Diabetes Update – Januvia Prescription

April 21, 2009 by Lara
Filed under My Diabetes

First I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to send personal emails to me, comment on my posts, and reach out to me via Twitter… I love you all!

As you might recall, this morning I had my 6-week check-in with the doctor regarding my diabetes diagnosis that I got on March 9, 2009. I’ve got a few things to report, some good, others not so much.

I did lose 7 pounds since my last visit, 6 weeks ago. It’s not the numbers I was hoping for (or that my doc was hoping for) but it did prove to him that I’m taking this seriously, so that’s a good thing. He said a pound a week was okay for a normal person trying to lose weight, but he wanted to see a big initial drop, which I didn’t have.
My fasting blood sugar (FBS) was 194. That’s about 10 points higher than it was the last time, so I’m really kind of upset over that. I’ve been doing really well with limiting carb intake, despite a few wagon trips.

Because of the above two points, he’s put me on a prescription diabetes medicine called Januvia. It’s supposed to suppress the appetite, lower blood glucose levels, and all around help when used with diet and exercise to lose weight.

I’ve read about drugs like Metformin and Janumet (a combination of Januvia and Metformin) used as oral prescriptions for those with Type 2 Diabetes who are having troubles with just diet and exercise.

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been 110% perfect with the diet or the exercise, however I’ve got another appointment in 5 weeks for another blood sugar test and a check-in with the doc (May 26th). I’ve also set the appointment with the CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator) for May 6th.

I’ve re-dedicated myself to using SparkPeople to journal my food consumption – It’s got to be a permanent factor in my life right now, because when I don’t use it, I can pretty much safely assume that I’m going over the 1200-1400 calorie limit.

I’m also going to be forcing myself to get on the treadmill every day. I don’t care what it is that has me “busy” – there’s nothing as important to me as getting on that damn machine. Period.

So there you have it – Maybe I should be going to the doc once a week, for a weekly motivation boost?!? LOL

DrSugar Answers: Prediabetes and Blood Sugar Struggles (fitsugar.com)
Here’s the Skinny on our Brown Fat (friendseat.com)
With diabetes, eating pizza not always a treat (mayoclinic.com)
How to Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes (dietriffic.com)

Tags: Blood sugar, calories, Certified diabetes educator, Conditions and Diseases, Diabetes, health, Januvia, SparkPeople, Treadmill, weight loss

Diagnosis: Type 2 Diabetes. Now What?

March 26, 2009 by Lara
Filed under My Diabetes

7 Comments

March 9th, 2009 will forever go down in my life history as the day my health kicked my ass. No, I’m not dying. I’m actually feeling more alive and motivated and inspired than ever before in my near 32 years.

A Little Back Story

Two days prior to the “Day of Dawn” for me, I’d been sitting at my desk and noticed that my left hand had these weird, jerky twitches going on. Not like your everyday eyelid twitch or that rhythmic thumping twitch, no… it was the fingers on my left hand moving around in strange, unbalanced movements. I got a little weirded out so I called the doctor’s office and they set me up for a 2pm appointment.

Now, I need to explain here that prior to all of this mess, I’d never EVER been much of a breakfast eater. I’d wake up around 6 or 7 and drink coffee with 2% milk and equal until about noon-thirty before actually putting something in my mouth that required chewing. I had a feeling they were going to draw blood, so I didn’t even eat that day until after the appointment.

So by the time I got to the doctor’s office and the subsequent lab for a blood draw, I had gone 21 hours without anything but that day’s coffee in my gut. More on that thought later…

The next day I get the call that my doc wants to see me to go over the bloodwork results. Okay, so there’s clearly something wrong, since if everything were okay he’d have called to tell me that and told me to keep an eye on the twitching stuff and let him know if it gets worse or more frequent.

diabetes Diagnosis: Type 2 Diabetes. Now What? I go into the office and the PA comes in and asks me why I’m there. (In case you’re wondering, I’m not a big fan of any of the PA’s at this office, but whatever…) So I tell her and she leaves and comes back with that finger pricker thing but never says a word. I see her putting it together and I mention that I really hate it. Like, I have a ridiculous reflex against it, have since I was a kid. It’s uncontrollable by myself alone, so I’m hoping she can hold my hand steady enough.

She couldn’t. Or rather, she didn’t even bother to really try. She kind of cupped my finger in her hand like she was holding an egg.

I wound up with an inch long gash on my finger that wouldn’t stop bleeding for hours after I left the damn office.

Doctor comes in and tells me that my cholesterol levels are “perfect”, my proteins and all that other stuff are normal, but my blood sugar was really high, at 183. This slash test just now (also about 18 hours since the last time I’d eaten, by the way) showed 186. He was sending me for a Hemoglobin A1c, which tests for the percentage of sugar bonded to proteins in the blood, and which is a defining test for Type 2 Diabetes. He said that 6% or lower was normal, 6-7% was borderline, and 7% and above was definite T2.

So back over to the lab I go, pulling up the sleeve of the other arm and since I know the hematologist, having a discussion with her about how I’m now officially nervous.

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part

I came home and my mother came down to spend time with me. I made a stir-fry dinner with brown rice and we talked about all the things the doctor said. Basically what he told me was that right now, regardless of the test results, the only thing he wants me to focus on is a 1200-1400 calorie per day diet, low in carbs and zero refined carbs, and 30 minutes of exercise every day. Heart-pumping exercise that is, to get the heart rate up.

I’m thinking, “Okay, I can do this. I’ve been wanting to do this, and now I have to do this, and I can do this.”

So the next day I get a call from the doctor’s secretary or PA or whatever, and she tells me that my A1c came back at 10.6% and she is going to make me an appointment to see their CDE (Certified Diabetes Instructor). Um, but the doctor said he doesn’t want me on a meter, doesn’t want me stressing over anything at all, just to focus on calories, content, and exercise. I tell her this, and she says, “Well, let’s set you up with the appointment anyway and if the doctor says no, we can cancel it.”

That, folks, is another long story, but the bottom line is that I didn’t see the CDE, and when I spoke to the doctor about it the other day, he was fine with it.

So Here I Go

I’ve been tracking every morsel that goes into my body with SparkPeople and have really tried to get on the treadmill every day. I’ve not succeeded, but every single morning I tell myself that I’m going to do it. It’s been over two weeks, and I’ve lost 4 pounds thus far.

I’ll be writing about this whole process in great detail of course. My next appointment with the doctor is on April 21, 2009 but don’t worry, I’ve got lots to say even before then… ;)