amputation

[VanDamage]

ok i got off the honeymoon and havent been under 200 last 2 weeks till i fig out my insulin dosage but im wondering how long i got till extreme cases become an issue cause i like to drink and eat alot. so is there an average of highs that make you lose body parts etc?

[Dewey]

ok i got off the honeymoon and havent been under 200 last 2 weeks till i fig out my insulin dosage but im wondering how long i got till extreme cases become an issue cause i like to drink and eat alot. so is there an average of highs that make you lose body parts etc?
I think it's very difficult, even for the medical community, to make such an assessment. I can say that if high sugars persist for a period of years, one could expect such complications (like amputations) to become a reality. That said, each person reacts so differently, that one may lose eyesight, while another's kidneys might shut down....we truly just don't know. It really is a "shot in the dark" (no pun intended) as to how each person reacts to higher numbers, or anything else for that matter...

That said, I don't think that a few weeks worth of higher numbers is going to kill you. The best thing to do is to try and get back on track. I think that's the best any of us can do in such a situation. Sorry if I'm not more helpful.

[Yvonne Burns]

V.D.,
Dewey said it very well. I agree. All you can do is your best RIGHT NOW. Sometimes, I really regret what I have done to my body in the past. The only thing that I can do is make today as good as possible:D . I wish you all the best.:itsme:

--Yvonne

[piney]

I only found out I was diabetic (in February) when I was rushed to hospital with serious swelling and blistering to my right foot. About twelve hours later I'd had the longest toe amputated and various other bits hacked off it, but given that I was told if I had taken another twenty-four hours to get attention, at best I would've lost the entire leg, I'm not complaining. I was evidentally a long-term diabetic without the faintest clue as to why I was feeling ill all the time, so be clever - unlike me - and get things checked out quickly.

[DeusXM]

If you like to drink and eat a lot and are regularly over 200 then you need more insulin, plain and simple.

In answer to your question, there isn't an average number of high reading that will mean you lose a leg. In fact, individual BG readings are of little to no use whatsoever in determining long-term trends. What you really need to look at is your HbA1c. This is between 4-6% for someone completely free of diabetes - despite what some might have you believe, it is perfectly possible to have an A1C of 6% and have no impaired insulin function whatsoever, and it's a total and utter joke to suggest that people without diabetes have A1cs rigidly under 5%.

Therefore you can assume that if you have an A1C of below 6, you are exceptionally unlikely to lose a limb through complications relating to high blood sugar. Indeed, keeping an A1C below 7% is generally regarded as exponentially beneficial. 7-8% means up to 60% increase in complications, and once you start getting into double figures, there's a problem.

However, a one-off A1C of 9% doesn't mean your leg is going to drop off - it's only a problem if you're consistantly running high. Furthermore (although I may be wrong on this), I think that simply having high blood sugar doesn't cause your leg to fall off. Instead it impairs your ability to heal and detect injury, which means that you might injure your leg without realising it, which can then result in gangrene and amputation.

A temporary period of high blood sugar won't mean you'll lose a leg but you do really need to sort out your BGs as soon as possible. Having >200mg/dl blood sugar readings frequently is not good for you at all - you really shouldn't be going over 180 at the very most, and that's immediately after eating, and ideally you should be aiming for under 120. A couple of weeks or so >200 is 'acceptable' but I wouldn't recommend much more than this because you'll have other problems in the immediate future that are just as inconvenient as losing a leg.

[Cyborg]

If you like to eat alot and need to satisfy that urge, try low carb foods for your snacks or for filler. Just remember, that low carb does not mean it won't affect your bg. Protein and fat do contribute to bg, although slower than carbs.