Tag Archives: diabetes

Getting Better Little by Little

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by  

I’ve had a good couple of weeks now that my stomach is getting better, and I’ve been working on building up my exercise time. I’m still stuck at 3 minutes at a time on the treadmill, but I am moving faster on it than when I started. Now I’m doing it twice a day most days, followed by 10 minutes on the recumbent bike, so I’m getting almost 30 minutes a day of hard (well, for me, anyway) exercise. I can really tell it when I have to climb stairs now. It’s not anywhere as hard as it has been.

I did take a dose of Pepto Bismol yesterday, however, because I felt like my stomach was irritated. Maybe I nipped it in the bud, before it had a chance to give me trouble again. I sure hope so. There must be some medicine I am taking that is really doing a number on my stomach, but it’s hard to know which one, since I take so many. I did wait a week after feeling better to go back on the vitamins and supplements, so maybe I’ll leave them off again this week and see if my tummy is OK. Then, instead of adding them all back at once, the way I did last time, I’ll do it one at a time, so I can spot the culprit. Nothing like doing a science experiment on myself.

I’ve seen my Diabetes doctor and my Neurologist in the last couple of weeks, and both are very pleased with my progress. My glucose test numbers have been consistently good now for over a week, so I’m proud of myself. I continue to lose weight gradually, so it looks like I’m shrinking myself out of the diabetes diagnosis!

I’m less than 10 pounds from my original weight goal right now, but I’ve bought some size 12 pants that I want to fit into and may continue to lose more if I need to, so I can wear them. I say quit, but I’m so used to eating this amount of food now that I can’t really imagine eating much more. I started my conscious effort to count calories and watch my sugar and carb intake back in April of ’09, so that’s a pretty well established habit now. Only occasionally do I feel hungry, and more often than not that is a sign my stomach is irritated, rather than real hunger. For some reason my body interprets low grade stomach pain as hunger. I’ve noticed that for a long time.

The Neurologist did give me some flexibility in how much Primidone I could take, depending on whether or not my tics and jerks returned. I had upped my dose by a half pill at a time while I was sick, because my face started its thing again. He says stress can effect the twitches, and I do believe it. So, along with trying to add the supplements one at a time, I’m going to try cutting back on the Primidone by that half pill.

I did ask him about my poor memory, and he said the Primidone and the Triavil could both be effecting that. My Gastro had suggested I try cutting back on the Triavil about the time I got sick, which I did, but I went back on the full dose when my stomach was so uncomfortable. I guess that’s another pill I can try backing off from gradually. Lots of tinkering with doses to play with for the next few weeks, trying to do the most good with the least side effects.

I’ve been working on learning about our new website format, so my brain has been getting a good workout lately. I’m pleased with what I’ve been able to understand, but there’s so much more to learn. This time I didn’t try to do it all by myself. I’ve hired a programmer to make the major change from one computer program to another, and that took a lot of the stress off of me. It sure is nice to be able to email him with questions and actually get answers! That’s customer service the way I like it!!

I continue to be optimistic, with goals to diet my way out of the diabetes and find the optimal doses of all my meds and supplements. And I look forward to being able to increase my exercise time gradually over the next few months.

Still Improving

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by  

Well, the Christmas and New Year’s holidays are over, and things are about to get back to “normal” around here. I made it through all the holiday foods without upsetting my stomach again, and I’ve finished the round of antibiotics. So I really can tell that I’m still improving.

I’ve stopped taking the Reglan and also the Nortriptyline for now. One of them was giving me horrible nightmares, and I haven’t gotten back to my usual sleep pattern yet. The Reglan is not to be taken long term anyway, as it can cause Dyskinesia, and I sure don’t want that! I plan to ask the doctor why he put me on the Nortiptyline, since it’s an anti-depressant. So many of these meds have off label uses, that I don’t want to just stop it completely without knowing why I was taking it.

I still am taking the Carafate an hour before meals and at bedtime, and I won’t go back to the supplements and vitamins I normally take until I stop that. It was just too hard trying to schedule all those extra pills and have my stomach empty for the Carafate.

I even managed to lose another pound during the holidays!! That surprised me, because I allowed myself to enjoy meals with family without concern for glucose readings or calories. I guess my stomach has shrunk, plus my eating habits have changed considerably since April 1, 2009, when I started dieting in earnest.

I am now trying to build back my exercise routine. I did Tai Chi yesterday morning for the first time in I can’t remember when, and I used the treadmill for 3 whole minutes. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it’s an inexpensive manual one that only has the one incline setting, and walking on it for 2 minutes at a time has been all I could muster, until yesterday. I’m such a weakling! LOL

I never have been much for New Year’s Resolutions, but I guess mine needs to be to get back on a regular exercise routine and stick to it. I’ve lost enough weight now that I’m really in need of some toning up. I don’t know if this old body can recuperate from the baggy skin, but I need to try, at least. And I certainly do need to improve my stamina.

I didn’t do a very good job of testing my glucose levels regularly during the holidays. My results page has lots of empty spots in it. It seemed like every day I would either forget to take it, or we would be out of our normal routine, and I couldn’t take it at the right time. We went to see a lot of movies over the last couple of weeks, and I couldn’t take it then. The rest of the times were just negligence on my part.

My Diabetes doctor said I was doing fine and not to be so concerned about the high readings, and I think I’ve succeeded in not stressing over them to the point that now I’m not diligent any more. It’s always hard for me to find balance, and this is just another example. I’ll try to do better in January. I see him at the end of the month, and I guess he’ll do another A1C then. That will tell the tale, for sure, from my holiday laxness. I’m growing more and more confident that my weight loss will eventually get me out of the diabetic range. I know that’s my goal for April, 2010. I expect to have lost 50 pounds by then, and no longer be diabetic.

At my heaviest ever in March, ’09, I weighed 182, and I’m down to 142 now. So I’ve come a long way. I’m totally motivated to get the rest of the 12 pounds off that I set as my goal, and who knows, maybe I’ll lose a few more than that! I know I couldn’t have done it without keeping track of my calories and carb intake daily. There again, the test will be whether I can achieve a balance of right eating without having to count calories when I’m down to 130. I’ll have to watch the scales pretty carefully to keep from gaining it back!

Sounds like I do have some New Year’s Resolutions after all! And I’m sure I join lots of others who plan to eat more healthy foods, exercise, and lose weight this year. I look forward to twenty ten as being a good, healthy year for me!!!!!

Not Getting Better Yet

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 3

Well, I’m on my second round of the Carafate, and my digestive system is still not back to normal. So I called my Gastro again and basically asked for an Endoscopy, which I will have on Monday. I’m hoping he will see the cause of this constant nausea and be able to treat it more effectively. It’s been a good six weeks of this unsettled feeling, and I’m ready to be rid of it!

The Myoclonus is behaving itself, at least. I haven’t had many more jerks and facial tics since my Neuro changed my prescription of Primidone to 1 1/2 tablets twice a day. Now if I get cold, which is easy for me to do, that’s another story. I do get the occasional shoulder jerks then. Also, I can tell that my mouth tics are just barely under control, as if they are just waiting for a good reason to start up again. But I can live with the dose I’m on now, and I don’t want to take any more of it than I have to.

Eating out continues to be a challenge with the blood glucose levels. You’d think as many diabetics as there are in the US that restaurants and fast food places would be more diabetes friendly, but they’re not. Well, I guess I’m not really being fair to them, because I would find it easier to eat out if I could eat lettuce, as the vast majority of places do offer salads. I can enjoy a spinach based salad, but not a lettuce one. I’ve probably been off lettuce for the last 20 years or so! Since diabetics can’t have baked potatoes or mashed potatoes, either, that severely limits the sides that I can order in most places. Luckily I like sauteed mushrooms, and can usually get those.

Since I’ve not been feeling well, I’ve not been exercising, either. And the scale shows it, as I have not lost any more weight. We bought ourselves an early Christmas present the other day, though, and maybe that will help. It’s a manual treadmill. I had tried out several motorized versions some time ago, and we agreed that I would not be safe on one of them. With the manual one it’s very easy for me to stop and get off, if I feel like I need to. It’s an extremely simple one, with just the one incline level, so I’m only walking for 2 minutes on it right now. We have the resistance level set to a point that hubby can use it, too. So we’ll leave it there until I build up some leg strength again.

So I’m hopeful that the endoscopy will show what needs to be done to stop the nausea, my blood glucose continues to be under control when we eat at home, and hopefully the treadmill will jump start my weight loss again.

Doing Pretty Good

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 5

I’ve been consciously not allowing myself to get upset each time the blood glucose reading is too high. If the doctor is satisfied with my results, and I picked him because he’s an aggressive Diabetes doctor, then the thing for me to do is just write down the numbers and quit stewing over them. I’ve been pleased so far with my efforts to be more nonchalant about it all. I’ll still use the higher numbers to help me decide if there is something I ate that might have touched it off, but when it’s the same thing I’ve been eating with good test results sometimes, and bad on others, I’ll just ignore it.

I’m also doing much better about exercising than I had been. Doing them every other day seems to have worked out pretty well, and I think it kick started my weight loss again, too. And that’s a good thing. That long month staring at the same number on the scale was no fun, since I knew I was being careful about calories. I’ve never been on an extended diet like this before, so I really didn’t realize that plateaus could last a whole month, but obviously they can.

I’ve spent the last few days rearranging one of our storage rooms for our plush toys. It’s been hard work, but it’s beginning to look better now. I’ve added a few more things to the Yard Sale box, too, which means they won’t be coming back in the house. That’s a good thing. We’re both pack rats, and that’s a bad combination! It’s somehow easier to put something in the Yard Sale stack than it is to put it in the donation box. Doesn’t seem quite as “gone”, if that makes any sense at all.

We almost had a yard sale this last weekend, but the Alabama game came on early, and hubby didn’t want to miss it – of course. So we’ll wait for another pretty weekend, now that it’s cooler.

Now if we could just get all those storage tubs down to the basement … I might have a house back! That part of the job will have to be when hubby gets in the mood and finds room for them downstairs. It wouldn’t be safe for me to try to walk down the steps carrying a big storage tub. I walk much better than I used to, but my balance is still a little unpredictable. Better safe than sorry.

So, all in all, I’m feeling very good about where I am right now. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving, and having all our family here, too. That’s helping me to do the cleaning I’ve been procrastinating about, and I’m getting more exercise, too!

Grrrrrr Those Blood Glucose Numbers Are Frustrating!!

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 2

Try as I might, I don’t seem to be able to consistently keep my blood glucose numbers where they’re supposed to be. Oh, there are always times when I know exactly what I splurged on that shot it up, and I can accept that as a rare occurrence. It’s when I think I’ve eaten a really good diabetic meal and still have a high reading that is so frustrating.

Hubby thought maybe my testing equipment was just registering high, after we read an article stating that home testing equipment can give results as much as 20% in error. So, just to see what would happen I double tested for several days last week, using the same blood drop with two different testing kits. Sometimes the second one would be lower, and sometimes it would be higher. But both kits consistently showed me too high when it went over the limit my doctor set for me. So I can’t blame it on the 20% inaccuracy findings.

I seem to be particularly susceptible to a glucose rise if I eat most whole wheat breads, something I thought I could have in moderation. So it’s a small piece of sour dough bread with lunch and occasionally a few whole wheat Melba toast pieces with dinner. And I can only manage a very small amount of fruit, which seems to work better if I eat it first. I guess it gets mixed in with the rest of the meal that way and doesn’t have a chance to make a big spike of sugar. So, in effect, I eat my dessert first now.

So I continue to learn what my body will tolerate and what it will not, and we both read everything we can get our hands on that might help me beat this disease as quickly and completely as possible.

Neuro Visit Uneventful

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 3

Well, I saw my Neurologist yesterday, and it went pretty quickly. He was very interested in the Diabetes diagnosis, and asked a few questions about that, and wanted to know if the Physical Therapy was helping – I said it was – and that’s about it. I did ask him about my hands going to sleep, and he did some checking for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but nothing he did made my hands tingle. I didn’t really think it was CTS. He thought it might have something to do with the Diabetes, and wants to explore it further in 6 months if I’m still having trouble with them then. Sounds reasonable to me, as I hope to have lost enough weight in 6 months to be out of the diabetic situation.

One thing doctor’s appointments do is get me out of the house with an excuse for eating out, and I pigged out at the best Chinese restaurant buffet in town. We don’t go there too often for just that reason … we BOTH pig out. I was pleased that my blood glucose was reasonable afterwards, particularly since I had indulged in a small piece of red velvet cake for dessert. It’s so odd how I can eat at home what seems to be a 100% diabetic conscious meal and end up with high numbers 2 hours later, but have a small dessert when we eat out and not have high numbers. Weird.

I’ve dropped another pound this week, which I’m really glad of, and I’m getting to wear some clothes that I had almost given away, as I didn’t think I would get back down to that size ever again. Now THAT’s a good feeling!!!

So, without any whining, I’m going to quit this post while I’m ahead!!!

Seeing My Neurologist This Week

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 4

It’s time for another visit to my Neurologist this week, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he says about the Diabetes diagnosis and my Physical Therapy exercises. I’m still having some difficulty keeping my blood glucose numbers where they should be, and that keeps me somewhat down in the dumps. I feel like hubby and I are doing everything possible to put the right foods in me, so I just don’t understand why I can’t keep my levels in range all the time. It is just another complex disease to have to deal with.

I’ve been working really hard to get our new Collectibles Catalog online for the last few weeks, and the clutter I’ve made with all my stacks of plates and such is getting to me. It seems like we’re living in a warehouse these days, with boxes stacked everywhere, full of plush animals and vintage items, too. It’s a fun business, and we enjoy going out on the buying jaunts, but then I come home and have to try to find a place to store our “finds”. It seems I can’t have my cake and eat it, too … a clean house and keep on buying new lovies and collectible finds.

I’m still practicing with YouTube videos of Sacred Harp music, and it’s a slow go to learn how to do it. My brain power is definitely not what it used to be, but that could be old age creeping up on me, too. All I know is that I don’t learn new things anywhere near as easily as I once did, and it’s aggravating and frustrating! I read the other day about a 90 something year old lady finishing college, and I thought to myself how impossible it would be for me to absorb all that information now.

I am being very successful with my weight loss attempts. I’m down another couple of pounds, losing at the rate of 1 pound about every 10 days. I’m hoping that by going this slowly and steadily with it that I will not end up with the baggy skin they always show on TV.

Speaking of TV, we’ve been without any TV reception now for several weeks, thanks to an electrical storm that killed our amplifier and antenna rotator. We’ve discovered some of our favorite shows on hulu.com, and I have my notebook hooked up to the TV, so we can both watch the same thing at the same time. We have a large collection of movies, too, so we’ve managed to “watch the tube” several hours a night. I’ve ordered a new amplifier, and do plan to replace the ruined parts and get our television shows back. I do feel good about my success in getting the picture on my laptop to show on the TV. So some neurons are still firing up there.

I’ve done a lot of whining today, and for that I’m sorry. I considered erasing the whole post, but I want this blog to be a true look at what it’s like to have my health problems, so you’re stuck with it. My apologies.

Doc Says I’m Doing Great … but ………

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 9

I couldn’t stand it any more and made an appointment to see my Diabetes doctor earlier than scheduled. I’ve been so frustrated by so many test results that were more than he had told me to aim for that I felt like something surely could be done to improve things.

So, we went to the doctor Thursday, and he bragged on my 1200 calorie diet and thought I was “doing great” with my glucose numbers. (THAT certainly surprised us both!) But … in the very next breath he DOUBLED my dose of Glucophage! He said I could cut back on the blood testing to 3 times a day, too. Since the test strips are so expensive this is a big help. Medicare pays for 50 strips a month, and the rest has to be paid out of pocket, since my insurance doesn’t cover the test strips.

So far so good on all the testing I’ve done since doubling the dose of medicine, so I’m feeling optimistic that I will lose the weight and eventually leave this diabetes diagnosis behind. Right now I’ve lost right at 20 pounds!! Considering how ravenously hungry I was all the time before being diagnosed, when my glucose was out of control, this is great news!!!

New Diabetic Shoes, Working Puzzles, and Brain Fog Blues

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I came home with my new pair of Diabetic shoes last Thursday, and in some ways I like them and in some ways I don’t. I chose a Velcro closure, which I have never worn before, and that, in hindsight, was probably a mistake, since lace up shoes allow for more adjustment across the ball of the foot.

Even though my foot measured as average width, I am finding it difficult to adjust to the tight feeling across the widest part of my left foot. I’ve been patiently breaking them in, but getting a little discouraged. So, I took the amazingly comfortable special insoles out and put the original insole back in. Those are not as thick, but the shoe feels much better. Maybe after I’ve worn them for awhile I will be able to put the super cushion ones back in.

Medicare and my supplemental insurance paid for them, plus enough insoles to change them out every quarter. I figured since I couldn’t get much help with the testing supplies I’d save the money for a new pair of shoes that I needed anyway, and use that savings on test strips.

I continue to lose weight a little at a time, and I’m very pleased with that. I’ve lost 16 pounds since mid April, the first weight I’ve been able to lose since I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and put on those meds. The change from PD meds to Essential Myoclonus meds didn’t help that problem, either. As my weight climbed I was more and more at risk for diabetes, particularly since it runs in my Daddy’s side of the family. It was not until my glucose levels were under control that I was able to lose weight, no matter how hard I tried. Adding the discipline of checking blood glucose levels 5 times a day on top of my already busy medicine schedule has just meant more to remember, but it’s pretty much routine by now. I still forget occasionally, but considering how bad my memory is, I think I’m doing quite well.

I guess my brain function is the real problem I continue to deal with. I have spells of being extremely forgetful, plus hubby and I have come to realize that I don’t process visual information very well any more. He will see a bird outside, tell me where to look, and it will often be a very long time before I can finally “see” it. I can’t really explain it, but I do know it’s not normal. I’ve made a few mistakes sending out stuffed animals or dolls that were similar to the one someone had ordered, not noticing the differences until they wrote to say they did not get the right toy. Very aggravating – and it costs us money!!

This Sunday I saw a name on our prayer list, immediately thinking it was someone in our Sunday School class who was having surgery. I embarrassed myself in front of everybody asking how she was doing. Of course she had no idea what I was talking about. I know both of these ladies very well, but for some reason my brain just ignored the last name, as if I didn’t even see it at all. I recently had my eyes examined, so I know it’s more a processing glitch than a vision problem.

Things like this seem to be happening more and more often, and I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t bother me. My mother had Alzheimer’s and my Granddaddy probably did, too, so it’s disconcerting, to say the least.

Well, that’s enough whining for one day. Let me get back to something more optimistic. I am very proud of my weight loss and the efforts I am taking to learn more about proper eating habits and diabetes in general. I just need to keep my eye on that 50 pound weight loss goal, and I know I can do it!

I’ve gone back to working Sudoku puzzles in an attempt to help with my strange brain glitches. I’ve also been playing with an old Rubic’s Cube we still had, too. And I plan on finding some more brain puzzles I can work on the computer.

Normal Days Continue … Well, Almost

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by  

For the most part I am continuing to have what I think I remember normal days were like ;). It’s been so long, way before we started taking care of parents, that I’m not really sure I would recognize a normal day if I saw it. LOL!!!

I am continuing to check my glucose levels 5 times a day, but I’ve had more high readings of late than I did last month. I’ve even had a lot of morning fasting readings that were high, before I’ve eaten anything for the day. I have been trying to eat more of the meals that I really enjoy, and I’m finding that even when I think I’m cutting portion size and being reasonable with my choices – my glucose reading says I have not succeeded.

I am continuing to lose weight slowly but surely – down 13 pounds from when I found out I was diabetic back in April. I have a long way to go, and expect it to take until Summer of next year to reach my goal. I continue to use FitDay to log in my food intake for each meal, plus keep track of my activity level. I’m very impressed with this site, as I have a graph of my Weight Goal, and I can follow along to see if I am on track to meet the goal I set to lose 50 pounds. The graphs make it easy to see that I am doing just what I wanted to do, and that’s encouraging. It’s so much easier to stay motivated when I can find some areas that I am doing well on. It makes it easier to make myself be careful with my eating habits, too. Obviously this is not a short term diet I am on. I want to lose it slowly enough so that it will stay off, and if I’m lucky, I won’t have as much loose skin, either. I have plenty of time to get my eating habits in line with what is the most healthy for me.

I have an appointment this week to get my first pair of diabetic shoes from my Podiatrist. Medicare will pay for one pair a year, which helps to offset the pitiful amount they pay toward all the glucose test strips I’m having to buy. I needed a new pair of shoes anyway, although these are not in a style I would have chosen on my own. If they feel good, and I stop ending up with the huge callouses I’ve had trouble with for years, plus take the pressure off the tops of my big toes, I’ll be happy with the trade-off between style and comfort.

We’re supposed to get our car back this week from the body shop, and we’re both hoping it will be sooner, not later this week. These last few weeks having to use the van (AC does not work) has not only been Alabama hot, but it’s taking its toll on my muscles, climbing up each time I get in. There have been a few yard sale stops that I just stayed in the van and let hubby go look, just because I was too tired to haul my heavy self back up in the seat. LOL!!!

I continue to read everything I can find of interest about diabetes, but I’ve probably read most of the important stuff by now. And, since I don’t cook, I’m not interested in the recipe stuff, which is most of what is out there. Hubby takes care of lunch when we eat at home, but our meal consists mostly of a large raw spinach and vegetable salad, with canned beans and hard boiled eggs as our protein sources. We’re not vegetarians, as we eat meat when we eat out, but we don’t each much meat at home. That helps us keep our food shopping budget in good shape, and makes it easier to always have lots of fresh fruit in the house. We have added black beans and kidney beans to our diet as a result of reading a diabetes article about how they have a low Glycemic Index and lots of fiber. I do still try to get a lot of fiber each day to help with my elimination difficulties.

The Glycemic Index of foods gives a measure of how much a food will raise the glucose level, and how quickly it will do it. Every food that has been tested with real human beings is compared to the rapid glucose increase when pure glucose is eaten. It’s a complicated process to get the numbers, but, once the numbers are available for a food, it is very helpful in making food choices. For instance, white potatoes have a high Glycemic index, which means blood glucose levels will jump quickly after potatoes are eaten. So … no more white potatoes for me. The better foods in the list have a Low Glycemic Index, and don’t jump the testing readings up much at all. Most raw vegetables fit that category, although a few starchy ones, such as corn and potatoes don’t.

So, I’m continuing to read and learn, trying to develop healthy eating habits that I can continue from now on, and learning which foods send my glucose readings too high. I’m committed to taking care of myself, and I expect to be diabetes free within a year.