Most annoying things about Diabetes

Daibell

Master
Messages
12,642
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
The most annoying thing about my T1 is the unpredictability, can do exactly the same thing two days in a row - one day I'll go high after breakfast and have to fight to bring it back down, the next day I'm having to snack to make sure I don't go hypo. It'd be a lot easier if it wasn't so unpredictable.
Like yesterday. About to leave the car park and tested. 3.9 having had no insulin for several hours but had food. Took two Dextrose and waited 10 minutes. A re-test showed 3.7. Took another glucose tablet and half a cereal bar waited and re-tested 3.6! Finished the cereal bar and went for a walk. Re-tested and now 4.4 and OK to drive'ish. Normally the Dextrose bring me back up quickly.
 
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n1ck

Active Member
Messages
41
Great points so far, I personally hate how I feel now, I know before I got diabetes, even when I was 14, I felt great, I felt fine when I was in the honeymood period, when that ended and I had to start controlling it myself with more artificial insulin, I started realising how degenerative diabetes is. I mean I haven't experienced any diabetic complications yet (touch wood), but I do not feel like the person I was before I got diabetes at 15, and it is so hard to explain to people what I mean.. before then, I was the fun energetic young lad who had a different personality and after that, I just felt different :s maybe it affected my mental health as well

Does anyone else feel the same?
I think I'd have to say I went the other way. I was always getting chest infections etc and in fact the year leading up to my diagnosis I had three back to back followed by bronchitis. Since my diagnosis I over the last 14 years I've had a few colds and that's it! I've always been healthy and fit prior to and since diagnosis...maybe these were the early signs who knows..
 
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D

Deleted Account

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There are plenty of slightly annoying things such as running out of blood for my meter, no longer being able to shove phone, credit card and keys in my pocket and walk straight out of the door (the worst part of this is having to carry a bag around which I don't like), having to ask on every doctors appointment "does my diabetes affect that?", my meter (or pump) running out of power, having to deal with doctors/surgeries/pharmacists (they are mostly pleasant but always running late), ...

But for me it is the hidden expenses such as travel insurance, if you want it to cover diabetes, or keeping a stack of hypo treatments in or the cost of missing work due to appointments, ...

As for loss of spontaneity, I don't find this to be a problem. I walk or take public transport most places (nothing to do with diabetes) so I don't have to check my BG before I leave the house. I have hypo treatment in most bags and pockets, my insulin is attached to me in my pump, so I only have to remember a few test strips and my meter and, if I have a Libre attached, I can (just about) get away with scanning that with my phone which is going with me anyway.
 

Dixon1995

Well-Known Member
Messages
286
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I think I'd have to say I went the other way. I was always getting chest infections etc and in fact the year leading up to my diagnosis I had three back to back followed by bronchitis. Since my diagnosis I over the last 14 years I've had a few colds and that's it! I've always been healthy and fit prior to and since diagnosis...maybe these were the early signs who knows..


The human body is a very strange thing indeed! I would say i'm still fit and healthy, I just don't feel alive as I used too! I have noticed that, other than the odd cold I haven't been seriously ill except for a bout of gastrointeritus in 2016, I get ill less now though than before I was diabetic, like yourself...
 
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neithskye

Well-Known Member
Messages
244
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
I'm only three months in but I'd have to say my body not responding the way it's "supposed to." Like when you do everything "right" - eat low carb, take your meds, exercise - and get an unexpected BG spike. Or that I didn't lose a single pound for the first two months. That was very discouraging. To be eating right and dragging myself to the gym every second day just to see no results for two months.
 
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zand

Master
Messages
10,784
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
For me the most annoying thing was that I had insulin resistance for very many years before my T2 diagnosis. All that time I was trying to lose weight but couldn't because I didn't know about IR.
 

Pura Vida

Well-Known Member
Messages
744
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
For me one thing that annoys me is walking through a grocery store.see all the tempting food
Of which 80 % is forbidden for us Diabetics
 
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Dixon1995

Well-Known Member
Messages
286
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
But for me it is the hidden expenses such as travel insurance, if you want it to cover diabetes, or keeping a stack of hypo treatments in or the cost of missing work due to appointments, ...

Ah insurance... one of lifes greatest pains for a diabetic. I understand.. I have recently purchased a home and decided to take out life insurance, which is double the price of my partner, which is fair enough I guess, I have a chronic condition. What I don't get is the critical illness cover, surely if I was to die of cancer or something unrelated to diabetes, I could still get that... nope, turns out they assume most things would be caused due to diabetic complications and can't offer it for myself, no matter how high the premium, so fair enough I guess, still, it reminds me im not the same as every normal person, something as enjoyable as buying my own home was blighted slightly by the word ' Diabetes '.
 

n1ck

Active Member
Messages
41
There are plenty of slightly annoying things such as running out of blood for my meter, no longer being able to shove phone, credit card and keys in my pocket and walk straight out of the door (the worst part of this is having to carry a bag around which I don't like), having to ask on every doctors appointment "does my diabetes affect that?", my meter (or pump) running out of power, having to deal with doctors/surgeries/pharmacists (they are mostly pleasant but always running late), ...

But for me it is the hidden expenses such as travel insurance, if you want it to cover diabetes, or keeping a stack of hypo treatments in or the cost of missing work due to appointments, ...

As for loss of spontaneity, I don't find this to be a problem. I walk or take public transport most places (nothing to do with diabetes) so I don't have to check my BG before I leave the house. I have hypo treatment in most bags and pockets, my insulin is attached to me in my pump, so I only have to remember a few test strips and my meter and, if I have a Libre attached, I can (just about) get away with scanning that with my phone which is going with me anyway.

You've actually just helped remind me of the most annoying about being a diabetic and that is being put on a 3 year review for my driving license! They don't take your management into consideration at all.

Although i don't find the travel insurance a major problem...doesn't add much to my premium..
 

n1ck

Active Member
Messages
41
I'm only three months in but I'd have to say my body not responding the way it's "supposed to." Like when you do everything "right" - eat low carb, take your meds, exercise - and get an unexpected BG spike. Or that I didn't lose a single pound for the first two months. That was very discouraging. To be eating right and dragging myself to the gym every second day just to see no results for two months.
It can feel like that at times...i can go through periods like that all the time and it can be quite frustrating. Just find something you enjoy doing then the rest will be a bonus :)
 
D

Deleted Account

Guest
Although i don't find the travel insurance a major problem...doesn't add much to my premium..
That's interesting. Can I ask who you are insured with?
I always check the small print to ensure it cover diabetes: with all the possible complications, I worry an insurance will get out of paying me because they say I experienced, for example, a heart attack whilst overseas due to my diabetes.
 
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n1ck

Active Member
Messages
41
For me one thing that annoys me is walking through a grocery store.see all the tempting food
Of which 80 % is forbidden for us Diabetics
I would like to think that it wasn't 'forbidden' but if we indulge in something we fancy then we prepare for it i.e. more insulin if it's a sugar treat. But, raising this point has helped me think of ANOTHER annoying thing about having diabetes and that is being told by a non-diabetic that i shouldn't be having that piece of chocolate! I don't believe our condition means we can't have the occasional treats...it's just understanding how our body will react to those treats and what we do to counteract it. I love my chocolate...in fact me and Mr/Mrs Cadbury have been having an affair for years! But, i'm careful with what i have and deal with my sugar response appropriately.
 

Rokaab

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,159
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I would like to think that it wasn't 'forbidden' but if we indulge in something we fancy then we prepare for it i.e. more insulin if it's a sugar treat.
Though note that Pura Vida is a Type 2, and may well not be on insulin so can't just take more insulin to cope with said sweet snack.
 

KK123

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,967
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Change your meter to one that allows you to add blood.

The problem with that John (if my surgery is anything to go by), they won't prescribe you the strips for it! My Drs will only prescribe the strips for the machine they give you.
 
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n1ck

Active Member
Messages
41
That's interesting. Can I ask who you are insured with?
I always check the small print to ensure it cover diabetes: with all the possible complications, I worry an insurance will get out of paying me because they say I experienced, for example, a heart attack whilst overseas due to my diabetes.
At the moment i'm with Aviva. Most insurance companies have the online section where you disclose what you've got and i can't remember if they had one or i rang up and added it. I usually go for the full year as oppose to the 'one trip' policy and last year i paid about £90 which included my partner who has lupus and my two daughters from a previous relationship and one of them has asthma.
 
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n1ck

Active Member
Messages
41
Though note that Pura Vida is a Type 2, and may well not be on insulin so can't just take more insulin to cope with said sweet snack.
Ahh...hadn't noticed...so yes, may not apply to all but nonetheless a term i generally don't like...
 
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Dixon1995

Well-Known Member
Messages
286
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
The problem with that John (if my surgery is anything to go by), they won't prescribe you the strips for it! My Drs will only prescribe the strips for the machine they give you.

It's like getting blood out of.... well, a diabetic ! I mean stone of course :happy:
 
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Diakat

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
5,591
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
The smell of cigars
Has anyone else noticed how often @n1ck mentions chocolate?
Worst thing? Depends on the day.
 
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