There is always plenty I can write about Diabetes care and even more so about how involved and complicated it can get to properly maintain one’s health and blood sugar levels. In fact, in over 5 years of blogging on the topic, I’ve never run out of subject matter to discuss (minus some occasional repetition). That’s pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. And I guess I am saying so. Might sound like bragging but it’s not; it’s merely intended to show just how complicated a condition Type-1 Diabetes actually is. Quite a change in what my parents believed in the 1980’s, which basically just included “don’t eat sugar” and take your one-a-day insulin injection.
I often wonder how differently my health would have progressed, had I known about things like carb counting, proper bolusing and an actual understanding of the different types of insulin and how they function within the body. I often get a lot of questions about what some of the hardest aspects of having Diabetes are and how I deal with them. Certainly there are quite a few. And I’ve written about most of them. But in recent years, I’ve come to recognize that one of the hardest aspects of having Type-1 Diabetes is not, in and of itself, a symptom but rather, something I need to DO. The hardest part of being Diabetic is being patient. Yes, you read that right; patience is one of the hardest parts of dealing with anything Diabetes-related.
Let me explain. In my youth, when I would have low blood sugar, I would eat until I felt better. While this makes sense in concept, if I’m starting to feel better, it likely means my blood sugars have already reached a normal level and I’ve likely eaten beyond what was required. The result is that my blood sugar would skyrocket, requiring further insulin to bring it down to normal. This kind of rollercoaster blood sugars can be detrimental on one’s overall health and proper balancing of a1c’s. Nowadays, I actually measure my blood sugar to determine whether it’s low, rather than depend on a general feeling as I would have when I was younger. Given that getting older involves its own generalized pain, that only makes sense.
But when I find that my blood sugars are low, I take a finite amount of fast-acting carbs that are appropriate to bringing my blood sugar levels up to normal. Where the patience comes in, is the need to sit and wait while that finite amount of carbs does its job. This is particularly difficult when your blood sugar is low and you have to sit there and experience the symptoms of it for what will likely be twenty to thirty minutes. Let me walk you through it. I’m talking nausea, stomach cramps, disorientation, restless limbs, excessive and profuse sweating, blurred vision, loss of fine motor skill and a partridge in a fuckin’ pear tree. And that’s just to name a few. Don’t even get me started on how I feel if I get a low in tandem with anything else, like a cold or flu.
This required patience doesn’t just apply to lows. Sometimes recognizing that if I’m sitting a bit high, it may take a while, hours even, for my levels to come down smoothly. A sudden drop is never a good thing, even if you were high to start with. It can be extremely taxing on the system. The amount of fatigue I feel when I’m high and have to bring my blood down is substantial. If I don’t do it slowly and surely, it can sometimes put me down for the night. And when you live with two small sons who don’t grasp the concept of ever being quiet, getting the rest one needs to properly recover can be difficult.
That’s why it’s important to take one’s time with anything needed when it comes to Diabetes. Nothing can really be done quickly and even if there’s some that could, the after effects can be just as bad or worse than the symptom itself. It can be tough to wait something out, especially if it causes discomfort. But patience is key. After all, slow and steady wins the race. Especially where Diabetes is concerned. Food for thought… ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 