fed up of diabetes

scarymoon1

lately no matter what i do my sugar is high. now its 12 and i only had spag bol at 1.30pm. Sometimes my blood is high and im starving yet i cant eat because of the high sugar! i was doing good for a while but lately its all over the place again. im just sooo sick of it - constantly thinking of sugar readings, insulin, feeling guilty when i dont exercise - i hate it! what can i do to get my motivation back?? even though i want good control - sometimes i feel like whats the point - my blood will be high anyways

mike65

Are you type 1 or 2 (some type 2s use insulin)? If type 1 what is your insulin regime?

lucernarian

Firstly a reading of 12 is not necessarily a disaster. It's only about the level at which your kidneys start to lose water more quickly because of the higher sugar level. If you measure regularly and it only spikes to 12 after a meal and it's not 12 when you wake up for example, well you're not doing quite so badly.

If you're feeling that distressed over it, you have to talk to the professionals who deal with you. If they're a bunch of stubborn mules who won't listen to your specific issues, find a doctor who won't basically read a script at you to try to treat you. Some doctors and nurses suit some patients more than others.

Anyway, your doctor is your first port of call with treatment issues. But some of us definitely know how tough it can be to manage this condition and I think sharing experiences can help everyone in at least not feeling so down about diabetes:)

1967

Dont give up and try not worrying about it although believe me i know that is not easy,again i would get back in contact with who is responsible for administering your diabetes regime be it your gp, local diabetes nurse or endocrinologist maybe you just need a change of routine or meds also try talking to a dietician who maybe able to help with foods.

graflynn

My doctor always tells me when I think I'm doing terrible that it's usually not that bad (I know she's great:D). And I'm sure you are the same.

Whenever, things feel like they are getting on top of me I try to go back to the basics, like testing more and keeping a food, insulin & BG diary and counting the carbs. The diary is great because it helps you pinpoint the problem times of the day and the foods which cause the spike in the numbers.

Another useful tip from my doctor is her "rule of three". If it seems like the whole day is a problem, take one reading at a time (she suggests starting with the blood glucose reading after your evening meal). If your reading after your evening meal is above or below your target for two nights in a row, on the third night take the corrective action, i.e. increase/decrease your insulin by a little for that meal. Then when that's done move on to your before bedtime reading. This probably only works if you are on fast acting and long acting insulin regieme.

Remember to keep trying and keep asking for help.

scarymoon1

im type 1 and usually take 6 units of novorapid for a meal - depending on how much im going to eat. My A1c is good - 5.6 or there abouts. Its just if i 'relax' a bit about controlling the diabetes then blood sugar goes a bit mad. This weekend I watched what i ate, did exercise and my blood sugar was fine. Its just a 24/7 job and it annoys me!!!!

kowloon

Don't give up on it, once you let it slip the **** hits the fan.

graflynn

It is really hard to keep trying day after day, after day, after day. Eventually, you realise just how long "the rest of your life" really is. When I was diagnosed the term the doctor used was that I would have to inject insulin for the rest of my life, but at the time time you really don't know how that's going to make you feel.

It's very hard to explain to people without diabetes how much of a battle it can be. I came across this article on another website that gave me some consolation and I've started using his words to describe what my life is like with diabetes. Maybe it can help you too?

http://www.diabetesmine.com/2009/08/the-%E2%80%9Cbang-for-your-buck%E2%80%9D-principle-in-diabetes-management.html

robinph

Sometimes it will start getting me down when the numbers don't seem to behave themselves quite to my liking.

With your A1c at 5.6 though your not doing too bad at all overall so certainly shouldn't let it get to you too much, not that that is much help as advice to any of us. What graflynn said above about just attacking one point at which your noticing the levels going high at a time and fixing that one off number sounds like a good method. Trying to fix the whole system at once will fail, and just get you down even further.

CathyMoran

For me having a good knowledge of nutrition helps, part of it is just beacuse I have it so long I nearly know the carb of everything, part of it is that I know what will give me a huge sugar spike (normally) and how to manage insulin accordingly. The problems are that we are not automan, we can not do, eat and feel the same emotions every day which is what I feel the docs seem to want. I am heavily pregnant now and trying to look after my unborn child but this week is a week of anniversaries and with the best wishes in the world my bloods could be better (I find that stress makes it a lot worse and I need extra insilin at that time)...I have the motivation of my child. At the moment I am doing 1-2+ bloods a night as I dont want a coma but dont want them too high either and I test a lot during the day but keeping such tight control has a cost in that I have frequent lows which are just as bad...

It is a tightrope...we all get annoyed, we all get back there and try again...

kowloon

Do you have to change much with a pregnancy Cathy?

CathyMoran

kowloon wrote: »

Do you have to change much with a pregnancy Cathy?

You should have good blood sugars for a few months before conception as well as keep them very tightly controlled during it...if you dont there can be very bad consequences for your baby. My HBa1c was 5.8 when he was concieved but has gone down to 5-5.2 but I am constantly having hypos...it is worth it but it is not easy but at least you have a goal.

Diabetes takes a lot of work,sometimes it is hard to accept that and the desire to be normal whatever that is is strong but at least we are all still here. There are other medical conditions, I know, I have few but it is still not nice.

BlackEdelweiss

CathyMoran wrote: »

You should have good blood sugars for a few months before conception as well as keep them very tightly controlled during it...if you dont there can be very bad consequences for your baby.

This might be a stupid question but does this count for men aswell? My wife and I are thinking about having another baby, I know this sounds like a pregnancy issue but is there any thing to do with my half of the bargain? My blood is all over the place and I'm not fully diagnosed yet so I dont know the full implications to all of this yet.

Scarymoon, I'm in the same boat as you, I actually had a similar thread to this up last week. I go from my regular 11am hypo to a reading of 16 or so at bedtime, it dosent matter what I do, exercise, diet, tablets, always the same wild variation of readings. I had a few encouraging replies to my thread, which I forgot to go back and say thanks for, I just wasent in the form for being positive, sorry about that, I am feeling alot more positive now though. I am only newly diagnosed so I can only assume that this is going to be a recurring feature of my life from now on, ups and downs, good readings and confusingly bad ones. "Its a bit ****, but it could be alot worse" is the motto I am going to live by for the next few months till I get my head around it, after that, who knows, I might have to get a new motto or I might keep going with that one.

CathyMoran

Sorry, I dont know, only know the female side...