Any badly controlled diabetics out there?

edonlon333

I'm 18 and have been diabetic since I was 13(type 1). At the beginning I was strict and kept it very well controlled, always coming back with hba1c's around 6. As I got older I got a lot more relaxed and would call myself a diabetic with bad control. When looking at the other posts everyone seems to have good control which makes me nervous. Is there anyone else who doesn't have perfect control? especially teenagers? Anyone have any tips to help control it? I don't know if I have some psychological issue with it or not but I'm getting scared as I'm thinking more and more about the consequences in later life but somehow, thinking about this doesn't make me control it better. I don't know anyone else with diabetes so would love to hear from other people!

douglashyde

my H1Ac is 9.7 - and i work like a dog to have good control

graflynn

You probably did so well in the early days because of the "honeymoon phase". Once you came out of that the cold hard reality hits like a brick.

I'm not in perfect control, but I find that these things help keep me from going off the rails altogether:

- Carb counting,
- keeping a written record of what I eat, what insulin I take, my bg's, anything out of the ordinary,
- Reading every worthwhile book/blog/website that I find,
- meeting other people with diabetes and learning new tricks from them,

If you can you can try and do a DAFNE course, it would teach you all about carb counting and how insulin works. Don't despair, you shouldn't have to struggle so hard. The help is out there but is difficult to find.

tbh

ok, here's the thing I've found with diabetes. I know there are a lot of really well controlled diabetics on this forum, but I'm not one of them. My HB1AC is usually around 8%, I smoke, I eat crap all the time and I hardly ever test my blood.

I think what happens is, with diabetes, you have to be on top all the time. Diabetes never says "you know what, you've been good the last six months, I'm going to give you a month off". Diabetes says "You've been good the last six months, but if you slip even once in the next six months, I'm going to hammer you."

So, for me, it gets to the stage where I think "I know I'm going to be high if I test, so I'm just not going to test". I know that's stupid and I know it's going to come back to bite me, but that's where I'm at at the moment.

I've my specialist appointment in March, and I really want, for once, for him to say "good stuff, you've gotten the sugars down, you're improving".

So, I'm trying to at least keep a track of what my sugars are, and what I'm eating. And it's starting to help.

The fitness forum has a "fitness logs" subforum, where people can post in their own threads about what their diet and exercise routines are like. Maybe we could have something similar in here? Do you think something like that would help OP? You could track your own sugars, and see how others are going at the same time?

robinph

My HBA1C'a have been up in the 8.? for the last few times and they keep giving out to me about that. I'm not a particularly well behaved diabetic either, but looking back over the years my best HBA1C numbers were when I was paying even less attention to the diabetes and got numbers in the 6'es. I have been trying to watch things more closely recently, but not because of the diabetes. I'm trying to keep better control because of all the running I'm doing and the diabetes keeps getting in the way of that. An actually the "better" control sometimes seems to make things more difficult for me in that regard.

I did find recently that keeping a log of doses, food, carbs etc and then they had me checking two hours after eating as well has made thing work a little better for me and I think I may have got slightly better control at the moment. Have another test coming up shortly though so that theory will probably all be blown out of the water then.

graflynn

robinph wrote: »

My HBA1C'a have been up in the 8.? for the last few times and they keep giving out to me about that.

Talk about kicking you while you're down. "They" have no right to stick all the blame on u-the person who has diabetes. If "they" did a better job teaching us all we needed to know about managing our diabetes there would be no need to "give out". We are people first before we are "diabetics" and living should be able to be first.

mike65

tbh wrote: »

I think what happens is, with diabetes, you have to be on top all the time. Diabetes never says "you know what, you've been good the last six months, I'm going to give you a month off". Diabetes says "You've been good the last six months, but if you slip even once in the next six months, I'm going to hammer you."

So, for me, it gets to the stage where I think "I know I'm going to be high if I test, so I'm just not going to test". I know that's stupid and I know it's going to come back to bite me, but that's where I'm at at the moment.

Control is hard when you put the work in but do not see any obvious reward, of course there is a reward anyone who is badly high tends to feel lethargic and a bit "bleugh" to use a medical term. Of course the long term rewards are huge - you get to keep your limbs, kidneys and eyesight.

Just did a test, 90 mins after lunch - 5.6. Ideal (even some scope for a biccy!), though its easier to keep control in winter I find as the lower ambient temps mean the body burns off carbs more readily.

RCorrigan

Agree with other opinions "controll" and you can win, my mother in law is a suffering, sometimes badly as she has bad dicipline on what she eats. I've heard of people using healing foods to reverse it and confidence of the mind. Get a good guide to healing foods for yourself and say to yourself you can do it and Im sure you will. Many good resources out their on the net........ search via google for guide to healing foods or encyclopedia of healing foods or healing foods something on those lines and you should get the resource you need. The only requirement on your part is the "WILL" and desire to change...........

Have a rich day:) stay happy and full of love and achieve all above.....

eth0_

OP - perhaps you should read what is likely to happen you if you don't keep your diabetes under control. My uncle died recently as a result of bad diet and not taking his insulin when he needed to. Not a nice way to go. Perhaps reading about the consequences would shock you into being more responsible about your illness?

tbh

eth0_ wrote: »

OP - perhaps you should read what is likely to happen you if you don't keep your diabetes under control. My uncle died recently as a result of bad diet and not taking his insulin when he needed to. Not a nice way to go. Perhaps reading about the consequences would shock you into being more responsible about your illness?

everyone knows the consequences, but that sometimes makes it harder to control. If you behave yourself perfectly, you could still get complications. Sometimes it's easier just to stick your head in the sand.....

The_Conductor

Not everyone knows the consequences- thats at least part of the problem. I've a cousin who has had to have a foot amputated as a result of chronically poor control- and she is 10 years younger than I am........

Its all well and good- educating yourself and knowing the consequences of your actions (or inactions)- but there are at least as many people out there who are simply ignorant of their condition, and what it means for them.

As a first aider, obviously I'm far more likely to come across hypoglycaemia than hyper- and almost exclusively in Type 1s. It is a particular problem when people try to control diabetes too tightly- a form of Occam's razor- its almost impossible to have perfect readings- but should the fact that its so hard mean you're liable to collapse (which in a large building I actually come across quite frequently)- or end up with amputations- as I've also first hand knowledge of.

I don't agree that putting your head in the sand is a good approach- though many of us do take this attitude towards our conditions (I'll readily admit that when I was younger I had a very lax attitude towards taking my daily immune suppressants).

A lot of younger diabetics would most probably be far better off on the pump- and personally I believe the only reason this isn't being pushed, is financial- which I think is criminal........