Tips for new diabetics at the Holidays

[Aftiel]

actually tips for all of us:

1. When you go to someone's house for dinner, bring your own Diet Soda. They won't have any. They will tell you the day before they will "pick some up especially for you," - but it won't happen.

1b. When someone "brings you a Diet Coke," - make sure it actually is. After 17 "special" egg nogs, Uncle Steve thinks all the Soda bottles look identical when he brought you a glass.

2. When they say "oh we know you have to eat on schedule, so we will be eating right at 2:00" - trust me, it won't be 2:00. It might be 3:00, 5:30, 7:00 that night. But it won't be at 2:00 - so plan accordingly.

3. Beware of: "I made you some cookies special so you can enjoy them." This actually means "I only used half the sugar I normally would have - that's ok right?" Do not assume they mean "sugar free."

4. If you are newly diagnosed, and people are drinking at Christmas time - then prepare to get your first taste of the ENTIRE LIST of annoying things people say.

"Wow you know your Great Aunt Bertha was diabetic. They had to cut her legs off -- right before her face exploded. Want some of the special cookies I made you?"

Merry Christmas,

- Aftiel

[Nada]

:rofl:

Thanks for the good laugh!

[DeusXM]

Remember everyone, Christmas is that special time of year when you realise you dislike the majority of people you're related to.

[Stuboy]

LOL good stuff.

Im SO glad im on basal and bolus now... so delays in meal times dont bother me.

[Chris Graham]

My grandma made me some sugar free jello, special just for me. Of course she added pineapple chunks and carrots to it! HA!!

[lelggren]

See, I don't even get the "special cookies". I was diagnosed around easter time, and my grandma made each family these huge baskets full of sugary goodness, and told my mother, "she has to learn to live in a sugar filled world".......grrrrrrr I personally don't really like my extended family for obvious reasons.....

[belyro]

I love this list. It rings soooooooo true.

Thanks!

[princesslinda]

TOO FUNNY!!! Sounds like you know MY relatives....

What I enjoy doing is making something sugar free, NOT telling them, and watching them scarf it down, THEN telling them. You know how everyone thinks they can ALWAYS tell the difference...NOT!:thumbsup:

[trailrunner]

LOVE IT ! How true.

[EdgyAuthor]

3. Beware of: "I made you some cookies special so you can enjoy them." This actually means "I only used half the sugar I normally would have - that's ok right?" Do not assume they mean "sugar free."
Actually, this isn't a problem. Desserts with sugar in them don't have any harmful effects on my blood sugar at all. Bring on the sugar cookies!

[tanyatype1]

New type 1 diabetics - watch the booze!!!!! When the alcohol hits your liver, your liver stops spitting out glucose until it's dealt with the alcohol, so there is a great chance that you could go very low while you are sleeping. A friend of mine (also a type 1) got pretty hammered one night (kinda by accident) and didn't wake up in the morning! Good thing her 12 year old new that something was wrong and called 911. My friend recovered, luckily, but that was definately a lesson learned.

[duck]

I always stop to get my own drinks when we head off to the inlaws...I could drink water in a pinch, but they use well-water that literally smells like...pee. So either I need to supply my own diet or get my own water. The diet is easier for me, because if I bring water they ask why and I just don't want to tell them their tap water smells like their toilet water. And it IS the water, not anything they are doing.

[pinkytricia]

Leave it to a duck.. to say that....

[Nada]

I always stop to get my own drinks when we head off to the inlaws...I could drink water in a pinch, but they use well-water that literally smells like...pee. So either I need to supply my own diet or get my own water. The diet is easier for me, because if I bring water they ask why and I just don't want to tell them their tap water smells like their toilet water. And it IS the water, not anything they are doing.

Mmmmmmm, pee water. LOL

[duck]

Seriously! My wife and I both smell it, but the inlaws do not, of course, and act offended if we say anything. It's terrible.

[sweetcheeks]

are you sure its not sulfure instead of pee lmao

but your right my grandma used to have that water until they finally ran city water through her area, i would never drink that water, she'd put some in the fridge and drink it with her pills... im like granny how can you stand that! she replies

"oh you get used to it after living with it for years"

i lived with her for about a year before she got the city water, my hair turned red, and when i would get sores or infected hairs they would turn into almost giant holes that would never heal, (i might have had diabetes then and didnt know it) but when i moved away it stopped happening, so needless to say dont take baths in that stuff for long periods of time lol

[Funnygrl]

The camp I work at used to have well water. OMG, I would bring my own water to camp when I was a camper. It was so bad. I discovered later if the water had a chance to sit out for a bit, it wasn't as bad. When I started going for a month or two at a time, I really did get used to it. I never thought I would, but wonders never cease. The smell mostly got me. I thought it smelled like blood.

Since then, they have had a chlorination system put in and the water is normal. But man, camp's just not the same without crappy water.

[belyro]

Actually, this isn't a problem. Desserts with sugar in them don't have any harmful effects on my blood sugar at all. Bring on the sugar cookies!

I can eat sugar too, but the point is that I need to know how much is in them. I don't want to bolus for sugar cookies that end up not having sugar in them, and I don't want to assume cookies are sugar free and not bolus and then find out that they DO have some sugar in them.

[RLK]

I can eat sugar too, but the point is that I need to know how much is in them. I don't want to bolus for sugar cookies that end up not having sugar in them, and I don't want to assume cookies are sugar free and not bolus and then find out that they DO have some sugar in them.

I had a similar experience over Thanksgiving. I asked my mother-in-law's cousin if her jello salad was made with sugar-free or regular jello and what else was in it. She rattled off the whole list of ingredients. I said something like "thanks, now I know how much insulin to take" (very politely, mind you) and she got all worked up that she'd made "real" jello for a diabetic! I tried to explain that it didn't matter, that I could take insulin to cover anything I eat, but I don't think she got it.... ;)
Oh well, they all mean well....