Diabetes..A Rant.

So anyone else got this disease?

OK, just to say to you all ~ I`ve had this disease now for 26 years, half my life, and I`m now really sick of it. Ok, so this is a rant, take it or leave it….

Nowadays, it seems to be alot easier to deal with and the treatments alot more reliable and effective.My insulin years ago was made from sheeps and pigs, nowadays its a human concoction,synthesised in the lab from human insulin and very effective. I remember some years back the worry that as the amount of Diabetics increased the amount being available from animals decreased and therefore if something did`nt get invented rather rapidly insulin was going to run out. Well we got lucky and we still prevail ~ not really sure about the lucky bit as the experts knew of the situation long ago and were, I suppose, working on its solution for quite a while.

Although the "human stuff" they give me now is very effective in its work, it can be a real drag as in my case, the signs and evidence of low blood sugar are frankly, missing most of the time! Sometimes I can feel it but alot of times I cannot and this is a nightmare. Low blood sugars cause "hypoglyceamia", or hypos as we like to call them. This leads to utter confusion in your thinking process`and eventual collapse into coma. And I`ve been thru` so many and seen the effects on my family, friends and workmates so many times its enough to send me into a coma thinking about it!

I remember years ago, in the 80`s, after being pressured to join the then entitled British Diabetic Association, that they would give me a medal if I got to 25 years with Diabetes!! I want it…I want it now!! Only joking, I remember it was almost fun thinking about it though…! I`ve seen a number of people with this condition lose their limbs and their lives from not controlling it well enough. I`ve been part of university experiments into why my control was so good for so long and I remember thinking, why don`t they just ask me? Cos the simple answer is that I overdose on insulin most of the time…what the doctors advise to take and what you actually take is very much up to you, you are the doctor in your case! This is what most people don`t seem to realise, you control it, not some bloke sitting in a surgery somewhere!

So anyway, now I`m really really sick of it all-the constant vigilance required is now too much. I believe I`m suffering to what is quietly known as "Diabetes Burn-out"…..

So anyone else have this lovely chronic condition? Fed up with it? Fed up with your treatment by a completely uncaring health-care system? Let me know~have a rant with me, I`ve been there, I know `em all!! Trust me!