Hi r/diabetes!
Looking for support and tips from people, so I figured I'd check Reddit. This week I was - as weird as this sounds - temporarily diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I have to do more blood work with pancreatic cancer markers and some other marker I can't remember the name of, next week to really confirm.
To prefix everything, I'm really afraid of needles. Like, stupid afraid. It took me about 15 years to get my blood drawn (and a lot of Ativan), but I finally did it, and the results weren't exactly great. My platelet count is ridiculously high, my glucose was at 288, and my A1C was 10.6%. That, as I have been told, is really really really bad.
I'm not overweight (although I used to be when I was on weird medications several years ago), and follow a high fiber low-carb (goal of <=100g carbs a day) diet. I've been doing this diet since... April? Maybe March? COVID makes time very confusing. But definitely more than three months. I've also never shown any signs of high or low blood sugar. Doctor asked me if I had felt any of a long list of symptoms she provided, and I hadn't. She even said she "couldn't recommend anything diet wise because it's exactly where it needs to be." I could probably exercise more, but I don't feel that on it's own would contribute to blood test results such as these.
I was prescribed a Basaglar U-100 pen, 15 units once a day. I will admit that it took me three hours of crying and my best friend to guide my hand (he also allowed me to prick him with a different needle to show how little pressure I needed) to actually do the injection. The needle didn't hurt, much to my surprise, but the actual insulin itself burned like hell. I have endometriosis, I know what pain is, and this was painful.
I know it's painful when first taken out of the refrigerator, but the doctor gave me the pen around 4:00PM and the injection didn't happen until 8:45PM. I held it in my hand for three hours, so I don't think it'd be a temperature thing. Is this normal? I messaged my doctor but it's a holiday weekend, so I'm curious if anyone else has had any experience with insulin feeling like Ra's sun rays blasting through your body.
I've also read that weight gain is a possible side effect from insulin. Is this common? Is it a lot? I've suffered from medication-induced weight gain so many times, and worked hard to get where I am physically, and the idea of losing all that has my anxiety through the roof.
She also prescribed a Freestyle Lite Meter, some test strips, and lancets. Much to my surprise, even though I pay $600/mo for health insurance, the test strips came up as $129.99 - with having to check my blood sugar 4x a day as instructed, that's completely unaffordable. It's just not in my budget. She told me not to pick up anything I couldn't afford. I find it odd the meter is $5, the needles are $7.93, but the strips are full retail price? What's the point of health insurance then?
She had offered one of the Freestyle 14-day constant glucose meters (I think that's what she called it), but the idea of it really freaked me out. I watched the video on it this morning, and I feel like it may be the better option, and possibly less painful? Would love to hear from anyone who has experience with these, and if they hurt less than the finger needles.
This is just all so overwhelming for me, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Sorry for the long post and all the questions!
Update: So I called the pharmacy, and the $129.99 is for 400 strips. She said it's best to pick up this many at a time as my doctor prescribed, because I'll be saving like $18 a box. The bill I got didn't show the quantity, so I feel a bit better about this now! No clue how much insulin will cost, though, since I of course have to get a pre-auth for that.
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