Wednesday, July 20, 2005

A tiny little prick

A few years ago I learned that I have Diabetes II (the adult onset variety).

At first I was able to control it very well with diet and exercise. My blood sugar numbers dropped dramatically and everything was looking great. Then my body rebelled and my numbers slowly started going back up. Since diet and exercise wasn't going to work I was going to have to go on medication.

At first it was Avandamet which is a combination of two meds commonly given to treat Diabetes II. Since that's no longer being prescribed, I now have to take the glucophage metaformin and the Avandia. Also...I was going to have to start testing my blood sugar twice a day.

Sadly, I was never very good about taking my meds on a regular basis or even testing my blood sugar. I know, I know....BAD diabetic...BAD BAD diabetic.

But now I'm finally (after almost 18 months) back on the right track and doing the right thing. After all, I do not need to lose a toe or my eyesight to this. But it's getting VERY discouraging since NOTHING I seem to do short of starving myself and eating nothing is getting my blood levels lower.

Last night I had a salad for dinner along with a couple of nectarines (I've taken to a vegetarian kick as of late). When I tested my blood sugar this morning it was at 154 (and anything under 120 is considered to be "good"). To make it more frustrating, I've gone on the super healthy eating kick to get my blood sugar under better control but it doesn't seem to be working.

So now I'm eliminating sodas from my diet to see if that has any impact. And mind you, I only drink diet soda as it is so if it turns out that is what is going to bring my blood sugar down. It will definitely make me scratch my head because outside of Nutra-Sweet (or Splenda in the case of some diet sodas) there's no sugar in them. I'm also going to go back to doing a food journal to see if I can track back to my blood sugar numbers and see if there's something I'm eating that I shouldn't.

The next step, of course, is in adjusting the meds so that they work better for me but I have three months before that will happen because I've been the bad diabetic for almost two years. I have to prove that I need a higher dosage before they will do anything. I think having the food journal as well will keep me a bit more honest in how I eat and what I eat since I can't prove that the meds aren't high enough any other way.

It's either that or starve myself to get my sugar down but that's not acceptable either.

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