Losing Sight
<i>> I wanted to know why I couldn’t work out how much food (carbohydrate) I was about to eat, measure my blood glucose, and then calculate my insulin dose based on those and other factors.</i><p>Ouch. I suppose carb ratios weren't so big back then (admittedly, it wasn't for me either, being diagnosed in the late '90s). But I still measured myself so many times a day that the pharmacist thought I was scamming the PBS for test strips somehow (our subsidized medicines scheme here in .au). As a curious teenager I was able to develop a mental picture of what my BSL did when I ate certain foods after a few months of 10+ measurements per day. So, even if I didn't have an actual carb ratio figured out, I "knew" by trial and error how much insulin different foods needed.<p>Even so, I've fallen off the wagon a few times. I got so used to having specialists and doctors tell me what a great job I was doing on my own, I had an embarrassingly long period between specialists. To the extent that I stayed on humulin for quite a few years longer than I otherwise would have if I'd seen a specialist (newer insulins are way faster-acting and easier to live with).<p>This story has certainly prompted me to re-evaluate where I am now; complacency is a silent killer.