Diabetic Dad: April 2023

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Diabetes Abuse

Living with diabetes can be a challenging experience, and connecting with others who understand what it’s like can be incredibly beneficial. However, as with any community, there can be issues that arise, including abusive behaviour. Unfortunately, even within the diabetes community, there are people who engage in abusive behaviour towards their fellow diabetics. This can take many forms, from bullying and shaming to outright harassment and intimidation.

It’s important to recognise that abusive behaviour is never acceptable, regardless of who is engaging in it or why. No matter how frustrated or angry someone may be, it is never okay to take that out on another person, especially someone who is dealing with the same struggles that you are. In fact, engaging in abusive behaviour towards other diabetics is particularly harmful because it can undermine the sense of community and support that is so important in managing diabetes.

Here are some of the reasons why it’s essential to not accept abusive behaviour within the diabetes community:

• It undermines the support system

One of the most significant benefits of the diabetes community is the sense of support and understanding that it provides. When you connect with other diabetics, you can share your experiences, exchange advice and tips, and find comfort in the fact that you are not alone. However, when abusive behaviour is present, it can erode that sense of support and understanding.

People who are subjected to abuse may feel isolated and alone, as if they have no one to turn to who will understand what they are going through. This can make it more challenging to manage diabetes, as the support that they would usually rely on is no longer available. It’s essential to create a safe and supportive environment within the diabetes community to ensure that everyone feels comfortable seeking and offering support.

• It can have negative mental health consequences

Abusive behaviour can have a significant impact on mental health. For people with diabetes, who already have to manage the stress and anxiety that comes with living with a chronic condition, this can be especially harmful. Abuse can lead to feelings of shame, guilt, and worthlessness, which can exacerbate existing mental health issues or even lead to the development of new ones.

It’s crucial to prioritise mental health within the diabetes community, and that means not accepting abusive behaviour. People with diabetes need a supportive environment where they can feel safe discussing their struggles and seeking help when they need it. If abusive behaviour is present, it can make people feel even more isolated and alone, which can be detrimental to their mental health.

• It perpetuates harmful stereotypes

Unfortunately, there are still many harmful stereotypes and misconceptions about diabetes. Some people believe that diabetes is a result of poor lifestyle choices, and that people with diabetes are lazy, unmotivated, or lacking in willpower. These stereotypes are not only untrue, but they are also harmful and can contribute to the stigma that people with diabetes face.

When people within the diabetes community engage in abusive behaviour, they are perpetuating these harmful stereotypes. By shaming or bullying other diabetics, they are essentially saying that they believe these stereotypes are true, and that people who struggle with diabetes are somehow to blame for their condition. This can be incredibly damaging, both to the individual who is being targeted and to the community as a whole.

• It creates an unsafe environment

Abusive behaviour can create an unsafe environment within the diabetes community. People who are subjected to abuse may feel uncomfortable attending diabetes-related events or engaging with others in the community. They may feel that they are at risk of being targeted again, and that they have no recourse if that happens.

Creating a safe environment within the diabetes community means ensuring that everyone feels comfortable and supported. No one should feel as though they are at risk of being targeted or harassed. When abusive behaviour is present, it can undermine that sense of safety within the community.

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Sunday, April 2, 2023

Diabetes and Blood Pressure

You don't need to have diabetes to know that blood pressure is a thing, an important thing! High, low and somewhere in between - you've most likely had your blood pressure checked at some stage and learned of the results pretty quickly. Me too! I submit to an arm squeezing at every appointment, In fact, I'm pretty sure that I had my BP checked at my pump set up appointment because... I don't know why. It just happened along with my height and weight. Glad to know I'm not too fat or short for pump funding! Phew! There is probably a NICE criteria for that.

BP at appointments, yes! let's focus on that one. I'm one of those "White Coat Syndrome" types. I know that's not the official name for it. Language Matters probably covers it under "Person with anxiety of medical professionals wearing light coloured lab coats" However you describe it, I have it. I think it stems from a real fear of attending my diabetes reviews as a child. If I wasn't passing out from the blood tests, I was being told off about my control, threatened with trips to the amputation ward or working extra hard on my blood glucose diary fiction for the last 90 days. It wasn't a great experience and it stayed that way for a long time.

Medical appointments, I suspect, are not designed to be fun. Today, they're less stressful but they're still not a day out with friends for a lovely lunch and a drink or two. They usually involve losing some of my blood and urine to a stranger and the fear of some terrible news lurks in the back of my mind at each visit to a waiting room... which is always too warm and always contains some absolute knob, coughing up their infectious disease in my face. I'm going off on a tangent. You get my drift, I'm sure.

Those settings appear to be unwittingly designed to increase our anxiety. For me, that appears to translate into elevated blood pressure, almost every time without fail. I've left many appointments with a rented BP machine tucked under my arm for home readings. On at least one occasion I took 24 hours worth of readings. More commonly, I'm asked to provide 7 days worth of home results. And I do! Of course I do. And they're always normal / within a healthy range or near to it, such as this one from last night:

That's reassuring, of course! I have enough to contend with without hypertension coming out to play. However, it's becoming a little tiresome to be told that my BP is "a bit high" in clinic when it's the clinic setting causing my numbers to nudge up. As is my want, I vented about this on Twitter only a week or two ago. David rightly noted that not only do they check for BP on these machines, they also check for irregular heart beats. I'm pretty sure that my home monitor (above) doesn't offer that function. I'm good with heart checks. We're often told that T1D can increase the chances of heart disease so, it makes great sense to have that particular organ checked out. Blood pressure can give our kidneys something to think about, too on top of the work T1D gives to them.

BP in clinic, though? I'm not alright with that one right now. I'll be providing my own readings and requesting that any taken during a heart check are ignored and not noted. That's going to be an interesting chat with that HCP, isn't it?!

We check our blood glucose a lot through CGMs and finger pricks. We try to keep it in a healthy range because that reduces our chances of diabetes related complications. Blood pressure is very important for many aspects of our health, too. I believe that frequent monitoring of BP should be seen as an essential aspect of T1D care but that frequent monitoring should be done in our usual day to day environments; home and work. Unusual settings, such as diabetes review appointments, are not places to obtain reliable blood pressure readings.

Blood pressure monitors are relatively cheap these days. It seems unlikely that the NHS would fund BP monitors for all diabetics so, if you can afford to pick one up, I do recommend getting one for a useful and accurate picture of your blood pressure.

And relax!