LifeAfterDx--Diabetes Uncensored

A internet journal from one of the first T1 Diabetics to use continuous glucose monitoring. Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

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Location: New Mexico, United States

Hi! I’m William “Lee” Dubois (called either Wil or Lee, depending what part of the internet you’re on). I’m a diabetes columnist and the author of four books about diabetes that have collectively won 16 national and international book awards. (Hey, if you can’t brag about yourself on your own blog, where can you??) I have the great good fortune to pen the edgy Dear Abby-style advice column every Saturday at Diabetes Mine; write the Diabetes Simplified column for dLife; and am one of the ShareCare diabetes experts. My work also appears in Diabetic Living and Diabetes Self-Management magazines. In addition to writing, I’ve spent the last half-dozen years running the diabetes education program for a rural non-profit clinic in the mountains of New Mexico. Don’t worry, I’ll get some rest after the cure. LifeAfterDx is my personal home base, where I get to say what and how I feel about diabetes and… you know… life, free from the red pens of editors (all of whom I adore, of course!).

Saturday, February 26, 2011

The Saturday Share #15

Doing my part to keep internet diabetes information fun and accurate I’ve been two-timing my blog by answering reader’s questions over at Sharecare as one of their “Experts.”

I’m having a blast, and I’ve decided that every week I’m going to share one of my favorite questions with you here.


Sharecare Question: Can drinking beer lower blood sugar?


My “Expert” answer: Using beer monotherapy to control blood sugar has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. :-)

Drinking beer can lower your blood sugar, especially if you drink a lot of it, but not in the way you want it too. If you really tie one on, not that I’m recommending it, your blood sugar will definitely drop. The problem is that it will drop 6-10 hours downstream when you are sleeping it off. Depending on what other meds you are on for your diabetes, it might even drop you low enough to kill you.

In the mean time, before your blood sugar drops so low that you die, your sugar will actually go up because beer has quite a few carbohydrates. Let’s face it, a can of beer is just a fermented bowl of oatmeal, after all.

But assuming you don’t drink enough to kill yourself, drinking a lot of beer can actually make your diabetes worse because beer has a lot of calories, which can make you fat, which can make your insulin resistance worse, which will make your blood sugars higher, which will kill you very slowly instead.

Don’t get me wrong. Sorry wives of beer drinkers: your newly diabetic husband can still have his beer. But like anything else with diabetes, moderation is the key.

So don’t overdo it. Remember that too much alcohol is a recipe for too low blood sugar. Enjoy all that life has to offer, just enjoy it in moderation.

Cheers!


You can check out other Expert’s answers to this question, and my answers to many more questions by going here:

http://www.sharecare.com/user/william-lee-dubois

Then select the “Answers” tab near the top left.






Saturday, February 19, 2011

The Saturday Share #14

Doing my part to keep internet diabetes information fun and accurate I’ve been two-timing my blog by answering reader’s questions over at Sharecare as one of their “Experts.”

I’m having a blast, and I’ve decided that every week I’m going to share one of my favorite questions with you here.


Sharecare Question: How can I get my husband to check his blood sugar?


My “Expert” answer: Ahhhhh… now that is a tricky one! I love these kinds of questions! OK, it’s clear to me that he doesn’t check his blood sugar, and it's also clear that you understand that it’s important that he does.

In a perfect world we’d get him on the couch with Freud and find out what his malfunction is. Of course Freud is dead. Who else can we use? Have you asked him what the issue is?

You might have, of course. But if you haven’t asked yet, you should. There might be a good reason, or at least a reason that seems good to him. I need to remind everyone that men and women think differently, and even if you don’t agree with the other gender’s view, it doesn’t make it less valid. So if he gives you a reason that seems silly to you, you need to bite your tongue, respect his view and help him to find a solution.

Now people don’t test for lots of reasons. A common one, is that if you haven’t been properly trained to do it, it can hurt. Hey, no one likes pain. If he’s finding the testing painful look to the lancing device. Most have variable depth settings. The perfect setting is one right between the swearing-like-a-sailor depth and the milking-the-finger-and-praying-for-blood depth. The idea is to get a small drop of blood with little or no discomfort and with little need to squeeze the finger. It may simply be that his depth is set too deeply.

Generally, larger numbers mean deeper lancing. Now, still on the pain theme, when was the last time anyone changed the little needle in the lancing device? Oh? Back when you changed the smoke detector batteries? So the folks that sell the needles want you to use a fresh one every time. Most of us don’t, and I don’t see any need to change that often. But they will get dull and you do need the change them. It depends on how tough your hide is, but a lance can get from 5 to 25 tests.

Another common reason that people don’t test is they haven’t been given any knowledge to use with the numbers. If he is only on oral meds he may feel he’s helpless to change his numbers. He’d not. He can study how various foods and activities change his blood sugar. It is a game. A puzzle to be solved. A battle to be won.

And if he’s just a stubborn old coot you can resort to any of the following: appeal to sense of loyalty (do it for me); bribe him (do it for something in the bedroom); or threaten him (do it or I’m outta here).



You can check out other Expert’s answers to this question, and my answers to many more questions by going here:

http://www.sharecare.com/user/william-lee-dubois

Then select the “Answers” tab near the top left.






Saturday, February 12, 2011

The Saturday Share #13

Doing my part to keep internet diabetes information fun and accurate I’ve been two-timing my blog by answering reader’s questions over at Sharecare as one of their “Experts.”

I’m having a blast, and I’ve decided that every week I’m going to share one of my favorite questions with you here.


Sharecare Question: Is it OK to perform the diabetes test in public places?


My “Expert” answer:



Paraphrasing the esteemed Dr. Seuss:



You can test your blood sugar on a boat.

You can test your blood sugar with a goat.



You can test your blood sugar in the rain.

You can test your blood sugar on a train.



You can test your blood sugar in a box.

You can test your blood sugar with a fox.



You can test your blood sugar in a house.

You can test your blood sugar with a mouse.



You can test your blood sugar here or there.

You can test your blood sugar anywhere.



You can check out other Expert’s answers to this question, and my answers to many more questions by going here:

http://www.sharecare.com/user/william-lee-dubois

Then select the “Answers” tab near the top left.






Saturday, February 05, 2011

The Saturday Share #12

Did you know that health topics are the number one internet search item, outstripping even porn? Uh… pardon the Freudian slip there...

So to do my part in trying to keep internet health information correct I’ve been two-timing my blog by writing over at
Sharecare were I am one of their “Experts” answering diabetes questions posted by readers.

I’m having a blast, and I’ve decided that every week I’m going to share one of my favorite questions with you here.



Sharecare Question: Will my children inherit diabetes from me?


My “Expert” answer: If you come from one of those families with an intergenerational family history of diabetes (mom and pop, sibs, grandparents, uncles, cousins)--the odds are pretty good that your kids will inherit the family tradition.

But fear is the only thing you need to be afraid of. Working with a great many Hispanic families with intergenerational diabetes, I’ve found that families develop a sense of fatalism about the disease that gets in the way of early treatment.

This is why I’m always harping on the fact that diabetes isn’t really the problem at all. It’s the high blood sugar from diabetes that’s the problem. It may seem like a small difference, but it is not. High sugars are the kindling that start the fires of diabetes complications. All that scary stuff (kidney failure, blindness, amputations, death) that happened to grandpa were blood sugar driven, not diabetes driven. If you take your diabetes by the reins and control it, you don’t need to share in your family’s fate.

So I want you to shift your mental focus. I don’t want you to worry about whether or not your children will inherit your diabetes; I want you to assume they will. Then I want you to set a good example for them by being open about your diabetes and striving hard to control it. Show them the way to health by your own actions. Eat smart. Move smart. Test often. Talk about your numbers. Take your damn meds.

And for your adult, or overweight teenage children; get them tested every year. Diabetes is unique and beautiful in that the keys to treating it are largely in your hands. I can think of no other disease where our own behavior can do so much to help or hurt us. So don’t fear for your children. Equip them with the tools to live in healthy harmony with their diabetes.

You can check out other Expert’s answers to this question, and my answers to many more questions by going here:

http://www.sharecare.com/user/william-lee-dubois

Then select the “Answers” tab near the top left.