#Diabetes Managing My Type 1 Diabetes - Things I Do

#Diabetes Managing My Type 1 Diabetes - Things I Do

Picture From Harvard Medical School Literature

I have had Type 1 Diabetes for Over 35 years and currently take 6 injections of various insulins per day. despite what some people and physicians may feel is a high level of insulin use, I currently have none of the life limiting complications associated with long term diabetes.  I used to think it was luck! but as a disability support assessor and assessment centre manager for 10 years I came to realise that it was not luck, but a solid understanding of my body, its needs and my Diabetes.

Please Note:

I Have Never Suffered From Diabetes

Like Any Killer, I Give It Respect And We Co-exist

The views expressed here are my own and an aid memoire to myself in how I manage my own Type 1 Diabetes,  I do not prescribe anybody do what I do and recommend they make up their own minds and control their own Diabetes.


I have decided to add my Diabetes Mentor blog to my fixed1t blogs account as I have neglected it for a number of years. The main reason for the neglect was that it had a different logon and google+ account which meant logging out of fixed1t on Google then logging back in again as vis-versa. Sadly for me this was like keeping a guitar in its case rather than having it on a guitar stand by your favourite chair, the effect is that after a small number of times you do nothing with it.

fixed1t tip: If you have a guitar in a guitar case you are most likely not using it (too much set up hassle) so get a cheap guitar stand and set it up where its accessible when your waiting for the kettle to boil etc and you will start using it again and love it.

I have also moved all of the my diabetes related and medical self help posts from my various fixed1t blogs into my Diabetes Mentor blog.  Why? well all of them relate to me and are therefore relating to my 36 years of living with Type 1 Insulin Dependent Diabetes.

I also plan to be more active on this Diabetes Mentor blog, in an effort to 'give back' for the 36 years of relatively good health I have had despite my diabetes and not following all medical instructions after working out myself what was best for my body and my life.

I Have Never Suffered From Diabetes

I have always worked with it and around it to manage the obstacles the condition could have applied to my lifestyle,  in this way my Diabetes it has:

Not Prevented Me From Doing Anything I Wanted To Do

Please be aware there is some adult content in this blog.

I hope you find it useful, feel free to ask questions about diabetes and I will try and give you an honest answer as to how I deal with such situations.

#Diabetic Hypo Treatment Urgent Warning - Lucozade High Energy

#Diabetic Hypo Treatment Urgent Warning - Lucozade High Energy

I have had Type 1 Diabetes for Over 35 years and currently take 6 injections of insulins per day and currently have none of the major complications associated with it.

I Do Not Suffer From Diabetes

But Like Any Killer I Treat It With Respect

The views expressed here are my own and an aid memoire to myself in how I manage my own Type 1 Diabetes,  I do not prescribe anybody do what I do and recommend they make up their own minds and control their own Diabetes.

This video is an Urgent Hypo Treatment Warning to Diabetics and carers 

I am doing this video to make people aware that all the Lucozade Glucose / Carbohydrate drinks are no longer the same.

The New Lucozade flavours no longer contain the High Glucose levels of the Original Lucozade and are therefore ineffective at treating Diabetic Hypo's where a small glass of the original orange coloured clear Lucozade, was enough to alleviate the Hypo Symptoms with 5 - 15 minutes.

Also, these low energy Lucozade drinks are ineffective in stacking carbohydrates prior to diabetics undertaking heavy work, a technique I have always used before exercise, sex or in the event of illness.

Please read each bottle carefully before use.



#fixed1tDIABETESmentor

My Diabetes - Can A Diabetic Have A Sex Life? Part 6 Viagra, Cialis & Levitra

There is no point in taking expensive erectile disfunction pills like:

Viagra, Cialis or Levitra
If you are planning to ingest large quantities of alcohol with the romantic meal etc. I don't know why alcohol has such a deleterious effect on these pills, but it does.

Also, as I've mentioned previously alcohol prevents the body from using its own energy stores so their is an increased risk of hypo which again will kill off the effect of the pills.

Learning Points:

• Alcohol and Viagra, Cialis or Levitra don't mix

• If you have to drink, do some test to find the right balance for you

• Make sure you have sufficient carbs 

• Viagra, Cialis or Levitra will make your heart beat faster and burn more carbs

TBC

My Diabetes - Can A Diabetic Have A Sex Life? Part 5

Almost everybody at some stage in their life, has a light to moderate hypo from too much exercise, skipping meals or too much to drink.

• pale skin around the eyes

• cold sweats

• tingling of the lips and tongue

• shaky hands

• unsteady on your feet

• difficulty in concentrating

Learning Point:

• Test your blood sugar before

• Eat sufficient fast acting carbohydrates to ensure you don't go hypo

• If in doubt have a bit extra and adjust for it afterwards

A difficulty for diabetics is that excursion hypo is pretty similar to a insulin hypo and there is nothing that will stop you and your partner quicker than either of you worrying that the sweat and clammy skin are down to an impending hypo. 

TBC

My Diabetes - Can A Diabetic Have A Sex Life? Part 4 Viagra, Cialis & Levitra

So what 'Daddies Little Helpers':

• Viagra

• Cialis ( tadalafil )

• Levitra

• etc

Unless you have taken an appropriate amount of carbohydrate and continue to do so during the exercise session none of these pills will help. They will only increase the blood pressure to nether regions, if you are not hypo, and are engaging actively. 

So before reaching for the pill draw its important to get the planning and the provisions correct.

Learning Points:

• These pills need carbohydrates to work
• These pills take time to work 
• During the 30 mins to 1 hour lead time your blood sugar needs to be higher
• If you frequently have hypos these pills are unlikely to help
• If you frequently have hypos these pills my make it worse
• Plan -- Don't Fail

TBC

My Diabetes - Can A Diabetic Have A Sex Life? Part 3

Ignoring all of the emotional content for the time being, its important that a diabetic views sex as exercise, and like any exercise provisions of the extra carbohydrates is crucial.  So ignoring the biology, one has to seriously decide is this a:

• short sprint with no warm-up (hopefully by mutual consent :-)

• ten minutes warm-up then a short walk

• ten minutes warm-up then a long walk

• twenty minute warm-up and a short walk

• twenty minute warm-up and a long walk

• thirty minute warm-up and short walk

• thirty minute warm-up and long walk

• .....

And then there are the marathons for the younger members who don't have work to go to or kids to take everywhere and do all nighters at the festivals. LOL
Using the sports example each of the scenarios will require different preparation and unless planned well in advance and catered for the outcomes could be good or not so good.

• Try and test your blood fifteen - twenty mins before

• If low I drink a quantity of lucozade beforehand, if high I drink a mouthful.  I'm afraid slow release dry wheat biscuits will not suffice

• I always try to ensure I have a bottle close at hand to top up

• I always had some longer lasting 'biscuit' or cake to eat afterwards to ensure there is no post exercise hypo

• If I start to run out of steam I top up 

My best advise if this is all new to you (don't worry nobody ever told me about sex and diabetes) is to keep a little diary:

Time and Date?

blood sugar before?

carbs taken?

warm up time?

walk or run time?

Did you feel hypo?

What were the symptoms?

Headache?

blood sugar after?

It isn't necessary to do this for a long time, but a pattern will emerge quite quickly.

In fact I'll create a tiny database to go on the iPad/iPhone for people to try out, and I'll make it password protected.

TBC

My Diabetes - Can A Diabetic Have A Sex Life? Part 2

Well it didn't take me more than a few hilariously bad attempts to realise that the Doctors and medical experts obsession with achieving and maintaining a constant low blood sugar was not going to do much for my sex life with the cocktail sausage and the damp squib being but a couple available options without appropriate planning and preparation.

The first thing a diabetic needs is a sensitive and sympathetic partner with a sense of humour and who won't take it personally if there is a bedroom failure. I always smile when people say sex is something to be taken seriously 'really' only with your clothes on.  Otherwise you may as well be mud wrestling with warm white chocolate for the mess it makes and the grunting and the sweating and thats before you've even switch the television off.  LOL

The first thing to consider is that if I have a severe hypo whilst playing at missionaries, then I will become a literal deadweight. The more energetically one goes about such things the more sudden is the decline. I imagine many partners do not take lightly to being squashed, although for others it may be what they are seeking. Now you may have pretended for a few moments in the past that you have become a dead weight, but the real thing is much much heavier and more scary and difficult to move, to breath as any judo enthusiast will tell you and unlike the films people tend not to collapse in convenient positions so they can be easily rolled off.

But I've jumped in at the deep end, as we men have occasionally been accused of doing.  It was deliberate.

TBC

My Diabetes - Can A Diabetic Have A Sex Life? Part 1

As a male diabetic I can tell you Type 1 Diabetes and sex has all the makings of a comedy of errors for a number of physiological reasons and you may as well try walking a tightrope with a blind fold on if you don't make preparations.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, blood pressure and blood sugar are linked and given that a certain crucial part of my male anatomy is literally pumped up by blood pressure, it does take much imagination to realise that if my blood sugar drops then my blood pressure also drops and so does any chance of operating the crucial anatomy.

So if I stoke up on carbohydrates beforehand, I just need a bread role to play hunt the hotdog.  But if I fail to have sufficient carbohydrates it will end in a case of find the cold cocktail sausage. ;-) LOL

Now for non diabetics this isn't an issue, unless they get drunk, because getting drunk on an empty stomach will make you hypo and therefore liable to be playing in cocktail sausage territory.

So before having sex I need a cunning plan.

A sad side effect of this is it takes most of the spontaneity out of the event, because this is the only true case of the business saying:

" If you fail to plan you plan to fail " and your attempts will very much end with a damp squib.

 Arg, but I hear people say, have some extra carbohydrates.  But like with the squash game I regaled you with in a previous blog, if you take loads of carbohydrates and your partner says "sorry I have a headache" then you'll definitely get one too from a very high blood sugar and be up all night peeing honey and figuring out how you can put such a high reading in your diabetic record for the nurse or doctor to comment on.

So what to do?

TBC

My Diabetes : Diabetes Does Not Stop Me Having Fun ! Here's Safe Free-fall Flying :-)

Okay enough of the Diabetes management stuff for a few minutes.

One thing I have never let my diabetes do is to prevent me from doing crazy things.  However, given that a vast majority of injuries in fun sports are often caused to people trying to save somebody else who has gotten themselves into difficulty, since I've been diabetic I've tried not to put others at risk for my stupidities.

Free-fall Parachuting is fun but, as we diabetics know if your sick it could be a bit of a problem trying to consume a large amount of glucose in the back of a bobbing light aircraft whilst still throwing up... I haven't done that by the way I just like to plan ahead ;-)

Also, in reality as a newbie the amount of time you actually free-fall for yourself is pretty short, then a lot of dangling.

So here's a great way I got the flying free-fall fun of the wind in my face in a serious vertical Airkix wind tunnel.  Nothing got hurt (not even my pride with the silly hat they made me wear), and if I need to stop, I could just step out of the airflow.

If you have a recently diagnosed young diabetic (or oldie young at heart) who thinks he'll never be able to do anything remotely silly again, I thoroughly recommend it and I've been diabetic for 32 years and it hasn't stopped me.

My Diabetes - Safe Airkix Free-fall Flying Fun

Malcolm

My Diabetes - The nurse arrived with Insulin

I was advised by the Doctor to go home and that a 'diabetes specialist nurse' would visit me that afternoon and explain all about testing my urine with reagent tablets and how to take insulin.

When she arrived she quickly showed me how to test my urine by placing a quantity of urine in a test tube and dropping in a reagent tablet.  The tablet fizzed violently and the initial blue liquid turned bright orange.  By way of learning curve, I also discovered you should not hold the test tube in your hand as the reaction generates a lot of heat.  Orange I discovered was very bad, it meant large quantities of sugar were still in my urine.

The nurse then drew up a quantity of insulin into a syringe showed me how to pucker up the skin on my thigh and told me to stick the needle in pull back to make sure there was no blood (so I was injecting directly into a vein) and then squeeze in the syringe.  Although as a nurse I had given injections I discovered it was quite different doing it on yourself.

She then wrote some numbers down on a pad for how much Insulin I should inject daily and when to test my urine, then she gave me a note to take to my doctor, and said you might want to eat something if you start to feel hungry. She asked me if I had any questions, and I said no and she left, never to be seen again by me.

My Learning Points:

1) Once I was diagnosed with diabetes, things happened quickly, one minute I was fine, next I was diabetic forever.

2) The professionals I spoke to often assumed that the last professional had fully briefed me and had told you everything I needed to know. In reality they had not as they too had assumed somebody else had already done it.

3) The professionals asked me if I had any questions, but as I'd never had diabetes before I had no idea what questions I needed to ask so answered no.

4) If you take insulin and don't eat then it is a very quick way to get a very low blood sugar commonly known as a hypo.

TBC