Living with Diabetes

Blog

  • Going great

    Everything is going fine. I really haven’t had any bad side effects from the Symlin. I am definately seeing good side effects. I was having problems with food and wanting to eat, and I don’t have that problem with the Symlin. Definately am using much less insulin.

    The scale is going in the right direction too. I try not to obsess, but having a scale with .1 markings really helps me.

    Took an off cardio day today. Good thing, feet and legs are really hurting.

    I had done 3 days in a row of 75 minutes. Not all at once, but got it done, so having the off day was good.

  • Obtaining Supplies

    A commenter has asked if there are resources for diabetic pumpers without insurance.

    I don’t know much about obtaining insurance independently — I’m “lucky”, one of the compensations for being a teacher is having decent insurance — at least compared to my husband’s company.

    However, when I went on the pump, the pump itself and supplies were not covered, and I had to pay for everything myself for 6 months. I was able to obtain some supplies through ebay at an extremely reasonable cost. Be careful, because once, the cartridges I obtained were expired. Ask specifically for expiration dates.

    Also the insulin pumpers group at http://www.insulinpumpers.org “exchanges” supplies. Whenever I get too much of something, I ship them to the IP headquarters and they send them to someone in need. For example, when I switched pumps, I had serveral boxes of the old cartridges that I no longer needed.

  • Changing Routines Always Gets Me in Trouble

    I needed to eat something before dog agility as I was lower than I liked for two hours of activity. Planned a fast food excusion, but when I got the food, I couldn’t find the symlin. Looked everywhere for it, but it wasn’t in the car.

    Tried again when I got to class, still couldn’t find it, so finished the bolus. Ended up good blood sugar at the end of class, so it was okay.

    When I got home, I traced my path from the last time I had the vial, and it wasn’t there, so I pulled the car out the garage, opened the passenger door, and out it rolled.

    It should be fine, the evening had cooled considerable by the time I got to class, and the car was open.

    I hate that — but as the routine gets better, I shouldn’t misplace things as much.

  • Feeling better about Treo

    I’m still bummed the 600 broke and my provider only had 650s, but I figured out what was going on with the 650 and I am liking it better.

    The user manual says not to sync to another device of a different type, and boy I should have listened. After doing a hard reset, clearing everything and reinstalling from scratch, I have 10 mb left rather than 1 mb.

    I do like the better screen resolution.

  • Good article on the Treo

    Good article about the Treo.

    The Awkward Smart Phone Grows Up – New York Times

    Right now, I am really missing my 600. I kinda of like the 650, but it doesn’t hold as much data as the 600 and I’ve had to delete several programs I liked.

    One thing I do like about the 650, is the side button, I have it set up to do EzManager (my diabetes software).

    When the 600 finally died, I thought about going back to two devices, but the unlimited internet is just too good. I can’t do with out. It keeps me sane at dog shows. It will probably keep me sane in the new classroom.

  • Articles about Symlin

    The June issue of Diabetes Health has a very comprehensive article on Symlin and the August issue of Diabetes Forecast has a sort article. They actually have more information on the next drug, right after it.

  • Third Day – First Dose

    Just upped my dose to 20 units and ate lunch. Feel a little full and a little odd, but not really nausea.

    One good side effect, my GERD seems to be a bit better. I’ve been having problems even though on medication.

    Checked my blood sugar two hours after, and its at 135, slightly under my goal.

    Still no nausea, actually feel a bit bloated and full.

  • Accu-Check Aviva

    It is bigger than the Flash (my current standard) according to a table in Diabetes Health, and it says nothing about a backlight, which by the way, I used last night.

    I like the idea of the lancing device so will probably snag one and try it out when I can. FYI, I do NOT pay for meters. I refuse to, when I am testing 10 times a day.

    children with DIABETES – Roche Shows New Accu-Chek Aviva System At ADA

    Roche Shows New Accu-Chek Aviva System At ADA

  • Upping the dose

    Just heard from my CDE and she agrees to up the dose and said to feel free to drop it back down if I can’t tolerate it.

    So I’m on 20 units now.

    Benefits so far:
    It is definately making eating easier to control. I don’t feel hunger as often, and feel full more. I have been able to drop my calorie intake without feeling deprive.

    I’m definately losing weight, though I’ve also upped my cardio this week.

    Insulin usage is down.

    Cons so far
    Injections — one of the reasons I went to the pump. The pump manufactures need to find a way to deal with this.

    Supplies — I have to carry syringes and another vial in my daily pack. I was carrying syringes before. I do try to keep the carrying weight down.

    One more thing to keep up with.

    Math — I have to remember to half the carbs when I do symlin.

  • Second day, third dose

    For lots of good reasons, I stopped and had a fast food meal on the way to dog agility — I needed more calories, I was a bit low, I’d eaten healthy all day.

    I did another dose of Symlin, and did fine with it. Still a bit high after meals, but I’m not on the full dose yet.

    I’m certainly not having hunger problems I have had before.