How To Keep Your Pills Organized

When you are on a lot of medicine, keeping track of what prescriptions need to be filled and what prescriptions are waiting at the pharmacy, can be a difficult task! I have come up with my own system to help me keep my medicines organized. This might be a little confusing to explain, but I'm hoping my system can help someone else stay organized!

Key Items:
Sticky Notes
Pen
Pill Box
Prescriptions

I feel like I am on more medicine than a 90 year old women! So, keeping my pills in a pill box is a must! Filling my pill box, and keeping track of which pills need to be filled, sometimes makes my head spin.

I keep all of my pill bottles in a medium size bag so they are always together. Before I fill my pill box, I take all of my pill bottles out of my bag so they are easier to see.

I usually start with my day time meds first. When I finish putting one medicine in the pill box, I can tell if I'm going to need to get it refilled before the next week.

When I sit down and go through my pills the following week, I can never remember which pills (or other prescriptions) are waiting at the pharmacy, and which ones still need to be called in. My pharmacy has an automated system so when you need a refill all you have to do is call the pharmacy and type in your prescription number and then the pharmacy fills it! It's so simple!

When I call a prescription in, I write it down on a sticky note and stick it to the pill bottle. When I have a prescription that can't be filled yet, I write that down a sticky note.

When I sit down the following week to fill my pill box, I can look at the sticky notes on my pill bottles and see which prescriptions need to be picked up, or if I have one that has a note that says, "too soon to be filled," I know that I need to call that one in again.

When I'm down to my last vial of insulin, I write a note and stick it to the box and put the box back in the refrigerator. When I can't remember if I've called it in, all I have to do is look at the note!

This system isn't perfect but it works for me!

Annoying Questions/Comments Diabetics Hear

Since I have been a diabetic for a while now, I get asked a lot of the same questions and hear a lot of the same comments repeatedly. Watch here to find out what the top most annoying questions and comments are to me!

How I Was Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes

I don't think I've made a post yet about how I was diagnosed with diabetes so I decided to explain my story in a video. In this video I talk about how old I was when I was diagnosed, and some of the things that I went through that led to my diagnosis.

Could the changing weather be playing a part in my depression?

Could the changing weather be playing a part in my depression? I feel like since the end of October I've just been depressed and I can't shake it. It's like when the weather started to change, so did my mood. I don't feel like doing anything or going anywhere. I didn't even feel like going to get my nails done a couple weeks ago and that is definitely not like me. I love getting my nails done!

I would rather lay in bed and sleep than get up and do something. I have no motivation at all. I don't even want to be sitting here posting but I am forcing myself to do it anyway. 

A few weeks ago, this guy that I was talking to and really liked decided he wanted to work things out with his ex. Things with us were going great so it was a huge slap in the face so I think that's part of why I started to get depressed. Usually when things like that happen, I bounce back within a few days  and I get over it but I feel like I just keep getting more depressed even after I stopped worrying about what's his name.

Not having a job right now is not helping at all. I have nothing to do with my day. I have a mountain of laundry that needs to be put away and another pile of clothes that need to be washed but it's like I just don't care enough to do it. I just lay in bed and stare at it.

After Thanksgiving, I usually get super excited for Christmas. I get so excited to put up decorations and buy Christmas presents for my friends and family but I'm having a really hard time getting in the spirit this year. 

Yesterday, I wanted to help my Mom put up Christmas decorations even though I wasn't really feeling it. I attempted to put together our little Christmas tree but I lost my patience pretty quickly. I ended up giving up and locking myself in my bedroom instead. I sat on my bed and cried and hated life and everything for about an hour. Over a Christmas tree? Yeah, that's what depression does to you. 

If it was warmer outside, I think that would definitely help lift my mood but it's December. It's cold and today it just happens to be raining. 

Depression sucks. No one deserves to hate life but when you're depressed, sometimes you do. It's frustrating when you know you're depressed, but there's not much you can do about it. Sure, you can force yourself to go out and make plans, or get up and do your laundry but depression won't just go away. I know mine won't. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist in 2 weeks. I'm sure he'll increase my medicine or add another medicine so I'm hoping that helps!

Weight Loss with Type 1 Diabetes

Losing weight is difficult for anyone. Losing weight when you're a type 1 Diabetic can be especially difficult. All type 1 diabetics are on insulin (and some type 2's). I have found that the more insulin you take, the more weight you gain. 

About a year ago, I was getting between 80 and 100 units of insulin a day. That's a lot! Part of why I was getting so much insulin was because I was eating a lot of carbs so I had to make sure I was taking enough insulin to control a stable blood sugar after I ate those carbs. 

Looking back now, I can't believe how much I could eat! I would go to McDonald's and order a Big Mac and Fries and finish it with no problem. I was eating fast food all the time, and I was always eating Little Debbie cakes (I mentioned in a previous post that Little Debbie was my bitch!), and other sweets. 

About a year ago, I started to cut back on what I ate. I stopped eating so much junk and fast food. That stuff causes you take a lot of insulin and it's so unhealthy not just for diabetics but for anyone! I cut down on portion sizes, and I started to snack on fruits and vegetables instead of cupcakes and cookies. 

Fruits and veggies have a lot lower carb count than junk food! The lower the carb count, the lower the amount of insulin you will have to take! Now, don't get me wrong. I still cheat and eat cookies and other junk occasionally but it's not near as much as it use to be!

Not only did I change my diet, but I joined a gym too! I started going to the gym a few times a week. Going to the gym and exercising is so much easier when you go with a friend. I went with one of my best friends and we would start off on the bike. We would talk so much that we would lose track of time so we would easily be on the bike for 30-45 minutes. Then, we would switch to another cardio machine and work out on that for another 30 minutes or so.

Exercising and doing a lot of activity can be such a pain if you have diabetes! The more active you are, the lower your blood sugar is going to be. I was getting so frustrated with going to the gym because I couldn't keep my blood sugar in a normal range while working out. 

At the beginning of a workout, my blood sugar will be at a good level. After only minutes of working out, my blood sugar will drop. I have to stop and sit down for a few minutes to drink some juice or eat a granola bar. What's the point of working out if you're just going to have to eat halfway through?! It can be very frustrating, but you have to figure out what works for you. Does your blood sugar need to start off at a higher level before a workout? Do you need to eat a bigger snack before you hit the gym? I'm still trying to figure out what works for me! 

If you use an insulin pump, you might have to suspend your insulin delivery while you work out or you might have to set a temporary basal rate a couple hours before you plan on going to the gym. There's a lot to think about when you're a diabetic looking to get more exercise!

At my heaviest, I weighed 175 lbs. I am now almost 40 lbs lighter weighing 136 lbs! If I can do it, anyone can do it!

Before losing weight, and after!

High Blood Sugar, You Suck!

I just love starting my day off with a blood sugar reading over 400...said no one ever! I gave myself insulin to treat the high and checked 2 hours later. Guess what?! It's still over 400! I gave myself more insulin hoping this is just one of those fluke things.

I just tested again and I got a reading of 238. It's coming down but I definitely don't feel good. I feel like I could drink an entire river because I'm so thirsty. My body is so heavy whenever I get up to do something and I'm very cranky...classic symptoms of hyperglycemia (high blood sugar)!

I was going to check for ketones but I don't have any pee sticks (ketosticks?). I feel like I just shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning! I might need a nap before the day is over.

I was trying to transfer some videos I have on my phone to my computer so I could eventually edit them and post them on here and YouTube but of course I can't do it! My pictures transfer but the videos won't. This is very minor but when your blood sugar is 400 and your "crazy" meds need to be adjusted, it feels like a huge problem! I was ready to flip my shit!...and there's blood all over my keyboard from typing after I did my finger stick. Lol!...diabetic problems for sure!

Too much insulin. Not enough carbs!

For those who don't know, keep in mind that the more carbs a type 1 diabetic eats, the more insulin they will have to take to maintain a normal blood sugar.


I believe every person deserves a day they shouldn't worry about what goes in their mouth and diabetics are no exception! Over the last year, I have really cut back on the junk I put in my mouth. I use to be the cupcake queen! Little Debbie was my b*tch (LOL). Though I've cut back on junk food, I do have a day every couple months that I splurge and I just don't really care about what I eat. Well, today was one of those days!


For lunch, I had THREE slices of pizza. Pizza makes my blood sugar sky rocket so I should of only eaten one slice. Maybe two. But I was starving so I had to eat three slices.


There's usually 30 g of carbs in one slice of pizza so I should of had a total of 90 g of carbs. Since, my blood sugar spikes when I eat pizza, I added an extra 10 g of carbs.


A few hours later I was craving a frozen mocha from Panera bread. Before I drank it, I checked my blood sugar. When I checked, my blood sugar was 70. A little low but not bad at all considering I ate a lot for lunch!




Usually, frozen mochas leave my blood sugar higher than it should be so I thought that I better Google how many grams of carbs it has in it. I was shocked when I found that a medium frozen mocha has 94g of carbs in it! That's a ton more than I had expected! It's no wonder my blood sugar is always high after I drink one! I wasn't counting for enough carbs (I wasn't getting enough insulin)!


I let my mom have a few sips of my tasty drink and I don't think I realized just how much she really drank. Less than 2 hours later after I gave myself insulin, my blood sugar was 45!

I had just left the grocery store when I started to feel funny. Of course I didn't notice the symptoms when I was sitting in the parking lot of the grocery store. I had to be driving! I pulled over to the side of the road as soon as I found a safe place. I had a few glucose tablets and I managed to find some old gummy bears in my purse so the problem was easily solved!




9 times out of ten when I have a day I eat a lot of carbs, my blood sugar ends up high but today the complete opposite happened. I had too much insulin and not enough carbs! Sometimes it's hard to judge how many carbs you've actually eaten.

Plenty of Fish and Tinder Dating Website Review

Like most 21 year old single females, I want to meet new people, date, and potentially have a relationship with a nice guy! I'm not really a big fan of going out and partying and when I do I'm usually pretty shy (until I get a good buzz going on! Lol.), and since I'm more mature than most people my age, it's hard for me to meet people I have a connection with. So, I had the bright idea to try two online dating websites, Plenty of Fish and Tinder.

I have had some pretty bad luck with the dating scene. I have been in quite a few, VERY short relationships. I'm talking usually only a few weeks (Is that even considered a relationship?!), and then I get screwed over or I realize the guy is a POS.


I thought that with the help of some dating websites, my bad luck with men would change. I was so wrong!  

One of the first "dating" sites I tried was Tinder. I say "dating" because it's not dating. It's a bunch of guys (and probably women too...I don't roll that way so I wouldn't know!) looking for hook ups. I had heard on TV that Tinder was good for that and that couldn't be more true! These guys don't want relationships and most of them aren't even worried about getting to know you to have a friendship. They just want a booty call! If you are just looking for sex, Tinder is the perfect website to use.

The second site I have tried is Plenty of Fish (POF). I have to admit this site is a little better than Tinder but there are some creeps on there! I have met one or 2 guys from POF that I thought could have some potential but it just didn't work out for whatever reason (like they are still hung up on their baby mama!).

The only reason I still have a POF account now is because I find it entertaining! Some of the profiles on there crack me up! The other night I had a guy send me a message and his profile picture was a picture of an engagement ring! Maybe this is just me, but that just makes him look desperate. It was such a turn off! This guy was ready to get married to the first girl that showed him any interest. Well, it wasn't going to be me! That's not appealing to me whatsoever!

If you are single and need some cheap entertainment, make a Tinder or a POF account but don't go on there with the expectation to find a serious relationship because 9 times out of 10 you won't find it!

5 Things That Help With Depression

I have dealt with depression and bipolar disorder since I was in middle school (I'm 21 years old now). Below is a list of 5 things that help me with my depression and mood swings.

1. Listen to music. Music is like therapy to me. There is always a song that fits the mood I'm in. When I'm sad I will play one of my favorite slow songs and I will sing to the top of my lungs! If I'm having guy problems, there is always a song the describes how I feel.

2. Go for a ride. When I'm depressed or have a lot on my mind one of my favorite things to do is to ride around on the back roads. I live in the country where there are a lot of farms and corn fields so sometimes I feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere and it's really nice. If you live in a city, this might not be as relaxing for you. Maybe you're one of those people that loves the city life so this might work for you. By the way, this is usually when listening to music comes in handy! Crank up the volume! 

3. Make plans. One thing that really helps me when I'm depressed is to make plans. Make plans to go out with your friends! When I make plans, I have something to look forward to. When I don't feel like getting out of bed, looking forward to something takes the edge off of depression. I feel like I'm not as depressed if I have something to look forward to!

4. Go out to eat. When I'm depressed and feeling like the whole world is against me, I love to go out to eat to my favorite restaurant. It's usually Applebee's! When I'm mad at the world, I always crave Applebee's boneless hot wings! As soon as they hit my mouth, it's like I'm in heaven! The taste just makes me so happy!

5. Take a bubble bath. I can sit in a nice, relaxing bubble bath for hours! I can just sit there and forget about the world...or cry if I need to! I always turn on Pandora (music) when I'm in the bathtub. It makes me feel so much better!

This is a list of activities that help me. They might not work for everyone!

 

Growing Up Duggar Review

If you are like me, you are obsessed with The Duggar Family from 19 Kids and Counting! I love watching 19 Kids and Counting! Even the reruns! The 4 oldest Duggar girls have written a book about relationships called, Growing Up Duggar. As much as I love the Duggar family, I wasn't sure I would be interested in reading this book but I downloaded it on my Kindle anyway.

I must say, I absolutely LOVED this book! I did not want to put this book down! These girls didn't just talk about relationships with boyfriends but relationships with their siblings, their parents, and their culture.

I'm not a very religious person, but I was inspired by how much God plays a part in their lives. Even if you are not a believer in God, you will still enjoy this book. The Duggar girls share a lot of stories from living with a large family to their time spent in foreign countries.

This book is perfect for young girls, but it would also be a great read for anyone that is working on their relationships with loved ones!

What's your normal blood sugar?

I think every diabetic has their own "normal" blood sugar but it's not always healthy. Sometimes when your blood sugar is in the normal range, you don't feel good. I think that's what is happening to me. I feel the best when my blood sugar is between 150-250 and that is not good!



I admit that I don't take care of myself like I should. I shouldn't say I do this all the time but I go through phases. I can go days, weeks, and even months where I am very on top of things. When my CGM is telling me my blood sugar is over 200-250, I do a correction and I'm very good about counting carbs instead of just guessing. But then I start slacking. I honestly just don't care sometimes that my blood sugar is over 200 so I don't do a correction. I might eat a cookie or 2 and not give myself insulin for it or I might just give myself part of the insulin I'm supposed to take. Because of doing this, my body has gotten use to having a high blood sugar.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been waking up in the morning with a blood sugar over 200. I am very aware of the reason. I like to get up in the middle of the night for snacks and like I said before I don't bolus (give myself insulin through my insulin pump), or I don't bolus for everything I eat. So, last night when I had a snack, I counted carbs and bolused like I'm supposed to. When I woke up this morning, I had a great blood sugar of 120! BUT I didn't feel good. I didn't have any energy. I felt like I had to eat something to get it higher so I would feel good again. I did eat and I bolused the correct amount. After that, I did some cleaning and ran a couple errands. After I sat down, I didn't feel good again. I checked my blood sugar and it was 89. It was on the lower side but it's right where it's supposed to be before a meal. What I'm trying to get at is that when you let your blood sugar stay on the higher side, your body gets use to it and your body thinks that's where it's supposed to be. THIS IS NOT GOOD! I am well aware of this.

Why do I let this happen? Because sometimes I just want to feel like a regular person. I want to be able to eat without pulling out my gadgets to test my blood sugar and give myself insulin. I don't want to have to worry about my blood sugar going low when I'm out and about living my life. Diabetes sucks ass! It's a full time job plus a few part time jobs put together. There are no breaks or days off. I know I'm just putting myself at risk for complications down the road. With that being said, I need to get myself back on track. I go to my endocrinologist next week and I'm sure he's going to have a field day with me. I'm not looking forward to it at all.

Birth Control and Depression Part 2

I haven't posted since February. My last blog post was about birth control and how it increased depression, bipolar, etc. Since then I have tried the Paraguard IUD and once again I was not happy with it.

Unlike other birth control, this IUD didn't have any hormones in it so I figured it was worth trying. I think I had the IUD for about a month before I decided to take it out. The entire time I had it, I had the worse cramps. They were worse than menstrual cramps. So, I do not recommend an IUD.

 I started seeing a new doctor and so I explained to her my problem with birth control. She told me about this one birth control that didn't have as much hormone in it so it might not interfere with my moods. It's only 85% effective but once again I figured it was worth a shot.

By the second day of taking it I was already having mood swings. I was going from one extreme to the next. Yeah, I know I just about do this every day even without birth control but now it was worse.


 I've been taking the pill now for 5 days and guess what? I'm not happy with it. The littlest things are making me feel like I could punch someone in the face. I couldn't find something in my purse and you probably would have thought the world was ending. I went from being mellow and chilled out to extremely pissed off and ready to fight in a matter of seconds....over something so stupid.




I have also noticed that I've been in a depressed kind of mood for a few days. I'm not really sad about anything but I'm not very cheerful, and I'm not in the mood to be around people. I hate it. I hate birth control.

Now I have to decide whether or not I want to stick it out for another month or 2 to see if it improves (I highly doubt this is going to happen.) or if I just want to throw the pills away right now and be done with it. I'm going to be bipolar with or without the pills but just how shitty do I really want to feel?  I hate this and wish I could just be "normal" for a change but once again I am reminded how challenging my life really is. But I do know it could be a lot worse. It's just hard to look at it that way sometimes.

Birth Control and Depression

I'm not really sure if a lot of people read my blogs but I still try to post whenever I get time or whenever I need to vent. I've posted before about my experience with depression, anxiety, etc. I have recently just figured out something that could of helped me a long time ago. If you're a dude, this post does not pertain to you and won't help you out any. If you are someone that feels uncomfortable reading about personal information then you probably shouldn't read this.

Birth control makes your depression and mood swings worse! Now, I'm not saying it is the cause of why you are depressed but it definitely does not help.

 Several months ago I asked my psychiatrist if my depression and mood swings could be hormone related. He told me if I was an older women he would consider it but he didn't think that had anything to do with it. I then got to thinking about birth control and why women take a pill or insert a device inside their body that releases hormones. Why put something in your body if it's not suppose to be there? Yeah I get that you take that stuff so you don't get pregnant but it's still weird to think about. So then I got the idea that maybe all the extra hormones being put in my body is what's causing me to be "crazy". And I say crazy because some days that's exactly how I feel. So back in October I went off the pill for two months. I felt better than I had in a long time. I still had my days when I was depressed or emotional but it wasn't near as bad as it was when I was on the pill. 

  I then I got worried that I was going to get pregnant so I decided to go back on it. Within two weeks, I was going crazy again. I felt like I was losing my mind. It was terrible. After that I had finally had enough. After that month I wasn't taking the pill anymore. I told my doctor about what had been going on and she told me  that I should not be on birth control anymore for the rest of my life. Those words really scared me. I would have to be super super careful from then on. It was either feel insane 100% of the time or take the risk of getting knocked up. (and no I'm not that girl that spreads her legs every chance she gets but we all know things happen. Especially when you find the right person.) 

I am in no way shape or form telling you that you need to stop taking your birth control. If you think there is a problem with your pills you need to talk to your doctor. There might be other options for you. But if you are like me and have been dealing with depression and severe mood swings, this might be something to think about. Some women might not even realize birth control can do this to you but it can! I feel a little weird putting this much of my personal life on the internet where everyone can see it but if it helps another young lady then it's worth it. That's why I started this blog. I want to help people. 

If you have read this post and feel the need to give me the sex talk about condoms and why birth control is important, don't waste your time. I'm old enough to know about that mess. I don't need someone to lecture me about it whether it be friends, family, or some random person that googled birth control! Thanks for reading! :)

Medical Procedures and Diabetes

For most people, any kind of medical procedure where you can't eat is usually pretty simple. It gets a little complicated for diabetics. Tomorrow morning I go for an endoscopy. I can't eat anything solid after midnight. I am allowed to have clear liquids that aren't red or purple. So, if my blood sugar does go low in the middle of the night or even right before the procedure, I can drink sprite, or gingerale.

When I had my wisdom teeth out, I was not allowed to have anything to eat or drink. So of course there's the question, "What if my blood sugar goes low?" Of course if that was to happen you would eat. But then you might have to reschedule your procedure for another day or another time because you have food in your stomach that's not suppose to be there.

Another concern when I have a procedure done and I'm sedated is who is going to make sure my blood sugar doesn't drop and if it does drop do they have what they need to bring it up while I'm still asleep. When I had my wisdom teeth taken out I was at the hospital so I wasn't too worried about it. Tomorrow my procedure is right at the doctor's office so I'm a little nervous. With diabetics, there is so much more at risk and so many more safety precautions you have to take when you are being sedated. This is just one of the many things people don't realize comes along with diabetes. Being sedated is already a little scary but when you add your blood sugar into the mix it's even more scary! I'm sure I will be fine though. It's just a lot to think about. I almost wish this procedure was being done at the hospital. I would feel more safe.

When I had my wisdom teeth taken out I had to cut back on my insulin the night before because I couldn't eat anything. By the time I came out of surgery my blood sugar was over 400. They of course gave me some insulin and wouldn't let me leave recovery until it came down. It was pretty scary though. Hopefully everything will go ok tonight and into tomorrow morning without any complications! We will see!

Dear Diabetes

Dear Diabetes,
I just thought I would write you letter explaining how I really feel about you. We definitely have a love hate relationship. I think the only reason I love you is because over the years, you have made me a stronger person.

 I hate you because you are the reason I will never live a "normal" life. There are so many things in life that are supposed to be simple but because of you they are difficult for me. You have made living for me very expensive.

Because of you there is always at least one minute in every day when I don't feel good (it's usually several minutes). I hate you for entering the lives of little innocent children. No one should have to give themselves needles just to stay alive but it's harder for kids because they don't understand why this happened to them. They just want to be like their friends but instead their time with friends is spent trying to explain their disease. If one day you decide to enter the lives of my children you better look out because that's just one more reason I have to fight like hell!

Sincerely,
Katie