[Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself

Mon Sep 2 23:37:20 UTC 2013

Hey sandi! Testing four times a day ain't so bad or even more as Bridgit
Polpeter had to do when she was pregnant. Most (though not all) people
really do get used to it. And the less one fusses and stews about it, the
less of a problem it becomes. Even with errant meters and flaky insurance,
it beats the hell out of the way things were, say, in 1955, when about a
student a semester who was in a school for the blind due to blindness from
diabetes would shuffle off this mortal coil due to either hypoglycemia or
hyperglycemia. I'm not kidding.

"What happened to Linda Chick? She was OK before Christmas break!" "Oh,
haven't you heard? She died of insulin shock!" "Darn, that's too bad! Say,
what's for lunch?"

It wasn't that we didn't care but it happened often enough that it wasn't
unusual.

What a difference (for *everyone*) meters and fast-acting and basal insulins
and even oral medications have been!

Mike Freeman

-----Original Message-----
From: Diabetes-talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Sandi Ryan
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 4:20 PM
To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself

Diet and exercise are never ever an answer for Type 1 diabetics.  And once 
we Type 2's are diagnosed, we always have the disease, even if our A1C's are

great.  We just sometimes get a break!  And of course one never knows how 
long that break will be.  I actually had to beg my doctor to prescribe a 
meter for me.  With an A1C of 5.0, my doctor, a long-term Type 1, said I 
didn't need to check my blood sugar.  We'd just check the A1C every three to

six months.  But I won--I have the meter, and the strips, and I check my 
blood.  But I do feel fortunate that I don't need to check it several times 
a day.  I've never gotten over the chill that goes down my spine when I use 
the lancet, and then when there's either not enough blood or I get a freaky 
response, it's really frustrating!

And I'd certainly never say that people whose diabetes is not under good 
control aren't as good as me.  No, it's pure luck--that's all it is!  My 
point was just that Type 2's sometimes get a little break.

Sandi

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "Diabetes Talk for the Blind" <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself

> Sandi:
> I applaud your encouragement of Julie and all others who can control their

> diabetes with diet and exercise. However, I hope you do not mean to imply 
> that you sanction not testing blood sugar. Even ballpark figures are far 
> better than nothing.
> I also believe we should be very careful to not let our ability not to 
> need medicines to cloud our understanding into thinking that diabetics who

> use or need medicines are somehow less diligent in their diabetes 
> treatment and control. Some of us don't have a choice in the matter. You 
> and I differ on this but I believe almost all diabetics would be far 
> better off to begin use of insulin upon discovery of their disease.
> YMMV applies in spades to diabetes.
> Mike freeman
>
> On Sep 2, 2013, at 13:35, "Sandi Ryan" <sjryan2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm with you, Julie.  I'm another lucky one--and glad to be!  Good job on

>> getting your A1C's down.  It's not easy, but definitely worth it.
>>
>> Sandi
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Julie Kline" 
>> <julie.kline at rochester.rr.com>
>> To: <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 1:40 PM
>> Subject: [Diabetes-talk] why I don't test myself
>>
>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> I don't mean to sound like I am gloating here, but I'd like to share my
>>> thoughts of the messages I have seen over the past few days.  Reading 
>>> over
>>> these messages, this is exactly the reason why I don't do testing for my

>>> own
>>> blood glucose anymore.  I have had nothing but trouble with both talking
>>> meters and I'm sorry I spent the money on either one.  Even having 
>>> people
>>> from the diabetes centers we have here watching me, I haven't been able 
>>> to
>>> get enough blood to get enough of a sample, while the meters at the 
>>> diabetes
>>> center work just fine.  I feel that with a 20 point plus or minus 
>>> accuracy
>>> that seems to come with the talking meters, I'm not willing to 
>>> continually
>>> sit there and poke my fingers for the 20 minutes it takes to finally get
>>> enough blood.  And yes, I have done the hot water thing, massaged the
>>> finger, held it to the lancet on maximum setting, stayed hydrated, the
>>> rubber band thing . but testing with a talking meter just hasn't worked 
>>> out
>>> for me, so I don't bother with it, and these messages just confirm to me
>>> why.  I still do whatever lab work or tests my doctor or diabetes center

>>> ask
>>> me to do, and I stay on top of these tests every 3 months.  However, I 
>>> found
>>> that I've lost enough weight now and that weight loss that came from 
>>> eating
>>> better, combined with exercising an hour 5 days a week walking 4 miles a
>>> session, and my medications, have given me 2 a1c readings of between 6 
>>> and
>>> 6.2.  When I first learned I had diabetes, I was 83 pounds heavier and 
>>> had
>>> an a1c reading of 8.6.  I know that the approach I take won't work for
>>> everybody, especially for people who have to take insulin.  But for 
>>> myself,
>>> I have type 2 diabetes and am not at that point yet.  At least for 
>>> myself,
>>> it has been possible to turn things around and I'd be willing to 
>>> recommend
>>> exercise DVDs that I use and found helpful if anyone is interested.  I
>>> recognize, or at least people tell me, that diabetes is a progressive
>>> illness.  I hope that when it does come my time where things get worse, 
>>> that
>>> they will have perfected these meters more and maybe they can work 
>>> better
>>> with people who can't generate enough blood, but for now I have much 
>>> better
>>> use of my fingers for other things, like reading Braille.
>>>
>>> Just my thoughts on the whole thing.
>>>
>>> Julie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Diabetes-talk mailing list
>>> Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>>> Diabetes-talk:
>>>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/sjryan2%40gmail.c
om
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Diabetes-talk mailing list
>> Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
>> Diabetes-talk:
>>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Diabetes-talk mailing list
> Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> Diabetes-talk:
>
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/sjryan2%40gmail.c
om
> 

_______________________________________________
Diabetes-talk mailing list
Diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Diabetes-talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/diabetes-talk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com