It’s been a bit of a stressful week for me for numerous reasons, but instead of boring you with the details of what stresses me out I’ll just tell you that my blood sugars were definitely paying for it. This is not the first time I have experienced high blood sugar as a result of stress so I decided to feed my curiosity and find out why stress plays such a role in hyperglycaemia.

It’s quite simple really; when a person is either physically or emotionally stressed the adrenal gland releases some glucose as a response. I’m not going to pretend to be a doctor so here is the link to a Diabetes UK article that explains the whole thing much better than I could.

Pin pointing the cause of stress is probably the most useful tool you can use in stress management.

I spend a lot of time working on and thinking about my body so I feel like I’m very in tune with signals caused by a physical stress such as injury. However, it takes me a bit longer to recognise an emotional stress, especially when it is combined with high blood sugar as I would probably just put the stress down to high blood sugar and go in a circle from there.

This makes it difficult to eliminate the cause of stress.

So, when I see unexpected high BG on my meter I always ask myself if I am stressed about anything. If the answer is yes I will take the following steps to not only reduce stress, but to also decrease the blood sugar.

Walk

The other day, my blood sugar spiked to 10mmols due to stress so I decided to stretch my legs and walk it off. Walking at a fast pace for 30 minutes, with a rucksack on my back and 1 unit of insulin on board, decreased my bg by 7.5mmols. Proving that walking is a great way to reduce bg. As for my emotional stress, I listened to some music on my headphones whilst I was walking and it helped a lot.

An alternative method to this would be to do any exercise you love. Sometimes I just dance. Like literally, I will drop what I’m doing and dance. Yes, I look as crazy as it sounds but dancing is as natural as walking to me. Try it.

Make a Change

When I notice that stress is recurring because of the same thing I try to make a change. For instance, for a few months I would not give myself a day off from doing some sort of work. I am the type of person that will not stop until something is completed, even if it means getting stressed out. However, when I saw what this was doing to my levels I had to make a change.

I started to take a day of rest each week in order to replenish my mind and reenergize my body. I still find this very difficult because rest makes me feel guilty, but I’m sure I will adjust at some point because my blood sugar definitely appreciates it.

I understand that immediate change might not be possible for some;– if your work is stressing you out it might not be a good idea to quit right away (unless you have another to walk into) but you could put a plan in place to reduce the level of stress you are feeling right now. A plan will help you see that there is a way out of your current situation which will, in turn, help prevent the high blood sugars caused by stress at work.

Meditate

I’m sure you’ve heard this before but mediation does actually help. Especially if you have a tendency to overanalyse things or if you sweat all of the unnecessary small stuff.  At first it can be very difficult to stay calm in the face of something we see as an intense situation; an argument with a family member or a friend, the loss of something or someone, or a big change. We can get wrapped up in what is important and what is not.

This is where mediation comes in.

Meditation brings clarity and focus, making space for you to breathe and relax.

A great way to meditate is to sit in a comfortable position or lie down, close your eyes and focus on the rhythm of your breath. Count how many seconds it takes you to breathe in and how many seconds it takes to breathe out.

Hopefully this will help a little bit if you are experiencing any sort of stress.

In a way, although I really hate the feeling of being stressed and hyperglycaemic, it makes me grateful for diabetes because I have another way of listening to what my body is telling me. I have a clearer understanding of what it worth stressing about and what isn’t. The majority of the time its just not even worth it.

Stay healthy.

Rowena x

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There is an overwhelming amount of information on fitness, especially when it comes to diabetes, which is my motivation for writing this post. The truth is, it makes no difference if you’re diabetic or not. You’re just as capable as someone who doesn’t have diabetes. I have been on my fitness journey for a long time, both without and with diabetes and I can assure you that I have met a few road blocks along the way. If I’m being really honest, the workout is not the hardest part, it’s everything that revolves around it that is; accepting no excuses, avoiding procrastination and losing motivation. Whether you are new to fitness or are well into your journey like me, the tips below will help you stay on track.

Find Out What Motivates You…

… and Keep a Reminder close By. Progressing in fitness is hard and if anyone tells you otherwise, they are either trying to sell you something or they have no idea what it’s like to seriously progress in a physical activity. Creating positive change either mentally or physically is not an easy process and it takes time and commitment. There will come a time when you feel like giving up; at this point you need to remember your why. Why did you get started and what motivated you to do so? This is different for everyone. Maybe diabetes is your motivation? If it is, make sure you celebrate the positive effect it is having on your management.

Find Something You Enjoy

I have said this time and time again and I will keep saying it because it is absolutely vital. You shouldn’t dread your workouts. If you hate the gym, don’t go the gym. If you dread running, don’t go running. Think about what you enjoyed doing as a child. Skating, dancing, basketball? Whatever it was, give it a go and see if you get the same enjoyment as an adult. If you can’t remember what you really enjoyed or don’t enjoy that specific activity anymore, think about what you would enjoy now. Lots of people enjoy Pole Dancing for fitness, men included. Try it. Be sure to think without limits. Diabetes is not an excuses.

Avoid procrastination

How much you spend procrastinating will greatly affect your workouts. Nike have the famous slogan “Just do it” and that is exactly what you should do. Don’t wait until you get new running shoes, don’t wait until your personal trainer can fit you in – just do it. You need nothing to start apart from a keen attitude.

Although you probably connected with me through social media, you have to realise how much time you might waste on it. When you are due to exercises, switch your flight mode on. No distraction. No procrastinating by reading text messages, checking email or answering calls. Just you and your goal.

Above all else, don’t let diabetes be your procrastination barrier. At first, yes, it might take a bit more time because you are considering insulin doses, but the more you do said workout routine, the more you will come to grips with how to manage your diabetes around it.

Control what you can for the time being. For instance, don’t leave your pump site change to the same morning as you said you were going to go for a run because if something happens with that you are bound to(and should) prioritise fixing the diabetes related issues over engaging in your fitness commitment.

Hydration

Did you know that even if you are mildly dehydrated it can affect the way you perform physically? Water is central for the overall functioning of the body and plays a massive part in how you look and feel. The minimum amount of water you should drink on any given day, in addition to coffees, teas or juices, is determined by your size and activity level. The International Sports Medicine Institute recommends 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight if you’re not active (that’s ten glasses if you weigh 160 pounds), and 2/3 ounce per pound if you’re athletic (13 to 14 glasses a day, at the same weight).

Think about it, if you are not feeding your body with adequate amounts of water, how do you think it is going to repay you? By consuming the correct amount of water for your body it will help you lose body fat and your body will eventually stop holding onto water because it knows that it is consistently getting enough of it. A good way to gauge your hydration level is by judging the color of your urine. The clearer it is, the more hydrated you are.

I hope this was helpful to you. Always remember to drink enough water to hydrate and prepare your body for the physical activity, seek motivation, avoid procrastination and do something you enjoy.

Rowena x

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About 6 weeks ago I was given a trial of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and because I was aware that I would only receive 4 sensors that would last around 2 months, I planned to conduct a few experiments to get a finer understanding of diabetes. Experiments revolve around basal, bolus, exercise and takeaway food (got to have some fun, right?). I have used two sensors so far and don’t plan on using another until September when I go travelling for two weeks and then start my MA in dance and choreography. Anyway, I’ve had quite a few surprises over the past 4 weeks and feel that I have much better control now that I have seen so much data from the blood sugar graphs that were produced every 5 minutes from the Dexcom transmitter.

The first day I wore my sensor I couldn’t believe how many times my blood sugar spiked after food. Even if it wasn’t particularly carby, it was up and down the whole day. However, with a bit of bolus manipulation and play with timing I was able to eliminate any major spikes. Most days I eat around 200 carbs, sometimes spreading them throughout the day, sometimes eating the majority of them in one go. It depends. Anyway, I found that if I took my bolus 20 minutes before eating I could get away with eating 100 carbs with no spike. Carbs could be from pasta, potato, cereal, oats, fruit etc. The only time I found this difficult is if I was eating out because I didn’t know how long food would take to be served. I figured that I could look around and see how quickly other people were being served and gauge it from there and I suppose if I were served quicker than I thought, I could save the carby part of the meal until last. Hmm, that would be testing.

Basal

My basal has almost doubled and as a result of this I haven’t woken up with a blood sugar above 7mmols in a few weeks. I have 7 different basal settings throughout the day and night. (see pic).

Bolus

As a result of finding the correct basal, my bolus doses have dropped significantly. Especially in the morning because I am not chasing my blood sugar with correction doses. Also, I changed my evening insulin / carb ratio from 1/11 to 1/13. And instead of adjusting to 1/20 if exercising for an hour plus I now use 1/25 which seems to have worked so far.

Exercise

Exercises is pretty much how I thought it would be because I test very regularly around my workouts anyway. However, because my basal is now at the correct rate I don’t have to increase my basal if I do morning cardio. I have to decrease it like any other time of the day. Currently reducing basal by 70% for cardio, dance, yoga, shopping, gardening and reducing by 30% for weight lifting (I have very little rest between sets) which is interesting because I also used to increase for this type of activity.

The 6 hour takeaway delay

Pizza and chips are foods I love, but rarely eat. Whenever I have eaten them in the past I would always see a spike at some point and I couldn’t quite catch when it was so I decided I would utilise the CGM to find out more.

When I was on holiday in Belgium I ate a large portion of fried chips in the afternoon and I saw the rise about 6 hours later whilst I was at a concert. I marked 6 hours down and decided to try again the next day by eating a very similar portion of chips, only this time I took a split bolus and released 50% of it 6 hours later. Guess what, no spike.

I tried this on another occasion with pizza which I estimated 100 carbs for and it did the trick. It seems obvious but estimating the correct amount of carbs for the pizza is paramount. I have underestimated in the past because of the reality of how many carbs there actually are in pizza (depending on the base). Don’t do this. Chances are, it’s more than you estimate anyway so be honest with your pump.

It did the trick for me but I think everyone will have a different digestion rate depending on what they have already eaten that day and how much pizza they actually eat. Bear in mind, this is really greasy, fatty pizza. Low fat pizzas digest at a normal rate. Even if I ate a full 10 inch one of 100 carbs.

Disclaimer – if I was eating oven chips of pizza that I cook at home I would not take a 6 hour split bolus because in comparison to a takeaway shop, there is nowhere near as much fat in an oven pizza like Ristorante.

Overall, I am grateful for what the CGM has taught me and I am looking forward to what my future HBA1C is after making a few of the tweaks mentioned above. If you can get your hands on 1 sensor for two weeks and are willing to put the work in and write the results down – I can assure you it will be worth it. I mean, I suppose you could conduct these experiments with a regular blood glucose meter, but it’s a little bit more painful and time consuming.

Rowena x

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Recently I have been thinking a lot about diabetes management and what was holding me back from fixing my stint of night time hypos / hypers. I came to the conclusion that I was overwhelmed with information which lead to multiple possible scenarios as to why my blood sugar might be out of range. This made things complicated when it really was as simple as adjusting a basal rate that was either too high or too low. Next, I realised that I was fearful of nighttime lows which prevented me from taking extra insulin when I needed it. In addition to the vast amount of information and the fear of lows, I also believe that personal belief systems play a significant role in the way diabetes is managed. It all interlinks. I’m definitely not perfect, but I am now in a place of better control since fixing my night time basal and have recognized where I went wrong.

Too Much Information

Diabetes management is very similar to the way weight loss / dieting is looked at. There is an abundance of misinformation out there and it costs a ridiculous amount of time to keep up with it. It might be suggested “hey, if you cut out your carbs you won’t have to take insulin” or “If you eat carbs, but only before 7pm you will be fine” – things like that. I know I am guilty of sharing my dieting habits on this blog, but my aim is to educate rather than to push you to go in the same direction.

The fact of the matter is, even if you did try each and every suggestion, are you allowing enough time for the change to take place? Do you psychologically enjoy this change? If not, then sooner or later you will be back to square one. Take inspiration from what other people suggest, but remember that their body is different to yours so you have to look at and analyze your own results and make adjustments and tweaks from there.

Fear

Is fear holding you back? Are you scared to experiment because of lows or highs? It’s understandable. Sometimes fears become so strong that they become imbedded in your brain and prevent you from doing things like exercise or other physical activities. To break this fear you must begin to feed your brain with things / people that show how that fear is irrelevant.

There was a brief time where I began my workouts with a blood sugar of at least 10mmols because I was fearing lows – I felt weak when I was low. However, an out of range number at the other end of the scale does not allow me to perform at an optimal level either which is why I fixed it fairly quickly. I recognized that I was scared and focused on working out the right level of insulin and timing instead. I also looked at all the workouts I had managed to achieve without lows and this helped me get back on track.

Belief Systems

You must believe that you have the ability to take control of this disease. If you tell yourself “it’s too hard, I can’t do it”, guess what, you won’t be able to do it. Know that there are some factors that you can control which will definitively contribute to the management of this disease. You have full control over your mind.

For instance, I posted a video on YouTube a while back about something diabetes and exercises related and someone (another diabetic) commented, point blank, and told me it was impossible to exercises with diabetes. That was his belief. However, I prove this statement wrong on a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day. Like I have said before, I don’t believe diabetes is a limitation on my body and I will always make sure I work harder than anyone in the room to prove this point.

Don’t believe anyone if they tell you that you can’t do something, including yourself.

At the end of the day, this is your body and you know it best. One doctor might recommend a high fat low carb diet, another might recommend something else. The truth is you have to think about adherence and something you can see yourself doing a year down the line. Change takes time so if you are struggling with one of the above, be patient, be honest, and don’t copy anyone else, only use them for inspiration and be yourself.

Rowena x

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The perk of living with diabetes came to me last week when I had a small operation on my left foot. Strange, but stay with me… I was at the hospital for most of the day and was allowed to eat and drink as normal before and after. My appointment was booked for 11am and as I expected to be in and out quite quickly I didn’t take food. Well, aside from my usual banana and cereal bar snack, but usually I would take packed lunch if I knew it would take so long. I didn’t end up leaving the hospital until 5pm. There was 7 other people under the same nurse as me, waiting just as long and didn’t appear to have brought any food either. We were in our gowns by 11:30am so no leaving the ward to go get some either.

Anyway, the nurse in charge was aware that I have type 1 diabetes so she kept asking if I was ok throughout the day and if I needed anything. I was fine and didn’t need anything, until lunch time passed and my belly was growling for food. I did a pretty intense workout earlier that morning which tends to expand my appetite. At this point I had already eaten my banana and cereal bar that I mentioned earlier and my blood sugar was at a happy 6mmols.

Around 2pm, the first 2 people on the list went down (I was 7^th) and the rest of us were told that we would be fed when we got back from surgery which was going to be over the next two hours depending on the list. Two minutes later, I was called to one side and was given the option to have a cup of coffee and some toast before surgery because they didn’t want me to risk a hypo during the procedure. Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t need to eat to prevent a hypo because the basal setting on my pump is pretty accurate for that time of the day, but because I was so hungry I took that toast and coffee (who wouldn’t want a coffee) and gladly ate it. Diabetes does have a perk…. I have found the perk of living with diabetes.

“I get special treament around food :)”

I didn’t realise they would give it to me in front of everyone else which was awkward. One of the other women looked furious when she saw me with the toast and coffee and said “I didn’t know you had been down to theatre already. I have to wait until I get back”. I said “I haven’t been down yet, I’m diabetic and they would prefer me to eat now for my blood sugar”. She didn’t say anything. Bless her, she must have been very hungry too. I wanted to share my toast but I don’t think that would’ve went well with the nurse in charge. She brought some biscuits for them shortly after.

This reminded me of all of those diabetes memes that refer to diabetic school kids being allowed to eat in class and their mates aren’t allowed. I never experienced that because I wasn’t diagnosed until after I finished school. When I got to uni everyone was allowed to eat in class anyway.

In case you’re wondering, I was allowed to keep my pump on during the op. I had to attach it to the hospital knickers lol. They would only ever really take it away if you were unable to control it yourself. My foot is ok. It’s a little painful at times and has stiches in at the moment. I was told I can’t dance for 2 weeks which is very sad, but in order to stay sane and to keep reaching my goals I have planned a few upper body / abs workouts that will not harm my foot in the slightest.

Do you have a something you regard as a perk of living with diabetes?

Rowena x

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24 hours without my insulin pump has taught me just how much appreciation I have for that little device. It makes everything so convenient, but more than anything else I feel safe because I know what I’m doing with it. My limited experience with shots (I was only on them for two weeks after diagnosis) made me feel like I couldn’t make a decision for myself and I actually didn’t want to eat or drink anything other than water because I didn’t want to take a shot for it. I’m sure if I used injections more often I would get used to it, but for now I would like to say that the post I had written about the pros and cons of pump therapy should be updated to say that the pump wins hands down for me.

https://youtu.be/2dtxtTcpotI

Here’s what happened. I woke up about 6am and went for a morning power walk which lasted about 45 mins and ended with a blood sugar of 5.6mmols. During my walk my pump started alarming me that it was running low on battery. This was strange to me as I had recently put a brand new battery into the pump. After the first two “low battery” alerts the pump cut out and then told me I would have to replace the battery to silence the alarm. Dreadful sound, but very effective as it prompts you to want to change the battery quicker.

The minute I go home I changed the battery and as I was rewinding the pump it flashed “low battery” again and then cut out. At this point I thought this particular packet of batteries may be faulty so I tried another, but the same thing happened again when I tried to load the cartridge.

Hmmm. What to do…

Luckily it was my day off so I had time to think. When their office opened at 9am, I rang Animas to order a new pump. After answering a few questions they said they would deliver a new one within 24 hours. Great! That was sorted. Next call was to the doctor to find out how much insulin I should take for background. They said to take 10 units of Lantus, I did, and it made my bum feel numb for ages. I went through the day bolusing for my food as normal with the same carb / insulin ratio.

I had a CGM sensor in my arm and I didn’t want to have it on my body if it wasn’t connected to anything so I thought I would try switching the pump back on, but instead of rewinding / loading it with the intention to use it I just left it to connect back up to my CGM and it did. I wore my pump for the majority of the day and it was giving me accurate blood sugar readings.

I went high during the night to 15mmols so I attached my pump and took a correction. When I woke at 5:45am my BG had come down to 9.3mmols. I then took another correction and a reduced bolus for my workout which I would start around 9am.

At the start of my workout I had very little insulin on board. Maybe 1 unit which is usually fine for pole training and yoga. However, not this time because I was low for pretty much all of my workout despite drinking a full bottle of Lucozade and eating a banana. Oh, and a cereal bar. Near 100 carbs and my blood sugar wouldn’t shift past 4mmols. I then went on to eat 40 carbs of cereal that usually spikes my blood sugar in the hopes that it would help. It didn’t. So I ended up eating around 140 carbs with less than 1 unit of insulin on board and whatever Lantus was still floating around in my body.

Throughout the whole day I also took readings from my blood sugar meter instead of just relying on my CGM in case it was incorrect due to the faulty pump. It wasn’t. Anyway, I’m so pleased to say that I have my pump back and I will never complain about it again. Even if it gets in the way sometimes, even if it wakes me up in the night and sometimes makes me feel very uncomfortable, it’s ok. Sometimes technology fails. It’s the way it is.

Rowena x

p.s. Here is a vid of my latest performance. Hope you enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i55GYmfG_gM

Carb counting tips for diabetics because carbs, carbs and more carbs – We’re always counting them. 6 for protein coffee, 14 for a slice of bread (depending on the bread), 20 for a medium sized banana, 40 for a portion of pasta etc. I now know my carbs extremely well and it is down to 3 things. My Fitness Pal, Carbs and Cals App and knowing my carb / insulin ratio. These 3 things take the guess work out of carb counting whilst offering me a fairly accurate estimate of the carbs in my food. How many carbs you eat is up to you. Here are my 3 tips for maximum carb counting accuracy.

My Fitness Pal

I’m always raving about this app and I will continue to do so because it is free and it takes the guess work out of carb counting. Download it now. Type in what you’re about to eat if you prepared the food yourself, or scan the label of the food you’re going to eat and you will get an accurate reading of the carbs in your meal. You can add as many foods as you like to one meal and it will tally up the total of each macronutrient for you. In this case you would be looking at the carbs only.

Carbs and Cals App / Book

I find this most useful when I eat out at restaurants because if I were to order something with rice I don’t know how many grams of is on the plate. You just type in the name of the food you’re eating and it gives you about 4 pictures with 4 different sized portions of the food you want to know the carbs of. This is very useful as they also have a book.

Know your Carb / Insulin Ratio

It might sound obvious but you should know your ratio. How many units of insulin you need per gram of carbohydrate. This can change throughout the day – mine is now 1 unit per 7 grams in the morning and 1 unit per 15 grams in the evening. Knowing this information will help decrease the amount of hypers / hypos you have throughout the day. To test this you should eat 15 carbs and take your current amount of insulin per gram of carbs and if your blood sugar rises more than 2mmols either way it is time increase your insulin. Your diabetes team can help with this if it is confusing. Also, during the test you will not want to eat carbs that contain a lot of fat because this could lead to an inaccurate result.

I hope these 3 carb counting tip will be useful for you and your diabetes management. All of the above really help me when it comes to carb counting. When you get it right you will feel like a carb counting master.

Rowena x

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My day started with a Leg / Ab session at the gym. Very short, about 40 minute, as I had some work to take care of quite early on. Afterwards I went to my mums to have breakfast and shower etc. At this point I was really excited because I knew that in a few hours I would be learning how to use my new CGM; less finger pricks and a more accurate reading of my blood sugar. I also felt really positive that it would help me fix my night time blood sugar mishaps – highs, lows – waking up sweating etc.

I arrived at the diabetes clinic at 9:40am with the intention to start at 10am. I was early and in need of some coffee, so I went to the Costa which was shut so I had to quickly run across to Starbucks. I felt like I was cheating on Costa, but I wanted my Americano.

Anyway, when I got back to the diabetes centre 9:50am I was sat in the waiting room wondering who was going to be on the course with me. It turned out to be everyone apart from 1 person. Lol. There was 6 of us in total. 2 males, 4 females (including myself) of mixed ages. Plus 2 nurses and 1 extra male who was the partner of one of the girls.

As I walked into the meeting room I saw that the boxes were all laid out for us. Similar to when I  started the course for the pump. We were given a brief talk about how the sensors work with the pump, what the arrows mean and how long you could expect each sensor to last. I was told that they would last for around 1 week, or two weeks at a push. If you already have a Dexcom, is this accurate?

Next, it was time to get connected – Individually, we went into a room with a nurse who helped guide with inserting the sensor. Everyone was given the choice as to where they would put the sensor. I chose to do mine in my arm so she literally had to do it for me because I couldn’t grab my skin and put it in at the same time. I thought it was going to hurt but it didn’t. It was virtually pain free, just a little scratch. It hurt much less that the pump infusion sets.

After waiting for a few hours I was able to see my graph. I had to enter 2 separate blood sugars within a 5 minute time frame in order to calibrate the CGM. I was 4.4mmols and then 5mmols.

Not only will this little sensor help me with my night time difficulties, it will also settle my curiosity as a researcher by allowing me to experiment with exercise in more detail; dance, weight lifting, pole dance, yoga, HIIT and walking. I’ll be sharing results on my blog so keep an eye for future posts.

What difference does a continuous glucose monitor make to your life?

Rowena x

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The textbook definition of Type 1 Diabetes is an “autoimmune disease that develops when the insulin-producing cells in the body have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin” which is what I tell people if they ask what diabetes is. They usually ask after they have seen me checking my blood sugar or if I was giving myself insulin via my insulin pump. I tell them the textbook definition because it’s much shorter that what I perceive diabetes to be. To me, it is…

…an energy thief. Both physical and mental.

Diabetes is a constant reminder that nothing is what it seems. Just because you can’t see something, it doesn’t mean that it is not there.

Diabetes is, at times, painful.

Diabetes provokes me to question my perception of reality; “is this my life”, “do I really have to make myself bleed” “Do I really have to count the carbs in that food in order to calculate insulin”.

It is a challenge that makes me both mentally and physically stronger every single day.

It forces me to pay attention to detail.

Diabetes shows me how much I care about myself whilst asking me how far I am willing to go for the feeling of health.

It makes me sacrifice what I want NOW for what I want MOST.

Diabetes reminds me to be patient with other people when they lack information / education that I have with regards to nutrition and fitness.

Diabetes is asking the same questions repetitively, but never getting the same answer.

It’s a vice.

Type 1 Diabetes is something I am grateful for.

It’s emotional.

It’s a heavy weight that shows me how strong I am to be able to lift it and carry it around each and every day.

Diabetes is a reminder that I can and will handle ANYTHING to the best of my ability.

Diabetes is a bad dream that I am struggling to wake up from.

Type 1 Diabetes is something I did not ask for and it is something that I hope will one day go away.

I’m not sure where the impulse to write this came from, but I would love to hear you describe your experience with diabetes in your own way. You can email me [email protected] or leave a comment below.

Rowena x

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