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!

 

Exercise

Exercise can effect your levels a lot. It can make your levels go low but it can also sometimes make your levels going higher after you have exercised. I have always wondered why my levels sometimes when I test my levels before PE at school they will be fine and then after doing PE when I test my levels again they are a little bit high then before PE but normally my levels do go lower after I have done exercise.

I thought I would look it up on the Internet to find out why our levels go low and sometimes high after doing exercise.

"When you exercise your muscles need more glucose to supply energy. In response, your liver increases the amount of glucose it releases into your bloodstream. Remember, however, that the glucose needs insulin in order to be used by your muscles. So if you do not have enough insulin available, your blood glucose levels can actually increase right after exercise. Basically, stimulated by the demand from your exercising muscles, your body is pouring glucose into your bloodstream. If you do not have enough insulin available to "unlock the door" to your muscles, the glucose cannot get into your muscles to provide needed energy. The end result is that glucose backs-up in your bloodstream, causing higher blood glucose readings." https://www.joslin.org/info/why_do_blood_glucose_levels_sometimes_go_up_after_physical_activity.html

Yesterday my friend asked if I wanted to walk the dogs round the village with her and I said yeah sure as it was I really sunny day and I had been inside all morning doing homework and cleaning. So my friend came to my house and then we went on a long walk with the dogs round the village and then we sat on a bench near the park and let the dogs of there leads and run around after each other. Then my friend said about going to the post office to get a drink and something to eat but the post office was closed so she said we could walk to the bp (petrel garage) and eat something from there. The thing was it was a really long walk to the bp and I didn't really want to walk that far just to get a drink and some food so we walked back to my house and got a drink for us and the dogs. Then my friend persuaded me to walk to the bp with her but we weren't going to take the dog as it was too far for him to walk. Before we went I checked my levels and they were 8.6 so I had something to eat and didn't but it in my pump as I knew my levels would drop while we walked there as it was a long walk. When we got to the bp the walk didn't actually seem as long as I thought it would have but I think that because we were talking and listening to music the whole walk. I checked my levels again to see what they were and they were 9.4 so I brought a drink and a bay of crisps and me and my friend walked to Ely and sat on the grass and relaxed for a bit. Then we followed a path to see where it took us and we ended up at a park, so we played at the park for an hour and then we started walking back to the roundabout where the bp was. It was starting to get dark so my friend rang her mum to see if she could come an pick us up and drop us home, her mum said that she would so we waited for her to come. While we were waiting my friend said that I should test my levels again as we had been playing and messing about in the park, when I tested my levels I was 6.5 which was really good. I had a really fun day with my friend and my levels had been really good however my feet did really hurt when I got back home.

Exercise can make your level low however I always I always check my levels before I do exercise and if my levels are bellow 8 I always have a biscuit to make sure my levels don't go low. Sometimes I have a biscuit if my levels are bellow 10 but it depends how much exercise I am doing and what exercise I am doing because different types of exercise effect my levels differently. Remember everyone's diabetes is different so you need to see what happens when you do exercise. Since doing my Due of Edinburgh bronze award where I had to walk 8 miles on the first day and 7 miles on the second day, I have leant that my levels always drop when I go on long walks so I always have something to eat before I go if my levels are under 10.

Hopefully you now understand why your levels go low and sometimes higher after exercise. I know your diabetes can make it harder to exercise but all you have to do is check your levels before you do exercise and have something to eat without giving yourself insulin if you think you need to so that your levels don't drop while you are doing exercise or after.       
Always remember you are stronger than you think.  

Friends at school

We all have days where are levels are running really high or really low, and we have no idea why. It can be really hard when you have days like this at school because it can make it really difficult to concentrate and learn things when your levels are all over the place. It can be really annoying when you just want to get on with your work and be like other people in your class, and then you start to feel unwell. So you ask the teacher if you can check your levels which mean the whole of your class find and it stands out that you have diabetes (I hate when this happens).
The school gave me a card called an 'exit card'; I can show this card to any of my teacher at any point in the lesson and it means I can leave the lesson without telling the teacher why or where I am going. This means the rest of my class don't know why I am leaving the lesson and they don't even see the card when I show it to the teacher, they think I have just gone to get a drink or gone to the toilet when actually I am soring my diabetes out. Its made it so much easier to look after my diabetes at school.
 
So yesterday at school I checked my levels in form because I wasn't felling that well. My levels were 20.4 which didn't make sense because my levels were 12.7 before I had breakfast which was an hour ago, so I had no idea what was happening with my levels. I gave myself a correction and then I put a temp basal of 150% on my pump so that my levels would come down. I then went to my next lesson which was Core RE, I didn't really have to do I lot in that lesson so that was ok. All I had to do was write down some information from this sheet of paper, I did find it really hard to concentrate. At the end of my Core RE lesson I thought I would check my levels as I was feeling worse then I did when I was in Form. When I was checking my levels my friend saw I was checking my levels so asked what they were, I told her they were 26.0, I couldn't believe that my levels had gone up instead of down even though I had given myself so much more extra insulin.

My friend kept telling me that I need to go do some exercise like doing lap round the school to get my levels down. The thing is I really just wanted to sit down and wait for my levels to go down because I didn't feel well. My friend was really worried about me so she walked to my next lesson, science, with me. I told her I was fine and that my insulin would start working soon so my levels would go down.  My friend said no I am telling your science teacher. I said its ok, I will be fine, don't worry. My friend didn't listen to me, she went up to the teacher and told her that my levels were 26.0 and that I needed to do some laps of the school to get my levels down. At first the teacher had no idea what my friend was talking about and then she realised. My teacher asked to talk to me so I went over and spoke to her. She said I needed to do some exercise. So I told her that I had given myself some insulin and all I needed to do was sit down because I wasn't feeling well.

Throughout the whole of my science lesson my teacher keep checking on me, to see that I was feeling ok and that my levels had came down. The good thing was she did it without the whole class knowing what she was doing. Luckily by lunch my levels had gone back to normally and I was feeling a lot better, however by 8pm I was really tired and ended up falling asleep, which isn't normal for me as I normally go to bed at 10pm.

At the time when my friend told my science teacher about my levels I wasn't very happy with her, however after my science lesson I totally understand why she told her, and I am quiet glad she told my teacher as I wasn't able to concentrate in science as my levels were so high and I didn't do as well as I could have in my science test.

It is really good to have friend that look after you at school, I know it can sometimes feel like they are telling you what to do but its only because they care about you and don't want you to be ill. Sometimes you need someone to help you with your diabetes and your friends are really good at that.
Always remember you are stronger then you think.

Family and friends

It can be really hard having diabetes. You can have days when your levels are running really high , day when your levels are low all the time, days when you levels are in range, days when your levels are all over the place. It can sometimes feel like you are on a never ending roller coaster. It can also feel like no one else knows what it is like going through what you have to everyday even though you have your family and friends helping you every step of the way. No matter how much your friends and family are there for you it can still feel like you are alone, its nothing they are or aren't doing its just sometimes you need to have someone else to talk to who has diabetes to because they know exactly what it is like and what you go through everyday.

This time last year I was really struggling with diabetes, I felt like no one else understood what it was like for me everyday having to prick my finger 5 or more times a day, having put the carbs of my food in my pump before I ate, having to change my line to my pump every three day, feeling ill because my levels were too high or to low, having to go to the hospital every 3 months, having to have a pump attached to me 24/7....Even though I had friends, family and the hospital helping me control my diabetes I still felt alone because they aren't diabetic so its hard for them to understand how I felt and what I had to go through everyday.

Last year I found out about some diabetic groups on Facebook that are for teenagers who are diabetic. The groups are a place for people to ask for advice, help and to be able to talk to people who are going through what you are. It made me realise that I wasn't alone, there are so many other teenagers going through that I have been through or am going through. I have made so many amazing friends on the groups from all over the world. It hard to explain how nice it is to be able to talk to someone about diabetes related stuff and then they know exactly how you feel. The great thing is everyone on the group is so lovely and always happy to give you advice or just chat to. I feel so much happier now that I have people to chat to who know how I feel.

I have always wanted to meet someone with diabetes that lives near to me so that I could go shopping, go out for lunch, go to the cinema with them and stuff like that. I know I have people on the Facebook groups but I have never meet up with them before. Hopeful in the future I will be able to meet some other people who have diabetes as I have always wanted too.

It can be really hard for peoples family and friends when they are trying everything to help you and make you not feel alone but sometimes they cant change the way you feel. Its is nothing they aren't doing or they are doing wrong, its just it is so hard for them to be able to know exactly how you feel when they haven't experienced what you are going through.

You are never alone I promise, there is always people out there that you can talk to who are going through the same stuff that you are and know how you feel. If you ever want to talk to me about anything, diabetes related or not, you can always message me or leave a comment below this post. Always remember you are stronger then you think and you are never alone.