Is there anybody out there with a diabetes success story. Anyone who can say that they did all they were supposed to do and it worked. Now they live their life without all the drama the stickiing and constant testing? i know we will always have this disease but i used to think that at one time if I did everything i could live my life as though i didn't have the disease. In a positive way not like i do now where i don't take care of this disease.

[EasyType2]

Yes, they do exist.

My Mother was T-2, and lived to age 74. She died of liver cancer.

My Aunt, sister of my mother, is T-2, now aged 74, and doing well. Rarely takes any orals meds, and controls D by diet.

My great-aunt lived to age 93 with T-2 and never reached the point of needing insulin. She did take orals for many years.

I'm pushing 70 hard and have been Dxed with T-2 for 19 years. I'm in pretty good shape, all things considered.

So, yes, they do exist.

[Dawn]

I'm not sure what drama there is in sticking and constant testing but I know initially when I was diagnosed everything felt so overwhelming and unfamiliar. I was also angry and sad and just so mad about this disease.

Now, I'd like to share with you how I feel. I no longer feel the intensity of those feelings. I never forget that I am diabetic but it is not in the forefront of my mind.

I've been able to control with diet and exercise. I do test every day and when I add a new food I test more frequently. I've lost 100 pounds and I've learned what food works and what doesn't. I no longer have to ponder every single thing I put in my mouth because I know for the most part what will work. I feel like a 'regular' person most of the time.

I live my life and I have diabetes. I do not have diabetes and then live my life.

Because I felt so overwhelmed early on I knew I could only concentrate on 1 thing at a time...and 1 disease at a time (I also needed to be focusing on heart issues). I ate for my meter...that was all I could do initially. For me that meant more fat and protein in my diet and less carbs and no sugar. I knew once I stabalized my numbers the next thing I would add was exercise. I eventually did that. The next thing I added was increasing my water intake. Now, I've added heart health. I buy things that have less fat and I am now taking a cholesterol medication because I wasn't able to bring down the LDL as low as it needed to be (also have gentics to play into that one).

Do what you can - but do something. It really does get better for many, many of us.

Now, the next thing I need to add is a boyfriend. That's next on the list

[princesslinda]

I think if you read enough on the forum, you'll see many success stories of people with diabetes. To me, anyone who works hard to control their diabetes on a daily basis IS A SUCCESS! It's way easier to ignore it for awhile (T2s) than to take control of it....but in the end ignoring it only brings on more complications.

As for sticking and testing...its only as much of a drama/inconvenience as you allow it to be. So much of good diabetes control, in my opinion, has to do with attitude. If you concentrate on all the things you CAN'T have to eat , or the fact that you have to stick yourself a few times a day, or take medication(s)you can feel overwhelmed. If, however, you look at is as this is just another part of your life now and that your medication(s), or your diet/exercise routine or even sticking/testing yourself as things that will only help enhance your quality of life, you'll feel better about it.

Ultimately, you have the choice on how to manage your diabetes. If you look at it as a big inconvenience, you're not going to manage it as well. Its not going to go away regardless.

For me, I feel I will probably live longer now with diabetes, as it causes me to take better care of myself than I did before diagnosis. Sure I miss being able to eat what I want when I want, but fretting over the past doesn't change my present. What I do now, however, will ultimately affect my future.

You hang in there! Diabetes gets easier to deal with as time passes.

[slipperyelm]

Which part of managing your diabetes to you most wish was easier for you, brownsugarbetes?

Is the testing scary to you? Or maybe it is too painful? Back when I had a meter that needed much more blood and I had a hard time getting enough blood, it was painful and anxiety provoking. I had to psych myself up to it. But an improved meter and some other things makes it much easier and less painful to test. Now, it is no big deal at all. Could you use some help with testing more easily?

I think it is interesting that you said there is drama in managing diabetes. I don't see it that way, so I'm pretty sure you and I are in a really different place with managing. I'd like to help, if I can.

[Alice]

I think after living "successfully" for 41 years with this disease...I truly exist...and have little drama in my life. I do take care of myself and don't feel that it takes anything away from "life". My priorities may be different than some of my friends...but aren't they always?

[Lloyd]

I consider myself a success story. T2 13 years, no complications, my last A1c was 5.5.

-Lloyd

[mortis505]

My Grandma Miley had T2 for many years (20+) and kept it controlled quite well. She passed away several years ago from stomach cancer. When I was a kid one of my friends dad had been managing D from the time he was 10-12 until I knew him in his 40s. Last I heard he was still doing well.

*** this is my take on diabetes-these are various feelings and emotions that i continue to experience. they do jump back and forth but you should get the gist of it***

a1c----10.0
avg bs.....247 and
protein in my urine.

i can't function on diabetes meds. I cannot afford to make mistakes at work. I cannot take off from work to be a diabetic for a day or two. I cannot continue to worship the porcelain goddess when something does not agree with me whether its from teh top or the bottom. I am really just wasting money, i go get the meds and then don't take them.I would have soooo much more money if ti weren't for this ****ed disease. I cannot continue to listen to phys and drs who sound like advocates of nike-just do it. That would be like me telling someone with asthma what to do and I dont' have asthma.

Lets not start on depression. Man i couldn't be happy if i wanted to. the crying, the crying til you throw up, the not being able to stop throwing up. I already have problems with my esophagus and now I am throwing up stomach acid.....YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. I think i would rather be in ****. Oh wait never mind I am already there with this disease.

in the case of me not being here, it will just be my time to go.The sweats the beyond constatn urination-i might as well wear a diaper...seriously....then now this new thing....o10 mins tops and i am in the bathroom.....get real. this is no way to live.....stay on track for a month....It just doesn't work. I am already convinced this disease will be the death of me...I say stop trying to fight the reaper just relax and let him get you. That is my take on this. I give up and I am not going back. I am sleepy so I am goign to bed..have that 3hr x-ray in the morning.....dread....
and my food does not go where its supposed to it just sits at the top of my stomach....i had one of those tests where they look down your esophagus....yeah dr said i am in in trouble. now i am going to have a 3 hr x-ray. not to mention dr says i am supposed to eat 5-6 small meals a day.

You know what!! I have had it, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome? What the L is that? You know if it is not one thing with this doggone disease it is another. PMS, PCOS, BS, HDL, LDL, LOWS, HIGHS, EXCERCISE, DIETS, FASTING, MOOD SWINGS LIKE WHEN THE RUSSIAN HIT APOLLO AND HE DIED-INTENSE SWINGS-(ROCKY 4), STICKING, POKING, CHECKING, INJECTING, EATING, NOT SLEEPING, not to mention i have fallen 3 Times, PAIN KILLERS, SORENESS, CRAMPS, BLOATING, EXCESSIVE EXCESSING FATIGUE, BACK PAIN, DEPRESSION, SHAKING, LOSS OF APPETITE, CHARLIE HORSES,
what's a girl to do?

i don't want to deal with this anymore. So i don't. I only go to the dr so that when I talk to the ins co they know that i went. have a nurse that calls me every few months. this disease is a pain in my....and my fingers too....I have been cursed for life. I am not happy anymore. Have not been for about 6-8 mos. Don't do happy drugs....i don't take diabetes meds so why would i take those. i don't see how people do this day in and day out. from sun up to sun down. in their sleep and while they are awake subconsciously. uggh i don't feel good. headaches again.

I alive and that is really all i have. Notning has changed....I could swing insults and do the name calling bit but why? There is no point to it. i don't feel better but i don't feel worse. I talked to my Insurance nurse...told her, I just don't want to do it anymore. She continually tried to encourage me, that is all she could do. You can't compare me to a child because a child only does can do what he or or she is told. You do all the work to ensure his or her health. There are plenty of people who don't want to acknowledge an illness or disease. They are still living their lives. I don't know what is worse, having people label you, this ****ed disease, or a yeast infection. I am still unhappy and still unmotivated.

they want me to eat six small meals a day. I asked them when? They suggested seeing a dietician. I said who is going to pay for it? and when is it that I can go?

The said control your sugars, i said...you control them if it bothers you so much. That is just where I am at with this.

am on byetta 10mcg 2'x a day
metformin 3 x's a day and prandin a total of two pills 3 times a day. I am supposed to eat 6 meals a day, and exercise. i work two jobs and am working a master's degree. I was recently promoted on one job and have to act as manager. there is protein where it should not be and my avg bs level is 276 as of june of 07.

I don't do the anti-depressant thing because i have heard too many bad things and those outweigh the good. i don't take the meds i am on so for me to go to a dr and ask for something else I am not going to take is a waste.

i don't know what i am going to do about this ****ed disease but all that is asks of a person is ridiculous. At one time I wanted to fight this disease that was years ago.

i check back so that people know i am still alive. i dont' consider myself a religious person although I am baptist and attend church every once and a blue moon. it is too much work, checking, sticking poking testing, it might as well be a full time job. i have always felt that if something was meant to kill me it would. Being that only once have i ever had good control, this disease and i aren't a good match. When i am hungry i want to eat, what i want and when i want to eat it. As far a depression goes, yeah my dr says i am depressed but I am not taking anything and will not take anything. I have probably been depressed for awhile. I have days and weeks where i don't talk to people even at work, i speak to be polite but that is it. i tell my friends i need space, that usually ends up being for weeks at a time. i don't go out, don't call anyone, don't socialize. I shut myself off. then i come out of it and am somewhat back to normal. That is just the way I live.

As far as diabetes, and all that goes with it, if it is meant to kill me it will just have to. I don't have time, energy, or the will, want, or need to deal with it.

I take a shot or a pill to make people happy, that is it, when I am on my own , I am on my own. I have probably wasted a couple hundred dollars in meds. I have meds all over my house. i am out of metformin. I start to think i should load up on that and get rid of this weight.

not too much going on. changed degrees, moved my nephew to college. Now i have this nasty taste everyday when i wake upand this feeling like I could collapse at any point. thats life and my vision is getting worse. Night sweats, smells from "places" all i want to do is sleep. Just thought i would give you an update, i didn't want to seem like a complete....b*&^h!!!

let me start off by saying that i do appreciate that fact that you all are concerned for my well being. the truth of the matter is i just don't have what it takes to fight this disease. financially, emotionally or otherwise. I wish i could say that my diabetes makes me an individual who strives and works that much harder, but it doesn't. I am fighting a never ending battle. A battle with me, this ****ed disease and then trying to find even a shred of me that wants to fight this disease. i still say if this disease is meant to kill me then it will, if not then i will live and if i am meant to have some sort of complication so be it. Yes this disease kills people on a daily basis. i died with my diagnosis. I tried to return from the dead only to die all over again with the depression and the diabetes. My spirit is dead and my soul is in a close second. Please don't be angry with me, I am just honest about what i know about MY situation. and the truth is no one know what it is like to be ME with this disease. You know what it is like to be you and to deal with it from your angle. No one in this forum knows me. You only know that I am a diabetic who is working a master's degree in leadership, has two jobs andd hates this disease. I am tired of going to the dr and being scolded or feeling like even more of a terrible person than i feel on a regular basis. I have been telling this story for almost a year and no one hears me. I am a case in someone's file cabinet. everyone acts like I am sooo far gone and that I am selfish or just need to grow up. You can think that, and assume what you want, but we all know what assuming does and u can leave me out of it. I admire those of you who want to fight this disease and help your children fight this disease. I don't have it in me to fight this disease and honestly the more i read what you guys write adn sometimes when you bicker amongst each other, i just get off, eat some ice cream, drink a glass of water and go to sleep. i am not motivated to be a diabetic nor live a diabetic lifestyle. So when people ask me how's its going:IT SUCKS IT SUCKS IT REALLY REALLY SUCKS!!
but that is only something you all know. so for those of you that consider me ungrateful, well, that is is you. If i didn't think that maybe something could be said in here, then i wouldn't come back at all. YES all of you have made me angry, or cry at some point. but it is because I am frustrated that I have found yet another thing i cannot do because of this ****ed disease. It is a curse. So, with that being, yes I still may delete this account, i don't belong here. Dlife is for people LIVING AND LEADING A DIABETIC LIFESTYLE. I am just complaining about. The stumbling, the dizziness, the night sweats, the disorientations, chest a pains and just feeling like I am not in control and my vision deteriorating. and I doubt there is anyone out there who can help me help myself even If i wanted to. somedays i do, some days i don't.

that's all for today....i just wish someone understood. You can say that I am pathetic or lazy or ungrateful, but the truth of the matter is ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN WHERE I AM, IT WAS JUST EASIER FOR YOU TO GET OUT OF YOUR RUT.

[RobiJo]

You are certainly having a rough go of it. Thiings can get better. The thing about Diabetes is that YOU are in charge. Everyone has their bad days but those who "make it" do exist. When managing your D becomes as routine as brushing your teeth and showering. I've lived my whole conscious life with D and I wouldn't give it back for anything. I wish I would have taken better care of myself in college, but I would much rather have diabetes than lots of other diseases. If I could relive my life without D, I would not do it. It is such a huge part of who I am and who I've become. Good Luck to you and I hope you find the support at DF that you are seeking.

[Funnygrl]

Brownsugarbetes-

Here's my advice to you, take it for what it's worth.

1. I recommend counseling. I was having a really hard time with it for awhile, did counseling, and I feel like it helped. It sounds like a lot of your issues with the disease could improve with a different attitude.

2. The more you test, the less it will hurt.

3. Get off byetta. That **** would make anyone puke.

4. Ask about adding insulin You'll feel much better with an a1c below 10.

[volleyball]

It is sad you are having so many troubles. The longer you ignore it, the worse it will get.
Change is hard. Lots of work. Will take a long time. You need to start making repairs if you want to end up with a happy life. Anybody going through the restoration see only the dirt and hard work. But once you get there, all you think is "It's was worth it"
I am much younger now then years ago and before I was diagnosed. You can do it.

[someone]

I consider myself a success. My a1c is always below 6.5 and I have complete freedom. I'm with the others, you need to change your attitude because this disease CAN be controlled. There is not reason to let it control you. If medication isn't working for you, you might consider starting insulin injections.

here is my drug repertoire
byetta x2 10mcg
lantus 10units (2's
metformin 1000mg 2's
prandin 2mg 3xs

i am all drugged out

[slipperyelm]

You mention dlife. I assume that is another website, but I think I have also heard it is a cable tv program? Sorry, I don't have cable, but if you meant to address this to dlife people, you might be in the wrong place. Or perhaps that is your general term for people with diabetes. I'm not sure. That just stuck out to me.

I have a glimpse now of what you mean by drama. You do sound dramatic. You do sound like you have the reactionary-ness of a depressed and somewhat angry person. But you don't want to treat that with drugs. There are other therapies for depression beside drugs. Someone mentioned counseling. I will mention electroconvulsive therapy, though it sounds brutal, even to me who is mentioning it.

I wonder, too, why you aren't on MDI insulin if nothing else has made any breakthrough for you. Does insulin just seem like a heavy drug to you? Some would respond that it is not a drug; it is a hormone--- which of course it is. Have you tried, but were unable to find the type of insulin(s) which was(were) compatible with your body and routines?....Should your lantus be increased?

Even gastroparesis (slow emptying of the stomach ) has some treatments. Tough ones, some of the treatments are--including a surgery to the vagus nerve, I think I've read. But there are options.

Do you generally keep up with what is out there for addressing the kind of medical problems you have, especially the ones caused by or exacerbated by diabetes? I'm not clear as to whether you already know all this stuff and even more, or whether, you have not heard about the many options for your many problems. I'm guessing that you know a lot, but that you just don't have the will to do it.

Yes, you are a special case. Yes, your combination of problems and things you need to work on (including your two jobs and master's degree and responsibility for managing others) do constitute a special case. Yes, it is tough. It sounds to me you are well aware of the tremendous problems and tired of dealing with them less effectively in total than you wish you were. I don't have a magic wand to make it go away, sorry.

Is there any chance that you need to drop something from all that you are trying to accomplish until you have accomplished better health? It is, for example, hard for me to imagine the circumstances in which completing your masters could be more important than salvaging your life. But maybe there is a way in which your life or the life of someone else depends on your finishing that degree.

To get back to your question about drama: My life is not the least bit dramatic. My life is hum-drum, plain, and would make the most boring book. But it is full of happiness and satisfaction with myself and my family, and some of the beautiful people I know. The most dramatic thing that has happened to me in the last couple months is that I was a passenger in the car when my husband drove it over a curb. (where's that eye-rolling emoticon?) See? No drama here....But I don't think you are in an emotional place to be ready to take hope from hearing that not every diabetic person's life is dramatic. I don't really think you care about other people's drama or the lack thereof. I think you really just want the drama in your own life to be over with.