, but it is the only thing that halfway works.

 

[ivy4u]

Ivy, what you have been through! My goodness.

I have had better success eating low carb, which weight watchers is not.

But, has anyone done any antibody testing on you? Those are awfully high numbers for someone using insulin.

They haven't done any antibody testing on me. I am not sure what that is. Can you explain please.

 

[foxl]

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where your body turns on itself, and produces antibodies that destroy the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. It is more aggressive than Insulin Resistance -- Type 2.

 

[PC76]

I would do what Foxl said or think about asking your Doc to fix it or you'll get a new one. You're his/her boss, not the other way around. Their job is to fix it and if they aren't adjusting as needed and letting it go, then you need to do something.

 

[foxl]

Sliding scale. Well, that is kind of dated, hospitals used to use but recently the Annals of Internal Medicine printed an article calling it "obsolete." You might want to consult an Endocrinologist to determine better ways of using insulin.

Also ... there are a couple of good books Using Insulin, and Think Like a Pancreas, you can buy them cheap online, or order through your library (but they are keepers). They should help you get better numbers.

 

[ivy4u]

Hi Ivy,

Sorry to hear about your troubles. You've been through a lot. So as of right now you are just on insulin? And nothing has changed yet? Are they uppiong your dosage at all?

I'd suggest trying a low carb diet with high fat. It seems to work very well for people around here for control and for weight loss. Weight watchers doesn't monitor carbs, it does points, so eat whatever just saty under the point assigned to it? So Big Macs are still in, right? Cut out the breads and cereals and bring on the bacon, sausage, eggs, steak, all the good stuff.

I hope this helps. People around here are very knowledgable and know what is going on in the "Diabetes World". Ask anything you wnt, we are please to help.

I like the idea of a low carb high fat diet. i mostly eat low carbs, but I don't eat alot of eggs, sausage, bacon, cause it makes my stomach hurt. I will try eating alot more protein and see what that does. I haven't been on weight watchers for several months. I figured why am I paying all this money to gain weight. It didn't make sense and I had the tools at home to continue if I decided to.

 

[ivy4u]

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, where your body turns on itself, and produces antibodies that destroy the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. It is more aggressive than Insulin Resistance -- Type 2.

I am not following what you are saying. I am type 2 not type 1.

 

[foxl]

Yeah, they told me I was Type 2. If they never did antibody testing, they do not KNOW.

 

[ivy4u]

thanks well definitely check those books out. As far as an endocrinologist, we don't have any of those in my area. I am in rural area. I am pretty much stuck with my own doctor but will talk to him about these things.

 

[ivy4u]

what's the difference in treatment between type 1 and type 2? More insulin?

 

[PC76]

Make sure to add the fat in there with the protein. Get a Atkins cook book, that'll help

 

[foxl]

what's the difference in treatment between type 1 and type 2? More insulin?

NO oral meds, for one thing. They hasten beta cell loss.

Probably more insulin, unless you are a T2D with high resistance. But you need to know if you are producing insulin.

 

[ivy4u]

that is good to know. I will definitely talk to them about the testing.

 

[foxl]

Antibodies, and C-peptide. C-peptide is an indirect measure of how much insulin you are making.

The old fashioned way was to treat by eyeball -- give insulin, adjust dose as needed, A1c every 3 mos, and eat low-fat, high carb.

Now, Endos are more disposed to testing to determine the cause of the hyperglycemia, and there are better ways of controlling it.

Surely there is an Endo in the Quad Cities, Des Moines, KC (I live in KC, we have plenty of them!) that you could go see, at least one time?

Has anyone done an eye exam to look for Diabetic retinopathy? Or urinary microalbumin for renal damage?

 

[jwags]

Hi Ivy, I wrote a post but it disappeared somewhere. So welcome to DF. I am sorry you are not getting good info from your doctor. A lot of doctors just assume anyone dx'd as an adult is a type 2. Many D's are misdiagnosed. If you are really a Type 1 then all the oral meds in the world or weight loss won't help you. As said above a type 1 means that antibodies in your blood have attacked you pancreas and killed off beta cells which produce insulin. When these cells go your bg goes out of control. The GAD 65 Antibody test and a C Peptide test is what you need to ask for. There are also lots of types of insulin that offer better coverange. The sliding scale approach is an old approach. Many here use a specific carb counting approach and match their insulin to the amount of carbs they eat. So if you eat less carbs you may be able to use less insulin at meals. Usually for the basal insulin they will have you increase it slowly until you fasting decrease to a normal range. You may also be insulin resistant, this is kind of like being a double diabetic. If so you may also need to be on metformin + the insulin. Another good book is
Dr Bernsteins, Diabetes Solutions Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. Official Web Site

 

[ivy4u]

Antibodies, and C-peptide. C-peptide is an indirect measure of how much insulin you are making.

The old fashioned way was to treat by eyeball -- give insulin, adjust dose as needed, A1c every 3 mos, and eat low-fat, high carb.

Now, Endos are more disposed to testing to determine the cause of the hyperglycemia, and there are better ways of controlling it.

Surely there is an Endo in the Quad Cities, Des Moines, KC (I live in KC, we have plenty of them!) that you could go see, at least one time?

Has anyone done an eye exam to look for Diabetic retinopathy? Or urinary microalbumin for renal damage?

yes I have had those tests done. My doctor went ahead and put me on a renal protector just to protect me from any damage that could possible occur down the road. My eyes were tested and that came out fine.

 

[ivy4u]

Hi Ivy, I wrote a post but it disappeared somewhere. So welcome to DF. I am sorry you are not getting good info from your doctor. A lot of doctors just assume anyone dx'd as an adult is a type 2. Many D's are misdiagnosed. If you are really a Type 1 then all the oral meds in the world or weight loss won't help you. As said above a type 1 means that antibodies in your blood have attacked you pancreas and killed off beta cells which produce insulin. When these cells go your bg goes out of control. The GAD 65 Antibody test and a C Peptide test is what you need to ask for. There are also lots of types of insulin that offer better coverange. The sliding scale approach is an old approach. Many here use a specific carb counting approach and match their insulin to the amount of carbs they eat. So if you eat less carbs you may be able to use less insulin at meals. Usually for the basal insulin they will have you increase it slowly until you fasting decrease to a normal range. You may also be insulin resistant, this is kind of like being a double diabetic. If so you may also need to be on metformin + the insulin. Another good book is
Dr Bernsteins, Diabetes Solutions Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. A Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars. Official Web Site

I do the carb counting approach with my insuling but I also add the sliding scale to it. My doctor has me check my numbers before meals and i take the correct amount of insulin(apidra) based on sliding scale plus i carb count and take that amount of insulin (Apidra). So i can take several units of apidra before I eat.