Posted by Dinah on May 1, 2005, at 9:30:37
In reply to may i???, posted by chemist on May 1, 2005, at 4:23:51
Chemist, you're right. CAT scan with contrast Wednesday. Had I been aware I would have insisted on better timing of the test so that the weekend wouldn't have stopped my doctor from getting the results of the creatine (sp?) and bun levels, and I could go back on Glucophage (actually Metformin) earlier. Next time I'll know.
Tamar, I've been taking my blood sugars religiously while off Glucophage, and while they're higher than on Glucophage, they haven't approached dangerous. They're still well below 200 even after meals. I don't take them so well other times. You get bored and tired of sticking your finger all the time when your blood sugars consistently come back ok, as mine have since going on Glucophage. My quarterly levels are in the non-diabetic range on Glucophage. If I really binge foodwise, it's a different story. But I've gotten so sick lately doing that that I've virtually stopped.
Regarding food and exercise. Well, I have no excuse for exercise. While I know it makes some people (including my husband) feel better, it's never had that effect on me. I used to garden for exercise, but I am having too much trouble meeting other obligations. My husband's buying us an exercise bike and promises me uninterrupted reading time if I use it, so that might well work. Uninterrupted reading time for me at the moment is when I get to an appointment early. It's a powerful reward. I also occasionally think of trying an easy Yoga tape since unlike exercise stretching does make me feel better. Not sure that would help diabetes though.
Food... I really don't eat all that much, and my husband says that all the time. I gained fifty pounds on Luvox and just can't get it off. When I'm really busy at work, I eat really badly because I need the energy and the time. Other times, while I might tend to more starches than my dietician would like, I'm not too bad. And I tried her high protein diet for a while. But if I see one more carton of yogurt or one more piece of beef jerky, I'll barf. And I never barf. I did pick up a number of low carb alternatives that I still use. But the idea of forcing down what she wants me to eat doesn't make living a longer life seem appealing.
Regarding medications. The 500 mg daily Depakote is a more likely culprit for my inability to lose weight than the occasional Risperdal (probably no more than thirty a year at .25 mg). But without it, I'm laid low with migraines so often that I can't get my work done.
And I can't imagine going back to life without Risperdal. I used to spend hours crying in bed or rocking in the bottom of my closet when I had a meltdown. Not to mention the suicidal ideation and self injury urges and actions. Not to mention the desparate calls to my poor therapist. I happen to respond very well to antipsychotics and very poorly to antidepressants.
I don't know. I have several medical conditions that play against one another. I had to drop my Lipitor because I have a frankly not so great liver. It's a fatty liver, and I don't know if that's the problem or if I was born that way. If I remember correctly, I had elevated liver enzymes well before I gained weight. So my high cholesterol (mostly triglycerides anwyay) isn't important enough to accept the worse liver tests on Lipitor. I'm to fish oil now.
Then there's my migraines and tendency to anxiety/agitation. Therapy can only do so much. And I've decided that those trump my diabetes. It's hard to worry about long term consequences when you have to get from one day to the next without letting people down more badly than you have to in fulfilling your obligations.
You have to make tradeoffs somewhere.
Thanks guys. I appreciate your caring.
poster:Dinah
thread:491831
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20050426/msgs/492246.html