[j_philips]

So you were diagnosed two years ago at age 17? I can definitely offer you some good advice due to the fact that I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11, in 1970, 42 years ago.

The first thing that I will tell you is that throughout your lifetime, there will just simply be times that although it seems that you've done everything right, or as best as humanly possible, sometimes things just don't work, and you just have to ride it out. The good news is that there are so very many things available now that didn't exist when I was diagnosed that really will help you a lot. I am listing a few of them below:

The first thing that is available to you now, that was not when I was diagnosed in 1970 is the insulin pump. If you are on insulin injections, please, please, please consider going onto an insulin pump. It will make all of the difference in the world. I was on insulin injections for 29 years and could never get my A1C below 8.9. When I went onto an insulin pump, within 90 days, I had lowered my A1C from 8.9 to 5.7. This really is an absolute miracle. A couple of things to consider about a pump is that you really can eat just about anything that you want to eat whenever you want to eat it. You just have to have a basic idea of how much insulin to give yourself for what you are about to eat, but they do train you how to do that, and it really is pretty simple.

The next thing that is available now is what is called a Dexcom. The Dexcom is a continuous glucose monitoring system. It checks your bloodsugar every 5 minutes, 24 hours a day and shows you what your bloodsugar is, and what direction that it is moving all of the time. It really is a fantastic way of keeping your bloodsugar in check virtually all of the time.

The last bit of advice that I will offer you is to encourage you to check your bloodsugar at lot. I check my blood sugar 8 to 10 times a day, and it really is no big deal. It take me less than a minute, and I can be in a crowd of people and usually do it without anyone even noticing. The more you can stay on top of your bloodsugar, the better you will feel, and the better off you will be toward leading a very happy and productive life, despite having type 1 diabetes. I hope that you will find all of this information helpful. I can tell you that if you will do just the little things every day, like checking your blood sugar, and exercising a lot, and eating a healthy diet, you will be healthier than people who are not diabetic.