From personal experience, I would stress that most diabetics control it with oral drugs, diet, and exercise… emphasis on the oral drugs if she’s adverse to diet/exercise. When I was first diagnosed, I had no idea there were pills that helped, and it was really encouraging when my doc told me he thought that a few pills would be all I needed.
Of course, as it turns out I’m Type 1, and it’s shots & insulin all the way for me. But had I heard that the first day of diagnosis, it would have been a horrible shock. As it was, I spent the first month in a deep fear of insulin. Little would I have known that a few weeks later, after doing tons of research & talking to people, I’d be asking for the insulin over the oral drugs. Life is funny sometimes.
And, for the record, I’m the biggest needlephobe in the world. I still can’t stand to have blood drawn or get a “real” shot. Insulin needles are tiny - less than 1/4" long - and really just go right under your skin. No big deal. Especially after a few weeks of 6 or 8 daily shots :mad:
I understand irrational fears; I used to have one for dogs, many months of therapy ago. But given that she’s already seen that the blood glucose needle prick is painless, I’m going to say her real issue is denial and/or fear of doctors.
The worst thing that my hub puts up with regarding Diabetes is the Neuropathy foot pain. He was probably undiagnosed for seven years or so. He gets crawling electric shocks in his feet, like electrified bees biting you. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, some days are better, some days are worse. The docs tell him the pain will go away when he has his feet amputated. I wonder if he’d still have “ghost pain” like people sometimes do who have lost a limb. He’s in no hurry to lose his feet, but the pain is just never ending and totally unpredictable. She really doesn’t want nerve damage in her feet.
For anyone else that might find it useful in general - centerwatch.com is a clearing house for listings of upcoming clinical trials. You can sign up to get e-mails when a trial in your area and for a disease of interest is recruiting.
Speaking hypothetically as a person who was expected to develop the disease, and who was supposed to have been tested for it every year for the last five, what is the risk of a modern diabetes diagnosis on an active lifestyle?
I mean active in the running, jumping, and pillaging Paris sense of the term, not in the “takes water-cize three times a week” sense of the term.
Can healthy people ever taste alcohol on their breath, or is that an undeniable warning sign?
Not sure what you mean about tasting alcohol on your breath. Sometimes diabetics breath can smell sweet, but I’ve never heard of an alcohol taste.
And as far as the rest of your question… I have very little family history of diabetes (one cousin, that’s it), spent last summer riding my mountain bike anywhere from 4 to 6 hours a week, I run, I hike, I eat healthy, am not overweight blah blah blah all of that. Didn’t stop me from being diagnosed as diabetic last November. So it happens.
But truthfully, it’s pretty rare, from what I can tell. I was just lucky :rolleyes:
Just to mention that even a positive diagnosis doesn’t necessarily mean daily blood sugar monitoring. I was diagnosed with a reading of 8.1 mmoles/per litre (multiply by 18 to get the US readings in mg/deciliter), which is not large. I was put on metformin twice a day and a month later was down to 5.8, which is normal (well high normal). In my most recent physical I was 5.7, with an A1C of 5.9% (I think that is also high normal). The A1C measures the percentage of blood hemoglobin that is glycosolated (combined with glucose) and is like a 3 month running average. Under these conditions, my doctor feels that daily monitoring is unnecessary.
Incidentally, I also suffer from neuropathy in the feet. The front half of each foot tingles, but they are not otherwise affected. In fact, I feel it only when I wiggle my toes. I have a strong pulse in the ankle. Suddenly about 7 or 8 years ago (before my blood sugar went above normal), I developed strabismus (double vision). My ophthalmologist speculated that could also be neuropathy. So I have prisms in my glasses, which corrects it.
THanks UncleMoose, we’re no where near Boston, but I’ll forward him the link to centerwatch. He has done clinical trials in past with no relief. I don’t know if he’s up for doing another one, but I’ll give him the info and let him decide.
He may have more damage than you, Hari Seldon, because sometimes he shouts when the pain hits him. He took time off from work, left town and stayed a week in Winnipeg recently, and found that his pain was gone for that week. I don’t know if that’s because he was not working, thus less stress, or that he was at a lower altitide. We’re in Denver, so 5,000 feet or so.
My sister was recently diagnosed and I was recommended (by her doctor through her) to go for a genetic test (done locally at the hospital I work at and sent to him) as part of some big case study.
I havn’t done it yet, though I should.
Apparently I have some risk factors… Family history I had no idea about before two months ago, that might have an impact on me.
Apparently the genetic test is so accurate they could tell me close to what month I’d be affected… even if it was years off.
I have a few “symptoms” (I put that in quotes because they’re so vague…)
Bad vision (but I’ve always been nearsighted, had surgery for an unrelated issue and turned out to be nearsighted after… who knows)
Occasional foot numbness (though this just might be caused by any number of things… and its not whole foot… often its just from being in one position for a while with pressure. Not “foot asleep” numb… just odd sensation)
Somewhat tired here and there. But that might be a mix of insomnia and working late.
In any case, I’m getting tested for it shortly.
My mom actually said “Hey, Clay, if you don’t feel comfortable getting tested its ok… if you’re scared…”
My response was “Why would I not want to get tested? If its so it is so… and I’ll just have to deal with it. If anything, knowing will be a good head start on dealing with it… While not knowing will only put me behind.”
So… crossing fingers… looking at the odds and being generally happy with them… Going in next week and not really thinking much about it. Meh, if its so its so and I’ll deal with it. Why scare myself over something that is treatable.
In any case it was a major factor in my attempt to quit smoking… Which in a little over a month had a couple false starts but now is well over a week without a smoke and on top of that not even a desire. Smoking can’t help diabetes… or life in general.