Until a couple of months ago, I had been incredibly lax, careless or whatever term you choose, about my diabetes care.
Taking in to consideration there was a long list of things going on in my life: court dates with foster care, house hunting, box packing, saying goodbye to the renter's world and closing on our new home (YAHOO!), adopting my daughter (2nd YAHOO!), moving boxes, dealing with a disgruntled landlord, unpacking and setting up house, driving to Colorado for the holidays, being a mom, and working part time to boot. Not that any of the above things can be considered a valid or viable excuse for putting my diabetes care, exercise, glucose testing, or insulin pumping on the back burner (or maybe the back burner of the back burner, but you get the picture) but I just was consumed with everything else going on in my life.
After 2-3 months of burnout/not giving a damn, I got the big wake up call that I needed so badly when I went to the doctor for the first time in well over 6 months. My A1C test result was horrific. It was a mean and scary 11.2! My doctor basically but oh so pointedly reamed me with the good old "if you don't get your hemoglobin down soon, here's the long list of complications you're going to get sooner than later" speech. I started to cry. I didn't even have a low blood sugar to blame for these tears. I could only blame myself. It was like a dam had broken. I hadn't been feeling good for a while, and my energy was kaput. My moods were swinging back and forth faster than a pendulum. And I was tired of it. I explained how I had been feeling and the doctor actually LISTENED and told me that he wanted to do some blood tests. The results came back with some crazy numbers. The routine things they checked for were fine (cholesterol, triglycerides etc) except for my thyroid. My TSH or thyroid stimulating hormone was off the charts, literally. I have had hypothyroidism for 13 years, and I've gotten some crazy numbers back in blood test results, but the doctor said he hadn't seen numbers like this in years. My TSH was 303.4 and a person with a thyroid that hasn't quit on them should have under 4.0. The doctor said it was amazing that I was even upright and able to get out of bed in the morning. He said that these numbers could also be a contributing factor to my lousy A1C. So without telling the entire story and all the nitty grittty details, I was a mess, and was immediately put on a higher dose of Synthroid, and the doctor said he wanted to put me on a medicine called Symlin.
Symlin is a hormone that is an injection that is prescribed for both Type 1's and Type 2's alike. It's main point is to help you lower blood sugar, but can help curb your appetite.
So I've been on it for a couple of weeks now, and I am seeing a real difference. I am feeling better now that my thyroid is starting to sort itself out with my medicine, and my energy is coming back.
I got that "wake up and smell the roses" punch in the gut that I needed. So I am anxiously awaiting the next check up appointment with my endo to see what my A1C is! Here's to getting myself better and motivated again.
