Hey, I am a person with type one diabetes that is pretty much out of control. It's a long story to how I got here, so I'll spare you. My current situation is this: Everyday I maybe check my blood sugars once or twice and when I do insulin I don't usually do it the right way. The last time I was at clinic my A1C was like 10.5. My goal is to first get it down to nine, and then from there get it to seven. For now, I'm just trying to get in four numbers a day and do my insulin right. I know I can fix things because I have before, the problem is just keeping things good when I get there. So does anyone have any ideas at where I should start? Once I get my A1C lower, what should I do to keep myself motivated to keep it there? Also, does anyone have success stories that start out similar to mine? It would be great to read some for encouragment...thanks!
Where Should I Start?
Hi, Becca,
It really is great that you recognize how important it is to lower your A1C, and that you have goals for managing your blood sugars better and also that you are asking for help! I know too many people who just try to ignore their diabetes and don't even make the effort to do better. So, kudos to you!
Maggie is right that writing things down can be very helpful. Sometimes when I feel like my diabetes is getting out of control, I track my blood sugars, carbs, exercise and insulin on a chart for just a week. Not only does the chart help me identify patterns and relationships between certain foods/insulin doses/blood sugars, it also gives me a sense of power and control over my diabetes management. Knowing that I have to write down how many carbs I ate for breakfast and how much insulin I took at that meal makes me count the carbs more accurately (does that make sense? haha) and calculate the insulin more carefully. The chart really makes you accountable for every insulin dose and every bit of food you consume.
Try making a chart (you can find pre-made charts from glucometer companies like OneTouch and Accu-Chek, or ask your doctor), and write everything down for just a week. I bet it will help you enforce good diabetes habits, such as checking your blood sugar every time you eat and counting carbs at every meal.
Come back and post on the site to let us know how it goes!
Becca,
I am about twice your age, but I think I may be able to share something (yes even us adults do sometimes make some sense.)
I will start off by saying, that you realizing you have to get your A1c under control is very important. That being said, lets get started. Your BG numbers are a snapshot of what your #s are at that moment of time. Depending on what you ate, how your feeling, what your physical activity is. For your insulin shots this is very important to know what your blood is doing, so you don't give yourself too much or too less, or too keep you from going hypoglycemic. Where as your A1c is a overall look going back 4 months. It measures the amount of hemoglobin in your blood stream, hemoglobin is a protein that is used to transport oxygen to the body. It hitches a ride in red blood cells. It is a protein, and it will hang out with glucose (sugars) Since diabetics tend to have to much glucose, it is easy to see what percentage of these cells have hooked up with hemoglobin. Now why is it that is a 4 month average? Because red blood cell live for about 4 months and then die off. so the test results give you an overview of whats going on. It is an average, so you get a better sense of how well (or not) your doing. An A1c of 5% (5.0) is considered normal ( I was an 8.2 when I was diagnosed), Ideally most Drs would like to see under 6.5%. OK now that you know how it works, how can you get it down. Your reading of 10 says that your average BG #s are in the area of about 240. That is about twice what they should be. You really need to pay attention to what your eating, and making sure your taking your shots as recommended. But there are some tips that can help you to get that number down.
First, do your daily BG# tests as directed by your Dr. Try to do them at the same times every day. I know a couple of teen age diabetics and I know this is not always the case (trust me I am not perfect either---no one is) but try to be consistent. Try to stay away from the bad stuff i.e. candy, reg sodas, alcohol! Make sure you are eating consistently through out the day to keep your levels as normal as possible. Take your shots as directed! No messing with this one! Now that will help, but what I found ( I went from 8.2 to a 5.1 in 4 months) really helped is by using your hemoglobin to your advantage. Hemoglobin is produced as when you do any kind of cardio exercise. One of the byproducts of endurance type sports is more capillaries are created in muscle to feed them and the body creates more hemoglobin to help with the increase. As a young lady you should also be making sure you are taking in enough iron (especially during that "time of the month") Iron helps to produce red blood cells, so make sure your eating iron rich foods (spinach, broccoli, almonds, kidney beans, oatmeal, cinnamon, lean beef, chickpeas, seafood like clams, mussels, oysters ...you get it I am sure you can google a list up) by making more red blood cells, you have the ability to transport more hemoglobin, which means you will be able to exercise for longer durations, which means you will eat up excess BG, which will now have more hemoglobin to attach itself to. Having all this available red blood cells and hemoglobin, means that you increase there volume, so the % that attach itself (glycates) will lower, meaning lower A1c #s. I don't know if you have any exercise plan or not, but you think about getting one (consult your Dr) look to about 30-60 minutes of medium intensity (you should be sweating) about 5 days a week. This in conjunction with your diet will mean that your daily #s should stay tighter, which in turn will cause your A1c to drop. Exercise is not always pleasant but it is that little "afterburner" to keep our BG #s in check.
Currently there are some diabetes educators, endocrinologists and experts who are trying to make the A1c test a more definitive way to diagnose diabetes or at least to see if a diabetic is within control. This is more the case for Type IIs. But test results for A1c can vary from test to test or lab to lab, so consistency in making sure you go to the same lab is important. Because of this, some experts feel that using the test to ascertain what is going on may not be a good idea.
I hope I helped.
Hello :)
I think Maggie, Svati and Tony did an awesome job already, but I wanted to leave you with a couple of links for some further inspiration!
"I own my diabetes!" - Roxy's determined for better control.
"Just for today" - for a little boost in your day :)
"Let's just practice" - you don't have to be PERFECT!
"A little too much ice cream..." - I don't do it perfectly always either.
Either way, there's a lot of information on all of these comments. And the first step is LEARNING more about how YOUR body and YOUR blood sugar responds to different things -- which means: you've gotta start writing things down for a little while (like Svati suggested) and keeping track of the little details! It pays off in the end! I promise! I don't have to think at all about my insulin dose when I eat certain types of meal or when I bolus before exercise, etc. I just know because a while ago I paid really close attention and figured out the little details.
I know you can do it! And I know it's worth it!
-Ginger ;p
Hey Becca my name is Jenny. When i was diagnosed 5 months ago i think my a1c was 12.0, or a little more. Everybody tells me I'm well in control of my blood sugars. So now i'm going to tell you how to get better control. Okay well i check my sugars 4 times a day, or when ever i eat. Also i excercise usually just walk after i eat. Don't think you have to eat healthy now because i don't.
So just check your blood sugar more often, and excercise more too.
Hey everyone who replied to my post. THANKS! Thank you all so much. As I have been exploring this sight, I just have been finging more and more awesome stuff! Your replies has really helped me know where to start and how to go about it...you guys gave me lots of really useful info! I just started keeping a journal of food and exercise and stuff like that. I'm going to start "experimenting" as Ginger says, and eat better and exercise more to figure out how my body handles things and just to be healthy. Thanks again! I'm sure I will be hearing from you guys again...
Becca
Write everything down, when you are struggling just looking at those awsome numbers you had when things are under control, will help you out.
Play a game with yourself, this is what helps me. Try to beat your last score(bg/a1c#)
Try to get that # a little bit lower, think of how proud it will make you, your parents and even your doctor.
Then reward yourself with a new shirt or fitness/health mag! Even a movie and spa day at home with your girlfriends, put a few dollars in a jar everytime your # are at your current goal and after every month of sticking with it and doing good spend that cash on something awsome!
But if your # go up take a few dollars out!
Keep it fun and interesting and challenge yourself, just keep it healthy!
Good Luck!! You'll do fine!
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Hey Becca,
I know you're in a really tough situation--diabetes is really hard! You've taken a really important first step in asking for some help.
In the past when my blood sugar is out of control, which usually happens during summer vacation when I'm out of the usual routine, it helps me to write things down. For example, make a simple chart where you can check if you've taken your insulin or checked your BS at a certain time.
I also mentioned a "usual routine." For me, this means checking my blood sugar the moment I roll out of bed, before I go to 2nd period class, on the bus home from school, etc... Even though it can be tough to initially get into the routine, once you do, this routine will hopefully become the "new normal." So the bottom line is: never fear, try to keep persistent with your D and it'll be easier to work towards your goals.
BTW, I think it's really amazing and important that you have goals for your management. It's so much easier to quantify change and improvement in the form of numbers.
Feel free to ask me if you have any questions! I hope I've been helpful.
Maggie