#1314 Simple Minds
Carrie has had type 1 since she was four years old.
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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and, oh, you know, I just took a vitamin. It feels like it's stuck. I never happened to you. Sorry. Hello friends and welcome to the next episode of The juicebox podcast. For fun, I'm going to use the old music today. Here we go.
Speaker 1 0:22
You got Carrie
Scott Benner 0:25
today. She's had type one diabetes, oh, gee, since she's four and a half years old. She's 50 now, and she hasn't for most of her life with type one known a lot about diabetes, but she's beginning to learn now, 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. When you place your first order for ag one, with my link, you'll get five free travel packs and a free year supply of vitamin D drink. Ag one.com/juice, box. 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 percent@cozyearth.com this vitamin is still kind of stuck. But have you ever burped after taking a capsule and had the dust from the vitamin come out? Very disconcerting, if it ever happens to you, juice What am I supposed to tell you? Oh, if you have type one diabetes, or you're the caregiver of someone with type one and you're a US resident, please go to touched by type one.org/juice box and complete the survey. That's it. US resident who has diabetes or is the caregiver, go complete that survey touched by type one.org/juice box. 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 Eversense. The Eversense CGM is more convenient, requiring only one sensor every six months. It offers more flexibility with its easy on, easy off, smart transmitter, and allows you to take a break when needed. Eversense cgm.com/juicebox. This show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries, gvoke hypopen. Find out more at gvoke glucagon.com. Forward slash juice box.
Carrie 2:33
I'm Carrie Larson, 50 years old, iPad type one since I was four and a half. So that's all I know. It's, it's, to me, it's just,
Scott Benner 2:44
that's all you know about everything. Carrie or you, you mean, diabetes is all you know. That's, that's
Carrie 2:49
all i Yes, diabetes is all I know. It's literally part of my daily life. It was like, sometimes I do feel like that's all I know about everything. Oh, okay.
Scott Benner 2:57
It was like, you put the calm in the wrong place. You're like, and I died in that cell. And I was like, Okay,
Carrie 3:02
I yeah, I tend to do that
Unknown Speaker 3:04
50
Scott Benner 3:06
years old, yeah, so I can help myself here. I was born in 71 so you were probably born in like 72 or 73 three, uh huh, right? And then you were four and a half when you were diagnosed, that was like 77 just missed the bicentennial. Wouldn't that have been lovely, right? Yes. So any brothers or sisters,
Carrie 3:29
I was adopted, so I do not know any family history, which yeah and yeah, and all doctors and everybody I always go to, always look at me like, oh, okay, so you know, but yeah, no, I don't have
Scott Benner 3:41
nothing to say. Do you have any adopted brothers and sisters? No, I do not. Your parents, one kid got you, and they're like, this is enough.
Carrie 3:51
Yeah, you know what I and you know what's funny is, even though I'm a mom of three, my dad still lectures me daily about how it's really smart to only have one child. Even in front of my children, he'll do that, and I'm like, Um, hello.
Unknown Speaker 4:05
How old your father? How old's your father?
Carrie 4:07
He's 8383 he thinks he knows everything. He'll tell you. He's the fountain of knowledge, literally. Well, I
Scott Benner 4:15
don't know how that's possible, and I'm the one who knows everything, but that's fine.
Carrie 4:21
You guys are your own breed, I swear.
Scott Benner 4:23
Has he designated which of your children were the mistakes, or does he not go that far?
Carrie 4:27
No, he doesn't take it that far. Thank God. Now
Scott Benner 4:31
you I told her not to have you
Carrie 4:33
exactly. Yeah, no, he definitely doesn't go that far. It's funny because he has brown eyes, and I always tell him how I know he's so bullish is because His eyes are brown.
Scott Benner 4:43
My goodness, that's fantastic. The kids take this in stride. How old are your children?
Carrie 4:48
So our oldest is our daughter, Miranda. She's 27 and then the middle is Brandon, and he is 24 and the baby is 18, and. Um, he's Charlie. I
Scott Benner 5:01
love your your father's over there going, you guys, look what you've done to her. Like, seriously, yeah, no, she would have had just one. Everything would have been so much better. Meanwhile, how you doing with three kids? Okay, um,
Carrie 5:14
good, yeah, no, good. That definitely keep me on my toes. And, yeah, no, they're in, like, my world. I wouldn't know what to do without them.
Scott Benner 5:23
Of course, any of them have any autoimmune stuff?
Unknown Speaker 5:26
No, no,
Carrie 5:28
I definitely the more I've been learning. It's so funny, because you think after 48 years with the disease, that I probably would have already looked into this. I was taught, actually, for a very long time that the father's gene passes it on. And I don't know, I still don't know if that's true. I don't even do you know. I have no idea.
Scott Benner 5:48
That sounds like made up. But who told you that your dad because he's been wrong about a couple of other things already?
Carrie 5:54
Actually, I did read it, like in a medical journal. I think we used to live in England for a period of time, and I think I was in a doctor's office, and there was like a magazine, and I remember reading it. And I don't know if it was just like a recent study that had been done, type thing, or what, you know, but I just remember reading that. And so for the longest time, that's what I believed. But now that I've been exposed to more, actually, to the juicebox podcast and to just making friends online that are type one. I'm like, this is clearly has never been true and is not true, you know, So anyhow, but it's something I've thought about, is getting them tested.
Scott Benner 6:37
Yeah? I mean, yeah, you could definitely get them tested, but I don't see why it would be from one side or the other. Keeping in mind, I slept through a lot of high school, but I still don't that doesn't make sense to me.
Unknown Speaker 6:49
Never. Right, right?
Carrie 6:50
Okay, yeah, no, yeah, I agree too. Because it's just like, why would that be more dominant than I mean, you know, yeah, I agree. I
Scott Benner 6:59
mean, is that a thing you heard like, 40 years ago, kind of a deal. Um,
Carrie 7:03
it's, oh god, yeah, it's been at least 20 or 30 years ago, definitely, yeah. Oh
Scott Benner 7:08
geez, I would say, yeah. I mean, listen, we don't know what we were doing 30
Carrie 7:13
years ago, right? Oh, well, this is why I'd love to use diabetes for this. Example. Is I feel like I was diagnosed in the dark ages. I mean, no, I wasn't not using glass syringes. But there, maybe we didn't even test glucose level, blood glucose levels at home. You know, all of that was done at home or at the hospital, Children's Hospital, LA is where I was treated for many, many years. And so we, we only used ketone urine sticks, you know. So I feel like now looking at technology and how it's advanced, I just feel like that was definitely Dark Ages, you know,
Scott Benner 7:50
yeah, yeah, that's something I Yeah, you see you missed. I mean, that's a long time ago, 40 some years. You were right. You were definitely like, beef and pork insulin, though, right? Uh
Carrie 8:02
huh. In fact, it was, it was, I want to say it was pork based. It was mph and regular. And the MPH was cloudy. You had to, like, warm it up in your hands and mix it, you know. And then the regular was just like, you could still buy good old fashioned regular nowadays, over the counter without a prescription, I believe, sure, and then we would mix the two. It wasn't two different injections. My mom would draw up one first and then the other, and it was one injection. But that's definitely how it started for me, for sure. You
Scott Benner 8:33
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Carrie 9:51
You know, I did that, and you know at the time, it was only two injections a day. It wasn't even more than that, which was strange, I didn't I. Moved to four injections a day until much, much later in life. In fact, I want to say my whole teenage years, I stopped going to Children's Hospital, literally when I was 18, they're like, Okay, you you can't come here anymore. And I felt like I had been kicked to the curb. You know, for that many years, 14 years, I was definitely still on two injections a day. I remember my endo at the time trying to talk me into a pump, and I was scared to death of it. It just the thought of it scared me to no end. And so, no, I don't remember when I moved to a faster acting insulin. I think I went straight though from like, I don't remember. I honestly, I can't, I can't even put my finger on it
Scott Benner 10:47
interesting. Do you have trouble with memory, or is it just been that long ago?
Carrie 10:50
I feel like it's just been that long ago, but, but I do feel like my memory does challenging, does challenge me, and I also feel like things that I have been hearing and reading lately, that part of that could be maybe connected to the type one
Scott Benner 11:09
could be, right, yeah, what would you know or recall what your control, your management, was like through your first say, 20 years?
Carrie 11:18
I have no I couldn't give you a 1c numbers. I know that definitely my mom and I always battled my morning. My mornings always ran high in the two hundreds. Without a doubt. I have no idea a 1c wise. I want to say that I like steadily ran in the
eighth. And I know that not terrible, that
it's not great, but back then, it probably was okay.
Scott Benner 11:47
Do you know what okay meant? Like, what were they shooting for? Oh, gosh, I want to say that anything
Carrie 11:57
like eight and under was okay. Like, I don't, I don't remember them ever talking about a low, like being too low, or what normal was.
Unknown Speaker 12:05
Yeah,
Scott Benner 12:07
they were just trying to stop from being too high. Exactly.
Carrie 12:10
It was, in fact, back then, I remember the highs were the focus, and not the lows, so to speak. And now I feel like I've seen several in those throughout my history of having diabetes, that they're definitely more concerned now about lows than they than they are highs. I mean, especially if you I mean, they're concerned about highs, if they're prolonged, but they're their biggest worry are the lows. They definitely they would rather, actually, I think that most indos would rather see you run a little high than too low. And my experience, anyways, yeah,
Scott Benner 12:53
I mean, I think that's basically the perspective they come from. It's interesting, because I don't love that, that mindset, honestly.
Carrie 13:04
Yeah, you know, I don't either, the the more experience I have, and because I've had so many complications, I don't either. And it's really bizarre. I mean, this is I'm really jumping off subject kind of right now, but let's like, eight years ago, I had a heart attack, and it was definitely due to uncontrolled blood sugars. Wow. Yeah, I was 42 years old. He immediately the cardiologist was like, this is definitely why, you know, no doubt about it, because my husband and I were like, what? 42 year old comes in the hospital and, you know, I Yeah, and so it was really scary time in my life. But I really, I learned very quickly that a patient who has had a heart attack, who is type one, a low is actually scarier than running high, because it's harder on your heart. Hmm,
Scott Benner 13:59
okay, wait, we have a lot to pick through here. Kerry, right? I
Carrie 14:04
know, right? I know I've given you a lot at once.
Scott Benner 14:05
No, no, let me start. Let me start with this. So you obviously, you were diagnosed in a different time, and you're using the basically, you know, you were eating at certain times of day. That was it. You weren't, you weren't checking your blood sugar. I don't even know if a 1c were that, like, you know, prominent at that point,
Carrie 14:25
they were actually, they did draw. But you know, my it was my hugest fear when I was a kid going to see the end, though, is I would literally, literally, out loud, vague, not to have my blood drawn because I was so afraid of having it. But anyhow, so he always made a deal with me every other visit. Well, every visit was about every three months, and so we would do that. But so yes, a one C's, I mean, they definitely did draw for them, okay,
Scott Benner 14:50
Ben, but you were shooting for eight.
Carrie 14:55
I think if I remember correctly, yes, I want to say eight sounded. Like something that they were happy to see, gotcha,
Scott Benner 15:01
and then you live like that for how long? Like so question, the real question is like, When do you go to a modern management the first modern management shift? What age? Right? Yeah,
Carrie 15:15
I honestly feel like it was very many years. I think that modern management truly didn't happen for me until late, late teens. No, actually, I'm gonna go ahead and say early 20s. So
Scott Benner 15:32
like college age, like graduating from college age? Did you go to college? No, I did not. Okay, so around around, like Tommy, I
Carrie 15:40
let me, let me back step a little bit. I did. I I went to trade school. Okay, so, yeah, I didn't go to a traditional, you know, like two year or four year program, just, I just did a trade. Do
Scott Benner 15:52
you practice the trade now?
Carrie 15:53
I don't. Ever since I, my husband and I decided to, well, we moved out of the country I couldn't work in the country that we lived in. And so, no, I don't, and I haven't since I had children.
Scott Benner 16:06
You couldn't work in the country you lived in. I know doesn't that sound so third world. What context? Where were you England, and England wouldn't let you work. Because what you were, you didn't have a visa,
Carrie 16:20
a visa, yeah, I was, I was just there as my husband. Well, we weren't even married when we first started going, but we we were engaged, but no they I would have to apply separately from him. And even once we were married, I would have had to apply separately from him, gotcha. So he was the provider, and I just and I that's how they saw it.
Scott Benner 16:44
What trade Did you study? Actually Registered Dental Assisting? Okay, all right, yeah, yeah. So you did that at some point or no, You never actually did it.
Carrie 16:54
I did. I did it, and that was all stateside. I mean, when we, when we lived here in the United States, yes, I did, but when
Scott Benner 17:01
you ran away from the government to England, then you couldn't donate, exactly, right? Yeah, exactly, because you guys are spies. What is the exact real answer?
Carrie 17:09
My husband actually used to race motorcycles professionally, and so that's where it was most popular. Was in England. And it's actually like they he had, he signed a contract to race for a team. It's Team Racing, and it's a season that would generally last from early spring to about October. So we were gone.
Scott Benner 17:32
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Carrie 19:12
no, this one was definitely special, for sure, for sure. That's funny. Did
Scott Benner 19:17
your parents hate him? No, really, with motorcycles and everything. Yeah,
Carrie 19:22
and my dad's a collector of old cars, and the first time he met Josh, he handed him a set of keys to drive one of his cars, and I my jaw hit the floor, so he definitely loved him. Oh,
Scott Benner 19:31
okay, all right. Well, yeah, yeah, your dad's got a specific opinion, so that's fine,
Carrie 19:36
definitely. Oh, by far.
Scott Benner 19:38
So now I've got you going in your early 20s to probably Atlantis and Humalog or something like that. Yes, and you're counting carbs now, all of a sudden. Was that a big shift that you recall? Or do you not? How do you think of
Carrie 19:51
it? Yes, it was a big shift. The whole carb thing. In fact, I didn't even know that they affected your blood sugar. That's how when. I was diagnosed, I remember, and it's so funny, because I, believe it or not, I can remember my mom, she they did everything by exchanges and just looking at a portion type thing, which I suppose in certain ways. I know it's been years since I've seen a dietitian, but I know, you know, like they use the palm of your hand, like, this is like three to four ounces of protein is ideal for a meal, so to speak. But the carb thing definitely was new to me, and it was kind of like learning diabetes all over again, to be honest.
Scott Benner 20:31
Do you recall what happened there? Did your a 1c, go up or down? How was your control up? Okay?
Carrie 20:37
I mean, I do know. I do clearly remember, like when I was in the hospital and I had my heart attack eight years ago. I was at a maybe even 11, but it was definitely a 10 something and a 1c Yes.
Scott Benner 20:52
So at 42 years old, having had diabetes now for 38 some years, you were Yes. You had an A, 1c in the 10s at least, yes, did you not know how to do it better? Or did you try what I get you there? I
Carrie 21:09
didn't. I actually didn't know how to do it better. And it's not that I didn't care, but like other things in life, were, were more important to me. I know that sounds terrible, but I just, I think I was over it, and I think, and I had started a pump. I've been on a pump for 24 years now, and so I literally got the pump, and I figured, oh, it's giving me insulin 24 hours a day. I still don't need to, like, I could this. Can do all the work for me. I don't need to do anything.
Scott Benner 21:44
Carrie, did you know that wasn't true? Or do you just like to ignore it and hope that it would do something? I
Carrie 21:51
felt like, well, it for one it was a hell of a lot better than just being on two injections a day.
Scott Benner 21:56
So you're judging everything against where you started, instead of against a valuable outcome for your health? Yeah,
Carrie 22:04
I see I said, definitely guilty of that. Okay,
Scott Benner 22:07
where were you during your pregnancies? A one C's, um, England, actually, no, I'm sorry. You're a 1c my fault. Like, where did you keep your a 1c during your pregnancies?
Carrie 22:17
They were in the seven and eight.
Scott Benner 22:20
How did you do that, versus the 10s and elevens? Because
Carrie 22:24
I had really, I was actually pregnant. All three of my pregnancies were in England. I saw really good endocrinologist. One in particular I remember with my middle son, or actually, maybe it was with the baby. He really drilled it into me. He's like, you have got this has got to be at least. And this is funny, because now this is 18 years ago, yeah, you have to be at least an eight or better. He said, I would love to see you like in a seven or six. But he says, You cannot go above an eight.
Scott Benner 22:58
Can you hear Jenny having a stroke right now. Like we said, yeah, right. So, like, so now it's in the they want you in the fives for pregnancy. I
Carrie 23:08
know, yeah, and, and, I mean, I'm, I mean, just FYI, I'm a 6.7 right now, right? And for me, that's, like, one of my that's my lowest a 1c ever. Oh, it's great that I know of Yeah. So it's that's a big deal for me, especially from where I came from, sure. Not that I can't imagine being in the fives. And I would love to get, like, in the low sixes, for sure. Well,
Scott Benner 23:37
I mean, think back when you were 10. Could you imagine being in the sixes? No,
Carrie 23:40
no, yeah, I would have, I probably would have told you. Are you kidding me? I'd be dead on the floor, thinking that was just the mentality. So, yeah, I didn't, and I didn't know better. My mom didn't even know better. Sure, sure. It's funny what I can teach because my mom was very, very involved with my care. It's funny what I teach her now. When I tell her things, and she's like, No, she I mean, if I tell her right now, like, Hey, Mom, oh, my blood sugar's 85 Oh, my God, that's too low. You need to go eat something. And I'm like, I feel fine. And she goes, No, no, you need Mom, mom, I promise you, I'm okay. Like, trying to retrain her brain, like, to be like, that is, I might not even be possible. Let's
Scott Benner 24:19
just have your dad tell her he's right about everything. So it'll be fun. Well, okay, wait a second. What are your complications? Besides the heart attack, which obviously is massive, but like, what else has befell you? Let's
Carrie 24:34
see. So I have retinopathy. I've had several laser surgeries on my eyes, both eyes and every and everything is stable, which I'm, you know, thankful for. And I'm not my my vision is not compromised because of it, but just it was just scary to have it, just have them finally say, Oh yeah, there's definitely signs of retinopathy. I went for many years without those signs up until probably about five years. Go, and then let's see. And then what else I feel like everything I'm learning is definitely related to the diabetes, like with the trigger fingers and dupe trends, disease in my hands. Yeah, that's all related, for sure. And that's once again, under control. I did have surgery on my right hand. Best thing I did to have that stop, and then let's see what else? My God, the retinopathy, the dupu trends, and the trigger fingers, the heart attack.
Scott Benner 25:32
You don't have to add more. That's fair amount. But do you feel like there's other things that have happened that you're not recalling at the moment?
Carrie 25:39
I do. I feel like there's a couple little things I missed I'm missing. Do you have any
Scott Benner 25:42
neuropathy in your feet or your hands? No,
Carrie 25:45
no, okay, and I hate telling you no, because I feel like I'm jinxing myself, just because I feel like, my god after this
Scott Benner 25:53
not how it works. Don't worry. You can't Jinx yourself.
Carrie 25:56
I don't know. I don't know if you anyhow, but I just sometimes I'm like, Oh, okay. I mean, my hand falls asleep when I'm asleep at night, I'm wake up and I'm like, messaging my Endo. Like, oh my god. He's like, Carrie, it's okay. He goes. I really don't think that's what it is okay. Thank you. But yeah, I feel like, now I've had enough complications to where now anything happens. I'm like, it's got to be the diabetes. You know.
Lija Greenseid 26:24
Are you nervous for more to happen? Not
Carrie 26:26
really. To be honest with you, I feel like the heart attack was enough to make me not make me think or believe. And I trust me, I know I'm at higher risk now for having another one just because, simply because I've had one, even though I'm in good control. No, I'm not. I'm not. I feel like at this point, I could handle what was thrown at me, so to speak. I say that now,
Scott Benner 26:55
what did the heart attack reveal? Were there blockages they had to take care of
Carrie 26:59
there? Were, I have, I feel like I really got lucky there too. I only have one stent placed. I didn't have to have, you know, like open heart surgery. I didn't have to have bypass or anything like that. I had one stent placed. But they definitely were quick to tell me that there is another possible, not possible. There is other blockages, but they're not a great percentage enough, and I didn't say that, right, but they're not enough to do anything about yet. At this point, it would be too dangerous to do any it's more dangerous to do something about it than to leave it alone. Yeah, at first, that really freaked me out. But so, I mean, I definitely took, you know, the diabetes, and really, really worked hard for a long time between me and my endo to get that a 1c down. I mean, we were tweaking left and right, and so I'm much more confident about that, hopefully not ever needing to be a problem, or, you know, where they have to go in and do more stents. So, yeah, so I don't think I'm nervous waiting for something else.
Scott Benner 28:10
Can you tell me what it felt like, like? What was the lead up to the heart attack? Did you feel unwell for days? Did it come on quickly?
Carrie 28:18
It was for days, actually. I mean, and then it's so weird when something like that happens to you, you really take the time to sit and look back and think, I've been having signs for a long time that something wasn't right. Yeah, I mean, I want to say for maybe
Scott Benner 28:33
a good three to four months. Oh, no kidding, tell me about it. What was happening. So
Carrie 28:40
it was every time I would eat a big meal and my biggest meal, and still to this day, my biggest meal is dinner, and that's when I would notice it the most. And I would eat dinner, and within a half an hour, I would get this weird pressure from my forearms down to the tips of my fingers on both arms, and it was just like it never pained, but it was just like this immense pressure, and it would take, like, a complete hour for it to dissipate and kind of relax and go away. And so it was just weird, and it was very religious. It did that for, like, I said, a good three or four months. And I remember at one point even saying to my teenage daughter at the time, like, maybe I need to call a doctor and let them know I'm having this symptom. Like, what is this about eating, you know, especially dinner time. And then I recall like we had taken the family to a movie, and we had, we had eaten dinner, gone to the movies, and sitting in the movie theater, and all of a sudden I just wasn't I wasn't nauseous, I wasn't headache, but I something just wasn't right. I just so I felt like I needed to get up and kind of walk around. So I did. I excused myself from the theater and went out and walked a little bit. I. Kind of wouldn't went in the ladies restroom and just kind of stood there like, what the heck? What that actually, I wasn't, what the heck. And I'm like, What the hell is? What's going on, you know? And I don't even remember exactly what I was feeling like. I said it was just something just was off the night that I think that I actually had the heart attack. It was actually Christmas Eve, 2015 and actually the day before, and we had gone out to dinner with the family, and we went back home, and here comes these symptoms in my forearms, and this time it didn't dissipate, and the pressure was worse, and I was really restless. I couldn't get comfortable. Once I tried to go to bed, I just, I couldn't. I was tired, but I couldn't sleep, and just super restless. Something wasn't right. But once again, I didn't know what. Apart from, my arms were aching terribly, both arms, and it like, Yes, both arms. And just like I said, from the form from my elbow down to the tips of my fingers. Never liked up, ever I went through the night tossing and turning, and finally, the next afternoon, or actually that morning, I woke up, and I'm totally sick to my stomach even. So I'm testing my blood sugar like manually, and I think at that point, the highest my blood sugar got was, like, 220 so, I mean, I know for some people, that's like, Oh, my God, that would be kind of a normal high, so to speak, when I get high, right? So I knew it wasn't high, like, something like, Okay, this is definitely diabetes related. I'm like, like, this is weird. You know, there wasn't, like, I was in DKA or something like that, or I just, I So anyhow, I just, and at that point, my husband's like, you know what? Through this, we're going to the hospital. And then I flipped my lid, because I'm scared to death of other people's needles besides my own, and I knew that he would do every test to me known to man. Sure enough, he got me into the emergency room, and as soon as he told them my symptoms, they rushed me straight back. My EKG was completely normal. And it wasn't until they drew blood and got my results back that they saw the blood level or the that I had heart they're like, you had a heart attack, and I'm like, I for one, I didn't believe them. I was in complete denial that that was what happened anyhow, yeah, that's, that's my heart attack story, and it was Gary as hell. Okay,
Scott Benner 32:29
how long did we cover till I was back to,
Carrie 32:34
I mean, I don't know, like a week or so, like, to where I wasn't, like, completely exhausted. And, you know, of course, they put me on all kinds of new meds, and so adjusting to all that, yeah, yeah, I think I was, I was really okay quite quickly, to be honest. I think a lot of it has to do with because they immediately, you know, alleviate that blockage. So it was pretty quick. Probably more than anything, the medication is what mess messes with you more than anything, because they've got you on blood pressure, on cholesterol and all those have so many side effects that they're in their D ones you know care.
Scott Benner 33:11
Can I ask you a question today, years later, what is your understanding of how your diabetes gave you these heart issues
Carrie 33:21
running too high for way too many years. But
Scott Benner 33:24
do you know functionally, how that happens? No, I do. I was just wondering if they told you that's all. No, okay, nope. So what happens is an elevated blood sugar. There's, you know, more glucose in your blood than is supposed to be there, and it right. It rubs veins, arteries, everything, everywhere blood flows is being kind of scraped by the extra glucose in there, okay? And eventually you wear thin somewhere, right, right. Then your body patches it over, okay. And then it wears thin, and it patches it over. And before you know what the patches block, the passageway, gotcha, that's what happens. So when, when people Yeah, yeah. So one has ever explained that to me? Yep, Bob, it's interesting, right? Because if, if it was your vision, right? Oh, I'm losing my vision. Well, that's the same thing as having a heart attack. So interesting. Rub rub through patch over, rub through patch over. More patching, more patching, more patching blocks the flow, and now that suddenly that that pathway doesn't do what it's supposed to do anymore. In the case of a heart attack, it's not delivering blood or returning whatever to your to your heart and in your eyes, it could just be, you know, choking off little capillaries that kind of when it's neuropathy, same thing. Okay, totally.
Carrie 34:45
It makes sense, though. Yeah.
Scott Benner 34:47
So I used to talk about on the podcast more often, but what I would basically say is that when your blood sugar's too high, now listen if it goes up to 150 and comes back down at dinner time, this is not what's happening to you. But if. It's, you know, if it's 150 for the rest of your life, if it's 220 all the time, that kind of stuff, you're sandblasting yourself from the inside out, yeah, pretty much what you're doing. And so, you know, if someone says, you know, at the end of your life, like, oh, they had a stroke, you know, due to type one diabetes, they had a heart attack due to type one diabetes, they lost their foot because of it. They their kidneys stop working. It's all the same problem, too much, too much sugar in your blood, right, right? And not enough sugar in your blood. And you know what happens? Then your brain shuts off. Exactly, yeah? So exactly? What a fun balance, yeah, yeah. Isn't it crazy? Like, basically, the glucose is the it's the energy that your brain runs off of. It's so true. Yeah, too much of it, you get
Carrie 35:46
crazy, yeah? Well, it always, it always blows my mind how long it takes to recover from a low blood sugar, sometimes more than, not longer than others, you know. But, and then it trips me out. Well, it doesn't trip me out. I just feel like they just don't understand that. People don't understand that around me, you know, so
Scott Benner 36:04
far, the most fascinating thing about your story, to me is that you've had diabetes for like, almost 50 years, and you don't know that much about it. You know what? I don't Yeah, you're the only one, Carrie, I'm not coming down on you. Like, this is just yeah, how it is? Yeah,
Carrie 36:19
no, I swear to you, I learned more on because of social media. And, you know, social media gets so shamed and so put down these days, and but my I for me. I'm like bullshit. I've learned I, I feel like my access to learning more about type one would be gone, you know, if I if
Scott Benner 36:43
it wasn't for that, let me share this with you. My father in law ends up in the hospital a couple weeks ago, and he went to a local hospital that I can't believe he went to, because as soon as he got there, I was like, they're going to kill him. And like, not, it's not a great place, right? And so he comes home a few days later with zero answers to any of his questions. But they took him off all of his medications. You know, case one of these is doing it. And you know, some of those medications Carrie he takes because he's in congestive heart failure. 76 years old. He had a heart attack when he was 50. He's a lifelong smoker, till he had his heart attack, you know, like, that kind of stuff. Like, he, he's been kept alive by these medications, right? You know, 76 years old, the, you know, the guy in the white coat told him to take, not take this medicine anymore. He stopped taking it, and not like, three days later, he's back in the hospital. This time we got him to a good one. His body's retaining water. He's got to go on lasix. He's, you know, he's, he's in heart failure, because he's, you know, right? Has congestive heart failure, and the only thing keeping it alive is this medication, so we get them all straight. My wife and I are down there talking to him yesterday, and I just finally thought, like, this is no different than the podcast. I was like, Dad, you understand why this happened? You know, like, thinking it's obvious, right? Like, he's got congestive heart failure, he takes medication to keep it at bay. These new medications for congestive heart failure are freaking amazing. Like, you could, like, right kind of live for goddamn ever with congestive heart failure, it feels like right and but without it, he's gonna die and die pretty quickly, right? He did not know. He didn't understand what the medication was for. I don't know that. He knew that congestive heart failure meant that he would die without the medication. Like it was fascinating to see, like he doesn't know what's happening to him, but then you don't either, so most people don't
Carrie 38:31
know, you know. And it's so funny, because I really consider myself I'm a huge advocate for advocate for yourself when it comes to medical professionals, because I I mean no disrespect, but sometimes I feel like, when it comes to my diabetes, they don't know. I mean, this sounds so disrespectful, but I just feel like, over the years, if I did everything they said, I don't know. I just, I don't agree with a lot of it. Carrie,
Scott Benner 39:06
how much do you think you need to know about congestive heart failure not to take a 76 year old man off his congestive heart failure medication? Yeah,
Carrie 39:13
that's that's me. That blows my mind too. Once I have a grandmother who battled it years ago and died because of it. So I am a little familiar, just a little what the disease?
Scott Benner 39:23
It shouldn't blow your mind at all. Karen, it shouldn't blow your mind at all.
Carrie 39:28
It just, I'm just like, You got to be kidding me. I mean, I've actually been in the hospital for something that wasn't related to my type one, and I literally, I was almost going to discharge myself, because they wouldn't treat a low a low for me, yeah, and I could, and my blood sugar was 50 and dropping, and I'm like, okay, either I go home right now and I'm going to be treating myself as I walk out of here, because I'm going to go find where you keep your apple juice, or you are. Because you have, I can't give you control of my diabetes. I refuse to. I had to actually sign legal paperwork to say that I was in charge. I'm
Scott Benner 40:06
going to tell you that I don't know that it really matters what we're talking about. It could be politics. It could be it could be, you know, your local school district making some very strange decision. It could be my, it could be my, my local municipality who decided that they won't take my recycling if it's in the wrong color bin. And then when I say to them, what am I going to do with all this recycling here? Kara, you haven't heard this. This is the thing I've ranted about in a recording. It hasn't come out yet, but I had all this extra recycling because they didn't take my recycling because it was in the wrong color bin. And I said, Well, what am I supposed to do with all this recycling? You guys only come twice a month? And she said, you know, store it on your property until next month. And I said, Well, I won't. I have no ways to put it, and even if I did, I'll have too much like because I don't have enough bins that are the right color. And as I'm having this ridiculous conversation right about the colors of trash cans, the person on the phone offers to me as a fix, I should just throw out my recycling. And I said, well, then What in God's name, are we doing any of this for? If I can just throw it away? Yeah. I mean, like, what? What are you saying to me? You're the recycling lady that you're you're telling me to throw my recycling away, yeah? And she goes, Well, I mean, if you don't have anywhere to put it. I was like, That's it, huh? That's where your common sense got you. That's fascinating. So whether it's them or it's the highest levels of government, or it's a nurse in a in an ER that doesn't understand your diabetes, or a doctor that would take migraine, no one knows what they're talking about. Okay, no,
Carrie 41:37
no, they sure as hell don't they, sure as hell don't. I've definitely learned that. I mean, oh my god, the kids make my kids make fun of me when I have to call customer service for Dexcom or my insurance company, God forbid, oh God, don't get me started there or I mean, and especially when they send me, which I feel like, to another country to speak to a representative who I can hardly understand, and they're telling me things that I know better. I'm like, I can't my kids, like, literally, are like, Oh my god, Mom, you are so mean. And I'm like, I can't help it when they're being stupid. I can't help it.
Scott Benner 42:16
I don't know if I've been clear enough in the past, but this whole thing, you're just lucky that it works. Like, and I'm talking about society, like, just everything, like, it's all just randomly working, because I think it's your luck. It's certainly not that everybody's carrying their fair share. That's for sure. And like, that's for damn sure, but at the same time. Like, I I'm not even upset about I don't, I don't, not understand what happens. Like, listen, it's very simple. Like, you have a an ability to think, I have an ability to think, everyone does. Our abilities are different, right? You can see in like, simple studies, like, even where your IQ falls, it pretty much shows what kind of job you're going to have, like, right? Like, and the smartest people don't hold the jobs that you think of as being the most like important. So, like, the people with the highest IQs are not doctors. No, generally, generally speaking, Now these aren't. They're not people with the lowest IQs. I'm not saying that, but like, you know, like, you start thinking about like, genius level people, 130s 140s 150s and their IQs. Like, super smart, those people don't generally end up being doctors. It's more people in like, more like, 101 10, 120, IQs end up being doctors and and like, and all different kinds of things. My point is, this is, I feel like I'm all over the place, but just stick with me for a second. I got yelled at recently online for cavalierly saying that people don't use their common sense. And this person made this point to me, like, you know, common sense, like, not everybody has it, and even when they have it, it doesn't work to the level of someone else's. So like, while you're just saying, just use your common sense, like the person said to me, like, you have to have some respect for the fact that you might have more than other people do. And I had never thought of it that way. I just thought common sense. Just gonna say, I've never thought of it, yeah, I never thought of it that way, like you have more common sense than the next person, or, you know, maybe your ability to rationalize it while you're using or whatever. But not everyone's got the same processing power. Is what I've learned to think of it. It doesn't make them bad people, doesn't make them good people. It's just in some situations, they're overmatched. And because we're talking about diabetes all the time, tend to be like, Oh, the medical community, blah, blah. It's not just there, right? Like, I don't it's literally just everywhere. Like, everyone is outmatched by something, and frequently you run into people who are outmatched by the thing they're doing. It's so true, not always, but a lot, a lot. And instead of just saying, like, this is a human issue, we say things like, doctors don't understand, or, you know, politicians don't know what they're doing, or like, the like that. That's the stuff. We say it's people. It's just people, right? We're outmatched, okay?
Carrie 45:02
Yeah, no, it's true. No, it's true. Yeah,
Scott Benner 45:05
there's a lot going on, and we can't keep it all straight all the time, right? And so very true. Because, I mean, listen, talking to you now for 45 minutes, you're a lovely lady, you've got three children, you know, like you're making your way through the world. You're doing a great job, and yet, right? You don't understand why you had heart attack.
Carrie 45:22
No, no, I never that is, I mean, literally, had never been explained to me like that. And I've seen more than one cardiologist, you know? Yeah,
Lija Greenseid 45:30
no one stopped and told you no, because, and here might be a good reason to tell you, how about be so it doesn't happen again, right? Right? But no, nothing. Just go you have diabetes. Yeah, okay.
Carrie 45:45
And, you know, and I'll never forget, one the morning I was discharged from the hospital, the nurse came in and literally gave me a packet of printed information. I swear to God, it was two inches thick, and said, definitely look through this, and I'm thinking to myself, the hell and Oh. And then she said, You need to lose weight. And I'm like, okay, but they didn't set up any follow up appointments with like
Scott Benner 46:13
Carrie read this fatty Okay, now get out of here. Yeah, I
Carrie 46:19
swear that's how I was discharged. I'm not even kidding you. I can't even Yeah, yeah, it
Scott Benner 46:26
wasn't Oh, I'm so upset. Like, so like, that's fascinating. Like, really. And trust me, she didn't know what she was talking about either. She just did the things she was supposed to do by giving you the packet, and then probably illegally discharged me. Yeah. And then in her head, she probably thought like, Oh, if this lady lost some weight, she might not have already that. Meanwhile, I don't know if that's true or false. She just it's the thing that occurred to her to say, because obviously that was right, that was an off the cuff statement, exactly, yeah, nobody sent her in there and said, Give him this paperwork and tell her she's to lose weight. That's not what happened. Yeah,
Carrie 47:00
no, she Yeah, no. It still makes me laugh to this day. I'm like, you gotta reach me that that really okay,
Unknown Speaker 47:07
cool.
Carrie 47:08
Peace out. Like I'm out. Carrie,
Scott Benner 47:09
are you in the Midwest?
Carrie 47:11
I'm in California.
Lija Greenseid 47:12
You're in California. This is where the heart attack happened. Yes, Southern, Northern, Southern, Southern, Southern, yeah. Okay, nowhere safe, you know,
Carrie 47:24
literally, because, you know, you look at the I mean, we have some really great medical facilities, you know. But no, I'm just, well, I know, I know it makes you question. I mean, do Yeah, do you I'm thinking, maybe not, you know,
Scott Benner 47:39
sure, you have great medical facilities, but it's, again, it's more about the I have such a hard time parsing my way through this, because I think it's such a big abstract idea. But it's not the facility, it's, it's the way that it's done, right? It's the it's, it's the execution. That's the problem.
Unknown Speaker 47:57
Yeah, right.
Carrie 47:58
I feel like insurance dictates so much of how much time you're allotted as a patient, and the resources you're allowed to get your hands on or not get your hands on, or the trials you're allowed to be a part of and well
Scott Benner 48:17
not be a part of. The way it's all set up is the doctors have no time to be with you, but no but at the same time. Then, instead of just saying, oh, you know the system, and then, you know, that's it here, give her a handout, you know, like, like, why not adjust somehow, or teach the nurses the right thing to say, or right or spend listen. You're a doctor of cardiology. Sit down, record yourself and make your recordings available online so people can go, like, access them later, right? Say, look, I'm gonna, I have a recording. It's a link here. It's gonna explain to you what happened to you. It's gonna explain how to avoid it the next time. Exactly you know. And and and after you're done with that, go over to my my guy over here is an endocrinologist. He's going to explain your diabetes to you, because, you know, Carrie, you're not doing a great job. And like I know, based on where you started, 45 years ago, you're killing it. But, you know, modern execution, you're you're pretty far off. And right, you've already had a heart attack at 42 I mean, you're on the fast track to being dead by the time you're 60.
Carrie 49:23
I know. And I yeah, oh, now see now that that when you said, Are you afraid of more things happening? That is definitely one of my fears, is I I probably won't outlive my husband, and I hope I get to see my grandchildren, you know, type thing. So listen,
Scott Benner 49:38
um, keep after that husband. You'll kill him. That's not hard, you know, like just, just keep pressure in the way you're doing it. He'll give up. But no, but see, Carrie, that's not, I don't think that's the case. I think that, I think that you understand your management now, right? And a lot of these things, and thank God, yeah, a lot of these things that are happening to you, I'm not saying they can be. Verse, but you can kind of freeze them in time a little bit, if you're lucky, right, right? You said you have a six seven. Now, how did you how did you accomplish that? Literally,
Carrie 50:09
by just being well for one the CGM. I was not ever wearing a CGM until eight years ago. I didn't start wearing one. So right after my heart attack, even though I had been exposed to it, it was through Medtronic the first time I was exposed, and it was terrible. I just had a really bad experience with alarms going off constantly, whether it was for too high, too low, too I swear to God, it would tell me if my shoelaces were untied. I don't know. It was just there were these constant alarms, and I just said, Screw this thing. Get it off me. So, but so definitely, the CGM changed my life for like, I mean, for better, by far. And that was what Dexcom, and still is. I actually took the initiative to switch from, let's see who was Medtronic, and I went to T slim, and that's still where I am now, okay, I think even making that this sounds really silly, not that I couldn't have accomplished a better a 1c with Medtronic, but just having switching from one pump company to the other, and having a nurse come in and train me on How to use it. I felt like I learned so much from her, too. Okay, so being more user friendly with my T slim and so then that helped me stay on top of my blood sugars more and bring the a 1c down. But I definitely have to attribute most of it to the CGM without a doubt. Isn't
Scott Benner 51:38
it interesting, too, if you've had it for so long, Everyone just assumes you understand it because you're alive, right? Yeah, you know what I mean, like, you don't need us to explain this to you because you've had this forever, I think so, yeah, and let me ask this as a question, because you were alive and, you know, 20 years ago, not having problems. Did you not think I'm doing a great job?
Carrie 51:58
No, I knew I was never I knew I wasn't doing that. So even though you weren't having
Scott Benner 52:03
initial even though you weren't having problems at the time, you still knew it wasn't going the right way.
Carrie 52:09
I Yeah, and I knew I could do much better. Definitely, What stopped you from doing that? I didn't, I think I didn't know where to start type thing. I felt like I was in so deep I didn't know or taking the time to do it. Who has time to do that?
Scott Benner 52:27
More my attitude, I'm busy. This is, this is, in the end, did you think it was never coming for you? I
Carrie 52:33
felt like I had, well, God, I don't have any complications. It must not be that bad. I think that was my attitude, okay?
Scott Benner 52:39
Because, like, if you told me like a murderer was coming for me, I'd be like, I'm gonna make time to get away from this. But right, yeah, I'd be like, I
Carrie 52:49
guess I never thought of it like that, but I but you know what? I don't know why? Like, What a dumbass. Like, why didn't I think of it like that? Seriously, Harry, can
Scott Benner 52:58
I call this episode? What a dumbass. That's hilarious, actually,
Carrie 53:01
yeah, you, you would never, that would never have been me.
Scott Benner 53:07
No, I appreciate your honesty, though. Like, seriously, because, you know, I think what happens is, is that people with diabetes can get caught up in the idea of numbers. I got a good number, I got a bad number. I'll get a better number next time. Yeah, you never couple together the numbers with the future for some reason. Yeah,
Carrie 53:26
no, yeah, no, I definitely did not, did not, and now without a doubt. Um, that's definitely why I strive to get my numbers better, right, um, and I know, like, I know I can do much better with the A, 1c, at a 6.7 and I, and it's I am comfortable where I am, but I definitely, like I said. I mean, my goal right now is to get it to the low sixes. If I ever saw a five, I probably would fall over. But why? Why do you say? Why? Because I feel like, Well, for one, I never even knew that it was safe for it to be that low. But you know now, thanks, right? Well, yeah, I know now, so, but I mean, I think I would fall over, meaning, like, holy crap. I actually did this. Well,
Scott Benner 54:15
I think you could do it. So listen, We've danced around that a little bit here, but did you learn a lot of this from the podcast? Definitely.
Carrie 54:22
Okay, yeah, no. I mean seriously, to realize, and I, you know, I'm actually still, I'm at the point where I'm a little offended when someone tells me that my a 1c, is high.
Unknown Speaker 54:36
I'm like, okay, because you've
Scott Benner 54:37
had an 11. You're like, I got it to a six, seven. Come on, yeah,
Carrie 54:40
that's when I feel like I want to tell them my story and be like, okay, look, you have no idea where I've come from. Like, this is so for me, like, this is a huge accomplishment, yeah,
Scott Benner 54:49
who doesn't care about that? Who your next heart attack doesn't give a shit about how far you've gone? No, I
Carrie 54:56
know, right. I know,
Scott Benner 54:57
right. So, like, why are you stuck in that?
Carrie 54:59
I don't know. I actually, I can't even answer. I don't know why
Scott Benner 55:04
we answered it a half an hour ago. You just have to apply it together. Okay, I'm trying to bring you full circle here. Go
Unknown Speaker 55:09
ahead, right?
Scott Benner 55:10
It's people. It's just how we handle things. You've done so well for yourself, and you have and you've come so far, and you have that you feel like you're done, even though you're not right.
Unknown Speaker 55:22
Yeah, right.
Carrie 55:24
But I do have my days where I'm like, Damn, how rad would that be, and how good? I mean, I already feel so much better than I did, but there's still I want to feel that much better.
Scott Benner 55:36
Yeah, I don't care how you feel anymore. What I care about is extra sugar in your blood, scraping little holes and things, right? That's what I care about, right, right, you know. And so I know. And is a six seven going to give you a heart attack? I'm not a magic person. I don't understand how everything works, right? What I can tell you is that for my kid, I just shoot for lower, lower, less, better, not too low, right? You might do a six seven your whole life, and keep it nice and steady and live to be 90 years old. Like, I don't see that that can't happen, right? Like, I don't see that that can't happen at all. But I don't know. You don't know. And as long as we don't know, and you think you could do a six, then do a six, what stops you from doing a six? Are you not pre bolusing your meals?
Carrie 56:18
Uh, okay, so I just learned about that. I'm like, pre bolus Okay, well, no, I that makes me sound really behind the times and kind of stupid.
Scott Benner 56:28
Just makes you sound it just makes you sound like you're being honest. Don't worry about that. It's
Carrie 56:32
well, I just Well, I feel like I I've known what pre bolusing is for a long time now, but pre bolusing used to be like 10 minutes. And then listening to some of the Pro Series, I just learned that a pre bolus can be all the way up to 30 minutes,
Scott Benner 56:50
depending on the person on your end, your situation, right? Yeah, and
Carrie 56:54
I and your situation, and I am that person, nine times out of 10, not always, but nine times out of 10. I am that person. Also.
Scott Benner 57:02
I like when people say, like, why pre bolus? But I'm like, but your blood sugar was 250 when you bolus, they're like, yeah. I'm like, that's not a pre bolus a meal. That's a correction for the 250 What about the pre bolus for the meal and the food? Yeah,
Carrie 57:13
exactly no and Right, exactly you have to take. I mean, that's a,
Unknown Speaker 57:16
that's a whole nother category.
Scott Benner 57:20
Carrie. I'm interested, after talking to you, what I'm realizing here is, you're in the infancy of your understanding of your management right now,
Carrie 57:28
literally, yeah, I'm still there's so much to learn that's so exciting for you. Yeah, no, I that's and it's fascinating. It's not discouraging for me. It's like, holy crap. There really is a light at the end of all these tunnels. Yeah, there's more than one tunnel. For one, there's more than one tunnel. And for two, I can definitely see there's a light at the end of them. Let me ask you,
Scott Benner 57:49
based on something you said earlier, do you still have weight to lose? Yes. So in your note, you actually asked about like, ozempic, right? You remember that? Like, is that a thing you've considered? I've taken all
Carrie 58:02
of them. Oh, wait a minute, we haven't even touched there yet. Are
Scott Benner 58:06
using one right now? Yes,
Carrie 58:08
which one I just I feel like, this is now. I feel like, Oh, my God, this could be the end of this tunnel for me. And maybe there isn't like I started years ago with truth, not years ago, five, six years ago,
Scott Benner 58:23
right? And that's
Carrie 58:24
where I got, that's where I was able to, like, cut my doses almost in half, and I lost about 24 or 25 pounds. I kind of, it kind of goes between 2425
Lija Greenseid 58:36
pounds, yeah, any chance you have PCOS Carrie, no one has ever said anything. Do you think you might or no, just insulin resistance? Yes, okay, I
Carrie 58:48
do. I truly believe I do. Okay, and I voice that to my endocrinologist, and that's actually how I got started on these drugs. I also take Metformin. Okay? So, I mean, I'm, I mean, I'm obviously on the pump. I take Metformin, and now I'm using Manjaro.
Scott Benner 59:07
How long for the Manjaro?
Carrie 59:11
It's only been,
I think I'm going on shot seven, so not even a complete two months yet. And of course, they start you at the very bottom, yeah,
Scott Benner 59:22
you're on point five right now. Yes,
Unknown Speaker 59:24
okay, you
Scott Benner 59:25
got one more, one more point five. Then you go to, what do you go to after that? Two and a half.
Carrie 59:29
I think it's seven point No, well, no, I'm on five, so it's 2.55 and and then it goes to seven point half. Yeah, seven and a half, yeah, I'm
Scott Benner 59:39
on seven and a half right now, I'm about ready to move to 10 see
Carrie 59:42
and I I've heard that 10 is where you're going to see your improvement,
Scott Benner 59:48
and what the doctor told me, yeah, so I'm super excited.
Carrie 59:52
So you've been okay. So okay, so me too. I'm like, oh my god, I can't get there quick enough. But everyone's like, No, you have to go through the hoops. You have. To go through four injections of each one, you know, I'm like, Ah,
Scott Benner 1:00:03
yeah, I don't, you could get caught. First of all, it's nice to it's, I'm glad you're tolerating it. That's fantastic. So, right, yeah, just stick to the process. So like, where I'm at right now, and I don't, it's not for diabetes, but obviously it impacts my insulin use, which is helping me lose weight. I've I started at 236 Uh huh, I'm 189 today, okay, but I've been as low as 183 Okay, and so I think in the last month and a month, month, yes, in the last month. So like, I started taking this over the counter supplement to help with my bowel movements. Be better. And okay, they are helping, but I'm gaining weight, so I'm not sure how to, like, figure this all out. And I actually went to the doctor on Saturday, and she's like, you've been putting on a couple of pounds. She goes, yeah. She goes, Don't worry, when we move you to the 10, then you're really gonna say it. I'm like, I've already, like, so I lost, at one point I was up to 50 pounds, but now I'm like, 44 pounds I've lost, right? And she's like, Wait till you see when you get to the 10. And I was like, All right, lady, I'm in like, let's go right. I think I have right now where I sit at 189 I don't know if I don't, maybe have 20 more pounds to lose about there, and then there's not an ounce of fat on my body after that, right? What you care about is that I just booked a recording with a doctor from Austin, Texas, Dr Tom Blevins. He's going to come on and talk about glps, okay, he's a proponent. He's an endocrinologist. He's going to come on and talk about functionally, how they work, and that kind of stuff. And I've had a number of people on this year already, like, from like, little kids, like 13 year old using we go V whose insulin needs, oh, my god. Her insulin needs went from 70 units a day to seven. Wow. She's probably like, still like, she's probably like, honeymooning, probably like a long honeymoon, but had so much insulin resistance, they think from PCOS maybe that, you know, it turned what looked like full blown type one back into like, Oh, this is again. It's infancy still. Wow. You're hearing a lot of people using glps, and their insulin needs going down. So when you started it, did you see a decrease in your insulin when you started the Manjaro? Yeah,
Carrie 1:02:23
that was actually the first thing that started or not, not with Manjaro, not yet when I started with the trulicity. That's what happened to me first. So
Scott Benner 1:02:31
you haven't seen a need in a reduction yet with the it's, by the way, it's bucharo Manjaro. I don't know, why don't they just call it like I ain't fat anymore number one and so, so you haven't seen a dip in the last seven weeks.
Carrie 1:02:44
No, I made a couple tweak, actually, if anything, I've just recently noticed, like the foot on the floor syndrome in the morning when I get up and I'm so pissed off about that, because my morning blood sugars are always for me, are always so good. And now I I'm like, oh my god, I haven't even had a sip of coffee yet, and this is rising. Like, what the heck is going on? Okay? So I've noticed that, so I've had to increase, but then in the late afternoon, I've had to decrease, because I have this bizarre thing that while I'm cooking dinner and doing my evening CHORES, my blood sugar wants to just start dropping like crazy. And I'm like, oh, no, you don't, because I don't want to treat a low blood sugar. I'm just getting ready to eat dinner. Why? Why? Why? You know, anyhow, so I have decreased there, but no, I have not decreased insulin yet due to the Manjaro Oh, I'm
Scott Benner 1:03:36
super interested to see what happens then, like so me too. Yeah, yeah, as to, because I
Carrie 1:03:42
feel like I plateaued. Plateaued with, not with that, definitely with the weight loss. But my first concern and reason for going on all this was the insulin resistance. Yeah, no, I
Scott Benner 1:03:51
hear you for sure. Have you lost weight in seven weeks? No, not yet. Okay, I see, oh, this is interesting. How much do you think you have to lose? Would you share?
Carrie 1:04:00
I would be stoked if I could. I mean, if I could do another 20 i and I'm at 189 too. By the way, we
Scott Benner 1:04:08
can fight Carrie. We're in the same age, age and weight class.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:12
Oh,
Carrie 1:04:15
don't threaten me with a good time. I love that.
Scott Benner 1:04:18
So funny. So how tall? How can I ask how tall you are? Yeah, I'm five, five. Okay, so you see, isn't it funny how we talk about weight? Because I did this too. I did the like, Oh, I was 236 I was like, I could probably lose 20 pounds. I lost 20 pounds. I was like, drop in the bucket. I lost 30 pounds. I was like, Uh oh, I need to lose way more weight than I thought. And like, you know, watching it go down and down, like, you'll be surprised when it starts moving for you, you'll be surprised my experience, at least as the number falls, you think, Oh, I had a very inconsistent view of myself, inconsistent, inconsistent with reality view of my Yeah. I
Carrie 1:04:56
mean, I think I could definitely lose 40 pounds and not look. Too skinny or too like or not look unwell, you know? Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:05:04
no, I hear you, yeah. Well, I wish you a ton of luck with that. That's that's good news that you were, how did you get your doctor to cover it? Or your insurance? Are
you paying cash for it?
Carrie 1:05:12
No, no, no, my insurance has always covered it from day one. And I feel I keep, I literally, I, swear to you, I'm waiting for the day where they're like,
Scott Benner 1:05:22
What diagnosis that got you? Bajaro, I
Carrie 1:05:27
don't know exactly how he's writing the or, you know, writing for it. So the insurance covers. I could have sworn at one point he told me he goes, Well, you know, you can be type two as well. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:05:42
this is the new, this is the new move from some doctors. They're, they're diagnosing you as type one and type two at the same time. Yeah, yeah. There's no way they're not going to catch on to that at some point. Right?
Carrie 1:05:52
That's why. That's why I'm like, Okay, this can't this has got to be too good to be true. Why can't
Scott Benner 1:05:56
he just give you a zeppbound for weight loss? It's the same drug you have. I mean, no offense, your BMI supports it. Like, just do that. Yeah, no, I
Carrie 1:06:07
don't know. I mean, as
Scott Benner 1:06:08
long as it's working, just shut your mouth and do it. But like, if, if they push back, just have the movie, does that bound right?
Carrie 1:06:16
Yeah, yeah, you know what I in fact, and I've never even thought of that. But that's a great and it's so I love my Endo. I swear, anything I suggest, he is not opposed to I mean, as long as it's within reason, I've definitely finally found my my my person is, I mean, as far as for one, he will totally listen to me and let me speak my mind and values my opinion, and actually will ask, okay, are you okay with this? What's your opinion? What do you think? You know, yeah, where, I mean, he's not just because he wears the white coat, he's in charge. And I
Scott Benner 1:06:49
freaking love that. Found somebody alike. That's very important. Yeah, it's
Carrie 1:06:53
a big, big deal, for sure. So anyhow, so he, he would definitely be open to for things for me to try and yeah, I mean, listen,
Scott Benner 1:07:02
if your insurance is willing to cover it, that's fine. My insurance only covers it for weight loss if you don't have type two diabetes. So I so I'm on zepbound, which is manjano. It's just, it's the same drug, it's just labeled differently, right, right? I hope these insurance companies come around the next year or so because, you know, I know they're still, like, they're opening up new manufacturing plants, like all these companies, but this stuff is really valuable for a lot of people.
Carrie 1:07:29
Well, it is. And, you know, for a long time it was frustrating for me when I the reason why I've jumped around to different ones is because I couldn't get them anymore. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:07:40
no, I you were doing the dance. You were like, I'll try. We go be I'll go to ozempic. Yeah, since you started an injectable, a once weekly injectable, how much weight have you lost? 25 pounds. Okay, that's pretty great. Yeah, yep, no.
Carrie 1:08:00
I mean, I still don't regret, and it's definitely it's a lifetime drug, but you see, for me, I feel like I've also learned that there are very good reasons to keep taking it, not just for the diabetes, but for my heart
Scott Benner 1:08:13
as well. Well, yeah, how about like, the studies are showing people having far fewer heart issues on it too,
Carrie 1:08:19
exactly because of, like, the it's the better for the blood pressure, better for the cholesterol. So, yes, so it's definitely a lifetime drug for me. Yeah,
Scott Benner 1:08:28
Carrie, yes, you had high a one C's, but you're also overweight. Like, these are all like factors for
Carrie 1:08:33
heart attack, and I had high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Has that cleared?
Scott Benner 1:08:38
Yes, my doctor did my vitals on Saturday, and she whispered, whispered like or mumbled under her breath like a kid twice while she was taking my vitals. What really, yeah, because my blood pressure was so good, and my and my um, my BP, and my pulse and my all my everything, she measured, like, manually. She's like, like, a kid, you look like a kid here with these numbers. She kept saying it, that's awesome. I was like, goddamn right lady. I was like, This is it? Like, I'm gonna live forever. I said that she left, right? But I don't think I'm actually gonna live forever. But I actually think I'm gonna live longer than I would've without the GOP, that's for sure. I like when people say it's a lifelong job, I'm like, Yeah, I don't care. So, right?
Carrie 1:09:21
Yeah, no, yeah, that's what, when people are like, but you, you have, you're gonna have to take that forever Goddamn, right? I'm taking it forever.
Scott Benner 1:09:28
Carry Simple Minds. You understand, see, what have I told you that? Listen, I'm not making fun anybody. Like, listen, I seriously, you're walking around with a 95 IQ. I don't judge you. I don't judge anybody. It's all about processing speed. It's like, it's like, it's like, you buy a computer with eight megs of RAM, it can do less work than a computer with 16 megs of RAM. Like, it's right, it doesn't make one a bad computer and a good computer. I'm like, genuinely not coming down on people. I I think what can happen sometimes is we end up putting people in. I think we end up putting eight Meg computers and 16 Meg jobs sometimes, and then we get mad at it for running slow. And that, literally, I think, is the problem. Like I you know, right? I realize there's only so many people to do so many jobs, but I mean, back to my original like example from this one. I don't know how you don't have to be that smart not to take a heart failure patient off their heart failure meds like
Unknown Speaker 1:10:25
that. Just, yeah,
Carrie 1:10:27
I mean, it just that just doesn't make sense. It
Unknown Speaker 1:10:31
has to be, right?
Scott Benner 1:10:34
I don't know. Kara, I can't, I can't because sometimes I just get to the point where I'm like, Ah,
Carrie 1:10:40
yeah, no, yeah, where you like you literally do not know what like you're okay, yeah, just took the words. There are no thoughts right now.
Scott Benner 1:10:47
You stand back and go. Every one of you mothers is trying to kill me. I see what's happening. Yeah? Seriously, yeah. That's what the when people say, advocate for yourself. That's what they should tell you. They should tell you, this is goddamn Mad Max. All right,
Carrie 1:11:04
seriously. Oh, it's not, yeah, no, I
Scott Benner 1:11:06
get out there and fight or someone's gonna drive you over their car, their teeth on the front of it. So yeah, people
Carrie 1:11:13
who say there's no, okay, there's no need to get so upset,
Scott Benner 1:11:17
you're all trying to kill me. That's all, yeah, no, yeah, yeah. From, by the way, from the person who goes, Oh, Carrie, that's a lifelong drug. Is it? Asshole, thanks,
Carrie 1:11:30
reality. Yeah, no,
Scott Benner 1:11:31
I appreciate it. You and your deep thoughts. Good job. All right, that's enough of me, Carrie, I'm gonna get myself in trouble. We're done. All right, I appreciate you doing this with me having this conversation. Thank you very much.
Carrie 1:11:44
No problem. It's actually I've actually learned from just talking with you like this. You must meet my dad.
Scott Benner 1:11:50
Oh, please. I'll tell him how wrong he is. What do you think of
Carrie 1:11:54
that? Oh, I would love to hear someone. I
Unknown Speaker 1:11:57
would love it. I
Scott Benner 1:11:58
just want to be clear at the end, there's a mass amount of things I don't understand at all. I just want to be but, but the things I don't understand I know to go find somebody else who does right? That's my that's my thing. Like I you know, you got to know what you don't know. Yes, very important. All right, let me say goodbye. Thank you very much for doing this. I appreciate it. Hold on for one second. Okay, okay. I want to thank the Eversense CGM for sponsoring this episode of The juicebox podcast, and invite you to go to Eversense cgm.com/juicebox to learn more about this terrific device, you can head over now and just absorb everything that the website has to offer. And that way you'll know if Eversense feels right for you. Eversense, cgm.com/juicebox, 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're going to learn all about their programs and resources for people with type one diabetes, a huge thank you to one of today's sponsors, gevok glucagon. Find out more about gvokopen at gvoke glucagon.com, forward slash juicebox. You spell that, G, V, O, k, e, g, l, U, C, A, G, O n.com, forward slash juice box. Are you starting to see patterns, but you can't quite make sense of them. You're like, Oh, if I bolus 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 thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The juicebox podcast. If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app like Spotify or Apple podcasts, please do that now. Seriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show. The episode you just heard was professionally edited by wrong way recording, wrongwayrecording.com, you.
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