My first month....

Well...it's be a month since my initial diagnosis and boy has life changed; in a good way.  I am eating much healthier. I've trying to exercise (although my schedule lately has been getting in the way of my desire to exercise).  But I'm feeling much better than I did a month ago.

I've read quite a bit over the last month.  I read "Diabetes for Dummies" by Alan L. Rubin, MD which did give me some really good information.  In reading the common symptoms - I think I was suffering just about every one of them.

·         Unusual Thirty – I was constantly thirsty. I felt like I couldn’t keep up with my thirst.  I would drink and drink but still be thirsty. The glucose in your blood actually takes the water out of you blood and this causes you to become dehydrated = making you thirsty.

·         Frequent Urination - Of course this I thought was because I was drinking so much.

·         Extreme Fatigue and irritability – Ok so I was a little grouchy ( Ok sweetie – I was very very grouchy).  I didn’t seem to have the energy to do anything and by the time I got home from work each night I just wanted to be left alone.  My husband would ask what was wrong – well nothing was really wrong.  I just was exhausted.

·         Frequent Infections – I don’t know if I had infections but I was getting sick more often. And the colds that I was getting didn’t seem to go away fast enough. In fact it was the 2 bouts with Bronchitis that had worn me out to the point where I was in the ER where I found out I was Diabetic.

So now that I am eating better, my blood glucose is coming down. Slowly.  But I am also learning that some things about Diabetes you just can’t control.  You can eat all the right foods. You can exercise consistently. But it is your pancreas and liver that may be the culprit.

·         The Pancreas produces the insulin to get glucose into the cells where it is needed to help you function. Your pancreas either doesn’t produce enough insulin to get the glucose out of your blood stream and/or the body is not able to use the insulin effectively.

·         Your liver produces glucose to help you function. When there is not enough glucose, the liver creates some to help you out. Sometimes in Diabetes, your liver is really confused.  It starts making glucose but doesn’t know when to stop.

So sometimes, your body is just not working properly and so, you still can have high blood glucose. This is where medications and insulin are sometime necessary.  Also, sometimes over time, the types of medications and dosages need to be adjusted to help you out too. 

I think one of the biggest things that I just learned the other night – and boy was it an important one for me – no food is really off limits. Here I was for the last month thinking:

1)      I can’t eat pizza because it will jack my blood glucose through the roof.

2)      Cakes and cookies are off limits because they are loaded with Carbs.

3)      Don’t even think about having a donut.

Actually as long as you work them into your diet, you can pretty much have anything you want.  Yes – it is recommended that a woman keep their carbs to 40-50g per meal (15-20 for snacks). If you go over every once in a while – it won’t hurt you.  They mostly go by your A1C. This is the test that shows the average Blood glucose over the last 3 months. It’s not really the peaks or valleys that you have to worry about – it’s the overall blood glucose levels.

Over the last month, my average blood glucose has been around 160 (when my A1C was 9.1 – this meant that my average was around 220).  This would be around an A1C of 7.  I have a Dr Appointment next weeks – so it will be good to show her my numbers and see where I stand.