"Straight Talk"

This is just to let you know what happened to me and in my experience in becoming what is known as "Advanced Staged" diabetic

as apposed to just another person with diabetic symptoms and you watch your diet a bit. My experiences is that of a man, though I

can tell you that these stages would drastically affect women as well. First signs, are subtle and begin with extended periods of legs

or hands falling asleep. Rather than 2 or 3 minutes to recover and wake fully, becoming more like 5 to 10 minutes (falling asleep

= needles or sandy feelings in extremities such as hands and feet. sit crossed legged too long, fell asleep on your arm, it happens).

During sex it would appear more in the form of not being able to sustain an erection for long periods of time without constant

stimulation. Take a breather during a session and you are heading soft really fast or just losing interest all together. Most would

attribute this to age or lack of good physical health (not enough exercise, etc.), but these are some of the subtle warnings which

I would say started in for me at age 32. Just to give you an idea of my time frame and condition at the time. I was diagnosed

as adult onset type II diabetes at age 25. A blood sugar count of 130 (110 was supposed to be good), I remedied that quickly

adjusting my diet from regular soda to diet, cutting down on fruits, candies, and deserts. I later continued this regiment till

I was about 39 (getting looser with the control and cheating more of course as time wore one from age 25) when I was

admitted to the hospital for a severe stomach ulcer attack. This is when they found I was running an average blood sugar

level of 300 plus and they put me on insulin injections as part of my now daily regiment. Now, here is something to consider

about time. As we get older (from 25 till now 42) our body processes slow down (harder to lose weight, easier to get tired,

love those bad for you foods, but they sure don't love me no more, etc. etc. etc.) and we forget that time plays a cruel

part in dealing with our ailments and how fast we can recover from them. Continuing on, it wasn't till I reached the age

of 39 or 40 ish that I really started to what I call, "feel my age," but it wasn't really my age I was feeling, it was the age

of someone much older than I (at least by 20 or more years). My legs would fall asleep more often and for longer

periods of time, sometimes for days even. Especially when I went to sleep, I would wake with parts of my body

feeling sandy and heavy (mostly from the waist down). Consulting the internet and a few other people, I then made

a change from briefs to boxers (underwear).   After which as symptoms worsen, I got looser boxers instead of the

tight somewhat sexy ones. But still it progressed till my legs felt a little numb or asleep all the time. My sex drive

weakened and no more "morning erections" to greet the day. Well, I am not in my twenties anymore, so this is

normal right?  My legs got less and more sensitive. I know this part sounds weird and a contradiction, but my

legs were asleep all the time now and ever increasingly feeling heavier and sandier, but at the same time, I

could no longer be without footwear. Especially on hard surfaces, my foot would hurt something awful with

each and every step I took. Now, my condition is that I can no longer wear sox or wear shoes or even lay a

blanket over my toes because it would cause such pain and where I should have feeling, I don't. My legs

from half way between my knee down to my ankle and foot are now 80% numb in my left leg and 50%

numb in my right. I was told by doctors, that the nerve damaged already sustained is irreversible and such

operations which would restore them, would not be available in my lifetime. My left hand also has numbness

which occurred while I was helping a friend move a somewhat heavy box that had a metal handle. It

bruised my palm and by the next day I had permanent 20% nerve damage in my left hand.  Even the touch

of a rose petal feels like concrete to me. I take insulin shots 4 times a day averaging a bottle of insulin every

3 days. This quantity of insulin usage has made me gain a lot of weight and no matter how little I eat

during the course of the day, I remain the same (30 pounds overweight). Not being able to walk long

distances because the result would be 100% lost of feeling in both legs after a while (temporary, but

would leave me stuck wherever I am for a few hours), not being able to run at all, and being very

weary of any kind of exercise in fear of bruising, cutting, or hurting any of my extremities which could

quite possibly result in a lost of that limb to gangrene due to the poor circulation of blood to such areas.

I have an added bonus of bleeding ulcers which I attribute to a youth of heavy drinking, lack of sleep,

and poor dieting because hey, in my twenties, I was invincible!  The combination of these two ailments

really make for a difficult path to recovery. The proper diet for diabetes would be to consume less

carbohydrates. Of course sugars, but also breads, rice, potatoes, starch in general. The proper diet to

prevent ulcer episodes (don't really want to explain how nasty this gets, we are talking about diabetes

here anyway)  is more complex carbohydrates (breads, rice, potato, starches in general). So, how to

I survive?   Just barely and not very well I assure you. And back to sex life, forget it!!  impotence

is definitely a result once you reach this stage of it. Viagra?  solution?  not likely,  as there has been

many reports of loss of eyesight in diabetic patients taking such sex enhancing medication. Now, you

really can go blind doing it too much. How is that for childhood myths coming true?!  Herbs?  ginseng,

ginko biloba, horny goat weed, yohimbe, and other such herbal remedies will give you a bit more

energy to make it through the day, but a usable erection?  not likely, and it just aggravates my ulcers

and will cost you more money than taking viagra 5 times a day for the rest of your life. Now, we

come to what does this do to women. Well, internally and emotionally I can't tell you much, but it

will give you ugly legs (dried, scaly,  puffy), effect your moods for having sex definitely, high heels

and exercise to keep that shape? (very difficult at best), and the constant prick of a needle on your

finger tips (for testing) and on your body (for insulin) would not leave you with smooth beautiful

skin all over. Why am I telling you all this and making such confessions in an obvious open to

the world forum such as the internet?  It's mostly too late for me, I saw the signs and moved to

the remedies much too late. I am in and out of hospitals more than I care to remember and

believe me, that angelic nurse and driven for a cure doctor, are only in movies and storybooks.

It's not a place you really want to be...  Can this help?  It's up to you and I hope you make a

good choice for yourself that you can "live" with.  I have excepted my mortality at a very young

age (not having anything to do with ailments of any kind), however, there is a difference in

dying gracefully, peacefully, and having accomplished what you wanted to accomplish in life,

and that of dying slowly, with a lot of pain, falling apart literally piece by piece everyday. Just

watching yourself go and remembering what you used to be able to do like walking, running,

enjoying sexual endeavors, sleeping a quiet night. And just wishing it was all over for yourself.

THE END?  hope not for you...

ADENDUM: I am 44 now (this written at 42) and have found a path back

to my healthy self about 1 year previous. Still on the Journey. (click here)