Diabetics Anonymous....

[Ludwig Venter]

Hi... My name is Ludwig and I'm a Diabetic......

Since being diagnosed in 2001, I've never considered diabetics to be a "dangerous" condition, and I made absolutely no changes to my lifestyle and/or diet because of the "lable" inflicted onto me by the doctor..... My sugar levels remained constant between 7 and 11 and I lived my life.

In June however, (working in the underground mines), you have to pass a certificate of fitness and I marginally failed the 10 count cut-off line, so my medical certificate was temporarily withdrawn...... until I go back and measure a count below 10.

Suddenly, my levels ranged between 16 and 24 with no explanation, and I started watching my diet and monitored my sugar levels which would just not fall below 10, so that I could go back and have my certificate approved......

6 months down the line..... I suddenly fell below 10 again last week and immediately went for the retest and had my certificate approved..... For some reason, I just fell back in the low levels again and now my range is between 4.7 and 8....... I do not know what caused it to be back to almost normal again

Last week Tuesday,..... a friend of mine fell into a coma with a count of 27...... the next day she died and she is half my age......

Is Diabetes really such a serious condition that you should worry about it, or can you expect to live your normal life...... I'm not worried in the least.

Other Diabetics on this forum...... let's hear from you.

 

[the biffster]

hi my name is the biffster
and i am a diabetic type 2
but insulin dependent for about
15 years its no fun and i hate
it

 

[stevereade]

I too am a Diabetic, was diagnosed with type 1 (Insulin controlled) when I was 12, 16 years ago. My control was ok for 15 years till I started suffering with stress due to my ex partner not letting me see my daughter. This caused my sugar levels to spiral out of control and soon enough the inevitable happened. I was at Swallow Aquatics on Dec 12th last year picking up a few Guppies for my 32litre tank and my levels dropped. I left the store, went to my car and looked for my Lucozade, I didn't realise that the people that cleaned out my company car the day before had taken it out. I sat in my car, called an Ambulance and waited and so did the staff of the store when they came out and told me they were closing, mean while my partner was racing home from college to get to me. The Ambulance never turned up and eventually my survival instinct kicked in, unfortunately I'm a diabetic that doesn't pass out, my body keeps going while my mind shuts down. So I started my car and drove the 5 mins home and on the last turn before my road I slid in the car and hit a garden fence, this caused me to loose my licence and my job and still my doctors wont approve me to get my licence back. I've now been out of work for a year as the security industry is the only job I've known since I left school and its difficult to change career when you have been doing the same job all your life, your awesome at it and don't know much else.

Story 2, yesterday for the 2nd time as far as I can remember I was just about to sit down for lunch when I fitted, fell from my chair, smashed my head and arm repeatedly against the wall while fitting until it stopped. I had an Ambulance crew out, a neighbour round to hold me down and needless to say am now pretty battered and bruised. The last time I fitted was years ago and I ended up smashing my head against a radiator repeatedly and took chunks out of my hands and feet as I was sitting at a computer desk at the time.

Its very hard on my partner too as when my mind shuts down and body carries on I've done stupid things which have scared her. Such as throwing myself round the house and nearly down the stairs, this is worrying for her secondly as she has three young boys which thank god have never got in the way of my strange hypo's.

Diabetes is very serious, my low sugar levels in the past have always been very predictable as I could feel them coming on but recently they come with no warning. Thank god I've never hurt anyone close to me but coming out of hypo's in the past a few Ambulance members have been knocked off their feet and a few police officers too. Luckily after finding out I was Diabetic they were ok with me lol. Problem is, as my mind wakes up I can't remember whats happened and being restrained by people makes me think something bad is happening. Hence fighting anyone close to me off. Hard to live with and even my Mum offered me her Pancreas in the hope of some kind of transplant, bless her, but I couldn't live with myself when the day comes that she would die from a heart attack as most Diabetics do and it would be due to me.

All I can say is thank god I have my amazing partner, kids and family to help me when everything goes wrong for me a she has supported me jobless for the past year and never batted an eyelid. Might be off to work for my local Maidenhead Aquatics after Christmas which will be hard dropping a 45 grand a year wage to a very low wage but unfortunately theres not a lot I can do. Cars were also my life too before I lost my licence, well just as much as fish but at least I can carry on one hobby lol.


Thanks for reading

Steve

 

[fragileworld]

Hi... My name is Ludwig and I'm a Diabetic......

Since being diagnosed in 2001, I've never considered diabetics to be a "dangerous" condition, and I made absolutely no changes to my lifestyle and/or diet because of the "lable" inflicted onto me by the doctor..... My sugar levels remained constant between 7 and 11 and I lived my life.

In June however, (working in the underground mines), you have to pass a certificate of fitness and I marginally failed the 10 count cut-off line, so my medical certificate was temporarily withdrawn...... until I go back and measure a count below 10.

Suddenly, my levels ranged between 16 and 24 with no explanation, and I started watching my diet and monitored my sugar levels which would just not fall below 10, so that I could go back and have my certificate approved......

6 months down the line..... I suddenly fell below 10 again last week and immediately went for the retest and had my certificate approved..... For some reason, I just fell back in the low levels again and now my range is between 4.7 and 8....... I do not know what caused it to be back to almost normal again

Last week Tuesday,..... a friend of mine fell into a coma with a count of 27...... the next day she died and she is half my age......

Is Diabetes really such a serious condition that you should worry about it, or can you expect to live your normal life...... I'm not worried in the least.

Other Diabetics on this forum...... let's hear from you.

 

[fragileworld]

Well I joined yesterday and saw your article about being a diabetic.I too am a type two almost at the needle stage,and I can assure you its a serious condition, and life threatening if not managed properly.Just stick to the rules and you will enjoy a reasonable quality of life,and if you are a fishkeeper all the better.
Kind Regards Fraggy

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Well I joined yesterday and saw your article about being a diabetic.I too am a type two almost at the needle stage,and I can assure you its a serious condition, and life threatening if not managed properly.Just stick to the rules and you will enjoy a reasonable quality of life,and if you are a fishkeeper all the better. Kind Regards Fraggy

Hello and welcome to the Forum Fragile..... Elaborate a little.... You mention that you are almost at the needle stage..... what determines the "going over" point...... What do you think are reasonable livable and acceptable glucose levels... etc. etc... share your experience.... I (we) are interested.

 

[Curiosity101]

It's a very serious condition. It's not just a case of the short term effects of either a hypo or hyper...

Having instable glucose levels long term really damages internal organs. You should look it all up (not being diabetic I don't have the detailed info in my head)... but it's not doctors 'scare mongering'.

 

[ian]

I see many diabetes related issues everyday, in my working life. I also am seeing a larger amount of your diabetics come in with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) it really gets to me when i see the same old faces come in and out, and then you hear that one of them has been found dead (dead in bed syndrome), remember peeps no one is immortal, and please take care of your diabetes.

 

[Curiosity101]

Right... I'm back.

Ignoring/ Not managing diabetes can lead to:
Blindness
Gangrene
Kidney Failure
Losing limbs
High blood pressure
Strokes and heart failure

These are alot more common than you may believe... And apparently denial is a big part of people being diagnosed with diabetes.

Problem with varying (and imparticular high) levels of glucose in the blood is that it causes serious circulation issues. Short term this isn't a problem, but long term it is what leads to the progressive sight loss in people who DO manage their diabetes. So now multiply that up if you DONT manage your diabetes.

The bad circulation leads to losing limbs purely cause they don't get a good enough blood supply. I think sores and the such are quite common too. And gangrene from cuts which get infected cause they don't have a healthy enough blood supply to be kept helathy and infection free.#

Kidney failure is because your body naturally still tries to get rid of the glucose in your blood. It's just it happens through your kidneys instead. I'm not sure exactly what causes the kidney disease (couldn't find any definitive answers online).

High blood pressure is presumably due to the fact that you have move water in your blood to keep the osmotic level correct.

ALOT of these are inevitable if you don't control it properly. As inevitable as when we say putting ammonia into a tank leads to a cycle.

 

[the biffster]

i was misdiagnosed and went for seven years
before been recognized with type 2 diabetes
i how have complications from it like heart
and circulation problems its also affected
my nervous system as well my control is good
the last time i had a hba1c it was 5.8 to 6.0
and have now reduced my insulin a bit and been
given yet another pill to take i am
fed up of taking pills and injecting myself
but it needs to be done i still don't get type
2 diabetes i have friends that are 6 stone
when soaking wet but they have type 2 i know
why i have it because i am over weight i was
35 and a half stone i am now 20 stone and people
say its co's your over weight but about 5 or six
of my mates are spot on with there weight or slightly
under weight so how do you explain that. anyway i am going
to have a stomache bypass in the new year some time
i know its a bit drastic like but with all the things
thats wrong with me and are going wrong i need to do
somthing to sort it out i hate been a diabetic

 

[Curiosity101]

people say its co's your over weight but about 5 or six
of my mates are spot on with there weight or slightly
under weight so how do you explain that.

I'm doing my dissertation on diabetes this year... the title is 'Is Diabetes Mellitus genetic, or are there other factors that contribute to susceptability?'
I already know the answer, in short it's 'yes and there are other factors'. It varies a bit for type 1 and type 2... one is alot more genetically pre determined (can't remember which off the top of my head). But it's not like some diseases where you can say 'if you have a you get b' where a can be a specific sequence in your dna or an environmental factor (such as being over weight).

 

[ian]

Your hba1c is at a good level Biff.

It would make an interesting read C101, one of the lads i trained with is head of diabetic research for lincolnshire, so if you need any proof reading give me a shout.

I find diabetes very interesting, diabetic conditions such as DKA and HONK are really interesting. I have only ever seen one HONK in my career.

 

[the biffster]

people say its co's your over weight but about 5 or six
of my mates are spot on with there weight or slightly
under weight so how do you explain that.

I'm doing my dissertation on diabetes this year... the title is 'Is Diabetes Mellitus genetic, or are there other factors that contribute to susceptability?'
I already know the answer, in short it's 'yes and there are other factors'. It varies a bit for type 1 and type 2... one is alot more genetically pre determined (can't remember which off the top of my head). But it's not like some diseases where you can say 'if you have a you get b' where a can be a specific sequence in your dna or an environmental factor (such as being over weight).

is its genetic yes and been over weight
can trigger it but how come the others
arnt and the have type 2 as well i will
never understand this condition so will
having the bypass help me sort my condition
out i know its not an over night thing but
will it help

 

[Curiosity101]

Well I don't expect to read everything I possibly could to write my dissertation. But I came up with that title based on what I'd read and the fact I'm interested in diabetes myself. I definitely appreciate the offer of proof reading! I might well hold you to that.

I wont be covering much of the actual condition itself and what it can do to the body (so I'm not that much help in this thread lol). But the causes (both genetic and environmental) will be what I'm focussing on as I find that the most interesting part.

 

[the biffster]

Well I don't expect to read everything I possibly could to write my dissertation. But I came up with that title based on what I'd read and the fact I'm interested in diabetes myself. I definitely appreciate the offer of proof reading! I might well hold you to that.

I wont be covering much of the actual condition itself and what it can do to the body (so I'm not that much help in this thread lol). But the causes (both genetic and environmental) will be what I'm focussing on as I find that the most interesting part.

do you have any links to anything i can read
on the condition i have read loads
but i need it put more simply and remember
i am dyslexic so something that a
dyslexic paranoid schizophrenic diabetic can
take in and understand