Learning About Type II Diabetes . . .

Diabetes Mellitus is an auto immune disease and it is incurable.  The first, auto-immune means it will attack you in many different ways.  No two Diabetic individuals have the same kinds of reactions for the disease effects us all differently.  The second, incurable, means there is not cure!  You can get to remission but even then, Diabetes may still be doing damage to you.  And all of it is attributable to the effects of Agent Orange, or more specifically, Dioxin.

So learning about your disease is a constant challenge.  For instance I take Metformin, an old but reliable treatment for Type II Diabetes, and I take Januvia, a more modern treatment that works best against peak blood sugar levels.  It is a new drug thus more expensive and the Metformin is a generic drug, considerably less expensive.  Both work as designed so to speak for me.

And I have a glucose meter, I live by the meter!  I test when I get up in the morning, again at lunch time and before dinner at night.  Sometimes I test before I go to bed.  In the past I have tested at different times but I have learned a Diabetic does a test before eating.  When you eat your blood sugar (glucose) levels go up with digestion.  So it is called "determining your fasting" blood sugar levels.  And my doctor gives me a blood test roughly every six months called an "a1c" test.  This test can look back at least three months or more and determine your blood sugar levels in a different number.  One strives for an a1c of 6.2, if higher like at 7.0 the doctor will chastise you.  Above that level, and it does happen when a Diabetic individual is not managing his disease, then you are doing damage to you body.

Fortunately for me, after my diagnosis with high levels of blood sugar, I gradually brought down my levels to the 6.4 to 6.5 levels.  I tested a lot in those days and kept a log watching it come down. 

I went through a couple of VA examinations and they found I had cataracts that they attributed to Diabetes, they also found I had Peripheral Neuropathy (PN), that is damage to nerves in my hands and feet.  In other words, I was losing my sense to touch in my hands and feet.  PN causes different issues with people, some have pain, itching, etc. while others like me lose their sense of touch.  My heart disease, hardening of the arteries, is also attributable to Agent Orange.

I have had the cataracts removed and have Crystalens installed.  I wore glasses since I was 13 years old.  I do not wear glasses anymore.  I occasionally use cheaters to read but do not need glasses for any distance vision.  So the cataracts are taken care of but I must be examined yearly for Diabetic damage to my retina's, far so good no damage.

Well I thought I had good control of the disease except I was plagued by a rise in blood sugar during the night that resulted in a high test number in the AM when I got up.  That is generally known as the "Somogyi effect," discovered by a Hungarian doctor named Somogyi.  At night when you natural blood sugar declines, the liver detects the drop and acts to convert fats into sugar (or glucose).  So I figured it was just normal and I had to live with it.  In the AM when I got up the blood sugar would be 140 to 147 all the time.  Every once in a while, like maybe one day out of the month it would be around 125 to 130.

About year ago, I decided I needed to lose weight.  And to lose weight, well one had to reduce caloric intake.  So I quit eating lunch.  I figured in ancient times, people did not have the luxury of three meals per day.  It was a habit not unlike from smoking cigarettes.  I had quit smoking cigarettes cold turkey in 1980, thus I could quit eating lunch.  I lost almost 40 pounds and my weight is around 190 pounds now days.  I took two inches of my waist and I brought down my AM blood sugar to about 130 to 133 in the AM.  That was great.

About two months ago, I had eaten a large meal at supper and missed taking my Metformin, so I took a double dose that night.  Next day my blood sugar in the AM was 125!  Whoa, I thought, there is no reason I have to space out my Metformin in four equal amounts,  I can take one in the AM when I get up, one during the day or before dinner and two tablets at night when I go to bed.  Well, guess what my blood sugar in the AM runs between 120 and 125 in the AM.  My fasting blood sugar average is down now below 125, it is around 116 or less now days.

So testing is most important, and when and how much drug you take is also important.  I am really interested in what my a1c is going to be?  I would love to see it be at 6 or even some magic number like 5.9, reality tells me it will be more like 6.2, but we will see.

Have I conquered Diabetes Mellitus, I know I have not done so.  But I now have it under control and it will stay that way.  Oh, yes, I still do not eat lunch, or if I should do so, do not eat supper, or a large night time meal.  Gotta keep the weight off and gotta keep the blood sugar under control.