[Thalamos]

Hello, everyone. My name is Joe and I'm 41 years old. Just found out that I have Type 2 diabetes 2 days ago. Came to find out that I probably have had diabetes or a long time. The disease runs in my family. My sister has Type 1 which was diagnosed when she was 12 and my grandfather had Type 2.
The diagnosis wasn't a complete shock because of the history of it in my family but as my wife and I do research, we are finding out just how important it is for diabetics to take care of themselves. We have also come to realize that anyone, whether diabetic or not, should know exactly what they are putting in their bodies, have a regular excercise regiment and fully understand the consequences of not doing so.
The ironic part of the whole thing is that for the last couple of days, with treatment, I have felt better than I have in a very long time. I don't want to say that diabetes is a blessing for me but finding out why I was feeling the way I was for so long and being able to compensate for it is.
For the last few months, I was having increasing fatigue, unquenchable thirst (many many potty breaks..hehe, was drinking up to 2 gallons of water a day), severe lower leg and foot cramps at night, loss of balance and lack of coordination. But, my symptoms worsened over the last 4-6 weeks. I chalked it up to my long hours of work and lack of sleep until I finally went to the doc. He ordered several blood tests and my blood was drawn at the clinic. About 8:30 that night, after supper and my evening bucket of Crunch 'n Munch and jug of milk, we received a call from "Dallas". Turns out that the lab was calling to tell me that my glucose came back as 407 and that I needed to head the ER right away. My blood was drawn again at the ER and an hour later my glucose came back at 595. Suffice to say, I was in the hospital for another day and a half.
I'm taking one Lantus injection a day (had to get over that "sticking yourself with a needle syndrome"). Also taking Metformin twice a day, a low dose aspirin and a cholesterol med as well.
Sorry for the long post, but this is first time that I feel I can speak to folks that have the same life changing condition that I have. I will welcome any advice and all of the positive vibes I can get. Love the Glucose Buddy app for the iPhone. It has been invaluable thus far.

Joe