Living with Diabetes

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  • Mornings…

    Several years ago I did VERY VERY well, going to the gym every morning. I’ve been good about going in the afternoon, but it’s a drag, it takes up all my after school sunlight etc.

    SO, yesterday I got up, went to the country club gym (that’s the replacement for my old one). I was warned, but was a bit alarmed to see a large number of cars in the lot.

    But there were enough treadmills that I could get in my 42.5 minutes.

    However, there was a line for the shower! The good news is that I was the first in line. Then there was only one hair dryer downstairs and 4 of us. I keep trying to remember to take mine….

    I still got out and got to school by 7:45. I like to get there before my tutoring kids come at 8:00.

    Today, I made it again. In fact, made it a few minutes earlier. Not as many cars, but again plenty of treadmills. It was touch and go for a few minutes, but I still managed to do 42.5 minutes uninterrupted.

    This time, no line for the shower, and I was the only one downstairs. One of my fellow teachers came down — come to find out she teaches some classes at the club. Good news — she figured out that I couldn’t make it to her class and make it to school — sorry, but I really don’t like the group exercise thing.

    Okay, here’s the truth, every time I’ve done the group classes, I’ve cut down on the cardio and they just don’t burn the same number of calories, and hers is a stretch class.

    … The bad news, truck is in the shop, getting a repair on something that was fixed last October (2002).

  • This is sad

    Diabetes In Control Dot Com. The weekly newsletter for medical professionals in Diabetes care.

    Health Insurance Plans Discourage People From Taking Their Meds

  • Reason for Rebound Weight Gain Found

    Reason for Rebound Weight Gain Found

    This is pretty interesting. Wonder how it can be used to fix the problem.

  • Major pumping milestone!

    Had an interesting day. Got up, checked blood sugar and it was 135. That’s the highest it’s been in the morning for a LONG time.
    Checked site, things looked a bit red (change was due tomorrow). Didn’t give it a lot of thought.

    Went to the gym at 6:00 — walked for 42.5 minutes, went through the shower, hot tub, etc. normal gym routine.

    Since I had not eaten, I expected a dip in blood sugar. However, it was still 135. Thought that’s weird.

    Got to school, ate breakfast. Did a bolus, changed insulin as was almost out. Checked blood sugar two hours later and it was 205.

    Huh, must be bad insulin, so I shot in 3 units of humalog (nasty stuff — it itched! but I have tons of it in pen insulin). Check blood sugar a half an hour later, and was still at 205 — well, it must not be the insulin.

    Pulled off the site, put a new one on, checked the blood sugar 30 minutes later, and I’m down to 152.

    The reason it is a milestone, is that I diagnosed and solved a problem without panicking and without requesting help, even from the insulin pumpers list!

    That’s also the first 200+ I’ve had in weeks.

    I was a bit worried, as I was afraid I’d go back to having blood sugars in the 120-180 range, rather than the rather nice 90-140 range I’ve been seeing lately, but my BS went right back where it should — around 90 at lunch and around 90 at dinner.

  • Vision Change

    Interesting change — I went to the eye doctor today and she said my astimigatism changed from 75% to 60% cylinder. Changing the contact DID help the vision.

    And I’m now wearing a bifocal contact in one eye. It isn’t bad. I’ve lost a lot of far vision to get good near vision, but I was corrected 20/15 for over 20 years. I think wearing these a few days will help a lot too.

    Probably moving my monitor closer would be a good idea also.

  • I just heard this myself

    Feet First

    My eye doctor — who has Lasik services at her office was saying essentially the same thing.

    She said that the prices on the radio are without any astigmatism, and that they always find some and charge more for it.

  • Maybe I WILL get it covered….

    Texas actually spells out what has to be covered!

    : Texas Administrative Code

  • FDA Weirdness

    Someone in the diabetes network told me that a) the FDA isn’t approving pumps with more than 200 unit cartridges anymore and b) the Humalog had finally been approved for the pump — which a group of pump users are allergic to, me included.

    I related this to my husband, who exploded — and you have to know him, he rarely reacts strongly to anything. He response? How can they regulate insulin so strongly but keep ephedra on the shelves.

    Yeah, I want to know too.

    First, cartridges cost money, and yeah, I’ll be reusing them. Second, changing insulin every day and a half is a pain. One of the reasons I have the pump I have, is that it is a 300 unit pump.

    Also, I care about the humalog thing, because I’m afraid my insurance will try to push the Humalog issue. I’m sticking to state law, reminding the doctor endless I’m allergic to humalog, etc. Yeah, it’s $80 every 90 days instead of $50, but the crap makes me itch! Even injecting in the site makes me itch.

    ARGH!

  • Insulin: Use It Early and Often

    Unfortunately there isn’t a web link for this article — it came from the ADA — Diabetes E-New Now!

    Insulin: Early and Often

    Insulin will lower your blood glucose levels whether you have type 2 or type 1 diabetes. When you maintain lower blood glucose levels, closer to the nondiabetic level, you lower your risk of the long-term complications of diabetes. The U.K. Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) showed this was true for people with type 2 diabetes in 1998. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed this in people with type 1 diabetes in 1993.

    Yet even today, insulin is not used early enough in the course of type 2 diabetes. And it´s not used often enough (three or four shots a day instead of the usually inadequate two shots a day ) in type 1 diabetes. The result is too many people with vision loss, kidney disease, and amputations.

    If I do find a web link, I’ll post it.

    For me, this shows I made the right decisions — going to insulin when I first saw that drugs weren’t doing a thing.

  • This is fitting a theory

    MSNBC – Diabetes treatment response varies

    First, I’m not a doctor, I’m not a medical researcher by profession, I”m just a patient, but this article is one reason I think a “cure” for diabetes is just downright impossible given the current level of technology.

    I believe there are a whole bunch of “diseases” that all have the same group of symthoms we’ve been calling diabetes.

    I figure there are several types of Type 1, and a whole bunch of types of Type 2.

    However, I don’t think I belong in this group. My blood sugar was “normal” back in my 20s.