It’s always slightly annoying to me when I see someone posting
(on any diabetes site), “All I had to do was change xxx and my diabetes
is under control”. It’s aggravating when whatever they’ve done is
something I can’t do ( Stop drinking pop, stop eating a pound of candy
a day). Or just when you get the sense that for them, Diabetes is
just a blip on the radar, not a frustrating, confusing, day-to-day
different disease.
I envy the lucky ones who have their version of the disease all figured
out. I wouldn’t wish the annoyances and frustrations of diabetes on
anyone, and while I may be slightly jealous or annoyed, I’m rooting for
them too. This is an awesome thing, and hopefully they realize it.
But the worst is when someone says ‘What I’m doing is all you need to
do’. I’ve seen a few people over the past few months going, "I don’t
need meds, so no one needs meds! Meds are unnecessary for treating
diabetes!’. My (internal) response is always, “No, Meds are uncessary
for treating YOUR diabetes.” Me, I need the meds.
When you find something that works, that finally, at last -works-, then
you want to share that discovery, like it’s the one truth that will
lead you out of the maze. But my maze is not anyone elses maze.
If everyone reacted the same to food, exercise, meds, time of day,
stress, hormones… it’s sure be a lot easier to figure out.
I’m a bit guilty of this too. My first advice to anyone is ‘test after
you eat! see what raises your blood sugar, then eat less of it’. This
works for me better than anything else. I can’t really understand how
it can’t work for everyone. Even if eating less isn’t going to help,
knowing how what you’re eating affects your blood sugar has to be
helpful, right? You can take more insulin or change the timing of your
meds, or something to help compensate.
If someone though says, no this doesn’t work for me, well, probably I
would be skeptical. But it could happen. Maybe there’s something else
going on with them that doesn’t make foods predictable. Maybe meters
arn’t accurate for them ( I know there’s some kind of alternate
hemoglobin that can mess up your A1C). Maybe they are in a situation
where they don’t have much choice in what they eat.
I guess the point of this is that there should be a disclaimer on all
diabetes advice: Your mileage may vary. Whatever it is - a technique, a
food, a medication, a supplement, it may do great things for you, it
may have some affect, it may do nothing. But just because it does
something or nothing for you, doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same
for the person next to you. There a lot more going on with our bodies
than we understand, and it makes it very hard to predict.
Very well said.
Diabetes (type 1 or type 2) is probably the most individual condition around. We are all so different.
I really like your post. I’m totally someone who doesn’t have it all worked out yet. I like hearing what worked for other people a lot, but you’re right - it kills the feeling of comraderie and appreciation when others assume their methods will work for you as well.
The other interesting thing is that some things that worked really well for me before don’t work as well anymore. Responses vary over time as well as by individual.