Are any of you diabetic?

[peter nap]

I was talking to another shooter today. We were discussing how our eyesight has changed since we became diabetic.

I've been thinking about setting something up on Old Va, that deals with diabetic shooting, outdoor living and even cooking game.

Right now, I'm just trying to get a feel for how many of us there are.

[adkpete]

I've been diabetic (Type 2) for about 8 years. I haven't noticed any vision problems yet

[dragonrider]

I am type 2 also, discovered it because my vision was getting real bad real fast. My eye doc said I should be checked so I did and my glucose level was 500. Got it under control and my eyesight got back to what it should be.

[mooman76]

I'm technically a diabetic. I was fortunate that they caught it early so I am what some Dr.s call prediabetic. My sure spikes occationally but for the most part I keep it in check with diet. There was a guy in my class unfortunately that found out the hard way, after he went blind. My eyes aren't getting any better of coarse but are mostly just loosing ground naturally through age. I found out about 2 years ago.

[Bill*]

Type 2 for 5 years+, vision about the same as then. not great but seems steady. (55 this month so I figure they are about typical for my age- you know, need the dollar store reading glasses but can still see things further away fairly well).....Bill

[Timmer]

I even went to a specialist and was told that he couldn't do anything for me. So right now I am eating buffalo meat that I purchased last fall and my sugar levels are in the 140's. But the bad part is I had a stroke in my right optic nerve 2 years ago. No one including the 2 specialists could tell me how to prevent it as I was having pressure in that eye for over 3 weeks prior to the stroke. Now I am teaching myself to shoot left eyed/handed.

Right now I am off meds and have lost almost 70 pounds of excess weight. Plus I lost my job so I am unimployed and living on my inheratance until Social security kicks in. Fortunately my wife has a steady income and the house is paid for! At least I am no longer working under all that stress, a micro-manager almost killed me just to make his quota for the year.

All I can advise is to loose the weight and the stress. Good luck.

[BruceB]

Back in '97-'98 I had two pre-employment physical exams. In August '97 I was not diabetic. In April '98, age 55, I was diabetic. Been on Metformin (glucophage) ever since, and it seems to be controlling my blood-sugar levels pretty well.

In 2002, I believe, I had Lasik eye surgery done, after wearing glasses since about age 14. Fantastic! To this day, my naked-eye vision is excellent, including the use of iron sights on rifles. I do use reading glasses sometimes, but generally only at lower light levels. I can usually identify the livery on interstate trucks from at least four miles away (this being in the open desert of Nevada where I can see my mother-in-law for three days before she gets here).

I'd have to say that I'm better off as a shooter than I was in the pre-diabetic days. I dearly hope that situation continues for a long time.

[rhead]

Type two for the past 5 years. My vision has actually improved since it began but there was little room for change that wasn't an improvement. I have never been over weight and the first diet they put me on was more than I had been eating. I just realized that I had been drinking nearly 3 quarts of water a night. I went to the doctor and made the glucose meter Flash red and print HI instead of a number. So far it is controlled by actos.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I`ve been type 2 for over 20 years. I`ll just say that I`m past retirement age. My vision has stabalised in the last 3 years, have to wear blended bi-focal glasses though. I can barely feel anything in either leg below the knees, no knee-jerk reaction when tapped with the reflexing hammer in the Dr. office. Been losing my sense of balance for the last 2 years. Weight has been the same for last 30 years. I take Humlin 70/30 insulin 2 times a day along with 6 other drugs for various other problems. Now I`m also on nitro tabs for infrequent angina attacks as of last week. Boy, I just love getting on in years!Robert

[theperfessor]

Been taking insulin for almost thirty years. No real vision problems but have some neuropathy in legs, bad enough to use a cane and withdraw from any competitions that I have to stand or move around in. Just got handicapped parking sticker Friday so I can park within visual range of my office at University. That step has caused me some real thought the last few days.

Oh well, I'm 55 but without modern medicine I would have died before I was 30 so I count blessings and friends daily.

[StarMetal]

I'm not diabetic, but my best friend is and he just gave me a heart breaking phone call week or so ago. He had trimmed his big toe nail too close and cut it causing it to bleed. Make the story short they had to amputate his big toe. He also has some kind of hole they put in the bottom of his foot and put a tube in connected to some form of vacuum pump to increase the blood flow to that area. I also remember years ago he told me his retina's were detaching. Sugar took his mother many years ago. I really feel for him.

Why haven't they found a damn cure for that yet?

Joe

[Le Loup Solitaire]

I've been a type 2 for about 5 years. No changes in eyesight, but the condition has to be watched constantly. I hsve a blood test every 6 months anyway for cholesterol monitoring and the Dr. also has the lab do what is called an "A1C" that measures the average of the blood sugar level. Over 6.0 is diabetic. A lot of type 2 diabetes can be helped by moderating diet, exercise and various meds. I also have my eye doctor do a retinal scan once a year; its a photo-printout of the blood vessels in the retina that shows if any change/damage is taking place. Its all a big pain in the crotch, but age and time give one no choice; you do what has to be done or else. LLS

[rvpilot76]

I've been Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetic for the last 25 years. Got diagnosed when I was eight. I just had surgery to correct a blocked kidney drain tube (the one that goes to the bladder) that's been giving me spiked blood sugar levels for quite some time. The result is that I'm blind in my left eye (still got my shooting eye though!), and my vision is not quite what it once was in my right. Trying to keep my head up though and be positive. Been kinda tough the last few years. I'm actually in day 4 of my kidney surgery recovery. I've got a nice 6" slice in my left side (running front to back), and a 1" slice just ahead of that for my drain tube (which is out now). I'm definitely not as handsome as I used to be :-) I had surgery almost one year ago to re-attach my right retina, and I just got fitted for corrective lenses. Gotta go pick them up tomorrow and see if I'll be good enough to shoot in CMP matches again. Sure hope so.

Kevin

[HeavyMetal]

Type 2 for about 4 years. Blood sugar was in the ozone layer but as soon as I realized what the issue was I changed my diet and have been in the high 90's low 100's for the last four years.

Been wearing glass's since age 12 but haven't seen major changes in lense prescription for the last 20 or so. Still wearing a single vision lens at 58 and it give me 20-20 with them on but have to take them off to read these days.

see my doctor once or twice a yr, depending on how busy I am, and we have some interesting discussions about will power, he still can't get over the fact that I dropped my colesterol 250 points in 5 months with a diet change, and a little less stress in my life.

[R.C. Hatter]

I'm 69 and have been Type 2 diabetic since diagnosis at age 46. While I am fortunate not to have vision problems due to the diabetes, just normal aging, I have worn glasses since age 8. I had quadruple by-pass surgery four years ago and have some neuropathy in my feet. It is a hard task to keep your blood sugar where it should be. I started taking Lantus insulin two years ago, along with all the usual diabetic drugs i.e. Metformin, Actos, Januvia, and my heart medication. Nobody but me has had the disease in my family. I'm careful to have my eyes checked every year. I'm thankful that God has seen fit to keep me around this long and that I'm still able to shoot, cast boolits, and reload.

[peter nap]

Interesting...and unfortunately, about what I figured. It seems like Diabetes is a big problem. Reading the replies, I see a lot of my story.

I am a type two. I suspect it;s been sneaking up on me for years even though I'm not especially overweight. A few years ago I started getting tired very easily. I handled it the way I handle most things. I pushed harder and ignored it.

Last hunting season, it had gotten to the point where I would go to sleep while talking to people. Hunting season was a nightmare. I had to tie myself in the tree because I kept going to sleep and falling out. Cuts wouldn't heal, my eyesight started getting blurry and around Christmas I had started carrying a gallon jug of water and going through two or three gallons a day.

I dislike Doctors with a passion, but it had gotten so bad, I went. Sugar was over 500. Against his advice, I've been able to control it with diet alone, but it is a very strict diet and my level can turn on a dime. It can and does spike and if I don't snack jut the right amount (Blueberries work best) it will take a nose dive to the 50's or lower.

My energy is back and strength is good but my eyesight fluctuates with the sugar levels. My eye Doctor told me that would happen.

It very definitely has an effect on my shooting.
I put the first Deer of the year in the freezer a couple of week ago and have been wondering how to make stew. I can't eat corn or carrots or potatoes or use flour.

I tried some Soy flour last week. It kicked it up 150 points. I am going to try a little Arrowroot to use a thickner and see what that does.

It is a major PITA!

[longranger]

I have very good friend who has been Type II for 30 years. He has been placed on the kidney/pancreas transplant list. He just moved from Maryland to California.UCSF will do the transplant. I would encourage you guys who are insulin dependant to talk to your Dr. and do the research for the insulin pump. It does a fabulous job of maintaing healthy glucose levels without the highs and lows associated with the fast acting and slow acting insulin. Had he had this pump 10 years ago he would not be looking for a couple of kidneys the technology has been available for 15 years.It will change your life.

[felix]

The pump does auto injections only. There is no PID circuitry in them as of yet. If you don't measure your sugar levels often, like 4 times a day minimum, you will not be able to regulate the levels close enough (in general), pump or no pump. ... felix

[Buckshot]

...............I hadn't seen a doctor since I got out of the Navy in 1973. He said, "Good, I see you're walking so you can go." :-) Actually I did have a stafe infection a couple years back and went to the emergancy room for that, having no doctor.

My wife went out of state to a funeral for her high school girlfreind's husband. He was 59 and died of a perforated bowel. So when she got home I received my steaming orders. I would get and utilize a personal doctor. He poked, prodded, listened and said I wasn't in immediate danger of keeling over. However he DID say the 3 things I knew he would say. 1) Lose some weight 2) Get 30 minutes of consistent daily excersize 3) Quit smoking.

Then he scheduled me for 'Labs'. They took 5-6 vials of blood and maybe 4 days later I got the results. Cholesteral was above average, so I have to watch that. My glucose was 110 and they want to see <100. Oddly enough I just got new glasses maybe 3 months ago. My last prescription was 3 years previously. My vision had IMPROVED in both eyes!?

So now I have an appointment to discuss the Cholesterol and glucose thing. They'll tell me to get regular excersize, lose some weight and stop smoking probably.

...................Buckshot

[cajun shooter]

Moonman 76, First let me say that the doctor who told you that you were borderline diabetic will kill you!! There is no such thing! It's like being pregnant, you are or you are not. I was told the same thing in 1984 while at MD Anderson one of the top hospitals in the US. In 1993 I came home on a Friday and was having trouble seeing and felt like I was not going to make it. I was at my mother's home in Clearwater,Fla. trying to recover from a bad divorce and my resignation from the Sheriff's Office. I told her to take me to the hospital and my glucose level was at 585. The doctors said I should be in a diabetic coma. Find a doctor who treats people with diabetes now. As a result of my waiting and seeing the wrong doctors I have diabetic neuropathy in both my feet and some eye damage from the optic nerve pressure. I'm on insulin twice a day and glucophage and all the other pills to keep me stable. Thank God that at 62 I just got my first pair of glasses that are Bi-focals with a light distance prescription above that I have to wear to drive at night. Later David

[Char-Gar]

I discovered I was Type 2 about ten years ago. I controled it with diet until last year when I had to add a pill. It is now normal again. I have no vision problems or anything else related to the disease of which I am aware. I am 67 years old.

[TAWILDCATT]

I am sorry for you guys,on my mothers side the girls have it,and tend to alhimers in late yrs.Me I am lucky.had 2 heart attacks in 1990,but have been fine since.had the caterac operations,in both eyes can see better than ever.
I see the gun mags advertise claroxan???for eyes I did take a product before my operations and doc said it may have retarded the cateracts.I dont trust the medical profession completly.I am using DMSO for my knees and back and it has taken care of the knees.and helps with the back.
try THE PEOPLES PHARMACY on the web might supprise you and help.
I am 85.

[Rhoa4396]

Hi,

I'm going to jump in here on this one too. I'm also a diabetic, type 2. I was diagnosed several years ago. In my case I've been lucky in that I found an endo that was willing to work with me. In the meantime, I've fired several Dr's who just didn't know what they were doing. Their ideas and schooling on the subject were years out of date. When it came to diabetes they would have cost me my kidneys, my eyesight and my feet ... if I had listened to them. Today I am on insulin .... two different kinds but that is by choice. With judicious use I am able to keep from having any of the complications, AND, I am able to prevent my becoming insulin resistant. The real trick is learning what happens by constant testing. there are several good groups if anybody is really interested, but the biggest thing is that you MUST become your own advocate.... I will NOT put up with a Dr that goes "those numbers are good enough for a diabetic..." sorry but that just says they're not good enough for anyone else, and if you go along with his "good enough" you 'will' shorten your future and its well being.

[Moxy]

In June I was told I had type 2 and would need to come back in 3 months for a checkup. My vision was getting blurry up close and I was napping a lot because I was so tired . When I told the Dr. that the hydroclorot (blood pressure med ) had a pharmacist warning ,MAY CAUSE GLUCOSE SENSITIVITY on it ( a med he had put me on ), he dismissed it as impossible . He may have an M.D. , but it isn't in pharmacology , so I thought better . My wife fixed me low calorie meals and I lost 18 pounds . My blood pressure went lower ( down 20 points ) so I took myself off the Hydroclorot . In one week my blood sugar returned to normal and my vision is no longer bothering me. I don't know if you take meds for anything else , but they can mess with you !

After doing some research I found out three things I needed to heed :
1. Get at least 8 hours of sleep a day . (less makes peoples blood sugar go up)
2. Exercise 30 minutes a day . Walking is the best.
3. Lose weight and eat right . ( I was drinking 2 liters of Dr. Pepper a day !)

[cajun shooter]

Let me jump back in. This is something that I've noticed since becoming diabetic. When I first had the signs of it I was working as a Cop full time.I was doing side work to make more money to pay bills and was having problems in my marriage. My body was the correct weight but very run down. One doctor told me that I had way too much stress in my life, which I was very aware of. My point is this I ate the correct foods and weighed what the charts said I should. But my alcohol intake was real high(every day) and I had that high stress level. When I went to my first class I was shocked to see three other cops that I worked with. After this it seemed that half the damn department was diabetic. Stress can bring on several diseases such as shingles and many others and Not many people carry as much stress as a cop in a large dept. So if you have a lot of stress and the gene is known to be in your bloodline check yourself out. As was said by another post on this forum with diabetes you have to self medicate and take your readings. It's the only disease that you will have where you make the decision every morning on how much medication you need and what you will do about it. That's why it is so bad in that a lot of people will die before helping themselves. Don't be afraid to inject insulin if you need it. I've given my injections since 1998 and wish that I would have started a lot earlier.

[mold maker]

I've been type 2 since "89.
Presently, I'm on four Meds + Daily injection of Lantis.
Life has given me high level of stress that I have no control of.
My carb intake and exercise aren't enough to control the sugar levels.
BP and cholesterol levels are great, but lack of energy and pain from worn out back and hips, won't allow enough control. It's become a balancing act just to keep a1c and mobility within reach.
Pulling the handle on an old RCBS while moving brass, boolits, powder around, or operating a smelting and casting setup are the best medicine I've found. Both can be done sitting, and they offer an interesting way for moderate exercise for long periods, without being bored to death. The other plus is lots of ammo.
By the way, extra precautions have kept my lead/blood levels well below excepted norms.
Who would have thought this hobby/addiction could be such a positive medical therapy.

[alamogunr]

I just ran across this thread and I'm glad I did. I've been Type 2 diabetic for about 3 years. Reading the posts in this thread have given me new incentive to try to do better on my diet and exercise. Mine is not too severe but when I "fall off the wagon" with my eating habits my blood glucose can spike to 174-185 very quickly. Two things helped me when I first was diagnosed: I lost about 30 lbs and started exercising. Both of these occurred when I retired. I'm now 67 and am trying to get back in the groove of eating right and exercising. Thanks to all who have posted their situations.

John
W.TN

[PatMarlin]

Is diabetes genetic?

I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack from this, but you guys that want to change your diet and start eating healthier should consider dumping PORK.

The reason I say this is because the animals they raise today is not the good animals that were raised on the farm in past years. The toxins that are in this meat today is bad stuff, and the pig cannot pass it through it's system.

I have a close friend up here who has raised his entire family (7 kids) on primarily wild game, and a few stock animals up in a remote mountain area. One day for financial reasons, they had to move into town.

The Kids had NEVER eaten store bought meat. When they ate pork, the all got sick- very sick.

I noticed many years ago pork mildly did not agree with me, so I quit eating it, but if I do now- I get very sick, and wind up staying very close to the bathroom all night.

What ever is in this meat nowadays is harmful, but our bodies seem to build a tolerance to it. My wife who loves pork, eventually gave it up as I won't eat it, and now after 4-5 years off of it, she will get sick when she eats it out somewhere.

Just my opinion, but something is going on.

[theperfessor]

Pat -

There is a genetic component involved in many cases, but in my case there is no history of it in my family on either side as far back as we can check. My diabetes was caused (as best we can tell) by an autoimmune response. I had three serious diseases hit me at the same time - hepatitis, mononucleosis, and shingles (herpes). Took a while to recover and within six months I was a full out insulin-taking diabetic. Docs think my own body destroyed my pancreas.

At least I was old enough (27) to be full grown, my heart goes out to kids that have to struggle with it during childhood and puberty.

Note that the rise in diabetes worldwide follows changing exercise patterns and diet from wild game to processed food with lots of added sugar - see native American rates of disease.

[Grits]

Found out that I was type 2 in March 2008 at age 45.

[Rick N Bama]

Type 2 for about 4 years now. They started me on on the Metformin but I lost some weight & started going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week & now the exercise & diet keeps it in check. So far so good with my eyes & legs.

Rick

[peter nap]

Pat -

There is a genetic component involved in many cases, but in my case there is no history of it in my family on either side as far back as we can check. My diabetes was caused (as best we can tell) by an autoimmune response. I had three serious diseases hit me at the same time - hepatitis, mononucleosis, and shingles (herpes). Took a while to recover and within six months I was a full out insulin-taking diabetic. Docs think my own body destroyed my pancreas.

At least I was old enough (27) to be full grown, my heart goes out to kids that have to struggle with it during childhood and puberty.

Note that the rise in diabetes worldwide follows changing exercise patterns and diet from wild game to processed food with lots of added sugar - see native American rates of disease.

Funny you mentioned that. Most people just roll their eyes when I say something about it. Mine started and actually I had a series of seemingly unrelated problems, after my appendix ruptured during a hunting trip.

[Paul B]

Might as well add me to the list. I found out about five years ago. that I was borderline diabetic. I'm on metformin only,the only problem witht he eyes is I'm in the early stages of cataracts. I'll see the eye doctor again in about 3 months at my scheduled yearly appointment. So far no serious side effects as of yet, knock on wood. I'm 71 and regardless of how I diet or try to dump some weigh, I seem to be stuck at 200 pounds, plus or minus 5 pounds. I really need to get rid of 35 to 50 more pounds but they're stubborn.
Funny thing is I did not gain any weight until 1975 when I quit smoking. Then the weight went up and I can't sem to get rid of it. I was a steady 155 pounds until I dropped the noxious weed.
Paul B.

[rvpilot76]

So far it looks like I'm the only Type 1 diabetic here.

[snowtigger]

I have to agree with cajun -shooter. I was never told I was "borderline diabetic" .but was told my blood sugar was a "lttle high" several times. In May 2002 I had a stroke. The specialist I saw told me the same thing. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS BORDERLINE DIABETIC!! If your blood sugar is over 140 two hours after eating, you are DIABETIC.
He told me the undiagnosed diabetes was probably what caused the stroke.
I was lucky, undiagnosed diabetes kills about 5,000 people each year. For me, it was some rehab and speech therapy. I went back to work in only one month.
I think everyone should check their blood sugar at least once a week, before breakfast. It should not take a perscription to buy the meter and test strips.