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Author Topic: How Often Do You Check Your Blood Sugar Level  (Read 3501 times)
PrimeTimer
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« on: August 09, 2018, 12:29:02 PM »

My husband usually just eats breakfast and dinner but checks his blood sugar level 3-4 times a day. He's surprised by people who say they only check their sugar level once a day. He asks them what their blood sugar level looks like and then they can't answer or would rather change the subject. He only asks them if they are complaining of not feeling good. He says chances are they are checking their blood sugar once and then go about their day and not taking enough insulin, if at all. He's always shocked by the ones who don't take insulin because they either think they don't need to or are afraid of needles but yet there they are, sitting in a dialysis chair next to him complaining.
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Husband had ESRD with Type I Diabetes -Insulin Dependent.
I was his care-partner for home hemodialysis using Nxstage December 2013-July 2016.
He went back to doing in-center July 2016.
After more than 150 days of being hospitalized with complications from Diabetes, my beloved husband's heart stopped and he passed away 06-08-21. He was only 63.
kickingandscreaming
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« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2018, 03:50:14 PM »

I'm Type 2 and i don't check my BS at all.  And I don't take insulin.  So far I am well controlled by one/half of a pill daily (A1c= 6).  There is controversy about whether it is a good idea at all for type 2's to check BS frequently or at all.  Type 1 , I know is very different and you need to check BS frequently in order to calibrate insulin dose and check on highs and lows.
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Diagnosed with Stage 2 ESRD 2009
Pneumonia 11/15
Began Hemo 11/15 @6%
Began PD 1/16 (manual)
Began PD (Cycler) 5/16
Charlie B53
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« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2018, 03:44:13 AM »


6 months after I started PD I was dialnosed Diabetic and started both slow and fast insulin.  I tested and took LOTS of insulin, writing down EVERY test and shot, keeping a detailed record so I could see any pattern.

Turns out at that body weight I was quite insulin resistant, taking more than twice the insulin my Wife needed, and she is terrible.

With a constant fill on PD my stomach always felt compressed.  I couldn't eat near as much as I used to, which since I retired wasn't near what I neeeded and I had been steadily gaining over a 100 pounds in the five years previous.  With my 'reduced' diet I started losing weight.  After the first 50 pound loss my sugars started crashing.  Dr told me I had to start reducing my insulin, that my insulin resistance was fading.  That was Good!

2 years and 100 pound weight loss I no longer need ANY insulin, HOWEVER, I hardly eat processed carbs.  I mostly eat lean meats, fresh or frozen veggies and some fruit.  I seldom EVER drink any type of soda, maybe one or two cans a year.  Water, milk, or fruit juice.  Oh, and my one cup of coffee every morning.

My last A1C was 5.8  My Dr wants me to raise that to 6.2  I doubt it.

I consider myself VERY fortunate that I am as stable as I am.  I don't plan on changing anything.
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justagirl2325
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« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2018, 01:39:55 PM »

My husband was notoriously bad for checking his own blood sugar.  He hated the finger pricks.  He has had Type 1 since he was a kid and basically operated on how he felt.  He now wears the Freestyle Libre and can check his blood sugar by scanning instead of poking.  He loves it.
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PrimeTimer
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« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2018, 10:27:57 PM »

K&S:  My husband has late/slow onset Type 1.5 Diabetes, otherwise known as Latent Autoimmune Diabetes. He has to check his sugar level several times a day because his pancreas no longer produces any insulin (none at all). Glad you do not need insulin. It's a PITA for him to keep up with (needles, syringes, insulin, tester strips, lancets) but he does a good job. Congrats on having such a good A1C. You're obviously doing something right. Hubby's is at 5.2.


Charlie B:  We miss going out for Chinese food too! You might check out that Egg Fried Rice recipe on the Davita site. I add frozen stir fry veggies and sometimes thinly cut beef strips topped with a little sweet-n-sour sauce. And then for fun, we treat ourselves to a couple of fortune cookies I get from the grocery store. We call that our Chinese food nite. I know this sounds silly but instead of being down about it we look at it like "Well, we have a new dish to cook up and try" and then we have fun reading our fortunes afterwards. It's good fresh food and the recipe leaves plenty for leftovers. 


justagirl: Glad your hubby is having some luck with the Freestyle Libre. Seems that would be a popular choice. But I just read on their website that people on dialysis can't use it. They didn't say why. That's a bummer...seems like it would help out those who hate sticking themselves every day. 
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Husband had ESRD with Type I Diabetes -Insulin Dependent.
I was his care-partner for home hemodialysis using Nxstage December 2013-July 2016.
He went back to doing in-center July 2016.
After more than 150 days of being hospitalized with complications from Diabetes, my beloved husband's heart stopped and he passed away 06-08-21. He was only 63.
kickingandscreaming
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« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2018, 10:16:12 AM »

Since we're talking about diabetes and blood sugar, here's an interesting new article about hacking the pump.

Revolutionizing Life With Diabetes
DIYers used a security flaw to bypass the $8.3 billion insulin delivery business with a cobbled-together artificial pancreas.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-08-08/the-250-biohack-that-s-revolutionizing-life-with-diabetes?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email
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Diagnosed with Stage 2 ESRD 2009
Pneumonia 11/15
Began Hemo 11/15 @6%
Began PD 1/16 (manual)
Began PD (Cycler) 5/16
Paul
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That's another fine TARDIS you got me into Stanley

« Reply #6 on: August 11, 2018, 10:40:00 PM »

(I'm type 2 on both fast and slow insulin.) I used to be able to test just once a day, at dinner time (evening meal time) to decide how much fast acting insulin I needed to take. This was because my first two meals are light, and a combination of slow acting insulin (taken before breakfast) and kidney filtration was enough to remove the sugar those meals held. Since my kidneys crapped out to the extent that they were no longer removing a noticeable amount of sugar I have had to increase that to checking at every meal.
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Whoever said "God does not make mistakes" has obviously never seen the complete bog up he made of my kidneys!
PrimeTimer
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« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2018, 05:13:56 PM »

Use to work with a guy who never checked his sugar, ate whatever he wanted and despite a doctor telling him to, he refused to take insulin. Guess this explained his "brain fog". He said his grandfather never took insulin either and despite having both legs amputated, still got around pretty good in a wheelchair. He idolized the man. And so the guy would let his blood sugar get out of control until he "crashed" and ended up in the ER. He laughed telling me all this, saying that once he would be released from the hospital he'd go back home and (as he put it), start over again. To him it seemed to be some sort of game he was proud of playing. So no matter what, I guess he's never going to check his sugar and just use the ER. Except that one of these times he may not be released to go home and instead, be released to the morgue. I feel sorry for his wife. I thank god that my husband isn't like that. 

My husband recently lost a chair-mate at dialysis. He misses her. Everyone does. She didn't like to poke herself and didn't take insulin. She got a sore on her foot and it didn't heal. First they tried to just cut away the dead tissue but when it didn't heal, they had to take the foot. Few weeks after that she was gone. High blood sugar levels kill. Slowly. And painfully. Having high blood sugar prevents small wounds and cuts from healing and then infection settles in. Things go south very quickly after that.
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Husband had ESRD with Type I Diabetes -Insulin Dependent.
I was his care-partner for home hemodialysis using Nxstage December 2013-July 2016.
He went back to doing in-center July 2016.
After more than 150 days of being hospitalized with complications from Diabetes, my beloved husband's heart stopped and he passed away 06-08-21. He was only 63.
Charlie B53
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« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2018, 07:36:55 PM »


Wife wouldn't listen, had raging sugars for well over 20 years.  Only after she became blind and I began managing her insulin have we managed to get her within reasonable ranges.  But it was far too late for her eyes.  Long long ago when first diagnosed she switched to diet drinks.  I never liked the idea of her using that poison.  I am convinced that may have been a huge contributor to her developing water on the brain.  Daughter and I ended  up taking her to the ER 2 months ago, she had been in a Nursin g HOme since and not doing well.  Constant tremors whenever awake, refuses to eat more than a cup of fruit a couple of times a day.  I fear she won't ever recover well enough to come home.

Diabetus is terrible.  I am very fortunate to have lost as much weight as I have and my sugars are very well without requiring even any slow insulin.  I am very careful what and how much I eat to keep my numbers down.  It's a hard lesson to learn after a lifetime of eating whatever and large portions.
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PrimeTimer
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« Reply #9 on: August 13, 2018, 04:11:10 PM »

Charlie B:  Sorry about your wife's struggles. No doubt this puts a lot of stress and worry on you. Sounds like you've done your part and all that you can for her, so don't beat yourself up over it. Hopefully the medical care she's getting will help her recover but she's got to want it. Went thru something similar with my mother, she was stubborn all the way to the end and I do not know why. She was stubborn about everything but especially when it came to her health. Everyone bent over backwards to help her and she still refused to do her part. I am so glad that my husband is doing what he's suppose to do (and not do). He's real strict about his blood sugar and insulin. That's at least one less thing we have to worry about.   




self edited to add name of person I was responding to.
« Last Edit: August 13, 2018, 04:12:38 PM by PrimeTimer » Logged

Husband had ESRD with Type I Diabetes -Insulin Dependent.
I was his care-partner for home hemodialysis using Nxstage December 2013-July 2016.
He went back to doing in-center July 2016.
After more than 150 days of being hospitalized with complications from Diabetes, my beloved husband's heart stopped and he passed away 06-08-21. He was only 63.
justagirl2325
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« Reply #10 on: August 23, 2018, 11:53:05 AM »


justagirl: Glad your hubby is having some luck with the Freestyle Libre. Seems that would be a popular choice. But I just read on their website that people on dialysis can't use it. They didn't say why. That's a bummer...seems like it would help out those who hate sticking themselves every day.

Interesting, I wonder why?  We were only told about the product after the transplant.  We assumed it was because it had just come to Canada.  We order it online, we can't even buy it in any stores yet.
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