Writers Block

Unfortunately I've been suffering from D-blog writers block for the last few weeks, hence the lack of posts :( Not really feeling the D right now, no oomph. So I've done a little Mememe!

What type of diabetes do you have:
Type 1

When were you diagnosed:
August 25th 2009

What’s your current blood sugar:
What kind of meter do you use?
I use the Contour USB

How many times a day do you check your blood sugar:
Around 4-6 depending on whether I've had a low/high during the day.

What’s a “high” number for you:
For me anything above 11mmol, that's when I start getting headache and feeling yucky/grumpy.

What do you consider “low”:
Anything below 4mmol

What’s your favorite low blood sugar reaction treater:
Lucozade Sport as it's super quick after just a mouthful

Describe your dream endo:
My GP actually has T1 so is always incredibly helpful when I go for my reviews, he 'gets' it! He never goes too much into my readings, just how I'm feeling with my D and how I'm getting on. He always makes me feel better and reassures me that I'm doing okay, and not to be too hard on myself.

What’s your biggest diabetes achievement:
Probably getting my HbA1c under 7% after about a year of being in the early 8's!

What’s your biggest diabetes-related fear:
That it'll take my eyesight in the end.

Who’s on your support team:
My family, my angel Aimsy, my GP and the lovely ladies at the Healthy Living Centre :)

Do you think there will be a cure in your lifetime:
Think I got more chance of eating candyfloss on the moon!

What is a “cure” to you:
Having a working pancreas, and none of the crap that comes with Diabetes.

The most annoying thing people say to you about your diabetes is:
"Should you be eating that?"
"You can't have one of those, it's got sugar in it"
"Do you have the bad kind of Diabetes?"
"You have Diabetes?.... But you're not fat"

What is the most common misconception about diabetes:
That there's only one type, and it's baaaaaaad. Ugh!

If you could say one thing to your pancreas, what would it be:
Please behave!

DSMA April Blog Carnival - Don't Let Me Fall

This months blog carnival topic is all about support..
Describe your ideal diabetes “support group”? What would you discuss?

Unfortunately I don't have any local support groups in my town, I'd love to have the time to start one as being with other PWD is great :)

Testing together, injecting together (or showing off pumps) is awesome!

If I did have a local group I'd love it to have people with various types of D and diagnosed at various ages. On my PDAC course everyone was very different which made it more interesting for me and I learnt a lot in a short space of time. I'd like to feel welcome and comfortable to be myself, whether I'm loving D at that moment or not.

I'd also like it to not revolve around D completely, I like talking about films, hobbies and other stuff apart from D too! Support groups need to be ''real' just because we live with it doesn't mean we wanna talk about it all the time.

With regards to what I'd discuss, I guess it'd be the problems I've had in the past and fears for the future along with successes (and a good old chunter) too :) I like learning and trying out new things with my D to help and also to possibly help others with their D journey.

This post is my April entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/april-dsma-blog-carnival-2/

Wordless Wednesday - Results

DSMA March Blog Carnival - Out In The Open?

This month's blog carnival asks Does your employer/school/friends know you have diabetes? Why or why not?
I was only diagnosed a couple of years ago so never had to deal with everyone at school wondering what I was doing, or telling me I couldn't eat that. Although I'd have preferred to have had the diagnosis earlier so I could have gotten to grips with D sooner (as much as you can with D!) I'm glad I didn't have the faff of explaining it over and over again.

For me, I find it easier at work to be open about my D. Most people are curious but feel awful asking. I try to encourage questions because I can't stand the wondering looks when I'm finger pricking and feeling the laser beams in the back of my head! I'm quite comfortable testing and injecting at work and in front of people whether I know them or not. The only time when I get a little D-shy is when I have a frock on!

Also if anything were to happen to me, I'd like someone to have a rough idea of what to do/what not to do. I've found that by answering questions it's dispelled a lot of the D myths people hear and read about.

"Ohhhh so you CAN eat sugar?!"
"Umm yeah, have you not seen my face when birthday cake enters the office...??" :P

I can fully understand why many people choose not to disclose their D to friends/colleagues. D isn't just a 3-week thing, you deal with it every second of the day. So having to explain it enough for someone to understand does get a little...eh sometimes. The nearest we'll get to a holiday from D is by just not talking about it for a while.

This post is my March entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/march-dsma-blog-carnival-2/

Shawty Got Low, Low, Low, Low

After a couple of bad hypo's at the end of last week, I got asked today at work what it feels like to be low.
Hmmm where to start?!

To a member of the public it probably looks as though you're drunk or stoned, which isn't helpful when you're feeling like you're about to keel over!

I normally say that I feel very spaced out, as if I've been set to slow-motion and everything around me is too. My head feels heavy, as if it were full of cement and it's hard to hold your head up when you get really low. You end up sweating as though you'd just sprinted for miles and miles, and you're shaking/twitching too.

Auto-pilot switches on sometimes too and the urge to eat everything you can lay your hands on can be hard to fight. It's not until you start coming back into range that common sense kicks in and you realise what you've eaten! You then have to check to make sure you don't rebound and go hyper instead. All whilst probably having a massive headache from being low (hypo hangover as some call it!).

Being alone whilst hypo is what I find most difficult. No-one to hold on to whilst your shaking and feeling a million miles away in hypo land and no-one to distract you from eating the entire contents of the cupboard. It takes a while for your body to recover and feels so much longer than it actually is, so someone hugging you and telling you it'll be okay is bliss.

Time for some Insulin? Timesulin!

Late last year I read about a new Diabetes product aimed at people on MDI called Timesulin. This has recently gone on sale to the public and thanks to the lovely Susan Moolan, I've been able to try out two caps. One for my NovoRapid and the other for my Lantus Solostar.
Timesulin is a replacement pen-cap, suited to a number of various pens, to record when you last did your injection. After 8 seconds of removing the cap to complete your next injection, the timer resets and will only start again when you clip your pen back on. You can then keep an eye on when you last injected and the 8 seconds also gives you time to check how much insulin is left in your pen.

I've only used these caps for a couple of weeks now but they have already helped immensley and it feels like I've had them for much longer!

They are so simple to use, just swap them for your normal pen cap and the timer begins straight away. You don't have lots of buttons to press or menu's to scroll through, just the hours/minutes/seconds since your last injection.

Diabetes to me is incredibly unpredictable, the slightest thing can send you riding on the glucoaster which can be incredibly exhausting and draining. Family and friends support during these times is brilliant, but they won't always be there to answer the 'Did I already do my jab?' question.

The feeling of not knowing what to do in that situation is horrible. Do you risk not injecting and going hyper? Or do you inject again just to be on the safe side and risk double-dosing which could result in low blood sugars or hospital visit!

The one thing that would make Timesulin even better, for me personally, would be to have a record of the dose as well as the time. That would be sooo helpful especially during those busy running round like a blue-arsed fly days!

If you'd like further information please visit http://timesulin.com/ or contact Susan on Twitter @susanmoolman

Or if you'd like a leaflet for you/a friend/your local DSN just e-mail me your address and I'll post one out to you :)

DSMA Feb Blog Carnival - Far From A Winter Wonderland

Diabetes is a royal pain in the arse.

Fact.

It can be at it's worst in Winter, when for some people D teams up with Depression. Unfortunately the two are commonly linked, and little things adding up can soon snowball into a full burnout. Little things like:

Christmas
Presents
Cooking
Thanksgiving
New Year
Snow / Ice
Relatives coming over
Party planning
Last years resolutions
Low blood sugars from cold weather
Decorations
High blood sugars from overeating and/or stress
Unexplained highs/lows
Over excited children
And many many more!

If I ever feel like I'm getting a bit down and want to try and stop it before it takes hold, I go to my family/friends and loved ones. They will always distract me and make me smile :)

Do something creative!
Create some D-art for this years Diabetes Art day, or make a few postcards for the D-Postcard Exchange. You could even create yourself a Diabotic! I started knitting before Xmas (yes I'm god awful slow at it - but apparently quite neat) and find it's a brilliant distraction when I need it.

Don't bottle things up!
Have a good old vent to your family/friends or the DOC! They will always be there to offer support and advice at any time day or night. Bottling things up in my experience never helps, it's always an 'Ahhhh' moment when you let it go :)

Meet other PWD
D-meets are amazing and never fail to cheer you up! The people are incredible, have an amazing sense of humour about their D, and know exactly what you're going through and how you're feeling. There's nothing like seeing a group of PWD testing before lunch, it's brill!

This post is my February entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/february-dsma-blog-carnival/