April 13 is my 16th anniversary, and I have never taken one day off from testing. Or injecting/pumping. I have also never eaten whatever I wanted for just one day, but I have had days when I “eased up” on my usual eating rules.
Yeah, I have. I am type 2 on insulin and usually very diligent about taking my insulin and checking my glucose. However, last summer I was very depressed, and totally quit checking and taking insulin for a number of weeks. Then one day on a dare I checked an it was almost 20 (I am Canadian, I think 20 for me is about 380 for those in the US). I freaked, and immediately got back to trying to take care of myself. It took a while to get things back where I wanted them, but now I am doing great. Looking back I am really lucky that I didn’t get very sick. I will never do that again. It wasn’t worth it.
Definitely NOT a good idea. I went though a depression last year, and although I didn’t entirely quit taking insulin, I skipped it more times than I would like to admit, and binged on carbs, and ended up in a coma, which almost killed me. What I learned is that no matter HOW depressed I am, and no matter what else I don’t do, I WILL take my insulin and I WILL test. Dying of diabetes is not worth it!
Glad you came to your senses in time! 
Does the comment from the writer in the Diabetic book : " to take one day off from worrying about it " really mean to Not take one’s BG , Eat what ever ??? …relaxing and still doing the above mentioned tasks can have quite a different meaning …this is what I read in between the lines .
OK, so a lot of us have weighed in on not taking a vacation from testing or eating well. But what would a healthy “vacation for diabetics” look like?
The whole point of “vacation” is taking a break, resting, not having to try so darn hard all the time, right? Chillaxing?
Hmmm…
Maybe a healthy way to play hooky from diabetes would be:
– get pampered on a “spa day”: massage, facial, manicure, yummy low-carb spa salad and ahi steak made by someone else (yay!), the works;
– rent the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy – and watch them with friends, back-to-back, with healthy, pre-measured snacks prepared the day before – already weighed, measured into portions and labeled with carb values so you don’t have to do the math. Pretend the Dark Lord is really Lord Diabetes and be prepared to shout, “DIE minions of Lord Diabetes!” every time an orc gets it in the neck. Be sure to shake your fist, too, to get the full effect.
– get a truly trashy, comic novel and enjoy it while curled up in the nicest spot you can find, planning to spend the entire day napping and reading – no phone calls, no e-mail, no internet, no news, no worries, no stress – just pure escapist brain relaxation punctuated with an occasional peaceful sigh of contentment and the well-timed, healthy snack;
– plan ahead (snacks, water, back-up diabetic gear? check, check, check) and take your show on the road: mountains, beach, someplace far from the madding crowd, to-do lists and fluorescent lights. Just get out of Dodge and have some one-with-nature time.
One of my favorite things: having NOTHING on my calendar. A day with absolutely nothing that I have to do is…magical. I can wander the city doing whatever strikes my fancy: walk in a park I’ve never noticed before, browse in a weird little antique store, even if the weather is iffy, I can sit in my car with the windows cracked open at a beach (yes, we have beaches in Seattle) watching the gulls flap around like flags of cloth being battered by the wind and the tips of the whitecaps kicking of froth. As someone else said a long time ago: “I’m a human being, not a human doing.” Sometimes we just need to be.
I have always felt that T1s should be able to pause the disease for all national holidays. It would be nice to have the ability to pause it on trips too!
I never take a whole day off because I will be dealing with it the following day all day long, so from time to time I take 1 meal off. I say “I’M HUNGRY” and have something naughty like chips and salsa and a nice taco salad with the bowl and I eat some of the bowl!!! LOL or Bean Burritos, I love Bean Burritos, or,Pizza. That is what I do. Doc says “hey, you are only human” and he is right, you have this one life to live and you need to be happy in it, if that means eating pizza once in a while, so be it!!!
I agree with the consensus that taking holidays is a bad idea. I resent the implication from the author that this would somehow be a good thing for anyone.
I would like a holiday from dealing with insurance companies idiotic pronouncements about “200 test strips/ month”, “letters of medical necessity” (wtf do you think a prescription is, Sherlock?) And all of that Mickey Mouse.
Beautiful, Jean! I’ve been suggesting “mini-vacations” from all of life’s pressures for years, and I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Unfortunately not checking blood sugar may be a little scary for type 1. I mean, we can still “eat whatever we want”, we just have to take the insulin Want to eat an entire cake and call it vacation? Go crazy! Just take that shot/bolus!
I totally agree! I mean their are major things that could go wrong without taking your insulin and eating crazy amounts of food!
It’s not my kinda vacation. If I do not test or take my insulin it may be a permanent vacation. I occasionally do have “eat what ever I want days.” I do enjoy those type of vacation days. But sometimes it is hard work to return from that vacation.
Since I started on insulin over 52 years ago I have always eaten whatever I want and have never worried about it. Of course, eating whatever you want means taking more insulin. I try to average 150-200 carbs a day, which is about 55-60 U a day. At one time, when in my teens and early 20s I was taking over 100 units a day. However, I stopped at a 7-11 every morning for a honey bun on the way to work. But not to worry, I had a diet coke with it to make up for it.
My major reason for avoiding a lot of carbs is that they make me gain weight. The better control is a bonus. So while I do indulge occasionally, I try very hard not to make a habit of it. But if you can do it, more power to you!
What would be good about a free day but a day I feel all sick?
I easily feel sick from a bg of 180 and up. On a day without testing and taking insulin shots but still eating carbs, I’m bound to feel very bad. Since I know that very well already, I don’t want to cause it on purpose.
I eat whatever I want every day, I can’t find anything wrong with that.
I had a few people trying to talk that out of me because they were convinced that I needed a special diet or something because they just couldn’t picture a diabetic eating all normal. Just as a non-diabetic person does. But I do - and just as a non-diabetic person I try to eat healthy, but in a way I like it. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?
So, back to the question of “vacation from worrying”:
I, honestly, would worry MORE on a day I “take vacation” from it!
However, I definitely met people who didn’t care at all - and ended up with an A1c of 13+.
I’d like to meet them again in 20 years or so and see if they’re still feeling as great as in their teen years…
the book is “50 Myths that can ruin your life and 50 facts that can save it.” and it wasn’t saying to stop taking insulin all together and to not test al together. it said to test a little less or skip a less important test. and use insulin just eat something you are craving and such.
okay i didn’t mean taking a whole day off from checking their bs levels. i mean skip one or check less for one day? and i did not say to not take insulin…
I wish it were that simple, the last time I had a real good vacation from dealing with any of this testing and shooting crap was the day before the dreadful diagnosis on Jan 16th of 2001, and weeks prior to that I was beginning to feel like a rotten pile of $hit, especially after eating some of my birthday cake just 2 1/2 prior to the dreadful day, the day I found out I wasn’t invincible like I once thought I was.
I now test at least 10 times a day, bolusing, and all the other fun that is stuck with me till the day I die, unless if some miracle cure arrives.
that is what i was trying to ask all along!!!
I feel as though when you go off (eat what you want, no exercise, break the rules) for one day (which I have) you feel even more pressured to do “good” on all the other days. Personally, I prefer to go bad for only one meal or for a portion of the day. Then, you can relive that moment sooner (like the next day), and make the right decisions. For instance if you have a BAD lunch, you only ruined that portion of the day. If you have a BAD breakfast, lunch and dinner, you ruined your entire day. Get what i’m saying? Or if you want to have a bad portion of the day, say it’s your sister’s birthday, and you want cake. Tell yourself during the entire day, I need to eat good so I can have that cake tonight. ok?
another point to keep in mind. When you do go “off” you cannot completely ignore it. If your blood sugar spikes, you will feel the side effects and your day will be even worse. Or if your blood sugar drops, your day will be hindered. So, my motto is:
“live life to the fullest…just don’t forget to bolus”