Diabetes is such a horrible disease

astjp2

astjp2

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My poor wife got diabetes when she was 19, she is now 41 and has had such a terrible time with it. After becoming a brittle diabetic who could not control her sugars, going from 600+ down to the mid 40's in an hour or 2, she got a new pancreas 3 years ago. Well that lasted about a year and now she is back on insulin with the prospect of getting another pancreas in 3-5 years. Now she is dealing with water retention...it's a catch 22, if she take the water pills to reduce the water, it hurts her kidneys and the water hurts her. If she lowers the water pill dose to help her kidneys, she has problems like the pic below:
diabetes.jpg


Take care of your health while you still can.
Tim
 
It truly does suck. I got type 2 when I was 37...I go through phases of good to bad. The difference is it is all me that has the control. I was supposed to get rotator cuff surgery in January...failed the pre-screen my A1C was 9.6 (supposed to be sub 6). Since then I have dropped 20+ lbs and eat right and exercise at least 3-4 times a week. I am in a good phase now, I hope it continues.

As in the case of your wife I am truly sorry, it sounds like it is not as simple as diet control for her. The complications from diabetes are very far reaching intertwined in so many other aspects of the body.
 
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My brother-in-law was a Type 1 and my niece and nephew are both Type 1. My nephew was 18 months when he was diagnosed and then my niece was 13 when she became Type 1. You are right it sucks and it takes a lot out of the people dealing with it. One of my best friends was a Type 1 diabetic and she went blind when she was 20. I was away in the Army and when I came home she would go shopping with me and I would forget that she was blind and leave her standing in an store. I'd hear here yelling for me and be Oh Shit and go back looking for her.

I became Type 2 about 8 years ago after gaining 80lbs when my activity level had gone down due to pain from my injury to my leg. I have lost almost 50lbs in the past 12 months and have been doing a lot better with my blood sugars. I'm hoping once I bet back down another 20lbs I might get off most of my diabetic medication.
 
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I feel for you and her. My wife was recently diagnosed with it. Maybe 2 years ago. She’s not on insulin yet. She has a couple other health issues. All combined, it’s wipes her out sometimes.
 
The up and down swings with her sugars were like living with a drunk, angry sometimes and happy other times.
 
My daughter is type I. Dx'd at 8 years old. She's 21, almost 22 now. Been on an insulin pump for 12 years? It's rough sometimes, but she's doing ok. It's not easy to deal with, especially in kids.
 
I have adult-onset type one. Was diagnosed about 5 years ago and, yes, it sucks large gauge pony peckers!

If not already using one, consider a continuous glucose monitor if your insurance will cover it. The new Freestyle Libre is supposed to be quite a bit cheaper to use than previous systems. I feel for you and your wife and wish you both all the best.
 
Wife has CGM and a pump, along with a new pancreas. She was insulin free for about a year, then she started to exhibit type 2 tendencies along with the type 1 the pancreas fixed.
 
I found out I was T2 about 2 years ago and about had a panic attack as I had lost a cousin when she was 19.
I am able to maintain it at a safe level, but its not easy.. EVERYthing has sugar.
 
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Twopoint said:
I found out I was T2 about 2 years ago and about had a panic attack as I had lost a cousin when she was 19.
I am able to maintain it at a safe level, but its not easy.. EVERYthing has sugar.
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Yep, and it's not just the sugar; it's what the wife and I call "white trash carbs". Essentially any of the simple carbs (that do tend to be white) like white potatoes, white rice, white bread, etc. All of these can contribute to glucose spikes and drops.
 
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Learn to like Cauliflower...I make it as mashed potatoes and buy riced cauliflower all the time. When I get Chinese food, I give the rice to the kids or chuck it and a make big pan of my own fried riced cauliflower. As long as you watch that the rest of the meal will place nice with the carbs (no breading or sweet sauce) I see little jumps in my numbers. For pasta go with the dream fields brand, yes it shows a bit of carbs on the side of the box but most of them are undigestable thus not skyrocketing your numbers.

Now, I am not a DR nor do I play one on TV, so your mileage may vary and I would suggest keeping a good monitoring system before and after trying any new foods.
 
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Fuck diabetes. It's a hell of a disease, but as a T1 diabetic, I will attest that having patient loved ones as allies can make all the difference, so I bet that your support means the world to your wife.

astjp2 said:
Sugar is typically not the problem, its the carbs that really jack with your system. I always try to recommened a higher protein diet vs a straight carb diet...that an get rid of the soda pop
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Yea, avoiding carbs is incredibly difficult. Sugar is addictive as hell and even when you avoid the sugary stuff, it's hard to get a decent meal at most places that's not filled with pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, or other carb-heavy stuff. Even when you do stick to low carb stuff it's easy to end up with high cholesterol from sticking to eggs, cheese, meats, etc., so it can feel like there's no winning.

I will say that I am glad at least that the new Coke/Pepsi Zero stuff actually tastes decently compared to most diet sodas and the popularity of stuff like flavored water, which has no sweeteners has also made it easier to find alternatives than it has been in the past. Still, it can be hard to pass up the real stuff, haha.
 
cliffish said:
Learn to like Cauliflower...I make it as mashed potatoes and buy riced cauliflower all the time. When I get Chinese food, I give the rice to the kids or chuck it and a make big pan of my own fried riced cauliflower. As long as you watch that the rest of the meal will place nice with the carbs (no breading or sweet sauce) I see little jumps in my numbers. For pasta go with the dream fields brand, yes it shows a bit of carbs on the side of the box but most of them are undigestable thus not skyrocketing your numbers.

Now, I am not a DR nor do I play one on TV, so your mileage may vary and I would suggest keeping a good monitoring system before and after trying any new foods.
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+1 on this. Cauliflower is an incredibly versatile ingredient and learning how to fit it into recipes has been great. It can at least replace potatoes in many dishes. I've also found that a nice meal for a long, I-don't-feel-like-doing-actual-cooking day is to throw a bag of frozen Cauliflower tots and some frozen pre-breaded chicken breasts into the oven for a bit since it's a decent cooked meal with almost no carbs.
 
My wife feeds here carb intake with insulin now...totally oatmeal, rice and pasta meals with no veggies or meat... and I cant get her to change.
 
astjp2 said:
My wife feeds here carb intake with insulin now...totally oatmeal, rice and pasta meals with no veggies or meat... and I cant get her to change.
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Aww, that's rough. Insulin can cover carbs, but the higher the carb count in meals, the harder it is to dose properly and the less control you have over it.
 
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Equilibrium31 said:
Aww, that's rough. Insulin can cover carbs, but the higher the carb count in meals, the harder it is to dose properly and the less control you have over it.
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Equilibrium31 said:
Aww, that's rough. Insulin can cover carbs, but the higher the carb count in meals, the harder it is to dose properly and the less control you have over it.
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I was trying to help here by dictating meals, dinner was a salad, meat veggie and carb. she hated it, didnt like the idea that every meal was a 4 course dinner, now she buys hamburger helper and that is dinner. I could not keep up with eating like that. but when we did , her A1C was a low 6, where she used to be mid 7's. now she is in the 8's.
 
Living in the Pizza capital of the world - NYC area (sorry Chicago) I fully understand...now my meals are sauteed veggies, a protein (unbreaded meat) or a hamburger with either a lettuce bun or no bun. I have pretty much stopped counting fat and calories and was dropping at least a pound a week. Carbs kill everything for a diabetic.
 
Carb counting and knowing how much insulin you need to counter act your intake is key to good control. For me, 1 unit of insulin counteracts 10 grams of carbs. The pump is great for that as it's setup with my insulin sensitivity. If I eat 36 grams of carbs, all I have to do is enter the carb intake into the pump and it gives me the correct does.
 
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