Type II Diabetes

I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in January 2001. For many years after that diagnosis, I kept my blood sugar under great control, with HBa1C test results coming back  at or around 6.1 every time. For those who don’t know, that number should be under 6, so my blood sugar control was considered good.

Sometime last summer, things changed. I lost 48 pounds without dieting, without trying. I felt fatigued and drank water at an alarming rate. For some reason, that did not compute in my head as a problem with diabetes. A visit to my primary care physician was all it took to find that my  blood sugar had gone whacky.

Month/Year	HBa1C Test Result
Dec/2011	6.1
Dec/2012	6.2
Aug/2014	11.8
Jun/2015	9.7

Dr. Howell advised me to increase my metformin to two tablets a day, and prescribed Lantus, an insulin injectable medication. I started out with 10 units of insulin per night, right before bedtime. The next time I went to see her, six months later, my blood sugar was still out of control. She told me to increase my insulin by 5 units every four or five days until it was at 25 units a night.

On Monday, I went for a follow up visit, and had blood drawn again. This time, my HBa1C was 9.7, a little better but still not good. That is unacceptable. The doctor told me this time to start increasing my insulin injection by 1 unit per night until my morning blood test is at 110 or below. This morning, it was at 128. I have a ways to go yet, and need to get it down by at least 18 points, or more.

So, I am asking you, my readers, who may have Type 2 Diabetes or have a family  member who does, to give me some tips on how to get my numbers down. If you have links to recipes you enjoy that are good for a diabetic diet, or links to websites that you use, please do add them to your comments. If you have ideas about exercises someone can do sitting in a chair, I need that info as well. I need help as I am running out of ideas.

I am thinking about adding a little box in my sidebar to update with my morning blood glucose finger prick results. Maybe  that will help me get things going in the right direction. Any other ideas you  might have? Let me know.

As you may have noticed, I have not been writing much here in the past few months. I have wanted to but I have been so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Even though I was sleeping ten hours are night, and then taking a three hour nap during the day, every time I sat down with my lap top to write something, I fell right asleep. This has been going on since December or January. It got to where I was feeling not just tired, but completely exhausted, even though I was sleeping more than 15 hours a day. I finally went to my doctor with a long list of complaints: exhaustion, dry skin, dry mouth, hair falling out (again), itching (again), dry eyes. I have also lost 48 pounds without trying to lose weight. There was more but those were the worst.

My doctor decided to do a comprehensive blood workup. She said it seemed that I was not getting nutrients from the food I was eating, and that was not a good thing. I was not being nourished by my food, so I was showing signs of malnutrition even though I was eating a balanced diet every day.

The results of the blood tests showed that my HbA1c was 15.1!  I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes in 2000, and ever since I got my blood sugar under control back then, I have kept my HbA1c at less than 6, which is what is recommended for diabetics to have good control. My fasting blood sugar was 378! I don’t know what happened because I have not done anything different that I have been doing.  How could this be happening?

My doctor increased my metformin to take double what I have been taking for the last 13.5 years, and started me on insulin. My body has stopped making insulin, which is a hormone that helps take the sugar from your bloodstream and move it into your cells, providing them with the energy they need to function. So, since I was not getting any insulin to my blood, all the sugar from the foods that I had been eating was racing around in my veins, and my cells were dying from hunger. That explains the exhaustion.

I am not happy that I have to take insulin now, but at least that option is there for me. The type of insulin she prescribed for me is in a “pen”. Each pen holds 300 ml. Since my doctor started me out on 10 ml of insulin at bedtime, one 30 ml pen will last for a month. That’s good, because that stuff if expensive! She did give me a coupon good for the first month’s prescription for free, and is helping me fill out an application for patient assistance with the manufacturer of the insulin. Approval for their program means they would supply me with insulin for free, which is a huge relief for me.

For now, I have to use a blood glucose meter and record my fasting blood sugar for a month, then go back to the doctor with my numbers. She’ll look at them and decide whether I need to increase, decrease, or stay the same on the amount of insulin to take. So far, the number is smaller each day, but still over 200. Let’s hope we get down to 98 by the end of the month.