I had my endo appointment on Friday of last week.
As many of you are aware, I’ve been pretty frustrated lately with my control (or lack of). My A1C accurately reflected that, coming in at 9.0. My last one was 9.3, so I guess it’s good that it’s coming down a little.
My thyroid levels were a bit high, so he backed my synthroid down a little. That situation is getting frustrating too, because for the last year or so we’ve been bouncing back and forth between a couple of doses, one making levels too high, the other making them too low. The doc said that high thyroid levels will tend to elevate blood sugars, so that offers a partial explanation for the highs.
All the other lab tests came back normal, so I am thankful for that.
He asked me if I thought that I needed any adjustments to my insulin, and I really don’t think it’s my doses that are causing my highs. It’s more behavior related. I’m always eating.
I don’t even give my blood sugar a chance to come down from my last meal before I’m back at it, shoveling something else into my mouth.
However, for me, these behavior issues are the hardest to change. We’ll see how it goes…
I’m going to try eating at more consistent times, and to lay off the snacking. I think that in addition to weight control, this will also give me a better, clearer picture of my BG’s and hopefully make any trends stand out a little more.
It’s hard to spot trends when eating at inconsistent times. All the software out there lumps your readings into pre-defined time periods (5am-9am = pre-breakfast, 9am-11am = post-breakfast, etc.). Well, if some days I’m eating my breakfast in the time that’s designated post-breakfast, that doesn’t give an accurate display in the software. This whole issue is tough with flexible therapy, because you have the freedom to eat when you want, not on an insulin specific schedule.
Diabetes is such an all-encompassing thing, it’s sometimes tough to make sense of when you have the rest of life moving on around you, whether you are with it or not!
I would imagine almost everyone has the snack problem – I try to get around it by only buying snack items that have low carb value like cheese and nuts. Seems to help somewhat. My control is also pretty sub-optimal but it’s gotten better in the last few months by just trying to reduce unneeded carbs. Also lost 15lbs in the process.
Hey, you’ve taken the first step by recognizing your problem.
I also have a problem with snacking, and I think it’s a problem that a lot of Diabetics and people in general have. I’ve cut back some, mainly because I don’t have the time or money to keep buying food.
What helps me is when I get the urge to snack, I either drink something (as in diet soda, water, coffee, etc), crochet something, or just remove myself from the situation that causes me to snack.
Of course, I know it’s hard, and I don’t know where you work, but I work in Fast Food, which is no help at all! Lately I’ve been bringing my own food from home, which helps because it not only saves my sugars, but my waistline and checkbook!
Anyway – I wish the best for you! Diabetes is so hard sometimes, but then again – what would it say about us if it weren’t?