Is the forum always supportive or can it sometimes seem a little oppressive?

[lildanfen]

I don't think any one thinks its oppressive in the real sense of the word as you posted, i may be wrong tho, it is a popular debate.

Debate is good debate makes people think and encourages progress

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Hedonista]

I'm new to all this, but I imagine what CAN feel oppressive is the rigour demanded by diabetes? And I guess some people feel able to be, or choose to be, more rigorous than others. And if you're feeling exhausted, resentful, rebellious, or defeated by Diabetes (just for a while) other peoples' rigour might feel oppressive, even though it's not intended.

 

[Mike d]

I'm new to all this, but I imagine what CAN feel oppressive is the rigour demanded by diabetes? And I guess some people feel able to be, or choose to be, more rigorous than others. And if you're feeling exhausted, resentful, rebellious, or defeated by Diabetes (just for a while) other peoples' rigour might feel oppressive, even though it's not intended.

Very good point

Excellent post. You can't always be top of your game

 

[Spencer67]

Debate is good debate makes people think and encourages progress

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Diafrikinbetes has its own set of peculiar anomalies, it can be a real grind and an up hill struggle, it has its good days and bad days, but we could debate all night long, that's really what can feel oppressive, Sisyphus had it easy imo.

 

[CollieBoy]

Sisyphus had it easy imo.

View attachment 12003

And before you ask, Sisyphus is not a STD

 

[Spencer67]

And before you ask, Sisyphus is not a STD

 

[moz1]

Do get burn out from this forum and have to take a break every now and then but always come back as all we have is each other at the end of the day

 

[Spencer67]

Do get burn out from this forum and have to take a break every now and then but always come back as all we have is each other at the end of the day

I'm hearing that!

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for this post.

I've been sticking needles in me for 33 years and I have never counted carbs once. My highest HBA1c in the past 5/6 years has been 7.5 and my best has been 6.7.

I find life stressful enough at the best of times without having to worry about asking Steven Hawkin what his equation is for me to have a rich tea biscuit!

I keep it basic and simple. Fundamentally I eat what I like, granted I don't stuff my face with Big Mac meals all day long or feast on Black Forest Gateaux whilst watching one of my favourite horrors but I am liberal in what I consume as I am with my insulin.

I allow myself (in moderation) pasta, I enjoy pizza and I eat lots of curry (with nan breads and rice) and I will normally have a pudding if I am eating out with friends. I give myself however much insulin I think I will need taking into account what I have decided to eat.

My routine is not strict. If I eat something that will raise my sugars I give myself extra insulin. Simple as that. I normally take novorapid 3 times daily but sometimes I'll inject it 4 times. If someone offers me a slice of cake an hour after I have eaten and I fancy it in goes another 3 units. This is how I've controlled my diabetes for years and my clinic have told me to carry on as I have been.

Basically I have fairly tight control without doing all the maths and algebra.

We are all different and we will all use the methods which work best for us. Saw a sign in my clinic some years ago and it said "know your diabetes better than your Doctor" and I think I do now!

I have only managed to do this through years of experience of having this illness and obviously things have gone awry once or twice but I do not carry this illness around with me like having a ball and chain attached to my ankle.

Also there is no such thing as "Best" in a world of individuals. If it works, keep doing it!

KevFitz

 

[rowan]

Basically I have fairly tight control without doing all the maths and algebra.

Maths? Algebra??

 

[kevinfitzgerald]

Maths? Algebra??

And Pythagoras Theorem !

 

[Spencer67]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for this post.

I've been sticking needles in me for 33 years and I have never counted carbs once. My highest HBA1c in the past 5/6 years has been 7.5 and my best has been 6.7.

I find life stressful enough at the best of times without having to worry about asking Steven Hawkin what his equation is for me to have a rich tea biscuit!

I keep it basic and simple. Fundamentally I eat what I like, granted I don't stuff my face with Big Mac meals all day long or feast on Black Forest Gateaux whilst watching one of my favourite horrors but I am liberal in what I consume as I am with my insulin.

I allow myself (in moderation) pasta, I enjoy pizza and I eat lots of curry (with nan breads and rice) and I will normally have a pudding if I am eating out with friends. I give myself however much insulin I think I will need taking into account what I have decided to eat.

My routine is not strict. If I eat something that will raise my sugars I give myself extra insulin. Simple as that. I normally take novorapid 3 times daily but sometimes I'll inject it 4 times. If someone offers me a slice of cake an hour after I have eaten and I fancy it in goes another 3 units. This is how I've controlled my diabetes for years and my clinic have told me to carry on as I have been.

Basically I have fairly tight control without doing all the maths and algebra.

We are all different and we will all use the methods which work best for us. Saw a sign in my clinic some years ago and it said "know your diabetes better than your Doctor" and I think I do now!

I have only managed to do this through years of experience of having this illness and obviously things have gone awry once or twice but I do not carry this illness around with me like having a ball and chain attached to my ankle.

Also there is no such thing as "Best" in a world of individuals. If it works, keep doing it!

KevFitz

Looks as though you do have a bit of Pi in there.

= 3.14 units of novorapid.

I admire your decadence.

 

[RuthW]

Given the amount of life there is to get on with, do we as a forum encourage and perhaps proselytize towards something that is more demanding and short sighted (and potentially oppressive) than our diabetic consultants attempt to? Do they take into account something about the human psyche that we don't? What are your thoughts?

I am Type 1 too, and I while I think people on the forum are well-meaning, that is not always the same as supportive. I am new here and I came to find out more about two things: using an insulin pump, and exercising with Type 1.

To be honest, I think the experiences of people with Type 2 are completely irrelevant to my needs, and even in the Type 1 forums, their postings seem to dominate. This may be natural because there are about five times as many Type 2s as Type 1s, in society. And maybe the ratio is even greater on this forum. But reading the forums, it is sometimes difficult to "separate the wheat from the chaff" in terms of finding the experiences, advice and info that does actually apply to Type 1s.

I have actually found surprisingly little on the forums that is helpful about my specific queries.

I mean I am looking for female Type 1 pump users who exercise. It is a bit specific, but if I can't find them here, I won't find them anywhere. But they are apparently hidden somewhere in the shadow of the male Type 2s who exercise!

I am not criticizing them. It's good to be a male type 2 who exercises. But our medical and social issues seem to be totally different. (For a start I don't seem to have any insulin resistance at all after nearly fifty years, and I have absolutely NO intention of lo-carbing because, hey, I live in society and I like to have a social life, and my Type 1 diabetes has had enough of a negative impact on that already, thank you very much!)

 

[Emmotha]

I am Type 1 too, and I while I think people on the forum are well-meaning, that is not always the same as supportive. I am new here and I came to find out more about two things: using an insulin pump, and exercising with Type 1.

To be honest, I think the experiences of people with Type 2 are completely irrelevant to my needs, and even in the Type 1 forums, their postings seem to dominate. This may be natural because there are about five times as many Type 2s as Type 1s, in society. And maybe the ratio is even greater on this forum.

I mean I am looking for female Type 1 pump users who exercise. It is a bit specific, but if I can't find them here, I won't find them anywhere. But they are apparently hidden somewhere in the shadow of the male Type 2s who exercise!

Get yourself on Instagram! There's loads of insprirational female pump users who exercise!

 

[RuthW]

Get yourself on Instagram! There's loads of insprirational female pump users who exercise!

Mmm, can I do some elderly head scratching here? Instagram? That's like, lots of selfies which vanish quickly, right? So will it help me get the information I need? (I am after information, rather than inspiration.)

 

[zand]

I am Type 1 too, and I while I think people on the forum are well-meaning, that is not always the same as supportive. I am new here and I came to find out more about two things: using an insulin pump, and exercising with Type 1.

To be honest, I think the experiences of people with Type 2 are completely irrelevant to my needs, and even in the Type 1 forums, their postings seem to dominate. This may be natural because there are about five times as many Type 2s as Type 1s, in society. And maybe the ratio is even greater on this forum. But reading the forums, it is sometimes difficult to "separate the wheat from the chaff" in terms of finding the experiences, advice and info that does actually apply to Type 1s.

I have actually found surprisingly little on the forums that is helpful about my specific queries.

I mean I am looking for female Type 1 pump users who exercise. It is a bit specific, but if I can't find them here, I won't find them anywhere. But they are apparently hidden somewhere in the shadow of the male Type 2s who exercise!

I am not criticizing them. It's good to be a male type 2 who exercises. But our medical and social issues seem to be totally different. (For a start I don't seem to have any insulin resistance at all after nearly fifty years, and I have absolutely NO intention of lo-carbing because, hey, I live in society and I like to have a social life, and my Type 1 diabetes has had enough of a negative impact on that already, thank you very much!)

It seems you are blaming us type 2's for posting too much. Do you not think that maybe type 1's, being generally younger than type 2's are too busy to be bothered to post? I have raised this lack of replies from T1's as a potential problem to a mod before and was told that there are plenty of T1's here to to reply. I find it upsetting when there are newbie type 1's and no-one greets them, if that happens I will greet them myself. I would love to see more type 1 replies to type 1 threads.

 

[Brunneria]

I am Type 1 too, and I while I think people on the forum are well-meaning, that is not always the same as supportive. I am new here and I came to find out more about two things: using an insulin pump, and exercising with Type 1.

To be honest, I think the experiences of people with Type 2 are completely irrelevant to my needs, and even in the Type 1 forums, their postings seem to dominate. This may be natural because there are about five times as many Type 2s as Type 1s, in society. And maybe the ratio is even greater on this forum. But reading the forums, it is sometimes difficult to "separate the wheat from the chaff" in terms of finding the experiences, advice and info that does actually apply to Type 1s.

I have actually found surprisingly little on the forums that is helpful about my specific queries.

I mean I am looking for female Type 1 pump users who exercise. It is a bit specific, but if I can't find them here, I won't find them anywhere. But they are apparently hidden somewhere in the shadow of the male Type 2s who exercise!

I am not criticizing them. It's good to be a male type 2 who exercises. But our medical and social issues seem to be totally different. (For a start I don't seem to have any insulin resistance at all after nearly fifty years, and I have absolutely NO intention of lo-carbing because, hey, I live in society and I like to have a social life, and my Type 1 diabetes has had enough of a negative impact on that already, thank you very much!)

Have you started a new type 1 thread asking your specific questions?

You may already have done so, but I spend little time on the type 1 forum boards so wouldn't have seen it (or answered) if you have...

Not sure why or how I stumbled across this thread, to be honest.

Mind you, I love it when a type 1 contributes to a type 2 thread. Often very interesting and helpful, eh @Spiker and @Heathenlass . But then, I've always been against apartheid.

 

[Emmotha]

Mmm, can I do some elderly head scratching here? Instagram? That's like, lots of selfies which vanish quickly, right? So will it help me get the information I need? (I am after information, rather than inspiration.)

No it isn't and yes people post useful information.
There are loads of helpful type 1s and 2s on these forums.

 

[RuthW]

It seems you are blaming us type 2's for posting too much. Do you not think that maybe type 1's, being generally younger than type 2's are too busy to be bothered to post? I have raised this lack of replies from T1's as a potential problem to a mod before and was told that there are plenty of T1's here to to reply. I find it upsetting when there are newbie type 1's and no-one greets them, if that happens I will greet them myself. I would love to see more type 1 replies to type 1 threads.

So sorry if you feel you are being blamed. If you read my last paragraph you will see that is not true. My dear Dad was diagnosed as Type 2 in his sixties, my grandfather was Type 2, my aunt was Type 2, my...... Need I go on? There are lots of Type 2s who are beloved my me!

What I am saying is that lots of Type 2s post their own experiences in answer to queries by Type 1s on the Type 1 board, and in my opinion those replies are irrelevant. That is a criticism, yes. I find I have to read through a lot of "white noise" to get what I need.

An example is the sticky on the Type 1 board about HbA1c. There is another, I believe, on the Type 2 board, but there are lots of people with Type 2 posting their numbers without stating that they are Type 2. Some of them, helpfully, say they are Type 2, but either way, I went there looking for Type 1 results to compare with my peers, and the Type 2 "white noise" is not helpful to me. Is that a criticism? Yes.

Obviously, the boards are open and such things are not deleted by the mods. But as a Type 1, the "white noise" is a deterrent. Plus, I don't expect there to be as many postings by Type 1s. As I already pointed out, there aren't as many of us.

 

[RuthW]

Have you started a new type 1 thread asking your specific questions?

You may already have done so, but I spend little time on the type 1 forum boards so wouldn't have seen it (or answered) if you have...

Not sure why or how I stumbled across this thread, to be honest.

Mind you, I love it when a type 1 contributes to a type 2 thread. Often very interesting and helpful, eh @Spiker and @Heathenlass . But then, I've always been against apartheid.

Have you started a new type 1 thread asking your specific questions?


I haven't yet, but I will. I didn't want to start a thread that was already in existence. I have been searching for relevant info, and have found some.

I think lots of threads allow us to discuss common issues, but few "cross-contributions" are helpful when it comes to management of diabetes. YMMV.

And as the mother of a mixed race child of black South African parentage, who was born when my relationship with his father was still illegal in South Africa, and whose brother-in-law got 24 years for fighting the apartheid regime, whose friends were murdered by the SADF, may I say that I find your flippant comment about apartheid wholly inappropriate. There are some of us for whom events are relatively recent and raw.