Re: Admitting is painful

[Guest guest]

No one has perfect control all the time, and sometimes life just hands us

stuff that is hard to handle.

I also have a pump and I love it. Out of my cold dead hands, as the saying

goes. It's not a free ride, however, and I have to bolus for everything I

eat.

Maybe the place to start is to get the bolusing under control. No

judgements, just test and bolus and test and bolus. Are your basals set

correctly?

Maybe you can test them and if they seem set too low try adjusting and running

a temp basal at about 5% higher for a day to see what happens. Testing

basals means missing a few meals to do some testing, but it's worth it.

Don't judge what you're eating or drinking or smoking, just accept it and

work on BG control. Then, after that is something you're used to, work on the

other stuff.

One thing at a time!!

Stacey

[Guest guest]

kay stock wrote:

>I know I appear angry and maybe I am a little bit, but

>mostly I need the encouragement to help me get back on

>track. I'm even considering going back to injection

>therapy b/c it made me more disciplined, but my BG's

>were still all over the place.

>What do you think?

>Kay.

>

I think you've come to the right place. I've never met a

diabetic in real life who took care of himself. Last week, someone at

work happily told me her doctor had pronounced her cured of her

diabetes. It's only on this list that I've found people who understand

diabetes, it's frustrations, or what it's like to be diabetic. It's

contact with diabetes mailing lists which keeps me grounded and

concerned with taking care of myself. Before that there were times

when I stop testing and just thought I was doing okay. So I think

you'll find this a good group.

Edd

[Guest guest]

Edd...did you say anything to the person at work whose doctor pronounced

her " cured " of diabetes?

Docs who say things like this to patients should be shot, IMHO. Well,

at least severely reprimanded - and educated, if they really believe

diabetes can be " cured " .

NOTE: For newbies here who may have heard the same thing -- a diabetic

can NEVER be cured. They CAN be well controlled. -- which is quite a

different thing.**

And docs who say such things are certainly not fulfilling their

Hippocratic Oath to " do no harm. "

Vicki

** Okay, okay...someone is bound to point out that for some diabetics,

bariatric surgery has " cured " their diabetes. But it doesn't work this

way all the time. And how many diabetics are willing to undergo major

surgery - which can cause complications far worse than the original

diabetes?

Re: Admitting is painful

> kay stock wrote:

>

>>I know I appear angry and maybe I am a little bit, but

>>mostly I need the encouragement to help me get back on

>>track. I'm even considering going back to injection

>>therapy b/c it made me more disciplined, but my BG's

>>were still all over the place.

>>What do you think?

>>Kay.

>>

>

> I think you've come to the right place. I've never met a

> diabetic in real life who took care of himself. Last week, someone at

> work happily told me her doctor had pronounced her cured of her

> diabetes. It's only on this list that I've found people who

> understand

> diabetes, it's frustrations, or what it's like to be diabetic. It's

> contact with diabetes mailing lists which keeps me grounded and

> concerned with taking care of myself. Before that there were times

> when I stop testing and just thought I was doing okay. So I think

> you'll find this a good group.

>

>

> Edd

>

[Guest guest]

HI, Kay...You have my sympathy. Sounds like you're dealing with

depression along with all the other stuff.

As you've now learned, a pump is not the magic answer. You still need

to program it, and program it accurately and appropriately. Eating the

same number of carbs each day isn't necessarily the answer, either.

There are pumpers on this list and I'm sure they'll speak up. I also

belong to another diabetes list whose moderator is a diabetic retired

engineer who's worked out an almost foolproof method for determining

appropriate insulin dosages. He's worked with a number of people on this

list as well as other pumpers. If you'd like joinup information for that

list, I'll be happy to give it to you. His method involves determining

individualized dosing parameters based on frequent testing over a period

of weeks.

That said, he tends to be pretty technical, although he's perfectly

willing to clarify and simplify for those of us who don't speak

" engineering " . I do hold him fully responsible for my current excellent

control and A1Cs consistently under 6 for 7+ years.

And as Edd says, this diabetes_int list has a lot of caring,

knowledgeable people who are supportive and can help keep you on track.

Take care,

Vicki

Admitting is painful

>I was diagnosed with t1 about five years ago and

> started out with an A1c of 14%. Was on Lantus and

> Humalog up until about 7 months ago and on injection

> therapy until I was graced with my insulin

> pump....but was I really graced? I find that it has

> made me very lazy and my last A1c about a month ago

> went back up to an 8.1 from a 7.4.

> When I started the pump I quit recording everything on

> paper and quit eating meals with exactly 45 carbs per

> meal and decided to eat whatever the hell I wanted.

> My husband left me and and then I started drinking

> beer almost on a daily basis, plus I smoke a pack a

> day. I feel like crap and have for quite some time

> now. I'm feeling much better about the divorce, but

> now I have something else that haunts me...my

> diabetes. I'd say my average daily BG ranges from

> about 180 to 250 and I'm constantly bolusing with my

> new CONVIENIENT pump. I guess you could say I've lost

> track. Thought I could live like a person without DM,

> but I'm finding that not to be true. I've also become

> almost secretive about my BG control and have even

> quit communicating with my doctor. I understand that

> I am doing this to myself and I keep saying that I

> will 'do it right today', but I think what I lack the

> most right now is encouragement from people who deal

> with the same thing I do. I don't know anyone who has

> this and it is hard to talk about my issues with my

> loved ones who have no idea even what insulin does for

> me. They all think it does the opposite and that I

> HAVE to eat sugar. Sometimes the ignorance of others

> pisses me off.

> I know I appear angry and maybe I am a little bit, but

> mostly I need the encouragement to help me get back on

> track. I'm even considering going back to injection

> therapy b/c it made me more disciplined, but my BG's

> were still all over the place.

> What do you think?

> Kay.

> T-1

> Humalog

> Insulin pump

> ratio of 1 unit per 10 carbs.

[Guest guest]

whimsy2 wrote:

>I guess I do agree with you there, Edd. But I'd feel a bit better about

>it if you'd put the last sentence in quotes so newbies reading this post

>understand that you're paraphrasing what you think doctors probably

>think, based on their own experience.

>Sad.

>Vicki

>

Well, it was an opinion rather than a quote. I guess I thought

it would easily be recognized as some blowhard shooting his mouth off

and not to be taken too literally. But it was only an opinion.

Edd

[Guest guest]

Samante wrote:

>You said, " I've never met a diabetic in real life who took care of

>himself " . Can I assume that you were not just talking about male

>diabetics since the list of people who you would probably like to meet

>are all female? We'll talk about that issue another time.

>

What a bizarre thing to imply.

> If so, you

>actually have met a diabetic who took care of herself. The woman you work

>with had to have taken care of herself if she got to the point where her

>doctor pronounced that she was cured.

>

I'm afraid all you know about her is what I " chose " to reveal

on the Internet, so how can you trust that? Are you sure you know

enough about her to make assumptions?

>OK she used the wrong word, but her

>condition has greatly improved and it could not have happened if she did

>not take care of herself. She may not have followed the treatment

>espoused on this and some other lists but she did something right and she

>did say she had been exercising for a while and not just recently.

>

>

How strange to trust what her doctor told her? She quoted her

doctor as calling her " cured. " His word, not hers. There are far too

many people, even just on this list, whose doctors told them they were

cured or had excellent control when their A1c's were 7 or 8. It's not

an opinion to be easily believed.

>Remember YMMV? and that Dm treatment is a highly individualized disorder?

>This woman you work with may not have walked the same path you would/do

>walk to get to the point she is at now but she still got there.

>

You mean you assume this woman, whom you never met, " got

there. " What was her A1c? What were here daily tests? You seem to be

criticizing me based on .... what? Why this hostile approach?

>She was

>out exercising while too many who test, test, test, measure, measure,

>measure were sitting in front of a computer reading list messages or in

>front of the TV deciding what their evening snack should be.

>

You mean you feel testing is not important? From what she

told me, she hasn't tested in months. Are you saying you don't believe

occasional feedback is important? Also, why are you so sure a woman,

who doesn't test, has achieved good control?

>just trying to show you that you have met

>diabetics in real life who are taking care of themselves and getting good

>results.

>

I don't see how you can assume that.

>I am not

>trying to be critical,

>

Honestly, you seem critical. And I don't understand why.

Edd

[Guest guest]

Hi Kay

Welcome.

You're on your way.

Coming here was a major first step. You can be honest about what you

do, let your feelings be publicly displayed, say what you really mean

(subject to no flames:-) knowing that you'll never meet any of us from

cyberspace unless you choose to.

Almost like the perfect analyst. And if anyone criticises you - stick

them on your blocked senders list and they disappear. There's a few

real life people that I'd like to put on the blocked senders list.

Hmmm, no, I won't head down that path:-)

I won't give much advice because I'm T2 and you're T1. However, a

number of the T1's I know have benefited from reading this link:

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

That advice is usually aimed more at T2's, but, as you've found, there

are limitations to the idea that a T1 can eat what they like and just

adjust the insulin.

Good luck,

Cheers, Alan, T2 d & e, Australia

[Guest guest]

Vic ki

No need to look it up on my account I would never go anywhere near that type of

procedure after I haerd about that woman in the UK

Blessed Be

Rob

Re: Admitting is painful

Rob, I work as a medical transcriptionist for a large hospital system --

4 hospitals plus many clinics including a bariatric surgery clinic. I

have typed reports for patients who had serious complications related

to bariatric surgery.

In the course of the reports, before the surgery the doctor is required

to quote the rate of complications. I don't remember right now what it

is (I could look it up if you want) but it's certainly higher than I'd

feel comfortable with if I was considering that type of surgery.

Vicki

[Guest guest]

Vic ki

No need to look it up on my account I would never go anywhere near that type of

procedure after I haerd about that woman in the UK

Blessed Be

Rob

Re: Admitting is painful

Rob, I work as a medical transcriptionist for a large hospital system --

4 hospitals plus many clinics including a bariatric surgery clinic. I

have typed reports for patients who had serious complications related

to bariatric surgery.

In the course of the reports, before the surgery the doctor is required

to quote the rate of complications. I don't remember right now what it

is (I could look it up if you want) but it's certainly higher than I'd

feel comfortable with if I was considering that type of surgery.

Vicki