The Lingering Complications of Diabetes

I want to say that this month has not been a great one.[ As a matter of fact this year]. I have had diabetes for more than 7 years now and still fight with myself on taking my medications regularly. It is a fight for us all I must say.

Just this month when I returned to the doctor they told me that they found protein in my urine. The lab report he was reading was 6 months old so you could imagine my worry. Stress in my life had built up and to make a long story short you could say that I was a wreck about what is going to happen now.

So I do what any pro active person would do…I Google it! To my amazement it just upset and worried me further after all the doctor isn’t going to see me for another two weeks! This is crazy…I think why must I wait so long. His explanation? He wants to start me on my new medications and get my level down some before he does more lab work.

Sitting on my hands to keep from ravaging my nails I wait my two weeks. This time when I go in he wants to run more lab work. He ups my Glucophase to 750mg 2 times a day and my Lantus to 25 units a night. He adds a pain medication called Tramadol 50 mg 1-2 2tims a day for pain and some headache medicine I cant even pronounce! [Amitriptyline] 25mg 1 time a day. And sends me home with a shot for flu, a shot for pneumonia, and a poke for blood…still nothing about my protein.

Now I am crawling with anxiety! What am I to do he doesn’t want to see me for 4 weeks. However the nurse called a few days later saying the doctor wants me to take another medication and I can pick it up at the pharmacy tomorrow! He now says my cholesterol level is high.

So when the stress is building up…what type of things can we do to lower our stress levels?

Stress can raise our sugar levels, or blood pressure and cause our medication to become less effective on our diabetes. Below are a couple of things I am doing to lower my stress level why don’t you share yours as well!

Listen to music- Music always calms my nerves and sometimes helps me burn calories!

Write – Sometimes writing about the problem helps us manage it better or gets our mind off of things

Play a game with your kids- Sometimes playing a game with family and friends helps us re-leave tension.

Take a nice warm bath! Bubble is always best. Since it is not healthy for us to use hot water a mild luke warm bath wouldn’t hurt. Adding bubbles often helps with soothing stressors.

Send in your stress re-leavers and we will add them to our list!

until next time,

Be pro-active in your health!