Veterans vs. noobs

[Sam19]

I tend to think of everyone who has never had to use R and NPH pre-MDI and insulin analogues as a newbie

I actually want to give it a go for a year or so just to earn some more street cred

[Pastelpainter]

I remember how anxious I was as a noob. You have gone from being normal to being chronically ill, all the dire warnings thrown at you, and tied to a regime that usually does not work since it is generally ‘one size fits all’. Thank goodness for lists like this one, they saved my sanity.

[Brian_BSC]

Gotta love those increments, right? “2000 or more” is my fave. How about “If this is your number you can’t read it anyway–you’re dead or unconscious!”

Actually, the increments kinda make sense roughly based on action

250 mg/dl - Dude, watch what you are doing
500 mg/dl - Need insulin now!
1000 mg/dl - Please drive me to the ER
2000 mg/dl + - Call 911

[Jen]

I actually want to give it a go for a year or so just to earn some more street cred

If you do, be sure to use only two shots a day and an exchange list. None of this faking MDI with four shots of NPH and carb counting—that’s cheating!

[Jim26]

It’s been too long, but I don’t think you can equate the urine mg/dl to blood md/dl. I know I had read high urine readings and I wasn’t on my way to the hospital. I think that is where the keytone tests became more critical in diabetes management.

[Jen]

You’re right, the urine tests (whether glucose or ketone) are not the same measurements as the blood tests.

[Brian_BSC]

It’s been too long, but I don’t think you can equate the urine mg/dl to blood md/dl. I know I had read high urine readings and I wasn’t on my way to the hospital. I think that is where the keytone tests became more critical in diabetes management.

Actually I believe that the picture above provides the “interpretation” of what the urine test color means in terms of blood sugar. Here is an explanation on how to interpret a modern strip reading and it explicitly says that the interpretation is based on blood sugar, not glucose concentration in the urine.

And as a point of reference, a normal glucose concentration in urine is zero to 15 mg/dl.

[David49]

Please believe that there was not one smidgen of condescension or superiority in my starting this thread or the examples I posted.

I know! My original comment was emotionally reacting to a thread on the diabetes forum on reddit, not to the folks here And I’ve had the same journey as far as lancets go. When I start injections, at least I’m forewarned and forearmed this time around! I have you all to thank for that.

I haven’t seen it here in this forum, but elsewhere online I’ve often seen Type 2s and LADAs be mercilessly mocked or put down for struggling with controlling their blood sugars. Same goes for older Type 1s “who should know better.” There is a persistent issue around diabetes that when someone is struggling, it’s considered to be their fault. It makes them a bad person, lazy, fat, or whatever.

A thread yesterday on /r/diabetes started with a woman asking for help because she was a “crap diabetic.” A certain number of Type 1 “vets” decided to pile on and mock her for not having enough will power. That was the condescension I was thinking about when writing my response I’ve seen nothing but class and support from all you vets on this forum!

[Terry4]

A certain number of Type 1 “vets” decided to pile on and mock her for not having enough will power.

I don’t get this type of “support” at all. Some people just love this style of insult humor. I never enjoyed this, even less so when I’m the target. When you call them on it, they’re mystified why you feel injured. They think everyone enjoys this treatment. Some may even try to pass it off as “tough love.” I’m not buying it. To me it’s offensive, abrasive, and thoughtless and should only be used when you know the target person appreciates this style and will not be offended. It’s not where I’d like to hangout online!

[MarieB]

I’ve seen nothing but class and support from all you vets on this forum!

thanks @David49 - it means a lot to those of us volunteering here to get a nice comment. When I joined TuDiabetes in 2008, I’d already had type 1 a long time, but I had not kept up with things. Heck, I wasn’t carb counting or using I:C ratios with any precision. I was totally SWAGging it. I was afraid I’d be met here with a “what’s wrong with you” or some such judgement. Instead I found the outstretched hands of support and friendship.

There is a persistent issue around diabetes that when someone is struggling, it’s considered to be their fault. It makes them a bad person, lazy, fat, or whatever.

this is definitely something we strive to make our community be a refuge from. it’s part of our community values

The Values of TuDiabetes

[David_dns]

I tend to think of everyone who has never had to use R and NPH pre-MDI and insulin analogues as a newbie.

As I’ve explained elsewhere, I still use R for high-protein meals because it matches up better than anything else. But I’m inexpressibly grateful that I never had to use a whole list of things, and NPH is definitely one of them—along with urine strips, boilable syringes and sharpenable needles, the infamous “guillotine”, etc., etc.

The one thing I DO have an OCD streak about is cleaning

My only surviving OCD behavior (I think) is cleaning the needle of the syringe with alcohol right after each use. I reuse syringes because of cost, and when a previously-used needle is reinserted into a vial, I don’t want any old, stale insulin clinging to the outside of the needle and potentially contaminating the new, fresh insulin in the vial. So far it’s working; I haven’t had a vial go bad, yet (knock wood).

There is a persistent issue around diabetes that when someone is struggling, it’s considered to be their fault. It makes them a bad person, lazy, fat, or whatever.

Indeed. And a similar mindset leads some (not all) HCPs to label any diabetic with less-than-good control as “non compliant”. Since many HCPs firmly believe that achieving good control is cut and dried and will work for anyone if they just follow the recipe—not their fault, it’s what they were taught in school—it logically follows that anyone who doesn’t have good numbers must be failing to follow instructions.

[anon14259252]

I just want to say I wouldn’t have made it without you guys! There were a lot of mis-steps in my early treatment plans and I didn’t know anybody else to talk to where I live. Namaste!

[David_dns]

. . . and seconding what others have said, it’s part of our community ethos that people are here to be welcomed and assisted, not judged. IMHOP that is indeed something that separates this place from—ahem—some other parts of the DOC.

[Dave26]

I remember how anxious I was as a noob. You have gone from being normal to being chronically ill, all the dire warnings thrown at you, and tied to a regime that usually does not work since it is generally ‘one size fits all’. Thank goodness for lists like this one, they saved my sanity.

I remember my initial noobiness including some of the “its all over” anxiety, that fatalistic depression that I’m weakened now, a cripple, slowly decaying over the rest of my life.

Reality is far different, veteran experience that life can be lived fully, vigorously, and with joy.

[David_dns]

Amen. Been there, did that, and came out the other side. This is something that newbies really need to hear, repeatedly.

[Dave26]

I actually want to give it a go for a year or so just to earn some more street cred

If you do, be sure to use only two shots a day and an exchange list. None of this faking MDI with four shots of NPH and carb counting—that’s cheating!

I won’t consider the trial valid for passage to vethood unless he ditches the glucometer and sticks to pee strips for testing as well.

[David_dns]

I won’t consider the trial valid for passage to vethood unless he ditches the glucometer and sticks to pee strips for testing as well.

To be truly faithful to the canon, he really should use glass syringes and reusable needles, too.

[Jrossn]

That looks like a newer bottle than I used. Results weren’t marked in mg/dl, rather a range from: negative - trace - 1+, 2+, 3+, 4+. I always wondered what my bg could have been at 4+.

[Dave26]

[quote=“David_dns, post:31, topic:57589, full:true”]

I tend to think of everyone who has never had to use R and NPH pre-MDI and insulin analogues as a newbie.

As I’ve explained elsewhere, I still use R for high-protein meals because it matches up better than anything else. But I’m inexpressibly grateful that I never had to use a whole list of things, and NPH is definitely one of them—along with urine strips, boilable syringes and sharpenable needles, the infamous “guillotine”, etc., etc.
[/quote]I checked, and I think this makes you an Admiral, in good company with that hero, Admiral Akbar:

[David_dns]

They missed an obvious classic: Bonnie and Clyde.