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What do you least like about diabetes?

The thing I hate about my diabetes was back in the 70s you were not allowed to take your HGV licence so my job I always wanted to from a child, a lorry driver went out of the window.Back in 1970 we were stopped doing a lot of jobs and had restrictions with our car insurance as well.
 
CarbsRok
Re: What do you least like about diabetes?
October 28th, 2012, 8:38 pm
GlazedDoughnuts wrote:
Wow, may be I have an extremely simplistic view on this.

But seriously, I pack my bag with my Novorapid pen, test strip, tester and finger ***** and I'm at liberty to do whatever the hell I want...?

Blood sugar too high? Inject more insulin.
Blood sugar too low? Eat some food.

I follow the above and find my life has not changed at all. Yes I have to inject so many times a day, but really, it takes no more than 10 seconds each time.


Same with me, I just test bs before getting behind wheel of the car otherwise test gear and spare insulin in a bum bag plus some hypo treatment.
I can honestly say diabetes does not interfere with my daily life, I refuse to let it. If there's a problem I sort it and move on.


Here here, exactly how I lead my life, with today's equipment and the relative small
Size of this equipment it is not too difficult to carry around, and is quite quick to do, I lead a good life being a T1 and don't let it get in my way, last hb1ca 7.6
 
I hate all of the things that others have mentioned but I especially hate hearing or reading about how type 1 diabetics can "lead a perfectly normal life". Ugh, what utter tosh!

I also hate how the media just talks about 'diabetes' in general and by and large refuses to differentiate between the two types when they are quite clearly entirely different diseases that just happen to share a similar set of symptoms.
 

leg sleeve coming on great (lots of pain on and back of knee cap) ouchie :thumbdown: ,must get some (amatop),'and bepanthine nappy cream for aftercare,but looking good, and healing well ,
tattooist is my step daughter's apprentice, "john-del pinto" . step daughter is the most talented artist "emma garrard"
wishing happy new year to all
 
dowuchyalike said:
I hate all of the things that others have mentioned but I especially hate hearing or reading about how type 1 diabetics can "lead a perfectly normal life". Ugh, what utter tosh!.
Click to expand...

In what way can I type 1 diabetic not lead a normal life. I go to school, go out at the week ends, enjoy life, eat sweets ( in moderation). Recently I won an award with cadets for being the best cadet which was a trophy and £100 after one year. In what way is my life abnormal besides planning ahead a bit
 
Nothing really overly bothers me, used to it after 20 years. Diabetes has certainly never stopped me doing anything I've wanted to do.

However, especially at this time of year when people, offer you food (pudding at Christmas dinner for example) you decline but they keep on insisting that you have it. Really annoying!

Probably sounds really petty!
 

What's normal about sticking needles in yourself every time you eat (bolusing with a pump in my case); having to test your blood sugar half a dozen times a day (and every single time you drive); having to calculate the carb content of everything you eat; having to deal with hypos (nighttime ones especially!); having to go into hospital for 48 hours on a sliding scale for simple medical procedures; having to think about how viruses, stress, exercise, alcohol and weather affect blood sugar control; having to produce a doctor's letter to pass through airport security; having to explain hypo procedures to staff and management every time you start a new job, etc, etc?

Need I go on?
 
Having to think about every meal and how it will effect you, when everyone around you can simply choose whatever they fancy. I have gestational diabetes though and am not on insulin, so I have to really manage my diet.
 
Having read through many of your comments on what you like least about diabetes.

I was diagnosed as type 1 diabetic at the age of 13, I am now 23. I must admit up until about 3 years ago I felt very much the same as you are all saying, until realisation hit me. I was becoming depressed/frustrated about doing my injections, what I could and couldn't eat etc.

I realised I do not have to keep everything as strict as I was told at the age of 13. I was advised eat a small cake or square of chocolate once every two weeks. Being told you cant have something obviously makes you crave it especially when others around you are having it.

I by now know my diabetes well, e.g. trigger signs for hypos, based on my current bg level how much insulin I need to do for what I am about to eat. Doing this enables me to eat what I want when I want, now before anyone jumps down my throat I don't mean eating 3 chocolate bars a day etc. By no means am I saying eat badly.

Knowing I can say yes to these 'forbidden' foods actually makes me more likely to say no to them, as its not a well I've been told not to its a I don't fancy it.

Having the mind frame that I now do instead of the hospitalised scaremongering mind frame they put you in not only has me now feeling much happier and more content with my diabetes, but my management of it and my hb1c is now fantastically controlled. Not that it was ever badly controlled but makes me feel a lot better about me.

Yes I still plan ahead for nights out, holidays etc. But take it on a more day by day basis. I know I have my insulin on me and alter my dosage as and when I need to.

Just thought I'd share this with you for those of you out there feeling down about what you can/can't eat. You never know it may help you too!!

All the best to you all!
 
For me as a diabetic type 1 on a pump I have a few niggles...
1) what to do with pump on holiday. May sound trivial to you, but it upsets me having getting white marks from needle sticker. Removing it for swimming but then staring at it hidden under sun bed in case a random person steals it. Having to change insulin cartridge (have to fill cartridges from old fashioned vial-no prefilled available) daily as heat damages insulin, therefore take a massive hand luggage bag to carry everything. Not to mention taking insulin pens & cartridges in case pump fails! And finally where to hide pump in Summer clothes!
2) people making decisions for you because you are a diabetic....arrrrgh

Otherwise I just get on with it, when anyone pities me for having diabetes, I just reply "its manageable, I know what to do and everyone has something, I consider myself lucky that I know what I have".
 
Hi All.

With myself it is the fact of I cant ever have or get a day or holiday off from diabetes ...

It is a condition - that never sleeps or stops at any time .
Nor does it ever give me a day off or a holiday off from it ...

We cant unplug it or stop it from doing its 'thing' at any given moment of time.
It can be unpredictable and can change how we feel by the hour too...
An unseen blood sugar form of thing with the ability to cause various changes in our bodies.

I can never just grab my handbag and toodle off for a day out without all my kit and caboodle
in my handbag or even forget about it all . :thumbdown:

It is with me every second of the day even whilst I sleep ...
Hence why I do call it 'thing' :|

The rest I 'can' handle - its just there constantly - doing its 'thing' in my body .
This is what 'gets' me about it - and is the least thing I like about diabetes...

Anna.
 
Planning. Definitely the planning. Holiday wasn't as bad as I expected.
Being aware of and having seen the complications of diabetes at least it motivates me o have good controll.
Realising that at 24 I'm a year in to a lifelong disease and that prospect is not appealing.
Lastly people not really understanding what we go through.
 
Never having a day off. Having to carry loads of gear around with me. Hypos. Worry of complications.

Hey ho, its better than being dead!
 
People taking a very small snapshot glimpse of my life and refusing to see or even talk about the bigger picture of my living...

Actually being advised by people who arent diabetic what I should or should not be doing....

I would love to say to them for just one week...You wear my shoes...I don 't think unless you are actually diabetic that you really appreciate the life time (especially for kids) of being committed to keeping your bloods within limits.

Just would so much like someone to really appreciate the ups and downs for a week in my shoes..

I know there is a huge amount of people with illnesses worse off than me...so I am grateful that I'm not worse off so to speak...
 
That's a really good point, Donnelly. I'd love people to walk a mile in my shoes. My girlfriend's sister is a GP and is always judging me and my control. My latest hba1c was 6.5%, but she had to have a pop at my lipid results. I wish she could experience diabetes (hypothetically, I'm not actually wishing it upon her) to see how difficult it actually is.
 
My guess from reading this thread (and others on the forum) is that there are differing trends of opinion between those who have had the disease for a long time (i.e. several decades or more) and those who have had it for shorter periods (under 10 years perhaps).

I would surmise that those in the former category are more inclined to be jaded, cynical or bitter about how and to what extent it affects their lives. Not saying for one minute that anybody has it worse than anybody else but rather that the accumulation of experiences in which diabetes presents itself as problematic can begin to grind the sufferer down somewhat as the years go by.
 
You may have a point, I'm not sure whether the "years diagnosed" figures in the profiles are accurate but those saying diabetes has no effect on their lives seem to be fairly newly diagnosed.

How many non diabetics would consider it "normal" to be doing around 1500 injections & a similar number of blood tests per year as those of us on MDI do? Or wearing a pump all the time? And we all know that these things become routine & are not the real problems.

Perhaps we should use the description "Relatively normal lives"?
 
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