Having a low blood sugar moment and having to scarf something with sugar in it down....
Candy, cake, juice, donuts, a regular soda, stuff I don't normally include in my day to day eating, and not being able to enjoy it because I'm too worried about bringing my blood sugar back up.
Then repeatedly checking my numbers to make sure they went up.
Then watching them rise because I overcompensated.
Luckily these moments are few and far between.
XOXO,
Ashley
Friday, April 27, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Lazy blogger
Well I've already started slacking on my blogging.
Finished my shingles medicine yesterday. They seem to be clearing up, or running their course, or whatever they do. I have to say I enjoyed my 3 days off with literally nothing to do. Glad I was able to spend them at home with my parents since the hubs was gone!
The hubs is back at least!
Blood sugars are back to normal!
I've got nothing witty or informative to say today!
XOXO,
Ashley
Finished my shingles medicine yesterday. They seem to be clearing up, or running their course, or whatever they do. I have to say I enjoyed my 3 days off with literally nothing to do. Glad I was able to spend them at home with my parents since the hubs was gone!
The hubs is back at least!
Blood sugars are back to normal!
I've got nothing witty or informative to say today!
XOXO,
Ashley
Monday, April 9, 2012
26 going on.... 80
So, I definitely have shingles.
The dormant virus that causes chickenpox... that can become active again at any time.
Often seen in people over 60.
Or in those who have a weakened immune system.
And to think I was happy to get carded at the casino yesterday. The guard told me I looked 18... 3 days before I turn 27. Then come today, I find out I have shingles. Blah!
I read a variety of type 1 diabetic blogs, and a majority of them are written by PARENTS of children with diabetes. Most who were diagnosed under the age of 4. I am so very thankful to have been diagnosed with this at 26, instead of 6. It's been a hard adjustment for me and I more or less understand what's going on! I can't imagine worrying about your child who can't verbalize or understand what's going on.
Soon after my diagnosis I developed anxiety. I just didn't know it at first. My heart would race, my stomach would hurt, I'd break out into a cold sweat, feel like I wasn't breathing right. Scary stuff. I actually ended up at the ER one night after a particularly bad one. A few tests, $250 co-pay, and a IV shot of Ativan later I was on my way back home.
Prior to the major panic attack, I went to a general practitioner regarding my symptoms. On paper, it seemed thyroid related, and I was happy that he didn't write of my symptoms as anxiety right away. I had chest x-rays, EKGs, a normal echocardiogram, a bubble echocardiogram, Halter monitoring, blood work. Everything came back more or less normal.
So anxiety it was, and my PCP wrote me a prescription for xanax to take on an as needed basis.
What I think caused my anxiety, in no particular order:
1. Wedding planning
2. Thinking, if my pancreas suddenly stopped working, what else is going to just stop working?
3. My new diagnosis
4. Fear of dying in my sleep due to low blood sugars, even though I've never had a problem with overnight lows
5. Trying to come to terms with the fact that I am dependent on a medicine to keep me alive, yet this same medicine could kill me if I took too much, or didn't eat enough to cover what I took, etc. What if I was kidnapped and I ran out of insulin before anyone found me? (For real, that crossed my worried little mind)
Luckily, at my 3 month "just wanted to see how you're doing since we diagnosed you" check up with my endocrinologist, I brought up my recently developed anxiety and she sat and talked with me for a good 30 minutes about how I had been feeling. Even after she was running behind with her morning schedule because of car trouble or something that morning. It really made me feel better about how I had been feeling.
Thankfully, my anxiety has definitely decreased over the past few months.
XOXO,
Ashley
The dormant virus that causes chickenpox... that can become active again at any time.
Often seen in people over 60.
Or in those who have a weakened immune system.
And to think I was happy to get carded at the casino yesterday. The guard told me I looked 18... 3 days before I turn 27. Then come today, I find out I have shingles. Blah!
I read a variety of type 1 diabetic blogs, and a majority of them are written by PARENTS of children with diabetes. Most who were diagnosed under the age of 4. I am so very thankful to have been diagnosed with this at 26, instead of 6. It's been a hard adjustment for me and I more or less understand what's going on! I can't imagine worrying about your child who can't verbalize or understand what's going on.
Soon after my diagnosis I developed anxiety. I just didn't know it at first. My heart would race, my stomach would hurt, I'd break out into a cold sweat, feel like I wasn't breathing right. Scary stuff. I actually ended up at the ER one night after a particularly bad one. A few tests, $250 co-pay, and a IV shot of Ativan later I was on my way back home.
Prior to the major panic attack, I went to a general practitioner regarding my symptoms. On paper, it seemed thyroid related, and I was happy that he didn't write of my symptoms as anxiety right away. I had chest x-rays, EKGs, a normal echocardiogram, a bubble echocardiogram, Halter monitoring, blood work. Everything came back more or less normal.
So anxiety it was, and my PCP wrote me a prescription for xanax to take on an as needed basis.
What I think caused my anxiety, in no particular order:
1. Wedding planning
2. Thinking, if my pancreas suddenly stopped working, what else is going to just stop working?
3. My new diagnosis
4. Fear of dying in my sleep due to low blood sugars, even though I've never had a problem with overnight lows
5. Trying to come to terms with the fact that I am dependent on a medicine to keep me alive, yet this same medicine could kill me if I took too much, or didn't eat enough to cover what I took, etc. What if I was kidnapped and I ran out of insulin before anyone found me? (For real, that crossed my worried little mind)
Luckily, at my 3 month "just wanted to see how you're doing since we diagnosed you" check up with my endocrinologist, I brought up my recently developed anxiety and she sat and talked with me for a good 30 minutes about how I had been feeling. Even after she was running behind with her morning schedule because of car trouble or something that morning. It really made me feel better about how I had been feeling.
Thankfully, my anxiety has definitely decreased over the past few months.
XOXO,
Ashley
Blah
As you can imagine, diabetes can make simple situations more complicated.
For example, I haven't been feeling great for the past few days. I developed a rash on my back, only on one side. Thought I had a tag on a shirt that was irritating it but that wasn't the case. Showed it to a nurse at work and our wound care PT. Both thought it was just a contact rash, but PT said to watch out for shingles.
Great. Wouldn't be surprised, since my immune system seems to suck. Consulted my BFF's husband who is a resident, and he didn't seem to think shingles.
Anyways, I'm running a low grade fever and generally feel crappy. To top it off I watched my blood sugar rise from 129 to 179 without eating a thing in hours, well after my fast acting insulin would have worn off! Which of course made me panic. This is all still so new and so much affects blood sugar and there's so many things that could possibly be of concern when you're sick and have diabetes. The BFF's hubby also assured me nothing I told him was overly concerning and to keep an eye on my numbers and call him later if needed.
Stayed at my parents for the night, since my hubs is out of town, and neither them (nor I) were wild about me being home alone in this unknown situation. Plus, until recently I really had a fear that I'd die in my sleep (more on that in another post). I'll go to the doctor tomorrow and take a sick day from work and make sure this rash is nothing.
XOXO,
Ashley
For example, I haven't been feeling great for the past few days. I developed a rash on my back, only on one side. Thought I had a tag on a shirt that was irritating it but that wasn't the case. Showed it to a nurse at work and our wound care PT. Both thought it was just a contact rash, but PT said to watch out for shingles.
Great. Wouldn't be surprised, since my immune system seems to suck. Consulted my BFF's husband who is a resident, and he didn't seem to think shingles.
Anyways, I'm running a low grade fever and generally feel crappy. To top it off I watched my blood sugar rise from 129 to 179 without eating a thing in hours, well after my fast acting insulin would have worn off! Which of course made me panic. This is all still so new and so much affects blood sugar and there's so many things that could possibly be of concern when you're sick and have diabetes. The BFF's hubby also assured me nothing I told him was overly concerning and to keep an eye on my numbers and call him later if needed.
Stayed at my parents for the night, since my hubs is out of town, and neither them (nor I) were wild about me being home alone in this unknown situation. Plus, until recently I really had a fear that I'd die in my sleep (more on that in another post). I'll go to the doctor tomorrow and take a sick day from work and make sure this rash is nothing.
XOXO,
Ashley
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Lessons learned
So, if you take anything away from my first post, it should be to GET REGULAR CHECK UPS.
When is the last time you've had fasting blood work done?
I'm so fortunate to have caught it when I did. Most people don't find out until their blood glucose and A1C levels are extremely elevated.
So I started to tell people, primarily nurses where I work (!?!), here are a lot of the common responses I got:
1. But you're too skinny to have diabetes. Type 2 is generally associated with overweight people, type 1 doesn't discriminate
2. Well you must have eaten a lot of sugar. Your mom must have given you a lot of sugar as a child. Etc. Eating sugar has nothing to do with what causes type 1 diabetes.
3. Why can't you just take the oral medication? I can't take oral medication because my pancreas produces little to no insulin. The oral meds are used when your body produces insulin but doesn't know what to do with it. Believe me, if there was a way to not take shots, I'd be taking the oral medications.
4. You better not eat that cake, cookie, candy, etc. Fortunately because I am insulin dependent, I can eat more or less whatever I want in moderation if I account for it with my insulin doses. Should I eat pancakes for breakfast every morning? No. But honestly, neither should non-diabetics!
5. How will this affect your ability to have a baby? Honestly, it shouldn't, but I'm not sure what details, precautions, and preventative measures I will have to take. While it's not on my immediate radar, it's definitely on there. I did find it funny that most of my close family and friends asked this question right off the bat.
Here's the 2011 Diabetes Fact sheet, courtesy of the American Diabetes Association. Interesting stuff, you should check it out.
Hope everyone has a happy Easter tomorrow! Yes, I will indulge in a little bit of Easter candy!!
XOXO,Ashley
When is the last time you've had fasting blood work done?
I'm so fortunate to have caught it when I did. Most people don't find out until their blood glucose and A1C levels are extremely elevated.
So I started to tell people, primarily nurses where I work (!?!), here are a lot of the common responses I got:
1. But you're too skinny to have diabetes. Type 2 is generally associated with overweight people, type 1 doesn't discriminate
2. Well you must have eaten a lot of sugar. Your mom must have given you a lot of sugar as a child. Etc. Eating sugar has nothing to do with what causes type 1 diabetes.
3. Why can't you just take the oral medication? I can't take oral medication because my pancreas produces little to no insulin. The oral meds are used when your body produces insulin but doesn't know what to do with it. Believe me, if there was a way to not take shots, I'd be taking the oral medications.
4. You better not eat that cake, cookie, candy, etc. Fortunately because I am insulin dependent, I can eat more or less whatever I want in moderation if I account for it with my insulin doses. Should I eat pancakes for breakfast every morning? No. But honestly, neither should non-diabetics!
5. How will this affect your ability to have a baby? Honestly, it shouldn't, but I'm not sure what details, precautions, and preventative measures I will have to take. While it's not on my immediate radar, it's definitely on there. I did find it funny that most of my close family and friends asked this question right off the bat.
Here's the 2011 Diabetes Fact sheet, courtesy of the American Diabetes Association. Interesting stuff, you should check it out.
Hope everyone has a happy Easter tomorrow! Yes, I will indulge in a little bit of Easter candy!!
XOXO,Ashley
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Dia-what?
I've debated starting a blog since my diagnosis, so here we go....
The end of 2010, beginning of 2011 was a crazy time for me.
I lost one grandma in August 2010, somewhat expected, but that doesn't make it any easier.
Then I lost my other grandma, my only remaining grandparent, suddenly in December 2010. My heart was broken. And to top it off I missed her wake due to a nasty 12 hour stomach bug. Really a low point in my life.
Then 2011 rolls around, and my boyfriend J of, eh, 2.5ish years proposed in January and the insanity of being engaged set in.
Mid-April/early May 2011: I just wasn't feeling RIGHT. I was tired all the time. I was never one to feel well rested, but this was almost extreme. I was also getting feelings of heart palpitations, shortness of breath from time to time and overall didn't feel well. One blood pressure check at work read high and a nurse suggested I go to a doctor because my symptoms could indicate a blood clot, especially since I was on birth control pills.
So I made an appointment ASAP. I hadn't really been to a doctor in a few years, other than a gyno, because I was rarely sick, and I didn't have a primary care physician. Luckily, I was able to make an appointment with a MD, Dr. M, who happened to be a distant family friend. She took my BP, which was fine, but suggested I track it for a month, since high BP runs in my family. She suggested fasting blood work since I hadn't had it done since maybe 2006.
Blood work was done and I got a letter in the mail stating that everything was fine, besides being slightly vitamin D deficient. I was sure I was anemic, which would explain my fatigue. Or that I had hypothyroidism, which would explain why I was working out and my weight wasn't budging. But nothing came up. I did have a follow up appointment in a month to report my BP readings.
I returned with my poorly tracked BP log, but it was all within normal range anyways. While at the Dr's office, she reviewed my blood work and realized that my fasting blood glucose was 153- not normal. So she did a finger stick in the office, 4 hours after I ate, 223. Also not normal. She told me these numbers indicated diabetes. So she gave me a glucose monitor and had me monitor my blood sugar for about a month and a half, and scheduled a return appointment for repeated blood work. She also set me up with a diabetic educator. I remember heading the the gym afterwards and calling J, and crying when I said the D word. He assured me we'd figure this out and get through it together.
So I didn't tell anyone except J, my co-workers, and some family. I logged my blood sugars, which definitely weren't running normal. I went back to Dr. M in August for repeated fasting blood work, an A1C (6.9 at diagnosis), Islet cell antibody test (20) and a C-peptide test (.8). Of course these numbers meant nothing to be, but it confirmed what Dr. M suspected: type 1 diabetes.
I wasn't sure what to think. As a health care professional, I was familiar with type 2 diabetes, and the complications that went along with poor management. But type 1? Why is this coming on now?
I was set up with an endocrinologist, Dr. D, Monday August 29th, and she started me on Humalog for my fast acting insulin, and Lantus for my slow acting, both in the epi-pen versions. Dr. D is FANTASTIC. She spent so much time with J and I at my first appointment explaining stuff and answering questions. It was once thought that type 1 diabetes (juvenile diabetes) was something found only in children and had primarily a genetic component. Now the thinking is that type 1 diabetes also has a viral component: I had some virus at some point, causing my immune system to go crazy, and attack my islet cells. I hadn't really heard this before, but a friend of J's who was diagnosed in his mid-20s was told the same thing. So basically anyone at anytime can be diagnosed a type 1 diabetic. Only 5% of diagnosed diabetics have type 1.
My pancreas is working a little bit, but probably won't work for long. Maybe it's unfair to call it lazy, but I like it. So that's pretty much my diagnosis. And it sucks. But it's manageable. And I'm not "fighting" for my life per say. But I am dependent on insulin to keep me alive, and that's a hard pill to swallow (or injection to take, ha!) More on that in future posts.
XOXO,
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