Wellness

[Trinity11]

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@webbgarner1 wrote:

@Trinity11 Hello there. Yes getting to the 50 year mark is quite a milestone considering probably where you and I both have been on this journey. I am proud of the advances made in the treatment of diabetes in the last decade or so, they have come a long way. But if you will living with diabetes as a juvenile in the 1960's and 70's as I was, there were no glucometers for home use, no insulin pumps etc. I am on a pump now and bs are overall fairly well but i still have those times when blood sugars are out of control for no apparent reason. 

I had open heart surgery for a blockage in 2002, and have since had 3 stents. Heart issues have been the biggest  set back for me, a lot of chest pain and shortness of breath on very lille activity.

I thank you so much for asking. I hope you are doing well. The response i get from a lot of my doctors when they find out it has been 50 years for me is wow, all things considered you are doing good. 

It is good to know there are people like you out there that are willing to support eachother with these type of issues.

 I think I saw maybe on an old post maybe you are on a pump as well. I can remeber something from around thanksgiving. Forgive me if I am wrong.

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Hi @webbgarner1....I had a pump for a very short time but went into ketoacidosis in the middle of the night. Apparently, it stopped working. I am very fearful of pumps now so I am continuing to inject...sometimes as much as 6 times a day. Even a cup of coffee with half and half I bolus for. You know I don't think I will ever get used to the frequent injections. Right now I have a kidney stone that they refuse to operate because I need Plavix. 3 opinions from prominent urologists all are afraid I will die if they do the surgery. They are worried about blood loss so I have round the clock discomfort. I make myself do things, though. I was in the hospital for chest pain in November. I got the flu before they could do a scheduled angiogram. I have not re-scheduled because so far so good. I also have my vision, which at diagnosis in the 1960's. I used to worry about quite a bit.

Like yourself, the disease has affected my heart. A major heart attack in 2016 June and then another 2017 in May. I was in heart failure in 2016 but recovered my ejection fraction which I am blessed to say is 55. It was touch and go there for awhile. I have 5 stents and a balloon. I am always waiting for the next thing to happen. I am sure you know exactly what I mean.

One thing I never listened to was my doctors telling me I could not have children. I have two. The second nearly died more than once from illnesses at birth but he is doing wonderfully now and will turn 33 in just a few days.

Hang in there and it was wonderful talking to you!

[Moonchilde]

And on a side note - don’t you loooove the non-diabetics in your life who don’t know s*** about diabetes, but watch every.single.thing you put in your mouth, with a running commentary about why “as a diabetic” you shouldn’t be eating it and what’s wrong with you, how can you not know that, “everyone” does.

Loved when one co-worker did this every day after lunch. Then I would test and my 2 hr PP BG would be 130-140. Of course, the ickiness of testing, the whole needing to test and actually doing it was too nitty-gritty, too “ooh yuck” and was NOT her thing. She didn’t care about reality, only demonstrating her superior knowledge - when she didn’t know diddly.

[Trinity11]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

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@Trinity11 wrote:

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@cherry wrote:

@Trinity11  The ADA website was sort of neutral. It said to watch portions, and said a small glass has  carbs , but didn't say not to use it

The Diabetes website from the UK says, it's a no no ,and tells people to avoid it.

It isn't easy to be diabetic is it?

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/juice-and-diabetes.html

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@cherry.....just about anything can be proved if the researcher sets out to do so. I have seen so many studies over the years where when I found the source of the funding, it was inevitable that they would find the substance to be fine. Cranberry juice was one such study. Turned out that Ocean Spray paid for the study.

I have grown weary of a lot of the latest studies only to find them disproved 6 months later.

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I tend to pay little/no attention to food/diet/nutrition “studies” in general, not just those that are diabetes-specific. First of all, what constitutes a legitimate study in one country may not be considered so in another country. Then, what is the patient population? I’m not sure that a study done, say, in Germany or France (to pick two random  Western European countries) would accurately reflect the US population simply because there are variables in diet from birth, lifestyle, exercise and genetics. It might be somewhat of an apples-to-oranges thing.

I’m not a fad, “this really will change your life! (And you’re an idiot if you don’t run right out and do it)” diet person. I’ve seen too many of them come and go to bother.

Human beings need a balanced diet that includes all food groups; there should be nothing a diabetic literally can’t ever eat, period. This is a fallacy that most non-diabetics simplify in their heads to “diabetics can never ever eat any sugar for the rest of their lives.”

How often one eats unrefined carbs, however, and how much in quantity, is the key. And no lay person who isn’t diabetic will ever convince me otherwise.

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@Moonchilde.....I think we are all very different. I would give anything to have the ability to just have a "little" sugar. Unfortunately, some kind of switch goes off in my brain and I cannot stop when it comes to certain foods. It is actually easier for me to just not have any rather than need to make a decision when it comes to cakes, cookies, candy and ice cream. Even chips....I have been known to polish off an entire bag of Cheese flavored potato chips.... I just cannot eat a handful.

However, there is nothing worse than the Diabetes Police. You know the ones that say that diabetics cannot have a piece of birthday cake. Medications today make it possible for everyone to indulge on occasion.

My daughter often mentions to me that it is very rare for a Type 1 diabetic to have insulin resistance. However, after so many years, I now have double diabetes and have a lot of the same issues as a Type 2. I take 2000mg of metformin ER per day, in 4 doses of 500mg, spread throughout the day. It helps me to better deal with the highs and lows and brittle diabetes (outdated term) that plagues me.

[cherry]

@Moonchilde  yes the food police who know exactly what we should eat. You better never allow yourself a cookie in their book

I am going to get a  Napoleon for my birthday and eat it all.  It is  a once in a while treat and my Dr is  fine with it.  I wouldn't do it every week or even every month, but it will be my birthday cake

I want to get our waitresses a box of candy for Valentines Day, to share. Even if one of they might b a diabetic ,I am sure they can handle a once in a while treat

[Moonchilde]

@cherry, my favorite grapefruit consumption is in an alcoholic greyhound ;-)

[Trinity11]

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@Moonchilde wrote:

And on a side note - don’t you loooove the non-diabetics in your life who don’t know s*** about diabetes, but watch every.single.thing you put in your mouth, with a running commentary about why “as a diabetic” you shouldn’t be eating it and what’s wrong with you, how can you not know that, “everyone” does.

Loved when one co-worker did this every day after lunch. Then I would test and my 2 hr PP BG would be 130-140. Of course, the ickiness of testing, the whole needing to test and actually doing it was too nitty-gritty, too “ooh yuck” and was NOT her thing. She didn’t care about reality, only demonstrating her superior knowledge - when she didn’t know diddly.

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Nothing upsets me more than someone with absolutely no scientific background spewing these words...."You want to have diabetes because there is a cure and you have a choice." The fallacies I have seen posted on this forum about diabetes @Moonchilde make me want to scream.

[cherry]

  I'm sure you get beautiful citrus fruit. Do you make your own?  If I was a drinker I would love that

With my grouchy stomach I can't even handle a coke with caffeine.. @Moonchilde

[webbgarner1]

@Trinity11 Oh Trinity, you have a friend here. I understand oh so well. Bless you darling, I did not  have children, you fought for it. I well understand what you are going thru with the heart issues. , and I hope they can do something about your kidney stone to get you out of pain. Yes, I have mixed feelings about the pump. I have a lot of issues at times with insulin leaking back out of the site. There is a lot to be said for injection, you know what you received.  If you have failure of the pump or leakage, there is hardly anyway of knowing what went in. Like you I was on 8 injections( 3 different medications)  prior to the pump. My endocrinologist and I have kind of a up and down working relationship. You would think doctors would understand especially with women and hormonal changes there sometimes is no  obvious resons for a crazy blood sugar. Also any thing even a slight case of the sniffles can cause crazy readings. When I was growing up, if i made a bad grade on a test my blood sugar would bottom out. 

I recently had cataract surgey and have glaucoma as well, I am hugely disappointed in my post surgery vission, seems to be worse than before surgery. 

I hope you will be feeling better soon. take care and God Bless. 

[Trinity11]

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@webbgarner1 wrote:

@Trinity11 Oh Trinity, you have a friend here. I understand oh so well. Bless you darling, I did not  have children, you fought for it. I well understand what you are going thru with the heart issues. , and I hope they can do something about your kidney stone to get you out of pain. Yes, I have mixed feelings about the pump. I have a lot of issues at times with insulin leaking back out of the site. There is a lot to be said for injection, you know what you received.  If you have failure of the pump or leakage, there is hardly anyway of knowing what went in. Like you I was on 8 injections( 3 different medications)  prior to the pump. My endocrinologist and I have kind of a up and down working relationship. You would think doctors would understand especially with women and hormonal changes there sometimes is no  obvious resons for a crazy blood sugar. Also any thing even a slight case of the sniffles can cause crazy readings. When I was growing up, if i made a bad grade on a test my blood sugar would bottom out. 

I recently had cataract surgey and have glaucoma as well, I am hugely disappointed in my post surgery vission, seems to be worse than before surgery. 

I hope you will be feeling better soon. take care and God Bless. 

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@webbgarner1.....I am very sorry to read about your cataract surgery not going well. I had it eleven years ago in my fifties. It took a long time to heal but my vision was restored. I, too, have glaucoma but my doctor is pleased with my pressure.

If you are still having difficulty with your vision, I would suggest getting a second opinion. Perhaps, they could give you a different kind of lens.

Take care!

[cherry]

Just about anything can affect your sugar levels.  My morning reading's are high since my  stomach started giving me trouble, but my A1C is always normal

The Dr thinks my readings are high because of my stomach and the fact it wakes me up and I have to take meds to get it to calm down to go back to sleep. She says my liver is dumping sugar. This morning I was at 118 which is getting better, I was in the 130's. My morning sugar is higher than it was before I went to bed. I don't eat past  4 pm...