Actually Sir, I’d like to keep on…

…Squirting.

This is the first time ever I’ve been confused as to how much Insulin I’ve just injected!

I just sat down for my lunch and added my carbs as usual, and then twisted my pen (sounds bad) and told it how much to squirt (sounds worse).

Usually this goes down perfectly, I’ve never had a problem. Why would I? It’s simple enough, put it in, squirt, pull out (too far?).

Except this time, when I pulled it out, it carried on squirting. All over the floor and on my jeans (stop it).

How much Insulin did I just inject!? I’ll have to see later on, I’m gonna keep a close eye on my levels over the next few hours but it should be interesting, I injected a bit more but that was going off what I saw come out so there’s a disaster waiting to happen!

 

I though I’d share this as posts have been a bit scarce lately!

 

Dan

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Here’s a scary question. What would we do in a Zombie Apocalypse?

It’s easy to say stock up on Insulin in the early days but Insulin doesn’t have a long shelf life when left unrefrigerated, even when stored in cold temperatures it’ll last you a few years, but by that time you’ll have probably ran out.

So what would we do?

We could go for a low carb/no carb diet. That way would increase the likelihood of having constant hypos, but I imagine it’s a lot easier to carry a steady supply of glucose-rich foods or drinks or just sugar than try and produce your own insulin!

How would we test our blood? From what I know the only way to do it without a meter is to go and get a meter! If you’re like me, you may have acquired about 300 free meters, so as long as you can carry a supply of meters you should be fine! What if you don’t have a meter? It’s probably a good idea to calibrate yourself every now and then by having no carbs and exercising, hopefully you’ll be able to tell when you’re having a hypo.

Most of this assumes that the apocalypse isn’t that bad for you. Maybe you’ve found yourself untouchable ground with loads of food?

Unlikely!

What would your plan be?

 

Dan.

Hobnob Highs – Man v Food v Diabetes

This is my first post in a while so I’ll try and make it interesting.

I’ve been really watching what I eat lately (not in a healthy way, just closely monitoring the carb content) and I’ve found found some really bad snacks, which I otherwise thought were safe!

I know biscuits have a high carb content, but what gets me every time is their size. When we have a potential customer come in at work, we always bring in a box of chocolate biscuits and there’re always about 15 left, so we all chow down. I thought one or two wouldn’t hurt, especially knowing by bg was at around 5.5 beforehand. Wrong.

I checked again just before I left work to bike home as I always do and it was at 14.4! I couldn’t believe how high it had risen from two little biscuits!

I’ve learnt my lesson and I’ll definitely be taking a hit when I have biscuits in the future!

What are your foods to avoid?

 

Dan

New Items! Sugar Lyric Tee

There’s been a few updates to the RedBubble store in terms of designs, and I think I’ve just uploaded one of my favourites!

Hit the link below to see it…

 

Dan

 

Man vs Food vs Diabetes – Pizza Dodging

Consider this my resignation from takeaway food.

I thought I’d finally cracked it when I checked my blood 7 times between eating a Pizza and going to bed. I averaged 5.4 that whole time so I thought I’d finally mastered takeaway pizza. Apparently not.

I woke up at 12.1 this morning and that ruined takeaway food for me. I can’t enjoy it anymore.

 

There probably will be a similar post very soon after I’ve given it ‘one more chance’.

I don’t understand how pizza and kebabs manages to ruin my levels so much! I know it’s all weird acting carbs but I just can’t seem to get it right.

Has anyone else managed to master the mystery of takeaway food?

 

Dan

Spurting Blood

Here’s a cool party trick!

I was just testing my blood on two different monitors to show a colleague how the results range when something extraordinary happened. Again!

A few months ago I was sat at my desk getting my lunch out, and naturally went to test my blood. I got out the meter, stabber and test strip and put the test strip in the meter. I then stabbed my finger to withdraw blood. Before I could withdraw the blood I dropped my stabber so I picked it up off the floor and carried on. I then went to press my finger to get out the blood and splash, I get blood all over my face. The blood literally shot from my finger, up about 60 centimetres and straight into my eye and all over my forehead. I don’t know how the hell this happened but from trying I could never get it to do it again! I desperately wanted to show my girlfriend my new skill but it wouldn’t happen for me!

What was the relevance of dropping my stabber? You’ll see…

Here I was, trying to show someone the difference in results from both meters when this strange phenomenon happened again. I tested twice on both fingers to make sure one of them wasn’t guessing, and the first time went fine. Then, I do my usual routine of putting in the test strip and stabbing my finger. Now the few seconds after stabbing my finger are the most important, and potentially hold the key to performing this new trick. I dropped my stabber and went to pick it up, just like before. I probably left around 15 seconds between stabbing and drawing blood, same as the last time. I went to put pressure on my finger and guess what happened? I got blood all over my jumper. Yet again, the blood rocketed about 50 cm all up my top which in all honesty, is quite hilarious.

So, I went through the same routine of stabbing, waiting and pressurising and it happened again! Yay! I learnt something new!

Here’s the instructions for anyone else who wants a go:

1) Stab the side of a finger with a lancet

2) Wait between 15-30 seconds (could be different for different people)

3) Slowly squeeze the end of your finger in a direction that isn’t face-bound

4) Laugh, you now have a invaluable party tool

I obviously don’t encourage people to do it lalala. My one suggestion is don’t do it too much because you’ll probably want some blood left.

Just another Diabetes perk!

 

In all seriousness you probably don’t want to do this any more than once, in an enclosed area with no one around, you don’t want to pass anything on and obviously it’s not that clean or healthy etc. Follow common sense.

 

Dan

I’m Naked

‘If there was a cure for Type 1, would you take it?’

 

This is an interesting question that people ask me all the time, and I can never decide on a solid answer.

I know the most logical thing to say would be yes, it’d get me out of explaining the deep dark world of Type 1 and how it affects my life. But I can’t.

‘Diabetes is a lot like Trousers. You don’t leave the house without your insulin, you don’t leave the house without your trousers.’

I know sometimes you can wear shorts or any other variation but the principle is I’d feel naked leaving the house without my Insulin or BGM, as I would without any bottoms on.

I think if there were to be a cure for Type 1 tomorrow, I’d find it a lot easier to take it as opposed to in 20 years time. This is because I’ll be so used to leaving the house fully clothed that it just won’t feel right leaving naked.

I’m undecided, it would completely depend on the timing…

What would you do?

Dan

Stickers! I was gonna go to work, but then I got high…

I spent my night sat at my desk trying to come up with some cool designs for stickers.

The thing is, when you’re sat at a desk it’s very easy to snack. The whole time I was working on these I just ate and ate until I could eat no more.

Literally. I ran out of Insulin.

Could I be bothered to go get more? No.

So here’s the stickers!

 

You can also get the design on a shirt or a hoodie, which is pretty cool.

These are just the first designs and there’ll be more soon!

Click here to view them!

I’ve made them as cheap as possible, I’m not looking for profit, just awesome things for us to have!

 

Dan

Man vs Food vs Diabetes

I thought this could be an interesting subject to cover. Food.

There are so many questions when you’re trying to figure out when to do insulin, and how much you need to do. Is it fast acting? Is my blood going to go low if the insulin acts faster than the food? Before or after? It’s a pain.

I’m hoping this could turn into a series of posts where I try all different foods to see the affect on blood glucose levels. Also you get to see my healthy diet, and I’m starting with the healthiest!

Starter: Nachos (1/2 plate) Main: Angus Ultimate Burger (Angus burger with Bacon, Onion Rings, Cheese and Salad), Chips, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi.

So, here’s the carb content for it all:

• Nachos: 45g
• Burger: 136.4g
• Chips: 48.1
• Pepsi: N/A (30g guess)
• Diet Pepsi: 0g
• Total: 259.5g

So that’s about 26 units of insulin. I only did 24 because I wasn’t too sure about the Pepsi, nor the accuracy of Pub food. I did the insulin before the food because it’s always best to do it before where possible.

How was the food?

The food was really good. I’m not exactly a stranger to the Angus Ultimate Burger. I’ve probably had it about 6 times in 6 visits to a Sizzling Pub because I don’t think there’s really anything like it! It’s usually from a different Pub but I figured with it being a part of a franchise it would be the same, and it mostly was. The onion rings were the let down. They’re usually squashed into the burger so they’re nice and soft but these ones were quite crunchy, which was still good, just not my preference. Also the cheese wasn’t fully melted (negligible!). The nachos were nicer than my our usual Pub and I tried a Jalapeño with the seeds for the first time! It wasn’t really very special.

So, how did it affect my BG’s?

When I left, my levels were at 6.4 mmol/L, which is around the bracket I like to keep at. This meant that I didn’t need to do any more or any less because it was pretty much spot on. Happy times. It’s important to note that I left a gap of around an hour between finishing my meal and testing again. I got back and tested. 6.2 mmol/L. Happier days!. I didn’t eat in that hour either, so I was quite pleased with that, but I did suspect some carbs lurking around waiting to attack. I did my usual evening insulin of 15 units before I slept, and then tested again in the morning. 10.5!. Not very happy. I knew it would have gone higher but I didn’t expect by that much! Now I know that 26 units would have been right!

Before:  After: 

It’s all a learning curve, and now I know exactly how many units to do for next time. I also know I can trust the Nutrition Guide on the Pubs website.

I hope you’ve found this interesting, and I hope that’s it’s nice and popular so I can do more!

**Edit**

Here’s a link to the Nutrition Guide for this food! http://www.sizzlingpubs.co.uk/pdf/calorie_information.pdf

Dan

Type 2 Diabetes?

Whilst looking for good blogs to recommend, I came across ‘Geezerfitnessblog’. I’m especially interested in Diabetic Fitness freaks because I like to do  a lot of cycling, and I like to see how it affects the blood sugar levels in people too. He reports his BG levels in every post and also what he’s been doing.

It’s a pretty interesting read if you’ve got Type 2 and you want to get yourself a bit fitter!

 

Dan