I have been a Type I for 10 years (I am 25 years old).  My boyfriend of 4
years and I are dealing with the big question of "marriage or not?"  He is
a control freak, and insists #1 that I am not in control of my diabetes,
#2 that I make him worry too much about it, and #3 that it is HIS disease
as much as it is MINE because he worries about me and my health.  I think
I am in fairly good control, although I know my control could be better.
I have taken positive steps to achieve this tighter control.  For example,
I have an appointment at the Joslin Diabetes Center (Boston), I have
joined a health club so I can excercise more, I try to not eat sugar as
often as I used to, I now test my blood more times per day, and I now take
insulin more times per day.  He gives me no credit, but only focusses on
the negatives (like last week he yelled at me because I was unable to
excercise very much because of my work schedule, while ignoring the fact
that my sugars were OK.)  Sometimes I find that he is harder on me than I
am–and I am VERY hard on myself.  
Anyhow, he says he cannot marry me until he feels confident that he and I
are "in control" and he no longer has to worry.
I have tried to explain that I understand his worries, but it still is
really MY disease since I am the one who has to deal with injections,
finger pricks, and controlling sugar intake (he eats sugar like it’s going
out of style!) I have also explained that I need a supportive coach rather
than a drill sargeant.  Making me cry because I ahve one high blood sugar
does me no good.
 How do I handle this situation?  Am I being irrational for feeling
wrongly controlled?  I feel like this diabetes thing is keeping me from
getting married, and I hate it even more now because of that.
HELP!  

Thanks for your help so far. This is a somewhat different question,
so I thought I’d start a new thread.

Several physician-acquaintances have told me that they have seen
instances where someone developed NIDDM for a few weeks or months,
then had an apparently spontaneous remission. Sometimes they
relapse later, sometimes they don’t.

Does anyone have any good information on how often this happens?

Is it possible it is more common than we realize because most
such people are never diagnosed? Other thoughts or information on
the matter very welcome. I ask because this may have happened to
me, though it is too soon to know.

Cheers.

I have been trying to connect to this site, but nothing seems to work.
Does anyone know the proper userid/password to log on to
ftp.demon.co.uk?  Or perhaps I am not bveing patient enough and
dtp.demon.co.uk is a LOT busier than I realize?

Any help would be appreciated.

Please e-mail me or post the answer if you think it would be worth
while to communicate this info with the community.

Cat.Dragon                 "Reality is a function of your perception."
dra…@cybernetics.net
robert_nich…@vnet.ibm.com

I am responding to the suggestion made to compare consecutive blood
sugar readings.  I use a Glucometer Elite, and took two readings
approximately one minute apart, about two hours after lunch.  The first
reading was 89, the second was 86.  I can collect more observations if
the person who made this request (I neglected to save his message)
thinks it is helpful.

Do Novolin N and Novolin R need to be mixed in any particular order ?

>   s_paol…@pluribus.wupper.de (Sandro Paolini) writes:
>  dougs…@aol.com (Doug Stan) wrote:

>  DS> 4.  Dawn Phenomenon: Do you experience an increased need for insulin in
>  DS> the early morning hours, say between 3 AM and 7 AM? (Hopefully you just
>  DS> know if you experience the Dawn Phenomenon or not. Its description is
>  DS> complicated)

>  What is the Dawn Phenomenon?  Couln’t find it in the FAQ.

>           Sandro

>  ————-  SO LET’S CHANGE IT – LET’S REARRANGE IT  ————-

I don’t know if its the same thing but Dr. Richard Bernstein describes a "mysterious"
effect that causes the BG level to rise in the wee hours of the morning. He believes
that for some unknown reason the cause is that the liver begins to secete a
large amount of glucose.

I am a type II, and observe the same phenomena. With the medication that i am
taking my BG levels, lets say 5 hours after lunch will average 120. My morning
(fasting) numbers average 180. My endochronologist also blames the lliver. A
new medication, metformin, has just received FDA approval and I hope to get
some  in a few months. This works just on this phenominum so it should be
interesting to see what happens.

Al

I’m a 50-year-old diabetic and I’ve had 15 laser treatments on my eyes.  
The results have been wonderful.  My night vision is slightly less
effective and I have suffered some peripheral loss.  However, I’ve been a
Type I diabetic for 40 years and the disabilities are so far minor.
        The advent of the laser has restored/maintained the vision of
those of us who would have lost it, for sure.  If the thread here is
"Should I have the treatments….?" the answer is – without reservation –
an emphatic yes.

–
Charles E. Edwards, CPA
Virginia Beach, VA
cedwa…@pinn.net

:  I’ve recently tried the Dex-4 tables (lemon flavored) and they’re
:  really good!  They seem to bring up my sugar quickly and without yucky
:  tasting tablets.  When my sugar is just starting to fall, I can take 1
:  tablet and it "holds" it steady till my next meal.
:  
:  Hope this helps!
—
Jacki Barineau (music & midi, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)

: I recently read the "Day-By-Day" article put out by the Diabetes
: Assoc. regarding alcohol consumption and diabetics.
:
: Basically, what it said was that you have to be really careful and
: never drink on an empty stomach.  Surprisingly, drinking can quickly
: make your blood sugar drop – sometimes to the point of being really
: dangerous really fast.  This is caused by the liver being
: "distracted" with trying to rid your body of the alcohol (which the
: body interprets as a toxic substance).  Therefore, the liver will not
: release any glucose until after it’s through getting rid of the
: alcohol!  This is why your sugar can drop so quickly.
:
: Anyway, I found this really fascinating and thought I’d share it.
—
Jacki Barineau (music & midi, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)

References: <D40DLH.5Mt@crash.cts.com> <D40DLH.5Mt@crash.cts.com>

MM> Let me tell you what I have learned about B & M’s blood
MM> glucometers. There is another variable that they are very shy to
MM> address, which is reading to reading reliability.  I challenge all
MM> blood glucometer users to subject their machine to the following
MM> test.

MM> First make a reading on your machine and note the results. Then
MM> from the same finger at say a 1/16" distance, take another sample
MM> as soon as possible and run it through, and again note the
MM> results. The discrepancy may astound you.  These machines are not
MM> as reliable as you would think (I mean "reliable" in the
MM> mathematical-statistical sense of the term, not whether they will
MM> turn on and run for you).  Not many people subject this equipment
MM> to such a test for the obvious reason of the sky-high cost of
MM> strips.

Michel,

The challenge has been accepted. I have been using for the past two
years B&M’s glucometer Tracer II. In all the discussions I have seen
mentioning testing devices, I have rarely seen Tracer II mentioned, so
I thought maybe I was out in left field all by myself.

I followed your procedure outlined above, except that my tests were
the two minutes apart that it takes to complete the test on the Tracer
II. I finished one test and immediately drew another sample right next
to the first and went ahead with the second test. The samples were
drawn perhaps 1/16th of an inch apart, maybe slightly more. I was
concerned that there be no residual from the first sample to affect
the second sample.

RESULTS:  1st Test = 245 mg/dL
          2nd Test = 243 mg/dL

Unlike you, I haven’t had any great skepticism as to the accuracy of
my meter, but I’m satisfied that is within reasonable limits. Instead,
my concern is getting these damnable readings down to a level that
would be considered more normal. If I don’t, my MD is gonna put me on
the needle.  

Thanks for the challenge. This is the type of thing that m.h.d can be
very useful at.

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