What should I eat now I have diabetes?

I was at a diabetes information evening last week and we listened to an extremely eloquent and knowledgeable dietitian give a presentation on the most commonly asked questions from people with diabetes.

I started to think about how much focus there is on food when you have diabetes and why this question is always asked, in multiple forms, so many times.

It’s one of the first questions a person asks themselves, irrelevant to what type of diabetes they have, when they get home from the hospital or doctor’s office after being told they have diabetes is “What should I be eating now?”

The answer to this question is different for everyone because each one of us lives very different lives. Some of us work outside the home, some of us don’t, some of us have children and some of us don’t.

So when you ask a dietitian “what should I eat?” The answer will be very general, long and contain a huge amount of information. (S)he loses our attention on sentence three because  it’s not the quick fix/easy answer we were hoping for.

My point is that I don’t think asking this question benefits anyone with diabetes. I think we should be asking “what am I eating every day and how do I modify it?’ Thus, taking control of the situation ourselves and not looking to others for answers. AND not believing that we are going to lose all of our treats.

To find out what we eat every day, we need to keep a food and blood sugar diary for, at least, two weeks. We should do this because when you sit down at the end of the day and list try to remember what we ate we inevitably forget a number of things.

And we shouldn’t just record what we eat but how much of it! This is hugely important because we could be eating all the right things but if you eat more food (healthy or unhealthy) than your body uses up in the form of energy, you will gain weight or be overweight.

Once we have our two week diary, then we can take it to a dietitian and go through it together. (S)he will help us figure out where we fall down on our healthy eating plan and decide what small changes we can make that will benefit us most and smooth out the troughs and peeks in our blood sugars.

Summer Break – Help!

My children are finished school for the summer which means I don’t have as much time to myself as normal. I won’t be posting regularly over the next 6-8 weeks. But I will be back in September fully charged.

I want to thank you all for following the “Diabetes People” blog via FaceBook & Twitter. I know that there are so many Diabetes Blogs out there to keep people entertained and I wanted to thank all of you who value this one too.

I hope you all have a good summer and stay healthy.

Travel Tips from the Clare Type 1 Diabetes Group

In May, the Type 1 Diabetes Group in Clare discussed helpful tips when you are travelling. The following is a combination of tips from the Diabetes Australia and from the American Diabetes Association.

1. Carry a letter from your doctor stating your full name, address and date of birth, that you have diabetes and then listing the medications, insulin delivery devices (syringes, insulin pens or pumps) which you use and blood glucose testing equipment you use, and stating that you must be allowed to carry these with you at all times. Tip added by group; Make several copies of this letter and stash them everywhere.

2. Customs or Security Gates. If questioned about syringes or other diabetes equipment which you are carrying, stay calm, simply state that you have diabetes and explain what the devices are. Show the person the letter from your doctor. The Federal Aviation Authority trains all security staff in what people with diabetes must be allowed to carry. There is no need to ‘declare’ your supplies on domestic or international flights as they are entirely permitted.

3. Take a spare prescription. Always take prescriptions for all medications which you need, and which you are carrying with you. This will both assist you to get more supplies if needed, and reassure security officers that the medications are your own.

4. Bring plenty, if not double, the amount of diabetes supplies that you will need. Sometimes extreme climates can damage test strips and insulin, or if you get delayed at your destination on your way home (remember the ash cloud). It’s always wise to have some spares.

5. When flying carry all your diabetes supplies in your hand luggage. It can be difficult, though not impossible, to obtain all your diabetes supplies away from home if they are lost. Best to keep them close to hand so you don’t have to waste precious time traipsing around an unknown city.

6. Replacing lost supplies. If you do find yourself in this predicament, start with a major hospital’s emergency room which should be able to supply enough to get you through. Alternatively, phone the diabetes organisation where you are and ask someone to explain how you obtain diabetes supplies in their state/country. If heading overseas, you can find out contact details for the local organisation in advance by visiting the International Diabetes Federation’s website: www.idf.org

7. Wear ID. Make sure you have some form of identification which says that you have diabetes such as a Medicalert bracelet, on you, especially if traveling alone.

8. No need to request ‘diabetic’ meals on planes.

9. Always pack hypo supplies & Carb snacks - especially on long flights. Also, don’t be afraid to ask the flight attendant for a lemonade or extra food if you need it to treat a hypo.

10. Get Travel Insurance! It may seem like just another wad of euros which your travel agent is trying to extract from you but if only for your and your family’s peace of mind it could be the best investment you ever make. Make sure your insurance policy covers your diabetes. Some policies may exclude cover for long term medical conditions.

11. If you are travelling across time zones talk to your diabetes team about how to administer your insulin on the days that you travel and what to do once you arrive.

12. Don’t forget extra batteries for your meter.

“Special considerations for amusement parks from the JDRF website.

If you are taking a child with type 1 diabetes to a major amusement park like Disney World/Land, the first thing you should do when you arrive is go to the guest relations office. Explain to the staff that your child has type 1 diabetes and must eat, check blood sugars, and/or take shots at specific times. Some of them will give you a pass that will get your family in the handicapped line for most rides, which will drastically cut the amount of time you will have to wait in lines. Bring a backpack with snacks, juices, water, and all your type 1 diabetes supplies. You may also want to pack meters and insulin pumps in waterproof bags so they don't get wet on water rides. If your child is relatively young, you can also rent a stroller for the day and stash supplies in there.
Many parents also suggest making reservations for sit-down meals at amusement park restaurants before leaving for your trip.”

A little bit of planning goes a long way towards a stress free and well earned holiday.

Health of the Nation - Diabetes

On Wednesday, 29th June the Irish television station RTE broadcast "Health of the Nation" featuring diabetes. If you missed it you can catch it again on the RTE player.

RTE's Health of the Nation - Diabetes episode

 

“Do you know a child or young person with Diabetes?”

If you do Diabetes Action needs your help. Please read on to find out why and how.

Most children and adolescents with diabetes have Type 1 Diabetes. This is an autoimmune disease, which means that for no apparent reason a child’s immune system decided to turn on it and destroy a crucial part of the body. In the case of Type 1 diabetes the immune system attacked the cells that make insulin. Insulin is needed to convert the food we eat into the energy we need to exist. The food, in particular the carbohydrate, we eat is converted into glucose and if the glucose isn’t converted into energy it poisons the body and eventually causes all sorts of organ failure and if untreated death.

Children and young people with Type 1 Diabetes must take insulin in the form of multiple daily injections and must test their blood glucose at least 4 times a day. They must attend outpatient clinics 4 – 5 times a year to monitor their diabetes. These children do attend their hospital appointments regionally however due to lack of resources to offer new treatments that control blood sugar and insulin levels about 50% are referred to the Paediatric Diabetes centres in Dublin, where services are inundated with referrals from children and adolescents with diabetes from the rest of Ireland.

To tackle this Diabetes Action is seeking the reorganisation of existing paediatric diabetes services so that up to date specialist care can be provided equally. The cost of this reorganisation is €750,000 but international studies have shown that improved control of diabetes in children and adolescents can lessen the development of costly complication in adulthood by as much at 76%.

“At present 50% of children and adolescents with diabetes develop some form of long term diabetes complication by the time they are adults. We can dramatically improve health outcomes and quality of life with a very modest investment and a reorganisation of services” says Prof. Hillary Hoey, leading paediatric endocrinologist.

Diabetes Action is asking all people with diabetes to log onto their website http://www.diabetesaction.ie/ and support this campaign for better services for children and young people with diabetes by sending an email to their local TD’s and senators to make representations to the HSE and to the Minister for Health seeking a reorganisation of services.

Diabetes Action asks that if you want to support this campaign but do not have access to the internet that you ask a family member or friend for help or visit the local library.

As of 17th June 2011, 1,200 people have used the advocacy web-site http://www.diabetesaction.ie/ to send over e-mail representations to TDs and Senators in the Oireachtas.

Children and adolescents with diabetes deserve services which will support them to lead a normal and productive life and without future ill health.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Log onto www.diabetesaction.ie now!!!

Type 1 vs Type 2

There is so much confusion out there in the non-diabetes community about diabetes and we (the people with diabetes) are often subjected to comments such as; “Diabetes; doesn’t that mean you can’t have any sugar?” or “Type 1 – which one is that?”

These comments don’t bother me all that much when it’s face to face because I can take the time to explain what Type 1 Diabetes is. But when comments like that come from people who in my opinion should know better, then, I lose it and have to be quarantined before I can be with people again.

For instance, I sent an email to a public representative highlighting a campaign to get better health services for Type 1 diabetes. In my email any time I used the word “diabetes” it was accompanied by Type 1. However, the reply talked only about Type 2 diabetes and what a “scourge” it was, requiring me to send another email to said TD.

In the same week, I had to fill out one of those forms for mortgage protection insurance. You know the out-dated form that asks ridiculous questions such as “How often do you test your blood or urine for sugar?” What? “Is sugar present, often, occasionally or never?” Double what!!! Sugar is always present in blood. Who in-the-name-of-God tests their urine for sugar anymore? I mean it is useless information in today’s world. Yes, before 1985 when there were no Blood Glucose monitors we tested urine for sugar!

Please give sample readings for the last three months (with a small box for the answer). All of my readings would take about three pages for the last three months.

COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One step forward and two steps back.

Is it any wonder that I feel like we are losing the fight to educate people about diabetes and make people more aware of it; never mind that there are two types and what those types are? How will we get people to support us in our quest for better health care services if they don’t even know what diabetes is? Things need to change – I just don’t know what to do to change them!