Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Warning. May Cause....

(Back to 10 units of Lantus. That lasted a week. I really think the z pack lowered my sugars. I have no other explanation.)

Years ago, I heard a famous nutritionist (I know he was famous because it was on TV) - I can't remember his name - say something to the effect of "if the benefits of exercise could be put into a pill, it would be the most prescribed medication of all time. Just think of it as a pill that takes 10 minutes to take." (or something to that effect.)

So, like any medication, exercise has its side effects. And so, I give you the small print:

Side effects of this medication may include, but are not limited to:

- increased thirst
- increased hunger
- weight loss
- weight gain
- fatigue
- irritability
- lowered blood sugars
- raised blood sugars
- muscle pain
- joint pain
- injury
- dehydration
- nausea
- increased sense of "self-righteousness"
- homicidal thoughts, often directed towards the trainer
- may induce thoughts of entering "marathons"

Please be aware that all of these side effects are considered "normal" and you should continue to take this medication as dierected - i.e. every day for the rest of your life.

Wouldn't it be great if they had to list these on commercials for gym equipment/memberships and exercise DVD's the way they have to for all the medications they promote? Nobody would do a leg lift ever again.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

News Since Thanksgiving

For a couple of weeks, my ear and throat had been hurting. Ear infection. Oweeee. No wonder babies cry when they get these. I went to a Walgreens walk-in clinic and they prescribed a z-pack of antibiotics the day before Thanksgiving.

(For the record, I am now a fan of walk-in clinics at Walgreens for minor medical problems. SO much easier.)

Thanksgiving was easy, the sugars were really stable. And then, that night, the lows began. I was really surprised, because hypo events are fairly rare for me. And I kept going low for a few days for no inconceivable reason. I wasn't even exercising, because, hey...Thanksgiving. Family in town. It was very weird, and eerily similar to a few days after the first infusion.

I couldn't think of anything that was different, except for the antibiotics. I couldn't find anything online that said antibiotics lowered blood sugars, but maybe they do? I briefly started getting excited that I was getting a bit better. But you know, if a z-pack cured diabetes, I'm pretty sure people would know about that.

And so, I (shhhh!!) lowered my Lantus dose once again down to 8. It's been a few days, and the sugars have been fine so far, so that's good, I guess. I'm a little cautious, because last time I went to 8, I ended up going back to 10 pretty soon afterwards. The control was just SO much easier at 10 - premeals below 100, instead of btw 100-120. (Not to mention the a1c was better.)

I'm going to wait and see. Pretty much par for the course with this disease, I guess.