November 5

Today I just wanted to show you what I used to use to correct high blood sugars. I'll go more into different kinds of insulin and what insulin is on a later post. I wanted to talk about the symptoms of Diabetes and what to look out for. I went through all of the symptoms before I was diagnosed and those symptoms are what lead my family to bring me to the hospital when I was 9 years old. 

The symptoms of Diabetes are:
Frequent Urination
Excessive Thirst
Excessive Hunger
Extreme Fatigue
Blurry Vision
Wounds that heal slowly
Unintentional Weight Loss
Dry Mouth
Sweet (or nailpolish remover) smelling breath

These symptoms are quick to appear in Type 1's where Type 2's could not notice the symptoms or not even have some of the symptoms due to the disease developing over time. 

Diabetes is diagnosed by the symptoms and also some blood tests. I only had HbA1c (hemoglobin A1c) and my casual blood glucose tested when I was diagnosed, I think. They also do Oral Glucose Tolerance Tests but I've never had that done.
Your HbA1c is a test of what your blood sugars have been over the last 3 months. It's the most reliable test to see how much control you have of your blood sugar numbers. I'll talk about this more in a different post. To be diagnosed with Diabetes, your A1c has to be at or over 6.5%. I don't remember mine when I was diagnosed.
They also do fasting plasma glucose tests and casual blood glucose tests. To be diagnosed, your fasting has to be at or above 126 mg/dl. Your casual has to be at or above 200 mg/dl. When I was diagnosed I was over 700 mg/dl! I remember above 800, but it was 14 years ago and I was only 9. I don't remember the exact number. Much higher than that for any longer and I could have gone into a coma and died.

Having blood sugars that high lead to DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). I'll talk more about this also in a different post. This is deadly! Your blood turns acidic where it's normally neutral. It makes you feel horrible and is very damaging to your body.