Tag Archives: diabetes

Wonderful AVERAGE Days

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 2

The last few weeks have basically been remarkably average days, and that’s a wonderful thing. It seems like I’ve been on a roller coaster now for several years, going from one diagnosis to another, with changes of medicines happening all the time. Then the added learning curve of living with Diabetes to add to the mix. But the last few weeks have been basically NORMAL! I think that calls for a celebration!

I have an eye exam tomorrow afternoon, and, other than a PT appointment late in June, my calendar is empty. I’ve read and re-read all the Diabetes magazines we could find at the Thrift Store, bought a couple of calorie and carb counting books to help keep me on track with food when we eat out, and I’m exercising pretty regularly now. I even have 3 pair of diabetic socks, so I don’t have to keep turning my old socks inside out to wear them in such a way that they don’t irritate my toes.

We had a nice Date Day Friday, and once again I forgot to take the cane with me. Luckily, only one home had any slant to speak of to their driveway, and I managed it OK. That’s a direct result of the time I’ve been spending on the recumbent bike, for sure. We still don’t have our car back from repairs after the wreck, so I did get tired quickly from climbing up into the van over and over again, but hubby didn’t have to push me in, at least.

My jerks are still well under control, although every once in awhile I will get small jerks, just to remind me it’s still there I guess. And, as I had hoped, the Glucophage, which lists diarrhea as a possible side effect, has helped me with the constipation problem. I’m not having to take all the meds I was previously to stay comfortable.

I’ve checked my blood pressure a few times here at the house, and that has been very good, too!

So, I thank God for giving me normal days, and I look forward to a wonderful day today and week to come!!

It’s Finger … Finger Prinkin’ Time

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by  

I’m pretty much in the finger prinkin’ routine now of checking glucose levels, and there have only been a few times lately when the result was outside of my target levels. I had a really stressful day yesterday, but my test results right in the midst of the chaos were good, and I’m pleased with that for sure. You see, not only eating carbohydrates will raise blood glucose levels, but also eating until you’re stuffed, even when it’s healthy foods, and also stress, can make the glucose levels high.

I’m doing a pretty good job of sticking to a fairly low calorie diet. I’m aiming for 1200 calories a day, and I’m close most days. The Metformin, or Glucophage as the brand name is known, is supposed to suppress appetite a little, so that is helping. Another side effect that about half the people on it get is diarrhea. For me, that’s a welcome change from the constipation I normally fight. For now, anyway, I’m getting a nice balance, with little problem eliminating.

I went to the Podiatrist Monday morning and had a toenail removed from one foot and a corn I didn’t even know I had removed from the top of the big toe on the other foot. My toenails are so badly deformed with fungus that I hadn’t even noticed it, but I sure knew when he cut it out!! The toenail had to be taken off, because I had stubbed my toe back a couple of months ago, and it never healed. Turns out, there was an abscess under the nail. With reduced feeling in my feet from the Diabetes, and the possibility of future problems if I’m not careful, I guess I’ve added my Podiatrist to the list of doctors I’ll be seeing on a regular basis.

It’s really gotten comical. This year already I have seen my Neurologist, General Practitioner – several times, Dermatologist, Gynecologist, Podiatrist, Diabetic Specialist, Dentist, had a chest X-ray and Blood Glucose Tolerance Test, and I’m going for Physical Therapy about once a month!!! The only one I haven’t seen is my Gastroenterologist. And hubby?? … the Dentist. Not that he doesn’t need to go, but we’ve been so busy going back and forth to my appointments that I’ve gotten nowhere with trying to get him to make one for a good annual checkup.

I’m still reading everything I can about what I can do to eat properly and hopefully diet my way out of needing the Metformin. My Diabetic Specialist thinks I can go off the medicine if I lose the weight. And now that I’m not ravenously hungry all the time I feel confident that I will get back down to a good weight. I need to lose a total of 50 pounds, and that’s going to take awhile. I’m trying to change habits, rather than going on some weird diet. The only “diet” I have ever tried was Atkins, and I did lose weight on it. But when the cravings and weak feelings hit I gained it all back and then some.

We continue to do well with our plush sales, and that keeps me busy when I’m home, as does the Lost Toys Search Service we run. People thank us for helping them, but it does us good, too, knowing that someone has been touched by us when they needed help.

All in all it’s been a good week, and with no doctor appointments on the calendar for next week, I look forward to a good week next week.

It’s Official – I have Type II Diabetes

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 4

I had the appointment with my GP today and asked a ton of questions about where I stand with Diabetes. I asked him point blank if I had pre-diabetes or actual Diabetes, and he said I have Type II Diabetes. I hastened to assure him that that did not upset me, that I just wanted to know, so I could read more intelligently about topics related to Diabetes. This diagnosis is a walk in the park compared to being told I had Parkinson’s, so it doesn’t upset me at all.

He stressed the importance of following a good Diabetic diet, and we explained that we have been eating very healthy diets ever since dear hubby was operated on for colon cancer. Add that to the fact that we both have Alzheimer’s in our family history (mother and grandfather for me), and that I have a Neurological disorder, so we have been consciously eating as many Super Foods as possible for several years now.

The biggest difference for me now is that I must exercise portion control (I have lost some weight already!), and I can’t have chocolate. Of course, he said I could have a little, but he laughed when I explained that I don’t know how to eat just a little chocolate. For me it’s going to have to be all or nothing. Other sweets I’ll be able to take in small amounts probably, but not chocolate!!

He tested the bottom of my feet for feeling, and I am definitely not feeling as well on the bottoms of my feet as I do in my palms. My A1C test came back as 5.5%, which is very, very good! That means I’ve done a good job of keeping my blood glucose under control, and it hasn’t been spiking for very long. They sent off a urine sample to check for albumin levels, which is a measure of kidney health. He has now run every test I know of that is recommended for diabetics.

He looked over my Blood Glucose testing results for this month and was pleased with the numbers. So he suggested that I could test before breakfast and 2 hours after Lunch and Supper every 3 days, unless I was feeling weird. That means a whole lot less finger pricks, and a bottle of test strips will last a lot longer. Those things are VERY expensive!!

I also asked his reasoning for putting me on Glipizide instead of Metformin. He said he chose Glipizide, because he was afraid of the gastrointestinal side effects of Metformin. But I would welcome a medicine that tended me toward diarrhea! I could stop some of my other meds if I did get help in that direction from the Metformin. So he gave me a prescription for it to try, taking only one pill with supper until I see how I do on it.

Since I have an appointment this Thursday with the Diabetes specialist, I’m not going to change anything until I get his view of things, but I was very pleased with the time that my GP took to examine me and answer all my questions. My GP is faxing all the information about my tests, etc., to this specialist, so that will make the appointment even more helpful.

I feel very good about the information I received today. I understand the diagnosis, and I know what I have to do to stay healthy. I am confident that I will be a good patient and will take care of myself, now that I know what needs to be done.

Looking Forward to a Busy Week This Week

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by  

I feel really good today, and that’s something to celebrate! I didn’t even have to fight to stay awake in church today, the way I have for some time now. I think my body is adjusting to the steady level of glucose in my system, or at least a lot more steady than it used to be.

I continue to read everything I can find about ways to improve my diet and keep my blood glucose level in a healthy range.

Not that every day has been as good as today has been. We had our usual Date Day Friday, and the weather was gorgeous. That made for some pleasant yard sale shopping, but it meant we were stopping at a lot more sale signs than we have since last spring. Somewhere around lunch time I just ran out of energy. I ate what I thought was a reasonable lunch, but had the highest glucose reading I have measured so far several hours later. And to add to the general fatigue and yucky feeling from too much glucose in my system, my hands and feet were noticeably swollen. By the time we got home I was really very uncomfortable, and did very little Friday night or yesterday, either. Thank goodness that rough patch is over for now.

I’m looking forward this week to seeing my doctor to ask him about my test results from the Glucose Tolerance Test, go over my log of a month’s worth of glucose readings with him, and get an A1C test done. Oh, and I should tell you that I’ve been pleasantly surprised that all the finger sticks (for right now I’m testing before and 2 hours after every meal) aren’t nearly as bad as I thought they would be.

Here’s my understanding of how the A1C test I will have this week works. Every time a person’s glucose goes too high, the red blood cells are changed, as they react with the excess “sugar”. Once the glucose level comes back down, those changed blood cells do NOT change back to normal. So, for the life of that red blood cell, there is a chemical marker that the A1C test can read. If I have had lots of episodes of high glucose over the last few months then lots of my red blood cells will have this chemical marker in them. This test is almost like a diary of the last two or three months worth of sugar levels. It’s the last step in the diagnosis process to decide whether or not I have pre-diabetes or actual Type II Diabetes, as I understand it.

Then, later on this week I have my first appointment with an Internist who specializes in Hypertension and other Diabetes related problems, particularly Kidney problems. Don’t get me wrong. I am not having any trouble with my kidneys now, and I want to keep it that way! He comes highly recommended by my Gastroenterologist, which means he will be someone who can coordinate with my Gastro about my diabetic diet and my digestive problems and elimination difficulties.

I feel like this is going to be a very important week for me, and I am anxious for it to get going! I would appreciate your prayers!!!

Still Coughing, but Talking Better

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by  

I’m still having bouts of this horrible thick cough, mostly at bedtime and on getting up. I don’t smoke, and never have, but it makes you wonder what I must be allergic to to set off these spasms. I called the doctor’s office again yesterday to let them know the cough syrup just wasn’t working at all. This was the one that was supposed to knock me out, and other than feeling a little woozy the first day, I couldn’t even tell I took it.

So, he sent me off yesterday to have a chest X-ray. I’ve had pneumonia too many times not to know what that feels like, so I’m sure it’s not going to show up that way. This is more like mucus is stuck in the main bronchial tube, and no matter now hard I cough it just stays there. I took the last antibiotic today, so we’ll see what develops.

I’m getting pretty good at pricking my finger and testing my blood glucose. There have been a few times that I felt shaky and hungry the way I was feeling. Those always came on low glucose levels, but none were low enough to be concerned about. I’ve been very good about keeping track of everything I’m eating and trying to keep my carb intake to around 45g per meal and 15g for snacks. I’m also watching the calories, as I really do need to lose weight. I figure if I could lose about a half a pound a week I could be at a good weight in two years. So far I’ve lost a pound. It took me a long time to get this heavy, and it’s going to take awhile to get it off and keep it off. I certainly don’t want any kind of crash diet, on top of all the other health issues I deal with.

I’m finally caught back up with posting requests for help finding lovies on our Search Service. I got way behind when I felt lousy. I’m back to working on my exercise program, doing about half right now, just to ease back into it. My legs got pretty weak the last few weeks. High powered antibiotics do that to me, besides being sick.

I’ve been reading everything I can find about pre-diabetes and diabetes, until I’m finally beginning to absorb what’s involved. There are still a lot of numbers to get stuck in my head – below 70 is low blood sugar, anything over 140 before meals is too high – that sort of thing. But I’m working on it, and have cut out a few particularly helpful articles to add to my health binder. I started that when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, added articles to it when the diagnosis was changed to Essential Myoclonus, and now I’m added information about Diabetes. I’m beginning to feel like a doctor!!!

I do feel better today than I have since this laryngitis cough strep mess all started.

Hack Cough Wheeze

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 3

Well, we went back to the doctor yesterday, since we did not want to go through the weekend with no improvement in sight. The strep is better, with no sore throat any more, but the horrible congestion in the bronchial tubes that causes spasms of severe unproductive coughing has not budged at all. So, my doctor changed my meds AGAIN. Now I’m on Leviquin, a very high powered antibiotic and Tussionex, a cough syrup with some antihistamine in it. He said I would be very sleepy, but I haven’t been. I did sleep through until about 3AM before a coughing fit woke me up, so that’s some improvement.

I can tell that my legs are wobbly today, which shouldn’t be a surprise, considering how much meds I’ve had and how little moving around I’ve been doing. I’ve spent much of the last few days researching pre-diabetes and diabetes. I’ve gotten fairly adept at the finger sticks, so I’m not wasting as many test strips as I did at first, and I have a pretty clear idea of how my normal diet effects my glucose level. There’s no need to waste the strips, and I can’t see that any purpose is served by continuing to test before and after every meal, so for now I’ve put the test kit aside.

I thought I had lost a pound, but now it appears to be showing up again. That means I need to cut back on my portion sizes a bit more. I’m still counting carbs, and until I’m told otherwise, holding it to somewhere in the 150 – 175 grams a day range, with meals around 40g each. I’m trying to hold snacks to 15g of carbs from fruit. And I have not touched anything sweet since the tentative diagnosis of diabetes was first given to us. I say tentative, because the numbers were at borderline level, and I won’t see the doctor about the diagnosis for a couple of more weeks yet.

I know that diabetics can have sweets in moderation, but I know me, too. It’s much easier for me to stay away from them completely than to use moderation! I can’t imagine me being able to quit after just a piece of chocolate!!! Ain’t gonna happen!!!! Besides, we have strawberries and cantaloupe in the fridge, and they are plenty sweet enough.

I’m encouraged to see that the myoclonus has not acted up while I’ve been battling this infection.

The one negative note is that my doctor told me I probably should not take penicillin again, since I had a localized reaction to the shot for the first time in my life. It’s still hot, red, and swollen after almost a week. I’m sorry to have to add Penicillin to my allergy list, as I know how useful an antibiotic it is for a wide variety of ailments. But, there are plenty of other antibiotics available these days, and they will do just fine.

As usual, I have some good things to say, and some not so good. But I work to stay in a positive frame of mind, knowing that worrying about any of this is not going to help one bit, and can even be hurtful. Instead I choose to learn all I can and stay in a positive frame of mind.

If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 1

Well, what can I say. I woke up Friday with a scratchy throat, and spent the day sucking one Halls after another, trying to keep the sore throat at bay, as I did not want to ruin our Date Day. We did have a nice time together, but by the time we got home I was feeling rough. By Saturday morning I was really sick. Hubby’s Easter Cantata was Sunday morning, so I went to church, even though I probably should have stayed home.

By Sunday night I was running a fever, and I felt even worse by Monday morning. So, I went to the doctor with my suspicion, and the test came back positive, as I had suspected. Strep.

I’ve had strep throat so many times over the years that I can almost tell when I’m getting it again. I still have my tonsils, and when it hits it hits hard and fast. None of this week of a cold that doesn’t get better … no, Mr. Strep hits full force from day one.

He gave me a shot, and hopefully I will be feeling better in a few days.

His nurse asked me if I was checking my blood glucose levels, which came as a surprise, as nothing had been said about doing that when they said I was borderline diabetic and put me on Glipizide. So, we stopped at Walmart, and I bought the testing kit that had the cheapest strips. They really do cost a lot!! The one I bought has strips that cost about $.50 each, while most were more than a dollar a piece. I read all the directions and tried to take a test reading before lunch and another two hours after lunch. Assuming I did it right, the blood glucose level was 90, which is smack dab in the middle of the normal range.

I had such a hard time finding anything I thought I dared eat at our local Chinese buffet on Sunday, I am looking forward to being able to quantify that food’s effect on my blood sugar, so I’ll enjoy eating there more.

Of course for now, there’s no exercise program going on. Aggravating! I was doing really good, too. But it wouldn’t be a good idea to stress my body right now. I’m still counting carbs and reading everything I can get my hands on about pre-diabetes and diabetes. I’m keeping a daily detailed log of my food intake, with carbs totaled. And I’ve learned a whole lot about diabetes, too.

I’m feeling much more knowlegable and in control right now, so now I just need to get my throat and all the post nasal drip settled.

On a brighter note, we mailed more packages yesterday than any other single day ever.

So, I continue to read everything I can find about diabetes, I’m learning to use the testing kit, and I’m getting as much rest as possible, while I wait for the Strep to go away.

Can’t Blame Everything on Movement Disorder

Day by Day with a Movement Disorder Posted on by 4

I’ve been dealing with intermittent periods of extreme weakness for quite some time now, and have pretty much been blaming it on the Primidone, the medicine I take to control the Essential Myoclonus. My Neuro gave me a prescription for Physical Therapy to develop an appropriate exercise program, and I’ve seem him twice now, about one month apart. I was not pleased with myself, because after about 2 weeks of following his routine, I reached a point where I would feel so weak that I didn’t want to do anything. Even my voice sounded weak.

So, I decided it was time to get an overall checkup at my Primary Physician’s office. He listened to me try to describe how I’ve been feeling, and I was very frustrated, because it’s so hard to put into words how I’ve been acting. Anyway, he ordered a complete blood panel of tests, and I got the results back the next day for most of them. My blood sugar was high, so he ordered a Glucose Tolerance Test, where I had to fast beforehand, have my blood drawn, and then drink a sugary sweet drink. They drew blood two more times at hour intervals, to see if my system handled the sugar overload correctly.

Well, I got the results today, and I was within a few numbers of what is considered to be diabetic. So he wants me to start treatment, and I’m to get a set of brochures about living with diabetes.

I shouldn’t be surprised at this, as I am 66 years old now, and my Daddy and Grandmother both were diabetic. Neither one used insulin, but controlled it with medicine. I’m assuming that’s what he will have me do, too.

The more I read about Type 2 Diabetes, the more I realize that I really have been behaving in ways that are consistent with this diagnosis. I have dry skin that itches, I get shaky weak at times, my energy levels are unpredictable, and I have been constantly feeling hungry. I have had this feeling that if I could just eat the right thing I would get my energy back. Mostly I’ve been filling that need with chocolate. LOL!!

So I instinctively wasn’t too far from the truth. My cells are not getting enough glucose, probably because they have become what is called insulin resistant. So, with too much glucose swimming around in my bloodstream, my cells were screaming for more sugar!!

I’m not the least upset with the diagnosis. Just as I was relieved to find out I had a Neurological Disorder, I am relieved that my doctor was able to pinpoint the source of these strange feelings I’ve been having.

I’ve spent a good bit of time today reading everything I could find online about diabetes nutrition, and thinking about the changes I will need to make in my diet. I know I need to lose a good bit of weight, and now I have the incentive I needed to stop eating chocolate and watch my food portions better.

We’ve been consciously eating Super Foods for several years, so mostly I just need to lower my carbohydrate intake, cutting out all but the occasional the sweets (chocolate).

I look forward to talking with my doctor and getting this under control.