🧚🏽‍♀️

[picconino]

”Be grateful for your body” is hard when you suffer from both an eating disorder and type 1 diabetes. I can not be grateful for the body that chose to kill itself.

[chaotic-neutral-medstudent]

For those of you who don’t have diabetes, this is sort of what life is like for those of us on insulin:

Imagine driving a car that has a one hour lag between when you turn the wheel and when the car starts actually turning, and imagine that everytime you make any little adjustment it will continue to effect the car’s direction for over three hours.

Plus imagine that:

a.) you can only look up at the road when you stab one of your fingers until you physically bleed OR

b.) you can look up about every 5 minutes, but what your looking at has a 10 to 15 minute delay (and sometimes you just go randomly blind because you were sitting weird or something) AND -for those of us in the US at least- you have to pay a ridiculous amount of money just to have the privilege to be able to see the road.

In addition to all that, imagine that you can never stop driving- you can’t pull over, you can’t stop when you are sleeping or having a bad day. You can’t stop just feel like you need a break. You have to keep the car on the road or you die.

As a med student I’ve seen some other students and even some doctors be very judgemental about how people handle their chronic illness. Some people will assume that people who are struggling are just lazy or stupid. But unless you live with it every minute of everyday, you have no idea how exhausting and challenging it really is. Please be kind, please be supportive we’re all just trying to keep going, however we can.

Keep reading

[picconino]

Having diabetes is literally like being at constant war with your body. You can never rest from the war and it’s exhausting. I feel imprisoned in my own body, I never get a day off without my CGM and each time my blood sugar spikes I feel enraged. Being on an emotional roller coaster is a side effect of the blood sugar roller coaster and it sucks. It’s tiring and I never feel good enough. This shit sucks. I’m tired of it.

[chasetopaz]

Low calorie foods etc if your hungry

Some other stuff

Candy cane - 50

Chocolate rice cake - 66 cal

Normal rice cake - 36 cal

Low calorie hot chocolate - 40 cal

Propercorn popcorn - 87 cal

Gum - 2 cal

[i-am-learning-to-fall]

[diabolicaldiabetic]

PSA for my nonbetic friends

Please feel free to:

ask me about my pump

ask me about my food preferences

ask me about glucose testing

ask me about carb counting

ask me about how high blood sugar feels

ask me about how low blood sugar feels

ask me about how you can help in emergency situations

ask me about all of the crap you constantly see me lugging around

ASK ME anything!

Please do not:

assume what I can and cannot eat (spoiler alert, I can and WILL eat that)

force yourself to look away when I’m taking my medicine, even though you and I both know you’re curious

judge me for how much I am eating when I’m low

try to educate me about ways to “cure or improve” my illness

bring my weight into a conversation about why I have diabetes

tell me you get kinda shaky when you don’t eat too

make jokes about getting diabetes from sugary foods

react in any sort of negative way if I have to take my insulin in front of you

REACT IN ANY SORT OF NEGATIVE WAY IF I HAVE TO TAKE MY INSULIN IN FRONT OF YOU

[picconino]

This.

[picconino]

Imagine planning on walking your dog, but suddenly have to wait 2 hours because your bloodsugar is low.

Imagine being out on a walk and nearly getting home because your bloodsugar dropped and you didn’t bring enough glucose with you.

Imagine having fun and drinking wine with your best friends, but can’t really let go since you have to make sure you don’t go too high or low. Then when you’re coming home to sleep, you’re afraid you might drop dangerously low in your sleep due to the alcohol.

Imagine stepping off the airplane on a vacay, but gets stopped and questioned because of your needles everytime you go through a security control. (And Not being able to bring you snacks for lows).

Imagine taking a big test in school but your bloodsugar either drops so you have to eat or goes too high because you’re nervous and then you can’t focus like normal.

IMAGINE never being able to really, fully be able to focus entirerly on something you’re doing because you still, ALWAYS, have to Keep an eye out for your t1d.

It sucks, But it’s okay.

[letsbefeminist]

[gahdamnpunk]

The rich are getting more rich tho

[picconino]

Embrace your sickness, but do not let it rule you. This is me, with diabetes.

[can-of-pringles]

Things I'd like to see/tired of seeing as a T1D (Type 1 Diabetic)

Don't make low bloodsugar a rare thing that requires emergency attention.

I get low bloodsugars often but nothing too bad that causes me to be on the verge of unconsciousness (like I see in shows or movies). The lowest of lows that I get are maybe around 60s or 50s but usually I eat 4 or 5 gummies and it's fine. I've been in the 30s before but that still didn't require a trip to the hospital or glucagon (or as I like to call it, big red).

Talk more about high bloodsugars.

Usually when I'm experiencing a high bloodsugar I feel thirsty and tired. It can make me moody sometimes. It usually takes maybe a couple of hours to come down to a good number. I give myself a dose of insulin to help. Or I'll set a temporary basal on my pump to help even more. It increases my insulin intake and I usually set it 50% or 70% for 1 or 2 hours.

Bloodstains.

Happens a lot, usually from checking my bloodsugar I wipe my finger afterwards but sometimes it still bleeds a little and I don't notice it so I usually get small bloodstains on my hands, clothes, my bed sheets, my plushies unfortunately. It's annoying but it happens sometimes.

Decorations!

There are companys that make decorations for your insulin pumps, your meters (the device that I use to check my bloodsugar), even these circle patch things that go around pump sites (sites are the port thing that goes on my body and connects to my insulin pump with a tube and that's how I get my insulin). I currently have a decal on my pump that has a cool pattern on it. There's also cases. So many options!

Noises.

My pump makes alert noises often for different reasons. (Low insulin cartridge, low battery, time to change your site, etc). But I also hear when my pump gives me insulin. It's not awfully loud but I notice it. I don't know exactly how to describe it but it's sort of like a "drrrrr" sound.

Different pump brands.

There's more than one pump brand. I currently have a T Slim pump. I used to use an Animas pump before they went out of business. Another pump brand is Medtronic. Also the Pod (a tubeless pump that's similar to a site) So keep that in mind!

Site changes and refilling insulin.

I have to change my pump sites usually every 4 days or so? (You're supposed to change it every 3 days but sometimes I go longer to save sites). It's kind of like changing a bandaid. You shouldn't keep the same bandaid on for a month! Also when you do change it you have to move it to a different spot to prevent scarring. I switch between my backside, hips, sometimes thighs. But you can have it other places like your arms or stomach. Anywhere with a lot of body fat to help with pain. Sometimes it accidentally hits a nerve and hurts like hell so I try to avoid that. As for insulin changing, I usually refill it after a week? It fills up to 240+ units of insulin and I usually get a warning when it's down to 40 units to refill it.

CGMS and insulin pumps

they are NOT the same thing. CGM stands for Continuous Glucose Monitoring system. It tracks your bloodsugar so you don't have to have as many finger pricks. I personally don't have a CGM. There isn't a device yet that combines the two that has one site. A lot of people have both and some pumps can communicate with the CGM. Since I'm not too experienced with CGMs I'm going to move on.

Not everyone uses a pump

Some people use shots instead. When I was first diagnosed I was on shots until I got my first insulin pump. There's pros and cons to both. I personally prefer pumps.

That we don't take care of ourselves good enough

I see this trope a lot in fiction and while some people are going to be better at managing their T1D than others, most of the time we stay on it. We're not all on the verge of kidney failure or having to lose a foot.

That we're ashamed or embarrassed so we always hide our sites or pumps

Occasionally there's times where I do decide to keep it more of a secret but I don't usually feel embarrassed or ashamed. Sometimes I think it's cool to show off my site or pump. This is one of those things that's going to be different for each person but personally I'd like to see more characters embracing it.

And lastly. One of the biggest things I see in media that's a MAJOR problem. GIVING SOMEONE INSULIN WHEN THEY HAVE A LOW BLOODSUGAR!

This is very dangerous! You give someone more insulin if they have a HIGH bloodsugar not low! Insulin causes your bloodsugar to go down so you obviously wouldn't give someone with a low bloodsugar more insulin.

This could cause death! This seriously needs to be stopped in media.

(Now obviously there's probably more that I could've talked about but these were the main things off the top of my head. Just remember to do research when writing a T1D character. And if you have a question literally just ask someone who actually is T1D. Thanks for reading! I hoped this could help someone!)

Non T1D can reblog this post but don't add to it.

[chronically-sweet-deactivated20]

Diabetes Master Post

TYPE 1:

Type 1 diabetes is an auto-immune disease where the body’s immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in children - it is unsure if it is triggered by external factors such as another illness or puberty. However, it has been proved that type 1 diabetes is genetic, meaning it can run in whole families.

Type 1 diabetes CANNOT be cured, it can only be treated by artificial insulin.

TYPE 2:

Type 2 diabetes usually develops in older people who usually have a bad diet and don’t exercise as much as they should. It develops due to PROLONGED bad diet and it cannot develop by just one slice of cake or bag of sweets. Type 2 diabetes can be controlled by tablets, good diet and exercise. In time, a person with type 2 can stop their medication. If controlled badly, a person with type 2 might have to take daily insulin injections.

CF RELATED DIABETES:

CF related diabetes is neither type 1 nor type 2. CF is cystic fibrosis, a chronic illness that impact many areas of the body. CF patients have a small pancreas that makes it hard to digest food without medication; as well as this, it is relatively common for people with CF to develop diabetes (around 50% develop it).

They are no longer to produce the right amount of insulin you need (like in type 1) but they can also become insulin resistant (like in type 2).

HYPOGLYCEMIA:

Hypoglycemia (or a hypo) is low blood sugar. This is very common for people with diabetes (normally type 1) as artificial insulin can lower blood sugars to dangerously low levels. Symptoms can include; shakiness, tiredness, sweating, headaches, hunger and acting drunk. Hypos can usually be treated by sugar and carbs.

If not treated, a person can pass out from having no sugar in their blood and in some cases it can cause death.

HYPERGLYCEMIA:

Hyperglycemia (or a hyper) is high blood sugar. This is common for people with diabetes and people are always diagnosed with high blood sugar. Symptoms can include; anger, headaches, sweating, lethargy and the feeling of being sick. Hypers are treated by a correction dose of insulin to lower the blood sugars and lots of water to dilute the blood.

If not treated, a person can go into DKA (this is more common in type 1 diabetics). DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) is a condition where the body is starved of nutrition, so it breaks down the body through the use of ketones. DKA, in extreme cases, can cause the blood to turn acidic and can cause veins to shut down as well as some vital organs.

PENS:

A way to control type 1 diabetes is through pen injection. Pen injections require the person to take insulin each time before they eat as well as a set injection in the day for long lasting insulin. Pens hold a vial of insulin that need to be changed each time a vial is used up.

Injection sites need to be rotated around the stomach, arms and legs (and anywhere else that is comfortable). Scar tissue can form if  a site is used too much and it can be painful to inject into. Pens can also be given cool names to make it more personal.

PUMPS:

Pumps act a lot more like a pancreas does in that it can release insulin over a longer period of time to tackle things that are slow release such as pasta. Pumps can be wireless or have tubing, but both types still include vials of insulin (that need to be changed). Pumps also have a higher chance of failing, which means that a person with a pump might need to return back to pen injections if the pump does fail.

Pumps also need to be rotated so that scarring doesn’t occur. Some pumps can also be decorated.

EXERCISE:

Exercise with diabetes needs to be done carefully. Some actions can cause blood sugars to spike which requires an insulin correction dose while others cause blood sugars to drop which requires the person to take a break and to eat.

A person with diabetes should test their sugars before, after and during exercise and they shouldn’t exercise at all with ketones since it can be dangerous.

PERIODS:

Diabetes often effects periods. This means that before a period begins, a person can experience higher sugars which means they might need to accommodate for this. Furthermore, injection sites might become more painful around a period.

DO NOT:

- Suggest ways to ‘treat’ a person’s diabetes through herbs and other remedies - usually this is all wrong and if you suggest it to a person with type 1 then you might get ranted at

- Comment on weight. At all. Weight is personal and a person shouldn’t be judged if they are overweight with diabetes

- Make jokes like 'I ate so much I’ll get 5 types of diabetes’. It isn’t funny and you’re only adding to the stigma that all diabetics are overweight

- Try and lecture a person with diabetes, they know what they’re doing most of the time

- Bring up people you know with diabetes and follow it up by saying that they died from it. This usually causes unnecessary stress and anxiety

- Ask for any food you see diabetics eating. Food they have has normally been injected for or the right amount of tablets has been taken or it. OR the food they’re eating is to treat a hypo and therefore cannot be taken

Hope this helped a little bit

[sugarfreesweettooth]

[rainbow-goddess]

What Diabetes Is

Ever since the unicorn frappucino was released, I’ve seen an uptick in “diabeetus” jokes. I’ve also seen people posting pictures of candy and cake and saying “Look at my diabeetus ha ha ha,” as if diabetes is some type of joke.

Diabetes is not a frappucino. There is no such thing as “diabetes on a plate” or “diabetes in a cup.” Let me tell you what diabetes actually is.

Diabetes is a small child dying of ketoacidosis because the doctor in the ER thought that child had the flu.

Diabetes is parents who can’t sleep through the night because they have to get up and check their child’s blood sugar during the night to make sure their child hasn’t gone into insulin shock or diabetic coma.

Diabetes is waking up in the middle of the floor covered in bruises and rug burn because you fell asleep after taking insulin but before eating the food that you took the insulin for, and your blood sugar crashed, causing you to fall off the couch and have a seizure.

Diabetes is having to decide whether there is enough insulin to last until you get paid or whether you will skip a meal or two so that you can take less insulin and save money on groceries.

Diabetes is not getting enough sleep because your blood sugar was too high, meaning that you got out of bed to go to the bathroom multiple times, or too low, meaning that you got out of bed to treat the low and then stayed awake to be sure it didn’t go low again.

Diabetes is going to a trendy eating place and discovering they don’t serve diet drinks because “aspartame is poison” and having them tell you to drink orange juice instead.

Diabetes is finding out that your kidneys or eyesight or digestive system or circulation is failing after you’ve lived with the disease for decades.

Diabetes is having people say “So lose weight and it will go away” or “Your kid got that because you fed them too much sugar”.

Diabetes is living every day with a disease that you know could shorten your lifespan while politicians blame people who have your disease for costing the health care system money, as if it’s your fault your immune system decided to attack you.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[dandelionwyn-o]

This, works. I mean, poor characters, living with disease, afraid to lose their dignity, afraid to die young. I’d watch that adaptation.

[picconino]

Look at my diabetes-koala🥺🥺

[picconino]

Diabetes aesthetics (Mine)