Exams

Being in year 11 (last year of college) at school can be really stressful. All the exams, controlled assessments, homework, revision....the list goes on and on. Its like the school think you don't have a life outside school with the amount of revision and homework they want you to do (one of the reasons why I haven't posted in a long time). You are put under so much pressure to do well in all your subjects and it really doesn't help when they cram like 3 mock exams in each day over 3 weeks, it would make so much more sense to spread the exams out more so that you actually have enough time to revise and remember all of it. Anyway luckily the real GCSE's are spread out more so that you can make sure you have enough time to revise, learn everything and do the best that you can in the exams.

I remember when I had my year 10 exams which decided if you were ready to move up into year 11. I panicked so much about them, I was silly though as I left my revision to the last moment as every time I tried to revise I would stress out which made my levels go really high. This made it really hard for me to concentrate so I ended up giving up with revision. This obviously wasn't the best thing to do as it meant I panicked while in the exams as I hadn't revised anything and I ended up doing really
rubbish.

 

I went through this cycle every time I had an exam. I am sure many other people go through something like this too so don't worry if you do, you aren't alone.  

I needed to find away of stopping this cycle happening though as with my year 11 exams I need to get good grades to be able to get into the 6th forms I want to go to so that I am able to do the courses I want. So I spoke to my psychologist about it and we came up with a few ways how to stop this cycle from happening.

Here is a list of things you should try to stop the cycle from happening:

• Start revising early, don't leave it to the last moment 
• Make a revision table so that you know what you are going to revise every day
• Revise for like an hour and then have a break as if you revise for too long it will stop going in
• Make sure you are organised and know when your exams are
• If you know your levels go high when you revise, put a temp basal on your pump while you revise or if you are on injects check your levels regularly so you can correct them    
• Try some relaxation techniques to help yourself relax

I used the stuff listed above and it really helped me, I hardly panicked in my mock exams and I feel like i have done well in most of them. If you had asked me at first before I did all of those things to help me stop the cycle I used to go through, I would have said they would have never worked and there was no point in even trying them. I am so glad I tried that list of things as it has helped me so much and now I am not working about doing me GCSE's next year as I know I can control my emotions and not panic in the exams and mess my grades up.

If you are struggling with your emotions and levels while doing revision and exams please use the list of things to help stop that from happening, it will really help. If you plan enough in advance you will do fine in your exams. Just remember to revise and follow the tips in this post. I wish everyone good luck in their mock exams if you haven't already done them :)  
 

Late Nights

Some nights it can be really hard to get to sleep because of your diabetes. Its so annoying laying  in bed for hours just looking up at the ceiling thinking why cant my levels just be in range so that I can get to sleep.  Its really annoying and frustrating, I know.

I don't know if its the same with you but when my levels are 15+ I find it really hard and impossible to sleep. I used to be able to get to sleep when my levels were high but for some reason I really struggle to now. Some night I just lay in bed for hours trying to get to sleep but no matter how hard I try or what I do I cant get to sleep due to my levels. I try reading a book (I always end up falling asleep when I read at night in bed), closing my eyes, just laying there, clearing my mind....and so many other things but nothing seems to work. I just end up just laying there thinking about so many different things. The only good thing is I do think of the weirdest of things while laying there and I normally end up remember things I had forgotten about and coming up with ideas. However the next day after I have had a night with high levels I am so tired and not in the best of moods. Its so annoying when you have school the next day because it takes so much energy to concentrate, I could so easily fall asleep in lesson lol (I don't think the teacher would be very impressed with me)

So what is the best way to deal with nights like this?
- You should check your levels every 1-2 hours to check that your levels are coming down or going up
- Try clearing your mind to help you sleep
- Try and stay relaxed and calm
- Don't worry if you cant get to sleep as you will fall asleep eventually
- Make sure you keep giving correction if your levels are high
- If your levels are running high check for ketones (if you have any ketones drink lots of water)

I know it can be really annoying when you cant sleep and everyone else in your house is asleep. The thing is there isn't really anything that we can do to stop with from happening, its just part of diabetes (annoying I know). The best thing to do is try to get your levels back in range so that you can sleep. Sometimes it can feel like you will never be able to get them back in range but I know that you can. You are stronger than you think!

What diabetes means in one word!

Every person that has diabetes has different experiences. Some people are lucky to have good control and find dealing with diabetes relatively easy while others struggle with the emotional side of diabetes finding it hard to except their situation and others work really hard and still are unable to achieve good control. Our bodies all work differently and we all have different lifestyles, which makes diabetes is a very complex and unpredictable condition!

 

I thought by asking different people (including adults and teenagers) what diabetes means to them in one word I could give a better perspective of diabetes as a whole.  Rather than just making a list of words I decided to make it into a poster, Hope you like it!

 

 

Not your fault

It can be really annoying when people get confused between type one diabetes and type two diabetes or just refer things as diabetes. It might not seem like it matters to other people but it can be really upsetting to people who have diabetes. They wouldn't like it if they had diabetes and got comments from people saying stuff like its your fault your diabetic because you ate too much sugar or you cant eat sweets because your diabetic...

Last week, I was in a French lesson and we were learning how to say what we eat and how often we eat it. The lesson starter was matching the French words to different parts in your diet, for example carbohydrates, dairy, meat, protein... The teacher gave us about 5 mins to finish the starter, I wasn't very good at it as I am rubbish at French. Then the teacher started going through the answers so that we had it in our books to use later in the lesson. After the teacher had finished going through the answers she started asking the class questions about what would happen if we ate too much or not enough of certain foods. She told the class that if you eat too much food with lots of fat in it would cause heart disease and high cholesterol which would lead to heart attaches and strokes. She then told the class that if you eat too much sugar and carbohydrates you would get diabetes.

The whole class looked at me after she said it. It made me feel really upset and annoyed because now the whole class (apart from my close friends) thought I got diabetes because I eat too much sugar and carbohydrates. They were all going to think that it was my fault that I got diabetes and that I caused it because I didn't look after myself. I really didn't want to go to school the next day as I was scared of what people might say to me.The thing I didn't get diabetes because I ate too much sugar and carbohydrates, I got diabetes because pancreas doesn't produce insulin anymore so I have to check my level and give myself insulin every time I eat.

I know it can be really annoying when people get confused with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. I have had so many people think that I got diabetes because I eat too much sugar, didn't eat a balanced diet and other things like that. Some people think it is my fault that I have diabetes because of something I did or didn't do. The truth is it isn't anyone fault that they have diabetes. Always remember you are stronger than you think!

 

Pressure

Having diabetes can be really stressful and emotional at times, you can sometimes feel like there is a lot of pressure on you.  Trying to achieve perfect numbers, carb count accurately so your levels don't go high or low, trying to get the right balance of insulin to food, trying to not over treat low levels or high levels, trying to keep your levels perfect when your ill, excited or sad, trying to get a perfect hba1c. No mater how much your try, it can sometimes feel like you are going backwards with your diabetes instead of forward. It can be really hard at times but don't worry you're not the only person who feels like this, everyone goes through a stage like this.

As you can probably tell from my last post my levels have been running really high because I have been ill, my cannula feel out in the night, I've had ketones and some other things. I have been trying everything to get my levels down and back to normal but nothing really seems to be working, I have tried using temp basals, corrections and it seems to work for a while but then my levels go high again, its been so annoying.

I have a hospital appointment on the 9th January (Thursday) and I have been really worried and scared about going. I really don't want to have my hba1c done because I had worked so hard to so hard to get my hba1c down to 8.1 (it used to be 11.4)and now this happens. My hba1c is probably going to be really high again. I did think about asking the hospital not to do my hba1c as I have had a bad patch with isn't my fault and I have been doing everything I can to try and sort my levels out but it hasn't really been working.

After talking to some people I realised that at the end of the day you cant always have perfect levels, perfect hba1c, its just not possible. We are human and we cant be perfect at everything. Its not our fault if we have a stage where are levels aren't perfect as long as your try you best and get your levels back on track it doesn't matter. Always remember you are stronger then you think you are, you will get through times like this I promise

The year of 2013

So its nearly the end of the year so I thought I would write a post about how much my life has changed and how much I have achieved in this year. You might sometimes feel like you aren't moving forwards with you diabetes and that it is stopping you from doing things, I feel like that quiet a lot of the time. However if I think back to at the beginning of this year I have achieved so much and I am sure you have too.

At the beginning of this year I was ill and unwell because I hadn't been looking after my diabetes how I should have been. I went through a stage where I didn't want to be diabetic, I wanted to be like all of my friends at school. I wished I wasn't diabetic. I ending up in hospital because my levels were so high.I totally regret doing what I did. I made it stand out more that I was diabetic and different to everyone else at my school because I had to have time of because of how ill I felt and I had to go into hospital. 

After when I was out of hospital I realised that if I looked after myself I would feel a lot better and my diabetes wouldn't affect me as much when I was older. So I started doing what I was meant to do. My levels were so much better which meant my hba1c was so much lower, its the lowest I have got it in a long time (:

While I was in hospital I got told about some Facebook group that were for Teenagers with type one diabetes. So when I got home I joined some of them and they made me feel so much better because it made me realise that there are loads of other people going through exactly what I was going through. The groups have helped me so much because you can ask questions on there and then people will answer your questions. The people on the groups are so lovely and are always happy to help you. I have made some great, amazing friends on there who live in places like England, New Zealand, America, Canada and some other places.

Also this year I have learnt to change my line on my own, I know it probably sounds stupid that I was 14 years old and I had never been able to change my line by myself. The reason why I had never changed it before was because I have a really bad phobia of needles and my mum had always been there to change it for me. The hospital told me that I need to learn to change it myself because I was getting to old for my mum to keep changing it and my mum isn't always going to be there to change my line, for example she wasn't going to come round my house when I had my own house just to come and change my line, haha. It came to the point were I really wanted to do the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award which is an award which is given for completing a programme of activities that can be under taken by anyone aged 14 to 24. We got told you picked a skill, physical and volunteering activity and we would do an expedition which meant sleeping in the middle of nowhere in a tent for a night and walking 14miles over 2days. This meant I had to learn to change my line myself or I wasn't aloud to go. I really wanted to go and I didn't want to let my friends down so for the first time I changed my lie by myself, I was so happy when I did it. Now I change my line myself every 3 days (:

Since being able to change my line myself, being able to control my levels better and being able to carb count, I have been able to go to so many more things without my mum. I have been able to do the Duke of Edinburgh, go to the O2, go to Cambridge and go round friends houses for sleepovers more because my mum feels a lot happier and doesn't worry about me as much. Also I have been able to get a paper round that I do Monday to Saturday every week. I have to get up at 6am everyday to be able to do my paper round which I wouldn't have been able to if my levels were high because I wouldn't have felt well enough. I wouldn't have even thought about doing some of this stuff this time last year.

This year I have also made this blog, I cant believe how many people read my blog. I just wanted to have somewhere where I could write stuff that was on my mind and things that were bothering me but at the same time be able to help other people with diabetes and show them that they are not alone. Always remember you are a lot stronger then you think! If you ever need someone to just talk to or need any help I am always more then happy for people to send me a message or comment below and I will chat to you (:

 I have realised that I have achieved so much this year. I am more independent, happy and more well then I was last year. Even though I have had some times when I feel so fed up of my diabetes and just feel like giving up, when I look back I am so glad I never gave up and I kept going on because I wouldn't be where I am today if I had given up. Remember you are stronger then you think

Stress

Your emotions have a massive effect on your diabetes. When you are feeling worried, stressed, depressed or excited about something this can make you levels high. I also find that if I have fallen out with my friend, had a disagreement with someone, had a test at school or had relationship problems, this causes my levels to be high. When my levels become high I get really stressed over stupid things and I also get annoyed with people more easily, generally it makes me feel unhappy and unwell when my levels are high.

Last year in August, I was getting ready to go on holiday to America for 18 days. While we were in America we were going to go to California, Hollywood, Disneyworld, Las Vegas, LA and more places. I was so excited about going, I couldn't wait! The only thing that was worrying me was going to the airport with all of diabetic supplies and being allowed to take it all with us on the plane. My mum had got a letter from the hospital saying that I was allowed to take it all on the plane with me but I was still worried about that. At the same time I was really excited because I had never been to America before. They let us take all of my diabetic supplies on the plane which made me feel happier. When we were sitting on the plane I thought I would do my blood count before we took off. My levels were running high so I gave myself some insulin. My levels were high because I was so excited that I was going to America for the first time.

Also when I was in year 9 we had loads of tests that were coming up, so I was really stressed about it. I knew my levels were going to be really high and that it would affect how well I did in the tests because when my levels are high I struggle to concentrate, all I want to do is lay down and do nothing. The thing was I needed to do well in these test because the results we got on the tests were going to be our end of year grades. So the morning before the tests I put a temp basal of 120% on my pump and my levels weren't high throughout the tests and I got really good grades too!!

When your levels are running high your blood is a lot thicker because there is a lot of sugar in it. This means that your body uses more energy to makes your blood pump around your body. The more energy your body uses the harder it is for you to concentrate and it makes you feel unwell. Also it's not good for you if your levels are always high because your blood needs to be able to pump around your body easily so that the blood can get to every limb in your body. So if your levels are running high or you know why are going to run high because you have a test or something like that please give yourself insulin. If you are on a pump set up a temp basal so that you are getting more insulin every hour.

Everyone's emotions make their diabetes a lot harder to control but you are stronger than you think and you will get through times like this I promise.