anonymous
04-30-2009, 01:10 AM
Hello there,
I have been a type 1 diabetic for 32+ years, and I am 33 years old. I was diagnosed around 14 months of age, and started out on pork insulin, regular and NPH. I will also apologize in advance for the length of this post, as I am very detailed, and long winded in real life.
Luckily, I have not had any hospitalizations from diabetes related issues, but have had ambulance calls for extremely low blood sugars on occasions. Moreso in years past, but not as much in recent years, as I am now on Novolog, and Lantus, after being on Humalog and Ultralente in the middle years. I still have occassions of low blood sugars, but for some reason since I've been on the Novolog and Lantus, it's changed the way my body reacts to getting 'low'.
In the early years as a child, when I would test below 60, I would have the standard symptoms, shaky, sweaty, confused, blurry vision, tired, disagreeable, even non-compliant until I consumed something to get my blood sugar back up.
Now since being on Novolog and Lantus for the past 9 years, for whatever reason, I can test my blood sugar, be all the way down to 30-35, and still function, or be able to walk to the kitchen and get some juice. This isn't a common thing, but it does happen on occasion if I don't eat enough, or fall asleep after giving my shot.
I have reasonably good habits, have never been into desserts, and don't drink regular soda. I try to eat well, I test my blood sugar 6-10 times daily, and give extra insulin when it needs to come down. I walk my dog every day, and try to get as much exercise as possible. My A1C is always under 6, and have generally been under good control.
But I am having some things that are giving me problems at the moment, involving extreme tiredness and exhaustion, even at normal blood sugar ranges (90-105). This happens daily now, and for some reason almost every time I eat and give my shot, I have to lay down for a while, and I do NOT want to. It's one of those things that makes me feel exhausted like I've been up for days, and cannot stay awake. Even with a normal 8 hours of sleep at night, I still feel like this, and it basically wasting my days and nights.
And I am here to research, and seek any information, or suggestions from other folks here.
This is something that is really holding me back, and has basically rendered me useless, and wasted about 10 years of my life, and I'm running out of time. I'm still unable to take care of myself financially, even at this age, because I live in a smaller town with a poor job market, and am not able to drive to a larger town to work. I tried that years ago, and ended up having 12-13 hour work days, and getting paid for 8, when you include the drive time, so unfortunately that is not a viable option for me.
But the main thing is, I do not have the endurance to work at a factory as most people my age do, and there are not any workplaces of any type around here, that would allow the flexibility I would need to test, eat, give my shot, and just do the things necessary to take care of things, to enable me to be a productive worker for someone.
And as I'm sure all of you know, the financial requirement to obtain health insurance, insulin and testing supplies, food, doctor visits, and anything else needed is very high. And that's not even getting into rent, utilities, vehicle insurance, or any other standard 'life' costs. So the option of working part time somewhere for minimum wage isn't enough to cut it either, and it's not a pride thing at all, I am a very humble person. But I can't afford to drive back and forth to work, and then have to eat while I'm there at least 1 meal, and snack, and then still not yield enough after taxes to pay for basic utilities, let alone all of the other costs associated with full time, type 1 diabetes.
Also unfortunately, I cannot get any type of help from the government, or social security. I have never been looking for complete help in that area, but just anything supplemental that could help me get by, because as you all know, when you have diabetes, you do not have the option to eat less, or skip meals, or things like that other people or families may do to 'get by', when finances are tough.
Now I am lucky enough to not have any of the major problems like retinopathy, major nerve damage, need to amputate limbs or feet, or dialysis, and I am very, very thankful for that. But the fact that I cannot support myself completely financially has caused me extreme depression for years.
I really wish I could be a regular person able to work at a factory, or somewhere that requires 50+ hours a week, but I am a realist, and know what I can and cannot do, and I just am not able to find anywhere in my area that fits what I am able to do. And I have a vast amount of skills, I have been working on computers for 23+ years, and am very experienced in that area. I also have some experience and am skiled at auto repair, electronics, home and auto audio\video setup, some construction, woodworking, gardening and landscaping, math, statistics, historical research, classic car restoration, playing, and repairing guitars, helping and taking care of pets, and quite a few other things.
My point in saying this is not to gloat about skills, but to show that I have quite a few things that I am able to do, and am skilled at, but cannot find anywhere to gain employment, and utilize these skills I have, while allowing me the flexibility I need to take care of my diabetes. And I am really running out of time, because I want to work, want to help a company or business, but the fact is I have had type 1 diabetes for almost 33 years now, and my days of being able to do things physically at a consistent rate, are coming to an end on the horizon, and I need to find some kind of viable employment that allows me to support myself financially, before it's too late, and I am unable to do anything at all.
But, I just wanted to make an introductory post, tell a little bit about how long I have been diabetic, and some of the problems I am having. Now I would like to begin making some threads in the regular forum, and get more specific on problems I am having at the moment, and see if I can get some input.
Any help, information, or advice I could get from other here, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
I have been a type 1 diabetic for 32+ years, and I am 33 years old. I was diagnosed around 14 months of age, and started out on pork insulin, regular and NPH. I will also apologize in advance for the length of this post, as I am very detailed, and long winded in real life.
Luckily, I have not had any hospitalizations from diabetes related issues, but have had ambulance calls for extremely low blood sugars on occasions. Moreso in years past, but not as much in recent years, as I am now on Novolog, and Lantus, after being on Humalog and Ultralente in the middle years. I still have occassions of low blood sugars, but for some reason since I've been on the Novolog and Lantus, it's changed the way my body reacts to getting 'low'.
In the early years as a child, when I would test below 60, I would have the standard symptoms, shaky, sweaty, confused, blurry vision, tired, disagreeable, even non-compliant until I consumed something to get my blood sugar back up.
Now since being on Novolog and Lantus for the past 9 years, for whatever reason, I can test my blood sugar, be all the way down to 30-35, and still function, or be able to walk to the kitchen and get some juice. This isn't a common thing, but it does happen on occasion if I don't eat enough, or fall asleep after giving my shot.
I have reasonably good habits, have never been into desserts, and don't drink regular soda. I try to eat well, I test my blood sugar 6-10 times daily, and give extra insulin when it needs to come down. I walk my dog every day, and try to get as much exercise as possible. My A1C is always under 6, and have generally been under good control.
But I am having some things that are giving me problems at the moment, involving extreme tiredness and exhaustion, even at normal blood sugar ranges (90-105). This happens daily now, and for some reason almost every time I eat and give my shot, I have to lay down for a while, and I do NOT want to. It's one of those things that makes me feel exhausted like I've been up for days, and cannot stay awake. Even with a normal 8 hours of sleep at night, I still feel like this, and it basically wasting my days and nights.
And I am here to research, and seek any information, or suggestions from other folks here.
This is something that is really holding me back, and has basically rendered me useless, and wasted about 10 years of my life, and I'm running out of time. I'm still unable to take care of myself financially, even at this age, because I live in a smaller town with a poor job market, and am not able to drive to a larger town to work. I tried that years ago, and ended up having 12-13 hour work days, and getting paid for 8, when you include the drive time, so unfortunately that is not a viable option for me.
But the main thing is, I do not have the endurance to work at a factory as most people my age do, and there are not any workplaces of any type around here, that would allow the flexibility I would need to test, eat, give my shot, and just do the things necessary to take care of things, to enable me to be a productive worker for someone.
And as I'm sure all of you know, the financial requirement to obtain health insurance, insulin and testing supplies, food, doctor visits, and anything else needed is very high. And that's not even getting into rent, utilities, vehicle insurance, or any other standard 'life' costs. So the option of working part time somewhere for minimum wage isn't enough to cut it either, and it's not a pride thing at all, I am a very humble person. But I can't afford to drive back and forth to work, and then have to eat while I'm there at least 1 meal, and snack, and then still not yield enough after taxes to pay for basic utilities, let alone all of the other costs associated with full time, type 1 diabetes.
Also unfortunately, I cannot get any type of help from the government, or social security. I have never been looking for complete help in that area, but just anything supplemental that could help me get by, because as you all know, when you have diabetes, you do not have the option to eat less, or skip meals, or things like that other people or families may do to 'get by', when finances are tough.
Now I am lucky enough to not have any of the major problems like retinopathy, major nerve damage, need to amputate limbs or feet, or dialysis, and I am very, very thankful for that. But the fact that I cannot support myself completely financially has caused me extreme depression for years.
I really wish I could be a regular person able to work at a factory, or somewhere that requires 50+ hours a week, but I am a realist, and know what I can and cannot do, and I just am not able to find anywhere in my area that fits what I am able to do. And I have a vast amount of skills, I have been working on computers for 23+ years, and am very experienced in that area. I also have some experience and am skiled at auto repair, electronics, home and auto audio\video setup, some construction, woodworking, gardening and landscaping, math, statistics, historical research, classic car restoration, playing, and repairing guitars, helping and taking care of pets, and quite a few other things.
My point in saying this is not to gloat about skills, but to show that I have quite a few things that I am able to do, and am skilled at, but cannot find anywhere to gain employment, and utilize these skills I have, while allowing me the flexibility I need to take care of my diabetes. And I am really running out of time, because I want to work, want to help a company or business, but the fact is I have had type 1 diabetes for almost 33 years now, and my days of being able to do things physically at a consistent rate, are coming to an end on the horizon, and I need to find some kind of viable employment that allows me to support myself financially, before it's too late, and I am unable to do anything at all.
But, I just wanted to make an introductory post, tell a little bit about how long I have been diabetic, and some of the problems I am having. Now I would like to begin making some threads in the regular forum, and get more specific on problems I am having at the moment, and see if I can get some input.
Any help, information, or advice I could get from other here, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.