Hi, thank you so much for replying, it certainly does help hearing from others who are/have been utterly fed up.
I think you misunderstood what I was saying about the 2 injections a day - I ment thays why I struggled so much to control my diabetes as a teen because it was so regimented and considerably less understood than it is now. It was all about sugar and not eating it back then, it's developed A LOT in about 20 years.
Strange how things work, my uncle is diabetic also and like you, eats the same thing does the same activities daily and STILL his levels dance around. Due to fear of eye issues I just don't eat anything that requires much insulin, even veg makes my sugars rise and the carb book and specialists say not to include them in the carb counting. It's just not worth the effort or stress. Luckily I have a weird body who barely gets thirsty or hungry, I can easily go til 20pm without food or liquid, so I don't see it as starving, haha.
I agree too that financial support should be available, even just to buy healthy shopping. I'm lucky I now have a decent paying job, but I didn't used to and many don't and healthy, fresh food is expensive. We also have to make sure we always have something on hand in case of lows. It's all especially difficult for those struggling financially.
Thanks again for replying, I really appreciate it. Also love your name, as someone interested in the inca and having a Charlie bear named inka! x
Ah, sorry for misunderstanding your feelings about the two injections - my mistake. You’re right that things have changed so much in diabetes care over the last 20 years or so. Personally, I don’t think every change is good - or rather, many of the ‘good’ things can have a bad side. Yes, two injections was regimented, but there wasn’t so much thinking involved. For some people that can outweigh any negatives. My clinic has at least three people still on two injections. They like the routine whereas others think the flexibility of MDI is worth the extra injections.
It’s like the ‘better/newer’ basals. Some people like the long-actingness of Tresiba but others think the flexibility of a twice daily basal is much better. What I’m trying to say is that newer isn’t always better.
I meant “starving” in the original sense - not getting enough food - more than in the ‘feeling really hungry’ sense. When I was first diagnosed I swung between wanting to eat all the time just to ‘spite’ the diabetes, and wanting to not eat at all because suddenly food had become a dreadful enemy. There’s good reason why eating disorders are so prevalent in Type 1s. When a food puts someone’s blood sugar up, it’s natural to feel anger/dislike/upset at the food that did that. I went through a lot of those feelings. But, of course, I needed to re-adjust my thinking: it’s rarely the food, it’s almost always the insulin.
Knowing that helped my relationship with food, but then I had to get my head round another concept - that sometimes you can do everything right, and still get crappy blood sugars. As a bit of a perfectionist, that was a difficult one to accept. It still annoys me now actually. Imagine how much easier it would be if all we had to do was take our basal correctly, count carbs and take the correct bolus and
get perfect blood sugars all the time! It would make all the work of counting/injecting totally worthwhile. The fact it doesn’t work like that is the hardest thing, in my opinion.
Yes, you’re right that even eating the same breakfasts and lunches doesn’t guarantee perfect blood sugars. It does remove a lot of the mental load though and that’s why I do it mainly. I don’t have time to fuss and think too much during the day. Things still go wrong sometimes, of course, but that’s the nature of the beast. My HbA1C is 35 and I’ve learnt to accept perfection isn’t possible.
I completely understand how your eye problems are affecting your decisions. I’m so sorry you’re having to go through that. It’s heartbreaking. I wish you the best with all that. XX
Sweet your Charlie Bear was/is an Inka too!
😎