Engineering students like the Dexcom.
Haha. True. I saw it on the Internet and loved it. If only they were more affordable.
Expensive, but knowledge is priceless. Worth every penny, especially for someone new to the game or that is living alone. Iām software engineering, by the way, so I have a particular soft spot for Dex. What type of engineering are you? Not trying to scare the undergrads but we lost a diabetic a few years back and it was very unfortunate. Diabetic undergrad
Good to see a fellow Engineer.
Electrical. My research is mostly focused on Space Engineering.
That is very unfortunate indeed.
Thank you very much, Lorraine. I would love to have a glucometer that communicate at least with my phone to log the readings. But unfortunately, they are not available here in India. Pumps are available but being a student, I canāt really afford it at this point.
Canāt afford it here. Iām going to be studying in Germany this year. Iāll see if the insurance there will cover it.
Germany! Where exactly?
Have fun, I am just in the south, Switzerland
let me know if you need anything
Great to know. I would be an Erasmus student. The semester in Germany would be at University of WĆ¼rzburg. The second semester is in Kiruna, Sweden. The next two semesters would be across Europe depending on the track that I choose. No Switzerland, unfortunately. Iāll visit the Swiss Alps someday!
What concerns me is the semester in Sweden. In Germany, Iād have access to public insurance irrespective of my residence permit period. In Sweden, however, I cannot access the public healthcare unless I have a residence permit for over a year. As Erasmus student, I would just have residence permit for 6 months. Most private insurances wonāt cover preexisting conditions.
Any idea about how to deal with this situation?
I really have no idea about other health care systems. When I go abroad (although Iāve never ben away for that long) I think my own swiss insurance still covers me as long as I have my main residence in Switzerland (and pay the policy).
Are you on American healthcare now? I am also not so sure about the preexisting condition thing, in Switzerland I have never heard of a thing like thatā¦
I am in India. We donāt really have a healthcare coverage. But treatment is generally cheap here. Insulin and other supplies cost less here in India than they do for an average american with coverage.
Public health insurances in European countries donāt really ask you for preexisting conditions and cover everything. But private companies will just see you as a loss for them and deny you coverage. Most people in European countries donāt go for a private insuranceā¦ so they donāt really care about this.
In Germany, residents pay a premium to enroll in their public health insurance, just like Switzerland. However, in Swedenā¦ as far as I knowā¦ you donāt pay any premium and will have automatic access to healthcare if you are a citizen or have a residence permit for over a year.
And I wonāt have a residence permit for over a year.
Ok, I see your problem nowā¦
Only option I see is to get enough stuff from India to last you the time in Europeā¦
Or find one of the few insurances who cover preexisting conditions.
Either way, you will have to get insurance even in sweden, even if they dont cover your diabetes stuff, because if not and you have an accident youāll have to pay big timeā¦
Have you asked other people who have studied in Sweden on what they have done? Iām sure that problem is known amongst erasmus students going to Swedenā¦
good luck
The college gives basic insurance coverage for accidents that happen during the college hours. Most Erasmus students in Sweden just get a private insurance to cover them for the rest of the time but this is not compulsory. So far, I have not been able to find a diabetic Erasmus student who studied in Sweden and is not EU/EEA citizen.
May be my only option is to take supplies from India.
The type 1 that sits next to me is from Saudi Arabia. He brings a semesters worth of insulin with him from home. His family might FedEx him more when he runs out. Tricky problem. Iāll ask around, but we donāt have any Swedish students. All of our Swedes are, at least, 2nd generation immigrants.
The āCall a Random Swedeā hotline has shut down, so you will probably have to email the university and askā¦ Audio clip from āCall a Random Swedeā
Just a tidbit of information for you so youāre educated versus them giving you a simple answer thatās not accurate. Your hunger may be contributed a LITTLE by insulin, however, itās mainly due to the loss of other beta cell hormones. They produce other hormones in addition to insulin.
When you eat, beta cells start to release 3 hormones: insulin, c-peptide and amylin in mostly if not entirely equal amounts. Amylin has 2 known primary functions. First being to slow down your digestion to allow the insulin to work with the digestion rate (think fatty foods or complex carbohydrates vs. fruit) and prevent blood glucose spikes. Simple carbs, fruits, etc. get digested quickly, T1D or not.
The other function of amylin is to send a signal to the brain to tell it your full, no need to eat more. Thatās the main reason T1D are hungry even shortly after eating the more their beta cells are dying off. They no longer produce these additional hormones. They do have Symlin on the market that is a manufacturered synthetic of amylin. It is another shot, more money, another prescription, etc. but using it changes the time and amounts of insulin you take.
I did read about it and was worried. However, I donāt really notice the effects of the missing amylin now. I was very hungry for about two months. Then I gained all the weight that I lost because of diabetes and returned to my usual weight. After I gained back that weightā¦ I stopped gaining weight and my hunger returned to normal. So everything is pretty normal now.