How to control diabetes: there’s the right way and a lot of wrong ways. Diabetes is like a cruel jack-in-the-box. You always have to keep it under control. If you don’t, the jack-in-the-box will spring out and do bad things to you.

Keeping diabetes in the box isn’t easy. Especially day in and day out, watching what you eat, testing your glucose levels, taking your meds, and all the other things you have to do to keep everything under control. Most diabetics use an approach to diabetes control that either doesn’t work very well or is very difficult to live with day in and day out. Maybe you are one of them.

Check it out: Does one of these describe you?

The “snapshot” approach.

You deal with the immediate situation and generalize the rest. You test your blood sugar from time to time, especially if you “feel funny”. If the reading is too high, you might take a shot of insulin (if you use insulin) or you might drink several glasses of water or try something else to bring it down. If the reading is too low, maybe you eat a piece of candy or even “pig out” until you feel better.

This is a very dangerous and all too common way to deal with diabetes. The jack-in-the-box is always jumping out. Instead of really controlling your diabetes and keeping it down, you’re more often just trying to get it back in the box. It doesn’t work.

The “shotgun” approach.

This too is very common. You know you have to watch what you eat, keep your blood sugars down, take your meds and see your doctor regularly. You hit at all of them, but your energies and focus are scattered and diffused. Without a system that fits with your daily lifestyle, one area may be well-managed, but another area of treatment may suffer.

You may even do well, generally speaking. But all too often you are just putting complications (affecting the heart, kidneys, eyes, hands and feet) a little further down the road. And you don’t feel as good as you might if you had better-managed diabetes control. You still feel tired, still spend too much time and money on extra doctor visits and medicines that might not be necessary.

The “Band-Aid” approach.

This is yet another approach by many type 2 diabetics who use insulin. It’s probably the worst of them all. You just eat what you want and “cover it” with a little extra insulin. Very bad.

You are probably tightening the grip that insulin resistance already has on you. You increase the likelihood of complications every day, as well as increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. Don’t do it.

So what is the right way to control diabetes?

I’m the first to admit there is no single right way. But the right ways are far fewer than the wrong ways used by too many diabetics. Any way that works, and works every day, and works with your lifestyle, is the right way for you. Let me suggest three elements how to control diabetes the right way:

1 — Information that is solid and up-to-date.

There’s no substitute for knowing what to do, when and how to do it. That means you should read books and journals, Internet articles (but do be discerning with what you read on the Internet. Make sure it comports with other more solid sources of information). And as always, before incorporating any major changes into your treatment for diabetes, check with your doctor.

2 — The right attitude.

Diabetes is a self-managed disease. It is up to you to control it, and no-one else. So no matter how good your information, no matter what treatment for diabetes you have available, you have to have the attitude and the motivation to put it into action every day.

Some days you don’t feel like testing your blood sugar or exercising. You feel like tossing your diet out the window and gorging on cake and ice cream. Or you just get depressed with the whole thing. And your diabetes goes out of control.

How do you press through it? You have to develop and nurture the right attitude, based not on feelings but on conviction and determination. The right attitude includes the determination that no matter how you feel — good, bad or indifferent — you’re still going to do what you have to do to keep your diabetes under control.

3 — A system that puts it all together and makes it work.

You need to put both information and attitude together into a system. Organization, prioritizing, goal-setting, and so on. It’s the framework or structure for your whole diabetes treatment plan. When everything is structured and organized to make it fit into your life the way you live it, this works better than unorganized, hit or miss approaches.

Now determine for yourself: no more once-in-a-while or when-you-feel-like it “snapshot” approach, or scattered or dissipated time and energy of the “shotgun” approach, or patchwork “Band-Aid” approach that doesn’t work.

Put together a plan of information, the right attitude, and a system to make it work — today!

Adult onset diabetes is also known as type 2 diabetes. It is a chronic condition that has life-threatening implications. Warning signs and symptoms include blurred vision, increased urination (volume and frequency), fatigue, excessive thirst and increased appetite. You may also discover dark skin in the creases of your body. Common places are in the folds of the neck and armpits. These are all signs of insulin resistance or that your pancreas has ceased making insulin.

Normally, your body will excrete insulin to clear excess sugar out of your blood so that it can be used as cell fuel. If you develop type 2 diabetes, then your body is no longer able to metabolize sugar. The blood sugar stays high because insulin cannot move it into the cells, where it would normally be used as fuel. The fatigue comes when the cells cannot get the sugar for energy. Your cells then send signals to your brain that you need to eat sugary or starchy foods to give them the fuel that they need to function. So, you become hungry, eat more, sleep more, and make the problem worse.

The number one risk factor for type 2 diabetes is being overweight. Eating a diet high in sugar or starchy foods will cause you to become overweight and put you at higher risk for developing this condition. To understand how sugar lead to diabetes, we turn to the liver.

Normally, you eat fruits, vegetables and proteins. Your body slowly breaks these things down to provide your cells with sugar. So why is eating sugar directly so bad? The answer has to do with the speed in which the sugar hits the bloodstream. Simple sugars and processed foods quickly turn to glucose and fill up the bloodstream. Whenever your body has more fuel than it needs, it stores the excess in the liver.

Your liver becomes filled to capacity and then turns the sugar into fatty acids to clear them out and distribute them around the body. At first, the fat goes where it is supposed to, around the thighs, hips, upper arms and buttocks. When those areas become filled, then the fat goes to your organs instead.

This chain of events can easily and quickly turn into diabetes. It is very hard to control your appetite and cravings for sugar when your body thinks that it needs it so badly. The more times you give in, the bigger you will get, again, making the problem worse.

If you have type 2 diabetes, then your body is under constant stress and continually produces cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that causes even more fat to build up around the organs in an effort to protect them from the free radicals that the disease is creating. Because high levels of sugars cannot react correctly with proteins, free radicals are produced all over your body at an alarming rate. They can quickly cause strokes, cancer, damage nerves and deteriorate blood vessels. It is believed that the free radicals are to blame for many amputations that are necessary after vessels and nerves are damaged.

You need to rid your body of these free radicals and excess cortisol daily. To do this, you will need to supplement your healthy diet with vitamin A, C and E (remember “ACE”). Higher doses of vitamins and supplements are necessary to maintain immunity and clear free radicals in diabetics. Talk to your doctor about your condition before you buy vitamins and start a vitamins and supplements routine.

You have probably heard by now that you can get your Medicare supplies for free, especially if you use one of the mail order supply companies. These companies are great in that they deliver everything right to your door, remind you when it is time to renew your supply, do all the insurance paperwork for you with no upfront costs. You may ask yourself though, what else is covered by my Medicare insurance besides my glucose testing meter, lancets, test strips, alcohol swabs and syringes?

Actually quite a few things are covered that relate to your diagnosis of diabetes. Since 2005, Medicare has new ways to help you learn how to better manage your health with nutrition therapy and self-management training. Medicare now covers such things as glaucoma testing, foot care, hemoglobin A1c tests (special blood work for diabetics) and other special eye exams. Medicare also covers consults with nutritionists to help plan your diet for diabetes. It also covers your yearly flu shot and a pneumococcal pneumonia vaccination. You may only need the pneumonia one once. To take advantage of these services your doctor will have to write you a prescription. He should also be able to tell you about other Medicare services you are qualified for.

Keep in mind though that Medicare services don’t cover some items, such as insulin pens, syringes and weight loss programs. You can see the nutritionist for diet planning in relation to your diabetes though. Medicare will also cover special shoes for diabetics as long as you also use lancets, glucose monitors and test strips. Medicare covers custom molded shoes, depth inlay shoes and inserts for diabetics. These too must have a prescription from your doctor that states the history of any foot conditions you have.