Diabetes Sucks

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It really does.

I’ve been diabetic — officially diagosed — over 4 years now. I’ve done it a bunch of different ways.

When I was first diagnosed I was on oral meds. It drove me nuts. Nothing I did really affected my blood sugar. And I couldn’t get my blood sugar down fast enough to suit me. You have to know that I went from almost normal blood sugars, to really screwed up blood sugars in the space of literally hours (for those who are new to me and the blog, I was pre-diabetes for years, but didn’t get diagnosed until I “flunked” a glucose tolerance test. I suspect that I had been doing a pretty fair job at controlling things through diet and exercise, up until the test.

I switched to MDI pretty quickly and tried that route for almost a year, but kept gaining weight. I also had a problem with rollar coasting blood sugars.

My life has really changed for the better because of the pump. It allows a lot of flexibility — and I don’t even utilize everything that makes it good. For example, ever since the recall, I have not been using the Food list, and I should. Lately I’ve been slowly working on customizing mine.

I also don’t use the temporary basal enough. I’m trying to use it more though.

I really think that more Type 2’s should consider pumping. It really DOES make a difference.

However, diabetes still sucks.

I’ve gone low with no explaination, I’ve gone high with no explaination. The only way to deal with it, is test often, and fix whatever goes wrong when it goes wrong.

Comments

16 responses to “Diabetes Sucks”

November 9, 2005

AmyT

Happy D-Blog Day, Kathleen.
You were the groundbreaker for all of us…
Please pay me a visit at http://www.diabetesmine.com on D-Blog day. This is my rare chance to ask for some reader feedback.
Thanks!
– AmyT

Reply
November 9, 2005

AmyT

Happy D-Blog Day, Kathleen.
You were the groundbreaker for all of us…
Please pay me a visit at http://www.diabetesmine.com on D-Blog day. This is my rare chance to ask for some reader feedback.
Thanks!
– AmyT

Reply
November 9, 2005

Sandra Miller

Hello Kathleen,
Agreed. Diabetes most certainly sucks.
But you’re also right in that it can be made a lot better with the right tools.
Hang in there. It’s been great reading of your experiences — especially since you wear the next generation of my son’s pump! I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on the food database as you begin using it.
Take care,
Sandra

Reply
November 9, 2005

Sandra Miller

Hello Kathleen,
Agreed. Diabetes most certainly sucks.
But you’re also right in that it can be made a lot better with the right tools.
Hang in there. It’s been great reading of your experiences — especially since you wear the next generation of my son’s pump! I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on the food database as you begin using it.
Take care,
Sandra

Reply
November 9, 2005

Kerri.

Hi Kathleen. I’ve been a long time reader of your blog and I’ve tried commenting a number of times, but I haven’t been able to until today.
I’m thankful that you’ve been here the whole time, setting the stage for the next generation of d-bloggers. You’re our role model. And I thank you for all the sharing you’ve done in the past and will do in the future.

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November 9, 2005

Kerri.

Hi Kathleen. I’ve been a long time reader of your blog and I’ve tried commenting a number of times, but I haven’t been able to until today.
I’m thankful that you’ve been here the whole time, setting the stage for the next generation of d-bloggers. You’re our role model. And I thank you for all the sharing you’ve done in the past and will do in the future.

Reply
November 9, 2005

Rachel B

Glad to see a type 2 d-blogger out there!
I agree that more type 2’s should probably be on insulin (whether on shots or on the pump), but I’ve probably got a skewed opinion being a type 2 (still diet/exercise only) with a type 1 husband, who I’ve watched deal with the ups and downs for 9 years.

Reply
November 9, 2005

Rachel B

Glad to see a type 2 d-blogger out there!
I agree that more type 2’s should probably be on insulin (whether on shots or on the pump), but I’ve probably got a skewed opinion being a type 2 (still diet/exercise only) with a type 1 husband, who I’ve watched deal with the ups and downs for 9 years.

Reply
November 10, 2005

gina

Kathleen thank you so much for all of your information! and diabetes does suck, it sucks so bad! i wish that it would just disappear…its good to dream isnt it.

Reply
November 10, 2005

gina

Kathleen thank you so much for all of your information! and diabetes does suck, it sucks so bad! i wish that it would just disappear…its good to dream isnt it.

Reply
November 10, 2005

sara r

hey, kathleen! i just stumbled upon your site. i hope that is your name and this is your site. this is my first time here. i have been having emotional breakdowns because of this disease that sucks so bad. i am 22 and have had diabetes now for 10 1/2 years. i’ll tell you it hasn’t been very easy. fortunately for us there are things we can do to make ourselves feel better, it is just up to us. unfortunately all of this comes with a price. i have been lucky to have insurance until now. i live in a world where thousands of people can cheat the system and get help through the government, and i am here working my butt off and “make too much money.” did it ever occur to anyone that my pump supplies and medicine cost me almost a thousand dollars every 3 months? sorry, i’ve had a rough time with this one, especially today. i completely understand what you are going through. this disease is a hard thing to accept. but i have tried two different things. i have tried to ignore it, thinking that if i didn’t notice it, it wouldn’t be there. well, that put me in ICU for a week. then, i decided i wanted to feel better, so i did something. i worked hard to get a pump. after taking shots for 10 years and realizing my blood sugars weren’t well controlled,i got the pump and have never felt better about things.
if you know of any way or any people i can contact in hopes of finding some sort of funding for people, i would sure love contact information.
keep up on your hard work. days that things get hard, take a deep breath and know that you can tackle it. we have it so lucky. yes, we do have a disease. that is a hard thing to say, but we’re here and we have means of surviving. some aren’t so lucky.
keep smiling!

Reply
November 10, 2005

sara r

hey, kathleen! i just stumbled upon your site. i hope that is your name and this is your site. this is my first time here. i have been having emotional breakdowns because of this disease that sucks so bad. i am 22 and have had diabetes now for 10 1/2 years. i’ll tell you it hasn’t been very easy. fortunately for us there are things we can do to make ourselves feel better, it is just up to us. unfortunately all of this comes with a price. i have been lucky to have insurance until now. i live in a world where thousands of people can cheat the system and get help through the government, and i am here working my butt off and “make too much money.” did it ever occur to anyone that my pump supplies and medicine cost me almost a thousand dollars every 3 months? sorry, i’ve had a rough time with this one, especially today. i completely understand what you are going through. this disease is a hard thing to accept. but i have tried two different things. i have tried to ignore it, thinking that if i didn’t notice it, it wouldn’t be there. well, that put me in ICU for a week. then, i decided i wanted to feel better, so i did something. i worked hard to get a pump. after taking shots for 10 years and realizing my blood sugars weren’t well controlled,i got the pump and have never felt better about things.
if you know of any way or any people i can contact in hopes of finding some sort of funding for people, i would sure love contact information.
keep up on your hard work. days that things get hard, take a deep breath and know that you can tackle it. we have it so lucky. yes, we do have a disease. that is a hard thing to say, but we’re here and we have means of surviving. some aren’t so lucky.
keep smiling!

Reply
November 23, 2005

Darlene

Hello….I have just been diagnosed with Insulin Dependant Diabetes,Nov.14.All I can say is between practically living at the hospital,blood readings in the 500/600.It has taken it seems like a lifetime of getting this thing down.I never even knew I had this until one day my vision was so bad.I ignored it..thought it was nothing.But then drinking about 6 gallons of water a day,peeing like crazy.So,I went to see my eye doc.Nope he says you gotta go see the ER room instead.Well… there it was labs all critical…..All I know is that i just turned 40,and feel really old now because of all of this.But I guess its only been a few days….they had me on oral stuff for two days but still couldn’t get it down,so IV’s insulin….finally got me down to 198..Better than 678….All I can say is I can now feel what you all feel.Happy Thanksgiving….Watch your sugars…..Darlene

Reply
November 23, 2005

Darlene

Hello….I have just been diagnosed with Insulin Dependant Diabetes,Nov.14.All I can say is between practically living at the hospital,blood readings in the 500/600.It has taken it seems like a lifetime of getting this thing down.I never even knew I had this until one day my vision was so bad.I ignored it..thought it was nothing.But then drinking about 6 gallons of water a day,peeing like crazy.So,I went to see my eye doc.Nope he says you gotta go see the ER room instead.Well… there it was labs all critical…..All I know is that i just turned 40,and feel really old now because of all of this.But I guess its only been a few days….they had me on oral stuff for two days but still couldn’t get it down,so IV’s insulin….finally got me down to 198..Better than 678….All I can say is I can now feel what you all feel.Happy Thanksgiving….Watch your sugars…..Darlene

Reply
September 11, 2006

Britastina

So here i am 18 and diabetic it sucks!! i was diagnosed at age 10. i waited so long to see the doctor because i was afraid of getting a shot and i kept it from my parents until the week before i almost went into a coma. they really had no idea they thought that i maybe had the flu. until one day my mom noticed that i had lost more than ten pounds in a week.then i couldnt even walk 2 steps (not joking)without laying down and falling asleep. then i stopped eating anything. finally my mom one morning rushed me to the doctor because she thought i was going to die. there he diagnosed me with diabetes. he had me rushed to the hospital because if we had waited any longer i would have gone into a coma. ironic isnt it i waited so long to go to the doctor because i was afraid of 1 shot and i ended up stuck with them for them rest of my life. thank you for everybody and your comments you make me feel hope and that iam not alone in this.

Reply
September 11, 2006

Britastina

So here i am 18 and diabetic it sucks!! i was diagnosed at age 10. i waited so long to see the doctor because i was afraid of getting a shot and i kept it from my parents until the week before i almost went into a coma. they really had no idea they thought that i maybe had the flu. until one day my mom noticed that i had lost more than ten pounds in a week.then i couldnt even walk 2 steps (not joking)without laying down and falling asleep. then i stopped eating anything. finally my mom one morning rushed me to the doctor because she thought i was going to die. there he diagnosed me with diabetes. he had me rushed to the hospital because if we had waited any longer i would have gone into a coma. ironic isnt it i waited so long to go to the doctor because i was afraid of 1 shot and i ended up stuck with them for them rest of my life. thank you for everybody and your comments you make me feel hope and that iam not alone in this.

Reply