The good old days, weren't.

[EllieM]

I would never have believed my trim phone could do that .

I didn't have a mobile phone in 1980....

 

[Jaylee]

I wonder what I would have thought if I’d been told in 1980 that I could take my sugar levels with my phone

The little pointy bit I’d seen on the house brick phones at the time might have come to mind as a lancet??
The relatively compact meter had at the time seemed pretty “far out..”

 

[Jaylee]

I didn't have a mobile phone in 1980....

I didn’t get one till around 1993? About the size of my accuchek mobile.

 

[himtoo]

great thread .....i have some similar memories but living across the pond there were a few differences

i started on disposable syringes in 1972 from diagnosis ( they were 12.7mm long ) although because they had to be paid for i used them for usually 7 to 10 days before starting a new one
we also had dip sticks for the urine test

i remember cheating on my log book the night before a endocrinologist appt and just randomly putting results in.... this carried on for years and years and when finger pricking and blood tests were the thing even smearing a bit of blood on the odd page for that "authentic" look

i am also so grateful for all the tech and for all the advances in preventative medication

 

[jaywak]

Isn't it great now that every food item you buy has the carb content printed on it .

 

[Grant_Vicat]

I remember my mother buying me disposal syringes she asked why not on prescription was told cos they are a “ luxury” also with the old glass and metal syringes the needles in comparison to the 4mm ones we use today were like the Apollo 11 rocket and being told to change them when they were blunt. The only diet soft drinks were 1 cal and Tab cola both were rank. I do wonder how people today would manage they would of course as the alternative isn’t good but I wonder how

1 Cal and TaB both appeared in 1963. Thank God Schweppe's Slimline Tonic appeared in1965. I felt really big, aged seven, drinking tonic water with a slice of lemon in a half-pint glass. I still drink it now. I think most people would inject theselves, even with "road drills" if they had to. But diabetic chocolate, no!

 

[Ushthetaff]

I didn5 have a mobile til the mid to late 90s then all it did was text

 

[Jaylee]

I didn5 have a mobile til the mid to late 90s then all it did was text

Discussing this the other week.
The first text I ever had was from a mate asking if I wanted to go to a music festival.
I had to learn quick how to use this function to reply.
Lol, initially it was like “what’s this envelope icon??”

1 Cal and TaB both appeared in 1963. Thank God Schweppe's Slimline Tonic appeared in1965. I felt really big, aged seven, drinking tonic water with a slice of lemon in a half-pint glass. I still drink it now. I think most people would inject theselves, even with "road drills" if they had to. But diabetic chocolate, no!

View attachment 72174

Tab was to only option I had & it was only sold in a corner shop near my school whilst all the other kids bought coke?
I seem to remember “Fresca” too which was mainly on the coastal resorts…

 

[Ushthetaff]

i Remember apart from diabetic sweets which if you ate them you couldnt go further than 10 feet from the toilet , the only thing available was Orbit chewing gum ,

 

[Phaid]

Isn't it great now that every food item you buy has the carb content printed on it .

I work for a large group that makes ready meals. Not sure I would trust the carb count on the side of the packaging. They fiddle that much with the sauce to get the right consistency by either adding water if it's too thick or starch if it's too thin.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

i Remember apart from diabetic sweets which if you ate them you couldnt go further than 10 feet from the toilet ,

They were rock hard metallic Tasting "shaped "fruit gums". I think they were called Skels? I had forgotten Orbit!

 

[Grant_Vicat]

I seem to remember “Fresca” too which was mainly on the coastal resorts…

Does that look familiar?!!

 

[Jaylee]

View attachment 72183

Does that look familiar?!!

I remember a sky blue can with a generic snowflake emblem?

A little like this..
after jogging my memory with a quick search.

 

[Ushthetaff]

And they all were rank and worse of all were Hermazetas a sugar replacement Omg I would rather lick a camels butt not that I know what a camels butt tastes like but they were that bad

 

[Fairygodmother]

Did anyone else compare the sugar content of diabetic chocolate bars and some of the non-diabetic, laxative free bars? A lot of those expensive diabetic bars had more carb in them than cheaper non-diabetic options.

 

[Ushthetaff]

Did anyone else compare the sugar content of diabetic chocolate bars and some of the non-diabetic, laxative free bars? A lot of those expensive diabetic bars had more carb in them than cheaper non-diabetic options.

My mother use to buy me ” diabetic “ chocolate bless her youre right they we’re just as bad as normal chocolate as a result even now anything labelled as diabetic is something I avoid , and not just food

 

[Ushthetaff]

I do remember before they brought out U 100 insulin the pork insulin was different strengths which meant when you were drawing it up you had to half it , or I think quarter it on the syringe . Only when the synthetic (or”human” insulin as they sometimes called it) did you draw the unit as per dose. Confused ??? Just a tad

 

[Fairygodmother]

I do remember before they brought out U 100 insulin the pork insulin was different strengths which meant when you were drawing it up you had to half it , or I think quarter it on the syringe . Only when the synthetic (or”human” insulin as they sometimes called it) did you draw the unit as per dose. Confused ??? Just a tad

Yes, I remember that, forty or eighty strength? The Consultant told you the number to draw on the syringe for each jab, basal and bolus. It meant eating a pre-set amount of carb at each meal.
Wasn’t there also a basal that increased in active strength about four hours after jabbing and then again after another few hours so meals also had to be at set times.
When glargine basal came in, the freedom of deciding when to eat was totally liberating.
Just thinking about it makes me really really appreciate the insulins we have now.

 

[Fairygodmother]

Was it glargine? PZI, that was the one the life-style-changing basal replaced for me.

 

[Ushthetaff]

I know the insulin I was on was insulatard 40 strength was on that til I ended up on the pen I think old age has made my memory in and out , compare to then these days is a doddle bearing in mind 45 years of experience is probably the ace in the hole