Re: Coping with Diabetes
I already knew what to expect even before I crossed over the threshold because my father was already a diabetic and it runs in our family, even with those that are at normal and below-normal weights. <br /><br />Virtually all of the lifestyle changes you will need to make are those that a sensible person should be making anyways, it's just that in our case it becomes even more imperative. After a while you'll realize like I did that although you need to make compromises, your life can still continue to be rich and fulfilling. <br /><br />Don't be afraid to ask for accomodations in the menu when you go to a restaurant. Remember that their primary goal is for you to go out the door happy, and I've never been refused what I considered to be a reasonable request. <br /><br />The most important thing to remember about diabetes is that it is the 1 chronic disease in which you can have a direct effect on its outcome. The better you take care of yourself, the better the outcome. <br /><br />107 for a fasting sugar level in the morning is pretty good. Did you have a HgA1c test before starting the medication? (I assume you're taking Glucophage/Metformin and/or Micronase/glyburide). This is a test that should be repeated every 3-6 months, because it is the definitive measurement of how well your blood sugar levels are under control.<br /><br />Also keep in mind that you ARE allowed to cheat every once in a while. <br /><br />Ladyfish is right in that you should get a complete eye exam yearly from an opthamologist which includes having your pupils dialated with medication in order to have your retinas examined. We're prone to having problems with uncontrolled growth of blood vessels in our retinas, and if they catch this problem early it can be fixed before there is serious damage.<br /><br />If you are not taking Zestril or Prinivil, expect to be doing so at some point. This drug is effective at controlling high blood pressure, but they have a huge benefit for diabetics because they help prevent blood-sugar-level related damage to our kidneys. <br /><br />The hardest adjustment I had is that beer has now become a rare treat...and I still dislike drinking diet soda. I had already cut out a lot of red meat and switched to a lower-fat diet to get my chloresterol levels down long before becoming a diabetic, so that wasn't much of an issue for me. Expect to be treated aggressively with Lipitor or similar medications if you can't get your chloresterol levels low enough (LDL of under 100 mg/dL).<br /><br />Quietcat: a low carb diet for us is important because the body converts carbohydrate (including cane sugar and corn syrup) into sugar. Those of us with type-2 diabetes make normal levels of insulin (or at least we start out that way, as we age the amount of insulin we make will tend to drop off) but we have lost the ability to use it efficiently. As a result we have to manually regulate our carbohydrate intake. We may also take medication that partially restores our ability to use the insulin efficiently again, and/or medication that stimulates our natural ability to use insulin. (This vs. a type-1 diabetic, who has lost through no fault of their own the ability to make their own insulin)<br /><br />It's at the point now where I find the disease to be more a nuisance than a real impediment - I can do virtually everything that I want, as long as I take care in doing it, and the compromises I've had to make have become second nature and are hardly even noticed any more. <br /><br />Best of luck to you.
