New Member

[Guest guest]

Hi Debbie.

Welcome to the list. Sorry for the diagnosis - however, post anything

and you'll no doubt get lots of replies. This is a very active list.

As for what your doctor told you (herniation not sufficient for

surgery), the amount of tonsillar herniation should not necessarily be

the only measure for surgery. If symptoms warrant it and there is CSF

flow restriction due to overcrowding in the posterior fossa, Chiari

surgery may be in order.

My daughter had NO tonsillar herniation below the level of the foramen

magnum (read that as 0mm), had many progressive neurological symptoms

and decompression surgery alleviated her many symptoms.

We, too, live in Canada (Ottawa) and it took us 5 years before we got

the Chiari I diagnosis by only 2 of many doctors in the U.S. Over a

dozen specialists said there was no Chiari I on her MRIs. Many people

on this list have had to travel outside their

city/state/province/country to get proper diagnosis and treatment.

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't have the surgery. I don't know

how bad your symptoms are. But you should be aware that symptomatic

people with less than 5mm herniation do have alleviation of symptoms

with surgery. My daughter is only one such case.

Feel free to contact me personally if you wish or post to the list...

Eurico

> Hello everyone, my name is Debbie, I am 41 years old and was

recently

> dx with arnold chiari type 1. Had another mri on oct 22, results

were

> in Nov 7 , my nsg told me that from nov 2000 until nov 2001 i went

> from 5mm to 9mm, said he could not operate right now cause it is not

> protruding enough, just want to make sure this makes sense. I

started

> on neurotin, vioxx, and serc anyone familuar with these meds. Any

> infor at time will ease my mind. Thanks all, a new member from

> montreal,quebec.

[Guest guest]

I just joined and thought I'd introduce myself.

I'm type 2, diagnosed in November 2003, treating with metformin, avandia,

lantus, humalog, and various supplements and such. Also taking lipitor -

started

a few weeks ago. I'm female, 41, from East Hampton, New York, and I look

forward to meeting all of you...

Stacey

Greetings Stacey,

Pleased to meet you. Glad you found us on this list, but sorry for the

reason we all are here.

With your list of meds, how are your bg's doing? Are your HbA1c's looking

good. That's a pretty stout list of diabetes meds, so I would hope things are

going well for you in the " control " department.

Feel free to ask any question & I'm sure there is someone here who will have

experiences to enable a helpful answer.

, T2, dx'ed 4/98, Average bg 100mg/dl, last HbA1c 6.0%, controlling

with LC

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/27/04 6:50:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

rogerhlmn@... writes:

Pleased to meet you. Glad you found us on this list, but sorry for the

reason we all are here.

Thanks for the welcome.

With your list of meds, how are your bg's doing? Are your HbA1c's looking

good. That's a pretty stout list of diabetes meds, so I would hope things are

going well for you in the " control " department.

My first a1c was 13.4, second 7.9, third 5.8 achieved with such draconian

measures of eating fewer than 20 grams of carbs most days that it wasn't

sustainable, lack of control followed, edema occurred, avandia went from 8 mg to

4 mg

to fix edema, and lantus and humalog were added as better, safer methods of

long term control. Last a1c a few weeks ago was 6.4, after shoulder surgery in

May followed by inactivity and bad control.

The insulin was started in July, and I'm still tinkering to get things right.

Now that I'm much more recovered from shoulder surgery, I'm getting back

into the exercise routine.

I keep telling myself it's a process, not a race, and that long term control

isn't had in two days!

Stacey

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/27/04 9:27:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

koresun@... writes:

>

>Welcome! Nice to see you here!

>

>Hugs, Dianne

>>>>>>

Thanks Dianne!!!! How's the sciatic nerve thing going? I have on and off

sciatic issues that I can sometimes make better through either chiropractic or

lots of stretching, but it doesn't always work, and since reading about your

bout with a much worse version, I've wondered if it's diabetes related.

Stacey

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/27/04 9:27:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

koresun@... writes:

>

>Welcome! Nice to see you here!

>

>Hugs, Dianne

>>>>>>

Thanks Dianne!!!! How's the sciatic nerve thing going? I have on and off

sciatic issues that I can sometimes make better through either chiropractic or

lots of stretching, but it doesn't always work, and since reading about your

bout with a much worse version, I've wondered if it's diabetes related.

Stacey

[Guest guest]

Jerri

Hi. Welcome to the group.

I was diagnosed last January 2004 with a blood sugar of 259. It

hasn't gone any higher, and I soon got it down to normal (80-120)

where it has mostly remained up to now. I think you will definitely

need a glucometer (as your doctor no doubt told you). Kitchen tools

to measure food servings may also be helpful. Many of us eat smaller

meals throughout the day to avoid high-low peaking of blood glucose.

Remember that if you eat high amounts of fat or protein CALORIES,

they also count for raising blood sugar.

I have lost 60 of my 120 pounds of excess weight, and the diabetes is

already easier to control (and the weight loss feels like paradise).

I take two 500 mg. Glucophage XR tablets per day and consume from 100-

200 carbs per day. I am trying to get this down to 100 carbs per day

and, like you, about 1600 calories for weight reduction. When I lose

40-50 more pounds, I hope to control my diabetes with diet alone.

It's an optimistic goal. Some people achieve it. Daily exercise

also seems of tantamount importance, and others here seem to agree.

I'm not a doctor, but my advice, from my own experience, would

probably be at first to think " no carbs at all. " Otherwise, you are

only thinking " cut down on carbs " which didn't work for me at all, at

all, at all. Then, work from there. For example, even my doctor

told me to skip fruit, so I did, but I later found I could eat 1/2 of

a banana, apple, orange, peach, etc. with no ill effects if I ate it

with a meal. I later ate the other half with another meal.

You can try Atkins products (they are tasty, but also are higher in

fat. Also, Blue Bunny ice cream treats (they have fat-free and are

delicious--go to their website), " Carb Countdown " and other dietetic

products found at the supermarket (also often a bit higher in fat).

Breyers makes a low fat, low carb good one.

Continual high blood glucose injures the kidneys, heart, eyesight,

and possibly other things. High blood sugars encourage cancer

development (cancer loves to feed on sugar).

Your diet, medicine and activities are a very individual thing and

you need to be in touch with your own medical caretakers about them.

Definitely ask your doctor about anything and don't listen to anyone

here telling you that you must eat or avoid certain foods.

Best of luck,

Janie

>

> Hi Everyone

>

> I wanted to introduce myself - I'm a new member and I'm a newly

diagnosed

> diabetic. I found out last Tuesday and my doctor managed to get me

into an

> endocrinologist on Wednesday. He put me medication right away and

I'm going

> this Wednesday to get trained on how to do my testing and meet with

the

> dietician.

>

> I joined this list because everyone is so knowledgeable and I

wanted to get

> myself as educated as possible.

>

> What I can't find out there is a guideline to how many carbs a

diabetic

> should have every day. Also, since I do all the cooking my

boyfriend wants

> to know how many carbs someone without diabetes needs to have every

day. I

> put us on a 1600 calorie a day diet and am trying to keep my carbs

low

> since my doctor said no refined sugar at all and very limited bread,

> potatoes and rice. My blood sugar was 388 when it was tested and

he wants

> to get it down quickly. Hopefully the dietician will be able to

give me my

> guidelines. I also need to lose about 80 pounds. I've started

working out

> an hour a day - how much are all of you working out?

>

> Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Especially meal plan

ideas

> or food substitutes.

>

> Jerri

[Guest guest]

I'm glad if I helped you in any way.

But I wanted to add that, of course, the numbers of carbs we can

tolerate and still get a normal BG reading probably vary considerably

with different diabetics, depending upon what stage of this disease

we are at, what medications we are taking, how much exercise we take,

as well as other individual differences like weight, etc.

I guess this is also just common sense, since " normal " people can

tolerate any number of carbs.

Janie

> Janie

> Thank you for the advice on

> the carbs - I've been at about 125 carbs per day. >

[Guest guest]

Good luck to you!

Kim

>

> Hi, I am new to this site, I am still learning to naviate. It is

nice

> to communicate with other baratric patients. I will be having my

> surgary July6th in Michigan at Spectrum Health Hospital my Dr. is

> Wayne VanderKolk he is a very nice Dr. I am going through a wide

> range of emotions. It will be worth is in the long run.

> Take Care, God Bless!

> Love,

> Snugglebunny

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group Snugglebunny.

Australia

New member

Hi, I am new to this site, I am still learning to naviate. It is nice

to communicate with other baratric patients. I will be having my

surgary July6th in Michigan at Spectrum Health Hospital my Dr. is

Wayne VanderKolk he is a very nice Dr. I am going through a wide

range of emotions. It will be worth is in the long run.

Take Care, God Bless!

Love,

Snugglebunny

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group. We have people in various stages of WLS here from

surgery just around the corner to a few yrs out so if you have any questions

just ask and someone will anwser.

Marilynn

>

> Hi, I am new to this site, I am still learning to naviate. It is nice

> to communicate with other baratric patients. I will be having my

> surgary July6th in Michigan at Spectrum Health Hospital my Dr. is

> Wayne VanderKolk he is a very nice Dr. I am going through a wide

> range of emotions. It will be worth is in the long run.

> Take Care, God Bless!

> Love,

> Snugglebunny

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm new here. My name is Donna F. I was diagnosed with FM about

five years ago. Although I suffered from it for many years before

going to the doctor for it. My Doctor told me that if I had it, it was

like giving me death sentence. That I would become a hermit. He was

right. I miss so many family get togeathers and miss out on so many

other things that I use to love to do. I owned a ceramic studio but

had to close it out and watch a dream of mine end. I still can paint

but I shake allot and have so much pain it is difficult to do detail

painting. I had bariatric surgery done to help me to loose weight and

I lost 150 pounds. But the meds I take cause me to gain most of it

back. I have OA in my knees. Had one knee replaced this past year and

in a year or two the other one will have to be done. I find I can't

walk as much as I should to strengthen my new knee. And to loose

weight. Sometimes I hurt so bad I can barely get out of bed. I often

wonder why I had the barriatric surgery done, and the knee surgery

done if I can't walk like I wanted to. I am learning that I have

accept that I have limits now and like it or not, that's life for me

now. I take Tramadol, celebrex, flexeril morning and night. I was on

Lyrica but had to stop taking it. It caused me to eat constantly, and

also caused my lymphedema in my legs to flare up. My legs were so

swollen I started getting open sores because the tissue was breaking

down. Since I stopped taking Lyrica, the swelling had gone down

considerably. And the ulcers on my leg are healing. Still I feel so

useless now. My husband has to do so much that I can't do now. I

really hate this. On the rare occasion that I do get out, I am

suffering for days after. I was feeling so alone and like no one

understood what I was going through. Then I found this group. Thank

God for steering me to this site. I count you all as one of my

blessings now. Bless you all!

Donna V.