5 Things I'm Tired of Hearing as Someone With Diabetes

5 Things I’m Tired of Hearing as Someone With Diabetes

1. “I could never give myself shots all the time.”

If your life depended on it, you would do any number of unpleasant things to keep breathing. Giving myself shots doesn’t mean I’m brave. It means I’d like to stay alive.

2. “Are you allowed to eat that?”

I appreciate the concern, but you are not my nutritionist, my endocrinologist, or my mother. I know what my body can handle better than you.

3. “Ick. Do you have to test your blood sugar around me?”

Yes. I’m doing it now, around you because I need to. Because if I don’t find out soon whether I need a snack or another shot, bad things are going to happen. Believe me, you’d much rather I bleed next to you than barf on you or pass out at your feet.

4. “My aunt’s cousin’s ex-wife cured their diabetes by doing yoga, taking chromium, drinking a specific juice, and by going vegan. You should look into that.”

I am overjoyed for your obscure relative and their good health. But not all forms of diabetes are the same. If you’re a medical professional or a researcher, I would love to hear about new breakthroughs in diabetes treatment.

“You seem cranky. Do you need to check your blood sugar?”

Not every feeling is related to my glucose levels. Sometimes it’s because you’ve been asking annoying questions about my diabetes.