Had my doctors appt. yesterday...

[Guest guest]

All in all it went pretty well. He was very kind and informative. No

weight basjing, especially since I had lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks. He

knows I'm serious about getting well. He sent me to the lab for a

bunch of tests.did they really need 5 vials of blood??!! He did a

fingerstick right there in the office and it was 309. I had had

nothing but a small glass of milk about 4 hours earlier. Had'nt been

feeling well because of a cold I picked up a few days ago. It was

very depressing seeing that number.

He is starting me on glucophage, 1 pill once a day for a week and if

I handle that well increase to 2 pills a day. He gave me a script for

this horrid yeast as well and a srcipt for a monitor and test strips.

I spent an hour at the pharmacy yesterday. The doctor wrote the

glucophage script wrong and my ins. co kicked back the request for

the monitor (I KNOW they cover it. I just have to spend an hour on

the phone yelling at them). I was so frustrated I didn't even pick up

the script for the yeast. It didon't make any sense to. If my BG is

out of control the yeast will just come back and I can't get the

glucophage w/o the monitor (we're a week away from payday otherwise

I'd just buy one) so I can tell where me BG is. *sigh* As soon as I'm

done with this post I'll get on the phone.

Seeing that BG level yesterday really hit me hard. It scared me. I

have been feeling so very ill all summer and now I'm scared damage

has been done. This is all becomong so overwhelming. Will I ever be

able to eat again? And how can I manage all this with 6 kids to take

care of? I'm only 36 years old...does this mean my life is going to

be that much shorter? I've been crying a lot wondering if I can do

this.

[Guest guest]

Yes, I guess they really do need all those vials of

blood. Seems like they could do all the tests from

just l. Did you tell your doctor you had been ill.

Viral infections can raise the Bg level.

I don't understand the yeast medication he gave you.

Was that for diabetes? What is it called?

--- spudinky@... wrote:

did they really need 5 vials of blood??!! He did a

> fingerstick right there in the office and it was

> 309. I had had

> nothing but a small glass of milk about 4 hours

> earlier. Had'nt been

> feeling well because of a cold I picked up a few

> days ago. It was

> very depressing seeing that number.

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[Guest guest]

> Yes, I guess they really do need all those vials of

> blood. Seems like they could do all the tests from

> just l. Did you tell your doctor you had been ill.

> Viral infections can raise the Bg level.

> I don't understand the yeast medication he gave you.

> Was that for diabetes? What is it called?

>

He ran quite a few tests, which I am happy about. I was worried he

would just pat me on the head and say " don't worry yourself, I'M the

doctor " . He didn't. I wanted my thyroid checked as I am showing a lot

of hypothyroid symptoms, which he agreed. He also is testing

cholesterol, and a couple of other things. One very frustrating thing

lately has been that my head is so foggy and I am losing a lot of

short term memory. Is that the diabetes or maybe thyroid?

I did tell him I have been ill. He wasn't extremely alarmed at the

high BG reading so maybe he WAS taking that into account. It was just

very shocking to see.

The yeast medication is diflucan. One of my " symptoms " has been

constant yeast infections...and in the past couple of weeks I have

had horrible yeast in my mouth. Very painful to eat. I am told and

have read that having high BG levels makes you very vulnerable to

yeast. After all, yeast feeds off sugar.

By the way...I did call my insurance and they said I had to go to a

medical supply place to get my monitor. Unfortunately they were all

closed by the time I could get there. My husband will go in the

morning to pick it up for me.

[Guest guest]

> did they really need 5 vials of blood??!! He did a

> fingerstick right there in the office and it was 309.

Sometimes, yes, and sometimes they might even need more. Depending

on what tests your Dr ordered they may go to either different labs

(yes, it happens!) or different departments within the lab, and can't

all be shared. I had 5 tubes drawn the first time I had bloodwork

done for my current Dr (which was for antibody testing, there were

three tests and each needed a tube, a coplete metabolic panel, and an

a1c), two more for a liver function check and a1c about two months

later, and three more recently for serum pg tests (all negative) and

a thyroid test (which was normal). You just sort of have to accept

that for the rest of your life you will need to have bloodwork done

every 3 months or so, more often if you have problems with control,

or other problems.

> Seeing that BG level yesterday really hit me hard. It scared me. I

> have been feeling so very ill all summer and now I'm scared damage

> has been done. This is all becomong so overwhelming. Will I ever be

> able to eat again? And how can I manage all this with 6 kids to

take

> care of?

I know it is scary and overwhelming, I was diagnosed when I was

pregnant, and the whole time I just kept having nightmares of the

problems my son might have because I had pre-exisiting diabetes. Of

course it's a little too late to worry now, but I still do. Right

now he's a healthy active and developmentally advanced 8 month old

(trying to walk already!!!), but I still stay awake some nights

wondering if there is something wrong with him that we won't know

about for years.

If you have 6 kids, I KNOW you are a strong woman!! I only have one

and I can't even being to imagine having more right now. You can

handle anything, including this. Yes it will take some adjustment,

and yes it will be difficult at first, but you will adapt, I promise

you will.

> I'm only 36 years old...does this mean my life is going to

> be that much shorter?

Most estimates say that diabetes shortens your life by about 5

years. Maybe you were meant to live to be 102, now you are likely to

just make it to 97. Don't treat it like a death sentance, as that is

based on OLD treatment methods, and there has never been more

advances happening all at once than there are now. Chances are that

with some of these new methods, and tighter control available now

just in the past 15-20 years, that number will change to the point

where a diabetic now has no shorter life expectance than the average

population. I am not saying this to scare you, but to show you that

things are changing every day. Just this year a new insulin (Lantus)

has been released which is a major step forward in treatmant for many

diabetics. Just 5 years ago Humalog was released. I don't know as

much about the oral meds, but there are many, MANY new ones compared

to just a few years ago. There are likely to be many more new drugs

in the future.

> I wanted my thyroid checked as I am showing a lot

> of hypothyroid symptoms, which he agreed.

I was having a LOT of symtoms as well, and I had mine checked and it

was normal. Basically I will leave out the details, but I haven't

had a period in 3 months now, and I am definately not pregnant.

Personally I think I will just kick back and relax and enjoy this..

but my CDE wants me to call my Gyn to make sure nothing else is

wrong... which I am not too thrilled with. Have just been pregnant,

I've seen enough of him to last me a few years.

> One very frustrating thing

> lately has been that my head is so foggy and I am losing a lot of

> short term memory. Is that the diabetes or maybe thyroid?

That can be a symptom of having high blood sugar. Often I

feel " fuzzy " and " disconnected " when I am high. I also forget simple

things, like where my keys are, or that I have laundry in the washing

machine that's been there 3 days. That happens when I am low too,

but since I am normally able to recognize and treat that quickly it's

not as much of a problem.

Hang in there, give it a few months, I promise things will get

better. It's phenominally easier now living with diabetes (as a type

1) than it was while I was pregnant, and shortly after. It's been

almost a year since I was first diagnosed, and things that seemed

almost impossible just a few months ago are not a problem for me now.