newly diagnosed and new to this board

[Phd2be]

Hi all! I was just diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on Monday...still realing from the news. I knew I was dodging the bullet due to my family history but still hearing the words were hard.

My doctors gave me actos 15/500 and it has made me sicker than a dog. Vomiting etc for two days... I can't seem to keep my sugars down and always dizzy which is a new thing just this week....any clue as to how long that lasts?

A bit about me I am a 41 year old Mom to two autistic children, married for 12 years to an awesome man and I am a full time graduate student with a goal of PhD in Clinical Psychology before I turn 45.

[tfkeel]

Welcome to the board. It is kind of a club that nobody wants to join but the people here are very good and there are some who are quite knowledgeable about diabetes and its treatment here.

Nausea is a side-effect of Actos that should be immediately reported to your doctor. Stop taking the medicine until you resolve this.

If you are vomiting.....it is likely that the Actos is having no effect on your sugars because it is largely coming back out of your stomach before being assimilated into your blood and passed to the tissue interfaces where it works.....

Don't worry. This is a long-term game you are in.... and, you have a disease which is well-researched and has a plethora of treatment options available to you which can deliver years to your life and life to your years with a minimum of objectionable side effects. Your doctor can fix this for you and get you on a program which will work.

[grannymac08]

I, too, am newly (well, 9/07) diagnosed. Mine is type II, and has either ban 'unmasked' by, or caused by prednisone I'm taking for COPD.

I wasn't aware I had diabetes until September, when during my hospital stay, my glucose levels were over 100 (random). Bedside readings (finger sticks) ranged from 100-200 that stay, and when I got out, I was told to get a fasting BG. However, I happened to have a glucose monitor at home (got it from the "Flight for Diabetes" at a local airshow when I told 'em I was on prednisone) - and was going to give it to a friend if I wasn't diabetic who sends 'em overseas for missions. Well, the numbers (particularly after eating) ranged from 200-400, so I called my PCP and rattled off the numbers for a week or so. He told me to come in and we'll start insulin (lantus 15-20 units in a.m., amaryl 2 mg in a.m. and 2 mg. pm, if BG is >150 at 3 or 5 p.m.).

If my BG is high, I tend to get tired - although lately, it's difficult to quantify my feelings...5 pneumonias in 6 months really whacks one out - you don't have time to recover before you get nailed again. (we're taking steps to help stop these - I have GERD and sleep apnea, and they think it's aspirant pneumonia - so, I'm on BIPAP at night, try to cut back on eating too close to supper, and snacks in evening is high carb to reduce bulk (instead of sandwich and milk, for example, which would be too much bulk, I have a small dish of icecream) to keep my BG from dropping at night).

At any rate, my numbers are often 'all over the map' - mostly higher after eating (a characteristic of prednisone), but I can also tell sometimes when an infection is pending - my numbers are consistently higher within a day to a few days of pneumonia - last one - this month - 72 hours before pneumonia struck, 5 out of 6 numbers were >250. I have even gone days without insulin when my appetite hasn't been too great, or at times, I use a 'sliding scale' - from 15-20 units depending on how much I'm eating - I also take it at differing times - for example, I'm NOT a breakfast eater, so I take it closer to lunch, or when I know I'm going to eat lunch.