Poll results – most irritating part of day to day diabetes

Eager Shoot Up readers queue up to vote

It’s approximately mid-way through the month, so that means it’s poll results time (cue wild applause). Last month we asked the diabetic intermaweb community what aspects of the day-to-day ‘running’ of their diabetes caused the most hassle.

Top of list comes regular blood tests with 32% of the vote; perhaps unsurprising given checking 2 or 4 or 8 times a day (delete as applicable, depending on your diabetes negligence) is a pain in the, well, finger. Carb counting also scores highly, with us diabetics being forced to whip out our calculators and work out the carbohydrate content of our snacks before cramming double handfuls of syrup pudding down our gullets.

It’ll probably come as a surprise to non-diabetics (who seem to have an endless fascination with injections) but regularly shooting up scores relatively low with only 13% of the vote. Perhaps that’s because it doesn’t really hurt and is very quick and easy to do. Who knows?

However, I see that dealing with non-diabetics’ reaction to any of the above scored highly, coming third highest on the list. Now, I’ve never had the slightest problem with shooting up in public or people’s reactions, so I don’t really get the popularity of this option. But, as people who’ve met me will attest, I’m a quiet, shy, retiring person, so people probably just don’t notice me.

Coming, now, to this month’s poll, regular reader Terry has suggested that in this wintry economic climate us diabetic drains-on-the-NHS should pull together and help save money by advocating one of the following options. Give your opinion over on the poll down to the right!

• Reduce blood glucose testing
• Reduce Hb1Ac testing
• Reduce research funding
• Manage diet/exercise more effectively
• Multiple uses of needles and lancets
• Return to bottled insulin and hypodermics
• Summarily execute all T2s.

Last month’s results in full:

• Regular blood tests – 32%
• Carb counting – 21%
• Dealing with non-diabetics’ reaction to any of the above – 21%
• Regular injections (or cannula changes for pumpers)- 13%
• Clinic appointments – 5%
• Blood taking for clinic appointments – 3%