Jen's Diabetes Blog

Possibly triggering content: -Ableism -Type 1 Diabetes -needles -trichotillomania -family problems

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

I hope to keep y’all updated

But has anyone had experience with a low a1c (such as 4.9% ) as a type 1 diabetic and it not be blood sugar control related?

such as anemia or something related to blood count?

Please let me know??

[diabetic-girly]

Okay this sets unrealistic expectations. Optimal means ideal or something you should strive for. There is no way that my blood sugar will always be 90 and if it is I will always feel lousy so don’t tell me my blood sugar should be this low.

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

My A1C is currently 4.9% and my doctor’s more concerned about it than proud of it.  Learned it today, so yes fellow diabetics it’s possible to have too low of an A1C and it’s NOT a good thing. Don’t force yourself to be as low as the green part of this chart. His conclusion is I either have a hemoglobin issue throwing the machine off (could be nothing just weird blood or I have anemia or something???)  or I have hypo unawareness and neither me or my meter are picking it up...or I’m just normal no issues with my diabetes just a low a1c for some odd ass reason , might not be a problem might be gifted. 

To be fair, I’ve never had a high af a1c despite being a type 1...but I never had a first a1c I was diagnosed with a fasting of 249 mg/dL . I would assume my original a1c was around 9-11% because when I was diagnosed with diabetes I was misdiagnosed with type 2 and went without insulin from diagnosis in June 2013  until I saw my endo in like...August or September of 2013? so I had a bit of time of seeing my blood sugar get worse and worse over time. My first a1c was 7.2% , and I was mostly in the 200-300 range but ...here’s the thing? I was starving myself . If I wasn’t doing that I would imagine it would be a hell lot worse. I was barely eating. I would eat a salad with no dressing or anything other than just raw veggies and a sprinkle of cheese for flavor and shoot up by 100-200 mg/dL . I’m thankful for insulin but now I know what it’s like to have a low a1c. Moral of the story/tl;dr:  6-7% is REALLY a good goal, but don’t hate yourself if you can’t get to it right away and don’t push yourself into too low of an a1c where it could be a problem. 

[diabetcha]

I just want someone who can respect that I have this disease, and who can be supportive but also know I don’t want others in my business

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

My bf is like that for me, you never know you might get a friend or partner (if you don’t have one...I’m guessing not based on your post?) 

He tries his best to understand, supports me (like if he’s here ...we are in an LDR but if he’s here he’ll listen to my bitching if I’m having a bad diabetes day, cuddle me, tries to help me in any way if my blood sugar decides it’s time to sin in either direction...) doesn’t really like try to say he knows better or get too into my business though at the same time.  I have a few friends that are good about this too, but a lot of them are just learning still ...not that they’re entirely wrong either and they also really try it’s just you know what I mean??? 

I used to be very open about my diabetes, now not so much. I do prefer people know it and I don’t like to hide it in case I do finally have the day I pass out from a blood sugar sin, but at the same time I don’t want people in my business about it since like my family doesn’t get it at fuckin’ all and most of my friends barely understand and I’m the only one who 100% understands. 

[prettyandpersonal]

I have sugars at 160ish and tremors. Does this mean anything

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

Are you a new diabetic or someone who hasn’t seen a number that low in a while?

I know this is from a few days ago but just throwin it out there if it’s the case, I’m also a type 1 not a 2 but I used to get really shaky with numbers like that when I was new and just started insulin and my previous average was 250-312 on a good day.  Your body thinks you’re going hypo if it’s used to numbers like that.

If that’s not the case you might need to see if your nerves are okay? 

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

Alright so like my blog’s been dead for a while

But oh well lmao I’m fine. Diabetes is doin’ fine, still rockin’ a 5% range a1c I think it was 5.4% or 5.5%? last time? That’s where I like it. 

[redgravewarden]

So given my experience and personal expertise, I was named diabetes champion on my unit.

Step 1. Get unit mates to trust me. [X] Step 2. Asset self into a shared governance or leadership position. [X] Step 3. Get grubby diabetic fingers all over the care of other diabetics on unit. 3a. Get a position related to that. A [x] 3b. Persuade non-endocrine doctors that “sliding scales” for coverage without prandial insulin are not good for controlled type 1 diabetics on a basal - bolus system. Step 4. ????? Step 5. Get CDE certification. Step 6. Re: See 3b again. Step 7.???? Step 8. Profit

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

I’m an aspiring CDE and I feel like 3b is the final boss of life like it’s near impossible. I spent about half of 2014 and a bit of 2015 in the hospital a lot and they have no idea what to do with me . I don’t think what they do works for type 2′s either ...like that shit has to work for no one why does the sliding scale shit still exist? 

I’m only currently a nurse assistant btw but I’m still aspiring to be a CDE I feel like it’s my dream job in the end. I’d love to make a difference with this too. 

[mia-fruitbat-blog]

Update

So recently I was in the hospital and as of right now the doctors think I have type 1 diabetes. All my blood work did not come back yet but that’s where I am at now. When I told my doctor I didn’t like to eat animal products he told me I should eat at least eggs, cheese and fish. He said it would be harder to be a vegetarian and doesn’t recommend it but He is not going to tell me what to do. I really hope to be a vegan again and am not sure if I agree with my doctor. The problem I am having is I have to eat only between 30-50 carbs at each meal and for some reason animal products do not have carbs whereas fruits and veggies do have some carbs. I would appreciate advice or info anyone has into type 1 diabetes and/ or low carb diets.

💕 Mia

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

If you’re type 1, you’ll get insulin YOU REALLY don’t have to be that restrictive with carbs. It seems your doctor here was confusing type 1 with 2.  Hopefully they’re not that much of a dumb shit and not giving you insulin because then they’re either wrong or told you the wrong type . 

I’m a vegetarian type 1 diabetic. I don’t restrict my diet. You don’t need to eat meat when you’re a diabetic, there’s no reason to , especially when you’re a type 1 and can take insulin. 

[baugard]

GET THE FACTS FOLKS! It’s 100% true! It’s true because it causes type 2 diabetes. Why would anyone make this?!

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

Because it’s 100% false.

Type 1 diabetes is not caused by sugar. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, like the graphic says. 

Type 2 isn’t always caused by sugar, that’s a small role in a complex genetic metabolic disease.

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

Insulin smells like a pissy bandaid

tastes like a bandaid.

Personal experience. 

[frecklenog]

i just smelled insulin 

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

I’ve accidentally tasted it.

that’s worse. 

Trust me. 

[abdayw]

I’m like really scared that I have diabetes. 19 is a weird age though. Is it Type 1? 2? Mody? I fit other symptoms and I just really don’t want to go into work. I don’t wanna serve food when I’m questioning my health largely related to food?

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

Hey there, I’ve been there before, though I was 22...not that different though, right? I was diagnosed in the ER, and the ER’s not prepared to properly type diabetes. I was given metformin and a meter rx and sent home (had to go buy those in the morning). Metformin did nothing, but I was still misdiagnosed as type 2 on another date by a doctor that was really awful. A few months later, after constantly being high, I was properly diagnosed as a type 1 by an endocrinologist, I feel like it was super confirmed by my reaction to a small amount of insulin (I would of probably not had that much improvement from such a small amount of insulin if I was a type 2...) 

I’d say if you don’t have an endocrinologist yet, get one, they can diagnose you right. I’d probably assume you have type 1 though without knowing much, but if you have a lot of diabetics in your family , MODY is also a possibility. 

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

I still don’t get how people find diabetes jokes funny

Would it be funny if you had cancer and I joked about it and in that joke blamed you for it? 

Kinda doubt it. 

[yancyscot]

I see diabeetus. No really, it’s a WALL of self-serve high fructose corn syrup. #diabetes #diabeetus #hfcs (at AMC Southpoint 17)

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

That is not diabetes

you know what diabetes is?

This:

You’re joking about a disease that first robbed this little girl of her childhood, and then her entire life. She passed away because of diabetes complications (damaged her brain to the point she couldn’t walk, talk, or anything by herself anymore , she got the cold earlier this month, and died after fighting it for a while, this was after about 6 months of fighting  type 1 diabetes and brain damage). Diabetes isn’t caused by sugar, it’s caused by so many things we don’t even know about, and if you just say diabetes (not to say pointing out type 2 makes it better since it really doesn’t) you’re joking about a disease that robs people of their normalcy and often cuts their life short , if not killing them very early on (Not exactly uncommon either, within 48 hours of Kycie’s death, a little boy named David Michael Brown II died of it as well ) . Would you joke about cancer like this even if you knew it killed people? 

Please find a better thing to joke about that isn’t something that kills , particularly something that kills children? 

[diabetesirl-blog]

So why does it seem like all the tumblrbetics have pumps? I’m just over here shooting myself up 6x a day…

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

I don’t have a pump because medtronic makes shitty infusion sets, which made me ABSOLUTELY hate the pump due to constant set failures, I had only like 2 good sets and I went through like an entire box in my first week??? something like that. I got to the point I panicked on set change day so I gave up on the thing and returned it. Would my experience of been different if I had an omnipod , animas, tslim, anything else? Maybe ....though the tubed ones basically all use the same sets and I’ve heard the omnipod is not the most reliable...so yeah probably actually lol.  But medtronic’s probably got the worst sets, and a year later I’m still getting recall letters in the mail.

I only take 3 injections (because I often eat a pretty low carb breakfast but that’s the only meal I don’t often inject for) so I don’t know what 6 has to feel like. I can’t say having a pump will spare you other than it’ll be just as much of a pain in the ass at least every 2-3 days if not more if you get a medtronic and have a lot of failures. I’m not trying to be a negative nelly here though, if you wanna try it? Try it. Ask for some sort of trial run though , be it with saline or actual insulin before you commit to it , if you can. Because you have to know if you like that thing before committing to something with supplies that are expensive af and the pump costs about as much as a cheap used car. 

[reclusey-goosey-deactivated2016]

Looking like type 1, which if true I could have had it for a very long time. Also their’s something wrong with my liver. More blood tests and insulin tomorrow.

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

Actually, type 1 onsets faster than 2, while a bit slower in adults than children, type 1 has a rapid onset...so if you’ve suddenly felt like shit for a while (but not too long?) , like maybe a month? That’s a high chance of what’s going on.

 Also, on diabetes onset, some people have elevated liver levels (which, while I see it saying stuff about type 2, it applies probably to any diabetic as it can be bad for your entire body to go undiagnosed)...which is something I learned when I was diagnosed , because the doctor said so...but that was another mess because what I went in for severe chest pain...which a year later turned out to be my gall bladder (which threw a stone into my bile duct and that gave me a year of hell)  

I hope you don’t have your own case of gallbladder hell because it’s a literal nightmare if you are in my situation. 

[the-narrowsea]

It’s so awful that kids out there still die from diabetes simply because their doctors don’t test for it? Back when I was diagnosed my mother actually had to not only suggest the diagnosis but also repeatedly insist on my doctor actually testing for it, since according to him what I was experiencing was “just puberty, maybe a slight summer flu”. It’s so ridiculous, especially considering that this test literally doesn’t take longer than 10 seconds to do.

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

I assume this is about Kycie and David, where I agree, idk how the hell this happens after it seems to actually be a lot more common than originally thought. No kid should be dying in 2015 of type 1 diabetes, an easily diagnosed and treated disease for pete’s sake. (I mean easy in that they know what to treat it with, Insulin) ...like there’s no excuse at this point. Any child with flu symptoms should be tested with a finger stick for high blood sugar. Even if they do have the flu, if they have diabetes that isn’t diagnosed? that’d make it worse! It’d be a good precautionary step and idk why it isn’t done. Like at least for children, if not everyone (even though type 1 can happen at any age, to anyone, even overweight older people, type 1 doesn’t care) since children have a faster diabetes onset than adults. 

I mean i was misdiagnosed with type 2 because i was an adult and I thought I was alone, except you learn , you’re never alone. Children and adults get misdiagnosed in the most terrible dangerous ways and it makes no sense. I think they could easily test people for diabetes and determine the type, so why does this still happen in 2015, too? 

[osphe]

help i dont know if im being a hypochondriac or if i could be diabetic???????? rip my sanity im so worried ? i bolded the symptoms i have

urinate often   be very thirsty   extreme fatigue excessive hunger numb/tingling hands/feet cuts and bruises slow to heal blurry vision weight loss dry itchy skin frequent infections irritability dry mouth

so idk i have half of these but i dont know if some of them are just side effects of hsc/stress??? also diabetes is in one side of my family

tbh this is just a little note for me to refer to at the doctors but if u have anything to add pls do!!!?

[lifeshighsandlowswithjen]

If you think you’re diabetic, go get tested, it’s a life threatening chronic illness, where days, hours, minutes even, wasted? Is bad for your health. I don’t want to scare ya, but that’s just how it is. You can get tested with a single finger stick in most places , like your doc’s office. Easier to do that than worrying about it and even posting about it here. Just get tested.