Sound like anyone??

[drewbttjj]

First, thank you for your stories. I am learning more each thread I read.

Second, does anyone know the proper age I should suggest having my 12 year old daughter tested?

This is why I ask:
When I was younger I would only have 2 periods a year (strangly enough one in spring and one in fall). I never thought much about it, my Mother had said she was the same!

And so this continued until I met my future husband at 18 and had my 1st child. My periods stayed steady for a few months and went back to two a year.
Three years later my 2nd child was born. Same thing happened.

When my 2nd was 3 yrs I ended up in the hospital with a BS of over 500. This was in 1997. I was diagnosed with type I diabetes. Intresting, I thought, noone in my family was. AF was with me in the hospital and for two years after (and no health ins) I hadn't seen AF. I had lost 100 lbs (from 235 to 135) I kinda thought dieting was the reason. My dr advised me to gain some back (I guess I looked sickly).
So, in 1999 I was up to 160-165 or so and AF does a return and then comes #3!

Ok, now here is the funny part. Since he was born in 2000 steady af, I also had a tubal.
Now last year I see an Endo for the Diabetes..and he spikes intrest in the hair on the chin, tests the blood and volia...PCOS. He put me on Lantus, Humalog and Dexamethazone.
Now I had doubts about Dexamethazone therapy. I was on .25 mg. I once had 2 AF visits in a month so I quit it. I went back on .125mg (yea I cut those small pills into 4!) my PCP advised because it was making my sugar high and it is still making me stressed to kill (I think)! I am getting ready to go back to the Endo and gotta have blood drawn before.

Sound famillar to anyone???

[Eva37]

welcome to sc
Eva

[drewbttjj]

Thanks

[kat2000catwoman]

Welcome!! I'm new here too!! .. What did he give you for a reason for the dexamethasone?? It's a steroid.. When at work, all my patients who are on steroids are checked 4 x's a day for their blood sugars regardless if they are diabetic or not., as one of the many side effects of steroids is hyperglycemia- high blood sugar! That's no doubt why you are on lantus... a Long acting insulin.. usually taken once a day.. Your humalog is a short acting insulin. I guess you use it with a sliding scale before meals??
Ask your Dr. why he has you on it, and hopefully he can give you his reason why , in laymans terms, so you undertand. If it's not making sense, tell him you don't understand. Many Dr.s just start talking about things- he understands, but others can't follow, because it sounds like a foreign language!! Good Luck!

[drewbttjj]

Yea, I knew that about the Dexamethasone before I was prescribed it. He was hoping the dose would be small enough to lower my Testoserone levels (I had 113) without raising my sugar to a uncontrolable high. Tomorrow I'll have my blood drawn and we'll see what happens. I see the Endo on May 3.

[kat2000catwoman]

Let me know... I'll check back later to see what you've found out. Hopefully good news!!

[drewbttjj]

Well, the Dexamethasone is out the door! So sweet. I hated that stuff.
Anyway the dr. gave me Metformin today instead. Has anyone heard of it not working on the bloodsugar of someone that is Type I diabetic.
I asked if it would lower my sugar too much and he said it shouldn't because it won't work if I'm type one. Word is "IF". He still isn't totally for sure if I am. So funny. I hope it lowers my Testosterone. Last test was 100. UGH!
He's going to test my c-peptide, fasting bloodsugar, HGA1C, Total and Free Testosterone, DHEAS, and 17 hydroxyprogesterone over again in 2 months.
Good thing I work in a Dr. office. I am a Medical Assistant (5 years). The girls can draw me!

[ajhyer]

That's odd. I know someone who had Type 1 diabetes and was on Glocopage (spelling?) which, from my understanding, is the name brand of met. He wasn't on anything else to control his sugar so I would think that it would lower your sugar levels. Of course I am not in the medical field so I could be way off base here!

[drewbttjj]

You would think so, but so far I have been on 1000mg of Metformin twice a day and it doesn't lower my bloodsugar. I could shave about a unit or so off my insulin dose but the Metformin isn't really that effective. I imagined waking up in an ER room by now from Hypoglycemia.

[kat2000catwoman]

..type I diabetics produce NO insulin, and therefore need the injections..
type II diabetics.. they're pancreas produce some, but not enough insulin needed, when the person eats. So, they may be on insulin injections, oral medications... depending on their particular situation.. it may be one or the other or both needed to keep the blood sugar in check.
The oral meds are divided...one group will "force" the pancreas to produce more insulin, where group two will inhance the uptake of insulin- to help the body to absorb insulin better. glucophage -metformin- fits into the second group.. has nothing to increase production of insulin, but increases the bodys ability to absorb it..
hope this helps

[drewbttjj]

Ok, so it will hopefully pull my hormones into line and even out the testosterone then (i hope). If not I don't know what then, back to the Dexamethone? Or is there something else?

[kelseybean]

Hi.

I wanted to say I was diagnosed after the birth of baby #3 also. I'm not familiar with Dexamethone though. I've been on Met since I was diagnosed.

[drewbttjj]

I don't know it's confusing me now. The more I know, the less I know it seems. I guess the doc is trying to find a way to lower my testosterone level. I hope the met takes care of it. I didn't like the dexamethazone. I'll find out the end of June when I have it (and other tests) redrawn.

[kat2000catwoman]

Sorry it's taken me a few days to reply...I had to work..
I'll try to clear up your confusion.. then talk to your DR..
Glucophage(metformin) this helps the receptor sites in the body absorb the insulin that your pancreas puts into the bloodstream and helps keep your bloodsugar in check. for example.. if your body has thousands of doors with locks. they stay locked until keys open them. Only, one key per lock, per door. For your body to take in the insulin, it has to go through the opened doors. when a person is insulin resistance, it's like only a few of the doors are open. when you take glucophage, it's action on the body is making more doors open to let the insulin go through. Won't help with your testosterone.
As for your hormones.. There is a drug (has many names) spironolactone or aldactone are the 2 most popular known names. This med is used to manage high testosterone levels and hirsutism in women. This is something to talk to your Dr. about. There are side effects(as with all meds) so you'll want to talk to your Dr. to see if its something for you.
I would think that he is aware of this drug, it's not a new one.
I hope that your endo is involved with these med decisions.
How were your lab values.. HGA1C? and the rest? has the Dr. tell you if they were normal or out of range??
Hopefully this helps...
Again I'm sorry it's been a few days... gotta pay the bills and all..