Post Prandial Peaks.

These things suck.

Breakfast will consist of toast and maybe an apple, and my sugar levels will SKYROCKET, resulting in me feeling groggy head-achey and grumpy for a good hour or two. It used to be worse. I'd often over correct with insulin for these terribly couple of hours and then go out ad crash as I was busy getting on with my day!

Has anyone else experienced these?

There's a new quick acting inulin I'm lucky enough to get to try out soon, which is even quicker acting than humalog I was on. With luck it will help correct these a little, and I can actually eat a decent breakfast without burning out afterwards.

The pump is supposed to help with this also.

Oh well. It really is just a constant learning curve!

DAFNE trial.

So I haven't posted in a while, which is truly terrible, but these things do happen.

This year i'm taking part in a research trial for Diabetics, where I take part in a week long course called DAFNE (dose adjustment for normal eating,), and get assigned to a group either with the insulin pump or with injections.

I am on injections now, have been for the past 13 years, and wish to keep it that way, but unfortunately i have been assigned to the pump group.

I will have the pump strapped to my side for a year.

Don't get me wrong, I know I should feel grateful. So many people are desperate to go on the pump, and in other countries i know they would have to pay a lot of money for the privilege.  I know it will potentially be a change for the better. But I find changes like this hard, as they remind me of my illness, drag me out of my comfort zone kicking and screaming and force me to address the fact that my pancreas is dead and without modern medicine, so would I be.

Sorry to be a bit dark and depressing, I really know I shouldn't be.
So with that, I'll try and be a bit more positive. This year i have a chance to really get my diabetes under control, take charge of my life.  Wish me luck, I might need it!

A bad day for carb counting...

Not feeling great today. I like many other people, tend to eat the wrong types of foods when I'm tired after a long day on my feet. One ice cream later, and I've got a headache, even though I've managed to get my levels down to 6.8.
This is due to over doing the insulin after the ice cream and then going hypo!
Hypos mean headaches.
And too much insulin means I need to practice my carb counting more!

The problem with a lot of people who have had diabetes for 10 or more years, is that the things we were taught way back when are no longer in use, and many new treatments are suggested , e carb counting. So we are stuck in our ways, and if the new method has not been introduced in the right way, we find it hard to adjust.

At least that's what I found. Carb counting was sprung on me at one appointment, and was not presented in the correct way, so I perhaps did not take it seriously. Now it is being introduced everywhere as the better way of leading a normal life.

So complicated...Gone are the days of set insulin doses and regular mealtimes.

Pretty rigid but still ingrained in many people as the best way of doing things...
What do you think?

Excercise Motivation!

Following on from my last post, I thought I'd write my top ten motivational tips that helped me get back the gym the last time round! Nobody's perfect, but hopefully these will get you back on the right track!

1. Start slow:
So you're a little out of shape, maybe a little tired? Start slow: 30 minutes is the minimum recommended time for Diabetics to exercise per day, but start with 20 for the first week, and build it up to 30 and more. In the gym I like to do ten minutes on a treadmill, ten minutes on a bike, some rowing of cross trainer, and then maybe some leg and shoulder presses. Not for long, but just enough to start off with.

2.Treat yourself:
It sounds cliched, but allowing yourself a small treat after your first week of working out is a great motivator. Give yourself something to work for. Even, treat yourself to something small (not food, unless hypo!) after your first workout. It'll remind you to go again!
Also, invest in some nice workout clothes: you want to feel good working out too.

3. Look at the benefits:
Not even counting diabetes, exercise for anybody can relieve stress, cut your risk of heart disease and heart attack, and generally keep you in shape.
Now, for a DIABETIC, the benefits are incredible: increased insulin absorption, leading to potential decrease in amount, and thus weight loss, help preventing complications later in life, and lengthening life span.

4. Think how great you'll look! This one is self explanatory.

5. Put on LOUD music. Sometimes the gym's a little boring...I find it helps to drown things out and pass the time if I can't hear much else except my music!

Not Such a Great couple of weeks

So. I was hitting the gym, eating better, feeling great, and then I have no idea what happened.

Any one else ever get this? All it took was maybe a couple of bad days, and two weeks in, my levels have been see-sawing all over the place.
I'm tired grumpy, and only recover motivation around 10pm, just as I should be winding down. The gym beckons, but I literally feel exhausted.

I guess I know I'm not eating right. Life gets busy, and everything is so much harder to manage!

I shouldn't complain though, i have a lot going on, and I'm lucky for that, I just need to learn to manage a busy few months with good food and balanced sugar levels.

Back to the gym I think, and a couple of iron supplements to boost my energy I think...

Hello!
This blog has been something I've wanted to start for quite some time now. In case you haven't guessed, the subject of this blog is Diabetes, and is aimed at anyone looking to relate to a fellow patient, get some tips or just offload in the comments.
It's a disease which although these days has many links to weight and unhealthy eating, strikes many people without warning or reason. I was one of those people.

At eight I was diagnosed, having been drinking and peeing an awful lot one day. I was taken into hospital and just like that I was lumbered with something for the rest of my life.

I'd like to be able to say that I'm sorted now, and I know how to look after myself.
That is not the case.
Besides, the health care related to diabetes is developing so rapidly these days, it's hard to keep up with recommendations, treatments and such.
This is what this blog is for. I hope it at least reaches some people and lets them know: you're not alone!

SerinTais