An insulin dependant diabetic asian here

[LiveNormal]

I am new to this thread but definitely not new to DM.

1. First dx in June 2000.
2. Treatment plan since then
Jun'00 ~ Dec'00 : Oral medicine but failed to keep my BG under 10mmol/L
Jan'01 ~ Aug'04 : 2 injections of mixtard 30/70 at breakfast and dinner time
Sep'04 ~ now : 5 injections. Actrapid before each meal. Insulatard at noon and bedtime
3. Most recent A1c is 6.50% done in Jan this year (I know it has been a while)
4. Wondering what am I? Type I or II ... but one thing for sure is insulin dependant
5. At advance childbearing age (35), very eager to achieve tight and predictable control with minimal HIs and LOWs. Interested to know if pump will be a good option to make this happen since am living in Asia and the place I live is very hot and humid, plus not too many experienced Endo around for consult in this area
6. Cost of pumping is also another concern for me since the medical financial aids, be it from government or private insurance company, for most Asian countries are not readily available (sure enough, a high premium can also move things around but you know that is not what I meant…)
7. Another problem is I cannot live with bread and butter daily. To count carb from Chinese food to exactly match insulin is always a challenge to me. Or… am I a slow learner??

Will post specific questions in the respective threads very soon; am always a novice in the subject of diabetes control when BGs are out of hand for no good reason …

Lynn

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Dx Jun’00
Actrapid x 3, Insulatard x 2
Lastest A1c: 6.50% Jan’06
TTC #1 since Aug’05
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[ProudNanaof5]

Welcome..:wavey:

[kgm0612]

HI & Welcome to the forum.

Karen

[seacomp]

7. Another problem is I cannot live with bread and butter daily. To count carb from Chinese food to exactly match insulin is always a challenge to me. Or… am I a slow learner?? Hello and welcome to the Forum. I can understand your carb counting problem. Chinesse food can be difficult; there;s even a thread on here to the effect that "Rice is Evil".
I don't know how frequently you can test your BG and your living, specifically your eating situation. Both are important.
The long term secret to counting carbs is to be able to check your count consistently by testing. The more you can do this the better control you can get. Another hint is to attempt to eat the same foods, prepared the same way, in the same amounts. If this is possible, you can certainly correct and adjust to determine the exact right amount of insulin.
Asia is a very big place, what part are you at?

[LiveNormal]

Asia is a very big place, what part are you at?

Thanks for all of your welcoming message.

I am from Singapore but currently working in Shanghai.

I am testing quite frequently now: before and after each meal, at bedtime and anytime when I feel crappy. For some reason, I just feel that it is not necessary to test that often since I have been keeping my daily food intake quite the same. However, when I am not doing that, I simply just can't set my mind in peace with regards to if the insulin dosage is too little or too much for the meal.

My other problem is with the monthly PMS symptoms that messes up my BG totally. At some point I thought I have grasped it but human body is such a pain, it cannot be programmed and work like a computer that gives you the exact output you expected. This leads me to wonder if insulin pump is a better tool than MDI ...

As you can see from my signature, at the same time I am also trying to conceive (TTC). Can't imagine what my poor skill of BG control would do to my baby should one day I become pregnant...

Lynn

[Cyborg]

Welcome aboard :wavey: