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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2003
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Mon, 04-07-2008 - 10:16pm

Hello everyone! I hope you don't mind that I popped in here. I am technically not diabetic. My doctor says that I am insulin resistant, or pre-diabetic.

I am 28 years old and overweight. I am married and have two children, they are 8 and 2. My father was diagnosed as type II a little over a year ago and my mother was actually just diagnosed as type II a little over a month ago.

A year ago my A1C was 5.6. I had a fasting glucose done a little over a month ago and some numbers were high, others were low, but overall okay (according to the doctor). However my A1C was still 5.6. She said it's not high enough to be diabetic but it is higher than it should be and I am showing trends toward becoming diabetic. She really wants me to concentrate on loosing weight the next three months until I go back to see her and I am. I joined a gym and am working out. HOwever, it's not easy for me to loose weight. For 1, I have really low lows after I work out. It has gone down in the 50 range after working out before. I know I just have to eat before I go to the gym. Also, when I walk too fast or too far, my lower legs and feet go numb and I feel like I'm going to fall over. I can ride the stationary bike all day long so I guess that is what I'm going to do.

I also have a lot of other things wrong with me. I am going to have a sleep study done soon to see about Sleep Apnea. I know that if I loose weight that that will probably get better also. I am on medication for depression also. I also have extremely high, almost uncontrollable blood pressure. This was caused more by an injury though. I had surgery about 9 months ago for a narrowed ureter but during the surgery the doctor cut an artery in my kidney. To fix it, they had to cut off the blood flow with metal coils and that has given me high blood pressure. I went from 0 pills a day to 4 for blood pressure. I'm also having some stomach issues going on now but I will spare you the details. I hope you don't mind me hanging out and observing. I am very familiar with diabetes and what it can cause. I just lost my step-grandmother at the end of February. She was a very bad diabetic and had a leg amputated almost 2 years ago and was facing loosing the other way. She caught the bad flu that is going around and they figure that the flu weakened her heart and caused her blood sugar to raise so please be careful everyone!









Little Bean will soon be here!
Lilypie Baby Ticker




Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 12:18am

Hi Angie,


I was looking at your blinkies and I wonder are you pregnant also?


While an A1C isn't used for diagnostic purposes, anything over 6 is diabetic. So you are certainly close. It is good that you are going to the gym. Remember even a small weight loss of 10-20# will bring your blood sugar back into line. I think there is one other thing that you need to request and that is a visit with a dietitian for meal planning help. I found it immensely helpful both when I was diagnosed and many years later when I was started on insulin. Usually the recommendation for preventing the severe drops in blood sugar caused by exercise is to have 15 grams of carbs about 15 minutes before you exercise. Remember exercise helps with weight loss, blood sugar stabilization, treating sleep apnea

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-10-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 2:58am

You might want to look for some books by Gretchen Becker. Her book about the first year with Type 2 diabetes is fantastic.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 12:15pm

Funny thing about apnea - losing weight can alleviate it and treating it can help with losing weight. It also can raise blood pressure so treatment can lower bp. DH was dxd a couple of years ago and now wears a bipap mask every night. A bipap is a version of the standard CPAP (constant positive air pressure) machine that is the basic treatment for apnea (when it's not caused by physically addressable issues like overlarge adenoids or nasal problems). DS called him "Darth Daddy" when he first got it because it sounds like he's Darth Vader when he's wearing it. But it has been wonderful - now we're all used to itand its absence is more noticeable than its presence. Apnea can also factor into heart disease, depression, and other ailments because the body cannot "reboot" itself properly because it cannot get into the deep, healing, level of sleep since you are constantly micro-waking to start breathing again. DH didn't realize just how little sleep he was actually getting until he was in the hospital overnight for the sleep study and they put the CPAP on him - in just a few hours he felt more rested and alert than he had for probably 20 years.

--Deb

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 1:11pm

Thank you! I am not pregnant. I had my signature done in 2004-2005 when I was pregnant. I haven't been back on here much after I had my last child and need to find someone to redo my blinkies!

I had an appointment with a dietician but she really wasn't much help. I just need to get off my butt and take control of my health. I know if I loose weight that a lot of my problems will be helped and I know I will feel better. The thing that throws me about diet though is what veggies and fruits are starchy and would affect my blood sugar. Like today, I have some carots and celery to snack on. Before I exercise I will put some peanut butter on the celery but I like oranges and apples, etc. but read somewhere to limit fruit. That is really what the confusing part is. Thank you for all of your help!









Little Bean will soon be here!
Lilypie Baby Ticker




iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 1:15pm
Wow! Deb thank you for your experience with that. I am so tired all the time. Even when I go to bed at 9 pm, I could still sleep all the next day. I have absolutely no energy for anything. My first sleep test is May 10. I can't wait for the next month to go by. I have been told by several people that I don't sleep well. In addition to snoring, talking, and being restless, I actually have sat staight up in bed unable to catch my breath to where my husband was flipping me over the bed and hitting my back telling me to breath because I just could not catch my air. It's really scary when that happens. Hopefully I can get everything in line and finally feel good. Thank you all for your support!









Little Bean will soon be here!
Lilypie Baby Ticker




Avatar for cl_coldfingers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 1:42pm

Hi Angie!


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2001
In reply to: iangela2003
Tue, 04-08-2008 - 4:21pm

Hi Angie!

~Misty~


 


iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Wed, 04-09-2008 - 1:23pm

Thank you very much. Congratulations on your little ones! We have switched over to only whole grain bread and pastas. Now I just need to find the flour and other stuff. I live in a small town so it's hard to find everything you really need. I hope I can do this because I really don't want to move into diabetes. I have seen what it can do to a person and I really don't want that. I'm also dealing with only having 1 kidney functioning correctly and my high blood pressure isn't helping that either. It just seems like I'm a ticking time bomb sometimes. Not to mention my mother is a breast cancer survivor and heart disease runs heavily in my family too. I always took my health forgranted and now it's biting me in the you know where! Take care and I'm sure I can do this with all of your support.

Angie









Little Bean will soon be here!
Lilypie Baby Ticker




Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Thu, 04-10-2008 - 12:55am

Hi,


If you can't find the flour that you need, you can look for it on the web or you can ask the grocery store to get it in for you. King Arthur flours carries wonderful whole wheat flours that can be oredered over the web. Just an idea for you! You can also add flax seed to many recipes to increase the fiber. Make sure you keep the flax seed in the refrigerator though because it can spoil. If you can find it, you can use almond meal instead of flour to coat many things. It is quite good on fish for example. It has about 1/2 of the carbs in white flour.


follow me

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2003
In reply to: iangela2003
Thu, 04-10-2008 - 10:12am
Thank you for your suggestions. I don't know what I'd do without you guys already!!!!!









Little Bean will soon be here!
Lilypie Baby Ticker