I guess those of us who, like you, are on top of our disease, are going to live the longest and healthiest possible life that we can live as diabetics. I am going to see my endo next week for my follow-up appt. and I can’t wait to find out what my most recent A1C is. I am expecting something in the range of 6.5 or less, based on my values!

I was particularly struck by what Scott S. said about insulin being NUMBER ONE on the FDA’s adverse Drug Events list. Amazing.

Yet insulin is so often just accepted as suitable treatment…

Take care,
Adam

Sure, I have a life outside diabetes. I have a fulltime, very interesting job in the healthcare field, one which exposes me daily to the results of poor diabetes management. I’m creative; I quilt, I do art and photography. I go to concerts and the theater, spend time with friends, eat out a lot, exercise and generally enjoy my life. Diabetes is just a part of it. I also spend a fair amount of time counseling newby diabetics.

I recently received a certificate for a pound box of Sees candy from my boss (even though she knew I was diabetic) and decided to redeem it as a gift for a friend. When I walked in the store I was offered a piece of chocolate which I refused. The counter person apparently thought I didn’t like the kind she offered, so offered another kind. At that point I said, “I don’t eat chocolate, I’m diabetic.” And amazingly, the other customer in the store turned to me and said, “Oh, I was just diagnosed with diabetes too.” (So what was she doing with a sample chocolate in her hand, about to go into her mouth?)

I asked her if she had a computer. She said yes. So I referred her to my favorite online diabetes resource, David Mendosa’s site (www.mendosa.com)
I hope she goes there.

There is so much misinformation about diabetes out there. I agree with Scott; the ADA, as an organization, should be drawn and quartered (if one could do such a thing) for the bad advice they give diabetics. And boo to all the doctors and dietitians who follow the ADA line. High GI carbs are the enemy! So why do they keep on recommending following ADA guidelines??

Well, I’m about to go off on a rant here, so I’ll just quit.
Vicki

First, I advocate that the word “control” is the most inappropriate term ever used in reference to diabetes management. Control implies that the patient has the ability to influence the outcome of all things involved, whereas “management” implies strategy that may change based on ever-changing conditions. Does anyone else agree with me on this?

I put a fair amount of energy into fundraising, but not indiscriminately. I only raise funds for cure-specific charities, which means the ADA doesn’t get ANYTHING since they are among the least efficient charities anywhere in terms of dollars spent. Its easy to see why, the ADA is an association of doctors who have little, if any, motivation to see us cured because their livilihood’s would be destroyed in the process. Furthermore, I find the general attitude of many in the ADA is one of treating patients with an attitude of condescention, not to mention the fact that the ADA devotes only marginal focus on type 1 diabetes, but likes to claim successes even if they played no role in the discoveries.

William Polonsky’s book “Diabetes Burnout” should be required reading; it is perhaps the best book on diabetes care. Having hosted online chats with him, I can say that he is truly an asset to the diabetes community for many reasons.

I also put effort into exposing waste in diabetes research, such as studies to prove the obvious or have no material benefit to the diabetes community. There is work to be done on other fronts, too. For example, according to the Oct. 18, 2006 edition of JAMA, insulin ranks FIRST on the list of all FDA-approved drugs in Adverse Drug Events (ADE’s), with an estimate of 58,819 events requiring hospitalization between 2004-2005 based on the sample studied. We should be asking, then, why the hell is the FDA approving ever more new insulins that cannot be dosed with precision instead of making manufacturers go back to the drawing board and modify their
“drugs” so they can no longer induce hypoglycemia? It IS possible (SmartInsulin.com is making progress on this), but until regulators stop blaming the patients for these ADEs, we have a system in denial of the true problem.

Remember that many patients diagnosed long before the DCCT avoided complications, and in fact, the DCCT showed that nothing short of a cure would completely eliminate complications anyway — the most important thing is that we try our best. Several complications, including neuropathy and cardiovascular disease associated with type 1, are now believed to have an autoimmune basis that has no relation to blood glucose levels.

Anyway, give yourself a break, and do your best. Thats all anyone can expect.

Regards,
Scott

But I still believe what I said back then: “Being mega-busy does wonders for taking the emphasis off SELF and related problems.” Thanks for reminding me!

http://sixuntilme.blogspot.com/2005/06/true-to-form.html

You should go back and look at your response. It’s a wild cycle. Sometimes the numbers can drive you plain nutty.

But you have the right attitude: Life is good, too.

I highly recommend this book, endorsed by the ADA, for your bookshelf whenever you are feeling burned out..

http://www.amazon.com/Diabetes-Burnout-What-Cant-Anymore/dp/1580400337

Me too! I was diagnosed at 19, in the middle of my freshman year at college. When I was home from college the next summer hanging out with a bunch of old high school friends from my gymanstics team and we were talking about some competition we had competed in, the first thing I thought to myself was: “How did I deal with the D during that meet? I don’t remember!” Then I remembered that I *wasn’t* diabetic in high school. Sigh. Diabetes has a way of taking over even the life you had *before* diagnosis…