Safesport ID.

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a company called Safesport ID who were offering me a free medic alert band. Before I continue, let's get the formalities out of the way: yes, I was offered the medic alert free of charge, however, I am under no obligation to publish any review here on my blog. I am because I like the product and want to tell you about it.

As "naughty" as it is of me, I've never owned a medic alert bracelet. Feel free to give me a telling off. I deserve it. I always have a medic alert card in my purse/handbag. But an actual bracelet? Nope. This is going to sound really stupid, but if I'm going to where an item of jewellery 24/7, I want to like it, and a lot of the medic alert I've looked at I've not really liked enough to commit to wearing it everyday. 

So, I sent off for my (first) free medic alert. First, I should say that the time between me ordering the product and it arriving at my house was incredibly fast given the company isn't based in the UK.

Different sized wrist bands.

Now, the name of the company is Safesport ID, so as you can probably guess, the medic alert bracelets are designed with sport and exercise in mind. It's a silicone wristband (which comes in a variety of sizes and colours) and then your information is engraved onto a stainless steel clip that you put onto the band. The company sends you all the different sized wristbands and then you clip the engraved medic alert onto the appropriate sized one. 

The silicone band makes it very light-weight, which I love, as I remove all my jewellery when I exercise as I don't want it to get damaged, but the silicone band isn't something I need to worry about damaging. That, and I hardly notice it when I work out. (Sidenote: I remove all jewellery apart from that one time when I forgot my padlock, and like hell was I leaving anything valuable in there, like the bracelet I'm wearing in the picture above!)

Engraving.

I chose the blue coloured wristband (no surprises there!) You can have up to four lines of text engraved onto it. I only have three: my name, an emergency contact number and "Type 1 Diabetic". The text is all in capitals and very clear to read, which is what you need in an emergency. I've worn it every time I've gone to the gym for the last two weeks, and is now something that is just kept in my gym bag for when I do work out.

To find out more about Safesport ID, feel free to visit their website here! 

Cook & Count Carbs App.

Disclosure first: I was asked to give this app a try by it's creator, Deborah Wilder, and provide feedback. In doing so, I was not charged for downloading the app. I was not asked to write a review here, but I am because I love it! As always, all thoughts are my own.

I was really excited when I was asked if I wanted to provide some feedback about this app. I love cooking, but I tend to always play things safe, stick with things I know how to bolus for, and use pre-made sauces and such so I can just read the carbohydrate values of the nutritional labels. However, with this app, I was granted to much more freedom when it came to food choices and cooking. 

So, with various friends acting as my test subjects for a new 
dishes, I got going.

The app is incredibly easy to use. You can build a recipe, view the recipes already on the app or go to the information screen. To start building a recipe, you tap "add". The list of ingredients installed on the app is vast, but there is the option to add a custom ingredient if what you're searching for isn't there. 

You need to weigh how much of the ingredient you are using in the recipe, and have the option to choose between grams and ounces as your unit of measurement. Continue doing this until all your ingredients have been saved to the recipe. The app then calculates the total carbohydrate value for the meal, and you input how many servings the recipe is for. Then, as well as the total value, you also get the carbohydrate value per portion. Simple.

 

As aforementioned, the app also comes with a few recipes already, which I haven't tried yet, but I'm sure I will in the future. There's also an information tab where you can find loads of useful things, from information about carbohydrate counting and why it's important to measurement conversions.  Also under this tab, you can change whether you want your measurements in grams or ounces. 

 

So, app pros: First, I've been a lot more open to trying new recipes as I now have a way to properly carb count the meals. The interface is great, and it really is easy to use (honest, it is - I'm awful when it comes to technology/apps, but this is so simple). Not that I've needed to use it yet, but I'm very grateful for the option to add a custom ingredient. You never know, maybe one of thee days I'll whip up something so obscure that I'll need to use this function.  [Edit 30/01/14: I found a need for the custom ingredient function: Quorn mince!]

My one "issue" with the app is the fact that everything has to be weighed. Don't get me wrong, I understand that weight of food items is essential for carbohydrate counting, but for some things, especially vegetables, I'd much prefer it to just input "1 carrot" as opposed to actually having to weigh out the portion. But that's just me wanting to cut corners where possible, and vegetables are generally very low carb. 

But all in all, a great app, one that has got me back into cooking and trying new recipes, something I haven't done for a long time now, choosing to opt for foods I "know". Well worth the purchase, in my opinion. 

At present, the app is currently available from the App Store at £3.99, but will be available for Android early this year, according to the website. To find out more, please visit http://www.healthapps.uk.com/index.html  

CarboMentor.

CarboMentor is a new app that has recently been released. The basic concept is that you prepare a meal, guess the carb content and then log the information into the app. After you've eaten, you do a post-meal blood glucose check, and then you can rate your guess on the app. This app allows you to build your own menu, so to speak, and learn from your carb-counting escapades. Yes, I did just say carb counting escapades. And, no, I'm not deleting it.

Step 2: photo of meal.

Let's look at this step-by-step.

Step 1: Prepare your breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack guesstimate the carbohydrate content.

Step 2: Take a photo of your completed meal and log how many carbs you think there are along with how much insulin you're taking.

Step 3: Enjoy what I'm sure is a rather excellently prepared meal!

Step 4: I tend to do my post-meal blood glucose checks two hours after eating, but this can be adapted to whatever time frame works. Check your blood glucose and see if your levels are within your acceptable post-meal range (this should be discussed with your healthcare team).

Step 5: Log this result within the app and rate your guess in terms of the carb content and how much you bolused and what your levels were.

Step 2: a selection of tags to add to meal.

Step 6: Use this information next time you prepare the meal - if you were on the high-side, increase the bolus. If you were on the low-side, decrease the bolus. And if you were pretty much perfect, then don't change anything.

Living the student life, I find the app great. I don't always have the time to properly prepare meals, weighing out everything to know exactly how many carbs are in my food. That's where this app comes in: it means that I can dose more precisely for things I eat on a regular basis, particularly when I grab a quick lunch on campus. 

The app allows you to save pictures of your food as well, meaning that you can also allow for different portion sizes, again great when sometimes I have time for half a sandwich, and other times, I can sit down for a proper meal.

Step 5: rating carb guess.

The app is available on the Apple App store, and you can download it yourself by clicking here.

Disclosure:- CarboMentor contacted me to ask for my thoughts regarding the app. I have not been paid to endorse their product: the above is my own personal opinion regarding the app. Full disclosure statement here.

mySugr.

Home Screen.

If you're not using the mySugr app, I ask you to give it a go. I think it's awesome. And so do a lot of other people (see: Six Until Me, Scott's Diabetes, Everyday Ups And Downs to name a few) Here's why I love the app.

First off, you can name your "diabetes monster". It's the little things that please. Mine's currently called Zurg as I was watching Toy Story 2 when I set it up. And speaking of little things, the sounds on the app are brilliant! Such a silly thing to comment on but something I feel the need to mention!

Second, it's fun. Yes. Fun. It's no secret that keeping a detailed log of blood sugars/insulin doses/carbs consumed is...well...boring. However, this app turns logging those bits of information into a game. And you get sucked in! The more you log, the more points you get. There are also challenges you can do, and if you complete them successfully, you get upgraded to the pro version of the app free of charge for a couple of days. This brings me to my next point.

Data Analysis Screen.

There are two versions of the app: free and pro. I personally think that the free version of the app is sufficient enough. The pro version gives you some extra features such as the option to add photos to records. However, for me, the basic version logs more than enough (time, location, blood glucose (in both mmol/l and mg/dl), carbs (in exchanges or grams), bolus, basal, activity duration and description, notes and finally you can tag things such as meal time, how you're feeling, sports/travel/work.) I told you it logged more than enough!

The data analysis the app offers is pretty amazing too. The home screen gives you an overview of the last 24 hours, changing colours according to how your day's going (green is good, amber if you're slightly out of range and red if you're really out of range). It also allows you to see the average and standard deviation for the last 24 hours, 7 days and 14 days. Awesome.

Challenge Screen.

The last thing I want to comment on is the open "notes" boxes. Brilliant. Drop down lists never work with something as complicated as diabetes: there are far too many variables, so I find having the "notes" box to type in extra information so much more useful!

Finally, all of this is searchable! Just tap the magnifying glass on the home screen, type in what you want to search for and away you go. Genius!

Disclaimer: I have not been paid by mySugr to write this review. I heard about it, I read about it, I downloaded it, I loved it, nothing more.  

Think Like A Pancreas.

Time to 'Think Like a Pancreas'.

It's time to go back to basics; time to re-educate myself on diabetes care and everything else. How? With my new Kindle-read Think Like A Pancreas by Gary Scheiner. I downloaded this this morning and have been reading it all day. It's actually quite refreshing to read a book about diabetes written by a type one diabetic. I remember doing a lot of reading when I was first diagnosed, but I don't think I actually read anything written by another type one.

For the moment, I have just been reading the chapters that are going to give me the knowledge I need just to get back on track. When I'm back on track, I'll then read the more detailled stuff. It is often said that knowledge is power, and this is very much the case right now. The more I read Scheiner's book, the more in control I feel about everything. And, like I've said, it definitely helps that he writes from his own experiences. 

So, I've been taking notes as I read (knowledge is power, remember!) and this is what I've taken from the book so far (N.B. All information is below is a summary of what I took from the book "Think Like A Pancreas". I'm also going to take the time to mention here that I have not been paid to advertise this book; it's just my opinion of it. And whilst I'm mentioning stuff, I'm also gonna point you in the direction of my disclaimer --> click here!):

• First off, Scheiner was diagnosed in his hometown Sugarland, Texas. Not relevant to  my diabetes care, but hilariously ironic!
• That crappy blood sugars affect your body a lot. I'm not just talking the lack of energy and ability to concentrate, but it also affects your skin and gums, your mood and actually helps to reduce your appetite. 
• Something that I found particularly interesting was that "high glucose levels can make us impatient, irritable and generally negative" - I've had a very negative attitude towards my diabetes care recently, and it turns out my crappy blood sugars have just heightened that sentiment.
• That although my diabetes is autoimmune and there's nothing I could have done to prevent it from happening, chances are there was still a trigger. Scheiner states that "viruses, major stress, environmental toxins, exposure to certain foods at a young age and genetic markers have been proposed as potential triggers."
• There are actually six types of diabetes! Six! Type 1, type 2, gestational, LADA, MODY, neonatal.
• Diabetes management relies upon three interlinked criteria: tools, skills and attitude. And you need to have all three. The best tools and the expertise to use it just isn't going to cut it if you don't have the right attitude. 
• Record keeping is essential. At the start, it needs to be daily, but once control has been fine-tuned, written record keeping can be done periodically, like one week a month or when levels start slipping.
• Linking in with record keeping, it's important to know what to look for when you have your results written out. Scheiner suggests focusing on overall average glucose, standard deviations (the amount of variability in your readings - yes, I did have to look up what it was, and apparently lower is better!), and the percentage of readings that are above, below and within your target range. 

But the most important nugget of information I took from my reading so far is the following:

"Over the course of your life with diabetes, there will be countless setback. When they occur, do not give up. It really helps to live your diabetes life one day at a time. You can't change the past, so don't worry about what you did - or didn't do - yesterday. And you certainly can't live tomorrow until tomorrow. Every day represents an opportunity for a fresh start."

This is something I can very much relate to, and it is going to be what I keep on coming back to as I get back on track with everything, and I look forward to learning more about my diabetes care.