Thanks for asking, Tech. I'm still here and alive.
It's the time of year when I find myself staying inside the house more and more, trying to stay out of the killer heat. So, basically, it's work, home, sleep, work, home, sleep.
I need to get out and fight the lawn again. Finding the optimal time is critical, however, I have to work it in around the odd schedule of thunderstorms, which leave the grass and ground too wet for mowing; my work schedule, which includes too much weekend and evening time to leave time for mowing; and my chemically enhanced inability to tolerate heat and/or sunlight.
Add to that a wicked propensity to recurring leg cramps and extreme fatigue from the diabetes and you can figure that leave me about 15 minutes a week for yardwork -- at 3 a.m. alternate Thursdays.
I've been on the new combination insulin for a few weeks and have seen some small improvements in my morning blood sugar numbers. However, today I tested a couple of hours after lunch (and a nap, so undoubtedly my liver dumped out a bunch of sugar while I slept). Yeah, not so good. It was 415 at that point. I've only had one reading higher than that. These are scary numbers, if you don't know. But I feel "normal." Having some vision problems, but that's the only physical indicator I have that things are still sccrewed up.
Also I'm taking a mega-dose of Vitamin D once a week. A prescription formula of 50,000 units of vitamin D in a little green gel cap on Wednesday mornings. They only dispense these 4 at a time. Needless to say the medicine-taking routine is now at the point of being a ridiculous ritual. One pink, two yellow, one large white, one small white, a morning injection, an evening injection, another large white, and a greenie on Wednesday. And an occasional purple. GAH! Oh, and blood testing once or twice a day.
This doesn't even get into the food rituals of counting carbohydrates, etc.
Just the mental gymnastics that are required to keep all these plates in the air keep me from having the energy to focus on better things.
And I'm real certain I've just recently posted the exact same post.
In something completely unrelated:
The parable of the Prodigal Son has come up too many times recently to be mere coincidence. I think it would be safe to say I have heard four sermons using this as the text in three weeks. Each focused on a slightly different meaning to the story; however, it's resonating with me that I'm in need of "going home." I know where home is, and I need to get back to it. And soon. Where I am is not home. I will elaborate more when I can get myself back on the path to where I need to be. Sorry to be sort of cryptic but "the plan" for "going home" is not solid enough now to make public. Your prayers, however, are always appreciated for discerning such things. I've screwed up enough on my own.
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- Trixie
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7 comments:
Woohoo! A post! Glad to see it!
Sorry life is kicking you around. We need to lure life into a dark alley and beat on it a bit until it relents.
Have you tried cinnamon on your food? It's an amazing blood sugar controller. It helps your body be more sensitive to insulin. Here’s an article from DiabetesHealth:
Cinnamon
By Laura Shane-McWhorter, PharmD, BCPS, FASCP, BC-ADM, CDE
Nov 1, 2004
There is growing interest recently in the potential benefits of using cinnamon for treating diabetes.
Although cinnamon bark and cinnamon flowers are used medicinally, Chinese cinnamon, or Cinnamomum aromaticum, is the form used for diabetes.
The active ingredient in cinnamon includes the chemical hydroxychalcone, which might enhance the effect of insulin.
Specifically, hydroxychalcone may work on insulin receptors to increase insulin sensitivity and help promote glucose uptake into cells and tissues and promote glycogen (the storage form of glucose) synthesis.
Cinnamon has been used for type 2 diabetes and for gastrointestinal (GI) complaints, including flatulence, GI spasms, nausea and vomiting, and diarrhea.
Other common uses include treatment for common infections, the common cold, menopausal symtoms, rheumatic conditions, hypertension, angina and kidney disorders.
Cinnamon, of course, is a popular flavoring agent for foods and beverages and is a common ingredient in chewing gums, toothpastes, mouthwash, liniments, nasal sprays and suntan lotions.
Cinnamon may cause blood glucose to be excessively lowered when combined with agents that can cause hypoglycemia, such as sulfonylureas (Amaryl, glyburide or glipizide) or insulin. If you take any of these medications, your dose may have to be adjusted to prevent excessive lowering of blood glucose from reacting with cinnamon.
Note: There is a lot of exciting research underway evaluating the effects of cinnamon in type 2. When using cinnamon, it is important to check blood glucose frequently to make sure that it is not lowered excessively. If it is lowered too much, causing hypoglycemia (low blood glucose), contact your healthcare provider to discuss changing the dose of diabetes medications. Longer term effects on blood glucose control can be assessed by checking A1C levels.
Cinnamon Therapy for Type 2?
Eating Cinnamon Buns Isn’t the Answer!
In a December 2003 Diabetes Care study, cinnamon was found to improve glucose and lipids in people with diabetes. Sixty patients with type 2 who were taking a sulfonylurea (glyburide) were given one of three doses of cinnamon (1, 3 or 6 grams per day) or a placebo for 40 days.
Fasting blood glucose declined by 18 to 29 percent after 40 days in all three cinnamon treated groups. Specifically, 1 gram per day decreased glucose from 209 to 157 mg/dl, 3 grams per day decreased glucose from 205 to 169 mg/dl and 6 grams per day decreased glucose from 234 to 166 mg/dl.
Patients then went without any cinnamon for 20 additional days, but their fasting glucose was still lower than at baseline for the previously cinnamon-treated groups, indicating that cinnamon had a sustained benefit.
Furthermore, total cholesterol decreased by 12 to 26 percent, triglycerides decreased by 23 to 30 percent, and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol also declined from 7 to 27 percent.
Taking cinnamon did not improve HDL, the “good” cholesterol.
Barking up the Right Tree
Cinnamon comes from the bark of an evergreen tree that grows to more than 20 feet. The tree has white aromatic bark and angular branches. Its leaves are about 7 inches long, and it has small yellow flowers that bloom in early summer. The tree grows in tropical climates. The bark is removed in short lengths and dried.
There are no serious side effects associated with the use of cinnamon.
Hypoglycemia may occur; as a preventive measure, the dose of diabetes medications may have to be lowered by the healthcare provider.
Adverse effects include skin irritation or contact dermatitis, if used topically
Funny thing about cinnamon. I love it. And I have some cinnamon capsules I was taking just for this purpose, to see if they would make any difference.
Well, one morning I gulped down my pills, and the cinnamon capsule was the last of the bunch. I guess I was a little parched by the time I downed it, and I ran out the door on the way to work.
I got three blocks from the house and coughed. The cinnamon capsule exploded in my throat and a cloud of cinnamon jetted out of my nose! That stuff burns like the debil when you expel it that way! I did have to laugh, though, and wondered if I had any witnesses to the cloud.
I'm sorry things have been going so crummy for you lately, too.
You'll be in my prayers. :)
Trixie, I've done the capsules, too, and had similar things happen! The experts suggest that the best way to take it is to sprinkle it on your food. I have it on my oatmeal in the morning and sometimes sprinkle it on a salad or a hamburger. It adds an interesting taste to various good. And of course it's good on squash of all sorts.
Why would you sprinkle cinnamon capsules when you can just buy the loose cinnamon? :\
I's up in yankee territory near Cinncinati one time and them fellers puts cinnamon in they chili...course who's am I to call it weird bein' I kinda just wandered into these peoples house. As they was beatin me fiercely about the facial area, one of what had some chili renderins on his knuckles got a lil in my mouth...gotta say, it tasted a might bit good, though it was hard to tell with all the blood I was swallerin.
You might wanna try wild mushy rooms...I dont know how it does to yer blood sugars, but then again you probably wont be carin too much:)
prayers & good thinkins fer ya lil apron-wearin chicken lady:}
( lil drunk box word--CARBOLI-lol! )
This kind of stuff is serious as you already know. I take potassium to control the muscle cramps in that some of my diabetes/kidney medicines eat up potassium. When I get the balance wrong it is not good.
So take care, prayers are being sent up up for you.
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