Basal insulin refers to our background insulin; the insulin our body needs when we are not eating. People who are on multiple daily injections (MDI) would have their basal insulin in the form of Lantus or Levemir. People on insulin pumps divide their day into sections and would programme their pump to deliver their basal insulin at different rates during the day. For instance I have divided my day into midnight to 4am, 4am to 7am, 7am to 12pm, and so on. I have programmed my

I've been a person with type 1 diabetes for over 21 years. And some days it seems that I don't have any interest other than diabetes. I read ALL the blogs and participate in a number of Facebook groups, I subscribe to Diabetes Daily, A Sweet Life, Insulin Nation, and many, many more. I volunteer with my local Diabetes Ireland group and organise my support group. But, recently, I feel like I'm hiding my diabetes!?! While my daughter attends her piano lessons, I wait outside th

I am guilty of using my diabetes to get myself out of stuff. And don't even try to tell me that you haven't too. I've talked to people and I know I'm not alone. Only as a last resort though. I don't know how many boring Rich Tea biscuits I was offered before I decided to say No thanks", and when Fr. Ted's Mrs Doyle appeared I used the diabetes. But I think I've taken it to a new level now that I'm a mother. I've used the "my blood sugar is low" excuse for having an afternoon

Avoiding and Overcoming Diabetes Burnout Presented by Jill Weissberg-Benchell who is a licensed clinical psychologist and a certified diabetes educator for 20 years. She also co-wrote  Teens with Diabetes: A Clinician's Guide which is available on Amazon. She currently works in Chicago, Illinois. Do you know what Diabetes Burnout is? If you don't, you are so lucky! But I'm thinking that a lot of you know EXACTLY what it is. Or maybe you're not lucky, that you have experienc

This talk was presented by Aaron Kowalski, from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation ( JDRF ). Dr. Kowalski oversees JDRF-funded research aimed at accelerating the delivery and development of artificial pancreas systems. He is also a person with type 1 diabetes and was diagnosed at the age of 13 in 1984. Prior to that, in 1977 at the age of three, Dr. Kowalski's brother was diagnosed with T1D. This talk was the most EXCITING and positive that I attended over the 2 days b

living in Ireland. You won't regret it! There are a number of Type 1 Diabetes events all over the country this Autumn. Most of the events below can be found on the Diabetes Ireland Events Page. Date Event Details 24th  Sept Type 1 Diabetes meeting at 8pm in the Westgrove Hotel, Clane, Co Kildare with a Medicon / GlucoMen Sales Representative who will supply blood glucose meters. Contact Davina on email; davinalyon@gmail.com 25th  Sept Due to unforeseen circumstances this mee

More from the Friends for Life Conference UK 2014. Continuous Glucose Monitoring:  What Difference Does it Make? presented by Lesley Jordan & Melissa Holloway from INPUT Lesley is the Chairperson of INPUT, I would recommend Irish people who are considering the transition to an Insulin Pump or to a Continuous Glucose Monitoring Systems (CGM) to have a look at their website. They have a step-by-step guide on how to get either of these devices. Don't be put off by the referenc

School is back! So I can plough in to my summaries from the Friends for Life/Children with Diabetes Conference in Windsor, England, which took place on August 15th to the 17th. A weekend of type 1 diabetes might not sound like the perfect mini-break to a lot of people but for me it was just what I needed. For a number of years, I've read all these fabulous blogs by people with diabetes and about all the events they go to where they meet so many people like themselves, like m

In April 2014, we, a group of volunteers with type 1 diabetes, posted survey to find out what type of type 1 diabetes event people would like to attend. This is a  follow-up survey  which contains more details on what you wanted. We would really appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes to complete it for us.  Many, many thanks, Grainne

My life with diabetes, in general, is very good. Some days I wake up, I've had a good nights sleep and the neverending and relentless challenges that type 1 diabetes brings to my life don't seem so relentless and challenging. I'm ready to tackle anything. Some days, diabetes just drags me down, down and down. Thankfully, the upbeat days are many and the drag days are not so many. On a family day out I was reminded that even on good days, type 1 diabetes can be an uninvited &

I attended the Children with Diabetes/Friends for Life UK conference in Windsor, England last weekend. One whole weekend jam-packed of type 1 diabetes. A weekend of being surround by people & children with diabetes whose names I have no idea of but I felt like they are my friends. A weekend organised to make life less difficult for everybody. The organisers made sure that all the food provided to us came with carb content information. Imagine eating at a restaurant where you

and it hurt! Two days later I still have the bruise! I have started to bring my pump into the shower with me rather than disconnect from it for reasons that are worthy of another post. The other morning, my shower was a challenge because the tubing was a little shorter than I was used to. I really couldn't move very much without tugging the tubing. When I was almost finished I just happened to move a little too far and pulled the pump off the shelf, my hand went to protect th

I had my Animas 2020 for 4 years. It was a bit scruffy looking; a few scratches and that. I was very excited when Animas told me I would be eligible for an upgrade to the Animas Vibe because that would mean I could get the CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) as an add on. When the Vibe arrived it was so shiny and scratch free. I did leave it in the box for a couple of days:-) Until I heard that it was going to take 5 weeks for the Animas trainer to get over from the UK and for

Most women in the world are sensitive about their weight, even if they're slim. However, if you have type 1 diabetes and a weight problem; it's a double edge sword. A person with type 1 diabetes (pwt1d) can't just stop eating spontaneously. We have to carefully consider how we are going to reduce what we eat and how we are going to include exercise in our daily lives. The advice I got when I was 'encouraged" to skim a few kilos off was to exercise, exercise and more exercise.

I was scolding my 7 year old for not putting his toothbrush back into the holder after he used it. His reply was "Mom, you really don't expect me to remember something when you have only told me one time?" He had a valid point. I tell him to do lots of things every day and some of them I really don't need to tell him just a gentle reminder. I remembered what he told me the next time I meet someone who asked one of those questions that forces me to take a deep breath and count

For the month of July and August I have very little time to ponder the mysteries of my diabetes because I have two not-so-little-anymore people, who need to be provided with entertainment more than usual. So, we take turns, they come up with a few ways to fill the days and I come up with a few and any free time I have in between, is spend with coffee or in a vegetative state. Oh yeah and a little bit of house cleaning (a very little bit). Monday afternoon this begins. And wh

I challenge anyone to say that sentence "Here come the...." and not finish it with "girls" while being reminded of the Boots Christmas ad of 2008. Sorry about that - back to statins (yaaahhh!). I have had type 1 diabetes for 21 years now and have been complication free; not only complication free but apart from insulin I'm medication free too. I'm very proud of that! Even though, it probably had very little to do with all the work I put into managing my diabetes and more to

We've heard so much about what you should not say to a person with diabetes. At first, I really enjoyed all of these lists and they're useful to help me vent some of my diabetes frustration. But after a few years you get tired of reading the same thing worded in a different way. So when I saw a most recent list, it suddenly occurred to me, "what would we like people to say to us?" I mean the numerous lists that inform people about what not to say isn't really all that helpful

I did a post on 19th April 2010 about how it was so hard to find Irish role models in the world of Diabetes. I'm happy to report that this list is growing. I'm not happy that they have diabetes but I'm happy, nay thrilled, that they have been brave enough to stand up and be a role model. Irish Public Figures who have Type 1 Diabetes. Kevin Nolan, Senior County Footballer with Dublin Stephen Clancy, professional cyclist from Limerick with Team Type 1 Mary Banotti, former MEP P

"You can lead a perfectly normal life with diabetes!" said the nurse in 1993. I don't know why I've been remembering this part of my diagnosis story. Better out than it. I think my reply was a form on a blank stare. My life was going to include syringes, gadgets known as glucometers and vials of insulin. I was not going to be able to leave the house without any of this plus I had to keep healthy food on my person at all times in case I got delayed any where and a pure glucose