Sometimes when I’m on here (which is daily) I read blogs and I have to admit I don’t understand.I feel like I’m in a foreign land. I would like to become more educated about type 1 diabetics. For instance, I don’t know what a CGM is. I’d like to know how a pump works. I don’t get the concept of a bolus. Trying to understand all of the different insulins. And Keytones (i think) what is that?
I would like to be able to talk to more Type 2’s. I think I have more in common with them than a type 1. As far as I can tell there is no easy way to find other Type 2’s on here than what I’ve been doing and just going through the site member by member. Yes I’ve gone to the type 2 forum but I guess I’m looking for something more. The type 1’s seem to have a much tighter community than the type 2’s. I guess that’s what I want. I don’t know. I’m not so good at putting things into words.
Can anyone help me out with this? Especially all of the lingo. I don’t suppose we have a diabetic dictionary on here?
Hey kathy
I’m a tudiabetes newbie but I’d be glad to help with the lingo, CGM is constant glucose monitoring, and its a bit like an insulin pump in that you have a sensor attached and though I am not totally up to speed with it as the nhs in the uk doesn’t like to spend that kind of money on us he he its hard enough to get a pump here.
A bolus is the amount of insulin (fast acting) you take to correct a high Bg or to cover the carbs you eat Basal is the background insulin (whether a slow release type of injected insulin or the tiny increments that a pump delivers to keep everything on an even keel) Ketones are an acid produced by your body burning fat because it can’t absorb enough sugar to fuel it, in diabetics it’s because the insulin, which breaks down sugars for your body is not enough or nonexistent, there is often a peardrop/acetone type smell on the breath. Left untreated it can turn into to DKA Diabetic Keto Acidosis which is life threating
You’re welcome to add me as a friend even tough I’m a T1, there are T2 groups in the group section if that helps x
T1’s and T2’s do have different terminology sometimes… I’m still learning alot about T2 from the folks on here and T1 always seems to hold a surprise or two
A CGM is a Continuous Glucose Monitor. It uses a sensor that you insert under the skin to monitor your glucose levels and daily patterns.
A bolus is the amount of insulin taken to cover a meal or a snack so your blood sugars don’t rise too high. If your sugars get too high, you can lapse into Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). This is where your body can’t utilize the sugar in your blood (not enough insulin) so it starts consuming other things to keep you alive. Ketones are a symptom of DKA and can be tested for with a simple urine test. DKA is very dangerous, esp for a T1, as it can lead to coma and death if not treated in pretty short order.
Insulins… there are lots. Short acting is what T1s take with meals to cover the food intake (this is a bolus). Long acting is what we call a basal insulin. Even while sitting down doing nothing, our body still releases sugars into the blood stream for fuel. This basal insulin helps keep our blood sugars in control between boluses. Without a basal insulin, a T1s blood sugar may rise by 1 point a minute and could rapidly lead to DKA resulting from the high blood sugars. Of these two basic types of insulins there are several specific brands made by different manufacturers, and while the basic characteristics of each insulin may be similar, different individuals may respond differently to each. It’s a matter of finding the one that works best for you. There are also insulins that combine a fast-acting and long-lasting insulin to reduce the number of shots required.
What a pump does is try to simulate what the pancreas normally does and we try to accomplish with our various injections. It releases a constant amount of insulin (basal) throughout the day and allows us to take a single larger dose (bolus) with meals or to correct a high blood sugar level. One thing to note here, is that the pump is filled with a fact-acting insulin as opposed to a long-lasting one, this allows for much tighter situation control. On my pump, I have 4 different basal rates set for various times of the day. For example, I need a lot less basal insulin over night when I am asleep than I do during the morning ours. It also has a “bolus wizard” that helps me calculate how large of a bolus I need based on how much insulin it takes to effect every carbohydrate consumed (carb ratio), how many carbs I will be consuming and what my current blood sugar level is.
Hi Kathy! I hope that the other answers helped! Yes, there is a whole language that goes along with different types of diabetes care… feel free to ask whenever you don’t understand a term!
Another way to find people that you have something in common with is to search old discussions. For example, click here to see a search that I did for “Metformin”. I chose this since i know that many people with type 2 use this medication. If you click on Forum, you can type in any term to search old discussions. Hope this helps!
Thank you all for your answers. It has definatly helped. It makes the reading of blogs a little easier for me. Thanks Kristin. I’ve already checked out the Metformin discussion as well as the byetta one. Andreina I will go to the link that you sent. Scott and Louisa you explained everything very well. I think I’m going to study up on this some more.
Hi, Kathy! I’m Type 2 and I can understand your confusion. There are Type 2s who are on insulin and use CGMs, but for the most part their diabetes is more advanced than someone who was just diagnosed. (Type 2 diabetes is progressive and at some point, in addition to having problems utilizing insulin, many of us eventually lose the ability to produce our own insulin – or effective insulin – and need to supplement with prescription insulin.) For what it’s worth, many Type 1s have trouble understanding that those of us who are not on insulin do not have the flexibility of diet that they have – they can bolus (take extra insulin) to “cover” (properly use the nutrients from) food, whereas we need to be more careful about avoiding foods – or amonts of food – that will leave our blood glucose high for too long after we eat. Some have as much difficulty making sense of our many different oral medications (five different classes of them!) as we do of their insulins.
In the end, communities like TuDiabetes give us each the opportunity to see “the other side of the diabetes glass” and become better able to empathize with each other’s daily trials. We don’t learn this all-at-once, but the more active we are in the community, the more we learn
Your confusion is understandable. I was diagnosed as prediabetic tw year ago. I faithfully read Diabetic Forcast (ADA) and Diabetic Living and fI’m still trying to get all the lingo straight. One thing that may help is to know that Type 1 PWDs (People with diabetes) and type 2 are two different animals. Type 1 systems don’t make insulin, type 2 systems either don’t make enough insulin or aren’t able to use the insulin they produce. If you look at it as a glass, for type 1 the glass is always empty and for type 2 is only part full. I am new to TuDiabetes and I am having trouble navigating around in it. I was in a group yesterday for prediabetics and today I can’t find it. I hope this helps you a little, I may never know until I get a road map to the site. Good luck with your diabetes, while all PWDs have much in common each is also unique.
I am also T2. I understand your confusion completely and share your opinion about this site. When I first joined just a few short months ago, I read so many posts that I didn’t understand that I would always have a second tab opened to Google so I could search for things I didn’t understand. It took a while to figure out which discussions might be promising. Having said that, I learned so much from discussions that seemed to be specific to T1’s, as well as, T2’s.
In the beginning after dx, there was such a steep learning curve, I would become frustrated after spending time researching a topic I didn’t understand only to learn it is not relevant to my T2 condition.
In response to an earlier post…there are some of us who believe that T2 isn’t always a degenerative disease. Depending upon the progression of your D at dx, some of us believe that there is a lot you can do to prevent the progressive D and complications.
The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed by Gretchen Becker. This is a really good book for anyone with type 2 diabetes, even someone whose had diabetes for a few years. It really helps you become familiar with all the terminology and has a lot of info you can use.
HI, Kathy, Cathy J here. I am type II myself, and to be honest, I don’t understand a lot about type I either. Right now I am concentrating on learning all I can about what I have, and figure the other info will come along eventually.
How long have you been diagnosed? What kinds of “drills” are you doing — meds, diet, exercise, etc? Keep coming, there is a section for type II’'s and that really helps me out when I think I don’t understand anything. If nothing else, you can PM me, and I’ll be happy to talk. Take care,
Cathy
Hi Kathy! I just added you as a fellow T2 friend! You will learn A LOT of good information here. I treasure what I learn from my T1 counterparts, because as my disease progresses, if I can’t stop or slow down that progression, I, too, will benefit from a CGM and a pump sometime in the future. I can learn ALL I can from them. The book that was previously recommended is excellent! It breaks it up in to small manageable chunks. I read it from cover to cover, but I highly suggest you just read what is recommended by them - otherwise you don’t get the benefit of learning, then applying it to your own diabetes.
Another book that really helped me to learn about how progressive Diabetes T2 is is the book by Amy Tenderich of DiabetesMine.com - Know Your Numbers.
This book helped me to really self-advocate for myself with my internist and finally led me to get my own endo, which has been the #1 force behind me slowing down the progression of my disease. At the rate I was going, I was told I’d be on insulin shots by the time I am 50 (not new to me - I’ve been diabetic since age 28 with my first pregnancy and on insulin with all three of my pregnancies).
But now, I’m hoping that I can put even more years onto that solution. I’m not knocking insulin. But it doesn’t help my weight issues, either!
So now, I’m a Byetta girl faithfully. If I could only say that about diet and exercise a little bit better!
Welcome to tudiabetes - you’re going to love it here!
