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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of The juicebox Podcast.

I'm speaking with Peggy today. She's the mom of a child with type one diabetes who is nine years old. He was diagnosed in April of 2023 there's no other type one in the family, but they do have some bipolar, and today we're going to talk a lot about digestion issues and type one 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 healthcare plan. If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the juicebox podcast. Private Facebook group. Juicebox podcast, type one diabetes, but everybody is welcome. Type one, type two, gestational loved ones. It doesn't matter to me, if you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort or community, check out juicebox podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook. Guys, summer is overs, Fall is here, and you are going to need some sweatpants, sweatshirts, new sheets and towels. Go get them@cozyarth.com and save 40% off of your entire order when you use the offer code juicebox at checkout, and don't forget to take that survey AT T 1d, exchange.org/juice, box. I'm waiting for you to get over there. Head over now, only take a couple minutes. Today's episode of The juicebox podcast is sponsored by OmniPod and the OmniPod five learn more and get started today@omnipod.com juicebox. Box. Tickets for the 2025 juice cruise are limited. I'm not just saying that they actually are limited. We have a certain window to sell them in, and then that's it. Juicebox podcast.com, scroll down to the juice cruise banner, click on it, find a cabin that works for you and register right now. You are absolutely limited by time on this one. I'm so sorry to say that it sounds pushy, but it's the absolute truth. Juice cruise 2025 I hope to see you there. We're gonna get a tan, talk about diabetes and meet a ton of great people who are living with diabetes. It's kind of gonna be like floating diabetes camp, but you won't have to sleep in a log cabin. You'll get a tan, and it's not just for adults or kids. It's for everybody. Hi, I'm

Peggy 2:27
Peggy, and I'm a mom of a type one diabetes child who is nine years old. We live in the Midwest, and he was diagnosed last year in April. So I'm happy to be here. I'm

Scott Benner 2:41
happy to have you. Let me fish out a marker for my whiteboard. I cleaned my desk up, which was a huge mistake. My first question is, how long ago was he diagnosed?

Peggy 2:51
He was diagnosed, April 13. 2023,

Scott Benner 2:56
okay, so just about a year, yeah, just slightly over a year, okay, yeah, yeah, at eight years old at that point. Okay, any other type one in your family?

Peggy 3:08
No, well, I pause and say, my first cousin's child, so yes, but not, you know, first tier relatives, right?

Scott Benner 3:20
How about other autoimmune stuff, like celiac, thyroid,

Peggy 3:24
not that I'm aware of, of course, after diagnosis, as a mom, I did all the research and asked all the questions and trying to figure out the why, and as far as I know, like not his grandmother or grandfather, or, you know, aunts and uncles or anything like that. Okay,

Scott Benner 3:41
okay, different tier in the family line, bipolar, yes, yeah, no, yes, interesting. Okay, I'm gonna keep asking that question. Okay, I don't know what answer we're gonna come up with. I think I assume that paleontologists in the future listening to the podcast will be like this guy was onto something in the early 20s. Oh, I guess. Who knows why that

Peggy 4:05
is not one I had thought of. But, yeah,

Scott Benner 4:07
okay, inflammation. Ah, inflammation. That's what a lot of conversation around bipolar and inflammation, which just made me ask it one day, and then I kept asking it, and people keep saying yes. So I'm confused if we met at at the touch by type one conference in Orlando. How do you live in the Midwest?

Peggy 4:24
How do I live in the Midwest? Well, yeah, born and raised here, and when my son was first diagnosed, I craving community. And while I had my cousin's child with type one, no one else knew anything about it. I mean, I was confused. My family was confused. And in the profession that I'm in, I'm actually a counselor, and one of the things I teach my clients is community is really important, whatever your needs are. And so I was practicing what I preached. I reached out all over Facebook with one. One tiny Facebook group that my cousin had recommended, and then got lots of recommendations, and I'm on all kinds of groups now, so, and one of the things that I did was, where can I meet people in person? Like, eyeline is great, but where can I meet people in person? And I saw this free conference, you know, four months post diagnosis, and it was in Orlando, and I was like, let's go, let's go. Like, let's let's figure out who our people are. Learn as much as we can. And I love the touch to one type one in Orlando, because there was a kid section, and this is a big transition for me as a mom, but really, he's a little eight year old boy who none of his friends understand what's going on, and I wanted to just build community for him. And he did. I mean, he did go to type one diabetes camp the first year. I was so proud of them, but just wanted to keep growing our community. So because the conference was free, I just, you know, obviously had to pay for airfare and hotel, but it was, it was the trip. And who doesn't love Florida, right?

Scott Benner 6:05
It's nice and warm,

Peggy 6:06
even in August. I mean,

Scott Benner 6:08
did you do other things while you were there? Did you just come into the car? We did, yeah, good, that's good. Yeah. We

Peggy 6:13
did tons of fun stuff. We went to the beach, you know? We drove to Cocoa Beach. We tried lots of new restaurants, and went swimming a ton, and we met the most incredible people. And I was actually just texting with one of the moms this morning. She has turned into my practically daily check in on just life stuff. And I'm so grateful I went, because really, she's absolutely amazing. She's my closest person I talk to all the time, and she's in Arkansas. Oh,

Scott Benner 6:42
that's fantastic. So you met somebody at that conference that you are still close with right now. More than

Peggy 6:48
Yes, she's my more that yes, she was my dearest, dearest friend. Oh, that's fantastic. She listens to, yeah,

Scott Benner 6:55
the people at touch by type one, I think will be touched by that as well. That's really cool. So okay, so you go there. Did you have expectations beyond community? Do you think you're gonna learn something, or you just, were you really just throwing yourself into it?

Peggy 7:09
Well, you were there, so I wanted to meet you. I was excited about that. So community, meeting you, that was my biggest struggle.

Scott Benner 7:18
So you knew the podcast already?

Peggy 7:20
I did know the podcast already. Yep, all right, yep.

Scott Benner 7:23
Was I okay? You were awesome.

Peggy 7:26
Yeah, you were hilarious. And, you know, it's, it's great seeing your face in person, in real life, and then hearing your voice. It was, it was really cool.

Scott Benner 7:34
I'm glad. Yeah, I have to tell you, there's a fair amount of pressure that comes with that whole, like, somebody thing, you know, you're like, Oh, I wonder what they'll think, or you kind of don't want to, I guess my biggest thing is actually specific to, like, your situation. Like, I think people travel to these like, can you imagine if you got there and you were just like, oh, this is horrible. Like, I would feel so, yeah, I feel so bad about dragging you into it. You know what I mean? Like, even though it was free, I'd be like, I'm so sorry, but Oh, that's good to know. So you knew the podcast prior to that. So had you been managing with ideas from the podcast already? Today's episode of The juicebox podcast is sponsored by OmniPod, and before I tell you about OmniPod, the device, I'd like to tell you about OmniPod, the company, I approached OmniPod in 2015 and asked them to buy an ad on a podcast that I hadn't even begun to make yet because the podcast didn't have any listeners. All I could promise them was that I was going to try to help people living with type one diabetes, and that was enough for OmniPod. They bought their first ad, and I used that money to support myself while I was growing the juicebox podcast. You might even say that OmniPod is the firm foundation of the juicebox podcast, and it's actually the firm foundation of how my daughter manages her type one diabetes every day. Omnipod.com/juicebox whether you want the OmniPod five or the OmniPod dash, using my link, let's OmniPod know what a good decision they made in 2015 and continue to make to this day. OmniPod is easy to use, easy to fill, easy to wear. And I know that because my daughter has been wearing one every day since she was four years old, and she will be 20 this year. There is not enough time in an ad for me to tell you everything that I know about OmniPod, but please take a look omnipod.com/juicebox I think OmniPod could be a good friend to you, just like it has been to my daughter and my family.

Peggy 9:39
Yes, very I mean, as much as you can four months in, right? I mean, there's so much information overload, but even just basic steps, like, I'm going to share a story about my son. So at the type one conference, touch by type one conference, there was a kids section, and you were the speaker at the kids section. And one of the questions that you had asked was, besides food, what you know will raise your blood sugar. And my son raises his hand. Was all excited to answer the question, and said, adrenaline. And your response was, how did you know that? And he said, Well, my mom listens to juicebox podcast, so yeah. So it was really great to learn even more. I think we went to a I went to one on, like self care and like the caregiver and hearing other parents about what they're doing, because I was in like, crisis mode. Man, still four months in, and I was not sleeping. Well. Is pink. This was still kind of working, so lots of lows and just confusion about what the hell right. Because, I mean, I went out with, you know, this information from medical people who I trust, and I am like type A, wanting to like A plus B equals perfection. And realized very quickly that the information I was getting was not working for my child, and I needed to find a different way of doing things very, very quickly, because it was making me sick Peggy, that

Scott Benner 11:13
quickly in the first four months, the things you were being told you'd take them home, and what were the outcomes like?

Peggy 11:21
Oh my gosh. I mean, super high highs and super low lows, like, scariness, where I just panicked all the time, I mean, and it was, you know, Basil was too high. So and again, all this language that you're learning, like, what is a basal, what is a, what is a bolus? You know, I was using language like, short term, long term, because he was MDI in the beginning, even, even MDI, like, what the heck is MDI? So it was a lot of information. And so a lot of huge, huge spikes from within seconds. You know, I remember one time calling the on call emergency Endo, because he went from like 320 double arrows down to like 60 in a matter of nine minutes. I mean, it was incredible. And again, this was in the beginning. So, I mean, it was just way too much of all the insulin, but basil was too high in the beginning. So he was, I mean, six, seven lows at night, yeah. And, you know, the endo would say things like, well, once you administer the the the basal, there's no going back, you know, so the middle of the night, just treat the lows. I mean, that's like the advice I was getting. So it's like, Well, shouldn't the advice be lower your basal tomorrow. You know, like, why am I waiting three days to lower the basal? I don't know. It's just, it's terrible.

Scott Benner 12:49
It doesn't make sense. Terrible advice, yeah, especially in that storm that you're having, like, it's like, you want to see I did this. It worked. That's good advice. Now, check we do that, what's the next thing? And instead, everything seems wrong, and probably honeymooning, right? Yes,

Peggy 13:06
yeah, very much. So, I mean, I know that now, but I remember even the word honeymooning and thinking honeymooning, this is hell. Like I thought honeymoons, I've never been married, but, like, I thought honeymoon was like this bliss of, like, easy love. And this was, like, yeah, my living fucking nightmare.

Scott Benner 13:27
Hell, it is real. I've always said that. Like, why did they name it that? Like, why? Like, I guess, because everything's good in the honeymoon, and then it gets worse afterwards. Is that the idea, but? But that's not the point, though, because, because I do think you're right. I think people think honeymoon, and they think, like, beach happy? Like, like, yeah. You're like, that's like, oh, the honeymoon. And you're like, No, this is not happy. I don't feel like I'm on a beach. This is No, yeah, I feel like I'm in the water knocked over by the waves, exactly like

Peggy 13:59
drowning. That's a perfect example. I felt like I was drowning, drowning with information, drowning with like, nobody understanding, and having to be in charge of everything, like educating the school system, educating his teacher, educating his soccer coach. Like it was

Scott Benner 14:15
a lot. It's a lot. It still is a lot. Oh, of course. But it's a lot if you're if you're tuned in and interested and able, it's a lot. I always think about the people who were just getting by, like no one knew, but they were, like, low key, not great parents, but it was working out and everything. You know what? I mean, don't put a ton of effort in, like it was, they were skating, and it was working, and the kid's easy, and then all of a sudden, ton of information, ton of responsibility, life and death, and then, then what, like all, what are you gonna shift on a dime, you know, and go be a different person. It's,

Peggy 14:47
I know, it's a lot so hard.

Scott Benner 14:50
How did your son handle it? Looking back? Well, gosh, you know, I.

Peggy 15:01
Oh, it's hard to think about going back. Sorry, no, you're fine. I didn't mean to go so, oh

Scott Benner 15:06
no, it's okay. It's okay.

Peggy 15:08
It's no, it's okay. It's just, it's, it's still only been a year, but, you know, he had had, I mean, this kind of ties into the digestive enzyme, so it's actually kind of perfect for, for, I don't years before diagnosis, he was having a lot of stomach issues and gastro, random vomiting and all kinds of stuff that no one could figure out what was going on. And I did allergy testing, I thought it was like a milk allergy pediatrician put him on Oh, and constipation was the other thing. Put him on MiraLAX and put him on Prilosec, and then had a celiac test and an upper endoscopy and all this stuff for years beforehand, and no one could figure out what was wrong. They thought they knew what was wrong, right? They said acid reflux and constipation, because he doesn't drink enough water. And I just knew when my mom got like, this doesn't seem right, you know, like, and that was my gosh. I wish I could think back, I don't know, maybe three years, maybe even four. I mean, even as an infant, he had vomiting from formula. And, you know, looking back now all these years thinking like, God, was there an allergy to formula? And then, I don't know, who knows? You can't blame yourself, but yeah, let me

Scott Benner 16:30
tell you this to make you feel better, that for years, they would tell us, Oh, Arden must have acid reflux or something, because she'd be constant. Well, I'm so, by the way, Arden, if you're listening to this as an adult, I apologize, but when Arden was young, she'd have four, five days of constipation and then one horrible like diarrhea, like release, yes, right, yes, yeah, that was him, and then that was him,

Peggy 16:57
and it was got his diagnosed, yes, Yeah. And there would be moments of like, oh gosh, finally. And then he would like, not eat for a little while because, and they'd say, Well, he said eating because he's constipated. So when he first got diagnosed, quite frankly, I mean, of course, he was traumatized because he had, you know, the blood draws and the needles, and he was scared, but within 24 hours of being in the hospital, he felt so much better. He was still very sick, but he was going to the bathroom. He was just, you could see the color back in his face. Mom,

Scott Benner 17:31
I have diabetes, but I just took

Peggy 17:35
a great you know what I mean? Like, he and I had, I was traumatized too, but also a sense of relief. Like, Oh my god, this is what I've been saying for years. Like I knew something was coming. I knew something big was going on with my kid, and now I know,

Scott Benner 17:50
did it get regular at that point, or was it just? No, it just was good for a minute and then went back again. Yeah. Okay, yeah, yeah.

Peggy 17:57
So, yeah. So back to your original question was, how did he respond? And I think both of us were traumatized and relieved for the first France, I don't know, right for answers, for this reason, right? And then, and then the stomach pain started again. You know, we're home from the hospital, we're trying to get into a routine, and the stomach pain was happening, and constipation was happening, and then we've got up and down blood sugars. So I'm like, trying to figure it all out. And so I went to the internet for answers, and came upon the juicebox podcast, and started listening to the episode that you talked about Arden and her digestive enzymes, and all the the regimen that that you guys had found that really worked for her. And I was like, this is related to diabetes. I mean, it just clicked with me, like, boom, I have to get this product in my hands. So I immediately went online, ordered it, and it has been life changing,

Scott Benner 19:01
life changing, and so, so tell me, I mean, I almost can't remember everything that we tried, to be perfectly honest, like going through it, but, but, you know, for context, we were up to Arden had a scope, and a doctor told her she had gastroparesis, and when we said, Whoa, no, wait, like her blood sugars are really well managed. And he goes, Well, I don't think it's from diabetes. And I was like, Well, don't use that word around people with type one diabetes. It's scary. You know what? I mean, like, he's, he's, he's, like, why? I just mean, she has slow digestion. And I was like, okay, you know, he put her on this, like, gastroparesis diet, which was horrifying. Like, you know, just not a thing you'd want to do your whole life. And she did it like, she's, like, all right, I'll do it. And we did it for a solid month, and nothing, not one thing changed about this, like, constant pain in her stomach, like, couldn't go to the bathroom, like, this whole thing. And I've told. Story before, but I want to tell it here. I went to a local health food store because at the end of this first month with this diet, Arden looked at me one day and she said, I don't care if it hurts. I want a cheeseburger, like, like, let's go. And I kind of used it as leverage, because we had done, I mean, fairly something fairly invasive, like having her scoped and everything. It did not bring her an answer. She was at the point where she goes, Oh, doctors aren't going to help me. This is my lot, right? And so totally. So I said, I'll get you the cheeseburger, but we're going to stop at the health the health food store first, and we're going to just, like, try to get a digestive enzyme to go along with it. And she's, like, whatever, if I get a cheeseburger. It's fine. And I went there, and I talked to a lady who I love. I can't tell what her European descent is. She just sounds like a witch to me when she's talking, which is fantastic. And she's got a very great hippie vibe to her. And she talked to Arden for a while and talked to me, and she put this digestive enzyme in our hands, and she's like, start with this. And we were like, okay, Arden popped two of these things in the car while we were picking up the food, and she ate the cheeseburger, and she said later, like, my stomach doesn't hurt the way it usually does, but then she did not go to the bathroom. So like, days went by and stomach didn't hurt when she ate, but was not eliminating. And so I went back to the witch doctor, and I said, I said, Hey, here's what's going on. And she goes here, and she says, take these magnesium oxide, these will make you go to the bathroom. I was like, right on. And so I was like, Arden, the lady says it's gonna make and, you know, gave her one. And sure enough, like, the funny thing is, is that days went by and I kept waiting for to come to me, I know. And finally I just was like, I said, All right, I gotta ask you, like, are these magnesium oxides working? And she goes, Oh yeah, I went to the bathroom days ago. I just didn't want to tell you. And I was like, anyway, so that's it. Now she does not even do it all the time anymore. It just it got her through like a, like, a situation. Now I still like, so then I like, watch her, and I'm like, God, I have a lot of these issues. And so I was like, let me try the digestive enzyme. Now, all of a sudden, I could go to restaurants I couldn't go to before, or something like that. Like, I started testing them. I just, like, going places. I was like, I was like, I said to Kelly, I'm like, What's that restaurant that always makes me sick to my stomach? And she said, I don't want to say the name of it. And, and I was like, Okay, I'm like, let's go there today. And I was like, I'm gonna go take, I'm gonna take two of these digestive enzymes, and I'm gonna eat. And, no kidding. Like, I didn't get nauseous, my stomach didn't, like, flip over, like, anything like that. And then I had to add the magnesium oxide as well. Now, moving forward, it got to a weird place where, without the magnesium oxide, I wasn't going to the bathroom, but I also wasn't having like, formed bowel movements anymore, like it was and I was happy to be going and being on a cycle, and I felt like everything was better. I had this, like, gut guy, come on the podcast, and he just talked to me for, like, it's not out yet, and he talked to me for like, 45 minutes, and I'm still waiting for more testing, but he listened to everything I said, and then he was like, oh yeah. Slippery elm bark. And I was like, and I'm like, what now? So, so, no kidding. So he goes, I'd like you to try slippery elm bark. Is that right? Let me make sure that's right. I take it every day, and now I don't know what the hell it's called, so no, that's it, slippery elm bark. And I just buy a very like, inexpensive one on Amazon. I think they're like, 4000 milligram. Let me find it for you so I make sure I tell you the right goddamn thing. Hold on a second. We go to my recent orders and type in Elm that should bring it up pretty easily. Yeah. I buy something from Horbach, H, O, R, B, A, A, C, H, slippery elm bark, 4000 milligrams per serving 200 capsules, $9 right? So listen, Peggy, wait here. So I was at the situation now where I was not rushing to the bathroom, I could hold, like I my bowel movement till I wanted to go, which is a thing I used to hear people talk about, and I was like, whoa. Magically, I didn't do that right. And I could do that even though, like I said, my eliminations were not like, in a way that I was like, Oh, this seems solid and good. But I was like, happy because no pain. My digestion was working. I was absorbing my nutrient side this one side effect. I thought, Oh, I guess I'm this is what I'm gonna deal with. I talked to the guy. I ordered the slippery elm bark. I pop two of them in with my next meal. I take them when I eat. I don't know how to take them yet. I don't know if it's two or if it's one, like, it's not a kind of thing where. They tell you, two days later, I just had a solid bowel movement, and I was like, What in the hell just happened? Like, you know what I mean, like, so it just apparently, just kind of coats your insides. I don't understand why that would matter. He also moved me, and this was specific to me, so I wouldn't want anyone else to do this. But when I said I had some reflux still. He moved me to an enzyme, a digestive enzyme that has HCl in it, which is hydrochloric acid. I think so. I grab Thorn, beta tine, HCl and pepsin, digestive enzymes for protein breakdown in absorption, 225, capsules, I put on a little weight of a couple of pounds, but not, I don't think in an unhealthy way. I think I'm just going to the bathroom on a like a more reasonable I think I'm actually retaining some nutrients. I'm having to rejigger how I eat and everything like that, to fit. Bit. But anyway, he then sent me a urine test, which I have to actually do today, and then I'll get the results back from that. Then we're gonna sit down and talk again, then the episode

Peggy 26:09
will come out, so I can't wait to hear about it. Yeah, do they do? You know, do they do those have anything for kids? Because here I am. I'm like, God, my kid could use that too. You know? Like, I

Scott Benner 26:21
just talked to the guy, he sent me. I mean, it's a thing I'm paying for, like, you know, it's like a $300 test. I'm gonna pee in a jar and mail it somewhere. It's like, it's for the podcast. It's for me too, but it's for the podcast. So I can probably write it off on my taxes next year, but, but nevertheless, I'm just really interested to learn more. And here's the crazy thing, and this I'm really sorry for, because I definitely don't think I've ever said this on here. But my son has a similar digestive system to me, and I had been like, you know, doing all the like he was in the same spot. Because I was like, hey, try this, try that. Maybe it's this, maybe it's that. And like, he online, he'd be like, that, none of this stuff is helping me. And I'm like, okay, but I just sent him a text one day and I said, Cole, I'm like, just try this slippery elm bark. I said, just one time. Just try it for a day. And I'll tell you what. Man, he went off for the weekend last weekend, and I watched him go in the kitchen and grab that thing and take it with him. Wow. So I was pretty

Peggy 27:24
you know what's working? He's not going to tell you, maybe, but he's going to show you right come

Scott Benner 27:28
right out and set it. But I because it's weird, like dad. I yeah, he's in his 20s. He ain't looking for that conversation, I don't think. But he and I are both going to the doctor next week, not the gut guy, but our actual doctor, just for our yearly checkup. So we're going to be discussing all that with her. But anyway, so what happened for your son? Tell me how it worked

Peggy 27:46
for him. That's amazing. So I use the brand that Arden had used, so the pure encapsulation. They do have a children's line, which, by the way, continues to be out of stock, and I blame you and the juicebox podcast, because every time I get on a subscription, I'll get two and then they're like, sorry, we're out. What the heck they were out for, like, six months. I

Scott Benner 28:14
just really like, I don't need to be they need to be a sponsor. I don't know if you're accustomed to the term Gird your loins, but I just tensed up when I said the name of that slippery on bark out loud, because I was like, I cannot get

Peggy 28:27
that. Oh, my God, I know. Yeah, you say it out loud and there's going to disappear. That's what's happening to me right now I'm out. So, yeah, go ahead.

Scott Benner 28:34
But what did it do for him? Oh, God,

Peggy 28:36
changed his life so and now he asked for it, yeah, and if he doesn't take it before he eats, like, if we're out and about, um, my stomach hurts. I didn't and I said, I'll say, oh shoot, I forgot the digestive enzyme. So what it did is, it's his stomach doesn't hurt anymore. He would get severe stomach pain, like, I would have to pick him up from daycare sometimes before type one diagnosis, and I'd give him because I thought it was reflux. Like, here you go, buddy. You know now it's like, he can eat whatever he wants within reason, right? And he doesn't get stomach pain, he doesn't vomit, he doesn't have gas. He's like, digesting his food in the way that his body is supposed to be doing. On top of that, I did also start doing because I noticed I just the digestive enzymes first, and it was helping with not having stomach pain, but he wasn't pooping exactly like you said. And instead of doing MiraLAX, like the pediatrician said, because that was making him miserable, I'm doing chewable calm, digest, calm, magnesium for him at night. Okay? He has a bomb of it every single day. The calmest night is a nice product. It is a nice product. Yeah, it's easy, and he it tastes good. You know? He's not, like, ew. This is gross because I've tried other ones, and he's like, I am not and he can't do capsules yet, right? He's only nine, so I. Mean, I've tried, because when the Drupal digestive enzymes was out, I purchased the capsules, even though it's not recommended for children. So he couldn't get up down. I tried. We tried over and over and over and over again. We practiced with other things, and it gets like stuck in his he can, okay, it's probably just, I might, I might try again. It's been a while. Yeah,

Scott Benner 30:22
I have to tell you, it's, it's really interesting. I'd like to read this to people. I just went to chat GPT, and I said, What is the pancreas role in digestion? Chat GPT says the pancreas plays a crucial role in digestion by producing enzymes that help break down food in the small intestines. These enzymes include pancreatic amylase, which breaks down carbohydrates into sugar. Pancreatic lipase breaks down fats into fatty acid and glycerol. And pancreatic proteins breaks down proteins into amino acids. These enzymes are released into the small intestine to help with the digestion of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, allowing the body to absorb essential nutrients, and I say this thing out loud on my Facebook group, and Holy hell, a firestorm of people who are like, my stomach has been hurting for 20 years like I got notes from people that said, hey, my stomach hurt. I actually one lady's like, sticks in my head. My stomach has hurt for 35 years. It doesn't hurt today. Thank you. That's all it said. And I was like, Oh my God. Like, back to your original point of, like, getting all this information like no one ever just says to you, hey, if your stomach hurts, try a digestive enzyme in the endos office. Crazy, yeah, what he

Peggy 31:37
did was he referred me back to the gastroenterologist. You know, he's like, Oh, you've seen this person. Why don't you go back to her and talk to her? So we did, and she did some stool testing and and whatever and everything, you know, like pancreatic because it was testing, I told her we were taking the enzymes. What was it? The enzymes, right? But he wasn't it was because of the poopings. But that's why we're back. I've

Scott Benner 32:01
heard you have gastroparesis. You have celiac. You know, as soon as your stomach hurts, they go, celiac, just like, celiac, right? Not to say you couldn't, but like, bang, right, to that. And then they do the testing, and you go, I don't have any markers for celiac. And they go, silent, celiac, okay? And, you know, I'm like, All right, and then it's, it's gastroparesis. Like, how many people are running around now think they have gastroparesis that don't have it? I have no idea, you know, like, I mean, I'm sure many of you do. But that, again, not the point. The point is, is that this is a simple over the counter thing you can try, and you'll know if it works fairly quickly, so very quickly, and it's not gonna hurt you if you didn't need it, like so and the other thing, well, they'll say, Oh, you gotta get probiotics. Got probiotics. You know how many fcking probiotics Arden took. Didn't do anything. I took them. She took them. I forced them on my son. He took them. Dad, nothing changed. Same. Yeah. Try this. Try that. Same. Yeah. So who cares, like, if it's pancreas related because you have type one diabetes, or if it's just how you're built, or whatever. Like, such a simple fix. I mean, fantastic. I know, yeah.

Peggy 33:10
I mean, yeah, I was really angry at the medical community. Like, how do you not teach people these things and offer solutions, rather than put your hands up in the air, like, Oh, we don't. The tests say nothing. So why

Scott Benner 33:25
does the vaguely Russian Eastern Block witch know and you don't know? Like, I mean, seriously, yeah. I mean, she's, by the way, a lovely woman just has a great accent I don't understand. Like, I really don't. And the other thing is that it's in this health food store that when you get in there, smells weird, and everybody's like, in Birkenstocks, and it's strange and everything. And, like, I'm not listening. If you got Birkenstocks, it's fine with me, but I'm just, I'm trying to paint a picture. You know what? I mean? Like, it's a it's a real kind of, like, incense. It's a hippie place. And if you walked in there, off the street, never having any intersection with this idea you're gonna walk in and go, Okay, what is this? Exactly right? Like, I'm not doing this. Like, I'm not taking bee pollen. I don't know what you know, like, you know, like, and, and I don't know. I just said BEE POLLEN just seemed like something someone would take if they wouldn't. It's crazy that a mainstream doctor wouldn't say, hey, you know, your pancreas is also in charge of so much about digestion. That's

Peggy 34:25
the thing. Is, when we were, when he was first diagnosed, the only information I was taught and thought for a long period of time was that the pancreas produced only insulin. You

Scott Benner 34:38
didn't even know what else it did. Yeah,

Peggy 34:40
I didn't know what else it did I mean, and I'm still learning, like there's so many things it's it's a lot to learn, and I know they can only tell us so much, but based on what I've talked to other moms and other families about and online, how much the i. This is impacting people, and they're getting the same message as I am. I'm really lucky that I learned about it so quickly, and I can't tell people enough, even if I have friends that have kids that are having stomach issues or constipation or whatever, that are not type one, I'm like, you literally need to buy digestive enzymes and magnesium. Like, I don't care what your doctor said, 60s,

Scott Benner 35:19
and you're handed out Quaaludes to people they're like

Peggy 35:25
and maybe it works for some people. I'm not saying, I don't want to say anything

Scott Benner 35:28
bad about No, it's not magic. If you have listened, you might have a lot of a lot of different issues that are not going to be touched by this, but if this is your issue, you will know quickly. Hey, chat. GPT, the human pancreas, I asked it, what are the functions of the human pancreas? The human pancreas has both endocrine and extracurricular functions. Endocrine functions, the pancreas contains clusters of cells called the isolates of Langerhans, which produce hormones that regulate blood sugar levels. The main hormone produced by the isolates are the insulin and glucagon. Insulin helps lower blood sugar levels by promoting the uptake of glucose into cells, while glucagon raises blood sugar levels by stimulating the liver to release stored glucose. Now number two, exocrine function, the pancreas produces digestive enzymes that are released into small intestines to help break down carbohydrates, fats and proteins in food. These enzymes include amylase for carbohydrates, lipase for fats and various for proteins. Dysfunction of the pancreas can lead to conditions such as diabetes mellitus and pancreatic insufficiency. So but Bada bing, like, I mean, like, it's not possible. A doctor doesn't know that, especially an endocrinologist, and I can't understand how you could stand in front of them say My stomach hurts for 35 years, and they go, Oh, you have CELAC, no, I don't. Oh, you have this. No, I don't. Oh, I guess your stomach hurts. That's it. This is not the next step fascinating. So I know,

Peggy 36:55
I know it's so frustrating, and I'm I, I'm glad that you know we're talking about it, because I think that's what's missing, is, you know, this piece, it's not just about the insulin and glucagon, it's, it's all the other things. And it's crazy. It can impact growth. It can impact because my son is on the smaller side, yeah. And so I was trying to find answers with that too, and they keep telling me, and I'm still not convinced that there isn't something else going on, but that's another story. You know, he's on the growth curve. He's on the growth curve. It's like, okay, I understand that, but he's like, significantly smaller than other children. Well, let

Scott Benner 37:29
me say this, then, what's his TSH, what is that? It's the thyroid stimulating hormone. They should test this thyroid. Oh, they

Peggy 37:38
have, I don't know the number, but it's within normal range. Don't

Scott Benner 37:43
worry about the normal range. Like, figure out the number, okay. Like, okay. And let's say, I guess they're going to tell you the normal range is somewhere between. I don't know what the low the low range is, but then the high range is up, 1010, hold on a second normal range for ths agent adults is typically between point four and four. Okay, so what I'll tell you, based on conversations I've had and experiences I've had personally, is that when you start getting over two and you have symptoms, you should probably treat the symptoms with the medication, and then, so I don't know what his is. I might be, you know, completely off, but I'll, I'll share this with you that Arden was the smallest kid in her school. I mean, the teeniest person. Okay, we I forget how old she was when we finally figured out she had thyroid, we pushed treatment very quickly because my wife had had it, and they wouldn't treat her, and it caused her a lot of problems. We got her onto Synthroid really quickly. And today, Arden's going to be 20 in a couple of months. Arden's five seven. She's five seven. Wow. The best way I can explain this to you is that a handful of years ago, after having played softball for this for this guy as a coach for six or seven years, Arden saw this man again when she was like 16, and my wife bumped into him in a store. They were talking, Arden was around the corner at a different aisle, and Arden came back, stood behind my wife, because my wife was engaged in a conversation, kind of politely, stood behind her for a while, and when the conver when the conversation died down, the gentleman asked my wife, who is this you're with? Oh, wow, yeah. He did not know it was Arden. And that's how much like different she was like, she was like, five, one weighed nothing. Was so skinny, and now today, she's a good weight, and she's five seven. And I think it's because we gave her the wow. I think it's because she got that so,

Peggy 39:56
yeah, he's in like the 13th percentile for. For height and 20th, maybe not even 20th for weight, weight and height are really on the low end. Does

Scott Benner 40:10
he have any of the hypothyroid symptoms? Geez, hair loss, fatigue, weakness, sense? He

Peggy 40:17
did a diagnosis. I mean, all that sounds like type one diabetes, sensitivity

Scott Benner 40:20
to cold, dry skin, dry hair, constipation, muscle weakness, depression, anxiety, memory problems, puffy face, elevated cholesterol. These are all like

Peggy 40:33
memory problems, cholesterol, memory I always say, I always, I keep on saying it's diabetes thyroid?

Scott Benner 40:42
Does he have trouble? Does he not get rested after he sleeps? Sometimes, that's one of them. That's a big one.

Peggy 40:50
He slept for 11 hours last night and was grumpy this morning, like he hadn't slept a full night.

Scott Benner 40:56
Yeah. So there's part of me that thinks, you go find out what his TSH is, and you're gonna see it's like three, like, it's like three and a half or something. So it looked green on the Yeah, on the thing. But I'm telling you, if it's over to something, you know, I forget exactly, I have a great episode about it with Dr Benito. I can give you the the Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, you can listen through it anyway. How else? Like, what else is going on with diabetes? Like, what have you guys figured out? How's it going? All that stuff?

Peggy 41:29
Well, I mean, it's, it's going, right? I mean, we're, like, I said earlier, that's, we're a year into this. It's different every day we he's on the OmniPod five and the g7 he started with the g7 and so I'm in manual. I'm saying I'm in manual mode because I do all the work, right? And I'm having, recently, I'm having a lot of problems. Again, me, I he is, but I am with higher numbers than I would like, because I don't know if it's tunneling. Nico, hi. Nico was the one who told me about tunneling on Facebook, and so I've been trying all the things for tunneling, because it's like, there is no reason for his numbers to be. I mean, I'm, I shouldn't say, no reason, but I it's just like all there's so many factors, right? But that is the one that I feel like keeps happening because it'll his ratios and insulin sensitivity, factor, and all the things are working for like, 24 hours, and then it stops working, and it's driving me crazy. So, you know, and giving them more and more and more and more on the on the app is isn't working. So I'm changing out his pod earlier, and I've tried skin tack, I've tried underlays, I've tried overlays, I've tried I called OmniPod, and was like, help like, this keeps happening to my kid, you know, and I'll take it off. And it's not usually a cannula, it's, I've been cannula once, and they recommended the liquid just around the triangle part. So that's the last thing I'm gonna try. And then I just be like, I need to try a different pump or something. It's driving me nuts.

Scott Benner 43:06
So it's pulling you think it's pulling away? Or do you think

Peggy 43:10
he's very active? Yeah, he fiddles with it. If you know what I mean, he'll, it'll be on his arm, and he'll be watching TV, and be like, or it's on his stomach, and he's stop touching your pod, you know? So it moves a lot. And he's very active. He's running around. He plays soccer. And I think it's just not staying put, and it doesn't, you know, oh, I tried to a grip shield. I mean, I've tried all the things. So he's and if I don't put it right on the right way, it just kind of wheels

Scott Benner 43:38
right. So he's lean and thin too. Yes, very lean. You don't have a lot of, like, flat, bigger spaces to put it on. I don't. It doesn't work better anywhere on his leg,

Peggy 43:47
stomach. He won't do the leg. Ooh, I we did the leg once. I had to, I mean, we had to take it off. He just screamed and screamed. It was so painful.

Scott Benner 43:56
It hurt. The sight hurt. Okay, you get the muscle. Maybe I

Peggy 44:00
must have. I must have. And that was in the beginning of when we started, which I think we started in, like August. Has

Scott Benner 44:07
he put a weight on something? Yes, not

Peggy 44:09
a lot. The doctor's pleased, yeah,

Scott Benner 44:13
well, I mean, you could try the leg again, because it sounds like on the stomach, because he's got, there's more surface area. It's not flexing as much, so you're probably seeing it like rock on arms, is what I'm guessing, right? Yeah. I mean, you turn it on the stomach, like you could have the cannula facing the belly button, then the next time, have it face away, and then on and so you get like, four different sites on, at least on either side of the navel. Yeah, yeah.

Peggy 44:38
And we do, I do the stomach as much as possible. But then, you know, he gets adhesive reactions and inflammation where the cannula goes in. So it's like a hard, bumpy thing, and so he gets, it's really painful, yeah, so he'll ask, you know, can we leave my stomach alone for a little while?

Scott Benner 44:55
Okay, I mean, listen, you could, do you think he would use a tube pump? Maybe? I don't know it's, I don't know.

Peggy 45:03
I don't know. We'll see, we'll see. I'm gonna keep, you know, experimenting. I mean, I the two pumps is, you know, I don't know why I'm so like, against it. It's just, it's so convenient. This OmniPod is so convenient. It's easy within. I mean, now we're a year into this, and I can we, he actually does a lot of it now, because I want to teach him how to do stuff. Obviously, we can fill it, change it. I mean, in less than two minutes, you know, and boom, we're out the door, you know, so quick, and it's easy. So

Scott Benner 45:33
I don't know how I would sell a tube pump. Darden, like, I don't think she'd, I don't think she'd bite, honestly,

Peggy 45:39
I don't think he would either.

Scott Benner 45:42
So you think so it's tough. I think she just loves the form factor of it too much. Oh, before I forget, Dr Benito is in Episode 413 it's called thyroid disease explained, and she is just a font of information.

Unknown Speaker 45:58
And thank you. Yeah.

Scott Benner 45:59
So if you really want to understand thyroid, listen to that one I do and and then go check the tests and see because, like, no kidding, it could not be this at all. But there's a world where I've been told Arden's TSH was six, and they said we don't treat it at this number at six every every, every, every symptom. And they're like, We don't I had to, I had to force them to do it. Wow, absolutely forced them to do it. And then early on, we figured out, like, Arden's uptake is not great, so she has to take a t3 as well. And we had it right then she had a problem, and they blamed the t3 when it wasn't the t3 so then she had to live another year, exhausted, until we finally stupid. Went through so many things till we got back to them, going, Oh yeah, it's probably the t3 and then eventually, eventually, I got her to a good I got her to Dr Benito, actually, who managed, she manages my Arden's coals and my wife's thyroids. That's fantastic. Oh, good, good. So, yeah,

Peggy 47:07
well, yeah. I mean, I think it I mean, that's another thing to talk to, you know, to remind people that are listening today, like, keep advocating for yourself. Like, if something doesn't seem right about yourself, or your kids, just keep advocating for yourself, trust your gut. We are taught, I don't know if it's worldwide or it's an American thing, we're taught to trust the medical people with without questioning them. Yeah, right. I was that person, and I still believe they are the experts, right? Like, I want to go to the experts. They know their stuff, but if something doesn't fit with you and something doesn't feel right, like this doesn't seem like the right thing. Keep asking, keep doing research. Talk to moms, talk to other dads, like talk to other people that are dealing with the same thing, because we're living this day to day. Yes, they got their medical degrees, but they're not living this day to day. Or most of them aren't right, like some are to a D, but I don't know, just keep asking, don't you don't have to just blindly trust what people are saying. You're in charge of your health. You're in charge of your kids health. And just keep looking for the answers, because it's out there. Yeah,

Scott Benner 48:13
I think too it's important to remember, like simple things, your stomach's not supposed to hurt. You're not supposed to be exhausted all the time. You can come up with reasons why, oh, I have a young child, or I have that's all fine, but there are plenty of people with young kids that are not exhausted, and there are plenty of people who eat really crappy food and their stomach doesn't hurt, and they eat good food in their stomach doesn't hurt, and everywhere in between. You are not supposed to be agitated all the time. You're not supposed to be anxious all the time, like, there's, there's reasons why thyroid, for example, could help you with those things. Like, my son's first symptom with hypothyroidism was his personality changed, and my wife's did too. I thinking back all the way back to when I actually joked with the doctor at one time, I was like, Look, I now have a whole dog in the backyard. Case I have to kill this lady. Like, like, like, she was, like, she was a problem, you know what I mean, and then that thyroid medication helped her with that. Like, so like, you know, your hair's not supposed to fall out, right? If it does, don't make up an excuse for it. Just, trust me, it's not supposed to fall your blood sugar is not supposed to be 60, and then 350 and then 60, and then 300 that's not just diabetes. Like these are things that there are quantifiable, knowable solutions to, right and to have. If a doctor looks in the face because I don't know, then they're the wrong doctor. Exactly. You got to dig in more. And you know, I just told somebody last night. I didn't Am I didn't ask me anything on Facebook last night. So sometimes when I'm working, I answer, I like, sit at two keyboards. I work at this one, and then I answer questions on that one, and this one person said, like, you know, I'm so afraid for the doctor to, like, yell at me about, like, changing insulin. And I didn't know another answer. I just said I didn't. It's time to pull up your big girl pants and get in the fight. Like, this is, this is what this is like. It just is, if you don't, if you're not adjusting your insulin, and you have type one diabetes, I don't know how you're I don't understand insulin. I think it goes,

Peggy 50:15
I mean, I Yeah, I hear that a lot too. And I think, and I do get intimidated by my Endo. I mean, it sort of feels like the person that like, is giving my child life saving hormone, like, I don't want to piss him off, right? But I also I'm not taking it right, like he a lot of times, and I see some food too well, he'll say stuff. And I'm like, Okay, thank you, right? Like, can I have my prescription? I'm I'm gonna go home and do what I need to do. I mean, so it's not about again, we're taught to they're the experts. We're supposed to do what they say, and within reason, we listen to what they say, but you're living every day. You get to go home and make your own decisions. You don't have to follow it if it's not working, if it's not working, and they're not going to be supportive, figure it out. Yeah, there's a middle

Scott Benner 51:01
ground between blindly. There's blindly listened and there. And if listen, if everything's great, then who cares? Then right on. But if you're seeing problems, you know, you can't skip over maybe the information I'm getting isn't good. That's right, that's just the first and people skip right over that part, and then you end up looking, you know, around blind corners forever for an answer to something. And you, you the answer is right in front of you, just not paying attention to it. You know, like I they're, I've talked to people privately and on here, running around with TSH is in the eights. They are. They clearly have hypothyroidism. Doctors will not give them medication, that's it. And they're like, Well, I don't know what to do. And I'm like, how do you not know what to do? Go find another doctor, right? And don't just switch and then get in there and hope, call another office and say, look, here's my situation. My doctor is resistant. If I switch to you, will you help me with this? Like, make them tell you they're the way they handle these things before you go through the whole process of leaving a doctor and going to another one because you don't want to. I've heard people switching, get to the next doctor, get the same crappy answer again, and then, and then they just, it takes the ass out of them, and they don't have the the energy for it anymore. You know what? I mean? I was

Peggy 52:20
just gonna say, there's a lot of emotional energy that goes into making a doctor's appointment, finding a good doctor. So I get why people don't do it immediately, take a break, you know, and then, you know, reevaluate. You don't have to do everything all at once, but there's no excuse for not doing it, in my opinion. Just telling you, if

Scott Benner 52:39
you're having a heart attack and you ran to an emergency room, you said, I'm happy. Room, you said, I'm having a heart attack. And they said, We don't believe you. I don't think you would just sit on the floor and die. I think you would try to get to a different emergency room. And I don't see this as much different, but, but that's that, that, that um, weariness in the middle. Listen, last night I went grocery shopping with my wife. She opened up the freezer section to grab a box, and the box had a big dent on top of it. I saw her look at the box and think, I don't want the dented box. I'm gonna get the one behind it. She pulled it forward. The next box was dented. And even though the third box wasn't, she gave up and took the

Unknown Speaker 53:14
second dented box.

Scott Benner 53:17
Isn't that so interesting? She was like, I don't want the dented box, but not bad enough to go through two of these to get to the third one. And then she grabbed it. Now, later, I made fun of her, and she said, I didn't notice that the third box wasn't dented. I was like, why didn't you look like, this was important to you? Like, in this little micro cosmos, she had decided no dented box. But then once it got a little hard, she's like, Ah, she took it out of boxes. Yeah. So when that's the world, I don't know how you it's going to be hard to fight through bad doctors and like to pick through the boxes till you get the right one. But you have to, like you just you have to, you have to, it's your health or somebody else's health, right? And take it for me, a person who feels 1,000,000% better today than I did 12 months ago. It's very, very worth it, very it's

Peggy 54:03
super worth it. Oh, absolutely. It's totally worth it. Yeah, well,

Scott Benner 54:07
Peggy, I this has been really wonderful, but I feel like we've covered everything, so I don't want to, I want to drag you through. Are you comfortable that we got to everything? Yeah, I think so, yeah, right. Oh, that's excellent. I really, I really appreciate you doing this. Just, I want to make sure we didn't miss anything. Nothing else you want to talk

Peggy 54:22
about? No, I just wanted to make sure people knew about the digestive enzymes, the magnesium. I got to tell my story about my son and meeting you. And very nice, really, this digestive times,

Scott Benner 54:35
digestive enzymes, and if you can't poop, magnesium oxide. Magnesium, very, very important, not citrate, because there's 1000 different kinds of magnesium. There's glycinate citrate, wildlife, magnesium oxide, yeah, and that that should make you put oxide, yeah, you ain't pooping on that. I don't know something happened.

Peggy 54:58
Are you gonna be a. Touched by type one in Florida again this year. I don't think I'm supposed, can you not tell

Scott Benner 55:04
us the date of it, but I definitely will be there, and I was, I gotta save the date email already so

Peggy 55:11
we got the email as like, participants. It just doesn't say who's coming. Oh

Scott Benner 55:15
yeah, I don't think, well, they don't want to say in case it falls through, like, because people have problems, they get sick, sometimes, stuff like that, when they're going to come and speak. But yeah, no, I'm, I'm I already got to save the date. I love that trip. I think it's great. I love the I think they do such a wonderful job. Honestly, they really do and it's not people are going to be like they advertise on the show, but that's not why they buy an ad on the show. They buy an ad on the show because it gets the word out. I mean, because look as people from Arkansas go to their thing, right? And they find out about, I'm from the Midwest, yeah, it's my friend Marissa is from Arkansas, yeah, yeah. They're just a fantastic organization. They help people with type one. They put a great, a great event on once a year in a beautiful hotel, like it was beautiful, yeah, yeah. Really, just wonderfully done. I'll say with deference to a lot of lovely people that I've met locally that have set up JDRF events. It's the best diabetes event I've ever been to. So, oh, wow. It was my

Peggy 56:11
first one. So I'm glad to hear that. I mean, I've had JDRF events, but yeah, that it was really it's worth another trip down to Florida. We're planning on it beautiful,

Scott Benner 56:19
beautiful time. All right. Thank you so much. Yeah. Thanks, Scott, great to talk to you. You too.

A huge thanks to OmniPod, not just my longest sponsor, but my first one. Omnipod.com/juicebox if you love the podcast and you love tulip insulin pumps, this link is for you. Omnipod.com/juicebox, I was looking for a way that we could all get nice and tanned and meet each other and spend some time talking about diabetes. How are we going to do that on a juice cruise, juice cruise 2025 departs Galveston, Texas on Monday, June 23 2025 it's a five night trip through the Western Caribbean, visiting, of course, Galveston, Costa, Maya and cosmel. Why do we need to be there? Because during the days at sea, we're going to be holding conferences. You can get involved in these talks around type one diabetes, and they're going to be Q and A's plenty of time for everyone to get to talk, ask their questions and get their questions answered. So if you're looking for a nice adult or family vacation, you want to meet your favorite podcast host, but you can't figure out where Jason Bateman lives, so you'll settle for me. If you want to talk about diabetes, or, you know what, maybe you want to meet some people living with type one, or just get a tan with a bunch of cool people. You can do that on juice cruise 2025. Space is limited. Head now to juicebox podcast.com and click on that banner, you can find out all about the different cabins that are available to you and register today. Links in the show notes, links at juicebox podcast.com I hope to see you on board. I want to thank you so much for listening and remind you please subscribe and follow to the podcast wherever you're listening right now, if it's YouTube, Apple podcast, Spotify, or any other audio app, go hit follow or subscribe, whichever your app allows for, and set up those downloads so you never miss an episode, especially an apple podcast, go into your settings and choose, download all new episodes, whether you have a podcast or a band. Rob at wrong way recording can help you wrong wayrecording.com. If you're newly diagnosed, check out the bold beginnings series. Find it at juicebox podcast.com, up in the menu in the featured tab of the private Facebook group, or go into the audio app you're listening in right now and search for juicebox podcast, bold beginnings. Juicebox is one word. Juicebox podcast, bold beginnings. This series is perfect for newly diagnosed people. You.