hey y'all
When i was pregnant with my son 20 years ago i developed gestational diabetes and the mid-wife told me that it would put me at increased risk for developing diabetes later in life. Well, i assumed she meant "later" as in 30-40 years later, not 12 years later! There is no family history of it at all.
When i was diagnosed, my blood glucose levels were mid 400s. The dr tried pills and diet first, and my levels kept rising. A couple years into it, she said i'd have to go on insulin. It felt like a death sentence to me. i envisioned lost limbs and eye sight, and quickly spiraling towards death. For a short while i did consider saving up all my insulin and then taking it all at once to just get it over with.
Even with insulin & oral meds, my levels are still pretty high. The only time i get near normal is when i drop rapidly, which sends my body into survival mode even though i'm reading at 140-170. 2 years ago, my endocrinologist told me that for all intents & purposes i have morphed into a Type 1, and that for any medical related situations, i needed to make it clear to the people treating me.
Exercise does help bring me down below 300. i am by no means great with my diet (i am and always will be a chocolate lover, and refuse to give it up completely), though i do try to be conscious of what i eat.
Getting diagnosed and starting treatment immediately put an end to the chronic yeast infections i'd suffered since being a pre-teen. i kinda wonder if i wasn't diabetic back then...they didn't test like they do today, and i remember many times my mama giving me pineapple juice to "bring me back around".
Really, my biggest symptom has always been no energy. i can sleep 12-15 hours with no problem. Some days are worse than others.
Thanks for the thread Jo!
rhonda