Re: Doctor's appointment.

September 13, 2005

Right on!

Mike

>>> >>>

>>> >>>> :

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>> I'm glad that you went to the doctor (you'd be surprised how many

>>> > people

>>> >>>> postpone those doctor's visits -- as if not hearing " bad news "

>>> >>>> makes

>>> > any

>>> >>>> difference insofar as their diabetes is concerned!) and I am glad

>> that

>>> >>>> you've signed up to recieve your chart via email. Here's hoping

>>> >>>> it's

>>> >>>> accessible but even if it isn't, have someone read the screen to

>>> >>>> you;

>>> >>>> it's important. But I don't need to tell you this.

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>> I'm also glad you were sitting down when you got your A1C

>>> >>>> results --

>>> >>>> less far to fall than had you been standing up! (grin) With

>>> >>>> respect,

>> I

>>> >>>> venture the opinion that with an A1C of 13, I can understand why

>>> >>>> the

>>> >>>> good medicine-man increased your medication dose. While it may te

>> tough

>>> >>>> on your ego to admit that dietary changes alone might not have been

>>> >>>> enough, high bG readings are nothing to be played around with and

>>> > you're

>>> >>>> better off getting those readings down by whatever means short of

>>> >>>> endangering your health (e.g., starving yourself isn't an option!).

>>> >>>> We're dealing with your health here, not some abstraction as to

>> what's

>>> >>>> " natural " , " organic " or any of the other silly labels purveyors of

>>> >>>> alternative medicines/lifestyles foist upon the gullible public.

>> (Yes;

>>> > I

>>> >>>> have my fire-proof suit on.)

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>> The optimum A1C goal is an individual thing. Believe it or not,

>>> >>>> some

>>> >>>> people can't get down to the American Association of Clinical

>>> >>>> Endocronoligists' guideline of 6.5 without experiencing

>>> >>>> hypoglycemia.

>>> >>>> Others (like myself) can handle 6.1, 5.7 (my current A1C) or lower

>>> >>>> without difficulty. I may be a minority of one on this list but I

>> think

>>> >>>> sometimes that some of our more fanatic list participants get hung

>>> >>>> up

>>> > on

>>> >>>> reaching an A1C of 5.0 and forget that what works varies by

>>> > individuals.

>>> >>>> Compounding this is the fact that different labs have slightly

>>> > different

>>> >>>> standards and what is a " normal " , that is, a nondiabetic A1C,

>>> >>>> varies

>>> >>>> somewhat according to which laboratory standard is being used. What

>>> >>>> ultimately matters is the corelation between the A1C your lab

>> measures

>>> >>>> and the average blood glucose readings you calculate over time (I

>>> >>>> average by the week). In general, I think that if you get your A1C

>> down

>>> >>>> to the AACE guideline, you'll be well on the way to diabetes

>>> >>>> without

>>> >>>> complications. Get the A1C down to 6 and you're even better; into

>>> >>>> the

>> 5

>>> >>>> range is even better. My own personal opinion is that an A1C of 5.5

>>> > will

>>> >>>> keep you out of trouble.

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>> But list participants are absolutely right in saying that the lower

>>> > your

>>> >>>> A1C, the better in terms of complications avoidance. You'll have to

>>> >>>> figure out by experimentation what your system can stand. The good

>> news

>>> >>>> is that, as a Type 2 diabetic, you're not as likely to experience

>>> > severe

>>> >>>> hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes as are those of us who are

>> Type

>>> >>>> 1's.

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>> Keep working at it. We're all pulling for you.

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>> Mike Freeman

>>> >>>>

>>> >>>>> Hi, Everyone,

>>> >>>>>

>>> >>>>> Well, the appointment went just about like I thought it would.

>>> >>>>> They

>>> >>>>> did

>>> >>> another a1c and they upped the medication from 2.5/500 to 5/500.

>>> >>> The

>>> >>> sugars

>>> >>> are coming down and I wish she would have given me a while to work

>>> >>> on

>> it

>>> >>> before raising the dosage. I also signed up for My Chart. I found

>> out

>>> > I

>>> >>> can get test results more quickly and make appointments and ask

>>> > questions.

>>> >>> They send an e-mail with log in information. So, we'll see how that

>>> > goes.

>>> >>> I hope that the test results are much improved from last time. What

>>> >>> I

>>> >>> didn't tell you was that the a1c was thirteen. Don't fall off the

>> chair

>>> >>> as

>>> >>> I nearly did when I was read the result. I have never had a result

>> that

>>> >>> high although I did have one of eleven because I had a severe

>> infection

>>> > at

>>> >>> the time.

>>> >>>>> So, we'll see how fast the results come back to me. I do hope

>>> >>>>> that

>> I

>>> >>>>> am

>>> >>> not disappointed because I have been working really hard to bring it

>>> > down.

>>> >>> Point of interest: I mentioned to the doctor that I was a member of

>> the

>>> >>> group and the feeling that the a1c should be around five and she

>> thought

>>> >>> that was too low. She did approve of carb counting and didn't

>>> >>> quibble

>>> >>> about

>>> >>> 30 grams per meal

>>> >>>>>

September 13, 2005

I went to the NFB site that Mike mentioned and there was an article on the

different types of oral medications. It more or less said that it was a

foregone conclusion that a type II diabetic would eventually have to take

insulin. When I came home on Friday I was sort of upset but now, after

thinking about it, my attitude is a bit different. If I do what I am

supposed to be doing as much as possible--I think most of us have slips on

occasion--maybe my pancreas will last long enough for them to come up with

something new. At least there's hope and for now, that will have to do.

There's no sense in worrying about something until it happens. If I do the

best I can, that's all I can do at this point.

Re: Doctor's appointment.

> >> >>>

> >> >>>> :

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>> I'm glad that you went to the doctor (you'd be surprised how many

> >> > people

> >> >>>> postpone those doctor's visits -- as if not hearing " bad news "

makes

> >> > any

> >> >>>> difference insofar as their diabetes is concerned!) and I am glad

> > that

> >> >>>> you've signed up to recieve your chart via email. Here's hoping

it's

> >> >>>> accessible but even if it isn't, have someone read the screen to

> >> >>>> you;

> >> >>>> it's important. But I don't need to tell you this.

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>> I'm also glad you were sitting down when you got your A1C

results --

> >> >>>> less far to fall than had you been standing up! (grin) With

respect,

> > I

> >> >>>> venture the opinion that with an A1C of 13, I can understand why

the

> >> >>>> good medicine-man increased your medication dose. While it may te

> > tough

> >> >>>> on your ego to admit that dietary changes alone might not have

been

> >> >>>> enough, high bG readings are nothing to be played around with and

> >> > you're

> >> >>>> better off getting those readings down by whatever means short of

> >> >>>> endangering your health (e.g., starving yourself isn't an

option!).

> >> >>>> We're dealing with your health here, not some abstraction as to

> > what's

> >> >>>> " natural " , " organic " or any of the other silly labels purveyors of

> >> >>>> alternative medicines/lifestyles foist upon the gullible public.

> > (Yes;

> >> > I

> >> >>>> have my fire-proof suit on.)

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>> The optimum A1C goal is an individual thing. Believe it or not,

some

> >> >>>> people can't get down to the American Association of Clinical

> >> >>>> Endocronoligists' guideline of 6.5 without experiencing

> >> >>>> hypoglycemia.

> >> >>>> Others (like myself) can handle 6.1, 5.7 (my current A1C) or lower

> >> >>>> without difficulty. I may be a minority of one on this list but I

> > think

> >> >>>> sometimes that some of our more fanatic list participants get hung

> >> >>>> up

> >> > on

> >> >>>> reaching an A1C of 5.0 and forget that what works varies by

> >> > individuals.

> >> >>>> Compounding this is the fact that different labs have slightly

> >> > different

> >> >>>> standards and what is a " normal " , that is, a nondiabetic A1C,

varies

> >> >>>> somewhat according to which laboratory standard is being used.

What

> >> >>>> ultimately matters is the corelation between the A1C your lab

> > measures

> >> >>>> and the average blood glucose readings you calculate over time (I

> >> >>>> average by the week). In general, I think that if you get your A1C

> > down

> >> >>>> to the AACE guideline, you'll be well on the way to diabetes

without

> >> >>>> complications. Get the A1C down to 6 and you're even better; into

> >> >>>> the

> > 5

> >> >>>> range is even better. My own personal opinion is that an A1C of

5.5

> >> > will

> >> >>>> keep you out of trouble.

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>> But list participants are absolutely right in saying that the

lower

> >> > your

> >> >>>> A1C, the better in terms of complications avoidance. You'll have

to

> >> >>>> figure out by experimentation what your system can stand. The good

> > news

> >> >>>> is that, as a Type 2 diabetic, you're not as likely to experience

> >> > severe

> >> >>>> hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episodes as are those of us who are

> > Type

> >> >>>> 1's.

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>> Keep working at it. We're all pulling for you.

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>> Mike Freeman

> >> >>>>

> >> >>>>> Hi, Everyone,

> >> >>>>>

> >> >>>>> Well, the appointment went just about like I thought it would.

> >> >>>>> They

> >> >>>>> did

> >> >>> another a1c and they upped the medication from 2.5/500 to 5/500.

The

> >> >>> sugars

> >> >>> are coming down and I wish she would have given me a while to work

on

> > it

> >> >>> before raising the dosage. I also signed up for My Chart. I found

> > out

> >> > I

> >> >>> can get test results more quickly and make appointments and ask

> >> > questions.

> >> >>> They send an e-mail with log in information. So, we'll see how

that

> >> > goes.

> >> >>> I hope that the test results are much improved from last time.

What

> >> >>> I

> >> >>> didn't tell you was that the a1c was thirteen. Don't fall off the

> > chair

> >> >>> as

> >> >>> I nearly did when I was read the result. I have never had a result

> > that

> >> >>> high although I did have one of eleven because I had a severe

> > infection

> >> > at

> >> >>> the time.

> >> >>>>> So, we'll see how fast the results come back to me. I do hope

that

> > I

> >> >>>>> am

> >> >>> not disappointed because I have been working really hard to bring

it

> >> > down.

> >> >>> Point of interest: I mentioned to the doctor that I was a member

of

> > the

> >> >>> group and the feeling that the a1c should be around five and she

> > thought

> >> >>> that was too low. She did approve of carb counting and didn't

> >> >>> quibble

> >> >>> about

> >> >>> 30 grams per meal

> >> >>>>>

September 14, 2005

You got it , Just keep those BG levels as low as possible - below

6!