Diabetes Treatments & Complications

First of all, talk to a nutritionist!  My friends who were counseled did far better than I did at understanding what needed to be done!

You can immediately start to eat better. High fiber. Low Fat. LOW SUGAR.  LOW CARBOHYDRATES.  Generally, this should lead to lower calories too.  Also, this leads to losing weight if done properly which can only help your body as it battles this disease!

Exercise!  Move.  Walk. Swim.  Bike.  Try for 30 minutes at least five days a week. Even if you have to start for 10 minutes a day.  Try to build on that with 30 minutes as a goal.

Monitor your blood sugar.  Using a meter that measures a drop of blood from your finger, you can get a fairly clear picture of how your body processes sugar.  Of course WHAT you eat and drink can make this vary wildly, as can the time that you measure after a meal.  Exercise, illness and stress can also affect your glucose readings.  It may be necessary to take several readings a day or only once a morning.

Watch out for signs of trouble.  If you have increased thirst or urination, dry mouth, blurred vision fatigue or nausea you might need to lower your sugar intake.  Also signs like sweating, shaking, slurred speech, drowsiness and confusion  might mean there is low sugar and you need to get some glucose quickly. There are still more signs like  hallucinations, loss of appetite, weakness, fever, nausea, vomiting or sweet fruity breath that require immediate attention by your doctor or emergency care. If your blood glucose is above 400 call your doctor.  If your blood glucose is above 600 get to an emergency room!  KNOW WHAT THE SIGNS MEAN.  Talk to your doctor about these signs and read the American Diabetes Association and the Mayo Clinic’s information on the signs carefully.  It could mean a matter of life or death.

This is serious stuff!  I’m not a doctor here and so make sure that you KNOW what the signs for low and high glucose are and don’t just take my word for it.

What can YOUR DOCTOR do?

He/she may put you on oral medication.  Sometimes you have to try a couple of types to get the right combination.

Sometimes a pill isn’t enough and you need a weekly shot of medication to stimulate insulin production and stifle the livers’ glucose production.

Sometimes pill and shot medications aren’t enough and insulin is needed.  It can either be injected (usually in the stomach) by you or for more difficult cases a pump can inject it.  Soon there will be a monitor for your glucose levels that will also inject insulin.  These injections may be rapid-acting, long-acting or a mix. Sometime several injections might be needed throughout the day.

In extreme cases, a pancreas transplant might be needed, but they do have risks of rejection and complications.

Too, there are all sorts of complications of diabetes.  

Stroke.  High blood pressure. Blindness. Amputation.  There are more.  Those are enough for me to get in line and get my life back on track to try to prevent!

Please ask your doctor not only about treatment options but also about diabetic worst and best outcomes.  Also, read up on the subject.  I provided some links below.