DiabetesTalk

 Introduction     What if you could instantly bring your blood sugar in a normal range from an extreme high?  There have been many times in my experience with type 1 diabetes that I have had a bad pump site without realizing it.  This has caused my blood sugar to jump to over 400 mg/dL and takes several hours to get back in a normal range?   How Would This Work?     My idea for this is the opposite of a glucagon pen.  For those who don't know, a glucagon pen is used in extreme cases of low blood sugar where the patient isn't able to eat due to being unable to swallow/being unconscious.  The glucagon is pictured below.     Back to my idea on this, it would basically work exactly the opposite of the glucagon.  Instead of raising blood sugar rapidly, it would lower blood sugar rapidly.  This would be very beneficial in cases of stubborn high blood sugars and extreme cases where patients are above 600 mg/dL. ...

 Introduction     Drinking alcohol while being diabetic obviously comes with a risk.  But, as does almost anything else, including eating.  In this post, we will be going over both sides to whether or not alcohol should be consumed while being a diabetic. It Should Be Avoided     One side to the argument is that alcohol should be avoided because it makes the blood sugar unpredictable.  Like many other aspects of diabetes, there isn't a fool-proof method that works for everyone.  Alcohol can have different effects for different people.  Personally, alcohol makes my blood sugar drop several hours after I start drinking.  It can be a scary issue because if I'm in a place where I don't have access to carbohydrates or something to eat/drink to raise my blood sugar, then I obviously wouldn't be able to get my blood sugar back up.  I really don't drink often but when I do, I make sure to have plans in place to prevent a situation like...

 Introduction     When I was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I was very scared.  I was 11 when I was diagnosed so, I didn't really know a lot about the disease.  I remember being extremely confused and worried about how the rest of my life would be.  If you have been newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, I am here today to tell you that it is going to be okay and you can live a normal, healthy life with type 1 diabetes. A Real Life Saver     When first diagnosed with diabetes, you have to walk through the motions and learn how to give yourself a syringe injections because if anything in the future were to go wrong, you would at least know how to get insulin this way.  Once you prove you can do this easily, you can then move on to getting an insulin pump and a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor).  I briefly went over this combination in another article. " The Cure ," but I want to specifically focus on the CGM here.  When I starte...

Introduction     A lot of the time, people who don't have diabetes, don't even know there are two types of diabetes.  I have been compared to type 2 diabetics, but the reality is, the two different types just aren't managed the same.  Through this article, I hope to clear up the main differences between the two. Type 1     Type 1 diabetes is a hereditary disease.  It occurs because the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the Beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.  The immune system gets confused and doesn't recognize these Beta cells.  Thus, the Beta cells are destroyed, and the pancreas no longer can produce insulin.  There is no currently available cure for type 1 diabetes: only methods of treating the disease. Type 2     With Type 2, there is something different that occurs.  The pancreas still produces insulin, but the body is resistant to it (in other terms, the body can't absorb or use the insulin)....

Introduction     While insulin pumps have many perks, there is always a bad side to everything.  In this post, I am going to cover the flaws I have noticed in using a pump for almost a decade.  While the list isn't extensive, there are small problems I have came across that I will also provide the solutions to. The Flaws       The first problem I have noticed is the tubing will catch on every day things.  Doorknobs, cabinet handles, and car doors are the main culprits of this issue.  If you leave the tubing just hanging out, it is inevitable that it will catch on one or more of these things.  I personally have even ripped my site off from this happening (not a good experience).  One solution to this is to tuck the excess tubing into my pants; this way the tubing is against my body and not just hanging around.  Another solution is to get a belt to hold the pump.  The brand I use is called SPIBelt.  This brand offers di...

 Introduction     All type 1 diabetics have heard at some point in their life, "Oh you’re diabetic? So are there foods that you can't eat?"  This is obviously just the person getting confused between type 1 and type 2 because they are dramatically different in how they are treated. The Reality     I find it somewhat annoying when people ask me if there are foods that I can't eat.  Sure, there are foods that spike my blood sugar and I maybe shouldn't eat.  But, if managed correctly by giving insulin for this food in advance, my blood sugar won't go up from it.     With type 2 diabetes, the main problem is that the patient has an insulin resistance.  Meaning, they can't give insulin like type 1 patients because their body is resistant.  So, there are certain foods type 2 patients can't eat or should at least eat in moderation.     This is what people are getting confused.  As a type 1 diabetic, you can give insuli...