u/jackserosa

Im not looking for advice at all, just ranting. was diagnosed with diabetes roughly 3 months ago, where I went to the hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis. Coming out of the hospital and starting insulin was the best feeling in my entire life. I was doing very good exercising every day handling the situation completely fine. Now things have completely changed. A couple weeks ago my legs started hurting badly out of nowhere and this has completely sent me back. It’s like a switch that went off over night. I am missing a significant amount of time at work going to doctors and getting different tests done to find out what the cause of the pain is. I have spent hundreds of dollars trying to find ointments medicines and remedies for the pain. I’ve been tested with an ultrasound and d dimer for blood clots, and artery disease and nothing came up. My doctor keeps telling me I’m too young to have neuropathy and keeps trying all types of different things. I’m just completely frustrated. This is ruining my life. The leg pain has made it to where I can barely sleep at night. I’m losing money every single day. It’s getting harder to pay the bills and keep up with managing my diabetes. I just don’t know what could have caused this pain.

Anyone have any experience taking Gabapentin for diabetic leg pain? Suddenly started getting pain randomly a couple weeks into diagnosis keeping me up at night, Dr prescribed me 100mg every 12 hours. Anyone here have success with this?

Has anyone had any side effects to Novolog? I recently switched from Novolin R to Novolog and one of the big things I noticed is I started getting really bad leg cramping everyday around the time I switched. I also need a lot more Novolog than I do Novolin R to control my blood sugar daily otherwise it looks like mountains. I know Novolin R gets a bad rep but when I was on it my blood sugar was smoother and I didn’t have any of the leg cramping. Just curious if anyone has had any side effects in general from Novolog, thanks!

Has anyone had any side effects to Novolog? I recently switched from Novolin R to Novolog and one of the big things I noticed is I started getting really bad leg cramping everyday around the time I switched. I also need a lot more Novolog than I do Novolin R to control my blood sugar daily otherwise it looks like mountains. I know Novolin R gets a bad rep but when I was on it my blood sugar was smoother and I didn’t have any of the leg cramping. Just curious if anyone has had any side effects in general from Novolog, thanks!

So I wanted to make this post to just kinda discuss some of my initial thoughts and observations as a diabetic. I’m not looking for any medical advice or anything of that nature, just wanted to share my experience and some things I’ve noticed roughly close to 60 days into my diagnosis.

1. The amount of insulin I need daily is always fluctuating. Some days I can get away with 15 units, some days I need 30+. It’s crazy how your blood sugar has such a mind of its own. Also food isn’t the only thing that affects your blood sugar, so you have to learn to be self aware, mindful and willing to make lifestyle changes across all areas of your life. Also being on insulin for the first time as an adult has wild changes to the body and mind. I like to describe it as a wire meant to power you, that’s been sub-consciously disconnected for a long time, and when you get diagnosed and start insulin that wire has been reconnected and your body is back to getting power again. Some positive symptoms, some negative, but none the less I feel so much different being on insulin and I think that’s because my body is changing so much right now.

2. I much prefer the Dexcom over the Libre. If you’re new to diabetes and just looking to see what CGM would be better for you, I prefer the Dexcom. I find that both CGMs work quite well as far as noticing trends in rising, falling and stable blood sugar, but the ability to calibrate has been a game changer for me and gives me much clearer picture of where I’m at when I’m in public.

3. You have to take every carb you eat into consideration. You can eat a lot of good food as a diabetic still, you don’t have to be worried to eat what you like, you just have to know how to dosage for it. The easiest way to learn is to actually eat the things you like and watch how it affects your blood sugar in real time on something like CGM.

4. Advocate for yourself, as many redditors have said on posts in the past. There’s gonna be a lot of nurses and doctors in the beginning stages who know a lot about diabetes but only you know how you feel and what works best for you. Always follow the advice and recommendations of your PCP and endocrinologist, but also have a voice and don’t be afraid to reach out if you have questions or concerns. Diabetes looks different for everyone and you should feel safe calling your doctor and asking for help.

5. The last thing is the diabetes subreddit is an amazing tool for learning more and educating yourself, especially in the beginning stages of diabetes. You can not get specific medical advice on here, but you can talk about your diagnosis and chat with other diabetics. I find it extremely helpful reading other people’s stories and experiences and just kinda absorbing all the information in a more practical way than just getting handed a pamphlet on how diabetes works leaving the hospital. Idk about you guys but I live in a massively populated city where it’s very common to have to wait to see the doctor or endocrinologist so it’s very comforting to have such an amazing subreddit to go to for some support every once in a while.

Thanks for reading, hope this is helpful or interesting to some folks!

Ima new diabetic and very active person, been diagnosed for 2 months about. All of a sudden the last few days my legs have been pretty sore. It peaks at night and it feels like dull or throbbing pain all over my legs from my thighs to my feet all day almost unless I’m walking or moving. My doctor is out of town till Friday, I went and got blood tests done yesterday and everything came up clear. Anyone have any experience with treatment induced neuropathy? I brought my A1c down from 14.5% to 9.1% in less than 2 months and I think it was too quick on my body possibly, any home remedies
for pain? Also any diabetics here take advil or Tylenol? Thanks!

Hey I was curious if any of yall have dealt with this or have any tips? I’ve never had any symptoms of neuropathy in my life despite my diagnosis, and after my diagnosis I was still taking down 1-5 mile walks like it was nothing without any pain. Now about 6-8 weeks in I’m feeling a lot of dull pain in my legs. Can barely take down anything more than a mile. I don’t see any swelling and it mostly comes on at night or if I’ve been sitting too long at my desk job. I’d rate the pain probably a 3 or 4 out of 10 nothing too crazy but just aches and present pain. My times in range are over 90% keeping blood sugar stable, just came on so suddenly and it’s really kept me awake this week. Thanks!

Have all become my main go to snack since I’ve been diagnosed. I literally eat so many handfuls of almonds, pumpkin seeds and pistachios all through out my entire day and it doesn’t really spike me at all, I just add a little extra fast acting insulin to account for the carbs. Eating nuts is one of the best snacks ever! Easily beats the cookies, cakes, candy, chips, I was eating before my diagnosis. Haven’t touched anything like that once since then.

So about 8 days ago I went and picked up my new insulin script from my Endo, from the Publix pharmacy local to me, and when I got there I also picked up a prescription for 200 flex pen needles. I decided that the new insulin wasn’t for me and I put in a refill for my old one to go pick up last night. When I was looking at my available scripts on my pharmacy’s mobile app, I noticed that there was an entirely separate script from the one I used 8 days ago, for an addition 200 flex pen needles that my other doctor prescribed me that I never picked up. Seeing as tho my family is going out of town in 2 weeks I used that original script to get some extra needles, just in case of emergency while their gone because I like to be prepared and I always like to have back up supplies.

So I’m talking to the pharmacy tech who’s extremely rude and sounds annoyed that I’m trying to come in and get insulin and needles and he tells me theyve got my insulin but we’re not gonna fill that needle part of the order for you. I say why? He says “you already got 200 needles from us 8 days ago I don’t understand why you’d need more.” I explain to him that I have a different script now from another doctor, but that’s fine I’ll just buy them without a prescription over the counter or on Amazon. He tells me he doesn’t want to do that, and tells me I’m making him “perplexed as to why anyone would need more than a month supply”. He then transfers me to his pharmacy manager who I very carefully say to her that I’m just trying to fill a script that hasn’t been filled yet for additional needles so I can feel safe and properly prepared. She says to me that needing more than 200 needles at one time doesn’t make sense to her and that she’ll give me more needles this one last time but next time they won’t be able to. Mind you this is a Publix where they sell needles without prescription literally on the shelf, the only reason i prefer to use a prescription to get them is so my insurance will cover it.

So I accept her offer for the additional needles given my current circumstances, I get a text saying my order is ready, and I look at the app and she refilled the prescription I filled for needles 8 days ago, not the separate one from my other doctor that I never filled. I call them back and say “hey I wasn’t trying to get an early refill on the needles I got last week, I wanted to fill the separate script for needles my other doctor prescribed me, that is open and eligible for a fill, you guys have made a mistake.” She then realizes the whole time I was tryna get a separate script filled, not the one from 8 days ago, finally understanding where I was coming from. They didn’t apologize to me for the mistake, they just corrected it and that was it.

I hope this story is coherent but as a new diabetic I’m just curious has anyone given you guys problems getting needles and other medical supplies for diabetes? Is there a limit to how many needles I should have at once? It was my understanding that as a diabetic it’s always good to have back up supplies, especially for me living near the ocean with hurricane season coming up.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate this community!

I live in Tampa Florida and this is my first hurricane season as a diabetic and I was wondering if you guys had any hurricane tips for keeping your insulin safe if the power is out for a number of days. Do you guys have a battery powered fridge or any specific technology to keep it cool? Just curious thanks!

I’m switching from Novolin R to Novolog just because I told my doctor I feel the Novolin R works good but I wanted something that kicks in a little faster for corrections and before meals. Anyone have any experience with Novolog anything I should expect? I’ve seen some negative and some positive reviews just wanted to see what the consensus is. I also take Lantus twice a day as my long acting just to provide more context.

I’m switching from Novolin R to Novolog just because I told my doctor I feel the Novolin R works good but I wanted something that kicks in a little faster for corrections and before meals. Anyone have any experience with Novolog anything I should expect? I’ve seen some negative and some positive reviews just wanted to see what the consensus is. I also take Lantus twice a day as my long acting just to provide more context.

Has anyone experimented with putting the libre somewhere different besides the back of arm? My arms are pretty skinny and have little to no fat and I just had to pull one out because it hit some muscle and was hurting pretty sharp for over an hour and only have one more replacement CGM for the next 14 days. Any advice?

Has anyone experimented with putting the libre somewhere different besides the back of arm? My arms are pretty skinny and have little to no fat and I just had to pull one out because it hit some muscle and was hurting pretty sharp for over an hour and only have one more replacement CGM for the next 14 days. Any advice?

Hey guys, so I’m a newly diagnosed diabetic and I had a quick question. Just wanted to get some thoughts so basically I just started taking Lantus five units once in the morning and once at night and then Novolin 10 unit units three times a day before meals. I have had no problem keeping my blood sugar between 90-160 pretty much all day but only at night around 9 it’ll drop to the 60s and 70s and it’s kinda scary when it happens. Normally I’ve been using some skittles and a piece of wheat bread with cottage cheese on it to bring it back up and it’ll go back up within 15 minutes or so but then I wake up with a little higher blood sugar the next morning in the 180s-200s. To provide context I usually take the fast acting at 7:15-eat dinner at 730- take long acting at 8. Now I’ve read some people say I should reduce the long acting insulin but my doctors are saying it would be better to reduce the fast acting insulin to 5units only at dinner time because they think both are possibly peaking at the same time plus my blood sugar tends to be lower at night naturally than it is in the morning when I’m relaxing after work. Has anyone had a similar experience and what are your thoughts on this?

Hey guys, so I’m a newly diagnosed diabetic and I had a quick question. Just wanted to get some thoughts so basically I just started taking Lantus five units once in the morning and once at night and then Novolin 10 unit units three times a day before meals. I have had no problem keeping my blood sugar between 90-160 pretty much all day but only at night around 9 it’ll drop to the 60s and 70s and it’s kinda scary when it happens. Normally I’ve been using some skittles and a piece of wheat bread with cottage cheese on it to bring it back up and it’ll go back up within 15 minutes or so but then I wake up with a little higher blood sugar the next morning in the 180s-200s. To provide context I usually take the fast acting at 7:15-eat dinner at 730- take long acting at 8. Now I’ve read some people say I should reduce the long acting insulin but my doctors are saying it would be better to reduce the fast acting insulin to 5units only at dinner time because they think both are possibly peaking at the same time plus my blood sugar tends to be lower at night naturally than it is in the morning when I’m relaxing after work. Has anyone had a similar experience and what are your thoughts on this?

Hey guys, I just wanted to follow up with my last post a couple days ago thank you so much to everyone who gave me advice. I read every message with my family and it made a huge difference even though I couldn’t reply with everything going on.

Now I just wanted to discuss a couple things. It seems to me that when I wake up in the morning, regardless of whether or not, I take my insulin, work out and eat a healthy low-carb meal my blood glucose tends to stay well over 200 until I eat lunch and take my fast acting insulin again. To provide some context, the doctors have me on a long acting insulin twice a day once in the morning and once at night and a fast acting insulin three times a day before meals. I even had my blood sugar in the 90s for about for about 4 hours yesterday And at night it spiked up a little bit is this completely normal for the fluctuations to be like this? It seems from about 7 AM till 11 AM. It remains in the 200s then from 11 AM to about 8pm it’ll stay in the 100s and then at night it’ll be in the higher hundreds low 200s. Has anyone else shared a similar experience? Thank you for the advice and God bless this community.

Hey guys, I just wanted to follow up with my last post a couple days ago thank you so much to everyone who gave me advice. I read every message with my family and it made a huge difference even though I couldn’t reply with everything going on.

Now I just wanted to discuss a couple things. It seems to me that when I wake up in the morning, regardless of whether or not, I take my insulin, work out and eat a healthy low-carb meal my blood glucose tends to stay well over 200 until I eat lunch and take my fast acting insulin again. To provide some context, the doctors have me on a long acting insulin twice a day once in the morning and once at night and a fast acting insulin three times a day before meals. I even had my blood sugar in the 90s for about for about 4 hours yesterday And at night it spiked up a little bit is this completely normal for the fluctuations to be like this? It seems from about 7 AM till 11 AM. It remains in the 200s then from 11 AM to about 8pm it’ll stay in the 100s and then at night it’ll be in the higher hundreds low 200s. Has anyone else shared a similar experience? Thank you for the advice and God bless this community.