Diabetes anyone?

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
I am on the pump and I really, really love it. It IS a machine and so you sometimes have to deal with quirks, but the company has always been amazing and the one time my pump stopped working, they sent a replacement overnight. If you are good at sensing lows and highs, you should be more than able to sense if something isn't right. More often, when a pump stops working, it just stops giving insulin rather than giving too much. However, this is extremely rare.

I know you say you are against the pump, but it seriously changed my life and my blood sugars. I certainly encourage you to do some reading and talk to others who have them. I did four + shots for 13 or so years before switching and the shots really do suck. It was very difficult to control my BG because I just hated taking the shots!

If you have any questions at all, please ask me. A few of my friends with type one went over to the pump and they are thrilled with it. You may not like the idea of it now, but after talking to some people and reading up you may begint o change your mind. The worst it can do is reaffirm your opinion against it!

 

[Mahonri]

So where to you buy the Blood Sugar Defence and the Cinnamon pills?

 

[AKsmama]

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in Feb. 2001. I was not your "typical" type 2 at all. I was 28 years old and weighed 85 (yes, that's correct) pounds at the time, but I developed it anyway. Didn't have a strong family history. I was on Starlix at first, then when I got pregnant in 2002 I was on insulin through most of my pregnancy. After I delivered I went back on. . . some other oral med, I don't remember what it was. Did fine, took insulin again during my second pregnancy, and when I delivered I didn't go back on any medication. I've been off any diabetes meds since 2005 and my A1C has never been above 5.7. I have high blood pressure now and high cholesterol, and sometimes the high bp can go hand in hand with diabetes, but I do have a very strong family history of heart problems, so I can't say it's completely related. Anyway. . . I'd recommend taking some classes from a CDE if you can and maybe seeing a nutritonist- they can really help you understand how your body reacts to certain foods.

 

[annageckos]

Quote:
I don't mind the shots, they don't normally hurt. I guess I am just use to them.

I know what happened to my uncle's girlfriend is extremely rare, and unlikely to happen, but it just hit close to home. I also don't like the idea of something attached to me all the time. I have thought about it from time to time. I don't know, I guess I am just comfortable with the shots (I've been doing them since I was six). I worry about the pump getting ripped out or infected or a hundred other things. I tend to 'play rough', and spend a lot of time in the woods and use to work around wildlife and horses at one time, so I was always concerned about it getting ripped out or pulled or something like that. I am also great at making up excesses and reasons not to do or get something

BTY, I am from NJ too.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
I don't mind the shots, they don't normally hurt. I guess I am just use to them.

I know what happened to my uncle's girlfriend is extremely rare, and unlikely to happen, but it just hit close to home. I also don't like the idea of something attached to me all the time. I have thought about it from time to time. I don't know, I guess I am just comfortable with the shots (I've been doing them since I was six). I worry about the pump getting ripped out or infected or a hundred other things. I tend to 'play rough', and spend a lot of time in the woods and use to work around wildlife and horses at one time, so I was always concerned about it getting ripped out or pulled or something like that. I am also great at making up excesses and reasons not to do or get something

BTY, I am from NJ too.

Really? How cool! Another New Jersey-ian! What part are you from?

Those were all similar concerns of mine as well, but seriously its no more burden-some than having a cell phone in your pocket, except that you can attach the pump to other places like your belt buckle or even your bra. They even make cordless pumps now so you don't have to worry about anything ripping out. You actually sound a lot like me when I was looking into the pump. I was pretty comfortable taking shots but my blood sugars were not the greatest. Next time you see your doctor, ask for some pamphlets. You don't have to make any commitments at all, but it would be great if you could just check them out. Like I said, the worst it would do is reaffirm your current position on them! There are many different types of pumps for all lifestyles and you get used to it very quickly. As long as you have insurance, worst comes to worst, you just go back on the shots if you don't like it. I think they make you stay on the pump for a minimum of six weeks or something like that, but you can always go back to shots. It is never a permanent thing.

Like I said, feel free to ask any questions! I've been type one since I was 4, so I'm sure we have lots of similar experiences!

 

[ChooksChick]

I founded a diabetes clinic and a support group with proactive preventative care for the uninsured in our area. I got hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding and am very passionate about this disease.

I haven't read all of the posts yet, but I'm REALLY sincere about helping folks find solutions when proper treatment seems out of reach- we had a huge program where folks could get all of their meds free if they had no insurance and often there are other supplies and whatnot available.

If you have type 2, losing 10% of your body weight (if you aren't in a normal BMI) can diminish your hbA1c by over 10% often as much as 15%. This is huge. If you don't know your A1c, you need to get on your doc and tell him/her you want to treat this aggressively. I can't tell you strongly enough how common it is for docs to blow off the higher blood sugars just because you aren't seeing/feeling symptoms. You MUST get your blood sugars in the normal range or you are doing invisible microvascular damage in your eyes, feet, and nerves.

The most important thing to understand is that your eye doc can take a pic of the retina and tell you how the microvascular structure looks. You can SEE whether you are managing your blood sugar well by getting an HbA1c every 3 months and keeping it below 6, and getting an annual pic of your retinas.

Please understand that there is no pre-diabetes. You are either responding to food and processing sugars correctly or you aren't. Period. There are levels once you step outside the fence, and you can step back inside...but you're in the yard or not.

My family is thick with type 1, type 2, and even type 1.5- it exists, I swear! Hubby is 1.5. It's an insulin dependent type 2 with normal or athletic body weight. His body makes insulin but can't use it properly. I'm hypoglycemic, which will about-face sometime in the next 10 years, turning into type 2.

I feel for everyone fighting it, and would love to have a magic wand to cure every ONE!

 

[annageckos]

You make it sound not so bad. I will look into it, I think it would help. My blood sugar is not stable. It goes up and down for no reason I can see. It has always been like this. I can eat dinner, then an hour later my blood is low.

I'm from S. Jersey, Camden and Gloucester counties(we moved a lot). Right now I am in PA, but less then twenty minutes from Burlington county.

 

[Wifezilla]

My family is thick with type 1, type 2, and even type 1.5- it exists, I swear!

There is also a type 3 diabetes...
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1673236,00.html

I'm hypoglycemic, which will about-face sometime in the next 10 years, turning into type 2.

Not necessarily. I eliminated all symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia (as well as high blood pressure) by adopting a low carb way of eating. 50g or carbs per day or less.

When your body can not handle sugars and starches properly, eliminating sugar and starches is just common sense.

The fact that the ADA tells you it is ok to keep eating them is criminal in my opinion. They have been changing their rhetoric lately, but that doesn't erase all the damage they have done over the years by promoting a low fat, high carbohydrate diet.​

 

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
There is also a type 3 diabetes...
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1673236,00.html

I'm hypoglycemic, which will about-face sometime in the next 10 years, turning into type 2.

Not necessarily. I eliminated all symptoms of reactive hypoglycemia (as well as high blood pressure) by adopting a low carb way of eating. 50g or carbs per day or less.

When your body can not handle sugars and starches properly, eliminating sugar and starches is just common sense.

The fact that the ADA tells you it is ok to keep eating them is criminal in my opinion. They have been changing their rhetoric lately, but that doesn't erase all the damage they have done over the years by promoting a low fat, high carbohydrate diet.​

Yes, there are other types, in addition. I absolutely agree about processed sugars and grains- we eschew glutens in my family due to an abundance of celiac, so that's second nature. We also avoid sugars due to generations of diabetes...so we don't have to learn it all if it strikes.

I expect it will strike with me, as it tends to launch in the 40s, and I just hit 40. I hope it doesn't, and have a low carb, simple diet of unprocessed foods, but that is no guarantee.

Ah, yes. Shoulda been ejected from the gene pool long ago! There was no guard on duty!

 

[ams3651]

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I got my cinnamon at CVS pharmacy, if they have the chain out your way. They have buy one get one free quite often. And the Blood Sugar Defense I found when I searched online but havent looked locally yet. Just about every where has the cinnamon now.