Diabetes and Pregnancy

Being a diabetic is hard work and stressful! Having diabetes while being pregnant just adds even more stress! No, I am not pregnant or plan on getting pregnant any time soon..but pregnancy is something women with diabetes should think about and prepare themselves for. Because I was diagnosed when I was only 11 years old, I never really thought about how diabetes would complicate a pregnancy when and if I decide to become pregnant. Now that I am getting older, and I see girls that are around my age having babies, I think a lot about how pregnancy would affect my health along with the babies. A friend of mine is a diabetic and she just had a baby. She had the baby a week early and her baby was still over 9lbs! I already know that diabetic women are at risk for having large babies but that's about all I know..so I have done some research.
 High blood sugars early in the pregnancy will INCREASE your risk of miscarriage and birth defects. The risks are higher when your hemoglobin A1C is higher than 8% and your average blood sugars are higher than 180. During the last months of a pregnancy, the women may need more insulin because the body becomes more insulin resistant. Macrosomia occurs in 15-45 percent of diabetic pregnancies. Macrosomia is when the baby weighs more than 9lbs at term.
The website I got this info from was very helpful. I will post it below.
care-during-pregnancy-for-women-with-type-1-or-2-diabetes-mellitus-beyond-the-basics

Reading about diabetes and pregnancy, is starting to make me worry. I know I probably have a few years before I have kids but my blood sugar levels are not in great control. It's not terrible but it's not really good either. The last time I went to my endocronologist my A1C was over 8%. My blood sugars are all over the place. They go from normal, to high, to low and back to high in just one day. Yes..I am only 19 and the ones reading this are probably thinking "this girl should not be worrying about this now." But this is my reality! This is just one of the problems I will face in life being a diabetic!
I'm going to go on YouTube and see if I can find any videos about women living with diabetes while pregnant!

Service dogs for diabetics?!

This article was brought to my attention from a friend. I have heard of service dogs for people who are blind and who have other disabilities but you rarely here of service dogs that can detect low and high blood sugars in diabetics! This article is very interesting. I think training dogs to help diabetics, is a great idea! They can be someone's life saver!
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/12/11/service-dogs-pick-up-scent-diabetics-in-danger/

DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis)

One of the most common problems diabetics have is Diabetic Ketoacidosis. This is a serious problem among diabetics, but yet not many people know what it is. DKA happens when a diabetic is not getting enough insulin. If your blood sugar levels are running on the higher side, that's when you want to be careful and test for ketones. To do this at home, you pee on what's called Ketostix. The stick will start off tan. The darker the stick turns after you pee on it, the more ketones you have.The colors the stick could turn are anywhere from light pink to dark purple. The lighter the color, the better.
If you figure out that you have ketones, pay close attention to your body. Just because you have ketones, doesn't mean you are in DKA. If you figure out you do have ketones, drink plenty of fluids and get as much insulin as you can. This will decrease your chance of going into DKA.
The signs of DKA are:

excessive thirst or drinking lots of fluid,

• frequent urination,

• general weakness,

• vomiting,

• loss of appetite,

• confusion,

• abdominal pain,

• shortness of breath,

• a generally ill appearance,
  
• dry skin,
  
• dry mouth,
  
• increased heart rate,
  
• low blood pressure,
  
• increased rate of breathing, and
  
• a distinctive fruity odor on the breath

If you think you are going into DKA, or if you think a loved one is going into DKA you need to get checked out by a doctor immediately. DKA is nothing to play around with. It can cause someone to go into a coma, or even die.

Below, is a picture of a ketostix that someone has peed on. If you look at the chart on the bottle, you can see how the colors get darker. Also, above the colors it says negative, trace, small, moderate, and large. That can kind of give you an idea of how high your ketones are.

So tired of being sick and tired!

I feel a little guilty complaining about my health after the tragedy in CT. But I am so fed up with the way my body works! I feel like I am always sick or on meds for something. Once I fix one problem, I get another. I was having bad depression so I was put on wellbutrin. Depression got better but it increased my anxiety A LOT! Then I got 2 abscesses that were infected. I am on strong antibiotics (bactrim DS) for it and it makes me sick to my stomach. I haven't been to work for almost 4 days because I have felt so shitty. I hate missing work. I feel so guilty and then I worry about money and how or if I can pay my car payment on time if I don't work. It's a never ending thing. I get sick. Can't work. Don't get paid.not sure if I can pay everything.....equals unwanted stress!!!

I need to vent!!!

SOOOO...I know I made this blog so I could vent about diabetes but I (and my family) have had a rough week and I just need to vent about EVERYTHING.. and some of it is diabetes related. First, my uncle was taken to the hospital on Saturday. They did some tests and found a bleed in his brain. They couldn't give him the treatment he needed so they took him to another hospital that's atleast an hour away from where we live. They did surgery and a bunch of tests. They then found a leak of spinal fluid. He was getting better and wasn't as confused but today he was even more confused! They did a cat scan and found that he had a stroke. Another set back! I went and saw him the other day and his hospital is in the middle of the city and I HATE cities. I started getting very anxious and had what felt like a million panic attacks! On the way home, I threw up because I was so anxious. I have had attacks before but not to the point where I threw up.
Today, I ran out of insulin. I have tried calling my doctor for 2 weeks to get a prescription refill but of course I did't get it. That was another big stresser because it only takes me a few hours without insulin to go into DKA. (Done that before) But I finally got it!
Ok, the next thing...earlier in the week I had a bump under my skin and I just thought it was a pimple or something like that. Each day it grew and got more painful and became hot to the touch. Eventually, it was atleast the size of a golf ball. Maybe even bigger then that. I finally went to the ER. They told me it was an abscess..oh and I had 2 of them! At that point I am thinking the doctor will just give me antibiotics and send me home...NOT! He made two holes to drain the pus and infection! Then, he had to put packing in the holes so the infection continued to drain..and that's been in there for 2 days. I went back tonight for a recheck. She took the packing out and said that there was still too much infection and she had to make the drainage holes BIGGER! By tonight, the stress of everything was really getting to me. I hadn't cried all week about my uncle. But when that doctor said she was going to cut me open for the second time I immediately had a panic attack. I am usually very good about that stuff but I could not physically or mentally take anything else. I cried for the first time this week and I knew I was not going to be able to handle this procedure. The doctor ended up giving me Xanax and some other pill because I was so worked up. For the first time in my life, I cried during a health procedure. I have had needles stuck in my hips, feet, had wisdom teeth out, laparoscopic surgery, and I have had a mole removed while I was awake. All that didn't bother me. It was painful but I could handle it. I just could not handle anything else this week. Thank god my mom was there with me because I don't know what I would have done without her! And to make that whole situation worse, the abscesses are on my butt!!!! One on each cheek! So of course I can't sit for too long or walk without it hurting.
It has been almost a week since everything started happening and I am drained. I'm not hungry and my stomach has been upset from all this (but it also might be because of a new medicine I started this week). I didn't write this post for attention. I just really needed to vent and I do feel a little better. Thanks for reading!

Blood sugar low?

So for the last 2 hours my blood sugar has been low. I have had orange juice, about 24 oz of Apple juice, and 8 oz. Of chocolate milk...and this is what my sensor is reading after all that

True Life: I have Diabetes

For years, I have watched MTV's "True Life". They have so many different episodes about different lifestyles and common problems that people have or go through. They have episodes about drug use, depression and anxiety, turrets, and so much more! The show really takes you into the lives of the people living with different disorders, etc.
I just came across my favorite episode of "True Life" ever! It's called "True Life: I have Diabetes". The three young adults in this episode, show the world a little bit of what it's like living with diabetes and the problems diabetics face that no one else ever thinks about! It is CRAZY how much I can relate to all 3 of the diabetics in the show!
My blood sugars have gotten out of control from drinking to the point I was in hospital for a few days. I worry a lot about how is my disease going to affect me and my kids when I get pregnant. A lot of people don't realize that when a diabetic becomes pregnant, the pregnancy becomes high risk. Diabetic mothers will often have large babies. If the mother's blood sugar gets too high,  the baby could even die. Diabetes is also EXPENSIVE!!! I worry A LOT about how I am going to take care of my health and pay all my medical bills once I am out on my own. Insurance doesn't cover everything!
If you would like to get a better understanding of diabetes and what it's like to live with diabetes I highly suggest that you watch this "True Life" episode. I copied the link below. The episodes are usually an hour but there are no commercials so it's only about 40 minutes! Please watch!


http://diabetesawarenesssite.com/?p=1513

My body is so confusing!!!

So, for days now my blood sugar has been shitty...like 200 and above. The last 2 days, it has been getting better...A LOT better actually. Lately, before I go to bed my blood sugar is below 100 so I eat a little snack so it stays up over night. Then, I expect it to be high when I wake up in the morning and It's not! It's been around 150 when I wake up and usually its in the 200's. I am almost always high after breakfast but all day today I have been below 120! I think It's helping that I have been measuring EVERYTHING I eat so I know exactly how many carbs I'm getting. Aslo, I have been taking my symlin shot more often when I eat. I really hope that as long as I keep doing all this, my blood sugar will stay under control