I am now diabetic

[Guest guest]

Hello Faithful Friends, who always seems to be here when I come

wandering back with my tail tucked between my legs. I hope everyone

is doing well, and having a happy spring! I went to my doc a couple

weeks ago for my monthly script appoitment, and for at least the

last 3 months I have been telling him I just don't feel right. I'm

so dang tired I can't stand myself, and my belly is alot more tender

then usual. The past 3 months he has done a UA & says I have

an " infection " , though seems to be mild, he always gave me an

antibiotic. Well, at the end of March I did the same. Had the same

complaints & was even running a fever or 101. Not unusal for me,

but it just so happened to show up in the office. So he says he

wants to do a UA (aarrgghh-I growled at him sternly!) and also a

chest x-ray. After returning from the potty & waited a few mins the

nurse came up to me & ask if I was diabetic....I say NO...she looks

at me like I'm lying to her, and she says there is a high amount of

glucose in my urine....she takes me back to the exam room & sticks

my finger....the meter ran 238. The doc came in & said he wanted to

admit me to the hospital, reluctedly I went. The had me NPO but

everytime the check my blood sugar it was sky high. So they started

giving me insulin shots. And on top of that they cut my morphine

down to 1mg IV, and my phenergan to 12.5 every 4 hrs. I take 60mg

MS Contin twice a day and 25mg phenergan at least 4 times a day.

The second night at the hospital I started having withdrawls. At

least thats what the night nurse figured was going on. I was so

adjatated & restless & was going crazy I thought! It was awful! I

couldn't sleep, I couldn't sit, or lay or walk the room or anything

and on top of that I was vomiting every couple hours. I live less

then a mile from the hospital, and around 3am, after bothering the

nurses 3 or 4 times, I was trying to figure a way to break out of

the hospital, go get my meds, and return without anyone knowing. I

knew it was irrational, but I was getting desperate! Finally around

4am the nurse saw just how much I was struggling & she called my doc

at home & he ordered the 60mg MS Contin that I take at home. Still

it took another hour to get it from the pharmacy, and 45 mins or so

to take effect. I never! Never! Never! Want to feel that way

again! It was so awful! And when he came in later that day the

first thing out of his mouth was " do you get your pain meds from any

other doctor besides me? " I was so mad! I know people do it, but

still! So, anywho, back to the diabetis stuff......my local GI came

to see me, haven't seen him since I had the bad, bad blood

infections & so sick when I was on TPN way back in 01. He said that

after having chronic pancreatitis attacks for this many years, it

was bound to happen. My pancreas is just tired. He said it

surprises him it hasn't happened before now. Dr. Lehman told me way

back that I would eventually become diabetic, but I never really

thought it would happen. So now I'm struggling with the diet part.

They want me to try to eat 6 " small " meals a day......realistically,

I do good to eat once, and a snack in the evenings. My blood sugar

is all over the place. I'm not dealing with this very well at all.

Its so hard! I'm in the biggest rut of my life. I'm so serious

here! I don't know what I'm doing, and it seems like I'm not

getting many answers from my doc. They sent me home from the

hospital with " we are going to try to control it with diet &

exercise " . I'm trying! So 2 weeks ago when I went for a follow-up

my doc started me on amaryl..I think?!?!?! I don't see any great

improvements! I go back to him this week, we will see. So, there

it is. I am now diabetic, and I'm not dealing with it very well at

all. It sucks! But they offer classes for new diabetics at the

hospital, and I think I will learn something from that, so I'm going

to try that. I just need to call & set up the class. Thanks for

listening! I'll check back again soon!

Lots of Hugs,

[Guest guest]

,

I'm so sorry that you are diabetic now. I know it's so hard to deal with

at first. My biggest problem has always been the diet and taking the

bloodsugars four times a day. I do good for a few weeks and then I mess

up. The classes are a good thing to go to. You'll learn alot,

especially the one with learning to count your carbohydrates and how to

adjust your insulin with it. Also, you should get a medic alert bracelet

that states you are diabetic. You might also list chronic pancreatitis

on the bracelet too. The URL is: http://www.medicalert.org The simple

bracelet and first year membership is only $35 and I think the yearly

fees after that are only $20.00 Because you are diabetic, you'll also

automatically get membership with the American Diabetes Association and

the diabetic magazine Diabetes Forecast. These should be resources of

good help for you regarding diabetes.

Kimber

--

Kimber

Vallejo, CA

hominid2@...

Note: All advice given is personal opinion, not equal to that of a licensed

physician or health care professional.

[Guest guest]

,

Tired pancreas, eh? Well, you know that this does happen, dear girl!

I'm sorry to hear about your diabetes, but at least right now you

are only considered a type II. If you're controling it with diet and

exercise, if you can get those classes it will make a big difference.

At first the learning curve seems really severe, but once you get the

hang of it and do what you need to do, you'll see those blood sugars

get down to a better level.

What happened to you in the hospital was definetely withdrawal...isn't

that a horrible nasty way to feel? I've only experienced it once, and

had all the same symptoms....felt like I was trying to crawl out of my

own skin, it was awful! Hopefully your doctor will never let you go

through anything like that again, it's inhumane.

Go to those diabetes classes at the hospital and learn everything you

can, and then let us know how you're doing. I don't know anything

about the oral meds, because I have to use insulin, but I'm sure

there's something I've learned that I could help you with if you need

it. If there's anything I can do to help you out with it, please

don't disappear again!

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

South Carolina Rep.

Southeastern Reg. Rep., PAI

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or

opinion, and should not be substituted for professional medical

consultation.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 4/18/2005 1:53:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

liamhoha20@... writes:

I am now diabetic, and I'm not dealing with it very well at

all. It sucks! But they offer classes for new diabetics at the

hospital, and I think I will learn something from that, so I'm going

to try that. I just need to call & set up the class. Thanks for

listening! I'll check back again soon!

Lots of Hugs,

Dear , it is hard having diabetes but the classes will help you. At

first you might think that you will never catch on but you will. With them

teaching you and giving you a list of foods and how many carbs foods have

eventually you will know what you are doing. So don't let yourself get too

frustrated in the beginning because you will learn how to manage your diabetes.

Write to me any time and I will help all that I can. Take care good friend.

Love, Shirley