Diabetes PSA

If you’re new to having to deal with diabetes, I want to offer you a virtual hug and let you know that you’re not alone. Particularly for type 2 diabetics, you may be wondering, as I did, “what did I do to cause this? Did I eat too much sugar? If I were thinner, would I not have gotten diabetes?”

Here’s what you did. You had the gene that triggers diabetes. People of all sizes get diabetes, and you can’t cause yourself to develop diabetes by eating too much sugar. Developing type 2 diabetes becomes more likely as a person ages. I am a proponent of the Health At Every Size approach (HAES) rather than a size normative approach. The number you need to be concerned with is the one on your glucose meter.

Many people are afraid that the needles we have to use to inject insulin or obtain a blood sample are going to hurt. The insulin needles are very small and I hardly feel them at all. A fantastic tip I learned from a friend is to inject into a stretch mark on your abdomen and you likely won’t even feel it. If you’re a woman who has had children, you likely have a few of these. Even if you don’t have any stretch marks, you aren’t going to feel much in the way of a stick. It isn’t like a vaccination, which has to go into the muscle. An insulin needle only has to reach the subcutaneous layer of fat, which even very thin people possess. I’ve experienced more pain plucking unwanted facial hair than I ever have injecting insulin.

Another thing to do is to take the insulin out of the refrigerator 1-2 hours before injecting it. Cold insulin can sting a little. Room temperature insulin doesn’t.

Modern blood testing strips require only a small amount of blood to get a reading. Obtaining the blood sample is somewhat more painful than injecting insulin, but is far from unbearable. I experience less pain from obtaining my blood sample than I do from removing the peach fuzz that likes to invade my upper lip. I test on the heel of my palm rather than my fingers. Most modern lancing devices come with a special cap so you can choose alternate site testing.

If you have been prescribed insulin, Google the name of the insulin’s manufacturer to see if they have a discount program. I am able to get my Lantus pens for $10 copay with their discount card. Otherwise, the cost would be $435 for five pens. If you’re really rich, that may be pocket change. For me, it’s a month’s worth of car payment, and I need my car.

Diabetes is a pain in the ass and it is a serious disease. However, I want to encourage you not to give up hope. You can do this!

Love,

Cie

Note: Not everyone will experience all of the symptoms depicted in the following PSA. It’s just a guideline.

For instance, in my case, always being tired didn’t trigger alarm, because I have hypothyroidism and fibromyalgia, which both contribute to fatigue. I didn’t experience an increase in yeast infections. I didn’t and still don’t have problems with wounds that don’t heal or neuropathy in my feet. I’m not a very sexual person in the first place, and my hand wasn’t complaining about my lack of interest in sex.

I was, however, constantly hungry and thirsty, I had to pee all the time, and I experienced blurred vision after meals.