I talk too much about Diabetes. Mine, and what I’ve read about Diabetes, and on and on. I try hard to shut myself up and sometimes I succeed. Still, sometimes I find I actually have an answer to a problem of mine or someone else, and I’m glad that I do the reading, experimenting, and even talking.
I check my BGs at bedtime and then eat a snack regardless of my numbers.
Measure out carb portions and then take a ‘little’ bit extra.
Eat extra carbs when out to eat because I ‘deserve’ it.
And I usually UNDERbolus, because I’d rather correct a high than a low. I REALLY hate lows! LOL!
And I don’t usually correct a low unless I feel it, which nowadays is usually in the 50’s. My friends don’t really know anything about numbers, but some of them do carry candy, which I can ask for if I’m low, but so far, I’ve always had my own stash. Which is fine, so long as I remember where it is!
I NEVER beat myself up for choices – I have managed to divorce my emotions from my numbers, and I am able to treat numbers as simply information. It’s fun to play the CGM like a video game and try to color between the lines, but I know full well, I won’t always succeed.
I work with my docs as a team – I’m lucky to have good docs who consult me rather than ordering me around. And I do a lot of reading and make my own decisions. The only health professional I have deliberately gone against is the dietitian, because I couldn’t stand the 3 meals and 3 snacks plan that was necessary on the old NPH and R regimen; and I couldn’t possibly eat all the carbs they recommend without blowing my BGs sky high OR taking a lot more insulin than I want to. So I haven’t consulted a dietitian in many years, which is good, because I would have to pay for it out of pocket, anyway.
These are fun to read! I’ve done pretty much everything on your list. Here’s my big ones:
Blind injecting when I “feel” higher than I would like to be
Testing while driving (on the highway, etc) and injecting while driving
Lancet in the poker for 6 months or more. (I’ve had the same box of lancets for at least 5 years and it’s still half full)
Re-using syringes until the units lines fade off
Re-using pen needles until they hurt going in
Not washing hands before testing
Licking blood off finger tip and/or wiping it on my jeans
Not correcting a 55
Over dosing because it’s easier to correct a low than to correct a high
Forcing my doctors into prescribing me to medications they dont fully understand (but that I’ve done my own research on). I figure if I fail, at least I tried. And then I have no one to blame but myself
smoking
eating only one meal per day
injecting in the same site until there’s scar tissue
Exercising too hard, causing my BG to skyrocket
Ignoring symptoms of low BG
stilettos. I LOVE my heels
flip flops
barefoot
pedicures
Checking BG too much
Not checking BG enough
I try not to let Type 1 own my life. I keep good control, but I dont let it take over who I am. It is a part of me. Not all of me. I don’t do things just to “rebel” against the disease. I do things because of convenience for my lifestyle or because I don’t see anything “wrong” with the way that I live my life. My BG are good, I’ve had minimal complications with 13 years with this burden, and I’m a generally happy person. I’m a rock singer, a violinist, a fashionista, an author, a banker, a wife, a mother, an artist, a cook, & I love my life.
I like to drink a shot of scotch on the rocks most days with dinner. Big freakin’ deal. It lowers my blood sugar, slowly and sweetly. Sometimes I have even have two, taking the other later in the evening. No harm done that I can see. Have never had a low because of it (wine on the other hand brings me down waaay to fast). And my A1C and blood sugar are very well under control, no other D related problems either.
Me too. Type 1 for 57 years. Done all of the above and then some.! Including excessive alcohol. Remember for decades we didn’t know any better, were never informed of any better, never educated and had no tools to help us.
Sheila
The sugar and carbs that are in some drinks…Also drinking helps your body produce insulin so you have to make sure you eat enough when drinking…A couple of weeks ago I was at a party taking shots and dancing and I went low 4 times…No medical person ever told me I couldnt drink but just watch out for the highs from some drinks and lows from others…
Fun to follow this discussion, son dx’d just a year and a half ago, so he doesn’t have too many bad habits. But here are some;
Not changing lancets til they hurt or get no blood.
Licking finger, everytime.
Don’t check feet
Dont wear any device on abdomen
Restart sensor
Letting high BG ride (usually during school, where I’m not bugging him)
Eating fast food, that we know always makes him rise hard and long.
Not reviewing patterns, checking basal rates, I/C ratio, corr. factor etc.
Looking forward to doing this when he’s out of school for the summer.
I want him to learn good management skills yet still letting him be a teenager.
No, alcohol does NOT help your body produce insulin. Not for Type 1’s OR 2’s. What it does is impair your liver’s ability to produce glucose, because the liver preferentially processes alcohol before gluconeogenesis.
In the normal state, when you’re not eating, and have digested all your previous meal, the liver is constantly producing small amounts of glucose – enough to keep your BGs level, as long as there is enough insulin on board. When alcohol prevents that, all of a sudden, the insulin you have in your bloodstream has no extra glucose to work on, so it just continues to lower what was a normal BG and you go low.
The worst part of that is that you may smell like booze, and people may think you are just drunk when you are actually low. The symptoms can be the same, and diabetics have died in the drunk tank when police didn’t know or think to have them checked for low BG.
So the answer is to ALWAYS have something to eat when you drink. Even drinks with CALORIES may not have much in the way of carbs, because the calories may be coming from alcohol, which has 7g per oz. (?) The Japanese have the lovely custom of always serving snacks with drinks – we should do the same!
Just curious why you don’t tell your docs how much insulin you take. Seems to me that if you aren’t straightforward with them, they can’t really help you!
One thing that comes to mind is… I have a really bad habit of waiting too close to my bed time to eat something, and then bolus… I hate when I do this…
