I keep coming back because this group has helped me drop my A1C by a huge amount – cutting my average blood glucose almost in half – and every day I learn something new to make my diabetes more manageable. I was lost and terrified when I Googled “Lantus not working” and happened upon a TuDiabetes discussion in my search results. Since then, I’ve made new friends, educated myself, decided to take charge of my diabetes (stopped waiting and hoping that my doctors would take charge – they haven’t and won’t), and in general improved my self-care 100%.
I didn’t even know what a correction factor was, or why/how to set a basal correctly, or why I kept having late-onset post-exercise hypos, etc. I wasn’t ignorant for lack of desire to understand diabetes, I just kept getting mis-direction from my (fairly clueless) internist and her nurses – people who simply don’t understand how to manage diabetes as well as the average 12-year-old T1.
There are dozens of generous, kind, helpful people here who freely share all the knowledge they’ve gained about diabetes over ten, twenty, even fifty years of living with it – I feel so blessed by all the kindness, knowledge and wisdom amassed here – I can’t imagine facing diabetes now without it. This is the first place I’ll come with a problem or question.
Finally, as someone who has been severely under-employed this year (working only three months of the past 12 months) the price at TuDiabetes has always been right, too!!! Thanks to Manny and Gerri and EVERYONE here for helping to save this diabetic from ruin. I can’t possibly thank you enough.
Why do i come back, its my place of hope. A place that some day I’ll log on and there will be big news on a new treatment or cure, I come back because i feel support from people who are going through the same kind of life changing disease. Thats why.
I return daily because of the integrity of this site. I know that I can get sound advice, and friendly encouragement. Manny and Andrea have set the foundation and with the the rest of you have built a strong structure that I consider home.
I come back because the people are friendlier and more open minded here than any other DOC I belong to. If a thought enters my mind, it’s coming out my mouth (or through my fingers lol) and a lot of people can’t handle anyone having opinions that differ from their own, even when backed by fact. The people I’ve encountered here are smart enough to be able to do that, and actually have interesting, lively, adult discussions with both give and take of information and opinions, and very rarely does it result in someone having a meltdown or a tantrum.
And bc some of my fave people from other DOC’s are here :o)
Visiting and posting helps me keep up my motivation to keep a handle on my blood sugars.This is also a great resource to learn quickly about diabetes. Ask any question, from a strategy for coping with dawn phenomenon, to a low carb version of turkey dressing for thanksgiving and you will get a range of intelligent answers from knowledgeable people.
Let me also put in a good word for the interface which helps facilitate the smooth flow of information and encourages the development of community.
Lastly the administrative team does a great job, thanks to all of you.
I come back because there simply is no other place like it for the kinship that comes from sharing with people who live, eat, sleep and breathe a similar existence; for the inspiration and support; for the learning and teaching; for commiseration; and the occasional marshmallow roast.
I come back because here I am surrounded by people who understand or who want to understand what it means to live with diabetes. They understand the frustrations, and they definitely understand that it’s not possible to be a ‘perfect diabetic’. Here too is a place I can talk about my D victories and people know what I’m even blathering on about!
I’ve had D for 37 years, but am still able to learn from the experiences of others.
Tudiabetes is my escape valve. The “outside” world doesn’t understand the big (complications, daily grind) and small (escaping test strips) nuances of D. I seldom talk much about my D with non-Ds…they don’t understand, they judge, they think you talk about your disease too much, etc. Tudiabetes gives me a safe place to talk diabetes with those who get it.
It has become my “go to” place when I need a question answered quick. “I’m new to the CGM and have my first appt. with my endo…what is the best CGM report to print to take to her?”, etc.
I viewed that “another discussion” the other day. It really turned me off.
I want to read conversation about survival. I want to read conversations of encouragement. I want to know how someone else handled a similar situation. I want to offer encouragement not necessary debate. How did they deal with it? What did they do? Keep up the great work! I feel the same way!.. Many of the conversations on Tu Diabetes have brought me to tears and also made me laugh my a… off.
Debate is not a conversation. And conversation is why I come back…
I should leave TuD, because our girl is old enough to join herself if she wishes. And I will… it’s just that I am so comfortable posting here. Never experienced rudeness here; and have found a lot of good answers when I do ask questions. Don’t ask as many questions because she is not an adult yet and children are different. But I am thrilled with a lot of the low A1cs and the great control a lot of the adult Type 1s have so… studying and learning. And looks like I will have to bone up on low carb cooking, as I see that lowering carbs will aid control when you are an adult with Type 1.
If a thread turns you off, don’t read it. There are lots of threads I don’t read (although not because they turn me off, but because they don’t interest me), and if you read everything, you’d be on the computer all day anyway, because this site is really active. I think there needs to be room for diversity, and that means not everyone will enjoy or get anything out of the same threads.
Since a lot of people are doing Mother’s Day, and the responses are slow now, I decided to do a qualitative analysis of the responses as of about 1pm EST on this day for this thread. This is just my qualitative categories of response. Most gave more than one reason. Each reason was counted. Errors are possible!
Support from members (feel welcome)/ encouragement/ motivation/lack of judgment) = 24
Information/knowledge = 21
How message board is managed; user friendly, site integrity = 6
1 to 3 responses for: laughter/fun, interest groups, site features
My own reasons are the first three categories, therefore, those numbers would now be 25, 22, 7.
Sorry, I left off one category so need to repost this with the addition:
Since a lot of people are doing Mother’s Day, and the responses are slow now, I decided to do a qualitative analysis of the responses as of about 1pm EST on this day for this thread. This is just my qualitative categories of response. Most gave more than one reason. Each reason was counted. Errors are possible!
Support from members (feel welcome)/ encouragement/ motivation/lack of judgment) = 24
Information/knowledge = 21
Enjoy member personalities, responses (different from support category) = 10
How message board is managed; user friendly, site integrity = 6
1 to 3 responses for: laughter/fun, interest groups, site features
My own reasons are categories 1, 2, & 4, therefore, those numbers would now be 25, 22, 7.
I keep coming back to Tu because I have learned more on this site than I ever learned from any doc I have been to about D. The people on the site are like my second family, I need to check in almost daily to see how they are doing.
It also makes me feel good when a newbie says " Finally I can talk to people who know what I am talking about, they understand."
