podgypossum

Can i just ask any of the diabetics out there, who have already moved to Oz...did you find that it played up in the heat when you first came here? I have noticed that on really hot days i am having a few probs.

karawara88

As a fully paid up memeber to type 1 diabetes, my control has been a bit iffy over last couple of weeks especially on very warm days, and a couple of very close calls for no apparent reason.

Do you have hypostop? I find this to be fantastic stuff, and brought a load over from UK much better than Lucozade etc.

Not sure whats causing the up and downs, my only thought are probably exercising (walking) more than usual, perspiring more etc. I did find drinking more water helped and cut down my insulin in the morning, still a bit high at night. Although the icecream may have somthing to do with it.

Have you priced up the meter sticks yet? I have gone through quite a few boxes since being here mainly because I am a bit panicky about hypo think somtimes the humidity etc can give same feeling as hypo. Anyway went to get some medisense precision strips 100 = $67 can go to Docs $45 (get $17.50 back on medicare) and then buy sticks for $23 seems a bit of a nonsense unless I can get a repeat prescription. Not sure how it works. Pleased I brought about 2 years supply of insulin with me.

Would be interesting to know if other medical conditions cause problems in this climate.

podgypossum

I am Type 2 Kara, but on high doses of metformin and gliclazide. I dont have hypostop. Can you get it here?

I am finding i am much more tired than normal and needing to pee far more frequently than normal. Trouble is (as you well know) you dont know if its to do with the diabetes or the fact you are drinking more fluids and getting tired due the heat.

Geez...that seems expensive for the for the sticks! Luckily my doc in NZ gave me 6mths supply before we left.

karawara88

Will PM you

podgypossum

Thanx

paulf

Hello Kara, can some more people add to this thread plz, I am type 2 aswell and it P***** me off having it.
Had it just over ayear now and I am like a little baby having to have naps, I am just so tired all the time,and omg the amount of water i put away is a joke!.
I am starting to stock up on glicazide now so hopefully i,ll have 2 years supply when i move over.

karawara88

From what you are saying it sounds like your blood sugar is high, thats what causes constant need to drink and therefore pass water. Do you have a blood sugar meter? if not well worth getting one now, I use medisense G2 as its credit card size think its about £9.99 and sticks available over here. Check out http://www.diabetesnow.co.uk/

Also start stocking up on sticks from UK sticks free on prescription, also get yourself some hypostop again free on prescription. Just ask doctor for it made by Bio Diagnostics.

Every diabetic I have ever met gets told to get it ! sure saves carrying lucozade and takes away that "oh my god have I got any sugar" thought. I carry it in my pocket always. Maybe its not as important for type 2 as the tendency to have hypo is not so great. But should it happen you will be glad you had it.

If you dont feel so good get to your doctor and have yourself checked out, so many bits can be damaged by poor control, one of the problems living here is I no longer get the free 6 monthly checkup for eyes feet etc. etc.

Been type 1 since I was about 22 it is a pain but cant let it get me down, I have my cross to bare and thats Donna.

podgypossum

Hi Paul.. i think you might be going through the "denial" phase. I was like that for nearly 4yrs after being diagnosed!! Kept trying to pretend i could still do all the things i used ot do and didnt need to change my diet...i suffered for it real bad and ended up in hospital twice before realising what a fool i was being. its not easy to get into your 30s and someone suddenly tells you, you cannot eat this, do that or have this...must be my rebellious nature

I often have to go for a lie down in the afternoons..but guess what??....i heard there was a study odne that its actually good for ALL of us to do that, and it makes us more productive later in the day. The southern europeans have been doing it for centuries. Would be very good idea if it caught on here in OZ, afterall we have a hotter climate than most.

paulf

That sounds like me to a tee, I still eat everything as before but take a glickazide afterwards, mars, snickers, chocs, I have switched to Diet drinks tho lol,

i can't get my head around those lovely things doing harm even tho in the back of my mind I know they do.
got a blood machine thingy and tested my readings are between 18.5 and 20 just walked around B&Q yawning my head off.
I really must make more of an effort can't see my blood levels ever being low enough to require that glucose drink.

podgypossum

Paul... i know i am very much the pot calling the kettle black, BUT...take it from someone who has suffered...you will get very ill. and eating that stuff in this heat will end you up in hospital. I saw the light when i ended up there for a week and was on "special" diet...i couldnt believe how much energy i had!! Just doing he right htings made me feel a hundred times better. I have found a way round it now...i allow myself one day a week to be bad and make sure i donthave to do anything strenuous. I know that i still shouldnt do it, but its my way of balancing my choc cravings and still being able to function ok the rest of the week. Although saying that...in this heat i dont feel like eating chocs so much and i am feeling ill even though i'm behaving myself..LOL..cant win aye??

paulf

Yeah I know....BUT diabetic food is SO Boring.
having said that as of monday morning I am gonna start trying alot harder, gotta go now and eat all the sweet choclately things in the house so no temptation is around.

tiredwithtwins

Hi guys,
I can empathise with you - Im not diabetic but have to go on a strict low fat diet before my liver packs in and my arteries fur up completely. Im 36. Whilst it is hard to make such a life changing dietary change (?) you MUST stick to your diabetic diet!!!!! The damage you could do your body.........welll you know that already dont you?? I was diagnosed with a very fatty liver and a very high serum lipid level last month - the implications for me are not living long enough to see my beautiful children grow into adulthood. (the INEVITABLE liver failure and f####d coronary arteries/heart were the other 2 convincing factors!) As a nurse, I definately do not want to die of liver failure or heart failure!!!

Chocolate deprived of the world unite!!
We can be strong!!

or as a colleague of mine said - dont think of it as deprivation, think of it as psychological superiority over the ones that cant say NO!!!

sue

podgypossum

Hi Sue,

But i dont want to be superior..i just wanna have fun!!



Karawara.. thanks for the PM the other day. I tried to reply to it this evening but its gone!! and now i cant remember what you wrote... never mind..thanx again

Majj

Hi,

Does anybody know what the costs of something like metformin are in Oz? Also how much does six monthly check ups work out at?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Majj

karawara88

Paulf, are you ready. :lecture: :lecture: with readings that high you really must sort yourself out, as PP and tiredtwins have said, you will cause yourself problems, not only with kidney, liver, eyes etc but it can start to affect your dangly bits.:scared:

Wish I could tell you I was the perfect diabetic but I am not, I do check myself quite often and aim for under 10, but also I still eat icecream chocolate etc. Being on insulin I can control it a by adjusting insulin.

Now what you are risking with continual high blood sugar is ketoacidosis, it can happen in less than 24hours and causes blood to turn. not nice and it WILL put you in hospital and extreme case can kill you. So nothing much to worry about. Been there and it was not nice experience.

Forget diabetic foods (too expensive and taste like s**t) just need to cut back on the sugar stuff and get medication balanced. You may as well make full use of dieticians etc in UK while its free.

Here endeth the lesson. :lecture: :lecture:

You need to be around a few years longer yet to enjoy Oz.

Now where did I put that mars bar.