I have been living with type 1 diabetes for almost 21 years. I learned that I have to control it every day if I want to have a normal life. A lot of people have asked me: “How does living with diabetes look like?” In order to answer their question, I wrote this blog post. I hope that it will help them realize what we are going through every day.
Currently, I am treating my diabetes with insulin pens. I use two types of insulin: long-lasting insulin Lantus, which I inject it every night (at 10 pm), and short-acting insulin Apidra, which I inject before every meal. Moreover, I inject this type of insulin when my blood sugar level is high. I use a blood glucose meter, called Plus Med. With this machine, I need to prick my fingers to draw blood. I usually check my blood sugar level 5-6 times per day, usually before my meals, after the meals and in the situations when I feel that my blood sugar level increased or dropped down.
Living with diabetes is not easy at all
This is how my day with type 1 diabetes look like:
Normally, during the working week, I wake up at 7 am. The first thing what I do after waking up is checking my blood sugar level. Usually, it is in the range between 6 mmol/L -8 mmol/L. Sometimes it can be bellow and above this range. For example, my personal lowest result was 1.2mmol/L and my personal highest result was 26 mmol/L. Depends on the result and of the amount of food I am planning to eat, I inject a dose of the insulin Apidra.
While I am at work, I normally check my blood sugar level two or three times. I usually check my blood sugar level before my lunch and one hour later. Of course, I don’t forget to inject a dose of the Apidra insulin before lunch. If I have a project with a tight deadline or I feel stressed, I check my blood glucose level every one hour and a half. In these situations, when necessary, I inject small doses of Apidra as well.
After I come back from work, I usually relax for one hour. After that, I enjoy going out with my friends, ride a bike or run. But before being physically active, I don’t forget to check my blood sugar level. Being physically active for me is a more interesting way to decrease my blood glucose level.
Finally, at night, I check my blood sugar level two more times: before my dinner and two hours after the dinner, which is usually the time before I go to bed. Before my dinner, I inject once again a dose of the insulin Apidra and before going to sleep, I inject the insulin Lantus.
Conclusion
So many injections and so many pricks, right? Living with diabetes is not easy. In fact, sometimes I feel like I can’t manage at all. However, I know that I am not alone. I know that this condition is manageable and shouldn’t stop me from achieving my dreams. 🙂
