Ok I’m really not happy about having to go back on insulin. Probably for good now. So I’ll warn you, I’m a little touchy. I’m SO exhausted and just want to stay in bed for a few weeks.
From here on out I’m not telling ANYONE I’m diabetic (in person, at least). Everyone seems to think it’s ok to watch every bite I eat and then tell me how they think it’s not good for me. Diabetic or not, it’s SO rude to point out what someone is eating WHILE they are eating. Nothing aggravates me more than someone looking at my food in front of everyone saying "You can’t eat potatoes!" "You can’t eat rice!" "You can’t eat bourbon chicken!" It’s embarrassing and makes me feel like shit. Yeah people might think they’re "helping" me, but they’re hurting me so bad. A relative of mine used to be real bad at that. If she called and I was cooking something she’d find SOMETHING wrong with what I was eating. Even if it was corn it’s "bad".
Someone in "authority" at my school is real bad at that. She could be eating something way worse than me and if I call her on it she says "Well, I’m not the one who can’t metabolize sugar". I mean damn. That sounds like middle school "Well at least I have more money than you do". There’s nothing I hate more than diabetes. I don’t want ANYONE else the rest of my life know that I have it. I wish there was a cure for it because then I could tell people "Yeah I’m cured" even if I wasn’t. Everyone is quick to criticize but when I WANT to take care of myself it’s an inconvenience to everyone "You’re going to the dr when?!" And it’s almost like "that someone" teases me. She makes me go 7-8 hours between meals. If I snack it’s like everyone looks at me like "OMG!"
Diabetes is like a Scarlet Letter. I hate diabetes. I didn’t ask for it. I don’t want it. I HATE IT!!!!!!! Damn I want to cry so bad right now.
So to everyone who knows a diabetic, please don’t offer up unsolicited advice on what they’re eating. I mean, there’s tactful ways of bringing it up, but not while they’re eating. And don’t assume that a diabetic is doing something wrong and that’s why they have diabetes. Even with a type 2, you hear that obesity contributes to diabetes. Don’t assume that because someone is a type 2 they have it cause they’re fat. I "got" diabetes when I weighed less than 150 pounds. Alot of people gain weight with diabetes and it’s harder for them to take it off. Nothing like your body thinking you’re starving it (because your cells aren’t getting the sugar it needs) so many things go into effect like kicking up your appetite, when the last thing you need is food! Hell, I gained more weight with diabetes than I ever did in my two pregnancies combined. And alot of the meds pack on the pounds as well. I’m not trying to make excuses, just trying to explain a few things. It’s amazing how little people know and that’s ok. That’s where education comes in. I’m sure I don’t always say the right things to my patients because I’m learning something new or whatever. But I’m trying to learn so much about so many things so that I can be a good nurse.
Have you hugged a diabetic today? (God knows I need a big one)
Sorry... those are my two cents. Sometimes you just need to feel sorry for yourself for a few minutes LOL
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insulin. Show all posts
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Why do I need ANOTHER class?!?!?!
I went to my endo today. I’ve been on insulin before but after my son was born my numbers were so good I quit taking it. So I’ve been maxed out on Glucophage for several years. My dr just tried me on Glipizide. I went for my follow up today. Apparently it didn’t work :-( I’m starting on insulin again. He said oral meds don’t work on me. I’m so mad. PLUS he’s making me take an insulin class although I’ve ALREADY been on insulin and I’m a freaking nursing student and I know insulin and injections inside and out. Heck I give insulin to my pts in the hospital! Just another way to get money I guess.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Updates
After clinical one day last semester I was deeply touched, rather scared out of my mind by a patient of mine. She had renal failure and was on dialysis. Also she is diabetic, like me. But she was only in her 40's. I talked to her about her diabetes leading up to the kidney failure. Her a1c's were pretty similar, if not lower than mine.
Quick lesson on a1c's for those who don't know. You have red blood cells and you have sugar in your blood. That sugar also sticks to your RBCs. A normal person has a low a1c, usually less than 6. This is because there isn't as much free floating sugar in the blood to stick to the cells because insulin is pushing the sugar into the body's cells to be used for energy (and lower blood sugar). In a diabetic there isn't enough insulin so the sugar floats in the blood and sticks to the RBC's and also shows up as high blood sugar. Diabetics have a1c's over 7, as much as 12 or 13! Diabetics have their a1c's checked every 3 months or so to see how much free sugar is floating around in their blood over the last 3 months. This tells how well the diabetes is controlled.
Ok with that being said I set myself up for an appointment with an endocrinologist. He's pretty well known and has been one of Atlanta's Top Doctors several years. I figured if anyone would crack down on my diabetes it would be him.
So I meet with him and he runs tons of tests. He doesn't see any signs of nerve or eye damage (that diabetics are notorious for). Thank God. Everything else looks pretty good. He has some blood drawn and wants to see me again in a few weeks.
The few weeks go by and I go back to my appointment. Last time he was talking about strict insulin therapy that would leave me feeling so much better, so I was excited. I can't tell you how many times my blood sugar is sky high and I feel like crap. Every once in awhile I barely have enough energy to get up and do things. I test my blood sugar 3 times a day and it's always in the 200-300's. Normal is less than 120. Around 140 or so your kidneys can't handle all the sugar and it spills over into the urine. Your body wants to flush out all the sugar so you start peeing alot and that makes you thirsty and dehydrated. So you drink and drink, you just pee more and more and your sugar just goes higher and higher. Just an ugly situation.
I give him my daily numbers and he's surprised. He reviews my blood test results and says "I'm not making any medication changes because your a1c is good. It's 6.3." WTF? No medication changes?! Dude! Do you see my 200-300's?!
So it didn't make sense. My daily numbers should have produced at least a 7-8 a1c which isn't good. Why do I barely have a 6? He gives me a replacement monitor to start testing with. Maybe my monitor was bad. I should start getting lower numbers with the new monitor.
Well I don't. Same 200-300's. I still feel sick as a dog.
Sometimes if someone is anemic their a1c can be falsely low because there isn't as many RBC's for the sugar to stick to. But I'm not anemic. Ugh. I can't explain it!
So I go in last week to have my blood drawn again. I went to my appointment on Monday. I was anxious to hear my blood test results. He tells me he's concerned because my a1c jumped AN ENTIRE POINT to 7.3. I've NEVER done a jump that dramatic.
Ok, a 1 point jump in 1 month is really bad. It means something happened and my diabetes is starting to get out of control. My BP has already been high and I'm double dosed on a beta blocker called Atenolol. But it's even higher now. So he prescribes another BP med. An ACE inhibitor called Lisinopril. The good thing about this drug is it will bring my BP down but it will also protect my kidneys against the diabetes. But for the diabetes he adds yet ANOTHER drug to my routine. This drug is a sulfonylurea. Try saying that 3 times fast LOL
I now have numerous medication bottles and I actually have to take a Sharpie and write on it which meds are taken in the AM and which are taken in the PM. I have to check my BP every day and my blood sugar at least 3 times a day. And I've got it good. Some people have it way worse.
From what was explained to me, being on the sulfonylurea will also tell us something else. How much is my pancreas working? This drug works before I eat by telling my pancreas I'm about to eat and to start pumping out insulin. If my pancreas isn't working much at all there isn't much this drug can do and I'll be back on the stupid insulin shots. I don't want to go there again.
Another thing that sucks is 4 of my meds cause drowsiness and I take 2 in the AM and 2 in the PM. So if the diabetes doesn't have me tired, the meds are.
So I just wanted to update those who care on the unwelcomed drama in my life LOL!
Take care everyone!!!!
Quick lesson on a1c's for those who don't know. You have red blood cells and you have sugar in your blood. That sugar also sticks to your RBCs. A normal person has a low a1c, usually less than 6. This is because there isn't as much free floating sugar in the blood to stick to the cells because insulin is pushing the sugar into the body's cells to be used for energy (and lower blood sugar). In a diabetic there isn't enough insulin so the sugar floats in the blood and sticks to the RBC's and also shows up as high blood sugar. Diabetics have a1c's over 7, as much as 12 or 13! Diabetics have their a1c's checked every 3 months or so to see how much free sugar is floating around in their blood over the last 3 months. This tells how well the diabetes is controlled.
Ok with that being said I set myself up for an appointment with an endocrinologist. He's pretty well known and has been one of Atlanta's Top Doctors several years. I figured if anyone would crack down on my diabetes it would be him.
So I meet with him and he runs tons of tests. He doesn't see any signs of nerve or eye damage (that diabetics are notorious for). Thank God. Everything else looks pretty good. He has some blood drawn and wants to see me again in a few weeks.
The few weeks go by and I go back to my appointment. Last time he was talking about strict insulin therapy that would leave me feeling so much better, so I was excited. I can't tell you how many times my blood sugar is sky high and I feel like crap. Every once in awhile I barely have enough energy to get up and do things. I test my blood sugar 3 times a day and it's always in the 200-300's. Normal is less than 120. Around 140 or so your kidneys can't handle all the sugar and it spills over into the urine. Your body wants to flush out all the sugar so you start peeing alot and that makes you thirsty and dehydrated. So you drink and drink, you just pee more and more and your sugar just goes higher and higher. Just an ugly situation.
I give him my daily numbers and he's surprised. He reviews my blood test results and says "I'm not making any medication changes because your a1c is good. It's 6.3." WTF? No medication changes?! Dude! Do you see my 200-300's?!
So it didn't make sense. My daily numbers should have produced at least a 7-8 a1c which isn't good. Why do I barely have a 6? He gives me a replacement monitor to start testing with. Maybe my monitor was bad. I should start getting lower numbers with the new monitor.
Well I don't. Same 200-300's. I still feel sick as a dog.
Sometimes if someone is anemic their a1c can be falsely low because there isn't as many RBC's for the sugar to stick to. But I'm not anemic. Ugh. I can't explain it!
So I go in last week to have my blood drawn again. I went to my appointment on Monday. I was anxious to hear my blood test results. He tells me he's concerned because my a1c jumped AN ENTIRE POINT to 7.3. I've NEVER done a jump that dramatic.
Ok, a 1 point jump in 1 month is really bad. It means something happened and my diabetes is starting to get out of control. My BP has already been high and I'm double dosed on a beta blocker called Atenolol. But it's even higher now. So he prescribes another BP med. An ACE inhibitor called Lisinopril. The good thing about this drug is it will bring my BP down but it will also protect my kidneys against the diabetes. But for the diabetes he adds yet ANOTHER drug to my routine. This drug is a sulfonylurea. Try saying that 3 times fast LOL
I now have numerous medication bottles and I actually have to take a Sharpie and write on it which meds are taken in the AM and which are taken in the PM. I have to check my BP every day and my blood sugar at least 3 times a day. And I've got it good. Some people have it way worse.
From what was explained to me, being on the sulfonylurea will also tell us something else. How much is my pancreas working? This drug works before I eat by telling my pancreas I'm about to eat and to start pumping out insulin. If my pancreas isn't working much at all there isn't much this drug can do and I'll be back on the stupid insulin shots. I don't want to go there again.
Another thing that sucks is 4 of my meds cause drowsiness and I take 2 in the AM and 2 in the PM. So if the diabetes doesn't have me tired, the meds are.
So I just wanted to update those who care on the unwelcomed drama in my life LOL!
Take care everyone!!!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
My new endocrinologist!
I'm so glad I set up this appointment with this doctor. He's one of the best in Atlanta. Now I see why. He's amazing. He's very friendly, knowledgeable, and thorough. I'm excited!
He wants to put me on insulin again (I was on it a few years ago). I told him I welcome the great control it will bring, but I didn't like being on it last time. He seems to think that they didn't better incorporate it into my daily life (which is very busy and hectic) and needs to be better fine tuned. With my blood sugars in the 200-300's all the time he thinks we'll be able to get it down between 70-120 all the time. That will make me feel so much better. I won't be as exhausted all the time and can better follow a stricter exercise regimen, which in turn will benefit me more.
He also said that there doesn't appear to be any damage to my eyes from the diabetes. That's great, I don't want to go blind!! He also doesn't believe I have significant nerve damage from it either. Whew! He likes that I am seeing him now BEFORE I run into bad complications so that we can prevent them.
He did blood and urine tests, which we will get the results on in a few days. He also did an EKG to check my heart. At the top of the print out it said I had a normal sinus rhythm with C3 and C4 abnormalities that could be caused by left ventricular hypertrophy possibly indicative of an anterior infarction. That's a freaken heart attack! I hope the thing is wrong. That would be scary if at one time I had a minor heart attack and didn't know it. I'm not going to get concerned though until he calls and said he read my EKG and it was abnormal.
Anyways, I'm going back to him in a few weeks and I'm also going to take diabetes information and nutritional classes. That's so nice. I've been diabetic for 6-7 years and my previous doctor NEVER did all of this. I feel like he'll really help me take care of myself and to have all my bases covered. I can deal with insulin, especially if it helps me feel better and become "normal" (as normal as I can be LOL)
YAY!!!!!!!
He wants to put me on insulin again (I was on it a few years ago). I told him I welcome the great control it will bring, but I didn't like being on it last time. He seems to think that they didn't better incorporate it into my daily life (which is very busy and hectic) and needs to be better fine tuned. With my blood sugars in the 200-300's all the time he thinks we'll be able to get it down between 70-120 all the time. That will make me feel so much better. I won't be as exhausted all the time and can better follow a stricter exercise regimen, which in turn will benefit me more.
He also said that there doesn't appear to be any damage to my eyes from the diabetes. That's great, I don't want to go blind!! He also doesn't believe I have significant nerve damage from it either. Whew! He likes that I am seeing him now BEFORE I run into bad complications so that we can prevent them.
He did blood and urine tests, which we will get the results on in a few days. He also did an EKG to check my heart. At the top of the print out it said I had a normal sinus rhythm with C3 and C4 abnormalities that could be caused by left ventricular hypertrophy possibly indicative of an anterior infarction. That's a freaken heart attack! I hope the thing is wrong. That would be scary if at one time I had a minor heart attack and didn't know it. I'm not going to get concerned though until he calls and said he read my EKG and it was abnormal.
Anyways, I'm going back to him in a few weeks and I'm also going to take diabetes information and nutritional classes. That's so nice. I've been diabetic for 6-7 years and my previous doctor NEVER did all of this. I feel like he'll really help me take care of myself and to have all my bases covered. I can deal with insulin, especially if it helps me feel better and become "normal" (as normal as I can be LOL)
YAY!!!!!!!
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