Tag: Beer

Princeton area diabetes support group? #dsma

The April Blog Carnival topic from Diabetes Social Media Advocacy is “local support groups”.

Local support group? What’s that? Never heard of it! What? Yes, I’m being silly. What I mean to say is - there are none near me. I could start one but I think it would have one member.

Two questions were asked:

Describe your ideal diabetes “support group”

Since I don’t have a diabetes support group I’m not sure what a support group is like. I guess I’d want a place where I would feel welcome and comfortable being among people like myself — people who were diagnosed with diabetes late in life. I have latent auto-immune diabetes in adults and the few people I personally know with Type 1 diabetes either were diagnosed young (like the CIO of the company) or are still in lower middle school (one of the girls in my kids martial arts class).

I would want to be surrounded by a group of people who are interested in learning the facts. I’m not patient with ignorant people who are unwilling to learn. I would also want to be around people who know more about diabetes than I do.

I would also want a support group that is local. I don’t mind driving but in New Jersey a 10 miles trip can take up to 30 minutes in one direction.

What would you discuss?”

I expect topics would be all over the map. Everything from the cost of diabetes — I’ve got good insurance coverage through my employers but others might not have that benefit — to dealing with family, spouses and coworkers. I would ask for tips on getting around the insurance company to get an insulin pump (with an A1C between 5 and 6 they don’t see the need). I would want to know how to deal with the anger that flares up once in a while. Anger that despite years of hearing the same stupid refrain about the cure being within reach, I’m still injecting insulin.

I would also like to discuss coffee, and beer, and tech and family. I want it to be human.

This post is my April entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2012/april-dsma-blog-carnival-2/

Diabetes Buzz!

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Read [Caroline's post](http://www.act1diabetes.org/2011/11/10/these-vagabond-shoes-are-longing-to-kick-back-with-a-diet-coke-after-the-new-york-city-marathon/) today about her experience training for and running the New York marathon. Hats off to her! I won't be doing any such thing anytime soon. Too much work. I'm too busy writing blog post while buzzed on a [Ti ponche](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QLL07rdAK4), a rum based drink I discovered due to an associate with [Warren Bobrow](http://cocktailwhisperer.com/). My version of the Ti punch involves pouring the rum, lime and simple syrup mixture over coconut juice ice cubes. As my wife said when she first tasted it, "Wow! That's strong!!".

Alcohol has a strange effect on blood glucose. First the sugars or carbohydrates that are often prevalent in alcohol cause a spike in blood glucose. I can try to adjust my insulin to account for that but it's hard to judge just how much cargo is in beer or a shot of tequila (or rum). That's not printed anywhere on the bottle and I can't seem to find the information online either. Alcohol can cause hypoglycemia and the symptoms are similar — sleepiness, dizziness, and disorientation.

So the drinking alcohol with diabetes things sound pretty dangerous. I could see it now. Go out to dinner, have a few drinks before the food arrives. In that situation I could see myself bolusing incorrectly because my thinking is impaired. Too much insulin and an hour later I've felt "buzzed" and behave erratically. My friend thinks I'm drink but really I just a bit of sugar. Scary shit right?!

That doesn't mean I don't drink. I love beer and I love my rum punch. t simply means I don't drink alone and I avoid overdoing it. Oh, just in case — wear a medical ID bracelet. Alright, time to make a new punch and oh yeah ... do another [blood glucose test](http://www.bigbluetest.org/).

July 11th, 2011 - Unfiltered

I didn't take any photos with my Nikon today. I found this one on my iPhone and I think it's just perfect. I love wheat beer (or bier) and Trader Joe's makes one that is both good and inexpensive. An excellent way to quench your thirst on a hot summer day. I like this photo because Hefeweizen is an unfiltered beer and this photo was processed with an Instagram filter.