everybody reads raymond

In the interest of sharing and explaining what happened to me, the following is from my first post to Diabetes International:

Posted: 1 October 2002 to diabetes_int@yahoogroups.com

I am 32 years old male and just learned of my condition when I was put into the hospital Thursday 19 September 2002 suffering from Ketoacidosis and blood sugars above 700.

In the past week or so I have had to learn and process quite a bit of new information: BG scores, different types of insulin, Type I vs. II, vision, feet, etc. Now, I am feeling a bit isolated because I am not Type I, not overweight (5'11" - 125lbs) and never really had a "sweet-tooth" or a poor diet. Perhaps I should have exercised a bit more, but that's it.

***For the curious, I went Keto after 5-6 months of a zero-low carb diet. I lost 20lbs (163 to 142) in 4 months. Then I lost 30lbs in 6 weeks (142 to 112) during a time when I put the carbs (high-sugar ones, big mistake) back into my diet because I was concerned about the beginnings of rapid weight loss. I didn't even hear the words Diabetes or Blood Sugar until I woke up in ICU.***

The Doctors are still tossing the coin over Type II vs. massive pancreas trauma and don't really buy into the theory that I will recover fully when my blood sugars balance out. They are of the mindset that I have been and un-diagnosed Type II for a few years.

However, I seem to be highly reactive to insulin and therefore not Insulin-Resistant. Indeed, the first few days after being discharged I had to drop my R + NPH dose by about 10-15% a day because I was going hypo about 4 times every 24 hours. Second, my pancreas is producing insulin. It just doesn?t know when or how much at the moment.

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

In the continued interest of sharing and explaining what happened to me, the following is my second post to Diabetes International. It was in reply to several responses to my original post and search for others like me.

While the communication was nice and the people were great, I didn?t manage to find anyone with a similar condition. Most diabetics are overweight. (Mom will probably jump in here with her chicken & egg theory.) But whichever side you take, that truth is my condition is a little different.

But, what should I have expected in only 1 day of searching, eh? So what if they have hundreds of active members.

Posted: 2 October 2002 to diabetes_int@yahoogroups.com

Hello all. I would like to thank everyone for responding. I can?t begin to tell you how happy it made me to see all the responses to my post this morning. I had a difficult and depressing night because I experienced very bad swelling in my legs and feet for the first time and it spooked me a little bit. (I go in tomorrow morning for a Comp Metabolic Panel to test the kidneys.) On a brighter side, my vision seems to be moving back toward its ?normal? state and it made it easier to read your posts. :-)

As for my eating habits (beginning 5-6 months ago) and my statement of being on a ?zero-to-low? carbohydrate diet, I seem to have sparked a debate ? prompting among other things, one poster to suggest an eating disorder on my part. Boy, you guys don?t pull punches. I like that.

Allow me to clarify a few statements: I am a very small framed person who is probably best suited for a weight range between 145-155lbs despite my height of 5? 11?. I was not out to drop more than 15-20lbs when I began eliminating carbs (which ones & how much in a second) from my diet last April. At the time I was nothing more than your average ?mostly healthy? 31-year-old male. I had an ?OK? figure that needed some time at the gym to put muscle back where it had once been at 18. I had no medical condition to speak of & definitely was NOT diagnosed as Diabetic. I had a fair amount of energy but got tired and worn out at the end of a long workweek ? due mostly to aging, so I thought. I had a reasonably healthy, low-fat diet that consisted mostly of poultry, fish, veggies, fruit & cheese. I had meat (red) maybe 2-3 times a month. I ordered Chinese, Sushi or NY-Style pizza take-out no more than once a week. I never ate dessert or sweets. I didn?t drink coffee or soda. And my exercise came in the fashion of outdoor sports ? hiking, biking or walking the streets of Manhattan. My vises were beer & peanuts but I never drank to excess and I stopped eating the peanuts when the bag was finished .

The reason for the change in diet was that I was tired of the few extra pounds in the belly and wanted to look better in a swimsuit. I also knew that I wanted to be in at least as good shape at 40 so I?d better start living like an healthy adult and workout/exercise more,..add weight training,..cut back on the cheese & crackers before bed, etc.

Then I noticed that some of my family members were having good success with Dr. A?s diet. They were dropping weight; feeling better and ?preaching? about all the reasons carbohydrates were not needed. So I tried it out. At first all I did was decide to have a veggie soup vs. a sandwich (bread) for lunch. Then I stopped drinking juice and was happy with flavored, sparkling water. More and more I started reducing the carbohydrate intake when I could easily find an alternative. And it worked!

Slowly but surely, weight started to come off and I had a ton of extra energy. I wasn?t tired after a meal and felt great. In the end, I was obviously eating some carbs ? those found in fruits & vegetables but I avoided most of those found in milk & starches as well as those in starchy vegetables. Looking back I would have to guess (and this is based on the diet information given to me by the nutritionist and looking back at what I was eating in a normal day) my total carb intake was probably no more than 50 grams a day during this period.

The health problems kicked in about mid-August, but I didn?t recognize it at first. Before I knew it, weight was falling off by about a pound a day. I didn?t even notice at first. I weighed myself and said, ?Humph, I haven?t been this low since before college.? When I went below 140lbs I didn?t think much of it but decided that I didn?t need diet restrictions any longer and put carbs back into my diet, big time. I added all the heavy starchy ones ? 1/2lb of pasta for dinner, a pile of mashed potatoes & corn-on-the-cob please, etc. When I dropped below 135lbs, I started to worry and tried eating more (2,200-2500 cal/day) - adding deserts for the first time in my life. I finished a meal with ice cream, cookies or cake ? anything I could get. When I slid into the 120+ range, I freaked. I went to a vitamin shop and bought weight-gain, calorie shakes. Less than 3 days later, I was taken to the hospital, DKA. That was Thursday, September 19th, 2002.

When I woke up on Friday in the ICU, they told me that I was a Diabetic.

I hope that clears the air a bit as to the ?Carb? issue. Thank you for letting me say by bit. :-)

I thought you would like to know how things are going and what the doctor said when I went in for my follow-up visit on Monday, 7 October 2002. It actually wasn’t so much a follow-up visit as it was a visit to discuss the results of a battery of tests I had done the previous Thursday due to fears of complications. I had swelling in my feet and legs Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday last week– a sign of potential kidney trouble. I still have swelling, but it is localized to just my ankles at the moment and a significant reduction at that.

The tests proved my kidneys to be fine and dandy. (We are still awaiting the results of a second test to confirm the health of my pancreas.) The swelling apparently is from lack of proteins in my blood stream and other bodily fluids. That’s not to say that I am not eating enough proteins in my diet, just that my kidneys are not processing them correctly at the moment. I guess it’s on the bottom of a long list. At any rate, the doctors don’t seem concerned. Indeed, they closed the appointment with, “OK. See ya’ in 6 weeks.” Six week! Are you kidding? I thought I was on a “fast-track” healing schedule. In six weeks I want(ed) to be trashing my finger pricker & insulin needles. Ugh!

However, I am sure you will appreciate the “brain-work” they loaded me with before leaving. I have been switched to different insulin – one with a quicker action time and less time effect on the body. This is the one that I take to cover meals, not the long acting Lantus that I take at night. The new one is called Novolog. Now here’s the fun part: I take a variable number of units with meals based on a percentage of carbohydrates I consume at said meal plus 1 unit for every 50 basis points I am above BG: 140. To make it more fun, each meal’s percentage is different: 8% at breakfast, 5% at lunch & 10% at dinner. Thus if I test BG: 156 @ 8:AM and have breakfast with 62.5g of carbohydrates then I would take 6 units (5 for the 6.25 * 0.8 + 1 for the 50 range above 140). Obviously I chose my numbers for example with care so that it would work out to an even number. In real life, that doesn’t happen and I have to round up or down based on a little guess work. Fun, eh?

One other interesting point about the dose of this insulin: because it works so quickly, you must calculate these totals and inject BEFORE you eat and you'd be wise not to leave uneaten food on the plate as the over-coverage will cause a post-meal crash. Neat o’.

The doctors said that they would have never given a formula to anyone “normal”. But because I keep such thorough notes and daily logs detailing all of my food intake and corresponding BG scores, they thought I could handle it. On average they usually tell some one to take X units at breakfast, Y units at lunch and Z units at dinner. They are then responsible to eat only so many carbohydrates per day over those three meals.

This is not the case for your agile minded Mr. Brown, complete with hip-side Palm organizer. He gets algebra and “carte blanche” to eat what he wants, when he wants. The really cool thing is that it works. On Tuesday I started using the formula to cover meals, but with the Regular insulin. I have not started using the Novolog yet because I have to get new syringe nibs for the delivery device – a pen-like thingamajig. With the formula, I started the day at BG:90, had 3 units with 36gCrbs at breakfast and was BG:92 two hours later. That’s perfect!

The added benefit to this new regimen is that I will be on far less insulin each day. On Sunday the 6th of October for example, I had 33 units (16 of which are the night-time Lantus). This was already about a 40% reduction from the levels I was on when discharged. But by Thursday or Friday, I should be on approximately 25-28 units with fewer (if not 0%) risk of crashing – something I have grown tired of doing. I have still been crashing about twice every 24hours despite the daily reduction in insulin levels.

Keep your fingers crossed and maybe I’ll kick this thing. I might be dreaming as the doctor is saying, “Let’s see where you are in six months.” Ah! 6 Months! What??? I thought you said six weeks – but that was just for a return check-up. Oh well. I will persist in my endeavors to be stronger that it. With luck, I will control my blood sugars, my mind & body and not the other way around.

Ugh! My whole life revolves around food at the moment. Before I eat I have to ask, "What am I going to have and how much insulin will I need to cover?" After I eat I have to watch the clock to see exactly when it is time to test to see if I was right about the insulin 2 & 3 hours later. Then its time to worry about eating again.

It's only 4:30PM and I have to start thinking about what I'm going to have for dinner @ 7:30-8PM, what I might need now as a snack and if I will spike my sugars in the mean time.

Plus, grocery shopping is a bitch. It takes too long. I have to read every product label and hunt for some foods that I can have anytime (low carb) and others that have higher carb levels so that I can re-build my broken system.

If the doctors tell me that I have a high cholesterol level and need to start watching that in addition to the calories, fat, carbohydrates & protein + the BG scores, I’ll scream. ...and probably “go postal” in the grocery store due to frustration and lack of edible food.

I just realized that I have a very easy time counting the numbers of things that I eat; say 18 grapes or 30 french-fries. You see, I’ve been doing it my whole life. The reason is that I have always been slightly “special” we’ll call it – autistic, savant, obsessive compulsive, etc. I don’t know what it is but in a normal day I count everything. When walking to the store I find myself subconsciously counting the number of footsteps I take. When I drink water (or any non-alcoholic beverage) I count the number of “gulps” and usually try to time it to finish on and even number (8 or 12). Believe it or not, that actually includes the last swallow – you know the one you take when you have already removed the glass from your mouth but there is still liquid floating around. (I’m scaring you now, right?)

The funny thing is, I don’t even know that I’m doing it most of the time. But sometimes I’ll realize that I have sequential numbers ticking off in the back of my head. It’s then that I realize that I have been counting the safety reflectors on the highway or the number of times a leaky faucet has dripped.

It all has to do with patterns. I like counting patterns. I don’t bother with such mundane and time consuming things as the number of times someone used the word “Fantastic!” in a conversation. Nor do I count the number of petals on a flower or the number of people that walk by. But I might count the number of steps each one takes as they cross the road.

For the concerned: It’s not like I remember these numbers or keep some sort of special log. Ask me how many stairs there are leading up to my apartment and I couldn’t tell you but I know that my brain has counted them every single time.

The point is that the other night I was permitted 20-25 french-fries at dinner. I had 30. (Some of them were small). But I knew exactly how many I had and didn’t need to count them out before hand or eat them one-at-a-time. I just ate my dinner. My “counting” brain knew.

It was kind’a nice to be able to just relax and have dinner. I didn’t have to focus on food or whether or not I was going to exceed my carbohydrate limit. Cool – eh?

I give up! Modern medicine is still in the dark ages if you ask me.

None of this makes any sense. How can I be taken to the hospital three weeks ago DKA – blood sugars above 700 and now be suffering from occasional hypoglycemic episodes? Shouldn’t we ASSUME that my pancreas is trying to work but the insulin is doing its job instead and that’s why I crash? Hasn’t anyone noticed that I was on 52+ units a day when I left the hospital and yesterday I took only 26 and still crashed? I will probably be on only 20-22 before the weekend is over. And lest ye all be afraid, this is not on a low-carb diet. I am eating about 225-250g/day.

And that’s what kills me the most. Whenever I ask a doctor about something like crashes or swelling their response is to eat more. Well I’m eating a little over 2000cals/day, about 60gFat, 250gCarbs & 80-100gPro. I have gained approximately 5lbs a week (exactly the same rate that I lost it, by the way). What more do they want? I am obviously eating, and healthily at that.

Now, if you ask them how many grams or protein SHOULD be in a diet, they say, “Have 4-6 servings of lean meat a day”. Well if you actually count the amount of protein that exists in 4-6 servings of meat (which includes red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, cheese and some items like beans or tofu) then it adds up to 28-42 grams a day @ 7 grams a serving. I’m having 80-100 a day! Do these people read the material they give out to their patients?

Not to blow smoke up my butt, but I’m smarter than your average bear. I can’t imagine what Joe the gas jockey thinks about his Type I/II condition.

Send help.

Damn! Damn! Damn! I talked with Dr. Moktan to discuss the fact that my feet were still swollen (for a total of 10 days and counting). During our conversation she informed me that my GAD results had come back positive for antibodies. This is not good news. It means that my body’s immune system is producing proteins to help get rid of an infection or some other substance it thinks doesn’t belong – in this case my pancreas. This was the second of two tests. The first one came back negative for antibodies. That was good news and showed that my pancreas is working – just not very well at the moment.

What she didn’t explain was what “we” do about the results of the GAD test. I didn’t have the wherewithal to ask her, as I was a tab set back by her report – not to mention her explanation that my feet were still swollen because I was obviously lacking proteins. She did offer that it was probably not my diet (Dr.A’s) that “caused” this to happen because people don’t just start developing antibodies against their pancreases unless they are diabetic or pre-diabetic. Ugh!

And to make it all the more fun, she said that with everything as it was coupled with the side effects of positive GAD, low body weight, malnutrition and hypoglycemic tendencies I am most likely a TYPE I diabetic. Apparently, Type 2’s are the overweight people and Type 1’s are thin. Now I’m totally confused and need to reconsider much of the information I have processed in the past three weeks and one day.

I’ll update all when I know more.

My word did I have a BIG breakfast this morning! Here’s what I ate:

1 New York Bagel (Large – 4oz)
320Cals---3gFat---30gCarb---4gPro

1/2 w/Tomato & Cream cheese
90Cals---7gFat---4gCarb---1gPro

1/2 w/Sugar-Free Jelly
10Cals---0gFat---4gCarb---0gPro

Deli Ham (4oz)
60Cals---1.5gFat---1gCarb---10gPro

Banana (Sm-M)
80Cals---0gFat---18gCarb---0gPro

1/2 Orange (M)
35Cals---0gFat---9gCarb---0gPro

Apple Juice (1/2cup or 4oz)
55Cals---0gFat---13gCarb---0gPro

Glucerna Shake (1cup or 8oz)
220Cals---8.5gFat---29gCarb---10gPro

I also had decaf coffee w/1% milk, water & my daily vitamins (with include a Multi, C, Calcium, Coral Calcium, Siberian Ginseng & St. John’s Wort).

TOTALS for Breakfast:
870 Calories (Almost 900! – x3meals = 2,600+/day)
20g Fat (Awesome for 870Cals – x3 = 60g/day)
108g Carbohydrate (Wow! That's big. I needed 9 units to cover.)
25g Protein (This is right on target.)

I’m full. :-p

I went out to dinner last night!

It may not seem like much but it was a big deal to me. First, I had to calculate what I “might” eat and what I would need to cover (insulin) before going out. It was also the first time I had gone out since being released from the hospital. While it wasn’t the first time I had left the security of my apartment during a “food hour” it was the first time I had been to a restaurant with my insulin gear.

Prior to that I had been to a backyard birthday dinner, but that’s a little different. Just being out of the house did spook me though. I brought several more syringes than I needed and all my insulin – even the stuff I am only supposed to take before bed. In the even of some global catastrophe that prevented me from returning to my apartment I wanted to be sure I had my meds.

Last night, Sunday, was Mexican at a little place called Mezcal’s on Court Street. It went swell. I brought my new “magic marker” insulin delivery device and nothing more. I kind’a new what I was going to have (Fajitas for protein) and had already decided what I would need to cover. So all that I needed to do was take a brief visit to the men’s room when I knew the food was on its way.

And that’s how it happened. There were no screaming babies. There were no mothers shielding their child’s eyes from the heroine addict. And there was no third-degree from the owner of the restaurant or from the policemen he might have called. Equally, I didn’t pass out in the bathroom or drop my syringe down the toilet by mistake. All these fears have been dismissed and I had a good time.

I am confident that I can start enjoying the restaurant life I love. But next time I want to eat real food, not a 10,000 calorie Mexican meal.

I have been experiencing some interesting changes in my overall BG scores for the past few days. On average they suddenly dropped, and dramatically at that.

11 Fri – 119.6
12 Sat – 115.5
13 Sun – 113.2
14 Mon – 110.5
15 Tue – 83.6
16 Wed – 95.0
17 Thu – 86.2

While this shows a steady drop over time, it’s the last three that are important. Bam! I dropped 15-25 BG points overnight Monday to Tuesday and have stayed that way. Since Tuesday morning I have had 6 out of 17 scores above 100 – and even then they were low: 103, 105, 100, etc. I’m still highest in the morning (the 3 other scores) but on average that has dropped from day to day as well.

What’s even stranger is that I have also lowered my insulin by 10 units/day over the same stretch. On Monday I had 28 total units. Yesterday, Thursday, I had 18. Funky, eh?

I’m not quite sure what to make of it all yet, or even if it will stay this way. Perhaps I have made some adjustment to my diet that only careful examination will tell. What I do know is that its getting kind of stupid that I have to add a 50 calorie cookie with 6 grams of carbohydrates to my lunch just so that I can take 2 units of insulin vs. 1.5 – a number I can’t draw out in a syringe or dial-up in my Novolog Pen.

Is 10% of something better than nothing? It seems the doctors may know what they are doing...but I’m not holding my breath.

My levels have bottomed out and the day-to-day insulin reduction has (nearly) stopped. I guess this is good for my body and my daily routine but I had hoped for more.

I really wished that it the daily drop would have continued until I was on almost no insulin and could therefore cut it out all together. Alas, I have settled in at about 10% of my total daily carbohydrate intake. This includes the combination of Lantus“ and Novolog“. If I drop the Lantus overnight, my morning scores are higher and I need more Novolog with meals. On the flip side, the more Lantus I take at night, the lower my overall scores are throughout the day and I need less Novolog to cover meals.

I don’t know but this could be where an oral medication could play a roll. If there is a pill-form medication that could take the place of the overnight Lantus then I might not need the Novolog or injections of any kind. That would be nice.

Of course, I would probably have to “really” watch my carbohydrate intake, making sure not to exceed 60-80g/meal but I do that now anyway. We’ll see in a month.

More on 10%...

However, I can see one major problem with oral medication. If it provides a “steady” dose of insulin-stuff, it probably wouldn’t fit my eating habits. I will have 1,200 calories w/120g of carbohydrates one day and 1,900 w/215g the next. I would imagine that to be difficult to manage without having some way to adjust my daily dose.

14-day average is 109!

I feel so unmotivated today. I have web publishing to do, business that needs attention and doctor appointments to make...eyes, feet & general follow-up with the doctors that signed my release from hospital. Plus I have a ton of housework items like replacing the light in the kitchen and finding a place for all my diabetes paraphernalia – syringes, Novolog needle nibs, insulin pamphlets, alcohol swabs, etc.

But on a good note, my scores are very NORMAL. I must be managing my sugars well. I guess the gym workouts should get some credit too.

On a hunch I decided to drop my Novolog dose this morning. . . Last night I finished dinner around 7:30 and had taken N3 to cover 38g of carbohydrates and a pre-meal BG of 86. This level of Novolog insulin was 7.9% of my carbohydrate intake. That’s right about where I should be.

When I had my last Endocrine Clinic appointment, they told me:

8% - breakfast
5% - lunch
10% - dinner
+ 14 Lantus at bedtime

In the last two weeks I have dropped that a little:

7% - breakfast
5% - lunch
8% - dinner
+ 10 Lantus at bedtime

It’s not much of a drop but it represents 6-10 units a day depending on my carbohydrates & calories.

Anyway, 1.5 hours after dinner last night, I crashed – hard. I went to BG: 50. That shouldn’t happen. I did everything by the book and have kept strict records. There had been no change in pattern, except for two things: I usually eat more than 38g at dinner – more like 60-70. And I don’t usually check my blood sugars an hour after eating. So perhaps I have been going low(ish) on bigger meals but just didn’t notice before because it wasn’t that low and I didn’t check. -- ??? The test: Novolog drop.

So, I woke this morning with a BG of 78 having only taken 9 Lantus overnight. With breakfast (65.5g carbs) I took only 3 units of Novolog, or 4.5%. That’s not quite half of what I should normally take. If I am right, my sugars will go up, but not that high. Next, I'm hoping that if I go to the gym, any level above 120 will be reduced via exercise. Assuming this works, I will attempt similar drops for lunch & dinner. We’ll see what happens. I’ll let you know.

The "drop" (reduction for those confused = Mom) in Novolog didn't work out all that well. My BG scores were all over the place and I may have screwed up a good system because I continue to fluctuate the way I was two weeks ago.

It didn't start out all that bad. In fact, I thought I was really on to something. I started out a little on the low side at before breakfast, but not bad. I took 4.5 (vs 8%) at breakfast and did spike an hour later - something I expected.

The spike was reasonable though for only an hour after eating @ 176. That was followed by 151 at two hours - just slightly about the high limit of 140 I should seek at two hours (the low limit being 70). I had actually gotten to the point of 80-120, a normal level, in the past but threw caution to the wind with this test. Opps!

The real kicker came when I added the exercise that I had planned. After 20 minutes of cardio and an hour of weights I came home to test @ 53! Wow, a 100 point drop! How did that happen? It was four (4) hours after eating. The insulin (Novolog) SHOULD have worn off by then, leaving me with a score higher than that.

So, I said, "What the heck? I'll take nothing with lunch. What's the worst that'll happen?" How about 188, 167 & 147 at 1hr, 2hrs & 3.5hrs after eating? That's what happened.

But because I like challenges, I tried 4.5% at dinner again as I had done with breakfast. That kind'a worked as I didn't change from the 140ish number I registered just before eating and 2hrs later.

The end result: I still took a total of 15 units of combined insulin to average out at BG: 137.7 for the day. What was the point? If I had scored that as an average with only having taken 5, 7 or 9 units then I would have been impressed. As it is, I have put my system through unnecessary spikes & lows with little to show for its sacrifice.

So, what did I do? I tried it again this morning of course! I just used slightly higher percentages. I want to kick this thing, man. It still didn't work out the way I wanted but it was better - Ave. BG for Friday: 114.2 (but on 20 units).
I'll figure it out - hopefully.

Will Cross a high school principal in Pittsburgh travels around the world to raise awareness for diabetes. NY1 - Diabetic Walk to South Pole

The NovoLog Ultimate Walk to Cure Diabetes will embark on its journey across the Antarctic in November 2002. The Novolog Ultimate Walk

On the 14th of November 2002 it was 8 weeks since I was taken to the hospital DKA a near coma. Since that time I have learned quite a bit about diabetes (both Type I & Type II) as they still don't know how to label me, believe it or not. I am hoping that on Wednesday when I go in for my 6 week (since last) follow-up clinic that they will have a better answer to this much sought after category.

Many might think that it doesn't really matter all that much. Either I take insulin or I don't. But its not that simple. The treatments may look similar on the surface but the long term solutions and "headaches" are very much different. In a Type I situation, you might as well remove your pancreas as it would serve better as a hood trophy for your car. In a Type II situation, you want to be careful to give the weak pancreas a chance to heal - unfortunately this is often in spite of other endocrine systems attacking it. Think of it as a "transplant" where the donor's organ is being rejected.

The real knuckle ball in my situation is that I fit the profile for a Type I. I am young, thin & healthy with good eating habits. The conflict is that I'm too old for Type I - often called juvenile diabetes. It should "hit" in the early 'teens at the latest. On the flip, I don't fit the profile for Type II at all. They tend to me overweight, over 50, have poor diets and some other health condition that adds to the weakness. It has been suggested, by Type Is that recover, that there is a 3rd classification - thin Type IIs, but the medical profession dismisses this as readily as a "curing the clap with OJ" suggestion. I'm not sure if the latter will work, but you see what I mean.

Anyway, I hope to lick this - either by beating it into submission or by natural "time" healing. We'll see & I'll update on Wednesday or Thursday as to what the black witches (doctors) say. :-)

I am pathetically depressed and overwhelmingly disenchanted with the medical establishment.

Today's visit to the Endocrine clinic was akin to going to a drive-thru staffed by drooling, paraplegic six-year-olds and one dyslexic nanny. The blood test I had done a week ago was lost, as was my medical file. And to top it off I am still pending for Medicaid. But that doesn't stop the bills from coming. They now top $40K. I think it would be cheeper for me to have some cotton candy, a hot fudge sundae and a Snickers bar. (<-- Check 'em out. They're fun links.)

I have been working for the last six weeks toward some hope of improvement. I have poked, prodded & stabbed every inch of virgin flesh. I have recored 210 test strips, logged 672 items of nutritional data and wasted countless hours on the net looking for answers. In the end, they couldn't tell me squat. So I did what I do. I went to a book store and here's what I found out:

I'm Type I - period. Late onset, yes. Uncharacteristic, yes. Unlike 90% of people with diabetes, yes. Unlike 90% of the people with Type I diabetes, yes. But I am Type I nonetheless. It seems that in extremely rare cases someone can actually "trigger" the disease by way of "free radicals" in the system or by a virus that has weakened the system. When this happens the immune system kicks in and starts attacking things it thinks are foreign. In my case it was my pancreas and my immune system started producing antibodies to attack it. What I didn't know, but learned while book shopping, is that once you start producing those antibodies you don't stop. That's it. Stick a fork in him. The best that I can hope for is a long Honeymoon phase but that's not too likely. Instead, I will just have to start dealing with the fact that I am now and due in large part to a poorly chosen diet, insulin dependent.

On a brighter side, I did find a book I liked called Natural Treatments for Diabetes.

Quote: "Although people with Type I diabetes must take insulin injections for life, with natural therapies it is possible to reduce insulin requirements." [source].

I'm not sure how this will effect me as I am on a relatively low insulin regimen as it is - maybe 18 to 20 units a day when eating a full diet. For comparison, the typical diabetic (if there is such a thing) needs approximately 40 to 60 units a day. Although I must be realistic and question if I'm not already in the Honeymoon phase. Either way, I plan on making good use of this book and its offerings.

There's hope! But, I'll have to wait, unless I follow Mom's move and seek a European option. Read Wired News: Stem Cells Key to Diabetes Cure

TIME Asia: Silent Killer - So, Diabetes stikes big. Best let the doctors of the world do something about it and quick. Read page 4 of this article,...sure sounded like me.

Few have done so as successfully as Wasim Akram. His first hint that something was amiss came in 1997 when he found himself rapidly losing weight. He felt weak and tired, craved desserts and kept waking at night to urinate. A doctor in Lahore diagnosed him with Type 1 diabetes and told him to go on insulin at once. “I was very down,” says Akram. “I had heard diabetes only happened to obese people. I'm not fat.” Indeed, at the time, Akram was a world-class athlete, a man of 30 and at the height of his career as a fast bowler for Pakistan's national cricket team.

But Akram refused to let diabetes beat him. After three weeks, he was back on the field. He tested his sugar levels 10 times a day, pricking a hole in each finger to draw blood. He injected himself with insulin three times daily and ratcheted up his fitness regimen, heading to the gym for two hours a day. “I learned that the best way to control the sugar levels is to exercise,” he says. Akram also came to quickly recognize signs that he is weakening. “I start sweating and feel hungry,” he says, “and I have a chocolate on the boundary line.” Only when he's bowling does he miss an insulin shot, since the exertion burns off enough sugar to keep his body functioning without medication.

His efforts have paid off. In 1999, just two years after being diagnosed with diabetes, Akram captained Pakistan to the World Cup finals. Today, he reigns as one of the game's all-time greats: only three bowlers in the history of test-match cricket have taken as many wickets. Next year, Akram plans to retire from cricket and focus increasingly on educating people about diabetes. He's already traveled throughout Pakistan, as well as to Australia and England, to speak about combating the disease by living healthily. “People listen to me,” he says. “They think: If he can do it, so can we.” TIME Asia: Silent Killer

Many thanks to ::soy sauce and garlic:: for this link. How I have waited to hear of another like me!

OK, folks. Thanks to Mom's tireless research and my constant pestering of the clinic doctors - although they proved to be useless and under-informed - it has been determined that I have LADA: Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults

Researchers estimate about ten percent of adults with type 2 diabetes may actually have LADA. Doctors should suspect LADA when type 2 patients fail to respond to diet, exercise, and medications (hypoglycemic agents) within two to three years of their diagnosis, particularly when patients are younger and non-obese. It?s important to start insulin therapy as soon as it?s needed to keep blood sugar levels under control and reduce the risk of complications from diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is usually seen in overweight patients, LADA can occur in adults who are of normal weight and have no family history of the disease. From: HealthBeat: Adult Type 1 Diabetes ? By: Rebecca Somach

Diamyd Medical (Reuter: Diam.st) is developing a GAD vaccine for insulin-dependent diabetes. The company reports that patient recruitment has been concluded, that all the patients have now received two vaccinations and that no negative safety indications have been reported for the vaccine so far.

"We are now entering the final phase of our double-blind Phase II study. A few complementary vaccinations will be undertaken in February and we plan to issue a report of the results of the study in six to seven months," says CEO Anders Essen-Möller. "

The first application of the diabetes vaccine is to prevent GAD-antibody positive diabetes patients being treated with tablets (so-called LADA patients) from developing insulin-dependent diabetes. From: News Online - Diamyd Medical - Press Releases

Some other very useful links concerning LADA are below:

A long winded overview: LATENT AUTOIMMUNE DIABETES IN ADULTS (LADA) ? OVERVIEW, EPIDEMIOLOGY, CURRENT ISSUES

A quiz with no wrong answers: Diabetes Mellitus Series

Medical Hope: LADA - Not just a slow motor vehicle but also an important subtype of slow onset diabetes type 1 in the adults

OK, folks. Thanks to Mom's tireless research and my constant pestering of the clinic doctors - although they proved to be useless and under-informed - it has been determined that I have LADA: Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults Researchers estimate about ten percent of adults with type 2 diabetes may actually have LADA. Doctors should suspect LADA when type 2 patients fail to respond to diet, exercise, and medications (hypoglycemic agents) within two to three years of their diagnosis, particularly when patients are younger and non-obese. It’s important to start insulin therapy as soon as it’s needed to keep blood sugar levels under control and reduce the risk of complications from diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, which is usually seen in overweight patients, LADA can occur in adults who are of normal weight and have no family history of the disease. From: HealthBeat: Adult Type 1 Diabetes • By: Rebecca Somach:

Diamyd Medical (Reuter: Diam.st) is developing a GAD vaccine for insulin-dependent diabetes. The company reports that patient recruitment has been concluded, that all the patients have now received two vaccinations and that no negative safety indications have been reported for the vaccine so far. “We are now entering the final phase of our double-blind Phase II study. A few complementary vaccinations will be undertaken in February and we plan to issue a report of the results of the study in six to seven months,” says CEO Anders Essen-Möller. “ The first application of the diabetes vaccine is to prevent GAD-antibody positive diabetes patients being treated with tablets (so-called LADA patients) from developing insulin-dependent diabetes. From: News Online - Diamyd Medical - Press Releases

Some other very useful links concerning LADA are below: A long winded overview: LATENT AUTOIMMUNE DIABETES IN ADULTS (LADA) – OVERVIEW, EPIDEMIOLOGY, CURRENT ISSUES Medical Hope: LADA - Not just a slow motor vehicle but also an important subtype of slow onset diabetes type 1 in the adults

Its been ten months since I succumbed to the crushing blow of LADA and went KETO. Today I have a blood test to gauge my progress toward normal sugar levels and the overall health of my endocrine system. I feel good about it as I tested at 109 this morning and have a fourteen day average of 113. That's very good, nay perfect and should reflect in the metabolic panel and hemoglobin A1C. Here's to health.