A little while ago I had one of those days where my blood sugar readings were reasonably well behaved . I don't ask for much, only single digits in m/mol (less than 180 mg) and all of the 9 readings I took that day fell into the single digit category. Unfortunately, the trend did not continue, despite all of my best efforts. Now I feel like one of those balls inside the national lottery drum, being bounced around with no end in sight. I'm bouncing from 7.0 to 3.6, from 8.9 to

Thankfully, since the take off of social media Diabetes Support Groups are becoming easier to find and peer to peer support for people with diabetes is growing. Here is a list of what is available nationally in alphabetical order: Diabetes Support Groups in Ireland There may be other groups that I don't have details for and I apologize if you are not on the list. If you would like to be included on this list please leave your details in a comment below.

I was diagnosed in 1993 when I was a 20 year old student. I had lost all of my body fat by the time I was diagnosed; even my cheeks had disappeared. Shortly after, I had my first experience with a dietitian. It was a long time ago so I don't remember much except that she put me on a 2,000 calorie diet and within a couple of months I had the opposite problem with my weight. I knew absolutely nothing about my diabetes, or what insulin was, never mind how it worked. When hypos c

Today, the 8th of May, I'm doing a 30-second dance party, in my head, because all of the 9 blood glucose tests I did today were single digits!!! I have to remember to make a day like today stand out because the other days will seem less depressing.

Recently, I read a story relating to a person with type 1 diabetes (T1D), who was involved in a minor traffic accident. While sitting in the car afterwards, they decided to check their blood glucose when they were approached by the gardai in an aggressive manner. This person was very offended and initially I was too on behalf of all people with diabetes (pwd). But then, on processing the situation a bit more and imagining myself in it, I looked at it from a different perspect

I've had type 1 diabetes for 20 years and I can confidently say that most of that time I have been in a positive frame of mind about my diabetes and the future. And I think this went a long way towards me managing my diabetes well. However, for about 18 months now I've been struggling with my diabetes control and the struggle dragged me to a place I don't remember ever being before. That place where I had had enough of diabetes. I wanted a cure RIGHT NOW! I really, really wis

How many of us have been on the receiving end of this response? How often have you been offered a nice little treat only to have it whipped away from you because they just realised you're diabetic and OMG "can't have sugary foods"? I must have seemed deranged when I lunged forward across the table and grabbed the little chocolate bar from that lady :-) I usually don't get too upset with people when they try to "protect" or "safe" me from myself but when my husband told me abo

A quick recap; In  Episode 1  I talked about one of the reasons that exercise was "tricky"for people with type 1 diabetes is that it can cause low blood sugars (bs) and therefore you may end up eating to replace the calories you used and therefore rendering exercise as a form of weight management as a bit of a lost cause. In  episode 2  I rediscovered that some hypos prevent rational thinking and even though you have taken all the precautions you can you still might end up i

Just a quick recap; Episode 1 answer was that exercise is "tricky"for people with type 1 diabetes because it can cause low blood sugars (bs) and therefore you may end up eating to replace the calories you used and therefore rendering exercise as a form of weight management as a bit of a lost cause.The answer from episode 2 is that some hypos prevent rational thinking and even though you have taken all the precautions you can you still might end up in a "pickle". I had a low

Answer no. 1 from my last post was that exercise is "tricky"for people with type 1 diabetes because it can cause low blood sugars and therefore you may end up eating to replace the calories you used and therefore rendering exercise as a form of weight management as a bit of a lost cause. Answer no 2 is that some hypos prevent rational thinking. Here's what happened on day two of getting back in shape. Let's try the walk again shall we. What did I do different this time? Wel

So it's the first morning of back to school for me, a stay at home mother with type 1 diabetes. The lazy days of summer are over and it's time to get back in shape and tone up those flabby muscles that returned almost overnight when the summer holidays began. I was actually looking forward to it. I thought I did all the right things. My blood sugars before brekkie were spot on at 5.2, for a change. I had my healthy breakfast as usual, that didn't change over the summer. I too

My husband recently surprised me with a lunch date. Yes, I know how lucky I am and surprise lunch dates are only the tip of the iceberg but that's another blog. Anyway, while I was pondering over the menu I was thinking to myself that I would like to have a healthy, moderately low carb lunch in keeping with my meal plans. I went over the menu a couple of times and finally settled on a "low-carb chicken caesar wrap". I thought that this option would not only be tasty but would

I may have mislead you all by the title of my post today. Opps! ;-) It's not meant to be "Diabetes Rules!" as in "Diabetes Rocks" but it's "Diabetes Rules" as in the rules to diabetes. OK, so there aren't any "official" rules to diabetes, there are some very broad and general guidelines and there is a very good reason for this. It's because everybody is different and everybody's diabetes is different so too are the guidelines for each person. So here are the rules I have come

Ahhh the glucose meter. What a wonderful invention! They've only been around since the 1970 's but they have had such a huge impact on life with diabetes. I remember my first one - I think it was a BD brand and it was about the size of an iPhone but twice as thick. I think I had that one for about 5 or 6 years. This is quiet a long time by today's standards. Anyway, I have kept that trend up for almost 20 years - I very seldom change my meter. I know what I like and stick wit

World Diabetes Day is just over a month away. You may ask what is this day really all about? Well, in my opinion, it's main focus is to unite all those who have diabetes and all those who are involved in the care and treatment of people with diabetes and in unison we highlight the importance of being diabetes aware and raise some advocacy matters. "The campaign draws attention to issues of importance to the diabetes world and keeps diabetes firmly in the public spotlight." S

Last week, I got a letter from Diabetes Ireland telling me that I have been nominated, along with 3 other people, for the Diabetes Ireland Volunteer of the Year award. I was quite taken aback and found myself getting a bit weepy. I don't know who took the time to nominate me but I'm deeply grateful and humbled that you did. I have so many emotions surrounding this nomination that it's taken me some time to identify them and to be able to articulate them. Firstly, I'm overwhel

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is making headlines again but then what's new. It's so frustrating that nothing has changed in the six years since I moved back to Ireland. The optimists among us would probably say that we just have to find a new way to show the rule makers that they need to change the way they do things. We, the advocates and activists, have to constantly change our methods yet the rule makers don't. Why can't we just launch a rolled up piece of paper fro

At our last Type 1 diabetes support group meeting we talked about carbohydrate counting, commonly referred to as carb counting. The group was made up of people who practiced carb counting, people who kind of practiced, people who knew about it but didn't know where to start and some who never heard of it. We were a motley crew. The topic was introduced by stating that carb counting has been around for a long time in one form or another. When I was diagnosed in 1993 I was intr

I'm getting old! Yep, I'm having that life crisis that happens to even the most optimistc of us as we approach those birthdays that end in zero. Anyway, this summer when I was trying to squease into the seasonal outfits I thought to myself, "why not just tackle that stone or two once and for all". Wishing for it to happen doesn't make it happen, does it? My diet is fairly decent; it does have some flaws but nothing catastrophic. I've always trimmed out the fat except for my l