@Thas, sometimes I miss my dose of okra water, oh such a bad diabetic.
My real bad is not discussing my diet or medication taking habits with my doctor, it saves a lot of effort and time if I keep quiet.
Maureen
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You are right, humor helps a lot, every time i talk on the phone with my father he tries to make joke and make me laugh about.my diabetes, he is really supportive.
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Am I saying you’re not taking this disease seriously? Absolutely not Aranide. From your post it sounds like you’re taking it very seriously now, getting the A1C down, staying out of the hospital. Those are all great moves. I was trying to say that people are not BAD cause they have this disease, it’s the disease that is BAD and very difficult to control. Seems like I get a pattern down and I’m sailing along great and wamo something I did or ate throws the whole thing off. It’s very frustrating as I’m sure you know. But we plug along one day at a time! And you’re 100% right humor IS the best medicine! And with all this equipment we have to control the disease, CGM alarm going off, the pump vibrating on your hip, an iPhone dinging messages coming in all at the same time it does make for a good laugh!
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The humor, I think, many of us find in our situation as people with diabetes arises often from the ignorance of our friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. When we sense, for example, that a coworker at a work event with food might see us eating a piece of cake or some other sweet and judge us as a “bad diabetic” based on a woefully uniformed understanding of diabetes, we immediately see that rush to judgment as silly.
This shallow and ignorant judgment of our diabetes health practices, from our point of view, strikes us as funny. I suppose you could argue that it’s really sad, but we laugh to keep from crying.
I think that most of us, at least most of us who participate here, take diabetes seriously. We’re well aware of all the nasty complications that may come from diabetes. I, for one, take diabetes as deadly serious, as serious as a heart attack.
Does this make any sense?
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I’m not sure if I am. T1 for 20 years now, and not yet 30. No complications yet aside from taking a pill or two. I’m on injections still, no pump…
My A1C has always been 6.0-7.5, with maybe 20% of the time higher than that (not much). All time average is probably like a 7.0 or so.
IDK if going on a pump with a CGM will help me. Going through a rough patch right now, with my last A1C at a 7.9, but I just moved into a new house and have been too conservative without the crutch of my family close by in my living situation.
I really only worry about getting micoalbumin in my urine…I’d like to avoid that if possible. 20 years in without any. I’ve read that after 20-25 years your chances of getting any microalbinuria is only 1% per year…but what does that even mean in medical terms? Does that mean 1% EACH year, or every year that goes by adds 1% to my chances?
If you have the chance to try a cgm, it may be worth a shot! You don’t have to get both a cgm and pump at the same time, though it may work out better with some systems. My Dexcom cgm has been a huge asset! I don’t use a pump though. You might want to try asking your endo if you can do a trial run. There are a few different sensors on the market, so it might be helpful to do some research in advance too.
I keep reading stats like this. Does anyone have the link to this study? I’ve been looking all over. Thanks!
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While I don’t have a link (so sorry), I think it is implying that if you don’t get it early, there is some degree of genetic protection and your chances are low. Sort of like a “you’ve proved that your body is semi-resistant to this or that if you keep doing what you are doing, things might not change”
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I had that kind of relationship with my first ex-endo (emphasis on the ‘ex!’).
I’ve been able to be totally open with my last two endos. The previous one had an “everyone’s diabetes is different” attitude. My current endo is more or less on the same page with me when it comes to my dietary - and perhaps other aspects of diabetes management - preferences/habits.
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the 2 best endos I’ve had happen to both be diabetic, and on pumps. Funny how that works. I’ve seen at least 6 endos over the years. My current endo is one of those two best.
The best endo I had was not diabetic, but there was another internal med Dr at same office who was T1D, which I think really helped my endo relate to my care better. If the diabetic co-worker Dr could have wild swings, it was ok for me too.
Unfortunately have a new one now due to last one retiring, and the diabetic doctor left the practice for another job.
As a T2, fairly well controlled, I don’t get to see an endo here in Australia.
Sweating it out watching the Winter Olympics here in Perth.
I have 75% of my basal as Lantus, so I can spend 3-4 hours off pump, for martial arts training.
On the pump alone, with no basal Lantus, I can only go 10 or so days, getting lower and lower carb towards the end!
I love pumping, but totally resent the time spent doing pump tasks, so I minimise that time as much as I can. By being bad:joy:
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My new endo. got after me for overriding my bolus wizard recommendations for corrections. I let her know I know my body and my needs. Yes, we do have to be creative. We learn workarounds. We make it work.
My old endo was surprised that I changed my lancets every time and she said some of her patients use one for weeks. Well, that was all I needed to hear. I change lancets about every two weeks now. I still don’t use (or need) a CGM, but I’m sure I would stretch them as long a possible.
I only go to endo once a year because after 40 years I know myself best. I have never had a A1c above 7 and have no complications.
I need to override most of my pump’s recommendations these days because my I:C does not appear to be linear – I need more insulin-per-carb for small amounts of carbs than for larger amount. There just isn’t any way to set an I:C like that up in a pump…
@Christoph I agree with @katers87 I have been MDI for ~35 years; dxd 45+ years ago. I have no interest in using a pump. I have tried Dexcom and Libre and find them extremely helpful with understanding my BG levels.
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I just started using pods, and have withdrawn (and saved) the extra insulin but wondering if it’s as effective after being on the body for 3 days (ie at body temperature…). Do you notice any issues with it? I hate to waste about 30 units per pod!
And I do most of those “bad things” listed by the OP, but know that we’re all so unique that there’s nothing that works for everyone, hence, rules are made to be broken… as long as the changes make me feel better and my health better!
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When I was using Omnipod, I used to withdraw extra insulin from Pods, too – I never noticed any degradation when I did that.
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You know what? I haven’t noticed any degradation yet! I’m always paying attention to that to see if one condition (like extreme heat in the summertime) might have an effect but so far so good.
Great to hear this from both of you, thanks!! Do you combine with fresh insulin, or save up a bunch of “remnants” and use it all together? I’m trying to figure out logistics… Thank you!
I combine it with fresh insulin,. These days, I’m on an animus Vibe (while I can be…) and I change sets, but refill the cartridges a few times before discarding them. I do it in part to save the insulin, but also because I fill from pens and get a big air bubble the very first time I fill a new cartridge that I have to push out (and lose some insulin in the process) – When I refill a cartridge, there’s no air bubble at all. Definite incentive to refill. I have not noticed any problems - and i use Apidra which supposedly is most susceptible to such issues…
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