#actually t1d

[the-lonely-human]

I hate the US healthcare and insurance system. I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes but if it doesnt get fixed or I can’t find a solution, I’m royally fucked.

For context, I’m a Type 1 Diabetic and I need insulin to live. Since I got diagnosed back in 2017, I’ve been using shots and been prescribed Humalog for my fast acting insulin. Now, for whatever bum-fuck reason, my insurance has just decided to change my insulin??? I’m still prescribed to Humalog, but my latest shipment has been Novolog. This wouldn’t be such a problem except the fact that the Novolog cartridges don’t fit into my pen, making them completely useless. Luckily, I still have plenty of Humalog left, but unless I can find a pen that can fit my new cartridges or get my insurance to stop trying to fuck me over and give me my Humalog left, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m fortunately in a fortunate situation, cause I know people who have to deal with the exact same thing except they don’t have enough insulin to last them.

So now I have four boxes of insulin I can’t use, five boxes of Humalog left, an insurance company who won’t give me my actual prescription, and a healthcare system that does not help me in any way.

[beautyandthebetes]

Reblogging again because ever since I googled the fuck out of various new cgm options, I keep getting targeted ads from weight loss companies promoting their use of a cgm to “understand how the food I eat affects my metabolism”

My 👏🏻 disability 👏🏻 is not 👏🏻 your 👏🏻 aesthetic

It’s about time I talked about this too, for the sake of my Diabetic community out there.

Abled-bodied people on twitter and Facebook are using Continuous Glucose Monitors for weight loss programs. Using a device for a disability for their own beauty and ‘healthy and fit!!1’ purposes.

CGMs, as they’re called more commonly, were specifically made for Diabetics. And only for Diabetics. It’s to help make our lives just a little bit easier with the chronic condition we’re stuck with.

CGMs were NOT made for able bodied people to sit there and use it for their weight loss programs. They don’t even bother to to any tests beforehand to make sure someone can use the damn things right. Nor did these groups consult doctors about the risks.

These groups need to be stopped. They need to be reported for malpractice and harm to the general public. They’re fucking ableist assholes who are doing harm to the Diabetic community and the general public and I will not stand for that.

If any info I’ve presented here is wrong, please correct me in a reblog.

YALL NEED TO REBLOG THIS POST AND SPREAD THIS. BUT ABLE-BODIED FOLKS IF I SEE YOU CLOWNING ON THIS POST ITS ON SIGHT. /gen

[zurko48]

extremely selfish of you to be born needing help, maybe try killing yourself instead?

[needlepokes]

how to write a diabetic character: CGM edition

is your diabetic character wearing a CGM? do they have to? CGMs these are Continous Glucose Monitors that can detect how much sugar is in your bloodstream.

How are they different than tradtional fingerprick (blood) tests? they take blood sugar readings 24/7, and provide you with how your sugars are doing at all times, rather than just at that moment. This leads to tremendously better control over blood sugar.

The way they work is that they can "sample" your blood sugar by testing your subcutaneous tissue for sugar levels then adjusting that value.

However, they're less accurate than a fingerprick (blood) reading and will often "lag" behind by about 15 minutes.

SO if you have a character who is expereincing low or high blood sugar - they'd get an alarm on their CGM, and then they might take a fingerprick reading to make sure. CGM false alarms DO exist and it can cause some very annoying situations.

A less careful/depressed/struggling/burnt out character might A. not care or "sleep through" alarms B. not double check with a finger prick C. not care that they're wearing a CGM - pump into stuff or just rip it off (although they are very expensive!).

can you mute them? yes, and a character might choose to do this while they're sleeping, having an exam, or if they know they're about to fuck up their blood sugar.

how long do they last? the libre ones last 14 days. the dexcom ones last up to 10 days.

can you shower with them? yes

can you swim with them? yes

can you have sex with them on? yes, and i've read very funny anecdotes from diabetics having to pause during sex because their cgm was beeping

are they expensive? yes! sometimes, they're covered by insurance, but not completely. If a character is in poverty, or do not have insurance, they likely would have to rely solely on fingerpricks.

Who usually uses CGMs? they are very widespread between T1Ds and are increasingly being used by T2Ds as well.

can you share the readings on multiple devices? yes! your character might share their info with their SO, parents, roommates, close friends...etc. It is genuienly one of the most telling signs of a close relationship between people - because those people will see your "mistakes" and decisions.

where do you stick them? the libre ones (circular ones) officially just go on the back of your arm. The dexcom ones can go on just about anywhere that's "soft" - stomach, thighs, back of arm, chest...etc.

does putting them on hurt? sometimes! the way they are installed involves a needle going into the skin then sitting in the subcutaneous tissue. This can sometimes cause some bleeding, and soreness for a few hours.

Often times the process is completely painless, but this is not the case for everyone. A thinner character might struggle to find a place "cushy" enough for a cgm.

can you put them on your own? yes the process is made for one person to stick it on, but i've seen some couples on instagram act all romantic and sappy about applying it together, so that should give you some ideas for your diabetic characters' budding romances ;)

Some CGMs are just naturally faulty, i'd say about 4 sensors is a busted one, and in that case you'll have to replace them - which most companies just do without any hassle.

do they work with insulin pumps? some insulin pumps can work in tangent with CGMs and provide feedback for the user to automatically generate the correct doses of insulin, depending on their current blood sugar.

do they come off easily? depends on who you're asking. some people swear up and down that they never last and have to put on patches, which are admittedly very cute. Weather, clothing, and how clumsy a character is all factor in this. For me personally i just put them on raw and keep them together by sheer willpower.

CGMs can cause anxiety in diabetics. The constant flow of information can easily burnout people, and this can possibly be the case for any diabetic character you might write. Seeing arrows going down or up can be very distressing, especially knowing how painful some of the consequences are. I personally take breaks for both myself and my wallet from using CGMs to avoid burn out.

nonetheless, CGMs are WONDERFUL pieces of technology that have personally made me much happier as a diabetic, freer and a lot more independent.

does your character want their CGM to show? lots of people, including myself don't like revealing their CGMs - but your character might like showing them off!

and lastly - my favorite thing about CGMs - taking them off and having a "naked" shower once a month where i dont have to worry about it coming off. - They look like this:

[walterfartzroy]

i love you diabetics.

i love you type 1s, i love you type 1.5s, i love you type 2s, i love you prediabetics, i love you gestational diabetics, i love you diabetics who don't fit into a single type/have a specific type not mentioned here, i love you recently diagnosed diabetics, i love you diagnosed years ago diabetics, i love you diabetics who use CGMs, i love you diabetics who prick their fingers, i love you diabetics who do MDIs and fight with needles, i love you diabetics who use pods/pumps/infusion sets, i love you diabetics who use insulin inhalers, i love you diabetics who are sick and tired, i love you diabetics who went into DKA, i love you diabetics who have "bad" a1c, i love you diabetics that are struggling to stay motivated to care care of yourselves. i love you diabetics!!!!!!!!!

[t1d-culture-is]

Type 1 diabetic culture is personifying your pump and cgm. every time their alarms go off i go "sorry, my wife is yelling at me" or "girl, calm down, ain't no one talkin to you"

★

[underdog1224557]

Low blood sugar is kind of funny to think about sometimes, it’s almost like a curse. You get to ignore your chronic illness for a little bit and eat without worrying about insulin or carbs. But at the same time your body is slowly shutting down, your brain is starving and you are in a confused, sweaty daze. So while you are enjoying a small moment without the stress of diabetes, you are also actively dying.

Kind of a weird way to look at it I guess

[softlydiabetic]

if youre ever going low but think "hmm i'm too lazy to go eat something maybe it'll go away in a couple minutes" dont listen. thats the devil talking

[theotherpl4ce]

I think all cgm apps should have a little 'perfect parry' sign to pop up every time time you have a Special Treat but dose your insulin perfectly & your blood sugar doesn't spike up

[arionawrites]

hello its ur local diabetic trying not to cry in my dr’s office because my a1c has dropped below 9 for the first time since i was probably 19 or 20, being diabetic fucking SUCKS but i’m trying to be better about taking care of myself and taking my health seriously and it’s SHOWING!!! IT’S ACTUALLY SHOWING!! 8.7 MOTHERFUCKERS!!!

[liv-abetic]

We can’t rage bolus our way out of this one, boys.

[viathatoneartist]

a bit of a more personal piece. I deal with Type 1 Diabetes. The Lord God almighty has seen me through so much over 23 years of maintaining it. It's been rough but God is ever faithful.

I sometimes see other T1D people where they embrace it to the point thats all they are- someone with T1D. I can't help but feel sad about that. I have joy in my identity with the Lord and not my condition and I hope other find their identities in Him as well.

But for those who arent, Who are you besides the needles,pumps,finger sticks,and highs and lows? There's more to life than just your numbers and corrections. Take care of yourself, but please remember: You are not your T1D. You are stronger than your T1D.

[cryptv0id]

diabetes is so lonely.

i grew up being the only diabetic person my age i knew. heck, the only diabetic person anyone else my age knew either. it was always the "oh my grandma has diabetes !" or "oh my uncle has diabetes but he ate way too many sweets so thats why hes diabetic now."

as a young child, my mom put me into all these advertisement and awareness raising situations that i didnt want to do. i became a poster child for JDRF at age 9, and it was the strangest feeling having all these grown adults crying crocodile tears at the "tragedy" that my life was to them. i felt singled out, and every eye in the room was on me.

at age 11, i did a speech about my diabetes in front of the whole school, again against my will. my parents had saved every single one of those little orange needle caps from when i was diagnosed at 2, until i went on my pump at 11. these tiny orange pieces of plastic where what caused my entire school to fall silent and stare at me as i pulled 16 enormous ziploc bags of them out of a backpack that was the same size as i was. i felt odd, almost ostracized in that moment.

i stopped telling people i was diabetic for a while, unless i was in dire need of help. i stopped answering questions when i was asked. i hid a huge part of myself and my life away, because for so long i was forced to talk about it. i didnt have the words at 9, or at 11 to express the fact that i was uncomfortable with this. my story about diabetes was in newspaper articles, a small documentary, a letter sent out to essentially the whole country when JDRF wanted donations, and probably more things i dont remember, because i blocked a lot of it out.

im now 25, and now, whenever i see someone with a sensor or a pump i make a point of telling them i like their device, and then showing them mine. whether theyre young or old, every single person ive started a conversation with has been thrilled, and all have reacted like "oh my god another one !!" because this disease doesnt HAVE to be isolating and lonely. and now, i get to choose to talk about it instead of having my life and my disease being used as a pity card for adults. i get to share lived experience with people like me, and bond with strangers in a world that already is isolating without having a condition where your life is in your hands every day.

[zurko48]

I am being so normal about realizing how disabled I truly am (lie)

[needlepokes]

diabetic nutrition is: avoid carbs :)) but also dont :) use healthy fat :))) but also don't because it makes your BG unpredictable :) eat protein :) but have some carbs otherwise it raises your BG :))) watch out for spikes after breakfast :)) but also you need to eat breakfast with carbs or your liver gets angy :) and floods you with sugar :))))))

[ifwerefree]

Thinking about how low bg is kind of a medical emergency, in the sense that if not urgently treated it is life-threatening, but it doesn't feel like a medical emergency because the treatment is like, drinking juice and waiting 20 mins then it's fine. It's just another Tuesday.