After having the Tandem T-Slim X2 for roughly 4 months, I have had mixed feelings about it. Adjusting to the tubing was difficult, and the case that Tandem provides is flimsy and broke soon after receiving it. After several weeks on the pump, I was really unhappy with it. I thought that my blood sugar levels were consistently higher than normal. I was really debating getting off the pump and switching back to the Omnipod which caused less high blood sugars. My feelings for the Tandem pump changed after I received my most recent A1c. Despite thinking that my A1c was going to be drastically elevated due to the constant high blood sugars I had been dealing with, it turned out that I obtained my lowest A1c by 0.6%! I never thought I would be able to have that good control, and to say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. After contemplating why I thought my sugars were higher than they actually were, I discovered the root of the problem - I constantly have access to my continuous glucose monitor (CGM). As a result, I am checking my levels nonstop. Since becoming aware of the situation, I have attempted to stop looking at the screen so frequently. In addition, I believe my CGM readings were higher than my actual blood sugar. It seems like since the pandemic, Dexcom has had some flaws in their devices, but as of lately, the issue does appear to have been resolved. The exercise mode of the pump has really helped me maintain my sugars during long runs. For my 9th diaversary in November, I created a virtual race to raise money for JDRF as my previously scheduled race had been canceled due to COVID-19. I successfully ran 8 miles with little concern for my blood sugars as the insulin pump did most of the work! If anyone were to ask me if I think they should transition to the T-Slim, I would be honest with them and tell them the flaws, but also encourage the use of it as I have never had control like this for the 9 years that I have been living with diabetes. -The DiaRunner
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I recently switched my insulin pump. Transitioning from the wireless Omnipod system to the tubed Tandem T-slim X2 has had its challenges. Since starting this pump approximately two weeks ago, overall I have been pleased.
Through the use of advanced technology, my pump is integrated with my continuous glucose monitor and they communicate together to take away some of the hassle of diabetes management. In the short timeframe that I have been using this pump, the amount of highs and lows have been minimized because of this advanced technology. In addition, with multiple “activity settings” I have the ability to use the pump in “exercise mode” where I am receiving a reduced amount of insulin, but enough to compensate for high blood sugars that may arise due to my exercise. In addition, low blood sugars are also prevented by suspending my insulin when a drop is anticipated 30 minutes into the future. High blood sugars are corrected by increasing insulin dosages when a rise in blood sugar is anticipated 30 minutes into the future. These benefits make my diabetes management significantly easier. Though there are many positives to this pump, there are also a few drawbacks. Most notably, the addition of the tubing has been an adjustment, especially during sleep. During exercise, I have had to adjust to the tubing as well. I have started wearing a fanny pack while running, which eliminates the bothersome tubes, but it is still an adjustment nonetheless. Also, the Tandem insulin pump is also not waterproof so it is not possible to shower with it, as opposed to the Omnipod system. Lastly, the continuous glucose monitor is not always accurate. Sometimes, a reading can be falsely high or low, causing either too much or too little insulin to be delivered which can be worrisome. Even though the device is sophisticated, users must be cautious to prevent this from occurring. Despite the minimal flaws with the system, I have been satisfied with the new technology, and have no regrets of switching over. This pumps makes me optimistic that we are inching closer to a time where there is a true artificial pancreas. -The DiaRunner On November 21, 2019, I celebrated my 8th diaversary. It’s weird to say celebration, but that’s what is. It’s hard to say that diabetes doesn’t control you when it is a part of your life 24/7 but diabetes doesn’t define me, and I wear my insulin pump out in the open with pride.
I recently had a discussion with my mom and she told me that I shouldn’t say that “I am a diabetic,” but rather say that “I am a person with diabetes” since I shouldn’t let the disease define who I am as it is a secondary, not primary characteristic of me as a person. This conversation got me thinking: why should the good be separated out from the bad? It’s the good and the bad collectively that have shaped me into the person that I am today. Should I be ashamed to have diabetes? No! The truth of the matter is I do have diabetes and it is a major part of my life as many can attest. Does it suck at times? Absolutely! Would I rather not have the disease? Absolutely! Has diabetes made a better person? Absolutely! If I didn’t have diabetes, I wouldn’t be writing this post right now, or educating my family and friends, or be able to fit into other people’s shoes because I understand the struggle of having to overcome diversity. Diabetes is a roller coaster and it has its highs and it has its lows (sorry, I’m a punny guy!). Hopefully one day there will be a cure and I will be able to say that “I was a diabetic.” I wouldn’t want to say that “I am a person who had diabetes” because my disease is the reason why I am fighting for a cure everyday and changed me as a person for the better. Until that day comes, we can’t let the diabetes “dia-beat-us” (I really do like puns). -The DiaRunner Being a diabetic as a young adult has its challenges. I love hanging out with my friends, but I hate having additional baggage. Diabetics around the world understand the struggle of having to carry all of their supplies with them on their body. For myself this includes an insulin pump, a glucometer (blood sugar [BG] tester), a pricker, blood glucose strips (to test BG with), sugar, additional insulin, a back up pod, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and glucagon in the event of an emergency . To some, this may not sound like a lot, but when there is no 'attractive' means of carrying these supplies as a man, it is difficult. For girls, it's socially acceptable to carry a pocketbook but unfortunately men do not have this luxury, leaving a fanny pack or drawstring bag in our arsenal. Not too bad right? Unless you go to a bar or club where it might be not appropriate.
In the past, this struggle has caused me to be irresponsible in respect to carrying all of the appropriate supplies. There have been countless times where I have researched and no one has a solution. It's time to erase that stigma associated with this additional baggage. The key to that is education. You have to embrace it and that is my goal from this time forward. -The DiaRunner This past weekend I experienced my first diabetes upset in roughly 4 years. It wasn't easy to deal with. Most people don't think about the "behind the scenes" effects of diabetes. Sometimes, even I forget about it...even after having the disease for roughly 5.5 years.
Going on vacation is always an exciting time. It is a time to relax, and spend time with family. One thing that isn’t that pleasant is traveling with diabetes. Aside from the fact that TSA security can be difficult at points, just remembering to have all your necessary supplies and more is annoying.
A couple of months ago, I went on a trip to Israel. It was an awesome experience, but having an autoimmune disease and having to travel with it was really hard. Aside from having to deal with the usual travel stresses, I also had to figure out how to travel with all of my diabetes supplies...10 days is a long time for a diabetic to be traveling internationally. What if my pump malfunctioned and I needed pens? What if my insulin vial broke? What if I didn’t pack enough transfusion sets or blood glucose strips? A lot of “what ifs” went through my mind at this point but fortunately I figured out a way to make it all work. The number one issue with insulin is that if it is not being used, it needs to be refrigerated. However, that led to an issue for me as the airlines would not refrigerate it because they didn’t want to be held responsible if something were to happen to it, so what could you do? Well, if insulin is not refrigerated, it could only be used for about 28 days, so that’s exactly what I did. I marked the date that the insulin went out of the fridge, and discarded any unused insulin when it reached that date. Though, it might have seemed like a waste, it’s a lot easier than having to deal with the logistics of getting a cooler, bringing it on the plane, making sure the hotel staff can refrigerate it, etc. Once we came up with that solution, the rest was a piece of cake. A doctor’s note is a must when air-traveling. It could be used as a ‘safety net’ if the TSA won’t let you pass. I’ve yet to have an issue, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. It is a lot of work having to travel with diabetes, but in the end it is all worth it. My last piece of advice is to always have a separate carry on bag for your diabetes supplies. I know that if I didn’t have my supplies with me, my luggage would have gotten lost, it is inevitable. It is sometimes a burden having that second piece of luggage, but aside from the fact that it’s the smart thing to do, it is a great conversation starter as to why I have 2 bags and everyone else only has 1. -The DiaRunner Running 26.2 miles sounds pleasant right? I’m sure a majority of the people reading this disagree with me. In fact, it is not pleasant. However, it is one of the most rewarding things that I have ever experienced. One thing that I have learned is training for this distance is not an easy thing to do. In fact, mentally it can be very draining. All runners experience the highs and lows of running while training for a marathon (or any other race), however, as a diabetic runner, you literally experience the highs and lows of running. There is no such thing as a perfect training strategy since everyone is different, but a beginner plan is the way to start off. My mom bought me a book consisting of three training plans for half marathons and three training plans for full marathons all of which include a taper period (shortened distances by the end of the training). In order to truly understand the struggles of running with diabetes, it would help to go back 2 years to my senior year of high school. My senior year of high school marked my 2-year diaversary, and everything seemed under control. This was my year to shine. I was named captain of my cross-country team, and I was ready to run my best times yet. Although I was mentally prepared, my body disagreed. I was going through this phase where no matter what I did, no matter how high my blood sugar started, with any type of exercise, my sugar would immediately drop. As a result, I wasn’t even able to run 1 mile so it couldn’t have been possible to run a 5k (3.1 miles). It was then that my parents found a group of certified diabetes educators to help me reach my goals. They helped me come up with a personal plan in order to make sure my numbers stay steady through the run and throughout the rest of the day as well. Unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to perform to my highest ability in cross-country, nor did I ever complete a race without having to stop that season. However, indoor and outdoor track season was my time to shine. I broke 5 minutes for the mile, and 11 minutes for the 2-mile. Times which a lot of runners aspire to. January 2016: the start of my marathon training. The marathon-training plan consists of 16 weeks of running prior to the event, leaving plenty of room for error. I had to be in the best shape of my life, and I wasn’t going to let anything stop me, especially diabetes. So what did I do? I ran. I gave it my all. If the end of my workout didn’t tire me I was doing something wrong. Of course complications did arise, but nothing too worrisome. I had a blood sugar spike a little after my long runs so I needed to learn to adjust my insulin in order to correct that, and prevent high blood sugars. In order to perform effectively, proper training, nutrition (prior to runs, during runs, and post runs), and diabetes management is a must. Surprisingly enough, the diabetes aspect of the training wasn’t that bad. As soon as we figured out how to deal with the spikes post run, everything else was running. The hardest part by far was finding the motivation to train but sometimes the best motivation is the desire to succeed, and that’s what pushed me through the long runs...especially those runs in the pouring rain. Everybody is different. Everybody functions differently, and the same goes for diabetes management. As a result, I needed to see what worked for me. The thing that sucks is it might not work for anyone else. Experimentation is key. May 1st, 2016: race day. This was it. This was my time to shine...maybe not, as there was no sun in sight. Nothing but clouds and eventually rain. As soon as it was time to start, I was ready; nothing was going to stop me. The first half of the race, I maintained an 8 minute pace throughout and, according to my dexcom, steady blood sugars. Perfect. Everything was consistent until mile 21 when I felt like I could push it more, and that’s exactly what I did. Despite the pouring, cold rain, I ended up finishing the race in 3:24:07; placing first in my age group! Phenomenal. Unreal. Anything is possible...New York Marathon 2016, I’m coming for ya! Although diabetes might be in the lead, it’s not going to win until I throw in the towel...but that’s never gonna happen. -The DiaRunner With finals just around the corner, I’m sure many non-diabetics don’t think much about diabetes unless they are learning about it in class, have a personal connection to it, or reading this blog. Although I haven’t had time to write, diabetes has never been off my mind...perks of being a diabetic? As I’ve mentioned before, diabetes has a lot of common misconceptions, and many people who are uneducated about the disease don’t know much about it. I have decided to devote this post to spreading awareness of diabetes. Something that seems so simple is actually quite difficult. There are a plethora of Facebook pages, websites, blogs, foundations, that many people don’t know about. Just by searching ‘diabetes awareness’ in Google, I obtained a lot of sources. Let’s be honest though, who’s going to search up diabetes awareness? My only reasoning to search for it is to have something to write about. So what’s the best way to spread awareness? Well, in my opinion, word of mouth seems like the best option. That way people are forced to listen to you...it really works I’ve tried it! The great thing about educating people face to face is that you can answer any questions that they may have. Spreading awareness is crucial! Why is this the case? Without proper awareness, diabetes won’t be seen as a serious disease. It is not from eating too much sugar! I believe awareness is important because that can cause fundraisers to occur, raising money to ultimately find a cure to diabetes. To simplify this paragraph, if no one spread awareness, we would get nowhere.
So what do I do? Well first and foremost I started this blog. In addition to that, whenever given the opportunity, I raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Most recently, I ran the New Jersey Marathon with Team JDRF to raise money to ‘beat diabetes.’ With hard work and dedication anything is possible, and one day there will be no such thing as diabetes. -The DiaRunner Running 26.2 miles is not an easy task. In fact, it takes months of training. Months of eating right, months of running in poor weather conditions, months of early morning runs and above all else, months of mental preparation. Running any event is tough, but 26.2 miles is a challenge. It is one thing to say that you are going to do it, and another thing to actually follow through with it. It takes a lot to run a race. Whether it’s finding the right shoes, finding energy gels that don’t upset your stomach, or finding the perfect set of clothes that’s going to make you stick out come race day. One thing that most marathon runners don’t have to deal with is their blood glucose levels.
Being a diabetic athlete is far from easy. A non-diabetic pancreas is fully functioning, and it is able to tell when insulin is necessary based on certain blood sugar levels. In type 1 diabetics, it’s a little trickier. I am on artificial insulin, and my pancreas is not functioning so it doesn’t have that ‘stop sign’ to tell the body to stop secreting insulin. Once it is delivered I have to compensate for it by eating carbohydrates, or I will face the consequences and experience a low blood sugar. Confused yet? In simple terms, I have to control how much insulin to give, and if I make a mistake, I can either get a low or high blood sugar. If I didn’t exercise that would be it, and life wouldn’t be too difficult. However, I’m not that simple. I enjoy making life difficult but in the long run (get it run, I’m a runner haha) it’s all worth it. A lot of factors can control insulin sensitivity as well as blood sugar levels, and one of those factors is exercise! In endurance (aerobic) exercise, the body actually requires less insulin. Being on an insulin pump, I have the ability to adjust my settings that work for me by telling this device to give me less insulin. Depending on the duration and intensity of the exercise different protocols will require different changes. For me, shorter runs and bouts of exercise don’t require any change but the longer runs is where I have trouble. I have to give less insulin 3 hours prior to my run and I stop insulin delivery completed during the run. It took me a long time to figure out what worked for me because everyone is different and there is not one formula to figure this out. To make things even more confusing, in anaerobic exercise there have been instances where I actually require less insulin. Due to the short duration of the activity, the adrenaline being used actually causes a spike in my sugar so I have to actually give more insulin prior to and after strength training. I experienced months of complications where I couldn’t exercise at all because no matter what I did I would have low blood sugars. Long story short, there is a lot that needs to be done before I am able to exercise, and there is a lot that I need to consider before exercise, and if I forget, trouble could arise. I never thought that I’d be able to run again. Racing wasn’t even on my mind I just wanted to get back on the roads. Being a diabetic athlete is difficult but is very manageable and even if it may seem impossible at first, just take it one step at a time, and it will all work out. I started off this post talking about how running a marathon is not easy. Speaking from experience, it is very hard to find motivation to run long runs when no one is there to accompany you. Even after running 20 miles by myself, I still hate to imagine not running with someone for longer workouts. As a diabetic runner, I don’t just think about marathon training but my ‘diabetes training’ as well. Diabetes definitely has its highs and its lows (but that's for a different post), but one thing I can say for sure is living with this disease has made me stronger both physically and mentally. I am not going to let diabetes win, and I am going to continue to get stronger and do the undoable. For me, what is the undoable? Well you’re going to have to stay posted in order to figure out, but one thing I can guarantee is that all of this is possible, but you just can’t give up and ‘throw in that towel.’ Trust me, I’m a runner. -The DiaRunner November of 2011 is very memorable. Hurricane Irene hit my town hard, my house lost power, and school was closed for a little over a week. I was a sophomore in high school at the time, and one of the top runners on the cross-country team. Throughout the season, I drank a lot of fluids in order to stay hydrated, and to perform to the best of my ability. As a result I didn’t see anything wrong with my everlasting thirst, and constant need to urinate. “On your marks, BANG,” as the gun went off the six other members of the cross-country team and myself were running the last race of the 2011 season. All was well, until I felt a stabbing pain in my groin; I had to stop the race short, and went to an orthopedist in order to figure out what had happened. November 21, 2011: my half birthday…it started off with a memorable trip to the orthopedist I was told that I was going to need to take a couple months off in order for my groin to heal. Low and behold, no one knew what was wrong with me, and it was a mystery to all. Heart breaking news as running was my life, and I couldn’t see myself without it. I wanted to run winter track but that wasn’t going to happen. Would I be able to run spring track? Is this pain ever going to go away? Why me? Little did I know, but that was just the beginning of my disappointment. November 21, 2011: later that evening… it was time for a check up with my pediatrician, and as soon as she went into the room she asked me a question that was going to change my life forever. “Have you been thirsty?” I had no clue how she had known but apparently my urine test detected traceable sugar in it, and off to the ER I went. November 21, 2011: the day I was diagnosed with diabetes. A bunch of thoughts were running (I mean I am a runner) through my mind. Aside from the thought that this can’t be happening to me, I was also thinking about how I was not overweight so how could it be possible? Well, diabetes isn’t that simple. Heck if it was that simple I wouldn’t be writing about it right now. Wait, so you have diabetes? 1.Are you allowed to eat that?
Misconceptions about diabetes are not just common, but they are very understandable. People are not educated about diabetes and the different types associated with it. The main source of education is from friends who have the disease, television/movies, and family members. My goal is to help educate anyone interested in learning more about diabetes, and end misconceptions for good. I hope this post has helped enlighten you more on common misconceptions that I have noticed, and my personal experience from my diagnosis. -The DiaRunner |
JacobMarathoner, diabetes advocate, college graduate, Certified Athletic Trainer Archives
December 2020
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