1/27/11

Body Blahs

Well on a person health front things are not so great right now. I went last week for my first check-up of the new year. I left feeling great since I was able to stop taking one of my blood pressure meds. That lasted until yesterday when I got the results back from my blood work. First off i found out my Vitamin D levels were low. So my doctor wants me to take a prescription vitamin D for 8 weeks and then start taking OTC vitamin D once done with the script. Then i found out not only did my A1C go up, but it went up a lot. It went from 7.3 last time to 8.1 this time. I was floored! The only change I really made since the last test was that I started Weight Watchers. So i can only assume that the diet I was on with that messed up my blood sugar and whatnot. So WW is out and I am going back to counting carbs. Which means I need to wrap my head around a new way of thinking. I have been thinking about food in terms of points for so long now it is going to take a little time to get used to thinking about my carbs again.


Maybe this is why I really didn't lose much weight while doing WW. I know everyone is different and one lifestyle won't always work for the same people. Oh well, it is trial and error . . .

1/22/11

Diabetes Alert Day - What will you do to Stop Diabetes?

I am sure not very many people I know will know that March 22, 2011 is Diabetes Alert Day. It is the one day where all of us who know about this disease are encouraged to go the extra mile to get out and make sure that America knows just how serious Diabetes is. Early diagnosis is so important when it comes to this disease because Type 2 can be delayed and maybe even prevented by making some easy lifestyle changes.

March 22 is exactly two months away, so i am going to start planning now just how I want to do my part and get the word out. I have already thought of one idea to step the word at my workplace. The human resources department at my workplace sends out the occasional health related e-mails, so this year I am going to put some information together and contact the necessary person to see about getting a company-wide e-mail sent out on Alert Day. That is just one thing I plan to do. I am going to work on more ideas while i have the time. I also welcome any ideas and suggestions you may have.


Diabetes Fact: For many, diagnosis may come seven to ten years after the onset of the disease.

1/20/11

Ideas . . . .

I really want to write more in this here blog of mine, but sometimes I just really don't know what to write about. I know I can just write about my life and such, but there is just a mental block sometimes. It was so much easier to write when i had my topics picked out for me in November when I started this blog. So please, any ideas and suggestions are welcome!!

1/19/11

One less pill

It is amazing how happy one can be about taking one less pill . . . .

This morning I had my first check-up of the new year. My weight remained unchanged from my last visit, which in a way is good. My blood pressure was great also. I had a good talk with my doctor about the usual things, mostly centering around my diabetes and weight. I did mention that I had joined Weight Watchers online and so far i have lost 7 pounds on it. It would be more if I was more consistent with my exercise. It is nice to have a doctor that I can talk to. It makes a lot of things so much easier. We talked a bit about my acid reflux meds. My insurance company started getting bitchy last year and wouldn't cover the dosage that i was on even though I had been taking the same drug at the same dosage for years! So I am hopeful that I have found a way around it. I will find out tonight when I go to get my prescription filled. I am excited about not having to worry about heartburn anymore!

We also talked about my blood pressure medicine. Years and one doctor ago I was diagnosed with borderline high blood pressure. I had wanted to go on the pill and my doctor then didn't want to put me on it with my blood pressure being what it was. So I went not only on the pill, but also a drug for blood pressure. Well I was never good with remembering to take it (I am still bad at taking my meds sometimes) so after a while she still didn't like my numbers so she put me on a second blood pressure medicine. Well fast froward some years to now. I decided to buy my own blood pressure monitor recently in an aid to help get me off some of these drugs i am on. So this morning I discussed things this morning. I told her that really the only reason the second drug was added was because I never remembered to take the other one. She agreed with me that with how my numbers have been it looks like I don't really need to be on two medications for blood pressure. So as of this morning I am no longer taking two medications for it!!! I am extremely happy about this! I am hoping that as i track my numbers these next few months that i do not see it going back up. Being off this one pill is the first step in getting off most of the medications i am on! This is a big achievement for me.

And I don't know that I would have talked to my doctor about it had I not had such a good relationship with her. So this just goes to show that having the right doctor is just as important as the rest of the things you need to do to take care of yourself. Having the right doctor is like taking the right medication. So if you do not have a god relationship with your doctor, it might be time to find another one.