RE: insulin

[Guest guest]

I know, the idea of poking yourself with a needle in the abdomen takes a

little getting used to but ya do what ya need to do, y'know

Vicki,

Exactly, and I will if I have to :-) I just would rather not have to...

I've had so many readings of below 130 lately that I think it's continuing

to go down. It's not really the pain I object to... we like to travel, and

I have no idea how difficult it is to take insulin on an 8 hour flight. Do

you take it in a cooler? My sister uses insulin, but she never goes further

than a couple of hours out of town. I take my blood testing equipment with

me, and just for that, I have to have a note from the doctor saying I am

diabetic and need the lancets for diabetes, and the note has to be on a

prescription pad. At American Airlines, they told me it's not a

problem....just very time consuming. I have to admit, they were very nice

about it, though.

Sandy H.

[Guest guest]

At 08:29 PM 9/15/2002, Sandy wrote:

>I have no idea how difficult it is to take insulin on an 8 hour flight. Do

>you take it in a cooler?

Sandy,

When I travel, I put my insulin in a small Travel Pack designed for keeping

medications cool. The pack holds plenty of insulin, needles, meds, etc and

has a spot for two freezer packs to keep everything cool. I have traveled

with this without any problem. I make sure that all my med bottles/boxes

etc. have my script info printed on them. I have never had a problem.

Rick

[Guest guest]

When I travel, I put my insulin in a small Travel Pack designed for

keeping

medications cool. The pack holds plenty of insulin, needles, meds, etc and

has a spot for two freezer packs to keep everything cool.

Rick,

Thanks so much... I wondered. I knew it could keep cool for 4 hours, but

wasn't sure on a longer trip how that would work.

Sandy H.

[Guest guest]

I've made a few short plane trips since 9/11/01 and when I got to the

place

where they check your stuff I just said " I have diabetes with insulin and

syringes " and they just waved me through - didn't even look at my stuff.

This

was at both ends of the trip, LA and Portland airports.

Vicki,

It depends on who you get, I guess, as they didn't wave me through until

they had thoroughly searched my bag with meds, lancets, kit. They were very

nice about it, and it didn't take as long as I thought, but they did take me

out of the line, search my bag, and then waved me through.

BTW, I don't remember if I posted it to this list or my other one but when

I'm Out and About and I'm going to be gone during a time when I need to

take

my basal insulin, I have a plastic toothbrush holder that I use to place

a

filled insulin syringe (with UL) in, swaddled in a scrap of Polartek then

keep the whole thing in my purse.

What is Polartek? I imagine some type of insulating material? Sounds

like a very neat way to do it :-) You and Rick make it seem like no big

deal. Over the years, when my sister would visit, it always seemed like a

much bigger deal.

Sandy

[Guest guest]

At 09:33 AM 9/16/2002, Sandy wrote:

> Rick,

> Thanks so much... I wondered. I knew it could keep cool for 4 hours, but

>wasn't sure on a longer trip how that would work.

>

> Sandy H.

Hi Sandy,

You're welcome. Here is a link to the products that I use:

http://www.health-supplies.com/cgi-bin/webcart/webcart.cgi?CONFIG=medport & RET=25\

& FIRST_TIME=Yes & OCATS=MEDPORT02 & DOSEARCH=YES & REFER=medport

If the link above does not work (it is rather long), go to

http://www.medportinc.com/ and click on the " Diabetes Management " link on

the left side of the page. It will take you to the page referenced above.

I use the " Medport Daily Organizer " everyday. In fact, I just keep my

" current " insulin supplies there (extra vials are in the fridge until needed).

When I travel, I use the " Medport 3 in 1 Organizer " , as it is large enough

for the extra bottles/pens of Insulin and also has a side for other meds.

There is another company that makes similar products. I am not personally

familiar with them, but I have heard good things about them. Here is their

link:

http://www.medicool.com/diabetes/ for access to all Diabetes products, or

http://www.medicool.com/diabetes/cases.html for direct access to the " cool

cases " .

Rick

[Guest guest]

righto. Land's End has lots of Polartek stuff - but it's a lot cheaper if

you sew it yourself, smile.

Vicki

In a message dated 09/16/2002 2:45:49 PM US Mountain Standard Time,

sandypaws5@... writes:

>

> Thanks, Vicki... I was thinking of something else. I think I bought my

> mom and dad jackets made of Polartek from Lands End.

>

> Sandy H.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hello sandypaws5@...,

In reference to your comment:

ð My question is... if insulin is more natural, why would

ð doctors insist on pills instead of insulin? My guess is

ð that it goes back to what you said about Type 2's

ð already having insulin, but not being able to use it.

and that its more dangerous to take insulin, ie hypo's esp if you are not

eating consistantly.... however with a HBA1C of 9.2 i'd be thinking insulin

[Guest guest]

Sandy wrote:

> the pills, but to ask the doctor to put me on insulin. My

> mom thought it

> was more natural, so why didn't I take that instead? I asked

> my doctor, and

> he would always say, " Oh, you're a long way from needing

> insulin. " The last

> time I asked him, my A1c was 9.2. My question is... if

> insulin is more

> natural, why would doctors insist on pills instead of

> insulin? My guess is

As near as I have been able to determine, the reasons many doctors are leery

of prescribing insulin is that: (1) they think most people are afraid of

giving themselves injections, so they avoid suggesting it, and (2) using

insulin does take a lot of discipline, since overdosing can be a big

problem, and doctors are not used to patients with much discipline. If I

needed meds, insulin would be my first choice. And it would take a very

good reason for a doctor to talk me out of it. After all, it's my body, not

the doctors.

Tom the Actuary

[Guest guest]

At 05:00 PM 9/16/2002, Sandy H. wrote:

> My mom and sister have been after me for the last few years not to take

>the pills, but to ask the doctor to put me on insulin. My mom thought it

>was more natural, so why didn't I take that instead? I asked my doctor, and

>he would always say, " Oh, you're a long way from needing insulin. " The last

>time I asked him, my A1c was 9.2. My question is... if insulin is more

>natural, why would doctors insist on pills instead of insulin? My guess is

>that it goes back to what you said about Type 2's already having insulin,

>but not being able to use it.

>

> Sandy H.

Insulin, along with oral meds that make one's body more sensitive to

insulin are a good choice for those who do not do well on oral meds alone

(ie. A1c 9.2). T2s quite often have higher levels of endogenous (made by

the body) insulin in their bodies. However, after time, even a T2 may begin

to become insulin deficient. At that point, lower carb intake and/or

insulin may help to improve the numbers considerably. I am at a point where

I try to limit my carbs to a reasonable amount, and take insulin along with

oral meds for sensitivity. When I was on oral meds alone, my HbA1c was in

the 9's as well. I've dropped down to 7.1 and my next one should be even

lower. My goal is in the 5's. The Avandia I take really makes a difference

in the amount of insulin I need to take.

To Min...

As far as insulin being a poison, any substance, uncontrolled, and in large

enough doses can become toxic to our bodies. The goal for me is to keep

from killing myself with extremely high (toxic) sugar levels. I hope to

reduce my meds and insulin at some point if I can reduce my weight. I don't

want to lose my kidneys, eyes or legs while waiting for that to happen. I

don't have any perceptible physiologic trouble with the oral meds or

insulin. To me it is just a matter of pragmatism. I have never had a

C-peptide test done, so I really have no idea how much endogenous insulin

is floating around in my system. However much there is wasn't enough to do

the trick, even with oral meds (alone).

Rick

[Guest guest]

Sandy H. asked:

<< if insulin is more natural, why would doctors insist on pills instead of

insulin? >>

Probably 85 percent of us type 2's are insulin-resistant. For us, adding

more insulin, via injection, can just add to the problems caused by our

already-high insulin levels. Pills such as Glucophage/Metformin are supposed

to reduce insulin resistance. Weight loss and weight lifting and exercise

can also help a lot with insulin resistance.

Susie