hi my name is catherine i just found out i have diabetes and i just wondering if you'll had any suggestions about how to deal with it. also i was wanting to know is there any kind of help with getting your insulin. hi my name is catherine i just found out i have diabetes and i just wondering if you'll had any suggestions about how to deal with it. also i was wanting to know is there any kind of help with getting your insulin. thanks
momma cat
Catherine,
Welcome to HealingWell. Always glad to make a new friend even if it is for such a 'not-so-nice' reason. Your doctor should be signing you up for classes about foods, diabetic diet, calorie and carbohydrate counting and meds. If this has not happened call his/her office and ask about it. Classes are usually taught at a local hospital or health department and should be covered by your insurance.
Read back in the posts and learn all you can from what others have said about treating their diabetes. There are a lot of good ideas coming from all over the world. Besides the medical, medication, food/diet thing that goes with this disorder there is the mental anguish part that takes a while to get your head around. Ask any questions you have here and we will help all we can, but be aware that your doctor should be your first line of defence in handling meds and juggling food exchanges.
Some of our members have used alternative health products to treat their diabetes. Until you are totally familiar with your disease and have a working knowledge of the way your blood sugar reacts to medications and different foods I would recommend staying with your doctor's advice. He/she is the one treating you and he/she is the one with the diploma on the wall.
Just to clarify, have you been diagnosed as Type 1 or Type 2? What meds has your doctor started you on? What diet did you recieve? Once we have some background we can be more helpful. Hang in there girlfriend, we will be here for you.
~ Jeannie
"People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Welcome to HealingWell. Always glad to make a new friend even if it is for such a 'not-so-nice' reason. Your doctor should be signing you up for classes about foods, diabetic diet, calorie and carbohydrate counting and meds. If this has not happened call his/her office and ask about it. Classes are usually taught at a local hospital or health department and should be covered by your insurance.
Read back in the posts and learn all you can from what others have said about treating their diabetes. There are a lot of good ideas coming from all over the world. Besides the medical, medication, food/diet thing that goes with this disorder there is the mental anguish part that takes a while to get your head around. Ask any questions you have here and we will help all we can, but be aware that your doctor should be your first line of defence in handling meds and juggling food exchanges.
Some of our members have used alternative health products to treat their diabetes. Until you are totally familiar with your disease and have a working knowledge of the way your blood sugar reacts to medications and different foods I would recommend staying with your doctor's advice. He/she is the one treating you and he/she is the one with the diploma on the wall.
Just to clarify, have you been diagnosed as Type 1 or Type 2? What meds has your doctor started you on? What diet did you recieve? Once we have some background we can be more helpful. Hang in there girlfriend, we will be here for you.
~ Jeannie
"People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Hi Catherine,
Welcome here - it's a great place to get advice as everyone here has hands-on experience with diabetes!! Jeannie is right - you need diet, medicine etc advice from your doctor first but we are all here too!
Claire x
i'm not sure what type of diabetes i have becuse it is to do with my cystic fibrosis ant the medicine the have me on is lantus at night and regular at lunch and supper.
thanks
momma cat
WELCOME ABOARD CATHERINE !!
I too am DIABETIC & just celebrated YEAR # 4 !! Sure it was really hard in the start but I found the INTER - NET to be a very BIG HELP. So, give it a try sometime. I've found some wonderful places that have helped me out 2 & so I'd be more then happy to help out & send them your way so just let me hear from you. As the other's have said are you TYPE 1 or TYPE 2. I am TYPE 2 and I am on medication & watching what I eat & also EXERCISE so all of that together has really helped me out a lot.
So, keep your chin up and we are all here to help you out & I will be praying for you too !!
My name is KAREN. I'm diabeatic type 2 & have been for 4 years. Also the wife to a Crohn's patient who was diagnoised in December 2005. And, so I'd like to be a friend to all who come across my name.
i found out i have type one diabeties
I have Type 1 diabetes and have had it for 34 years. First, you MUST test yourself at least 4 times a day. That was my biggest downfall because your body can fool you. You may feel fine but your blood sugars may be high, especially when you first get it. After years, I can feel almost immediately when my sugars go too high. The second biggest thing I had to learn was to BABY YOURSELF. I mean this in the sense of if you don't feel well, if you have a cold or a stomach bug, it can really be bad for a diabetic. It's must worse than for an average person. Most people can shrug it off. I learned the hard way (many hospitalizations) not to ignore that and go to work but to stay home and take care of myself. ANNUAL eye exams is a must also. Be sure you eat your meals on time so your blood sugar doesn't drop too low. And get lots of rest. It's hard in the beginning. I was 17 and just off to freshman year of college and was in denial big time. At the end of the year, I got really sick. So these may sound like small things, but they are really important. And take care of your feet and visit the dentist regularly. I wasn't told when I became a diabetic how it can affect your teeth and your gums. So to sum it all up, really care about you! Take care of yourself and you can have a really normal long life. There will always be some complications but you can do it. If you are going to travel and run into different time zones (more than an hour or two), consult your doctor on how to adjust your insulin for that first day of travel. So, these are just some tips for you. And watch your carbs. We can have carbs but don't overdo them. They really raise your blood sugars. Ok, no more lecture. Good luck!
Momma Cat - about getting your insulin and needles. Your doctor should write you a prescription for them. If you have medical insurance, this is a must. You can take the prescription to your local pharmacy and get them at a much lower rate than without a prescription. My doctor writes on the prescription "3 month supply" so you don't have to get them so often and it's cheaper. Also, he can write a prescription for your testing supplies and you will get them at the pharmacy, too. I had to change medical insurance companies because some of them will not give you a lower rate except on generic products. There are no generic diabetic supplies. So I searched around and found the insurance that does cover the diabetic supplies at a lower rate. I don't know where you are located but I'm in Massachusetts and found that Tufts and Harvard Pilgrim had the best coverage for me as far as supplies go. I didn't use a prescription for the testing machine, but most come with rebates and end up being quite inexpensive. Let me know if I can help with any other info.
MommaCat,
I use a meter called a Prestige IQ and the meter along with 300 strips was $104 delivered from the DiabeticStore.com (I think?) Anyway, the reason I use this one is because all the fancy free meters have test strips that run $1.00 a piece. I don't have insurance and so I like the less expensive test strips because I don't stress out if I need to test more. The strips on this machine are about 30¢ each.
Hope this helps.
~ Jeannie
"People are like stained glass windows: They sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
I use a meter called a Prestige IQ and the meter along with 300 strips was $104 delivered from the DiabeticStore.com (I think?) Anyway, the reason I use this one is because all the fancy free meters have test strips that run $1.00 a piece. I don't have insurance and so I like the less expensive test strips because I don't stress out if I need to test more. The strips on this machine are about 30¢ each.
Hope this helps.
~ Jeannie
"People are like stained glass windows: They sparkle and shine when the sun's out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light within."
- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
the only problem is when i take insulin is that i have to take it before meals , so when I need to go out anywhere, I have to carry an ice box with me and lug it along wherever i go as i have to take my insulin shots on time for my diabetic control. Is there any other way to carry insulin shots ?
Post Edited By Moderator (Warren) : 4/24/2006 9:44:16 AM (GMT-6)
The "Frio" wallets are unique wallets that will keep your insulin at the temperature that it needs to be for hours and hours. This is not the only product on the market but one of the most unique and one of the most compact.
Warren- It's not that some people have willpower and some don't. It's that some people are ready to change and others are not. - James Gordon, M.D.
I can only please one person per day, today is not your day...tomorrow doesn't look good either.