• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.

Diabetes annoyances

@Lucyr I'm really sorry to hear that you just lost your Dad. It doesn't seem that long ago that you managed to save him when he had a heart attack in the car. Not surprising that you are struggling to cope with your diabetes in such circumstances. Sincerest condolences for your very sad loss.
Was a cardiac arrest rather than a heart attack previously but yeah it wasn’t that long ago, got us an extra 5 good months and a couple ill months though. Still think everyone should do the free online cpr practice courses.
 
"Honeymoon Period" - NO IT ISN'T!
I've had two honeymoons, and on the whole, enjoyed both of them. I don't recall actually having a diabetes honeymoon period - but have most certainly had any number of periods when BG hasn't done what it was supposed to, there again there wasn't that much you could actually fiddle with using porcine Ultralente once a day. 9 times out of 10, any misbehaviour by BG directly related to me not bothering to do something and mainly - eg deciding to eat eg a whole packet of Jaffa cakes.
 
Unpredictability - Inconsistency. Both much the same annoying, frustrating thing.

We can lightheartedly attribute such events to "wrong colour socks" moments or days [thanks @everydayupsanddowns] - and its truly good to maintain a sense of humour (balance) about these events. It's also a helpful way of managing newcomers expectations, along with discouraging striving for perfection and understanding that managing our D is a marathon.

But it is helpful to be reminded that each one of us is not alone with these "annoyances". I was particularly struck by @Robin's early response:
Oh yes, I get 'Table Mountain' , when I know i should have
enough insulin on board to be doing something, but the minute I capitulate and whack in a correction dose, even just one unit, it’s as if that unit kickstarts all the rest of the insulin that's lurking, and my levels plummet to the extent of having to take enough carbs for the one unit I bolstered myself with.
I certainly frequently encounter that scenario of waiting, waiting, then giving in only for the next 0.5 unit to trigger that crash. As others said, I know internally that this crash is inevitable - but I weakly, knowingly still make that untoward response. Then I tell myself to account for it 'cos I'm a panc'yless T3c. I'm not sure that I'm relieved to know that this also happens to T1s.

I think one part of the unpredictability annoyance is how much that brings a consequence for my wife. I've stopped keeping count of the no of times I've had to say sorry "I'm too high and need to wait (=can't eat just now, or can't drive just yet, or ....." or "I'm low and must stop, sit down and let the near hypo response snack do its thing".

I'm writing this now while waiting for some BG recovery and Mrs @proud is waiting for something to be done (now or sooner!). I got up early to get that done, but D intervened.
 
As someone who worked as a Test Engineer in high-tech manufacturing for decades I find it incredibly frustrating that I now am in any way dependent on devices that have so many failure mechanisms.

The Dexcom G7 is great when it works but I have experienced way too many failures over the past years:
  • Bluetooth pairing failure
  • Brief sensor issue (whatever that is)
  • Lost signal (even though I keep my phone in a belt pouch, literally only inches from the sensor)
  • Inaccuracy for the first 24 hours even though the sensor is supposed to only need 30 minutes to settle after being applied.
Most of these failures should have been caught either at design stage or by the testing regime at the factory. Instead they land at the patient’s feet, causing unnecessary stress and the only redress is to log a support ticket and go through a phone grilling before getting a replacement sensor.

And don’t get me started on deficiencies in the software.

There, rant over. But you did ask 😉
 
Everything about it. Im high all the time at the moment. My dad died a week ago, not that old and hadn’t yet retired. I knew it was likely and all the build up and since he died were just really stressful and my bgs just aren’t recovering. My brain feels like it’s been replaced with marshmallows and I don’t really have the brain space to sort it out. Back to work tomorrow which feels quite the test of my brain.
Sorry for the loss off your dad, thoughts with you and your family
 
Back
Top