As an advocate for people dealing with diabetes in every nook and cranny of their lives,  I hear a lot of misinformation.  This week my posts are a platform dispel myths about blood sugars and diabetes,  to share the truth, as well as a bit of the crazy things that people believe about diabetes.   So my top 5 crazy things I hear people say list looks like this:

# 5 –  You are born with Type 1, obese adults get Type 2

Just this week, I had someone ask me how I could have Type 1 since it happened when I was in my 20s.  The truth is 1/4 of people with Type 1 are diagnosed as an adult.  Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder.  The exact cause is unknown, but there is a trigger event which causes our immune system to consider the beta cells in our pancreas as foreign invaders and wipe them out.  No beta cells, no insulin, hello diabetes.  The trigger event may be a viral infection (that’s what I surmise happened to me), and kiddos get LOTS of viruses.

Type 2 happens when the ability to process glucose with the insulin we secrete is inhibited.  Some Type 2s are skinny as a rail, active and genuinely all around class A citizens.  It is true that a sedentary lifestyle and high carbohydrate diet can overwhelm a body’s ability to manage glucose, but that is a “sometimes” thing, not an “always”.   Judging people with Type 2 is just very unhelpful.  Some people can be lazy as all get out, eat cookies and sweets and be slim as can be.  Lucky for them. Some people sniff a carb and their blood sugar spikes.   Unlucky for them.

What happens to a person at a cellular wall level should not be judged.  If your cell walls welcome and interact with insulin perfectly, consider yourself lucky.  Be grateful.

#4 – Is that the Bad Kind?

So which is worse?  Being able to eat pretty much anything you want and take insulin to accommodate.  Yes it requires needles, but if your blood glucose is up, the insulin will bring it down.  OR is it better to be resistant to the insulin your body makes, so adding more insulin to the mix doesn’t necessarily bring the blood sugar down and you must restrict your diet constantly, but you can take a pill to help offset the increased sugar.    Needles?  Restrictions?  Complications?  None of it is quite nice.  It all requires determination,  resilience, and vigilance.   Either type is a major life challenge.  Be grateful if you don’t have either.

#3 – How could they let their numbers get that high?

This one really gets my dander up.   I just want to tell everyone in the world, “Not one of us wants our blood sugar to be high.”  Really if we could take it away we would.  Some people have a harder time facing the challenges that diabetes demands.  If just understanding what is happening inside your body is too much to understand and scares the crap out of you,  is it reasonable to think most people will just rise up and face it?    Fear is the reason people have complications from diabetes.  Fear of not being strong enough. Fear of not knowing how to deal with difficult emotions.  Fear of failure.  Fear of being judged. Fear of the unknown.  Fear of being so broken.  Fear of being a “bad” glucose reading.

I spoke to a “health coach” this week who ranted on and on about how “bad” her client was and quoted her “bad” a1c number as proof.  My blood boiled, as my empathy for this isolated, lonely, and struggling woman was judged for having high numbers, but not celebrated for bringing her A1c from the 12’s to the 8’s.  Those of you who don’t walk in our shoes, please refrain from righteous words that crush our souls.   We didn’t ask for this.  We do the best we know how.  Even if you think you know better, we may not.

#2 – You can cure it with…..

There are SOOOO many people who have just the product to fix it all!  It makes me crazy!  Take this supplement!  Do my program!   Keto!  Cinnamon! Juices!  Veggies!  Probiotics!  Prebiotics!

They prey on our hope for a quick and easy fix.  Here is the current truth (barring some new cure – which will be here in the next 5 years….the proverbial carrot)

If you are type 1,  you will need to take insulin and accommodate the carbs you eat and your metabolic needs.  The better you keep your blood sugar near normal, the lower  your chances for complications.

If you are type 2,  you must balance your body’s ability to manage glucose with the insulin you produce, the amount of resistance you have and the amount of carbs you eat.  Diet, exercise and meds will dramatically impact your success.  The better you keep your blood sugar near normal, the lower  your chances for complications.

Please allow common sense to prevail.  If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

#1 – If you believe you are sick you will be.

OK – so this one I totally believe!  When our vision of our lives and ourselves starts to take on a broken and doomed outcome, run as far and fast away as you can!  How you see yourself colors how you see your options.  Look for the purpose and pleasure deep inside yourself.  Ignore the voice of fear.  Face your doubts and you will grow more courageous.  Let go of anchors of past failures.  Instead choose to learn from them the lessons they offer, then let go.

Diabetes taught me that every day is a gift, for I realize how many of mine are bonus days.   The challenges I have overcome give me courage to face something else new and unknown.    Even though I cannot live without insulin, I CAN live with it.  I choose to every day.  The belief in my choices,  is stronger than the fear of being sick.

There will always be myths about blood sugar and diabetes, try to laugh it off if you can.   Laughter really is a good medicine and it is CARB FREE!!!   Here is a  funny diabetic comedian!- Check him out.  Have a chuckle!

People may say crazy things AND we get to choose how we react to them!

Peace,

Patricia