Scott Benner 4/1/25 Scott Benner 4/1/25

#1479 Asleep at the Wheel

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23-year-old social worker shares her T1D diagnosis abroad, the emotional toll of burnout, and finding acceptance through knowledge.

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DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome back friends to another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

Today's guest will remain anonymous. She's a 23 year old social worker who is diagnosed with type one diabetes at 18 years old. Today, we talk a little bit about her diagnosis, but we also talk about people and how they react to different life situations. Nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan. AG, one is offering my listeners a free $76 gift. When you sign up, you'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of d3, k2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure you check out drink a G, one.com/juice. Box. To get this offer, don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com. All you have to do is use the offer code Juicebox at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com. Are you an adult living with type one or the caregiver of someone who is and a US resident if you'd like to help with type one research, but don't have time to go to a doctor or an investigation and you want to do something right there from your sofa. This is the way t, 1d, exchange.org/juice, box. It should not take you more than about 10 minutes. The episode you're about to enjoy was brought to you by Dexcom, the Dexcom g7 the same CGM that my daughter wears. You can learn more and get started today at my link, dexcom.com/juicebox, today's episode is sponsored by the tandem Moby system with control iq plus technology. If you're looking for the only system with auto Bolus, multiple wear options and full control from your personal iPhone, you're looking for tandems, newest pump and algorithm. Use my link to support the podcast, tandem diabetes, com slash Juicebox, check it out. Your name is Emily Thompson, alright. Epic, alright. Emily, how old were you when you got type one diabetes?

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:16
I was 19. I was actually diagnosed when I was taking my gap year after high school. So I was diagnosed in not America, in a foreign country. So that was my diagnosis story.

Scott Benner 2:31
Were you out on, like, just kind of finding yourself kind of thing. Were you doing good work somewhere? What were you doing? I was actually

Anonymous Female Speaker 2:37
in like a program. It was in Israel. So I was in a program in Israel. And it's kind of like just, kind of, I guess, getting in touch with, you know, Jewish roots, you know, really just, you know, they had a really great program. Like, you know, we learned we also went on great trips. So I was diagnosed there. And, like, you know, I remember we I was actually diagnosed after, like, a particularly intense hike when I was in Israel. My family is super outdoorsy, so like, we would like, do hikes all the time. So obviously, started in front, because, like, I'm super experienced in this, you know thing. I remember, by the end I was in the back, I couldn't move. And I turned to, like, I guess, like the counselor that was on the trip, I'm like, I'm not able to move right now. And she like, okay. So they kind of like, she kind of like, pushed me up the remaining of the trip, which was just ladders. That was the hike. The second half the trip was just ladders. So she was like, behind me and like, kind of pushing me up and like, and that's when I was like, Okay, I feel like something's probably wrong at this point. Like, if I can't do a hike that I'm, like, always able to do hikes, like, probably, like, probably I should go to the doctor, you know, I'm saying, like, like, it might be a good idea.

Scott Benner 3:48
Was that the conversation then, where people were, people, were you thinking, I think something's wrong?

Anonymous Female Speaker 3:54
Like, I had had, like, basically every symptom, all right, but I, I was able to, like, push them all away, like, with, like, you know, reasoning it out, I was like, oh, like, I'm losing tons of weight, but, like, I'm walking a lot and I'm super healthy, you know, I'm saying, or, like, yeah, like, I'm super thirsty and have to go to the bathroom, like, a million times,

Scott Benner 4:12
but I'm finally getting all that water people tell you to drink, right? Like, if

Anonymous Female Speaker 4:16
I was like, listen, like, you know, you're in Israel, it's really, it's really hot climate, like, you need to, you need to, you need to drink a lot of water. I'm like, wait this, this makes so much sense why I have to go to wake up five times the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. You know? I'm saying, Yeah, like that follows,

Scott Benner 4:30
are you, by the way, super abuse that the internet picked. Emily Thompson, and then your story begins in Israel. I love that. I just love how not Jewish Emily Thompson sounds my favorite part of this so far. I

Anonymous Female Speaker 4:46
forgot that my name is Emily Thompson. I'm bonding with it. I think it's good. I think it's good.

Scott Benner 4:52
I mean, I know you, and it's pretty far from your name, you know what? I mean, it's awesome. But. Case. So you're out on that, you're, you know, you're having that experience. Do you go seek medical attention right then and there?

Anonymous Female Speaker 5:05
So we're out of there actually is a guide on our trip. And like, I'm not really sure. And like, he's like, a medic, right? I don't really know why he wasn't, like, oh, maybe I should check your numbers. And like, I don't know he's a medic. He's supposed to do this stuff, you know, I'm saying. So I'm not really sure why he didn't. I actually do know why he didn't. A week before he had tested someone's numbers in the trip, and she didn't have diabetes, and he got and he, like, the school was really mad at him for it, so I think that's why he was nervous to do it. But, like, really, he should have so, like, I was just chilling, like I threw up tons of times in this trip. Like it was not, it was not a great

Scott Benner 5:37
I mean, you're in, DK, do you think,

Anonymous Female Speaker 5:40
oh, for I'm I'm a dk at this point, like, I remember, like, people, like, ill people, aren't you nauseous? People like, oh, drink like, like, eat rice cakes and have pretzels, and I'm like, ill. I cannot look at another carb. You know, I'm saying, like, my body knew that carbs were not for me at this point. I couldn't look at another pretzel. I couldn't look at another rice cake. Emily,

Scott Benner 5:58
how interesting is that, that the medic the week prior thought, hey, I might have a person with me who has undiagnosed diabetes, and then when, when they actually had somebody with undiagnosed diabetes that their first experience stopped them from looking again. I know like,

Anonymous Female Speaker 6:14
I feel like, That's the weirdest coincidence ever. I clearly was not supposed to be diagnosed in this trip. I got diagnosed the next day, like, after this trip was over, it was good. It was really, literally in the middle of nowhere. So I'm happy that, like, none of us decided that it'd be a good idea to go the doctor, because, like, it would have been really inconvenient.

Scott Benner 6:31
How does the diagnosis happen? This episode is sponsored by tandem Diabetes Care, and today I'm going to tell you about tandems, newest pump and algorithm, the tandem Moby system with control iq plus technology features auto Bolus, which can cover missed meal boluses and help prevent hyperglycemia. It has a dedicated sleep activity setting and is controlled from your personal iPhone. Tandem will help you to check your benefits today through my link, tandem diabetes.com/juicebox this is going to help you to get started with tandem, smallest pump yet that's powered by its best algorithm ever control IQ. Plus technology helps to keep blood sugars in range by predicting glucose levels 30 minutes ahead, and it adjusts insulin accordingly. You can wear the tandem Moby in a number of ways, wear it on body with a patch like adhesive sleeve that is sold separately. Clip it discreetly to your clothing or slip it into your pocket head now to my link, tandem diabetes.com/juicebox, to check out your benefits and get started today, you can manage diabetes confidently with the powerfully simple Dexcom g7 dexcom.com/juicebox the Dexcom g7 is the CGM that my daughter is wearing. The g7 is a simple CGM system that delivers real time glucose numbers to your smartphone or smart watch. The g7 is made for all types of diabetes, type one and type two, but also people experiencing gestational diabetes. The Dexcom g7 can help you spend more time in range, which is proven to lower a 1c The more time you spend in range, the better and healthier you feel. And with the Dexcom clarity app, you can track your glucose trends. And the app will also provide you with a projected a 1c in as little as two weeks. If you're looking for clarity around your diabetes, you're looking for Dexcom. Dexcom.com/juice box. When you use my link, you're supporting the podcast, dexcom.com/juice box. Head over there. Now I

Anonymous Female Speaker 8:41
decided that it's a good idea to go to doctor. So I went to the doctor the next day, and then they sent me for I basically told them all my symptoms, and they're like, I'm like, I think you might have diabetes. And I'm like, okay, rewind to this. A friend of mine weeks earlier had listed all the symptoms that I was having also okay, and the doctor told her that she didn't have diabetes. So I'm like, listen, I also don't have diabetes because my friend doesn't have has all these same symptoms, and she doesn't have diabetes, right? And I remember, like, thinking to myself, I'm like, do I have diabetes? Like, these are the symptoms and everything's like, No, I can't handle diabetes. Like, that's ridiculous. So then for the next few weeks, I just didn't have diabetes. You know, I'm saying

Scott Benner 9:24
you went to a doctor who told you you had diabetes, and you said, Now I don't know, my friend did. I think I'm confused. You're on the trip, you're on the Jewish ladder trip, and then you're diagnosed the next day.

Anonymous Female Speaker 9:36
Yeah, so meaning, like months, like weeks earlier, my have, my friend had gone to the doctor for all the same symptoms I had and was told that, like, No, she doesn't have diabetes. So since I had all the same symptoms and she didn't have diabetes, I figured I also didn't have diabetes, right? Okay, so when, like, so when the next day, when I went to, like, the doctor, and they're like, you probably have diabetes, it wasn't like an overly shock for me. Because I was kind of, like, I had been in denial about this for the past few weeks, anyways, that I probably had diabetes. It wasn't, like, overly shocking, but, like, it was still kind of like weight, but like, my my friend and so, like, I was also not supposed to have it. You know, I'm saying, yeah. How old are you at that point, 19, maybe

Scott Benner 10:17
18 still? Yeah, I was gonna say, that's some pretty 1819, year old thinking you had going on there. I

Anonymous Female Speaker 10:21
know 100% I was, I was majorly in that, like, adolescents, 18 year old, like, not. I also was, like, really, probably high all the time. So it makes sense that my brain wasn't working so well. You know, I'm saying it makes sense that, like, in my adult, high brain, I wasn't really thinking so logically. So it didn't, yeah, so like, that was it. And then they sent me the top to the to the hospital right away. So like, my, you know, my door, mother came with me, went to the hospital. They're like, yeah, you have diabetes. You have DKA. So I was, like, in the hospital. I was in the ICU for a few days, and then I got admitted. It's like, the regular ward. And since I was already 18, I was with, like, all the really old people who also had internal medicine people. It's like, like, there was like, there was, like, people who had diabetes and, like, they're like, legs and, like, they have legs amputated. You know, I'm saying, like, that was the ward of people I was in, yeah, so it was kind of like, I was like, this, like, 18 year old who, like, really, probably should have still been in, like, the pediatrics. And then there was, like, all these, like, dying people on the ward of me. And it was just like, Okay,

Scott Benner 11:20
did that get through that 18 year old brain of yours? Like, were you like, freaked out by that, or did you just think, Oh, I'm not like these people? I

Anonymous Female Speaker 11:28
just remember thinking like, man, like, I don't feel like I belong here. I don't, I don't really know why I'm here. Like, I remember like, thinking like, I feel like I should be in the kids place. Like, that's what that's like. That was kind of like, what my thoughts were, and like, also all the doctors were treating me like, the nurses were treating me like a type two patient, because, like, those were the people they were seeing. So they're like, No, you can't have ice cream. So then I was like, No, I need ice cream. So then I asked my mom to sneak in ice cream, and I had ice cream. I

Scott Benner 11:55
was gonna ask where your parents were doing this. So my mom

Anonymous Female Speaker 11:58
actually flew in. She, like, told her boss. She's like, listen, I know. She's like, listen, like, I have to go fly into my daughter, my daughter. And he like, well, all right, so my dad stayed home to take care of, like, you know, my other siblings, and, you know, to uphold his job. Yeah, my mom, like, flew in, and she was there with me in the hospital for that week. My grandmother also lives in Israel, so she was also there with me. So I really, I really had a lot of support. I was very I was very lucky I see so but I would sometimes get my mom to sneak me food in. I didn't like their type two advice that I couldn't be food. I wasn't down for

Scott Benner 12:30
that. So do you have other type ones in your family? No,

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:34
type ones. My uncle probably has lotta like, eventually now he has type one, but he was diagnosed when he was, like, 32 or something, with type one. So I guess he's type one, but, like, he was diagnosed super late. So then,

Scott Benner 12:45
Emily, yes, your uncle is your answer. But, like,

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:49
but it's weird because, like, he was undiagnosed for like, five years.

Scott Benner 12:51
Yeah, he was probably just had a very slow onset, right, right? So

Anonymous Female Speaker 12:55
I guess, I guess, yeah, like, if I had been home, like, my mom would have known in a minute This was her brother, like, she would have been able to pick up on these symptoms. These symptoms because I was so far away from home. No one knew me. You know, I'm saying, like, no one thought it was weird that I drastically lost 40 pounds. Oh, yeah, that wasn't like, that didn't ring a flag for everyone.

Scott Benner 13:12
Your uncle was diagnosed prior to your diagnosis, yeah, I see okay. So then, I mean, once you know that you have type one, and your mom is there with you. Does she have context? Does she reach to your uncle for advice? Like, how do you begin managing?

Anonymous Female Speaker 13:28
We were really lucky. There was someone in Israel who, like, somehow got hold of us, and then she was literally, like, our life saver. Like, she was amazing. She like, had all the answers, all the resources. So she, like, was kind of like my diabetes mother, like, during that year, and really helped a lot in terms of explaining things. She was able to get me into the pediatric clinic, which was incredible. Like, literally, they, I just so much praise for how they handled everything. They actually gave me the option to go on a pump right away. I didn't take it up because I was too stressed about learning everything. Like, you know, what's my mom? The first time that my mom went back to to, you know, home, like I had seen them every few every few weeks I, like, stayed by family. The first few weeks after diagnosis, they really took care of me. They were also incredible, like, so much, you know, just so grateful for them that I had them there also. I went back to seminary, went back to the program, really, and just can, yeah, I was determined. I was like, I'm not letting this stop my year. So I took like, two or three weeks to kind of, like, recover a little bit, and then I was back. I was determined not to let it stop me. I was not going to cut my year short for that. Like, no, well, that's

Scott Benner 14:36
awesome, because that's what I was me. I really did think you were going to end up going home with your mom, but no, so your mom bugs out eventually, and you stay for how much longer I'm

Anonymous Female Speaker 14:46
by? I think that I'm by my aunt and uncle, by my family, there for another two weeks before I gradually went back to school. And school was where school was in Jerusalem. Okay, heart and center in Israel.

Scott Benner 15:00
So you went to college in Israel, it's

Anonymous Female Speaker 15:02
like, I wouldn't call it College, like, I did get credits for it, but like, it's more like, just, like, learning more about, you know, just Judaism, and it's also kind of a lot of, like, just practical tools for life, like, meaning, like, okay, like interacting with people, interacting like, you know, figuring yourself out, building family, like, kind of, like, really, just practical tools for life. So it didn't feel like a college sense, like, Oh, I'm going for my degree and learning this, you know, it kind of felt like a me year where I got to, like, really focus and, like, learn and gain, you know, and like self develop. So like, diabetes definitely raised that bar a lot in terms of self development and growth that

Scott Benner 15:39
year. How? So, how do you think your experience ended up changing because the diabetes diagnosis while you were there?

Anonymous Female Speaker 15:46
So it definitely prompted me, like, in high school, you know, you start thinking a little bit about what you wanted to do. And, like, I kind of played with the idea of, like, maybe a counselor, maybe a therapist, maybe like biology. Because like, biology is super cool. I feel like diabetes was like, okay, like, now I have diabetes and, like, I live biology, and it is really cool. When I have my midlife crisis, I might become an endocrinologist, because, like, hello, body is super cool. But I feel like I got enough of my bio stuff from now, and I really decided from that year, I'm like, Hey, I'm going to social work. Like, I see that there's, this is a big need out there. I want to kind of help, to be there, to be able to, you know, support people, especially as chronic illness. But really, anything. How old are you today? I am 2323 and

Scott Benner 16:30
you are a social worker. Now. I

Anonymous Female Speaker 16:32
am a social worker. Went to school for it, got my masters, all the papers that I could. I really focused towards chronic illness from various factors. So, meaning, like, you know, for cultural diversity, I'm like, okay, chronic illness and cultural diversity. Like, got interesting statistics there. It's like, okay, Erickson and developmental and like, how does your development affect when you get a chronic illness? You know, it's like, I really, kind of, like, made that my mission throughout school to kind of, like, really get a better understanding of, like, how chronic illness affects you from like, all the various kind of factors and like areas of life.

Scott Benner 17:08
What do you think are some of the obvious ones that where the chronic illness impacts so,

Anonymous Female Speaker 17:13
meaning in terms of like, cultural diversity, meaning like, there is a really high correlation between stress and diabetes control chronic illness in general. But meaning, like, where I see it particularly pronounced, I can see this even in my own life. And, you know, I'm very happy to not, you know, like, I'm very fortunate. But like, meaning, like, stress releases cortisol. When you have cortisol, your body, it's like, oh, it tells liver, oh, release glucose. We need glucose to fight right now, right? That's the kind of the response. It leads to insulin resistance. So has both effect, like it literally, it tells your liver to produce glucose in your body, and that also has insulin resistance. So meaning, like, anytime you can see, like, anytime you're stressed, it's going to be harder for you to control your numbers, right? Because you just you have insulin resistance, you have more glucose in your body. And kind of like seeing those, like, numbers and statistics. I'm like, Whoa. Like, that is, first of all, it's super validating. Second of all, that makes so much sense. I was like, I see, like, you know, going through school was obviously stressful, like, there's a lot of essays.

Scott Benner 18:15
You mean, validating, because you feel like you're doing the right things, but your blood sugars are going all over the place, and you think, like, I don't even understand, like, what this is. But then once you have that other piece of information, that makes more sense, and it feels less like you're just messing up, and more like this is the variable that you didn't know about.

Anonymous Female Speaker 18:33
Yeah, yeah. I really thought that was, like, a huge I saw that as a huge variable. I mean, I remember like I was done school, or I would maybe in between semesters or whatever, and I'm like, wow, my numbers, they're just so much easier. Like, oh, it's because I'm not in school anymore. I'm not, like, forever writing papers and studying, you know, saying, and it's like, Oh, that's interesting, yeah, like, you know, just kind of like, see, seeing that so played out. And it's like, well, that's frustrating, because I really needed my numbers to be good throughout school to do well,

Scott Benner 19:03
how valuable is this background in diabetes for you in social work,

Anonymous Female Speaker 19:08
I think it's really valuable in the sense that, like, it's helped me kind of develop empathy for a lot of people, and also, like, so like, right now I work in two places. I work in, like, a general clinic, any age, any any problem, any issue. And I also actually work for, specifically for chronic illness. I've never had someone with diabetes yet, but like, you know, different chronic illness and definitely helps me, like, be able to relate to them, I guess, because of my experience, and also, like, how much I've learned throughout school, I also very much see kind of, like, the mind body connection. Like, first of all, like, I told you, like the whole cortisol thing, like, yes, if you're stressed, your numbers will be harder to control, right? Or your condition, if it's you know, not diabetes. But also goes the other way, like, sometimes people get into this loop of like, Oh my gosh. Like, my condition is my diabetes, and my numbers are. Out of control, and like, diabetes are just hopeless. I don't know why. Like, it's just, they're just these crazy variables. It doesn't make sense. It's never gonna make sense for those people, you know, yeah, and it's like, okay, that's true. It's like, I see, I see why you're coming to that conclusion. You know.

Scott Benner 20:17
Well, when you don't have the knowledge of what's happening to you, or the tools to deal with it, then everything does feel random, right? And I don't know how you're supposed to control a thing that feels so random, yeah, 100% I don't know. Like, let's go into you for a second. So you know, you've only had diabetes for five years, so how are you doing with it now? Like, do you think you're where you want to be? And if so, how did you get there?

Anonymous Female Speaker 20:41
So I'm happy to report to you that I do feel like I am where I want to be, and that's really why I wanted to come on. It's because I wanted to, kind of, like, share that with everyone, like, so I since I got diagnosed at a later age, like, I remember not bolusing, you know, I remember, like, not thinking about food before eating it. You know, I'm saying, like, I remember pre diabetes days, you know, I really made it my mission to, like, figure out diabetes. I was like, I'm gonna get this like, I'm gonna research diabetes. I'm gonna figure everything out. Okay, so, like, I remember super earlier on I heard about your podcast, and I just listened to a man, like, especially, like all the episodes with, like, you and Jenny and like, educational episodes, or like, you know, various other episodes where you talk to other people. And like, I learned so much from your podcast, like and like, I started implementing them and having all this knowledge and like, then I also just research in general, and then I found about out of that loop, and I'm like, okay, like, Yes, I'm gonna figure out loop. And then I learned so much also, like, through like, researching that loop. And like, this is the time where, like, Bones hadn't come out, like tandem and omnipot Five was not out yet. So, like, the fact that, like, my pump is on the phone is, like, a big deal. Still, you know, I'm saying, like, this is, this is like, four or five years ago, you know? I'm saying, so I was like, the head of, I was like, ahead at diabetes technology, you know, I'm saying, like, I made my mission to figure out everything that, like all the variables, and I really want to just kind of take this opportunity to thank you for the Juicebox Podcast, like, literally, the amount you have brought so much into the diabetes space. And I just want to acknowledge that and appreciate that. Thank you. And so much of all the information I know now is

Scott Benner 22:18
due to you. I really, I'm glad I appreciate knowing that. Thank you. This is why

Anonymous Female Speaker 22:22
I reached out to you. It was a while ago, actually, but I remember like, listening to a pod I'm listening to on podcast you're talking to Jenny, and she and you asked about, like, diabetes burnout. And she was like, Yeah, I don't think I've ever experienced that. And I was like, man, what? Like, that's crazy. Like, I remember thinking like, Man, how many people with diabetes haven't experienced burnout? Like, I'm so happy for Jenny, but like, like that doesn't feel like, strange. People feel strange, right? You know, not like I'm happy for I hope she never experienced a diabetes burnout. But like that seems crazy. But you

Scott Benner 22:57
know what? I think it that just points out that how random things could be like, right? I don't imagine that Jenny would take credit for that, right? Her mix of the way she eats, the way she understands insulin, her overall energy, the way she exercises, the things she does, lend themselves to making diabetes less impactful. Now I'm sure she's still impacted by it. But then there's that, that X factor, which I don't know how to quantify, and I've been trying to talk to people for years, to, you know, just get people's stories out so you can hear what makes other people tick and like, why they're impacted by things differently than others. But yeah, Jenny's just, luckily, has a good mix of of of how she deals.

Anonymous Female Speaker 23:41
Jenny's epic. I love her. She's great. You're great. Everyone's great. But I remember I sent an email to you to make sense of I know everything, not everything that seems a bit like funny. I know a lot of things about diabetes, like, I made it my mission to understand it. Like I'm the person that, like, people ask for like diabetes advice. You know I'm saying, and my numbers are still not perfect every day. Sure, do. I have a lot of the knowledge, yes, that still doesn't translate into like, my numbers being perfect, even though I know, like, when I remember my numbers are high, I'm like, Oh, I know why my numbers are high. Like, that doesn't translate into like, me being perfect all the time. And I kind of, I think that that was kind of why I wanted what I wanted to share is like, yes, you should listen to the podcast, and yes, you should understand the variables. Because if you don't know why diabetes is doing what it's doing, then it's gonna be really hard for you to control your numbers, and it's gonna keep doing it 100% it's gonna keep doing it also, even once you get to that place where you really, like, understand diabetes, that doesn't translate into, like, perfect numbers all the time, you know. And I really wanted to share that a little bit, you know.

Scott Benner 24:56
Why do you think that knowing doesn't necessarily translate into some. Success? It's a super good

Anonymous Female Speaker 25:01
question. I think just because diabetes is really hard, and we're humans and we're people, there is so much in diabetes. There's just so many factors, you know, especially when you're high or when you're low, like, like, it really does affect your emotions a lot. Meaning, like, I can't be the only person in a really bad mood, but when one high. It's interesting. I feel like, I feel like, as a father, you can probably say that from like, a different perspective, of like, Man, I don't know.

Scott Benner 25:29
It affects people in varied ways, and it's not a lot of fun, that's for sure, right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 25:34
And it's like, when I'm high, like, No, I'm just, I'm just not taking care of my numbers. And I was like, it's like diabetes is annoying. I know I'm high. I'm doing nothing about it. You know?

Scott Benner 25:44
Why does that happen? Tell me why that happens. Like, when you know you need to be doing something, you don't do it. What are some of the reasons that lead you not to I think it

Anonymous Female Speaker 25:53
really comes down to not accepting diabetes. And it makes sense, because it's really hard, but meaning, like accepting that it's hard, accepting that some days are just hard, and diabetes burnout is a real thing. And it's not like this automatic switch of like, you have diabetes burnout and you're not functioning, and the next day you're you don't have diabetes burnout and you are functioning. You know, I'm saying it's like, not this black and white thing. It's like, yeah, like some days are harder, and some days, like, you don't want to think about diabetes as much. And I think like not accepting it and trying to reject it leads to not taking care of it the way you should, like in DVT, there's a concept called radical acceptance, and it's basically the idea of the example that it gives is, imagine someone breaks their leg, but they're not doing anything about it. No, my leg is not broken. No, it doesn't hurt. My leg doesn't hurt. Maybe it hurts a little bit, but it's not important, you know? And they keep on like, yeah, it's not important. I'm not going to do anything about it. And they're really just in denial about the fact that their leg is really hurting, right? Okay? And then finally they get to this place of acceptance, okay, my leg is really hurting me. And they said, Man, this is really frustrating. My leg is really hurting me, and it hurts, and I'm not able to walk as fast, and I'm able to, you know, do the things I want to do. And then they're in this space of just like, accepting how it's affecting them, right? And then once they accept the fact that their leg is hurting, then they can come up with solutions. Maybe it's a good idea to get this, this x ray, right? Maybe it's a good idea to go to the doctor and get this checked out, right? But, like, you need to accept it in order. Ironically, accepting where you're at then helps you to be able to come up with solutions. Yeah, I feel very much that way about diabetes. Like, sometimes you're like, man, like, I you don't want to accept that you have diabetes, right? Like, diabetes is really hard. There's so many variables. There's no days off, right? Like, it's always kind of like, in the back of your head, in the back of your mind, right? I say for sure, for me, and I think for a lot of people also, like, just having a hard time accepting, like, Yes, this is diabetes, and yes, it affects this, and yes, it affects that. You know, once you can accept it, then you can be like, okay, and not like, rejecting it. Then I think that's when, like, all those things, you know, come in, right? It's like, okay, I do have diabetes. Diabetes is really hard. I am high right now. It's really annoying to be high, right? And then once you get there, then it's like, oh. So, because I'm high, maybe I should Bolus, maybe I should go on a walk, right? Maybe I should do a calming activity, so kind of to, like, calm myself down, to not be so stressed, right? Yeah,

Scott Benner 28:24
in your mind, then it's the fighting against it that stops you from it's not that you don't know that you have diabetes, but you're not. I don't want to reuse your word so much, but you don't accept it intellectually, right? Because you're fighting against it all the time, so you spend so much time fighting against the fact that it exists and you don't have time or effort to put into the actual tasks that it requires you to do. That is really how I think about it. Okay, agreed, you're fighting the wrong fight, right, right? So exactly, how did you get past that fight.

Anonymous Female Speaker 29:00
Ironically, I think did come from going to social work and then seeing all these things, like in a textbook, and being like, oh,

Scott Benner 29:10
even though it's like, oh, this is how people's brains work, and this is what my brain's doing, right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 29:15
You know, it's like, that was a big piece of it. And also, like, learning so much about it, and, you know, or there's, there's another thing that kind of helped me is, like, so when I was writing my capstone, you had to write an issue, as I obviously wrote about diabetes, because I had all that information from all the papers that I've been doing the past few years. It wanted you to say an intervention. So I chose CBT, because, like, a super, you know, evidence based intervention, you know, really, to kind of help me out with paper, because, like, it has like, the most like, data out there, you know? So I chose that it was basically saying how like each CBT is. Like this idea that like behaviors, behaviors, emotions and thoughts, and if you impact one of those triangles, then everything else will be affected and helped also. So meaning, let's say your thought is, I have the worst case of diet. PBS, and no one understands, and no one can help me. And I'm telling you, I haven't heard that everyone else who also doesn't have a working beta cells, right? Like, it's a common refrain that people say themselves, right? And then it's like, that leads to the emotion of, like, it's hopeless and I'm sad about this, and I'm upset and I'm angry, and, you know, whatever emotions people like to think, right? And then that leads the behavior of, I'm just not doing anything about diabetes. I'm not going to Pre Bolus, right? I'm I'm not going to make sure that my settings are correct, you know? I'm not going to carve out right? I'm going to pretend that fat, protein doesn't impact my numbers, right, like any or whatever it is, right? There's that kind of triangle. If you can impact one of those things, then automatic, then you can impact the others. So for example, if you, let's say, impact the thought like, Oh, hey, actually, I listened to Scott's podcast. It's really great. And I can do X, Y and Z, and then, and then maybe I'll feel better, right? So you have this, like, more optimistic thought, and then that leads to the emotions like, okay, I can do this, you know, determination, right? Like, knocking us down, right? And then that leads to the behavior of, okay, so I'm gonna Pre Bolus right now, or, like, I'm going to bullish properly. I'm gonna I'm gonna carp down, I'm gonna whatever it is, you know, so, but you can impact any place, on that triangle, whatever works for you. Like, sometimes, like, even though it's like, No, everything is stupid and everything is dumb, and I'm high and I don't want to do anything. And sometimes I'm like, Okay, I don't want to do anything, but like, let me impact the behavior. I'm going to give insulin, right? And then that, that behavior, I gave insulin, my numbers are going down. And then that impacts my emotions. I'm happier, right? Oh, like, I can do diabetes. Like, this works. I know the tools I got this, you know, yeah, you can kind of help that triangle also, like, so, like, those were things, like, just, just going to school and, like, seeing that, like, it doesn't have to be a catastrophe. Like, if you have a diabetes burnout day, it doesn't mean that, like, something seriously wrong with you and that, like, the world is ending. It's really normal. It's okay. Accept the emotion, accept that it's hard, it's okay, and then you can work on it, because, like, you have the tools,

Scott Benner 32:10
and you're not fighting against the reality,

Anonymous Female Speaker 32:13
right, right? Okay. Like people with diabetes, people with chronic conditions, are more likely to develop 30% more likely to develop depression, 30% more likely to develop anxiety. Develop anxiety, and it's a real thing that I'm not minimizing that. And also having a bad Diabetes Day doesn't mean you have severe depression. You don't have to go get it that spiral, you know? You can just be like, okay, diabetes is hard, yeah.

Scott Benner 32:39
So some people are depressed, but sometimes you think that they're not depressed, but they're having a depressive experience, or a bad day, or something like that, and then you kind of stay in that day by fighting against it instead of what, instead of accepting it moving on, instead

Anonymous Female Speaker 32:56
of just accepting it being with the emotion, meaning, like one of the criteria actually depressing, depressed, and depression or anxiety, and again, I'm depressed. It's a real thing. I'm not minimizing at all. Like I'm a social worker, don't worry. And also, one of the criterion is it disturbs you, greatly affects your life. So, like, there's all these, like psychological there's all the like these, like physical symptoms, right? Like not sleeping or being restless, on edge at all. That's one part of it. Second part of it is like, how much does it affect your life, and how much is it distressing you so? Meaning, if you can, like, deal with that part of like, this isn't distressing. This is normal. It's hard having diabetes. Some days are harder to manage. Others, like, it's just, like, it's just, it's okay. And then that doesn't have to be a distressing thought when you don't want to deal with diabetes that day,

Scott Benner 33:44
it's like walking in the rain, and some people splash in the puddles, and some people step in them and go, Oh, my foot's wet. You're both in the puddle. It's your inclination, but you're saying to some degree, like you can decide how to react for some people, yeah,

Anonymous Female Speaker 34:01
yeah. I definitely think you can decide how to react. And even, and even if you do have depression, you do have anxiety, you do have these things, like you still have the power to react. It will probably, you will. It'll probably be more difficult for you than someone who doesn't have those diagnoses, right? That's what the CBT intervention is all about. Or CBT, it's like you have the power to decide how to act. And I personally, the person, like, loves bashing the puddles. And I'm like, have rain boots. I should get my rain boots. I should wear rain boots today so I can splash in the puddles. You know? I'm saying like that, like, that's me. Like, yes, do

Scott Benner 34:34
you leave space for the idea that some people just can't be the splash in the puddle. People that, like, they step in the puddle and they just, it's not a conscious decision to think my foot's wet, like, it just, it's just how it hits them,

Anonymous Female Speaker 34:47
yeah, and then those, it just makes me sad. Everyone has different dispositions. And like, I do have, I do have a happier disposition. You know, I'm saying like, I have this very distinct memory of high school of, like. Be like, it's raining and, like, turning to my friend and be like, we should, for sure, go out during our lunch break and splash at all the puddles, right? And we did. And then it was not so thought out, because the rest of the day we were, like, soaking wet, but like, it was fun. I do

Scott Benner 35:12
and I but I'll tell you, like, I've made a lot of podcast episodes, spoken to a lot of people, and I struggle between wanting to lean into how I feel and saying to people, just do this, right? Like I do this, do that. Like it, to me, it smacks terribly of, it's been very popular over the last couple of years for incredibly athletic, strong people to make you a podcast and tell you about how to, you know, just go work out. You know, are you upset? You know, you're fat. You should just work out, like I do, like, giving me like,

Anonymous Female Speaker 35:45
and then you too will have incredible apps, right? Yeah, it's easy when

Scott Benner 35:49
it's your disposition. Such an interesting word, because it's easy when it's the way your brain's wired, the way the chemicals fly around in your body, when all your works that way, and you have the outcome that you're describing. It's super simple to say to somebody, have the outcome that I'm describing by doing what I do. And as much as I believe that you can kind of be the master of your path, I also genuinely believe that I've spoken to people who do not have that ability and and it's often because their wiring is different, or their chemicals are different, they have depression like or they are not the kind of people who look out and go, I'm gonna go splash the puddle. They're the kind of people look outside and go, Oh, it's raining. The day has been ruined. I try very hard to give space to the fact that I think all that's it's absolutely true, right? But I also do believe that you can fall into a hole and then throw yourself into it the rest of the way, oh, 100%

Anonymous Female Speaker 36:46
you know, your percent, yeah. And for people like that, like me, like, I'm a social worker, I'll tell you to go to therapy. You know, I'm saying, like, I don't, I don't think that's bad. I think it's normal, you know, like, to meaning, like, let

Scott Benner 36:56
me say this, if you're a social worker, then you deal with people who have financial issues, yeah, right. Like, so you can't just look at them and go, Well, just make more money, right, right, right. You know, the problem is you can't afford your bills. You're not making enough money. Go make more money. Like, that's not how that works. So maybe a business person was that tell that? Well, yeah, but, but my point is that if you're sad, you can't tell somebody stop being sad. It doesn't work that way.

Anonymous Female Speaker 37:22
Agreed. Agreed 100% right? Some people, right? Your brain is wired different ways, and like, you might need a medication that's okay, it's nothing to be ashamed of. You know, you might benefit greatly from therapy. That's okay, nothing to be ashamed of. You know, you can almost tell like I'm a social worker and that I've dealt with these things, and, you know, I have clients. Well, you

Scott Benner 37:41
know, it's funny, I realize you keep saying CBT, and not one of us is qualified, like, qualified that as cognitive behavioral therapy. Oh, sorry, yeah. And you're young too, yeah. So like you're because I think you're an upbeat person, and I don't think you lean towards like, depression, right? I think that, and you're younger, and when you're I'm telling you, when you're younger, it is pretty much hardwired, and most people just to be like, just do the thing. I watch at work every day, just go do the thing. And you have to be alive longer to see that. It just doesn't always work that way. And and it's not as easy as what you'll hear on social media or in media in general, or when people are out there just, you know, pitching their idea like everyone's not fat because they eat too much, right? Right? 100% I just had an experience this week where, on Wednesday, I used my GLP medication, right? Okay? And it has a shorter half life, so you shoot it once a week, but it's not at its full power on day six, okay? It wins as it goes. You know, I watched this thing happen two weeks ago. I shoot it on Wednesday, and on Tuesday, Artem was home from school, and her and her friend came home with a pizza, and I had two small slices of thin crust, not a lot of cheese pizza, and I woke up the next day a couple of pounds heavier, okay? And yesterday I was, let's see Wednesday shot on Wednesdays. So then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So five days later, I say to myself, like, you know what? We have a couple of these, like, 2.5 pens, like low dose pens. I'm on a much higher dose, but I'm five days into my shot. I know this is gonna wane. Day five, six and seven, I'm gonna shoot this two and a half, right? Like, so I took out the refrigerator, like, this extra two and a half, and I shot it. And I was like, Okay. And then late last night. I mean, late last night, somebody in my house comes home with that same pizza, and I was like, huh, I'll have pizza. So I had the same two slices, but five hours later in the day. So I ate these slices of pizza, and I went to bed a couple of hours later, right? And I. Woke up this morning and I hadn't gained weight well. So I'm going to say to you that my body doesn't properly make whatever GLP is okay. And so when I'm replacing it synthetically and eating normally, and I really, I know you're like, pizza is not normal, but I if you could just see this pizza, it's the thinnest crust. It barely has any cheese on it. It's like sauce and a tiniest bit of bread, like but my experience, you know, weeks prior, was, ate the pizza without, like, a full dose of the GLP happening, gained weight. Ate it without it, didn't gain weight. So now think about that like mental health or depression or anxiety, if your levels aren't right where they're supposed to be, you end up getting a result that's not optimal and not what you want 100%

Anonymous Female Speaker 40:49
and like, you know you don't, you don't need to tell me these things. No,

Scott Benner 40:53
I know people listening. You're being very positive, which is good, but I'm trying to step in for the people out there who might be listening, who are going, like, yeah, it ain't that easy, honey. Like, you know what I mean? Like,

Anonymous Female Speaker 41:01
right? Yeah, I kind of realized that. And I also want to share that like, This isn't because my journey with diabetes has been easy, and I do want to tell everyone else that also meaning, like, when I was going through school, like I was constantly getting ketones. I was constantly getting ketones. My weight fluctuated like crazy because I kept on getting ketones, because my numbers kept on being high, and my and, you know, and I was just, I was just, you know, in this perpetual state of, like, just diabetes, burnout, and I, and I wasn't taking care of myself, you know, and to the point where, like, I think, I was in DKA for a week, and, like, I didn't go to the hospital, like, meaning, Like, I had severe nausea, severe headaches, throwing up, just ignoring it. I didn't go to the hospital. I don't know again, like, I was like, 20, so I was still, like, in that teenage phase of like, Oh no, I don't need to go to the doctor. And, like, I was saying, I don't really know what was going through my head, but, but like, I mean, like, I've been there in the place where it's like, oh my gosh. Like, major diabetes burnout. I don't want to deal with diabetes, like, majorly impacting my life. Like, my numbers were crazy. They were all over the place, you know, like, to the point where was, I was losing weight crazy because of ketones and getting weight back. And then, you know, I'm saying, like, you know, just having all those symptoms and, like, I've been there

Scott Benner 42:19
and this all happened to you because you just weren't using insulin the way you needed to. Just

Anonymous Female Speaker 42:23
wasn't using insulin the way I needed to. And this was when I had all the information already, you know, saying, yeah, like, I knew what to do, you know, and I knew what to do, and I was just in this diabetes burnout phase, and it took months of just like, trying to accept diabetes, and it was only, like, after months of, like, being in this super unhealthy state, and now we look back in it, I'm like, I'm like, Why did I think it was normal to just all of a sudden, like, wake up, like, seven pounds thinner. I don't actually have a scale in my house. I actually couldn't see my family knows I have my skinny clothes and my fat holes, all right? I literally had different sizes for when I was, like, my normal weight, and then, like, my skinny weight, because, like, I had ketones and I wasn't taking care of my body the way I should have, like, and looking back at it, I'm like, wow, that's that's pretty good. That's pretty

Scott Benner 43:11
crazy, yeah, and dangerous too. Like, you're lucky that it didn't have worse outcomes for you.

Anonymous Female Speaker 43:16
I know, I know. I'm very grateful that nothing drastic happened.

Scott Benner 43:20
What flipped your switch like? What made you like? What made you do it? I

Anonymous Female Speaker 43:25
think just, just coming to terms with diabetes, it took a while for me. School was very stressful, even though I was, I was doing amazing in school, but I, you know, I was living it. I was living away from home for the first time, you know, just getting used to basic taking care of myself, you know, at the same time of, like, learning how to do that with it with a relatively new diagnosis, because, you know, I hadn't had any really experience taking care of myself with diabetes previous that, you know. And, like, just the stress of just stressful especially, like a master's program, you know, yeah, and a good master's program, you know? Well, you also have,

Scott Benner 44:00
like, cultural issues too, right around food, or No, I love food, but is some of the food you eat more difficult to deal with than what other people might have to deal with?

Anonymous Female Speaker 44:12
It's funny because, like, I don't think about that because it's such a normal part of my culture. But like, yeah, like every week on, you know, on Saturday, on Shabbos, like, I basically eat a Thanksgiving slash Christmas, Christmas dinner every week. Like, I find it funny when, like, there's like, these podcasts, like, how to deal with Thanksgiving dinner. I'm like, Girl,

Scott Benner 44:35
well, yeah, but I mean, listen, I've been privy to those meals, and they are carb centric in a way that is probably hard to put into work. And fat, heavy

Anonymous Female Speaker 44:46
fat, so fat, so much protein. But again, like right now, because I'm in a healthier place, like I'm able to go through that meal and not get high, but like two years ago, I wasn't able

Scott Benner 44:57
to are you limiting the food you're eating, or are you do you know how to. Bolus for it. I know how to Bolus for it, like

Anonymous Female Speaker 45:01
I don't. I don't limit my food. I like food. I eat food really well. I'm

very good at I'm also good at knowing how to Bolus for it when I when I have the headspace for it.

Scott Benner 45:15
Talk about when you don't have the headspace for it. Like, I hear people say this all the time, like, I don't count carbs, well, they say it like, it's like, it's not a knowable thing, you know? I don't, I don't do well with counting carbs. I actually, yesterday morning, Arden Bolus for something, and I looked at it, and I was like, Hey, that's not enough insulin for what you're about to eat. And she goes, No, she goes, it's gonna be like 45 and I was like, This gonna be like, 90, okay? It was just pancakes, right? Like, it was just pancakes and, and she's like, Yeah. And I was like, No, for sure. And she was, I thought it was 45 and I said, well, here on the package, it says 90. It's not an unknowable thing, is what I'm saying. So when I when I hear people say I don't carb count. Well, what I assume, in my mind is, is, what they mean is, I'm sick of counting these carbs. Yeah,

Anonymous Female Speaker 46:07
yeah, right. So it's right 100% I mean, like, I know how to carb count. I know line meter Pre Bolus. I know how to do like, you know the extend Bolus flash like feature for fat and protein. I know how good exercising is, and how and how beneficial that is for your numbers. You know, I'm saying, like, I know how to do all those things. But your question was, yeah, good. But your question was, like, how do you deal with that when you're not in the mood, not as well, and

Scott Benner 46:34
why does it happen like that? Because, like, for example, it's the amount of effort you have to put into counting the carbs, right? And so there's an amount of effort you put into pressing on the brake on your car while you're driving. So you never, you never start going through a curve and thinking, Well, I'm supposed to press down three quarters on this break, but I don't feel like it, so I'm just gonna press down a quarter on the brake and crash into the into the trees on the side of the road, like but people do that with their diabetes all the time. They're like, well, I should take a second to count these carbs. Push on the brake, but I'm not going to, because I don't feel like it, so I'm going to crash into the diabetes bushes, and my blood sugar is going to be 350 for the next four hours. But oh well. And I know I don't have diabetes, and I'm sure if I did, I'd be like, yeah, no, I understand exactly what you're saying, and I can't quantify it either. I just keep looking for someone to quantify it. For me,

Anonymous Female Speaker 47:25
I think that there's just, first of all, it doesn't feel as immediate, like it doesn't feel like, I mean, like you want to live right, like it's a natural thing within people that, like, you know, there's this natural insects you're gonna, hopefully know how to press in the breaks the car, right? But you'll be fine, right? But meaning like, when you're high, it doesn't, doesn't feel like an immediate threat, I guess. And the immediate threat feels like when, when I'm in that kind of like diabetes, burnout headspace. The immediate threat feels like taking care of my my numbers will, will, will, I won't be able to handle it right? That might not feel like

Scott Benner 47:57
it, but you, you consciously, you do know that that's not true. Oh, for sure, but that doesn't help. To harken back to earlier in the conversation, by the way, this is out of nowhere, but you said haughty earlier, and I thought, I don't think anyone's ever said that on the podcast before, to harken back to earlier when we mentioned Jenny. Jenny wouldn't not Bolus,

Anonymous Female Speaker 48:18
right? And I also would it not Bolus, but if I was in a kind of burnout state, I might, or I might not, be Bolus.

Scott Benner 48:26
I know I'm saying, like that right there, like, I don't know that we'll ever understand it, but that right there is what I want to understand. Yeah. Why does that happen to someone? I'm not coming from like, like the bro podcast, guys. I'm not saying, Why do you do it to yourself? I'm saying, how does it happen? What different variables, circumstances, feelings, emotions, etc, come together to make someone say, I don't care if I press on the brake hard enough, I'm just gonna go into the trees and let be what's gonna be. And is there a way to impact it? Maybe even if we understood it, we wouldn't be able to impact it, but I'm right now stuck on understanding it. Yeah, that's all. And I don't think, I don't know if I'm ever gonna, but I keep waiting for somebody to give me an answer.

Anonymous Female Speaker 49:10
I think it's just diabetes is really tiring and really exhausting. And, like, sometimes you're just in this state of, like, diabetes is hard that you're not able to, like, logically think through what needs to happen. It does not really logical. Because, again, like, I know everything to do, right? And sometimes I don't do it. And I think it comes from like, a more, like, emotional, really human place, like, I don't, I don't think it can be explained by, like, logic. Oh, it makes sense. Someone's not taking care of the numbers. Like, it makes sense if you don't know what to do. You know that makes sense, and I hope that you can get the tools you've listened to the podcast, find friends to help you. But like, in terms of, like, once you know all the tools and not doing, I just think it comes from a super human place. Of like, diabetes is hard, and sometimes you're just in that headset. Of like, I'm just overwhelmed with diabetes. Right now, and I just don't want to, I just don't want to do it, and I don't think there's a logical reason for it. Maybe

Scott Benner 50:04
sometimes you're just like, asleep at the wheel, right?

Anonymous Female Speaker 50:07
Just like, just like, not wanting to feel it, not wanting to see it, kind of going through the motions, but not really thinking so hard into it. You know, is it

Scott Benner 50:15
valuable in that moment for someone to help? Like, do you have a partner or somebody you date, or somebody in your life that could help you. So I definitely, yeah.

Anonymous Female Speaker 50:24
So I'm really grateful that I have a lot of really great supports, and I and I am married, and I do have a really supportive partner who really understands diabetes, which is, which is very helpful. And sometimes he'll be like, do you think that maybe we should go on a walk? And I'm like, maybe that's a good idea, you know, or, like, or sometimes he'd be like, maybe you should drink a lot of water right now. I'm like, That's a good idea.

Scott Benner 50:46
Never push back, though, when he says, like, maybe we should go on a walk. Do you ever say maybe you should mind your own business? Well, I

Anonymous Female Speaker 50:53
told him that he can never tell me when I'm high that I'm in a bad mood, because I'll yell at him. So I told them that I'm generally fairly receptive to solutions because I know I need to do them, but I just, like, don't have the energy to, like, think of them or implement them. So like, if someone's doing it with me, then, like, I'll be more likely to do it, you know. Okay, I could be like, Okay, I'll go on a walk. Okay, fine. That sounds like a good idea. I'll usually say no, and then get up to go on a walk. Yeah, like, no. And then I'll be like, Okay, then I'll put my sneakers on, you know, like, you

Scott Benner 51:24
know what's funny, I guess, what's hard for me and maybe not hard, that's the wrong word. What drives me to want to understand is making the podcast. I feel like, if a life is 90 years long, right? It's possible that I have spoken to someone who's lived through every year of that life. If you take all the people I kind of think of like all the people that I've spoken to, if you press them together into one person with diabetes, I've spoken to someone who's raised a nine month old with diabetes. I've spoken to someone who's had diabetes when they were 65 and 44 and 37 and 18, right and 72 and I've heard the stories. I know where the story is going to end. If you are writing it the way the 72 year old wrote it, or the way the 5030 like, Do you know what I mean? Does that make sense to you? Like, it's possible I'm having such a unique experience that I don't know how to explain it to other people. But if diabetes is a write your own story, you used to be able to, like, get these records. And records are these wax discs that people would listen. Okay, all right, so used to be able to get these records, and they would come with a book, and then you could read up to a certain spot and then decide which way the story went next, right? And then you could drop the needle on the record to, like, pick up the story in a different place. Oh, that's fun. I'm very old, but I feel like diabetes is like that, and in a world where you can pick the needle up and put it back down where you want it to go, you can, with some certainty, write a good story for yourself, but at the same time, you can also make decisions that end up with the story not going well, yeah. And when we know that, it's weird to me that we know that, and sometimes people pick the needle up and put it back down, I'm gonna try meth. I'm being serious. All

Anonymous Female Speaker 53:36
right, no, 100% I'm laughing because it's true. Like I'm laughing because the truth in that statement, it's

Scott Benner 53:41
like, Saturday, and you get up, you're like, I'm bored. And the answer isn't, I think I'm gonna go for a walk and check out wicked tonight. The answer is, I think I'm gonna sleep till three, binge drink and do cocaine with friends. I don't know how people decide to put the needle down, where they decide to put it down. I can

Anonymous Female Speaker 54:00
tell you that it's not coming from a logical place, and it's coming from an emotional place, and probably in drugs, also coming from place, and a lot of just pain, it's not coming from a logical place, you know, I'm saying, like, it can't be because, like, Sure, no, the facts, you know? I'm saying, like, it's coming from, like, an emotional place. It's coming from a resistance place. It's coming from,

Scott Benner 54:19
uh, no, but people knowing the facts don't help people, like, process them, because people are still, like, cocaine, ah, it's a party drug. I'll be okay. Do you know what I mean? Or, like, yeah, just a little bit of meth isn't gonna hurt anybody. I'm not gonna end up Toothless in a field. Except maybe you will, and so for me, like that, like, if you want to know, like, why I've never done meth, for example, it's because I wouldn't want that to happen to me, but, but that's also an overly simplistic answer, the answer, but the real answer, going back to what I said earlier, is doesn't occur to me to do so, yes, there are people out there who would occur to them to do it that way. Or maybe they're less risk of or they're more risk averse, or less risk averse, or whatever. Maybe they're. Looking for that jolt. I have no idea, like, right? Like, maybe some people just need that, like, and I don't need that like, I don't need whatever that is that, like, like, you know, like, let's do it. Like, you know what I mean. Like, I don't, I don't really have that in me. Like, I took off yesterday, like, which is a weird thing to say, like, I didn't do anything on Sunday, which is incredibly uncommon, epic, right? Like, so I got up, I didn't do anything. I was like, I'm gonna watch the flip I'm gonna make breakfast for people. I'm gonna watch the football game afterwards. I'm gonna watch a TV show that I enjoy, and then I'm gonna go to bed. Amazing. I didn't drink nine beers while I was doing it. I didn't like, as a matter of fact, had somebody not shown up with that pizza. I don't even know if I would have eaten anything last night, and I don't think I'm special or doing something right. I just don't understand. Like, why doesn't it occur to me to do math if I'm sick, why do I take the pills when I'm supposed to at the times that I'm supposed to on the days that I'm supposed to? Like, why don't I just go, Oh, I forgot today's It's okay. I'll take it tomorrow. I don't have that in me. Arden has that. Arden's like, Oh, I forgot my thyroid medication. I'll take two tomorrow, right? And I'm like, No, don't do that. And she goes, it's not a big deal. And I'm like, no, yes, it is. And she goes, No, it's not. I'm fine. And like, we like, do you understand? Like, you talk to a lot of people who have a lot of issues in their life. Have you ever once looked and thought, I see a common thread on how someone ends up in this position. It

Anonymous Female Speaker 56:25
always comes from trauma, from pain, from emotional stuff and whatever that is meaning like, sometimes I look at people's choices, I'm like, Hmm, I don't know about that one.

Scott Benner 56:35
I promise you, I grew up like a feral dog in the street, I promise you, I'm not making that up. Okay, like, I promise you, I have known that I'm adopted since I can remember, right? So, like, like, and it does impact me, by the way. Like, I think anybody who listens to this knows, like, I have a genuine fear of abandonment. Like, right? Like, I'm probably as good of a dad as I am because I don't want everybody to, like, leave. I'm not stupid. Like, I understand how that works, but my dad also used to kick the out of us. Oh, gosh, right, not all the time, but enough that you were like, is this the moment when I'm gonna, like, get kicked in the like, literally, kicked in the ass. Like, you know, you mean, like, am I gonna get back handed here? Like, is that gonna happen? Like, I definitely heard my brother get belted in a bathtub for splashing, oh my gosh. Like, right? Like, I lived through that and I still didn't do math. Like, why not? Like, you understand that this entire podcast is just a journey of me trying to figure out why I'm not on cocaine. I'm really fascinated by that aspect of it. And I think diabetes is twisted right up along with it, right? Like, the amount of illegal drugs that come into our country every year would astound you, like, by weight, right? Go look it up sometime. Like, how, like, like, how much comes in by weight, right? And it isn't. It ain't sitting in people's cupboards waiting for Thanksgiving. It's being used. And I admit, and I agree that trauma drives people towards stuff like that. But then why doesn't trauma drive everybody towards that?

Anonymous Female Speaker 58:11
It's also your personality, right? Meaning, like, you're an upbeat personality, you're very resilient, right? Like, meaning, like, what does that mean? Though, I don't know, man,

Scott Benner 58:22
Emily, like, you're 23 I'm trying to put you on the path because I'm getting old and I'm not gonna be able to finish this fight. I don't right? Like, like, that's what I want people to wonder. I want them to look at their lives and wonder, like, why do I do the things I do

Anonymous Female Speaker 58:37
that's, like, right? Like, everyone, it's interesting. Because I'll see, I'll see two people, and they have very, let's say they have very similar stories, right? They have totally different responses, right? Like, meaning, like, someone may develop, like, you know, borderline, and out of, like, you know, their borderline as a result of, you know, their past, and other people, like, yeah, it's kind of difficult, but like, I'm doing fine, and they come in for something completely different, you know, like it is, it's so curious to me, like, I don't have a good answer necessarily, you know. Like, you heard

Scott Benner 59:06
me ask Jenny, like, why do you do these things? The right way? She doesn't know either. Right, right? It's not just people who are screwing up that don't know why they do it. People are doing well, don't know why they're doing which is what leads to, like, you know, guys with 0% body fat on a podcast to say something stupid, like, man, you just got to get up in the morning and eat your protein and do your stuff. Like, oh, is that all I have to do? Thanks, basal, sure, that's the thing. I don't know that we'll ever figure out why some people are, you know, I get up every morning and I go for a run and I only eat four ounces of chicken, and I definitely do this. And everything in my life is perfect. And some of those people get diabetes, and they translate that to diabetes. Some people who are more like, I don't know, man, like, I'll take it when I think of it, those people get diabetes too. Like, we're never gonna figure out, I don't think we'll ever figure out why you are who you are, but I. Just think it would be valuable if people knew who they were in this scenario. Like, maybe that would help them along the way.

Anonymous Female Speaker 1:00:06
There's so many factors. Meaning, like, even within the same family, right? Like, you still have different parents. Meaning, like, even siblings, like, you know, parents treat a little bit differently. You're born at different times, even if it's close in age to each other. Like, you have different you have different classes. You have different Yeah, you know, you have, you have different circumstances than me. You know, like, when you look into studies about, like, oh, what makes people resilient? What makes people handle or not? Like, there's some basic factors, you know, like, you know, more positive people, more resilient people. There's, there's protective factors, and there's also factors that make it more difficult. Like, you know, if various traumas could make it more likely for you to develop, you know, psychological disorders, right? Or, you know, to have a hard time mentally. But, and I

Scott Benner 1:00:50
don't think it's got anything to do with how much money you have or how good your parenting was, or, like, I just think some people make a left turn and some people make a right turn, and you're never going to know why. Maybe it's just one of those things I should stop thinking about. Like, honestly, like, maybe it's just it is what it is, and we're not going to come to any answers. And some people are going to wake up one day and say, Hey, I should look into this. And they do. And some people wake up one day and just go, Hey, I'm going to ride this out. I don't, I'm, I'm not looking to change. I don't have

Anonymous Female Speaker 1:01:17
a good reason or a good explanation. But, like, what? What the message that I do want to say is that, like, it makes sense that sometimes it's harder for you to manage your diabetes. Some days, when I say you, like, the general you, yeah, and also, and listening and having the tools will help you once you kind of get to that place of, okay, what can I do to help myself? Like, I have diabetes, it's really hard. There's something I can do right now, you know. And like, sometimes, like, and on, on those harder days, it's just like, You know what? I'm gonna Pre Bolus, that's what I'm new, or I'm just gonna make sure that my carbs are counted correctly, even though I'm not Pre Bolus saying, you know, and doesn't have to be anything drastic, but just whatever you're able to handle that day. And like, kind of both, you know, like, on the one hand, yes, First, know the information that's really helpful. And also, if that information doesn't help you, like, that's normal, and you're a normal person, and you're human, and diabetes is hard. And also, for sure, there are so many things you can do to help yourself, you know, like, kind of like, like holding both of that and like, why it's easier for some people and why it's harder for some people, it's like, I don't know

Scott Benner 1:02:20
if anybody can take anything and apply it from another person. I can just tell you that my simplest piece of advice is that I don't take bad things from yesterday to the next day. Yeah, I wake up every day and I'm like, start over, like, this is a new day, yeah.

Anonymous Female Speaker 1:02:35
And very much, very much I feel that way by diabetes, like, I guess because my I do have good settings. Like, every day, every morning I wake up a good number, you know, I'm saying so I was like, doesn't matter what happened yesterday, not every day, but like, a lot of days, yeah, doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Like, diabetes is a hard day yesterday, if I went up super high. Like, today is a good today is a new day to start diabetes again. Like, I don't have to hold yesterday's, you know, like, bad things that happened, or hard or hard parts, like, like, I don't have to hold that to the next day, you know, like, that happened, it's okay. I learned from it. You know, you move on, you know, like, not, like, not kind of worrying too much about it and settling too much about it and, like, thinking about it like, it's okay, you made a mistake. Hopefully, you learn from it, after something that you said, if something doesn't work out in your diabetes management, don't like, be like, Oh my gosh, that happened. Reflect, why do you think it didn't work out? And then you learn from it, as opposed to needing to go through it again and again and

Scott Benner 1:03:31
again. Yeah, you just can't. You can't continue to beat yourself up over things like you just take the lesson and move on. 100% 100% let's stop on that, because I think that's perfect. I think that's awesome. This was wonderful. I really appreciate it. Thank you for coming on and doing this. Thank you. Oh, no, no, it's pleasure. It's a great perspective, because you are young, Yeah, but you're thinking about things. I can't stay alive forever. If I could, I'd love to talk to you, like, 20 years from now and see, like, all the things you figured out. You know what I mean, like, because it's interesting. You don't know this because you're 23 and because you're 23 and this is the smartest you've ever been right now, like, but That's right, yes, which is awesome. When you're 53 and you look at a 23 year old like, you go, Oh, I wonder when, at what point will this fill in for her? Where will she see this? Or have enough experiences where that'll make more sense? It's just, it's lovely to see a well intended person thinking about things like this when they're young. It's interesting. It's an interesting time. So I appreciate it very much. Yeah,

Anonymous Female Speaker 1:04:26
for sure, awesome. It's funny like I am young, and it also feels like I've lived so much life already, just because of diabetes and because of social work and because the you know, everything that I have seen, you know, and like, I'm probably gonna laugh at myself in like, 20 years.

Scott Benner 1:04:41
Also, because of your culture, you you get married earlier too, and that does ground you pretty quickly. Yeah, you know, 100% you have 75 kids. Yet, are you still working on that part?

Anonymous Female Speaker 1:04:51
Almost I'm working on the 74th right now.

Scott Benner 1:04:55
Do you have kids? No, no. Are you thinking about it?

Anonymous Female Speaker 1:04:58
Definitely thinking about. It would would be excited and grateful when that happens, and you know,

Scott Benner 1:05:04
awesome. Okay, all right, listen to me. I'm gonna let you go. You were terrific. Hold on one second.

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Scott Benner 3/31/25 Scott Benner 3/31/25

#1478 You’re Either Born With Diabetes, or You’re Not

Kim discusses self-advocacy, health awareness, and social media's impact on diabetes perceptions.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Welcome back, friends. You are listening to the Juicebox Podcast.

Kim's an adult living with type one. She's had it for two years. Today we talk about advocating for yourself, paying attention to your health and some of the confusions that other people might have about your diabetes, nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. AG, one is offering my listeners, a free $76 gift. When you sign up, you'll get a welcome kit, a bottle of d3, k2, and five free travel packs in your first box. So make sure you check out drink AG, one.com/juice box. To get this offer, don't forget to save 40% off of your entire order at cozy earth.com All you have to do is use the offer code juice box at checkout. That's Juicebox at checkout to save 40% at cozy earth.com. Are you an adult living with type one, where the caregiver of someone who is and a US resident? If you are, I'd love it if you would go to T 1d, exchange.org/juice box and take the survey. When you complete that survey, your answers are used to move type one diabetes research of all kinds. So if you'd like to help with type one research, but don't have time to go to a doctor or an investigation and you want to do something right there from your sofa, this is the way t 1d exchange.org/juice box. It should not take you more than about 10 minutes. The episode you're about to listen to was sponsored by touched by type one. Go check them out right now on Facebook, Instagram, and, of course, at touched by type one.org, check out that Programs tab when you get to the website to see all the great things that they're doing for people living with type one diabetes touched by type one.org this episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. Learn more and get started today at contour. Next.com/juice box. US med is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, and we've been getting our diabetes supplies from us. Med for years. You can as well us. Med.com/juice, box or call 888-721-1514, use the link or the number. Get your free benefits. Check and get started today with us. Med,

Kim 2:43
Hi, I'm Kim. I am a type one diabetic. I was diagnosed at 36 years old. I've been diagnosed for about two years to celebrate my two year and middle of November, and yeah, I also have hypothyroidism and some other fun things coming out of my diabetic diagnosis, but I had no symptoms. Um, it just randomly was found one day, and I've been injecting insulin ever since.

Scott Benner 3:07
Other fun things, but other fun things,

Kim 3:11
yeah, so actually, the reason I'll just kind of get in my diagnosis story, because it kind of rolls into it. So my husband and I, we've been together for seven years. Whoops,

Scott Benner 3:22
that's not powerful. He won't hear this, don't worry.

Kim 3:26
And so, you know, about two years ago, we were, you know, talking about family planning and figuring things out. And so I was like, I'm a huge advocate for health, and I'm very fit, I'm very active. I've always am like, what am I eating? What am I doing? What am I putting in my body? Very conscious of all that. So I wanted to get some blood work done see what was going on. And I went to see, you know, my regular doctors, and everyone's like, Oh, you're fine. You're fine. And I just didn't feel fine, you know, like, there's just something off. I was having some regular periods, which was my only main symptom, and everyone was like, oh, that's stress. You're fine. Like, no worries. Keep kicking me down the road. And so finally, I went to see a hormone nurse practitioner, and she did like so much blood work on me, like I'm talking, like every time I go, it'd be like 14 vials. And she was like, your glucose levels are a little elevated. And I was like, I don't know what that means. And so she came tested me again. Three months later, it kept going up and up, but I was still producing insulin, and I still was my a 1c was, like, kind of more in range. And so she was like, I don't know, like, maybe, you know, you have some other hormone things going on, so maybe that's all whatever. And finally, the third round, she I was actually on vacation for my husband's 40th birthday in St Martin. So I had no service, and she called me like she left a voicemail when I got it. It's basically like, you need to come into the office immediately. And I was like, Oh, great. What's Am I dying? And she said that my fasting glucose was 237 and my and my a 1c was 12.5 Wow. And also, I had no symptoms, like. I can count on one hand, maybe even three fingers, the times that I felt super thirsty. I drink a lot of water. So going to the bathroom wasn't anything that was standing out to me. So I went in that next day, and she was like, I can't let you leave here without injecting insulin. And I'm like, what? Like, it was just, I basically blacked out. Just basically go do this. And so my brother is actually type one diabetic. We have different dads, but we have to say mom. So he was diagnosed at the age of nine. He's now 52 Wow. I'm knowing, not knowing any dates today and so and like, I always communicate that to my doctors. I'm always like, my brother has type one. He got it when he was nine. You know, the juvenile diabetes time range, when everyone thinks that's the only time you can get diagnosed with type one. I always would tell my doctors, no one ever was concerned or whatever, and I was never tested for any of like, the antibodies ever, I don't think my mom ever thought that was a thing, right? So, you know, all I remember is, like, my brother didn't really, he still doesn't, doesn't really manage his diabetes. Well, doesn't wear CGM. He's still on MDI, like, really, just rocking and rolling on his own, which is fine. He's old school and, you know, whatever. And I just remember him, like, growing up, like he would put himself in, you know, let his sugar get low, and because he was upset about x or y or whatever. And I just remember when she was telling me that I was type one diabetic, I was like, oh my god, I'm going to be in a coma. I'm not gonna be able to survive. I'm gonna die in my sleep, like, catastrophizing every single potential outcome, just because that's all I knew. And I was just I was so upset. I was like, devastated. And, you know, all the traumatic symptoms that I'm sure everybody feels when they first get diagnosed, yeah, and so, you know, I was trying to manage that, right? So we kind of put the family planning on the side. I was like, well, now I'm type one diabetic. I don't know what that means. Like, I'm trying to just figure out, like, how to stay alive and still like function and in life, like,

Scott Benner 7:01
a completely new life. Kim, right? Like, it just felt like it started over. Yep. Before you move forward, can I ask you a weird question? I'm gonna, I'm gonna forget to ask, if I don't always Your brother's a little kid. He pouts by making his blood sugar low. Did I understand that correctly?

Kim 7:15
Yeah. So he was diagnosed at nine, you know, this was in the he was born in 72 so, like, this is the early 80s, right? I don't know what tech was like then I do,

Scott Benner 7:24
okay, one, great, yeah,

Kim 7:28
yeah. So, like, you know, whatever. And like, the problem, I'm sure there wasn't a lot of education out so, like, my, you know, whatever, I just remember, I almost, like, we always were at Children's Hospital, like, always. But as he got into his like, teens, he was very rebellious, and was like, I'm gonna do whatever I want. Because I think he just didn't want the diabetes to kind of hold him back. And so I think he really would just get use it as, like, not really threatened, but kind of get attention from it. So I just remember there would be, like, one time, like, I think him and his girlfriend broke up, and he, like, was really upset, let us sugar get low. And my mom and I and my dad went over one day, and he was, like, laying in bed, like, probably 10 minutes from a coma. And I just was, like a young little girl, like, what is happening? So Kim, Michael,

Scott Benner 8:12
and I'm wondering is, if your memory is not, like, a little puzzled, like, is he getting letting himself get really high? Like, not giving himself because low would lead to a seizure pretty quickly if he was like giving himself too much insulin. You've probably heard me talk about us Med and how simple it is to reorder with us med using their email system. But did you know that if you don't see the email and you're set up for this, you have to set it up. They don't just randomly call you, but I'm set up to be called if I don't respond to the email, because I don't trust myself 100% so one time I didn't respond to the email, and the phone rings the house. It's like, ring. You know how it works? And I picked it up. I was like, hello, and it was just the recording was like, US med doesn't actually sound like that, but you know what I'm saying? It said, Hey, you're I don't remember exactly what it says, but it's basically like, Hey, your order's ready. You want us to send it, push this button if you want us to send it, or if you'd like to wait. I think it lets you put it off, like a couple of weeks, or push this button for that. That's pretty much it. I push the button to send it, and a few days later, box right at my door. That's it. US, med.com/juice, box. Or call, 888-721-1514, get your free benefits checked now and get started with us. Med, Dexcom, Omnipod, tandem freestyle, they've got all your favorites, even that new eyelet pump. Check them out now at us. Med.com/juice, box, or by calling 888-721-1514, there are links in the show notes of your podcast player and links at Juicebox podcast.com to us, med and to all the sponsors. The contour next gen blood glucose meter is sponsoring this episode of The Juicebox Podcast, and it's entirely possible that it is less expensive in cash. Cash, then you're paying right now for your meter through your insurance company. That's right. If you go to my link, contour next.com/juicebox, you're going to find links to Walmart, Amazon, Walgreens, CVS, Rite, aid, Kroger and Meyer. You could be paying more right now through your insurance for your test strips in meter, then you would pay through my link for the contour next gen and contour next test strips in cash. What am I saying? My link may be cheaper out of your pocket than you're paying right now, even with your insurance, and I don't know what meter you have right now. I can't say that, but what I can say for sure is that the contour next gen meter is accurate. It is reliable, and it is the meter that we've been using for years. Contour next.com/juice box. And if you already have a contour meter and you're buying test strips, doing so through the Juicebox Podcast link will help to support the show.

Kim 11:01
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's a great question, because I distinctly remember him just being like, angry and like, combative and like, just like, almost like he was drunk. So I think it was probably a low, but honestly, it could have been high too. I don't know. I just ended up in the hospital after that, yeah, he was in the hospital a couple times.

Scott Benner 11:23
I'm gonna guess he would stop taking his insulin. But, like, and that you're just nine, like, your little kid memory, yeah, you know what I mean, yeah, yeah. But whatever doesn't matter. I just

Kim 11:32
remember, yeah. I just remember it was traumatic in general. And I was like, I don't want that. I was like, is that going to be my life, right? Like, right? Is that going to be my life, and, you know, all the things, and so, like, the first year was really traumatic, and I was like, Oh, I kind of got a little slow as being like, oh, I can, like, I have my brother to help with. Like, I can talk to my brother about things and very negative about it, very like, this worst thing that's ever could happen to me. And, like, it's like, blah, blah, blah. Like, I can't eat anything. And I'm like, every time we go to dinner, you're always eating pasta, you're eating everything. So, like, calm down. And so I just, like, really quickly realizing, like, he's not going to be somebody I can

Scott Benner 12:10
my guy is not going to be my guy. I don't think, yeah, he's not,

Kim 12:13
he's not my guy. I'm grateful because he like, the way he managed. I didn't want that. I was like, I'm gonna do the complete opposite of that, like I want to ensure that I am staying fully on top of everything. I'm gonna be I swung the complete opposite way. I got it on a CGM, probably so I was, I was told on November one that I had diabetes. I didn't get to see an endo until the 18th of November, and I didn't get a CGM until maybe December.

Scott Benner 12:43
But you sort of used your brother the way people use bad parents. You were like, Oh, I can either be this thing or fight against it. Basically, yeah, yeah, okay,

Kim 12:54
yeah. And it's interesting, because, like, my mom and my dad both raised type one diabetic, and I cannot. I don't talk to my family about diabetes like my mom, literally, like said the other day, are you sure you really have diabetes? I wish I was joking. This

Scott Benner 13:10
doesn't really feel like with your brother. So is that her vibe?

Kim 13:14
I think she just feels like because, you know, I am super on top of my health. I've always been that way. I've always worked out. I've always ate healthy. I've always been that, you know, like the black sheep of the family, that was like, let's have organic vegetables, or let's eat a salad. And everybody's like, let's eat potatoes and all these things, right? And so I got

Scott Benner 13:35
yelled at the grocery store yesterday because I got sent off for something, and I came back and I was like, Hey, I got this one instead, because there's no high fructose corn syrup in it, my wife goes, That's not what I asked for. Like, okay, I'll go back. Sorry. Yes, yes,

Kim 13:47
exactly. I'm like, a label reader and, you know, and they just think I'm like, this crazy person. So I think my mom just is, like, I don't know if it's out of guilt that she's trying to act like I don't have it because, you know, I have another brother. So I have two older brothers. I'm the youngest of three and the only girl and my other brothers. Completely fine. Thank you. I'm so

Scott Benner 14:07
sorry to cut you off, but I did the math on that. You said I had two older brothers on the youngest of three, and then you said I'm the only girl. And I went, Yeah, I got it process of elimination, right? Like, wow, you do. I seem stupid. Are you over explaining stuff to me. No, go ahead,

Kim 14:22
just making it really detailed so the listeners can understand my family dynamic. I don't know. I don't really talk about it with my family. I really don't like the only person I really like talk to about is obviously my husband, because he lives with me. I've met some really amazing people in the community, like, actually, the reason why I listen to your podcast was because of my friend Carly. Shout out, Carly, I know she listens to this all the time. She was like, Do you listen to this Juicebox Podcast? And I was like, No. And like, I was, I don't know if you if, like, ardent, well, Arden was way younger when she was diagnosed, but like, I don't know if anybody you've spoken to before has been like when they first get diagnosed. You're like, there's just information overload, and there's just too much. And you're just like. I kind of want to, like, not listen to things. I don't want to know what's like. I just kind of want to ignore it, yeah. And so this, like, when she introduced it to me, I was like, I just, like, I was going through just, it just was like, not the time, right? And so, you know, about a year after my diagnosis, we really were starting to figure out more around, like, fertility stuff. And then I realized, and then, like, told me that. So in December of last year, diabetes threw me into early menopause at the age of 36 oh, I'm

Scott Benner 15:28
sorry. I didn't mean to be. No, my wife said, is going through it right now. I'm sorry. Like, I have a specific understanding of what you just said. So yeah. So

Kim 15:37
I'm like, okay, so you know, in the span of a year, more or less my life completely changed. I'm no longer able to, like, naturally have family and like, that's fine. I was, we were always kind of on the fence and to begin with, so like, I was like, maybe this is, you know, a higher powers way of making that decision for me, and they knew that I probably couldn't make it myself without having some sort of regret, one way

Scott Benner 16:02
or the other. Can I stop there for a second? I'm super interested in that. So, so you're on the fence about having a baby, but we're probably going to do it. And that's the question is, like, is it because of like, FOMO? Is it like, well, if we don't, then we're screwed.

Kim 16:15
Yep, it's honestly, like, I feel really badly. Like, no, no talking about it like this, but like, I really did feel left out. Like, a lot of my friends are having kids, have kids, like, and, you know, like you're a father, like, when you have kids, your life changes. Like, think priorities shift, like, things are different. It's not the same as your friends that potentially don't have kids. Like, it's, that's just how it is. Like, there's it's not wrong, it's not right, that's just how it is. Yeah, and so I and also growing up, like, that's kind of what I was told I should do. Like, get married, have kids. Get married. Have kids like that. If you don't do that, you're doing something wrong. I always chose my career path because I was like, I really, I want to be successful. Like, this is what I want to do. I work in advertising, and I've, I've just, I love it, like, it's something I've, I've always been doing. I've worked my way up. I'm really proud of where I've landed in my career. Yeah. And when I was like, I was like, oh, you know, like, I don't, I can't imagine being a mom on top of this. Like, we actually just adopted a dog six months ago. And I say to Joe, that's my husband. Like, how do people with real kids do this?

Scott Benner 17:23
No, because with the dog, you're like, This is a mistake. He's like, you know, like,

Kim 17:26
they we both work from home, but it's like, I'm in meeting. Like, basically my whole job is in meetings, right? Like, I'm always in meetings. I'm always doing something. So it's like, what's the dog doing? Where's the dog? Need to go out? Like, I mean, obviously a kid would probably be in school and whatever. But still, like, you know, we're getting ready to go out of town. My in laws are watching our dog. I have to get all of her food ready. I have to get all of her stuff ready. And she's it's just a dog, like, let alone, like, if I had a kid that needed, like, real stuff, you know? And so there are moments where I'm like, actually, this is a blessing in disguise, like, whatever. But there are times where I'm still like, man, that really sucks. That like, at like, none of these things I had no say in any of these things that happened to me. Like, I think that's one thing I'm really working through in therapy. I actually found a therapist and her son is type one diabetic because I was going to therapy. And people like, people would be like, Are you sure you're type one? And I'm like, Oh,

Scott Benner 18:15
why do so many people say that to you? Because I am.

Kim 18:19
I'm five seven, I'm very thin. I work out all the time. I eat very healthy. Like, if you did, I mean, obviously you can't really tell if somebody has diabetes or not, unless you see their tech. But like, if you looked at me, you'd be like, Oh, she doesn't have diabetes. Like, she's working out. She's doing all these things. She's like, all the stuff. And so I actually went for an Invisalign consult the other week, and the orthodontist said to me, like, Oh, you have diabetes. And I said, Yeah. And she goes, How do you have type two? You're so skinny. And I was like, I don't have type two. I have type one. I was diagnosed two years ago. She goes, You can't be diagnosed two years ago. You're either born with type one or you're not.

Scott Benner 18:51
And I'm like, Invisalign girl felt real comfortable with that, did she?

Kim 18:56
I'm like, Okay, I have two paths here. One, I can, like, get crazy pants and be, you know, make a scene and try to educate this woman who's probably not gonna get it or two. I could just keep reassuring her I have type one. And I was like, Yeah, I take insulin and did it and blah, blah, blah. And she was like, I would really double check with your doctor and test it again to make sure I love that. It's awesome. Yeah. And I was like, You know what? Thank you. I will. I'll

Scott Benner 19:22
get right to that. See, you're a nice person, I can tell because I'd be sitting there thinking, Oh, I wonder what she doesn't know about Invisalign. Maybe, honestly, maybe I should be leaving in the minds of people who don't know and have half bits of information and have heard a thing you don't code as diabetes to them, that's what you're saying. Okay, yeah, yeah, I get it and,

Kim 19:46
like, it's fine, whatever. Like, every diabetic is all different shapes and sizes, and there's, it's just such a unique condition that, like, everybody is literally different no matter you know, our body types, our gene. Genetics, like all the things, you know, once I found out that I was in menopause, they're like, We have to go, you have to get hormone replacement therapy so you don't get osteoporosis and die. I'm like,

Scott Benner 20:09
too soon. Grab it. This is great. 30s are going amazing. Oh, like, this

Kim 20:15
is my year, and I also was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which I'm not surprised because it runs in my family, I just it, knew that was a matter of time and like, but to me, I'm like, taking a pill every morning. No big deal. So, you know, just the whole thing. And I'm like, you know, they say things come in threes. And I'm like, Okay, I got my three. Can I be good for the rest of my life? Can these be my only medical problems that I have to deal with for the rest of my life? That would be great.

Scott Benner 20:38
But I'm gonna bum you out for a second. I have not had a place to say this in the podcast, so I guess I'm going to say it here because of what you just brought up. But you know, years and years ago, this woman named Michelle comes on and to tell a story about her son who had type one who passed away, and he passed his way when I I'm pretty sure he was 10 years old. Wow. And about a month ago, she died in a car accident, but along with her husband and, like, three of their best friends, wow. And I thought beyond all the things, I thought about it and how terrible it is, etc, I thought on people who think something bad has happened to me, so nothing else bad can happen, you know, and it's such a human thing, like, oh, it I got my thing. Like, I'm done, and I'm like, it's just not how it works. You know. Anyway, I'm sorry. Like, you're, you're such an upbeat person, but like, I just, I really, I mean, you know, everybody should find the episode. Jesse was here, and Jesse was here too. Michelle was on twice to talk about her son, about surviving after losing a child, and, you know, diabetes awareness, and she was, you know, a lovely person who stayed in the diabetes space and helped other people with type one her whole life. But, yeah, just like, a freak accident.

Kim 21:52
Oh, God. I mean, it's so true. I'm like, oh, that's why I'm, like, always, you know, because I, like, I said I had no symptoms, right? Like, your period was off. That was it, right? That was it. Yeah, that was it. And everyone, and I've very stressful job, we travel a lot, like, everyone's like, Oh, you're like, they would test all these things. You're fine, you're fine. Oh, you're great. Like, everything's great. So now I'm like, Okay, well, I had no symptoms. Like, do I have cancer? Do I have, like, you know what? I mean, you're just, like, hyper aware.

Scott Benner 22:18
Oh, yeah, sure. Like, if I didn't look like I was sick at all, and this happened to me, like, what else is coming? Is that how you feel? Like, Yep, yeah, no, I think like that. I definitely think like, just because things feel good, I credit my youngest brother, Rob, who I don't, I guess I don't talk about a ton. He was always that. Rob was always in trouble, and you knew about it or in trouble and you hadn't found out about it, yeah, there's only two states of Rob as a child, you know. And I do wonder, like, I guess I think about, like, illness that way too, you know. And I think, by the way, I think that's what makes me interested in what's going on with people, and trying to stay a little ahead of the curve, like, I don't want to find out when it's too late about anything. Yep, yeah,

Kim 23:01
I 100% agree. And, like, I get blood work done all the time. I'm like, I know blood work is only a moment in time, but I'm like, I want to know where I'm at. Like, where am I? What's What am I looking at? Like, what are we, what are we playing with here? And my doctors think I'm crazy, but I'm like, hey, my body, I had this huge thing happened to me when I was in my mid 30s. Like, it can happen. And I really want to make sure like that everybody I love and care about and even people I don't know, like get blood work done. Like, talk to your family about your past health, not just your parents, not just your siblings, like your aunts, your uncles, your cousins, your grandma, your grandpa. Like things skip generations, things come down. Like, you just need to be aware. And like, I found out my uncle has type got type one when he was 27 on my dad's side, right? And my grandpa, I think he was probably more type two. My mom's not sure. So diabetes obviously runs in our family. And so, like, it's kind of going back to the menopause of it all. I'm like, Okay, well, maybe I'm trying to stop that lineage. Yeah,

Scott Benner 24:02
oh, listen, yeah, you, I mean, you're not gonna pass anybody if you don't have a baby, that's for sure. Yeah, yeah. You know, I've been thinking a lot lately of finding a way on the podcast to say to people like, you're not supposed to be out of breath. You're not supposed to be tired. It's cool if you don't sleep well last night and you're tired today, but like, go to bed, fall asleep, get up if you're still tired. Maybe your iron is low, maybe you have a thyroid issue, maybe your blood sugar is too high, like, I don't know. But there are people, I know it sounds crazy, but there are people running around on the planet who don't feel like that. Oh, I'm getting older. Thing is, how everyone writes that off, but I just think about, like, how, like on the simplest idea, some for some reason, talk to a lot of people this week who have low iron. You know, they'll discuss like, I had brain fog and I was tired for two years, and I'm like, that's two years of your life. Yeah, once you retired three days in a row, and it's not going away, and it feels like it's getting worse, go to the doctor, get some simple blood work. Let's. Guy look at you and say, hey, you know, your ferritin is, like, 30 or whatever, and like, and instead of just struggling constantly, I know, and I know everybody doesn't know to look for those things, and a lot of doctors aren't helpful with it either. But if you're listening to this, like, you should know, you know,

Kim 25:16
yeah, a lot of people are like, Oh, well, I'm just gonna get like, my a 1c, tested, and my thyroid and maybe some other things, like get a metabolic panel. Like, push to get your your iron tested, push to get your Vitamin D tested. Like, these are things because, to your point, Scott, like not being able to focus, or, you know, being tired, or all these things like, it's not always normal, like, how

Scott Benner 25:40
about just being snippy? Like, you're around other people, and you're just, you're the woman I talked to the other day. She's like, you know, we got my husband's, you know, something, I forget even what it was. Like, I got my husband something checked, we fixed it, blah, blah, blah, and he was nicer, you know. Like, you know, so you're walking around all day, your wife's like, yeah, guy's kind of a dick, you know. Like, and you and you don't know it, like, you have no idea it's happening. So it's so true.

Kim 26:03
And, like, I can get more into this, but I was in a diabetes research trial. I was taking an exploratory drug the research endo was, you know, basically, like, talking to me about, oh, well, you're doing great, and you're doing all these things and, like, but, you know, it started, like, because I was like, Well, what I thought? I think that I got the COVID vaccine, and that's what triggered it, like, I know I had the antibodies, like, I'm not saying like, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I just think that's something that might have activated it. And because I remember, after I got my first shot, I had severe pain on my left hand side and but he told me, my research endo said that diabetes starts three years before you're typically three years ish, before you start seeing symptoms or what have you, because your body's main goal is to keep you alive, so it's going to be doing a lot of work on the back end. Yeah, and I think that's why, like, my menopause happened, because I think, like, that was happening before I was diagnosed. I just didn't know it, because reproduction is voluntary. So it's like, let's shut something down to give more energy to help keep this person alive. No, it's interesting.

Scott Benner 27:06
It's interesting. You think, like, like, I remember growing up with a girl who just did not get a period forever, and then later you learned there were other things wrong with her, yep, yep, yep,

Kim 27:17
yep. And like, they call that. That's like, you know, the five vital signs. That's like, almost a sixth or a fifth or whatever, because it's like, it's important. You know what I mean? Like, so many women are dismissed with about, like, irregular periods or really bad periods, or all this. And like, not a lot of people talk about it because it's taboo or uncomfortable or whatever, but it's important. It's a huge marker of your health as a female, if you're in your reproductive time frame, yeah, like, my periods were normal. No big deal. Like, I never had any bad symptoms. Or, like, you know, I had PMS, but, like, you know, not, not the PMDD, so I never had any issues. So I think I can, you know, I can't say for sure, but you know, everybody around me and my care team is assuming that, like, kind of that perfect storm was happening. You know, the stress of the diabetes and all the things kind of pushed me into that, which is fine, because I don't have any history of my family, like I don't. It's not a genetic type of thing, whatever. It's just like, wild, how the body will do everything it can to keep you alive until it can't, yeah.

Scott Benner 28:20
Now I'm always fascinated by that. Actually, it's to the detriment sometimes of people, because they're like, No, I'm still doing it. I'm going to work. I'm doing my things. Like, you know? I'm like, yeah, it shouldn't be this big of a struggle. I agree.

Kim 28:32
I know. And like, every time, like my brother, my middle brother, who has the fast and glucose of an angel, even though he probably has never had a vegetable in his life. He would be like, he like, gets sleep or has anxiety. And I'm like, I'm always thinking. I'm like, Okay, your guts probably off. Like, you should take a probiotic. You should do this stuff. Like, I just can see when people have, like, skin things, or they're like, oh yeah. Like, I never go to the bathroom. I'm like, that's a problem. Like, the gut, you know, everything starts in the gut and all this stuff. And I'm just like, like, I feel like I could diagnose people just from their symptoms. They're telling me, I wish

Scott Benner 29:04
there was more to do about that, still, like, more that that you could be certain about, and it wasn't such a crap shoot all the time trying to, like, I was just talking to somebody the other day who had, um, SIBO, and they, they hit, hit her with, like, hundreds of rounds of antibiotics to kill it eventually, like Jesus and but then, once they got it under control, she's doing a lot better, you know. But, I mean, where are you going to find a dog? Listen, in a world where you can't find it's a coin flip. If you're going to find a doctor who will tell you to Pre Bolus for your meals, you're going to find somebody who knows, like, how to identify SIBO and get rid of it, like, come on, you know? You're, I know, yeah, talk about that for a minute. So you were so used to going through your your health throughout your life. Did you just apply that thinking to the diabetes? And is that how you Is that why your mom thinks it seems like you don't even have diet like, is that why? Yeah,

Kim 29:54
because I am super anal about my management, almost to. My detriment, that it's too intense, and I think there's like, a subconscious layer to that, of, like, maybe I don't really have it, or maybe I care myself of it, if I never go past 140 or if I eat something and I still have a steady line, and, like, just all these, like, unhealthy mentality type of thing. Kim, we

Scott Benner 30:21
got a little magical thinking going on here. You got, are you O, C, D, what do you got there?

Kim 30:28
I think I'm just super type A and I really want to control everything. I think I felt super out of control over the last two years, and this is something that, like, I can attempt to control, but, like, I'll never be able to control diabetes. I can only management, manage it, and I am doing the job of a full time organ that, like, I'm guessing on constantly. Yeah, at the beginning it was really hard, because I would be like, you know, you eat the same thing every day, and every day there's a different result. You have to give one unit, 10 units, three units, literally eating the same thing. It doesn't matter. It's like, oh, well, I slept one minute less today, so I'm more resistant. Or the sun only was out for 10 minutes today, so I'm more resistant. It's like, that's what drives me nuts about diabetes. There's all of the variables that go into your blood sugar, not just the food you eat, especially being a female. And I'm just like, This is my nightmare. Like it was just I felt like I was playing dodgeball, but no, I wasn't playing. I was standing in the middle of the court, and I just get balls hit at me all the time, and I can never catch any of them and throw them back. I'm always just being hit.

Scott Benner 31:37
So by moving at something, you feel like you're not being passive. Yeah, okay, did you ever figure out anything with all the hormone testing? Or did that, yeah, not going

Kim 31:49
actually, like, I just got blood work done, and I've never seen so much green in my life, which was great. Also, like, my, you know, the only thing that is still a little weird is I have, like, I have really bad seasonal allergies, and I'm allegedly allergic to dogs, but, like, it's not that high, so I just have, like, this one marker that's always higher. Other than that, everything is fine. So, like, I was saying, I started a diabetes research trial, which is really interesting. I don't know if they're still open, I think they might be closed, but it's this research trial for newly diagnosed, so you have to be, I think, over 18 been able. You have to already, like, apply and start the drug within six months of your first insulin dose. I was a woman I met on Instagram. She actually, she lived abroad and told me she was, like, you should try the study. And so I applied, and I literally started the drug, like, one day before my six months, uh, like anniversary of taking insulin. And so it was a drug that I took for a year, two year study, double blinded. I don't know. No one knows if I had the drug or not, but I had side effects of the drug, which was mainly heartburn. And so I would take it for two weeks on, two weeks off, twice a day. I would go in every three months, and they would, like, give me an EKG. They would test on my blood. They would make me drink this, like, disgusting protein shake. I wasn't allowed to take any insulin. I could take my long acting, but no fast acting. They would just monitor my blood every 30 minutes, of like, how that was that shake was impacting my blood sugar, which was, like, really terrifying to just watch it just be like, Hi, you're like, and you can't do anything about it. And that was really hard, but it was really cool, because I got all these free tests. So kind of going back to what I was saying, of, I'm obsessed with learning. They couldn't tell me a lot of the blood work because it was for the research trial. I got like, four free EKGs. My heart's great, like, you know, like, all this stuff. And so I was like, I love this. I love being a guinea pig for for science. And my research agenda was great because, you know, I don't really love my care team, but you know, you have to be your own doctor, so to speak. Sometimes, like I was saying I had to take hormone replacement supplements because my early menopause, I had to go on birth control, because it was either, you know, I could wear a patch, and I was like, I already wear stuff on my body. I don't need something else. I have to worry about changing. And so I just opted for birth control. But birth control made me so resistant, like it was wild, and that was really dark time for me, because it was like I was doing everything I was doing before, but it was different. And so I was like, Okay, this is wild. And so my endo put me on Metformin. And like, Metformin was kind of helping, and then she realized through my research trial that I was still had some C peptides. So she was like, I think you should be on a GLP. Because she was like, I typically like to give all of my diabetics that still have C peptides or make or have some small amount of functionality, a GLP, because, you know, there's regenerative properties, and who knows, all the things I listened to that podcast that when you interviewed that man, I forget what he was taking, but he took the GLP, a GLP, and now he no longer takes insulin.

Scott Benner 34:53
He was taking the Manjaro, yeah,

Kim 34:57
yeah. And so I was like, Ooh, but. Also like, you know, I'm like, I can't expect that same result, but I did start getting on a GLP on october 1. I'm on ozempic. So I take ozempic, I take Metformin, and I do insulin. So I'm like, doing the most. It's been really helpful. So I can, you know, it's just like, yeah, and playing dodgeball, it's like, I take this medicine to help with this, but it's increasing this. I have to take that to keep that at bay. And it's just like, yeah, it's a lot, yeah. And it's, it's really frustrating sometimes to be like, I'm doing, I'm taking all of this. And there's like, people out there that are just stuffing their face with onion rings and Diet Coke, and they're fine. And it's like,

Scott Benner 35:34
oh, they're fine for now, yeah, it's not gonna, I mean, listen, maybe they'll roll all the way through, but it just seems unlikely I would do what you're doing. You know what I mean? Like, if you feel good about what you're doing and you're seeing value from it, then then do it? Did the ozempic bring down your insulin needs? So what I was doing

Kim 35:53
when I was taking so I'm on Tracy BA and I take email. I'm on a hemolog half units, which I think is one of the reasons why I haven't moved to a pod yet. I was taking so I had some, like, I was on basal gar when I first got diagnosed. And first of all, no one ever told me there was multiple types of insulin, so I just was like, this is this? This is what you take when you're diabetic. This is the insulin. And then people were like, well, there's faster or there's like, little extra long acting and taking Tracy, but like, really changed my vibe with long acting, because people

Scott Benner 36:22
seem to love Tracey, but generally, yeah, I love

Kim 36:24
it. Like, I think it's great. It's whatever. So I had some days like, our leftover and I was needing to take, like, a small little bump of insulin before bed for my overnights, because my overnights were always like, and when I say high, like, my high and other people's high are probably different. But like, I don't really want to sleep at 150 all night. Like, that's my sleep time is, like, kind of my, my bonus time for diabetes. Like, can I try to get my average a little lower to, you know, when I'm sleeping and not eating and not doing anything, you know, it's like, when I'm going into battle, when I wake up, like, I agree, like, like, the so I was taking that, and so the ozempic eliminated that, and also eliminated my variation of when I would go up a unit for my long, acting here and there, just depending on, like this, where I was in my, like, the hormone path. What's your dose? I take nine units every morning. I'm sorry,

Scott Benner 37:16
ozempic, I mean,

Kim 37:18
oh, sorry, I'm at 0.5 okay,

Scott Benner 37:22
all right, so point two, five wasn't enough. That was what I first did

Kim 37:24
for the first four weeks. And then I asked my end I was like, so do I just keep on that? And she was like, yeah, let me know if anything changes. And so I've been on it, but

Scott Benner 37:33
because you're not trying to impact your weight or your nod, no, right? No. What about eat? Are you able to eat on it? Fine. No, it's gonna say, why don't you try point two, five again? I

Kim 37:44
know, I know. I'm just like, I think, like, the nausea now is not as consistent as it was. Like in the early, probably four or five weeks, it was really bad. I You're on

Scott Benner 37:56
Manjaro. I use that bound. It is Manjaro. But yeah. And

Kim 38:00
like, I've heard you talk about your journey and, like, you know, and the one thing I actually listened to one of the pods the other day around the woman who was, she's like, Yeah, who's young, in her early 20s, she takes ozempic, and she was saying how she was having a versions to me. And I was like, me too, at dinner, like, at night, like morning, not really that much. I like workout first thing in the morning. So, like, sometimes there's some nausea because I take, like, electrolytes in the morning, but not super, not crazy, like in the evenings, is when and I smell the food cooking, that's when the nausea hits.

Scott Benner 38:32
Okay, I don't know why you wouldn't try point two five, just to say because they move you up to lose weight, but if you're not trying to lose weight, and point two, five is helping, then it's helping, like, right? So like, I mean, it's not like, you're gonna keep going, because if you push more, you're not gonna be able to eat anything.

Kim 38:49
And even think of that. Like, see again, with the education for adults with stuff, no one tells you you're just like, Here you go.

Scott Benner 38:55
They're reading you the label. You do point two, five for four weeks, and you go to point five, and then you we get you up to the dose, and if it's too much, then we'll back. You all. You off, but we'll see in the future. Yeah, you're not they, because they don't know what they're talking about either. They're following the layout, yeah, which is, I mean, listen, God bless. That's what they should probably be doing. But there's a lot of people out there, like, you know, micro dosing, glps, I know people who are, like, putting it into vials and doing like, little bits every day instead of, like, one injection a week. So there's people are trying a bunch of different things right now, off label with it. Yeah. I mean, if you're not eating, we you want to eat, right? So

Kim 39:31
I know it's, it's bad, like, it's, I'm it's better now than it was. The nausea is what really and it's not like bad nausea where it's like, I'm out for the count, it's just like, you know, when you have a paper cut and you get lemon juice in it here and there, it's annoying, like, it's just in the background.

Scott Benner 39:48
I've been at it for like, a year and a half or more. Now it doesn't touch me anymore, like that. But, I mean, there's a lot you're adjusting to as you're using, for sure. And I just said to somebody the other day, I'm like, Look, you know, I was like, I don't know. That I had like, a solid bowel movement for like, nine months, but I was losing weight, so I was like, whatever. And then eventually my body did get accustomed to it, and now that's just not a problem anymore. As a matter of fact, I'm, you know, I'm starting to sit here today thinking, like, I haven't gone to bathroom a little bit. Yeah, you do have to pay more attention, because you are, you're impacting your systems, right? So, like, you're now kind of in control of it, you pay attention a little more. Add a little, I mean, I add, like, a magnesium oxide if I'm not going to the bathroom, like, you know, like, there's little things you have to do. You can't just sit around and go, like, I injected the stuff. And this is what's happening now. You're not going to succeed if you're not paying attention to it. I think I agree.

Kim 40:40
I and it's all different, like, your experience is different than my experience. Obviously, you know, you're not a type one diabetic, but everyone kind of just like, is like, Oh, you're on those em pick. And they just immediately think, I want to lose weight. And I'm like, that's, that's like, the one, like, my endo was basically like, if you come back, I have an appointment in January. She said, I go every three, four months, and we're going to monitor your weight, and if you're too, you know, if you lose weight, like, if you lose more than, I don't know, whatever, we're going to have to find a different solution or take you off of it. So, and I was like, no, like, this is really helping me. But like, and then there's that vein side of me that's like, Yeah, let's lose weight. Like, you know, I'm like, in this weird, like, push and pull of, like, I want to be healthy. I want to be taking this, but I also don't mind losing, you know, weight. Like, what females like, No, I don't want to lose weight. You know what I mean, like, I mean

Scott Benner 41:29
less than female, male, whatever. Like, yeah, listen the person I spoke to the other day using the GLP that actually helped a lot of their hormonal issues, right? Like, PCOS, stuff and, like, you know, in a much better situation. Now, that was their concern. They were like, if I go back to the doctor and they see that I've lost weight, like, are they? They can't take this from me. This is helping me with so many different things. You know what I mean? Like, it's not a perfect plan. It's like, it's like, you know, here's this drug they they made for type two diabetes. People found that it was, you know, really effective for weight loss. And then suddenly people started realizing, like, the same person I'm talking about, they had, they had kidney issues that cleared. So their kidney issues cleared, and their hormonal stuff, like, really bad periods, not like painful, but like periods that would last, like, weeks, you know, yep, and all this is taken care of. But they lost some weight. You know, you'll hear her episode eventually, but give her a ton of credit, she went back to the doctor and she said, Look, these are drinks that are high calorie. I want you to, like, prescribe them for me, because I need the calories. I'm not able to get them in because of the GLP, but the GLP is helping me with so many other things. I'm not letting you take it from me. Yep. So, that was a great, I thought, fix for that person. Yeah,

Kim 42:43
and I agree, because everyone thinks of glps and they immediately go to weight loss. And I'm like, Do you not realize how many other benefits a GLP can offer individuals, especially a type one diabetic that doesn't make this hormone anymore? Yeah, you

Scott Benner 42:56
know our problem, Kim. And actually, you know it, because this is your job. And I did want to ask you, like, you said, type back. I didn't want to, like, use a phrase that you didn't use, yeah. But being in marketing and advertising, it's such a thing that you you're really not in control of. Like, you can make the best thing and put it out there, and if people don't react to it like that. I just felt like that must have been, that must be crazy for you to like, like, go, like, I know we did a great job. How come nobody clicked on, yeah, that must be like, it must be a bad job for you, is what I was thinking.

Kim 43:24
No, no, it's actually fun. I'm on the account side, so I manage the team that creates all our content. All right, that makes more sense, and it's actually more fun now with like trends and stuff like on Tik Tok. So, you know, I mainly in the social media space, so it's, it's fun, but it is annoying when you're like, Wait, this is so fun. We worked on this for so long and like, no one's engaging with it, damn it. But

Scott Benner 43:47
my point was, is that you said, you know, everybody thinks this about a GLP or, you know, here's what people think about diabetes when I'm out in the world. The trouble is, is that whether you're a regular walking around person or a physician or whatever, everyone's really impacted by the way information moves around. Now, yep, no one really understands anything. And you do know it's funny, because I was going to make this point, but you just sort of made it like your job's kind of a game. It's almost like you're just trying to keep a top spinning for as long as you can, or something like that, right when that's the way it works. Like, if you are on Youtube, for example, I'm gonna feel like I'm all over the place for a second. And you see people doing reviews of things, you realize that they know that the algorithm needs them to say a certain number of good things and a certain number of bad things about the thing they're reviewing. And so I had been looking into a product for a while, and I came to realize that the things that people were telling you to be scared of about the product, they're not really an issue. It's just the only thing they could find to say about it that wasn't positive. And so then when you look out into the ether, people believe that this product has this bad aspect. To it, but it doesn't. It's just the thing that YouTubers use to say. But here's my con, and I wonder how much of that impacts GOP medications, right? Uh huh. Because people come on and they're like, you know, like, if I say too many good things, right? Someone will roll up on you and say, like, Oh, you're, you know, you're pimping for a pharma company. And so I have to say some bad things. So what's the bad thing? I'll say, I'll say this thing because I heard someone else say it, and then down the road, poor Kim's in her office, and her doctor is now spouting this back out like it's true, but it's just the way social media works, you know, because you're in it. And I don't know how clear I was to everyone listening, but I think a lot of the things you think are just things people say to feed the algorithm, to get their clicks, to try to stay in their game a little longer. Mm, hmm, that's, yeah,

Kim 45:51
there's, there's definitely a lot of that. And like, you know, we saw a lot of it, you know, with the election and all of that. It's, it's, it is a game of, like, what people read and what they read a headline of, or what they're actually educating themselves on and, and I think that goes for everything in life, whether it's a new coat you're looking to buy or a medicine you want to take, or all these things. It's like, don't just read a headline,

Scott Benner 46:16
I will tell you. Like using politics as an example, you don't know anything about the people running for office, what you know is what the other side wants you to know about them. Yep, yep, that's what you know. And you will spout it off like I heard. Or you know what he did? You know what she did? Like that thing because you heard it three times. But when you have my job, what you recognize is what you're hearing is talking points, yep. And the talking points have been fed to all the influencers, so they all say the same thing. You catch two or three of them saying it. Now you think it's a rule, Yep, yeah. And now you believe it that's marketing. We should all have to take a psychology and a marketing course in college so that you know how the world is trying to manipulate you. Yeah, I know, going back to what we're talking about is this is where you get, like, I had to suspend somebody in the group the other day because she just like, somebody was trying to talk about their GLP medication and what it was doing for them and their insulin resistance. They're having this really kind of high level conversation about how glps are helping people with diabetes and other things. And this person just swoops in and goes, Oh, I didn't know we were allowed to talk about the skinny girl drug here. Oh, my God. I was like, Okay, what am I gonna do? I mean, yeah, take this person and explain to them how they're being manipulated by influencers on Instagram and YouTube and like, Facebook algorithm and like, I can't do that. Like, and if you just say to them, like, you don't know what you're talking about, like, you have to go find like, listen to what these people are like, experiencing. It's the next level of how this is going to happen. Like, people who I can't believe I'm going to say this, but people who can kind of remain true to their message are going to be the next level of information disseminators, you know? And that's just where this is going to go from here. But then there's the the catch 22 of course, is always going to be that no one's going to believe you if you're doing it, because if you're big enough to be heard, you're taking ads from somebody, yeah, like you listen to this podcast, like, generally speaking, I don't think you would listen to me and think he's being told to say something by somebody? Yeah, you know, I'll have companies on that buy ads, and I'll have companies on that don't buy ads, and when they want to come on and talk about their product, they're doing a marketing pitch, right? It's what they're doing, right? Like, I just did one with a CGM, and you listen, there's all the information out there. You basically just had their website, like, read to you, and this is what they want you to know about it. Now you've got to go out and do the rest and figure it out, right? I don't take that ad. You don't get this podcast, right like so there's my catch 22 at the same time, I can tell you that no one has ever pulled me aside and said, say this. Don't say that. Please. Don't say this, please. No one's ever done that. Yeah? I mean,

Kim 49:05
like, let's just say we're talking about, you know, CGM company, or whatever. Like, they want to reach your listeners, so, like, they'll basically, like, do whatever. You know what I mean? If you say, No, I don't want to say that, I'll say this. But like, okay, great. Just say our name. You know what I mean? Like, just getting that awareness out there is worth it, enough for them. You know,

Scott Benner 49:23
I got this great story told to me one time. There was a company that that was not buying ads on the podcast, and they were in a marketing meeting. I got this phone call from a person, and they said, Listen, I've been tasked with buying ads on your podcast. And I'm like, Oh, awesome. You know, we started talking and everything, and the person said, we were just in a meeting, you know, in a room. This was back before COVID, when everybody got into a room to talk to each other. And the the CEO of the the CEO of the company, this is a big company, too, came rolling into the meeting, stuck their head in the meeting, and said, Hey, everybody's doing great. I just wanted to say, why don't. You have ads on Juicebox, let's fix that. And then walked out. And as the person was walking out of the room, someone stopped and said, hey, hey, hey, we don't buy ads on that podcast because he makes fun of us. Oh, and the guy goes, You're making fun of everybody. Pay attention. I love that. And that was the end of it. And so now I do ads with that company. I love that Yeah, and so, like, has there ever been a time where somebody has said something terrible about an advertiser, and I thought to myself, Oh, gosh, this is probably not good. I've thought that. Have I ever stopped them? No, like I never have, because in the end, I have enough advertisers, and if somebody got pissed and left, I gotta be honest with you, like somebody else would flow right into the spot, it wouldn't really be a big deal to me. What's happening to the people on the other side is worrisome to me, because everyone thinks they know something, but you don't realize in this age of digital like information, you just know what people want you to know. That's it. And even when you dig down, you're still just getting some version of disseminated information. And it's not just about diabetes, it's about everything.

Kim 51:08
And that's like, why I really want to continue to raise awareness and education, because it's like, it's the one thing I can help on. There's just so much information and confusion and all the stuff out there that it's the only thing that I can do. Like, I, you know, can't even educate my own mother to understand that. Like, right, this is something real. And because she's like, Well, why are you she's on Manjaro, but she's on it for type two situations, and really wants to use it for weight loss, which is fine, that's great. Works for her. But, like, awesome. She's like, why are you on it? You don't need it. Like, she just doesn't understand. And so she just thinks, again, like, what majority of Americans think a GLP, weight loss. You know, the celebrities taking ozempic and ozempic face and all this stuff. And I'm just like, You do realize that weight loss is one aspect of what this drug can do for your body, especially for a body that doesn't produce all the hormones that a type one diabetic doesn't produce. Like, it's not just insulin. There's more. There's way more other things, like, there's, I forget the hormones called, but it's the hormone that, like, can have trouble with you feeling full so you eat more. You know what I mean? Like, that's what the GOP helps with. Like, it's just, it's way more helpful than it is hurtful. And it's not a weight loss drug, I guess. It

Scott Benner 52:17
does so many different things, and you're gonna find out in the future, all the things that it's going to do, like, the this study on kidney health, where, yep, the FDA said it's wrong to continue this study, because it's so obvious about how well it works. Start giving it to people. Let's stop, like, stop studying it. Like, that's how, how, like, positive that study was. And so who knows what else I mean. Listen, inflammation, right? We've been yelling about inflammation for 50 years, and now there's something that's bringing down people's inflammation. And instead of being like, wow, we found something that did that, what you hear instead is, oh, ozempic face. But what you don't know about ozempic face is, is that it's just some YouTuber who one day said, By the way, when, oh God, when people are fat and they lose weight, that's what their face looks like, okay? Like, that's what happens. And then your elasticity comes back. And if you're lucky, like, look, I gotta tell you something. I had a double chin that I don't have anymore, and I was so worried that I was just gonna look like George Lucas after I lost weight, which is a very old reference for people, but nevertheless, like that was one of my concerns, and I got lucky, and that didn't happen. But if it did happen, would I have had ozempic Chin, or was I just fat? And now I'm not as fat anymore. Some YouTubers like, Hey, I'm noticing a lot of people losing weight have that look on their face. I'll call it ozempic face, and then everybody else will call it ozempic face, and then they'll drive my clicks up, and then I'll sell my clicks to somebody else. Yep, yep. And by the way, Google owns YouTube, and it's like, pay attention. This person doesn't think you have ozempic face. They think that your little lizard, part of your brain is gonna go, us and them, us and them. I'm us, they're them. Ozempic face is bad. See, people are using that skinny girl drug. They're bad. I'm good. We're on a team. I'm winning. They're losing. In the end, you're all losing because it's just about clicks and minutes so they can serve you ads, right? There's no such thing as ozempic face. I know, I know. Here's another one for you. EVs, don't just catch on fire all the time. These are the things that you're being told every day on I bet you that neither of the people running for president were either as bad or as good as you thought they were. Absolutely not. Yeah. So anyway, and Kim knows, because this is her job, they're just manipulating all you. I

Kim 54:47
know, right? I know it's like, there was one time a couple years ago when my dad was complaining about ads in his Gmail or something. And I looked at my guy, he didn't realize, like, that's the reason why I have a job. And he was like, what? Like. To get it, yeah? But he was like, get this ad off of here. I'm like, yeah, that's, ah, I can't do that

Scott Benner 55:04
sales. Listen, I'd rather this than a guy show up in my front door with a vacuum cleaner. Hello, can I dump some ashes on your floor and vacuum them up for you? Oh, my God, did you not go to college? Leave me alone, right, right? This is a very old business, like, you know, marketing. There's no people used to stand up in the middle of town and yell about, like, hey, this oil will make your skin like, you know, like it's this is what's gonna happen. I don't mind that it happens. I even understand that it happens. I'm confused at how people don't understand it's happening.

Kim 55:36
I know that's the part that throws me off. So I know it's wild, wild. Yeah.

Scott Benner 55:41
So when you hear people say you can't Pre Bolus your meals, it's dangerous. That's just somebody who heard that one time, and then another person heard it and said it, and then one person, one day, gave themselves too much insulin before they ate. They got low, and then they took that as confirmation that that's what happens. And then before you know it, you know, it's 20 or 30 years later, the insulins changed three different times, and you still have a doctor out there who says you can't do that. And then I meet a person who's 40 years old who's had diabetes for 25 years. They have gastroparesis, they're on their way to other problems, and one day, they find the podcast and Pre Bolus their meal and go like, Oh, why didn't anybody tell me this? Like, how come somebody's been giving me the exact opposite of good advice for the last 30 years? I've had diabetes. Yeah, I haven't said this in a long time. Okay, but there's a mom and a little girl, and they're making a meat loaf. The mom, she shapes the meat, and then she gets the pan, and then she cuts the edges off the meatloaf. And she, by the way, I think it's a pot roast in the story, let's say pot roast. She takes the pot roast out, she cuts the edges off, and she puts in her pan. She cooks it. The little girl says, Mom, Why'd you cut the ends off the pot roast? She goes, I don't know. It's how my mom did it. So call grandma and sing. The little girl calls grandma, says, grandma, my mom just cut the ends off our pot roast and cook that, like, what's the reason for that? And she goes, Oh, I don't know. I've always done it that way. It's how my mom did it. Great. Grand mom's off in the home. She's 97 years old. One day they all go visit her, and the little girl runs up to her super excited, and says, mom and grandmom, cut the ends off the pot roast. And they say that that's how you taught them to make it. Why did you do that? The old lady thinks, and she thinks and she thinks. She goes, Oh, I had a really short pan, like, and so, like, you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, and that's a bad thing around medicine. That's my point. My point is that there are people with diabetes who are doing things because there's still a doctor who was given somebody regular and mph, and that guy's still practicing somewhere, yep, that's why. And he doesn't even know. He doesn't know what he's talking he doesn't know what trace, but is, he doesn't, he doesn't prescribe it to his patients. And, you know, I don't know. I hope this conversation is helpful for people. This is what they mean when they say, advocate for yourself. Yep, yeah, yeah.

Kim 57:58
And like, just like, coming out of, like, my story, a lot of my friends have been like, Hey, thank you. Like, I went, I got blood work done, and I have this genetic thing, or I have this and they're making decisions about their health. And, like, I think that's awesome. And I just my one thing to people listening, which I'm sure they're probably already on top of their health. Or if they're not, like, push for extra blood work. Don't just get your a 1c tested, find out what else. Like, do some get a metabolic panel done. Like, do it twice a year, not just once a year. Like, it's very typically inexpensive with your insurance to cover. Like, I typically pay between 20 and $25 for blood work. I'm fortunate enough to have access to health care that I'm able to do these things. But I just, like, advocate for yourself. Don't just take what your endo says. Like, come to your endo with questions. Like, push your endo on things. Like, my end, I pushed my endo to get me on a GLP. I was like, she coded me as type one and type two. That's how I was able to get it, since I was so resistant, it's like, you got you can't just listen to a doctor and just think, like, oh well, my doctor said to do this. Like, question them sometimes, if you don't feel comfortable, like, push them. Do your own research. Be careful of your research. Try things out. See what works for you, because you're the one that lives with this condition, day in, day out, not your endo your end does sees you for maybe 20 minutes every three months, if you're lucky, like you just gotta advocate for yourself. That is the biggest thing that I have learned, is that, like, doctors aren't your only person you know, like you are your own doctor. At some aspects, take those learnings, figure it out, you're gonna fail. A ton, yeah, figure it out. Don't be afraid. Stop

Scott Benner 59:24
taking like, Oh no, that's not how it works. Is the final answer. Yep. I am married to a much prettier lady than I should be. Because at some point in my 20s, I thought, What do I got to lose? I'll ask her, and I do that with everything. Like Arden's, you know, the same thing, like, she's been using Manjaro, but the injector pen is too much for, like, she just can't eat enough so, and she's, by the way, and we've been talking about this a little more and more, Arden has a really terrible, like, needle phobia, and so it's, it's hard for, so she's been. Sing rebel says, now for a few days, like, it's a pill and it's, is it as good as like, Manjaro? Probably not. But like, we're working on trying to, like, make it work for like, where do we get a balance where she can still eat but have impact on her blood sugar? And how do you get that? You get a doctor who says the medical version of like, that girl is probably too pretty for me, but I'll ask her anyway, you know, and look what you did. Like, the doctor was like, hey, I'll just like, she's got insulin resistance. If she didn't have type one diabetes, she'd have type two, so she's got type one and type two. And then you're and then the insurance company goes, Oh, okay, well, here, here's your resume and and will they catch up and put a stop to that. Who knows. But then the next person who comes along and figures out how to get around it will get around it, and then we'll all get around it, like, yep. But if you're busy being that person online or in your life, that just goes like, omics, not for type ones, yep. It says on the label, not for type ones. Could cause low blood sugar. Think a little bit like, Uh huh, just expand. And I know there are even people out there who are like, look, a lot of people use things and they don't understand them, and it can be dangerous for them. And that is 100% true. Like, there's a reason that label says not for type ones. Could cause DKA, could cause blood like, low blood sugars. I understand, like, I know why it's there, but we all don't have to suffer because someone doesn't understand, right? When did it stop being incumbent upon people to take care of themselves? Like, it's the way freedom works, like you don't get to take my freedom away from me because you're scared of what I'm gonna do with it. Like, like, we all get freedom, okay? And some people do a good job with it, and some people do a bad job with it, and ozempics out there, and some people are going to understand it and use it well, and some people aren't, but we can't let nobody benefit, because some people might do it the wrong way. I agree,

Kim 1:01:52
and that goes not just glps, even with insulin too. Like I feel like I was be told to be so conservative with insulin because you don't want to go low. And I'm like, sure there's gonna be a lot of trial and error, but like, I'd rather be on the lower side, like, kind of how you're like, be bold with insulin, than be in the two hundreds, because I'm afraid to be under 70. Like, I don't, this might be whatever, but I don't mind being 6570 I don't that doesn't. I don't feel bad in that element. Like, obviously I'm not, like, going to be six. Ride 65 all day. But, like, but like, if I go down to 69 I'll take, like, a little two to three car piece of candy and eat that and get back up and see where I'm at. Like, yeah, that is better. That's more easier for me to control. Just kind of like, you say you can get a low up, it's harder to get a high down, and then you probably will end up low anyway, because you over corrected. And it's just like,

Scott Benner 1:02:41
Yeah, you know what's funny, though, is the thing I just said, some people will listen to that and they'll be like, Oh, I didn't know Scott was a right wing lunatic. Like, like, you know what I mean. But trust me, you don't know my politics, right? And you only think that because someone has told you that if someone talks about personal freedom or this, then they code that way. But that's, by the way, not true about me, but it is what a lot of people just heard and then thought, and then I'm telling you, like, going back to the other conversation, like, you got to start wondering why you're thinking what you're thinking, right? And then apply it to your I'm not saying this. I don't care about politics, like, and then apply it to your health. Like, like, that's my bigger point. Like, it's funny, because what I just said 20 years ago, I would have coded as a super Democrat. People would have been like, Oh my God, he's so liberal, right? All the like, it's, it's funny. How like people, their version of what, who is on what side, and what that means changes all the time and again. I do think you're being manipulated by social media on that stuff as well.

Kim 1:03:44
Yep, I agree. I agree. And it's like, health should not be political like that. Like, I know that's a whole conversation in itself, but it's like, you can control your health, advocate for your health. Like, don't matter. It doesn't matter. Like, do it. Like, don't listen to what society says. Figure out what you want to do for you, do your own research. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:04:02
and forget political, but, like, societally political, because that's what really because, because, look, you said it with your your mom's like, she's using this medication that she knows helps her, and you get it, and she's like, Why do you have that? Yep, oh my god, we're on teams on this one too, mom. God, yeah, but your mom's on Team type two. You're on Team type one. Apparently, in her mind, meanwhile, you're on team, like, I just would like to feel better, if you don't mind. And, yeah, it's not constant. I do a really good job online of, like, I really want anybody with diabetes to be able to be in my Facebook group. But every once in a while, you'll get somebody who's like, I don't understand why other people would type two in here. It's called Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes. And I'm like, I called it Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes, because Juicebox Podcast didn't really indicate diabetes to anybody, right? And when I started it, I didn't know the podcast was going to get so big that it would attract people using insulin with type two. I didn't know that glps Were going to come into the world and that maybe I'd be one of the few people having, like, a real. The conversation about them so that other people would the other types of diabetes would show up. Like, I didn't know any of that was going to happen, right? And I can't just change the name all of a sudden, this is what it is. And we let people with type two in here too happily. And most like, you know, there's 55 56,000 members at this point, and they're active members too. It's not like some like, it's not, you know, it's not a shelf number, right? Like, and so, but every once in a while, you'll get somebody who's like, this isn't what this place is for. And I'm like, I decide what this place is for, not. And so if you don't like it, I hate to see you go, but get the out, right? Because this is for everybody, and if you're gonna stand in the way of this being for everybody, then you're not part of everybody, absolutely. Yeah, and that, and it's that, it's that simple again, that just made me sound like something to you. Trust me, you don't know me or how I feel. Yeah, people deserve free access to up to the date information, yep. And if it's not been clear, as I've been talking for the last hour, I feel like that information comes from users, not that that's how I feel

Kim 1:06:03
100% like I cannot tell you your podcast, like listening to other people come on when Jenny's on, you know, like I was saying my my friend Carly that I met, talking to her about her experiences. Another I've met so many other people like we talk about our day to day experiences. I learned so much from from my community and from your podcast, and then a doctor has any has ever, ever told me I use my doctor for scripts, for blood work and for, like, potential new advancements or this or that, or whatever, but all my day to day management or complaining or bitching and all that I go to my community or I put on your podcast, and I'm like, What is this? Like? I learned so much about MDI on your podcast. Like I had no idea what I was doing. No one told me anything. Everyone was like, here you go, inject yourself. And I'm like, when, where? Like, what? Like, what do I do? And it's like, this, that's the problem. No, like, Why do I have I mean, God bless. I'm so grateful for your your podcast. But like, why do we have to depend on a podcast? Why can't we depend on our character?

Scott Benner 1:07:03
You get big enough in this space, like, some people just aren't gonna like you, which is fine, and expect it, right? And I always think to people, I'm like, you know, when they're like, Oh, I hate that guy or whatever, I'm like, Hey, you should. Yeah, it's not my fault. I didn't make the void that I filled. Doctors made the void that I filled. And then some doctors get it, and some don't. And by the way, you could get lucky, you might end up with a doctor who knows everything that's in this podcast and more. And like you said, God bless. That's awesome, right? But for all the people who don't, what do? They deserve to die, you know, because you didn't get lucky enough to find a doctor who understood how your insulin worked, or, you know that GLP medications might be for people, even if it's off label, yep, yep, you know. So I don't know, like, It's not my fault. I shouldn't have a job, right? Like, I really shouldn't. I should be off doing something else. But this exists for a reason, and I didn't make the reason, yep, you know. So I also didn't make the system it runs in. So when people are like, Oh, he takes ads, yeah, because it's a full time job, right? Like, listen, Kim, you oversee a group of people who do social media and advertising and stuff like that, right? Yes, an honest reaction. I have an editor, so I pay someone who does editing, okay? And either are people who volunteer their time to help oversee the Facebook group. Other than that, I make the world's most popular diabetes podcast completely by myself. That's insane, right? Yeah, how many people do you think you'd have to hire to make my podcast like,

Kim 1:08:32
you know, you would have a producer, you'd have an editor, you would have, like, a manager that would help facilitate like appointments and talking to people, getting guests like, I would say you probably need to have at least five to seven people under you to support take

Scott Benner 1:08:45
ads, so leave me the alone. Okay? Yeah, I'm definitely not looking for anybody to feel bad for me, right? I make a podcast for a living, like it's, it's not a bad way to live. But as a matter of fact, I had to tell somebody the other day. I'll tell you the story in a second. This is how it has to happen. This is a full time job, like, at 1130 at night, when you're in bed trying to get lucky. I'm on Facebook, like, going, like, this person gotta go. I'm typing thoughtful notes to people I see what you feel like this way. Bucha, you know, I'm in the shower making social media content my head. I'm gonna record with you, and then I'm gonna, like, turn and put up a blog post that I had to put together, and then I'm gonna, like, I am doing, like, the job of 1000 people, right? And again, I'm not complaining, but when people complain back to me, like, I can't believe he makes money off of my diabetes. I'm like, Do you think that's what's happening? I'm like, great. You have no idea what it is to make this thing work and for to be successful. So, right?

Kim 1:09:40
Like, you're not doing it for ads. Like, that's not why you're in the game. You're doing this because your daughter was diagnosed. You saw a huge gap in her education and help and as a care person, like, I can't even imagine having a toddler or a baby, let alone having Oh, my God. I just when I see parents that have type one children. I just breaks my heart, like I just can't even imagine it, but like, you're helping people, like, I don't understand why people give you a hard time, but like, maybe they

Scott Benner 1:10:08
don't understand that. They don't understand that my electricity costs the same as theirs, you know. And by the way, I've had a two year old with type one diabetes, a three, a four or five, all the way up to a 20. So far, I so far, can't find one age that was better or easier than the others. So far, they've all been pretty horrible. Yeah,

Kim 1:10:27
pretty horrible. I know, I know I just like, I would love to not have diabetes, but I'm glad that I was diagnosed when I was and not when I was like a little kid. But then, you know, you go back and forth, because it's like I had a whole life where I didn't have to worry about what I was eating, but I also went through college, got my first job, got, you know, got through the dating, marriage, such stuff like, so, you know, I have to have it. I'm glad I got it when I did and not when I was

Scott Benner 1:10:53
a lot, it's all perspective, like you're if you're willing to look at it that way, then that's why it feels positive to you.

Kim 1:10:59
Yeah, I mean, you have to, or else you'll just be pissed off and upset and all the time, which I obviously am the like, constantly, but I can't change it. So it's like, why be negative and upset all the time? That's that's way more stressful, and we'll just make my sugars worse. Anyway, no,

Scott Benner 1:11:15
100% and you could again, you could choose to say, Oh my God. Like, I, I just got married, and I was the prime of my life, and I myself, and it ruined everything. But you could, you could come from that perspective and say that, but then that's, that's where you're going to live, then if that's how you decide to look at it. So right, right? Call that ignorance, or if you can call it whatever you want, but ignorance is bliss, a little bit. So math, I agree. Is there anything we didn't talk about that we should have?

Kim 1:11:40
No, I don't, I don't think so. I think we talked about it all. And I just like, I hope, if you know someone's listening to this, that it helps them, or if they have any questions or whatever, like, I hope somebody's like, oh, I had that problem too or something. I just like, I just want to help people, especially in diabetes community, because it's like, like, We're all just trying to figure out on our own, and we're all kind of scared all the time. And you know, I just think this community is amazing, especially the community you've built. So it's like, Let's just all lean on each other and not be so just, you know, be like, Well, I'm on this, or I'm on that, or you take this and I take this much, it's like, come on, we're all just trying to survive.

Scott Benner 1:12:14
Listen, it's my opinion. You can do whatever you want with it, but if you find yourself comparing yourself to other people, or being mad because someone has something or doesn't have something, or I honestly don't think those are your thoughts. I think those are thoughts that have been given to you by, you know, apps and social media and the way things work nowadays, and, you know, the desire to, you know, get your clicks and your eyes and your views and your hearts and all those other things like, just, yep, just try stepping back for a minute and just thinking what you think and absolutely and then just ask out a really pretty girl that definitely shouldn't say yes to you. And I still must have caught her on a bad day, you know? I mean, she must have been, she must have been feeling or good. I think she was probably just feeling bad about herself that day or something. She's like, this is the Jackass I deserve, probably, anyway, you got to go out there and advocate for yourself in all aspects and and that doesn't mean pitting yourself against somebody else or their thing 100% I don't know how we got to this point, but just seems important to say once in a while, I agree. I agree. Yep. Kim, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Yeah. Thank

Kim 1:13:17
you for having me on. I love talking to you. I love your podcast. It's so so so helpful. So keep it up and

Scott Benner 1:13:24
yeah, I appreciate that very much. I really do.

Kim 1:13:26
Thanks, Scott. Talk to you soon.

Scott Benner 1:13:35
Having an easy to use an accurate blood glucose meter is just one click away. Contour, next.com/juice box. That's right. Today's episode is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. This episode of the juice box podcast was sponsored by us Med, us, med.com/juice, box, or call 888-721-1514, get started today with us. Med links in the show notes. Links at Juicebox podcast.com this episode was sponsored by touched by type one. I want you to go find them on Facebook, Instagram, and give them a follow, and then head to touched by type one.org. Where you can learn all about their programs and resources for people with type one diabetes. I can't thank you enough for listening. Please make sure you're subscribed, you're following in your audio app. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. Hey, kids, listen up. You've made it to the end of the podcast. You must have enjoyed it. You know what else you might enjoy? The private Facebook group for the Juicebox Podcast. I know you're thinking, uh, Facebook, Scott, please, but no, beautiful group, wonderful people, a fantastic community. Juicebox Podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. Of course, if you have type two, are you touched by diabetes in any way? You're absolutely welcome. It's a private group, so you. Have to answer a couple of questions before you come in, but make sure you're not a bot or an evil doer. Then you're on your way. You'll be part of the family. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrongway recording.com, you.

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Scott Benner 3/30/25 Scott Benner 3/30/25

#1477 Small Sips: Trust Will Happen

Trust in diabetes management grows with experience—confidence comes with time and learning.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, welcome to the sips series.

These foundational strategies were nominated by listeners. They told me, these are the ideas in the podcast that truly made a difference for them. So I distilled them down into short, actionable insights. There's not going to be any fluff or complex jargon, just practical, real world diabetes management that you can start applying today. And I know your time is valuable, so we're keeping these short. Another small sip will come out once a week for the foreseeable future. If you like what you hear, check out the Pro Tip series or the bold beginning series for more. Those series are available in the menu at Juicebox podcast.com and you can find complete lists of all of the series in the featured tab on the private Facebook group. Please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin. The questions you have, I guarantee you there's answers to them in the Juicebox Podcast, and it's all free. You

Jenny, apparently in episode 366, 260, and 693, I have said the messages trust will happen. The problem is, is that the first time I said it. I remember this as clear as day, because as I was speaking it into the microphone, I thought, oh, that's an incredibly awkward way to say something. But I just kept going with it. And I think the way I say it is trust that what you know is going to happen is going to happen. And again, I could probably just go to chat GPT put that sentence in and say, Please tell me 10 better ways to say this. But I think you have to trust that things that you have seen in certain situations and they repeat, if you trust that they're going to happen, then suddenly you can have just a half a juice box to stop below, or you can Bolus three extra units. Then this thing says, because you know, that this food needs more insulin, like that kind of example. And

Jennifer Smith, CDE 2:29
if this wasn't the case, we wouldn't have smart features in especially our pumping systems that allow us to set something like a temporary basal or an adjusted, you know, override, or something like that. I mean, if this wasn't the case, I wouldn't have an override that I set when I take my long runs on the weekends. It wouldn't work. It would be wrong every time, and I'd be frustrated. But I know what's going to happen, because I've done it before enough, and so I trust that my setting adjustment is going to make the difference.

Scott Benner 3:03
So I'm digging around here. Nico, who is a group expert in the Facebook group, has been on, I love Nico. She's awesome, really wonderful. She's been on one of the episodes of the podcast too, but she actually did screenshots for me of where I said these things in the podcast, which is awesome. And I'm looking at it, and it turns out that when I said this, I was talking about stopping a low blood sugar. Oh, because it was part of a bigger episode where Arden had experienced a pretty significant low as a young kid, and I gave her, you know, a bunch of carbs to fix it, and once it was fixed, and she was stable. And these couple of minutes passed by, and I saw the arrow on her CGM swing up, and even though she was like 55 and rising, this was not a situation where anybody would intuitively say it's probably time for insulin. But right, I knew how many carbs I had given her, and I knew she was going to end up being 300 if I didn't do something. And so I didn't Bolus carb for carb, but I just kind of randomly in the middle that I was like, I think I'm gonna pull this for like two thirds of the carbs. And I Bolus, and I remember feeling that feeling when I pushed the button, like I have to trust that this is gonna happen. It always happens like this. She gets low. I give her too much. She gets high. It ruins the rest of the day. I know this is going to happen. I know it is, I know it is, I know it is. But the problem is, is the pushing the button like you know what I mean? Because what if this is the one time that it's not needed, it doesn't happen, right? And so it turns out that that was in that conversation about that topic, but over the years of the podcast, I think the reason people go back to it isn't about correcting a low I think it's about everything. I think it's about pre bolusing a meal, or that the fat from a french fry is going to come get you an hour from now, like or all the other things that seem unknowable about diabetes until you see. Them happen a couple of times. And then, right? The truth is, if you can remove your fear, then they are knowable. And so I think you should trust that what you know is going to happen is going to happen.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 5:10
And also it takes, as you've been saying, it takes a little bit of history of doing things. Yeah, right. This is not necessarily for the one week newbie who is still having fluctuations and adjusting doses and in honeymoon stage and whatever you can still learn in that phase. Yeah, what seems to work, but understand that a lot of things will need adjustment, especially for kids, will need adjustment. And once you learn what is working again, you have to trust that it's going to keep working until, oh, it's not enough anymore. So now I need to change something diabetes.

Scott Benner 5:50
It surprises me in a lot of ways, and one of them here is that I was putting myself back in that situation so I could talk about it, and I'm crying now. Oh, so, but yeah, it's not like, Arden didn't get low on her first day, and I gave her like 60 carbs, and I was like, I'm Bolus thing. This was right, whoo. It wasn't like that. It was gonna try, you know, she was eight, nine years old. She'd had diabetes for seven years, and I stopped the low. I've got all that adrenaline from the low, you know, and, like, it was one of them, like, test, test a minute later, test a minute later. Like, you know, like, you're not gonna die, right? Like, like, you know, like, that kind of, like, horror. And then it was over, and I knew she was okay, and then I was just hit, like, with the the other side of it. I'm like, oh my god, her blood sugar is gonna be up to 300 like, it's gonna be, like, I gave her too much, like, and I didn't give her too much in the moment she needed it all, because she was, she was falling like a stone. I did not know why, right? And Arden hasn't had maybe five of those lows in her whole life. But if you have diabetes and you think they're not going to happen, you're out of your mind, because Jenny will tell you a story about her sitting on a floor in a store. So then it happened, and I had to, like, like, this thing that we now talk about in the podcast, like it's an idea that people use, and it is, it really reflects on a moment in my life where I had to force myself to believe that in a dark room at like, two o'clock in the morning. And the problem is, is that when I put myself back in that spot, so I could explain it to you, I continued on into when I got out in the hallway and like, fell apart afterwards. How you feel? Yeah, no, I cried in the hallway a lot. Anyway. It's not that easy, but once you have the information, and it really happens over and over again, if you can learn to trust that, I think it changes a lot about diabetes, maybe life too, but definitely diabetes. Yeah, thank you. Now I'm all upset. Thanks

Unknown Speaker 7:42
for sharing. You're welcome

Scott Benner 7:51
if you or a loved one was just diagnosed with type one diabetes, and you're looking for some fresh perspective. The Bold beginning series from the Juicebox Podcast is a terrific place to start. That series is with myself and Jenny Smith. Jenny is a CD CES, a registered dietitian and a type one for over 35 years, and in the bowl beginning series, Jenny and I are going to answer the questions that most people have after a type one diabetes diagnosis. The series begins at episode 698, in your podcast player, or you can go to Juicebox podcast.com and click on bold beginnings in the menu. Are you starting to see patterns? But you can't quite make sense of them. You're like, Oh, if I bowl this here, this happens, but I don't know what to do. Should I put in a little less? A little more? If you're starting to have those thoughts, you're starting to think this isn't going the way the doctor said it would. I think I see something here, but I can't be sure. Once you're having those thoughts, you're ready for the diabetes Pro Tip series from the Juicebox Podcast. It begins at Episode 1000 you can also find it at Juicebox podcast.com up in the menu, and you can find a list in the private Facebook group, just check right under the featured tab at the top, it'll show you lists of a ton of stuff, including the Pro Tip series, which runs from episode 1000 to 1025 I can't thank you enough for listening. Please make sure you're subscribed, you're following in your audio app. I'll be back tomorrow with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. You.

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