Thoughts on Insulin

I'm not going to lie, I have thought about skipping insulin doses and just letting myself go high recently. Like, if my meal only amounts to 5 grams of carbs, maybe I could just skip the shot?

My legs have been bruising so I started to put insulin in my arm, but even that is bruising. My Dexcom makes only half of my belly usable. Not to mention that I live in a cooler climate which means more clothes and less ways to get at my skin. For example, today I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt and long pants which means no insulin in my legs and I could have difficulty putting it in my arm.

Shots are physically the worst part of Type 1 Diabetes. When I gave myself that first shot in the doctor's office, I was stunned. I was going to have to do this five times a day for the rest of my life? I was afraid I would upset others if I gave myself my shot in front of them. When I was on a date with my boyfriend, the first time I had seen him since being diagnosed, I took my shot in the bathroom so I wouldn't freak him out.

Obviously, this isn't ideal. If you have T1D, it takes a lot of time out of your life trying to manage it. The math and prep and shots take so much out of an already busy schedule that by the time I'm ready to eat and finished taking my shot, my friends have already finished eating. Why get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of that to take one lousy six-second shot?

Of course, not everyone is okay with seeing a T1Der take insulin. I know of people who want me to go to the bathroom to take a shot just for their own sake. I babysat three kids this summer, one of which did NOT like that I had to test my blood and take my shots. He was very upset with me that I had to do that. But you know, these people need to have this experience, They are going to meet people in their lives that are also going to be suffering from T1D and it's better that they get all of their initial feelings out on me so they can have more compassion for the next person, Shots are scary, I know. I was one of those people once. I'm sure that before this happened to me, I would have been squeamish about seeing someone else take their shots too. The more you learn, the braver you are though and experience is the best teacher.

If you have a friend or family member suffering from T1D, let them know you care. Tell them that you're proud that they're taking care of themselves and that you hope for only the best blood sugar numbers of them.
If you have T1D, know you're not alone and that we can make it through this together.

Best of numbers.
Elizabeth