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diabeties confessions of a diabetic.
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timberwolf:
diabeties is a wicked thing. i started out on somemetaformin 500 mg. then went to a thousand mg 2x daily then went on meta and actos. now on insulin. all the while during this i suffered a stroke twice both mild but did damage. alls i am gonna say is people with diabeties need to take care of them selves all the time not part of the time like i was doing. btw i just got my medical assisting degree, in which i have used now for the past month to help others i work for a tbi.( traumatic brain injurie) and spinal cord rehabilitation company in kazoo. due to my diabeties i wanted to beco9me more informed and able to take better care of myself i put my difficulties behind me. i now walk with a limp at times. but that was due to my negligence of taking care of myself. thought i knew it all and didnt. just like with some other subjects i was into for a bit i thought i could just go out find something and bam there it was. lmao now thats a let down if ya ever been in the woods looking for something and ya couldnt find it. sorta like diabeties. once you have it you have to maintain a strict awareness of what you are doing. i didnt for a long time. i did quit drinking like 5 yrs ago. and thats how i did develop diabeties. i was drinking a fifth every night tio deal with a bad marriage and a bad life. hence why i moved from muskegon county no offense to you that live there. but muskegon county for me was like poison. i do have family and friend there in ravenna and some in muskegon. anyways. chocolate is my compulsion even to this day. its like someone says ya cant have it ya want it even more lol. but i learned carbs are what really gets to you. there are good and bad carbs. ok time to back up a little. when i was first diagnised with diabeties my blood glucose was 9.4 also called your a1c level. when i had my second stroke this past yr my a1c was at 10.4. now it is down to 6,8 right where it should be and that happened with me learning all i can about diabeties and actually listening to my docs and stuff. i had two strokes like i mentioned before it was linked to my diabeties both times. and becuz i thought i was a know it all and could do what ever i wanted without facing the consequences. i paid the price. lucky as i am thou. i will say this diabeties is gonna be a silent killer for alot of people in the next few yrs if we dont start to educate people in its effects on the body. ok i guess if thats enuff rambling for now.
p.s i now am 100% i work 45+ hours a week. and hve developed a interest of the out of doors again. i let personal issues slide and forgot who my friends were on and off the net. thank you to those that take the time to listen to my ramblings. and for those of you who i have made friendships with. i am gonna call out one of those people , smoke thanks for the phone calls asking about me it was much appreciated at the time even if i didnt act like it, i was going thru my own prsonal hell at the time when we talked and sorry for being an ass or rude to you. and sorry for the bad language there.
timberwolf:
THURSDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- People with diabetes do much better, in terms of survival, if they can turn to others for support in times of need, new research suggests.
The study found that those who are more independent and feel they don't need help from others have a 33 percent increased risk of dying over a five-year period.
"These are self-reliant, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, self-starters and go-getters. But, in the health-care setting with a chronic illness, what is normally an advantage can become a liability over time," said Dr. Paul Ciechanowski, an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
"Day-in, day-out, when you have the mortgage to pay, the kids to get to soccer, work deadlines, medications to take and refill, exercise that needs to be done, healthy food that needs to be cooked, and doctors' appointments, it all starts to break down if you're trying to do it all on your own," he said.
"And, the health-care system is one size fits all, so people like this fall through the cracks. They may get labeled as difficult patients, when the truth may be that they're overwhelmed but have a hard time reaching out and trusting. People who are comfortable collaborating well are the ones who do best in our health-care system," noted Ciechanowski.
Previous research has found that people who have chronic illnesses, including diabetes, who lack a good support system are more likely to die, according to background information in the study.
Ciechanowski and his colleagues wanted to expand on past research and see what effect personality type had on the risk of mortality in the presence of chronic illness.
To do this, they recruited 3,535 non-depressed adults with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. All of the study volunteers were part of a health maintenance organization in Washington state.
The researchers found that 53.8 percent of the study participants had an interactive relationship style, meaning that they had a greater propensity to reach out to others, according to the study. The remainder -- 46.2 percent -- had an independent relationship style. These people have difficulty reaching out to others and may have a hard time trusting other people, the study found.
The death rate for those in the interactive group was 29 per 1,000 individuals, compared to 39 per 1,000 in the independent group. That means independent people have a 33 percent increased risk of death, according to the study.
Results of the study were published in the March issue of Diabetes Care.
"Much of this study is quite intuitive," said Dr. Vasudevan Raghavan, director of the cardiometabolic and lipid clinic, and the medical weight management service at Scott & White Healthcare in Temple, Texas. "Having a support system provides additional incentive to do the right thing. For example, if you have a mother who visits or calls frequently, she may remind you to get to your doctor's appointment and refill your medication, which prompts you to do it."
Raghavan said one finding that was particularly telling was that even though people with an interactive style had a higher body mass index (BMI), they still had a lower risk of death. Normally, a higher BMI in people with diabetes would tend to be associated with a higher risk of death. (BMI is a measurement that takes into account a person's height and weight.)
Unfortunately, Raghavan said, "you can't provide a social prescription. You can't mandate that people reach out to or live with others."
Both Ciechanowski and Raghavan said these findings should prompt doctors to try to consider a person's relationship style in treatment.
"We need to develop different approaches for people who aren't able to collaborate. Often, they'd love extra help, but are afraid to reach out," said Ciechanowski. Possible options are e-mails, telephone calls or appointments with other health-care professionals, he said.
More information
Learn more about the people who should be part of your health-care team from the American Diabetes Association.
misfitguy:
I too am a diabetic. I am still on glucosamine, and because I lost 50 lbs and watch my carbs, I am able to maintain my sugar levels in the 120 to 130 and should do better. To me, I know it is diet and exercise. My family is full of diabetes, so it was inevitable for me to eventually become diabetic. I found out my condition in the fall of 2005, but the doctor told me that I had probably been diabetic for quite a while, and my diet of no red meat, and a lot of fresh vegetables kept me in a reasonable level. It was probably finally put to test, as I continued to gain weight.
I have family members that have run the regimen correctly and have maintained their proper levels with a good diet and pills and other members that ignored the above and suffered with amputations and early death, but most importantly a lousy sickly life. I am 63 and like to be active and would like to not be dependent on insulin and so I am working at maintenance.
Mick
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