Type 1 diabetes

Hi,
thanks to everyone for your replies. As I stated in my introduction,
I am 43, and have had diabetes since I was 17. I had carpal tunnel
syndrome about 11 years ago in both wrists, as well as radial and
pronator tunnel in my right arm. Surgery helped quite a bit, but I
still have some pain at times. I have retinopathy, had laser
treatments, and had to have a vitrectomy in each eye. I also have
some minor kidney compromise, and taking Lisinopril to help with
that. In the past year and a half, I have developed neuropathy in my
feet.
I am on Lantus and Humalog, but am considering going on the pump.
Does anyone have any feedback on this?
Thanks,
Julie

My daughter is 13 and starting high school today. I’m a nervous reck.
Was it difficult having diabetes with the peer pressure of High
School?

Loreta,
wow your story is incredible. I wish you the best of luck. Just out of curiosity where are you guys from? We live in northern california.
Sincerely
Angela
AM94536@…

At first when I suspected that my constant tiredness had to do with
my sugar, I erased that thought from my mind. I thought I was too
young. Another person at school was also a diabetic, but his case
much worse than mine. Anyhow he told me that it could be my sugar.
I laughed at him, boy did I feel horrible afterward.
One day I lay down to take a nap, (one of many) and I didn’t
wake up until a week later. What do you think happened? When I
woke up I felt alot better, but it was scary to think that I could
sleep that long. The next time I felt like that I checked my sugar
with my friends machine. It was over 600. I would not go to the
hostpital, because I have this fear. I drank over a gallon of water
and walked for what seems like miles fighting the sleep that was
overtaking me. I don’t remember alot of it, but my friends said I
was kind of out of it. Finally my numbers started to go down. It
was very scary. Has this ever happened to anyone? Now I have went
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Thanks for the replies to my earlier posts. Now for my story.

My husband is 46 and has been type 1 diabetic since he was 11. He does OK with his sugar levels, but it is a constant daily battle. Being an adult with type 1 seems to be difficult due to the fact that daily stress, emotional level and physical level all play havoc on the blood sugar level, in addition to food. It’s hard for him to calculate how much insulin to take - ever day is different.

My husband has had several laser eye surgery’s due to Diabetic Retinopathy. Last December he had to have Vetrictomy surgery with a Cataract surgery the day before. He was basically blind in that eye for 3 months until his eye settled down and he was issued a prescription for glasses. At some point, he will have to do the other eye. We are just waiting to see if the eye “blows” again before we do surgery.

He is now on the pump with Novalog. He takes blood pressure medication (not for high blood pressure, but hopes that it will keep his eye from blowing again and requiring surgery), high cholesterol medicine (his cholesterol isn’t considered high for the normal person, but being diabetic, the Dr’s want it under 100), and he takes an anti-depressant.

The reason I am joining this list is because I feel like I need to be in connection with people who are going through the same thing. At this point my husband is having more low blood sugars, but doesn’t detect them as well as he used too. I can usually detect low blood sugar before he can (which sometimes produces an argument, which I end up winning when he checks his blood).

Last Friday we were in the Emergency Room for 6 hours. I couldn’t wake him in the morning. I squeezed a tube of glucose gel into his mouth, which thank goodness he swallowed. I disconnected his pump and then in 15 minutes checked his blood. He was up to 50, but still not waking up. I did another tube of gel (which took me longer since he started to toss and turn). He then started to waken so he sat up and drank some juice. (He doesn’t remember any of this). I then checked his blood and he was 90. A decent blood reading, but he was still very, very confused - couldn’t put two words together. Didn’t know who I was. He was trying to ask for food (which I knew at this point he didn’t need). We checked the blood again and now he was 123. But, still couldn’t produce a sentence. Then, he started to vomit. So, off to the ER we went.

When he checked into the ER, his temp. was 2 degrees below normal, his blood sugar was 158, and he didn’t know my name (the kids names or the dogs names) and couldn’t produce a sentence more than 3 words long. They got him heated up, did a CT scan for brain swelling, etc. Everything checked out normal.

After checking his pump, we know what happened - but the fact is, it was still very scary. He was very close to not waking up. We think he hit a low around 2:00am and stayed low for the next 6 hours. Now we wake up at 3:00am and check his blood.
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Sondra,
Yes it is hard for all of us that deal with diabetes. But you have to learn ways of controlling it so it doesn’t control you so much. I believe that diabetes isn’t so much a disease as it is a new way of life. I have had many people grump at me for making that comment. No matter what you do sometimes it does control you. You can be perfectly under control and then you have a week of out of wack numbers. For example my daughter has a great average for like 2 months then she has 3 days of 4-500 blood sugars with no change in diet or exercise, then the next week a few days of really low waking with 30-60. It is part of growing. Your body sugars can be affected by hormonal changes, stress, depression, anxiety, sickness, bliss, just about anything. It does get easier, but it’s one day at a time.
Good Luck
Angela
AM94536@…

The man I am married to has been diabetic since he was 11. He is now
46. We are having a tough time with his diabetes (as well as
secondary conditions). I am looking for a support group for those of
us who help take care of Diabetics.
Have I found such a place? I feel like I really need to be in
contact with other people who deal with the Diabetic on a daily
basis - even though I personally don’t have the disease.
Any reply would be appreciated. thanks.
Loreta

is anyone on this list taking Acarbose by chance?

I am using Novalog which, I understand is the same as Humalog. I used R insulin over 3-4 years ago. Sorry, I forgot about R insulin and thought she meant either Humalog or Novalog.

I have been taking this regimen now for a little over a month and beleive I have better control over my diabetes as a result. I use a Novolog Pen for my R injections and find it to be more comfortable and discreet. I simply inject myself about everytime I eat the appropriate amount of Humalog to control the approximate carbohydrates I take. I take Lantus before bedtime. My endocrinologist told me when he put me on this regimen that results oftentimes are equal to diabetics on the pump. For me this Lantus/ Humalog regimen is better than being on the pump. So far….so good.