I went for my 6 month endo appt week before last. I finally got my bloodwork back in the mail. That's one thing I really dislike about my doctor. I think it would be so much more effective to have the test results in front of us for the discussion.

By the way, where I write "doctor", feel free to substitute "physcian's assistant". As with most doctors who are in demand, he has 4 PAs that also see patients. The office tells you that you can make appointments with anyone, but if you want to see the actual MD, it takes a couple more months of waiting or accepting the oddball times, like 7:45 am on a Monday or 11:55 on a Friday - they close at noon on Fridays.

My HbA1c went up from 5.5 to 5.7. I realize that is still an awesome result and nothing to complain about, but I'm sure it's directly related to the 12 lbs I have gained in the past 6 months. That dreaded holiday weight that I was so afraid of? Yes, that would be about 8 of those pounds. (READ MORE)

It seems to me that nearly every female in the diabetes online community has thyroid issues also. I got curious about this and did some reading. Nearly a third of Type 1 patients have thyroid disorders, usually an underactive thyroid. It does indeed affect more women than men. This is because if you have one auto-immune disease, like Type 1, you are at higher risk for another. As if people with diabetes need another challenge. The linked article also cites a higher than normal incidence of thyroid disease in Type 2 diabetics, but no statistics are given. (READ MORE)

The February "O - The Oprah Magazine" arrived last week and I just got to take a look at it.  Our dLife reader and commenter, diabeteshope, called it perfectly last month right here.  It seems that Oprah's weight gain she attributed to a thyroid problem may well have been hormone related.  MOST people really cannot go off thyroid medication after they have started it.

Oprah says that after just ONE DAY of taking bioidentical hormones, she started feeling better.  Boy, I didn't know any legal drugs worked that quickly!   (Just kidding!)

  (READ MORE)

One thing about diabetes that can be particularly frustrating is not knowing how our body will react to stress. I've had just as many highs from stress as I have had unexpected lows.

Strangely, I think I more often go lowish from certain kinds of stress. Namely medical stress. Just over a year ago, for example, I had to have an MRI on my hip with contrasting dye and it was really an experience I was not prepared for. Sitting in the waiting area before the procedure I was high. During the part where the doctor injected the dye into my hip, I felt myself going low and thought I was going to pass out.

And then there was the minor hand surgery I had two and a half years ago where my sugar stayed low all morning until my mid-day surgery. (READ MORE)

I have to do something this afternoon that I've never done before. And I'm not looking forward to it. In fact, I suspect there will be ridiculous amounts of screaming and crying.

No. 2 needs bloodwork. *sigh* Actually, she's the toughest of all the kids when it comes to stuff like this so she may surprise me and not throw a fit, but I'm seriously not holding my breath.

She has a strange mix of things going on with her and the doctor thought getting some bloodwork would either help rule out a connection or help us treat the problems as a whole.

  (READ MORE)

What are you thinking about right now? Is it the color purple? Because that's what you should be thinking about right now. Purple. Now it's everywhere, right? All of a sudden it seems to be everywhere you look. See, right there? No, on your left. It's purple.

Everywhere.

That's what I've been dealing with for the last roughly five months -- finally being able to put my finger on something and then it's freaking everywhere. Earlier this year I had a "routine" ultrasound on my thyroid. I've been taking medication for more than 10 years because of my thyroid and my new endo is the first doctor to ever suggest I have an ultrasound.

  (READ MORE)