#1870 British, Not Funny
Misdiagnosed with Type 2 in her 40s, Claire went into DKA while taking Mounjaro and discovered she actually has Type 1 (LADA). Hear her UK healthcare journey.
Key Takeaways
- Misdiagnosis in adults is common; Claire was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in her 40s and took Metformin and Mounjaro before going into DKA and being correctly diagnosed with Type 1 (LADA) at age 49.
- GLP-1 medications like Mounjaro can be highly effective for insulin resistance and weight loss but might mask or delay the classic symptoms of DKA in a misdiagnosed Type 1 diabetic.
- Navigating the healthcare system (such as the NHS in the UK) often requires self-advocacy to access advanced technologies like insulin pumps and specific CGM brands.
- Late-in-life diabetes diagnoses come with their own unique emotional challenges, but finding community—whether online or locally—can alleviate feelings of isolation.
- Insulin alone does not necessarily cause weight gain; weight fluctuations are part of a complex interplay involving calorie intake, treating lows, and resolving prior conditions like DKA or unrecognized thyroid issues.
Resources Mentioned
- Eversense 365 CGM
- US Med
- Tandem Mobi System
- Juice Box Podcast Website (Defining Diabetes, Bold Beginnings, Pro Tip Series)
- Wrong Way Recording
- Omnipod 5
- Freestyle Libre 2 Plus
- Dexcom G7
- DAFNE Course (UK)
- Gousto / HelloFresh (Meal Prep Services)
Introduction and Sponsors
Scott BennerHere we are back together again, friends, for another episode of the Juice Box podcast.
ClaireOh, hi.
I'm Claire.
Scott BennerMy grand rounds series was designed by listeners to tell doctors what they need, and it also helps you to understand what to ask for.
There's a mental wellness series that addresses the emotional side of diabetes and practical ways to stay balanced.
And when we talk about GLP medications, well, we'll break down what they are, how they may help you, and if they fit into your diabetes management plan.
What do these three things have in common?
They're all available at juiceboxpodcast.com up in the menu.
Scott BennerI know it can be hard to find these things in a podcast app, so we've collected them all for you at juiceboxpodcast.com.
If you're looking for community around type one diabetes, check out the Juice Box Podcast private Facebook group.
Juice Box Podcast, type one diabetes.
But everybody is welcome.
Type one, type two, gestational, loved ones, it doesn't matter to me.
Scott BennerIf you're impacted by diabetes and you're looking for support, comfort, or community, check out Juice Box podcast, type one diabetes on Facebook.
Nothing you hear on the Juice Box podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise.
Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan or becoming bold with insulin.
Today's episode of the Juice Box podcast is sponsored by the Eversense three sixty five, the one year wear CGM.
That's one insertion a year.
Scott BennerThat's it.
And here's a little bonus for you.
How about there's no limit on how many friends and family you can share your data with with the Eversense Now app?
No limits.
Eversense.
Scott BennerToday's episode is also sponsored by US Med.
U S Med Dot Com Slash Juice Box, or call (888) 721-1514.
US Med is where my daughter gets her diabetes supplies from, and you could too.
Use the link or number to get your free benefit check and get started today with US Med.
The podcast is also sponsored today by the Tandem MOBI system, which is powered by Tandem's newest algorithm, Control IQ Plus technology.
Scott BennerTandem Mobi has a predictive algorithm that helps prevent highs and lows and is now available for ages two and up.
Learn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox.
Claire's Type 2 Misdiagnosis
ClaireOh, hi.
I'm Claire.
Scott BennerHey, Claire.
How are you?
ClaireI'm really good.
Thank you.
Awesome.
Good.
Scott BennerWhere am I talking to you from today?
Where are you at?
ClaireOh, I'm in England.
I'm in a small town in Buckinghamshire in England.
Scott BennerHow long have you had diabetes, or are you the parent of someone with type one?
ClaireNo.
I I have diabetes.
So I was I was diagnosed type two in 2018, but last year, I ended up in hospital with DKA, and I'm I'm now type one or LADA LADA Mhmm.
If you wanna put a label on it.
So, yeah, it's been a journey.
Scott BennerLabel doesn't matter, really, does it?
ClaireYeah.
I I I didn't know that at the time, but I I do now.
Yeah.
Oh.
Yeah.
Scott BennerLet's find out about how old were you in in 2018?
ClaireSo 2018 was eight years ago, so was about 42.
I just had a high well, you know, went to the doctors, had a health check, had a I'd I'd kind of drifted in and out of prediabetes for for quite some time, and then eventually sort of slipped into the range that in The UK falls into type two.
Mhmm.
I never had any further tests done, and I started metformin for type two.
And that kind of kept me quite steady for a number of years, really.
ClaireI never you know, to be honest, didn't finger prick.
You know, it's not advised here in England to as a type two, your sugar levels are just you know, you're just advised to take the medication and hope that that keeps you on an even keel, really.
Scott BennerOh, no kidding.
They don't ask you to test at any intervals or once a day or anything like that?
ClaireNo.
No.
Not not as a type two.
You just you know, I was just sort of given the medication and said, you know, see how you go.
You have a an annual blood test and an annual review.
ClaireThey check, you know, how you're doing and everything.
So I was sort of ticking along as you do until last year.
At the end of twenty twenty four, my dad passed away, and and it was quite a difficult time.
And then in February, I had a blood test.
My h b a one c was a little bit higher, and in fact, I've got my my blood results just to give you a bit of it's a strange journey, really.
ClaireSo in February 2025, my h b a one c was 58, which is seven and a half Mhmm.
Seven and a half percent for America.
So I it put me in the category that I I could actually, under the NHS, start Mounjaro as alongside metformin.
For me, that was a win.
Obviously, Mounjaro was a new drug.
ClaireI was I was overweight.
I was really thinking this is this is a great thing.
Prior to that, in July 2024, my h b a one c had been 45, so much lower, six point three percent.
So it was generally going up.
But I kind of put it down to I guess it was it was it was Christmas.
ClaireMy dad had passed away.
It was it was it was a difficult time.
Scott BennerYeah.
ClaireSo, you know, diet hadn't been at the forefront of my mind.
Started Mounjaro.
Great.
Mounjaro's you know, in The UK, it it's really hard to to to fit the criteria on the NHS.
It's really difficult.
ClaireObviously, we have such a different health care system to you guys.
I was ticking along nicely on that, you know, Mounjaro and the metformin.
I was taking a metformin tablet once a day and and taking Mounjaro until the summer.
So I then had a h b a one c done because this is really this is where it it's quite interesting.
In June 2025, so six months sort of five, six months after starting Mounjaro, and my h b a one c had dropped down from 58 to 43.
The DKA Experience
ClaireSo, you know, the manjari was doing its job.
Mhmm.
I was losing a bit of weight.
I was everything was going great, and I I was happy.
And I think I probably by the end of August, probably that was probably when the DKA started, but obviously had no idea.
ClaireBecause I remember losing three pounds one week, and I was I was a steady losing a pound a week.
I was like, oh my gosh.
I lost
Scott Bennerthree pounds.
Happening.
Yeah.
ClaireI I I I actually think I I I sort of had tears in my eyes.
Like, this is great.
You know?
This is I've lost three pounds this week.
You know?
ClaireI've not done anything differently.
And then, you know, the weight loss continued a bit like that.
So it's sort of three, two pound the following week.
And we actually went away mid September to to New Yorker.
And, you know, I look back now, and I and I'm so grateful I didn't end up in hospital.
ClaireI I ticked till I felt a bit odd at times on holiday, and but I I used to drink a lot of water because I was on Mounjaro.
And and and and everyone tells you when you're on Mounjaro, you gotta keep hydrated.
You know?
Scott BennerEat protein, stay hydrated, lift weight.
Right?
ClaireYeah.
Scott BennerYeah.
ClaireYeah.
It slows your digestion down.
You know, you must eat.
You must drink lots.
So I think I've sort of conditioned myself to drink all the time, and I guess I thought that's where the thirst was coming from.
ClaireYeah.
You know, I'm just so used to drinking a lot each day.
You know?
And I knew I was drinking more than than normal, but, again, I put it down to the Mounjaro.
And we went on holiday to Majorca for five days with friends, and at times, I did feel a bit odd.
ClaireBut I just I just thought this you know, I don't know what's going on here.
Scott BennerJust kept going.
ClaireI remember yeah.
Just kept going.
And I think one of the things I'm quite a fit person.
I walk every day with my dog, And I remember saying to the people I was on holiday with, I don't know what's happened to my fitness this holiday because I was walking up hills, getting really out of breath
Scott BennerMhmm.
ClaireLike, which which was unusual for me because normally I could hold a conversation walking up a hill and things, and I was thinking, gosh.
I'm blowing.
You know?
Anyway, we we came home.
You know?
ClaireEverything was good.
I actually work at my local doctor's surgery, which is a desirous thing as well.
So where where I'm a patient, I actually work there as well.
Just a few little things were starting to stack up a bit.
I just saw at times, I felt really odd.
ClaireAnd, you know, and then I guess I would have a meal and and, you know, it would pass, and, you know, I'd wake up the next morning and go again.
Right.
Scott BennerAnd then
Claireand then I'd have then I'd have a few odd moments, but I sort of went to see the the practice nurse at at my surgery, and she she was like, this is odd.
She'd pricked my finger, and and lo and behold, I was sort of in the twenties.
And she was like, this is bizarre.
You know?
I don't know why your blood sugars would be this high.
ClaireSo she she had a Libra in the cupboard.
They get a few Libras from from the reps from Abbott.
Right.
So she's like, let's stick let's stick one of these on you and see how you go and see what happens.
And so overnight, they were sort of heading up to sort of 28.
ClaireAnd by the following morning, my I went into work, and my ketones were four and a half, five.
They were like, you need to go to hospital.
Scott BennerSo Did no one say maybe this isn't type two diabetes?
ClaireNot at this time.
No?
At that point, I think they were just so confused.
Yeah.
I think they were so confused because I was also on Mounjaro as well.
ClaireAnd I think because I'd had good bloods in June, they were like, this this is weird.
You know?
It's it's it's a bit of an anomaly, and and I think they kind of thought my blood sugars would come down.
Scott BennerRight.
Right.
ClaireYou know, maybe I'd eat it.
And they were like, are you following a keto diet?
You know?
Oh, everybody just kinda
Scott Bennerkept thinking you ate something.
ClaireYeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah.
Something happened.
ClaireExactly.
It was it was bizarre.
So
Scott BennerWhat was the highest your blood sugar was when you had that Libre on before you went to the hospital?
ClaireThe sort of 26, 27.
Scott BennerOh, gosh.
Like, well over, like, 400.
Yeah.
Like, four fifty, maybe more.
Okay.
ClaireI gotcha.
Which I think even at that time, even I was thinking, god.
I I in my head, I thought it was the manjaro.
I was like, gosh.
What what is manjaro doing to my body?
Scott BennerYou thought it was Can it?
It was making your blood sugar go up?
ClaireYeah.
Which which I now know.
I'm I'm a little bit more educated and Right.
Right.
And the doctors and the doctors at the hospital helped me because I I just thought, god, this is terrible.
ClaireWhat what have I done?
And I came home, and it it it was bizarre.
They said, oh, you need to go to a and e here.
They they couldn't book me into the hospital because, you know, if it if it was DKA, it's it's considered a medical emergency.
Mhmm.
ClaireBut I kinda took myself home, caught myself because I in terms of what I've read, I I probably was the wellest person with DKA you've ever met.
And I kind of came home.
I was like, I'm gonna get my Kindle.
My husband runs his own business, and he was actually planning on going away the next day.
He was away to Ibiza.
ClaireAnd I thought, I don't I don't really he doesn't need to come.
You know?
No one needs to come.
I'll just get myself to hospital.
So I actually got a taxi to the hospital.
ClaireOff I popped on my own, sort of sat in got to the hospital, triaged, sat in the waiting room.
So I I got through to the the second triage because you're kind of mini triaged, and then they just moved me along to another waiting room.
By the time I got in the second triage room, I kind of had an idea when they were putting cannulas.
I think that's where they took my blood gases.
And this lovely doctor said to me, you know, you you're in something called diabetic ketoacidosis.
ClaireHe said we we need to get you around to.
And I was I was just mortified.
So I was like, what?
So, obviously, I was they offered me a wheelchair, and I was considering I've walked into the hospital, I'm quite happy to to walk around to recess.
So I felt such a fraud, you know, to be sat there, all these people rushing around me, getting me hooked up to drips and and everything.
ClaireSo I think even then, I still didn't realize the seriousness.
I didn't really know what DKA was
Scott BennerMhmm.
ClaireAt that time.
Scott BennerI
Clairewas treated, and then I was moved to a ward.
I spent two days on the ward, obviously, on a trip, and then eventually they moved me onto injections, insulin injections.
I did at that time, they didn't know still whether I was an insulin dependent type two or whether I was a type one.
Mhmm.
Or really what was going on.
ClaireSo they took antibodies at that time, but they take three weeks to come back.
Scott BennerOkay.
ClaireThe doctor, when I left the hospital, she said, you know, we don't know what's going on.
We'll we we need to wait for antibodies.
But regardless, your c peptide is is very low, which tells us your body's not producing insulin.
So for now, insulin is the right treatment, and and we'll and then we wait for the antibodies to come back because, I guess, there are insulin dependent type twos.
I think my
Scott Bennerbit Sure.
ClaireMy my biggest concern was, you know, that Mounjaro had caused all of this.
But every doctor that I spoke to, they were like, not.
You know, really, manjaro should have helped with your blood sugars.
It it it lowers.
It it's a treatment
Sponsor Break
Scott Benneron it.
I'm imagining it probably stretched out your situation.
You probably got to you probably got to DKA slower because of it.
I mean, how much weight did you lose?
I'm opening myself up for you to say stone and for me not to know what it is.
Scott BennerRight?
Go ahead.
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Weight Management and UK Healthcare (NHS)
ClaireYeah.
So no.
I I I could tell you so I had lost about two stone, which is about 28 pounds.
Mhmm.
So but I previously lost two stone by myself, so I'm I'm kind of sort of full stone lighter than I was a few years back.
Scott BennerOkay.
But
ClaireManjaro just just gave me that final push, really.
Scott BennerYeah.
Are you still losing weight today?
ClaireNo.
Unfortunately not.
So I I can't take Mounjaro.
It's it's not licensed in The UK for type one diabetics.
Scott BennerThey don't have Zepbound there?
ClaireNo.
They at the moment, they're I'm I'm about to start a pump, which obviously I'll I'll get on to all of that in a minute.
So but, yeah, they won't let me have that.
They just keep saying it's it's it's not licensed.
Scott BennerFor type ones?
ClaireFor you to take mug for type ones.
It's a treatment for type twos Yeah.
But not for type ones, so not to take alongside insulin.
I think it will come.
I think reading you know, I read a lot of information about diabetes, and I know that obviously and I think there are some people in The UK that can get it, I think, privately.
ClaireMhmm.
If you wanna pay privately for it, then, you know, you can.
But you it would involve me having to pay not only pay for the drug, but also probably pay to see a consultant to be under to to obviously guide me because it's gonna change my insulin regime Right.
Which obviously.
So it's just a bit complicated.
Scott BennerYeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think The UK is making it difficult because I'm looking it up right now.
So Zepbound's not available in The UK, which is, by the way, just all Zepbound is is Mounjaro.
ClaireYeah.
Yeah.
It's a tablet form.
Is that right?
Scott BennerNo.
It's also it's the same injectable.
It's just the
ClaireOkay.
Scott BennerOver here, basically, what happened was they made Mounjaro, and they were like, this is for type two diabetes.
So they push it through the FDA that way.
And the same time they're doing that, they're like, hey, everybody's losing a bunch of weight.
Why don't we put one of these through testing as a weight loss drug?
And then they have to call it something different.
Scott BennerWhy?
I have no idea.
It's stupid.
ClaireRight.
Okay.
Scott BennerYou guys just don't seem to have it.
So you No.
It says the MHRA pro products listing for tirzepatide shows Mounjaro presentations in The UK, not Zepbound branded ones.
ClaireThere's really strict criteria at the moment
Scott Bennerbecause you for You'd like it back.
Mounjaro.
Is that right?
ClaireAbsolutely.
Absolutely.
I would I would go on it again in a heartbeat now given that I think since leaving hospital at the beginning of October, I've I've put on nearly a stone, you know, which is 14 pounds.
Scott Benner14 pounds.
Yeah.
ClaireAnd I'm actually better.
I do you know what?
I was listening to one of your podcasts.
I I can't tell you which one.
Actually, it was one that's just dropped out this week, the the wandering something.
ClaireI'll think of it soon.
It was a two part episode with a young girl, and you got me thinking about thyroid function because I've been trying really hard to lose weight just recently, and I'm not losing weight at all Mhmm.
Even giving it a good shot.
And it's making me think, gosh.
I I I don't think I've ever had my thyroid checked.
Scott BennerListen.
I'll tell you what Chad GPD said.
Yes.
The UK does prescribe GLP one type medications for weight management.
The confusion is that access is real but limited, especially on the NHS.
Scott BennerIn The UK, NHS guidelines say the weight management medicine with evidence for NHS use include, oh, semaglutide, tirzepatide, another one, NHS obesity guidance specifically notes the semaglutide and tirzepatide may be prescribed through specialist weight management services when appropriate.
So it sounds like you have to go to a doctor who just handles this.
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ClaireYep.
You gotta jump through hoops as well to get it.
You have to yeah.
I think that your BMI needs to be in a certain category, and then you need to have a number of other health conditions as well.
Okay.
ClaireSo if you're if you're not getting it for type two, you need to either have, a card of cardiovascular, high blood pressure, anything that obviously is also impacting your weight.
Scott BennerFor Mounjaro by the way, that's where the confusion is.
They don't sell Zepbound.
They just sell they sell Mounjaro, but they prescribe it for weight loss.
And so Yeah.
It says NICE.
Scott BennerWhat is NICE in?
ClaireNICE guidelines.
They're they're they're the guidelines that I think they're they prescribe under.
Scott BennerYeah.
Recommended for managing overweight weight and obesity in adults.
And then NHS England says it is being introduced in phases starting through NHS specialist weight management services under interim commissioning guidance.
Oh, jeez.
Yeah.
Scott BennerSo you can get it.
You're just gonna have to hustle for it somehow.
Your weight still makes you eligible, you think?
ClaireProbably not now.
I probably don't fit the criteria anymore for to have it as as weight loss
Scott BennerOkay.
ClairePossibly possibly for diabetes.
Scott BennerIt will definitely help you.
So I'll tell you what a lot of people do here is they end up with a dual diagnosis of type one diabetes and insulin resistance.
And then Right.
Then they get the GLP for the insulin resistance, which, by the way, is massively helpful for a lot of people with type one as well.
ClaireWell, so I'm still taking metformin to help with my insulin resistance.
I think that that's the consultants.
He said carry on taking.
A, it'll help you a little bit with with your weight and also with insulin resistance.
But I've been on metformin for years, and I just don't feel like it it does anything for me.
ClaireI think it possibly helps with my insulin resistance a little bit.
Yeah.
It's difficult.
It's difficult.
Scott BennerYeah.
Well, I'm sorry that's happening like that.
That sucks because I know it just when you find something that's helping you, it's
Clairejust Oh, it's massive.
Yeah.
It's mean, over here in The UK, we're we're we're probably a couple years behind, but but Mounjaro is is becoming sort of life changing for many people Yeah.
You know, at the moment.
Scott BennerI I listened.
It changed my life, and my wife just hit a, I I don't know what we would call it, like, a a goal with her weight that I don't think she thought she was ever gonna see in her life.
Yeah.
And and she's just super excited.
Like, my my wife, you know, 52 years old, she was, like, texting me, like, screenshots of her weight of her app that you know, and she was just so excited.
ClaireSo So I got down to a weight.
Obviously, unfortunately, a lot part of it was down to DKA, but, you know, the small wins.
I got down to the lightest I've been in twenty twenty six, twenty seven years.
Scott BennerYeah.
Did you feel can you talk about how differently you felt at the lower weight?
ClaireOh, amazing.
I felt I felt amazing even, you know, even though I was obviously terribly unwell at that time.
But like you say, the Mounjaro was probably slowing things down for me.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ClaireBut to be able to walk in shops and buy clothes that, you know, that I could pick up and be, this is great.
Scott BennerYeah.
Well And
Claireand then I'm just back on this battle now, which I I don't think the insulin helps with with losing weight either.
So, you know, you're fighting all the time.
Scott BennerAre you getting low a lot?
ClaireNot really.
I'm I'm kind of I'm I'm in a period of I'm actually suffering with really bad highs at the moment.
I've I've had a bit of a change over the last few days.
I'd kind of got things quite under control because I'd increased my activity, which was affecting my insulin.
So I'd reduced my insulin a little bit, and that has really helped me because I've I've sort of started eating healthier and going to the gym, which hence, I've thought, you know, to start shifting some weight, and the scales just are not moving.
ClaireI mean, I'm not putting on weight, but I'm not losing weight either.
So it's super frustrating.
I'm not suffering with massive lows, really, in that sense.
Scott BennerI mean, listen.
It's tough because, like, you know, I I never wanna tell people, like, you know, insulin causes weight gain.
I I don't I actually mostly don't think that's how it works.
I want people to take the amount of insulin they need.
Right?
ClaireYeah.
Scott BennerBut, you know, and insulin is soaring what you're eating.
So there's a couple of ways.
Like, if you're if you're taking in more calories than your body needs, and then you're gonna gain weight.
And Yeah.
And if you're getting low a lot and therefore eating a bunch more than you should be eating, you're gonna gain weight there too.
Scott BennerAnd I think sometimes Yeah.
Those situations cause people to say insulin makes me gain weight.
So, I mean, it's not lost on me that there are people with insulin resistance who gain weight, and and they're not taking in too many calories or not having a lose.
Like, it's just a very complicated hodgepodge of possibilities, you know.
But but did you say you're wondering about your thyroid too?
Scott BennerDid you go through the symptoms and and end up thinking maybe I have this as well?
ClaireYeah.
So I I mean, bizarrely yeah.
And one of the doctors did a long time ago when I first came out of hospital, and was I I was chatting to one of our GPs, and she said, oh, you know, have you ever been checked for your thyroid?
And I was like, no.
She said, oh, you know, you perhaps perhaps should do that at some point.
ClaireAnd, obviously, life's just got in the way a bit, and I've been trying to manage my diabetes.
And I've only felt this year that I'm able to start managing that the way I want to manage it and and be positive about it.
So but the trying to lose weight, you know, the fact that I've gained a few pounds and then I'm trying to lose them and I'm not losing them, which probably was gonna you know, to answer one of your questions, nobody there's no history of top pieces in my family.
Scott BennerRight.
ClaireAbsolutely none.
However, my my dad, who mentioned passed away in
Scott BennerYeah.
I'm sorry.
ClaireDecember 24, he had hyperthyroidism.
Oh.
He obviously I didn't really know much about it.
He was diagnosed in his forties, and he took, they call it thyroxine over here.
It's very similar to what to what you guys take over there.
ClaireYou call it syn Synthroid?
Or Yeah.
I googled I googled it the other day.
It's the same thing.
So, yeah, dad had that.
ClaireSo he was diagnosed in his forties.
So I it's making me now think, gosh.
It's you know?
I I don't think I've had my thyroid checked for about ten years.
Scott BennerI mean, you should, and and you should listen to the episode.
It's it's episode four It'll kinda lay out for you with a it's a doctor that I did it with a while ago, but the information's also really good.
Like, if you you don't wanna get stuck in a situation where you have thyroid symptoms, but the doctor's telling you that you're in range because many doctors will consider a a thyroid level, a t a TSH level much higher than they should as being in range.
ClaireSo Okay.
Scott BennerYeah.
So just get the you know,
Claireget see what they are.
The Emotional Impact of Late-in-Life Diagnosis
Scott BennerYeah.
But you know what?
You said something a minute ago.
I don't wanna get I don't wanna lose.
You just got to a point where you felt, would you say, comfortable or happy with how it's going?
Scott BennerLike, talk more about the emotional side of all this and and what it's like to try to hammer it all out and get it into a into a rhythm that makes sense for you.
ClaireI mean, I think after the initial shock of you know, I didn't realize that adults at at 49 I was 49.
I'm I'm 50 now.
We were diagnosed with type one diabetes.
Obviously, you know, I I I left hospital thinking, well, it's gonna be type two, and, you know, my body's not making insulin.
But, actually, I did get my antibodies and and and was was really quite strongly positive.
ClaireSo I was obviously then given the diagnosis of type one, which I think I think I was so shocked, you know, absolutely shocked.
I have no history of anyone having diabetes in my family and the emotional side.
I go from being sort of happy.
Are you still there?
Scott BennerYeah.
Yeah.
ClaireI thought I'd lost you then for
Scott BennerShould I?
About every every two sec I'll I'll make a noise in the background just in case.
That doesn't happen to you.
ClaireMy phone was was beeping slightly, and I thought, oh, gosh.
It's cut off again.
I I go from being very grateful that, you know, perhaps that I've had those forty nine years, and and I've had it much later in life because I watch, you know, a lot of people with with young children and, you know, more than one child.
And I think, gosh, the the the burden, a, being pregnant.
I've had three children.
ClaireSo you know?
And and they're all adults now.
So I don't have the burden of trying to look after
Scott BennerYou don't have the burden of looking after little kids while you're figuring all this out.
But are you trying to this might be the saddest thing anybody's ever said.
Are you like, I've I've lived a good life already.
It's okay if this happened now.
Is that where you're at?
Scott BennerI didn't wanna put words in your mouth, but it felt like you were saying that.
I wasn't sure.
ClaireI don't mean it in that sense.
Scott BennerI think
ClaireI just I've I've I've I've kind of met a few people along the way, and I and I listened to it.
I read a lot, and I've listened to a lot of podcasts, and, you know, and I think, gosh, you know, imagine trying to get through navigate your teenage years and maybe try to navigate pregnancy and giving birth with with all this going on as well.
I think I think what I'm grateful for at the moment is that I've probably had the time to just concentrate on myself.
Makes sense.
Really have anyone.
ClaireThat's what I mean, I think.
I just don't you know, I I went through a period.
2024, my dad was was really poorly and helping my mom look after him.
So, you know, that that was difficult time.
So I kinda look back on difficult times and think, gosh.
ClaireImagine trying to manage diabetes as well as that.
Yeah.
So I think I'm just grateful for that.
And, you know, I think I'm I'm getting an insulin pump next week, which, you know, six months after diagnosis, there's people that have been waiting years under the NHS for Mhmm.
But I've just sort of fallen in at the right time because the NHS, there's a plan for every every there's a five year plan, I think, that started in 2023.
ClaireK.
For every diabetic type one to be offered an insulin pump.
So I've just, at the right time, you know, had this diagnosis where tech technology just is is phenomenal.
Scott BennerOh, for certain.
Let me tell you.
I just got an email from a listener recently about a new pump that is in testing.
Should I say which one?
Let's just say it's like MiniMed.
Scott BennerOkay?
And Okay.
They are over the moon about how it works.
Like, super super excited about how it works.
I think there's a lot of stuff coming over the horizon with these algorithms and, you know, stuff to be excited about.
Meal Prep, CGMs, and Pump Choices
Scott BennerCan I ask what pump you're looking to get?
ClaireSo I'm I'm having an Omnipod.
So I had an Omnipod five.
Scott BennerOkay.
ClaireUnder the NHS, you can choose.
Mhmm.
So you you get given a choice.
So I was down to I had a choice of about four or five.
Yeah.
ClaireSo you have to choose, and whichever you choose, you are stuck with for the next four years, essentially, except for the Omnipod because, obviously, there isn't that big outlay.
Scott BennerAround here, you get it through, like, a pharmacy channel.
So then it's sort of, like, if you wanted to switch, you just could.
ClaireYeah.
Right.
Whereas it's things are a bit different.
So I've gone for the Omnipod five.
The diabetic team sort of say to me that a lot of adults my age will go for something like that.
ClaireObviously, I'm not self conscious about things on my body, really.
I'm I'm more I'm more here for the whatever works best for me.
Yeah.
You know?
But I I I do understand younger people would look at that and some you know, why they wouldn't want it.
Scott BennerBecause a lot of younger people will say, well, there's no tubes on it, I can hide it under my clothes and stuff like that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's interesting to listen to you go through the process that I've, you you know, just heard so many people over time with, like, you know, it's either they say, well, I don't want something on me, or they say, I just want it to work.
This must be better to have happened to you when you're older because I can imagine what it would be like if you were younger, and younger people say, well, it's better to get it when you're younger because then you don't know any better.
Scott BennerEverybody always sees the other side of it where the value would be or or how much better they might like it or not like it.
A bunch of different stuff.
Your dog okay?
ClaireYeah.
I'm so sorry.
I've just had him my guest day delivery.
Scott BennerWell, that's why was saying something that's what usually happens is something gets delivered and the dog goes crazy.
ClaireHe's not the biggest fan of did you what did you have
Scott Bennerbring in?
ClaireHappened.
I'm like, oh.
Scott BennerWhat got delivered?
ClaireIt no.
No.
It's fine.
I've just left it.
It's it's a Gusto parcel.
ClaireSo I don't know.
It's like a meal prep.
I don't know if you guys have it in America.
Sure.
We we get it.
ClaireThey deliver, like so I get everything delivered for the next four days dinners.
You have to cook it, but it's it's it's a it's a great thing here in The UK.
We have Gusto, and we have HelloFresh.
Scott BennerYeah.
Comes it comes, like, on dry ice.
Right?
You just kinda you warm it up afterwards, or you actually, you can prep it too.
Right?
Scott BennerLike, it's
ClaireYou you actually prep it.
Yeah.
It's just all the ingredients for four meals that I've I've chosen for the week.
Scott BennerSo This is exciting.
Is this a thing you can afford once all your kids leave?
Is that is that what happens?
You have, like, all of a sudden, you have money?
You're like, oh god.
ClaireThere there is a there is a degree of but there's still four of us.
So I've still got two adult children at home, only one of them slept.
Scott BennerOh, you gotta tell them to get the hell out.
That's enough already.
Yeah.
But but
Clairedo you know what?
It's a it's a great thing for when you're trying to eat healthy because myself and my husband, we're classic overeaters.
Like, we make far too much food.
Mhmm.
With with this, there's no leftovers.
ClaireSo it's literally enough food for four people, four meals, four people.
Scott BennerAnd that's it.
ClaireThere's no leftovers.
There's no more to eat.
So, you know, it stops us overeating massively.
Scott BennerI know.
That's that's great that you yeah.
That I think that's interesting that you that you found something that helps you like that.
Yeah.
Portion size is always confusing to people.
Scott BennerAnd I when I do those bolus four episodes with Jenny, she brings it up all the time.
She's just like, you know, you know, a portion.
Are we talking about what a portion is on the nutritional label?
Or are we talking about what people put on their plates?
You know?
ClaireSo Exactly.
And, yeah, massively, you know, over eaters.
Easy to just keep developing it on or going back for seconds.
Scott BennerAre you using a CGM now already?
ClaireYeah.
So I have a Freestyle Libra, the two plus.
I'm not I'm I'm I'm kind of at the moment, I'm I'm really intrigued to see how it's gonna work on with my Omnipod.
It's a massive signal failures with it recently.
I you know, I'm constantly I don't I don't know how other people get on with it because I'm constantly having to scan.
ClaireIt loses signal all the time.
Scott BennerOh, do you have Dexcoms in The UK too?
ClaireThe the the we do, but they're they're another you have to jump through hoops to get those as well.
Oh, really?
Okay.
They're they're they're not as widely available as as Freestyles unless you have unless you have a pump that only works with the Dexcom.
But I have seen you know, there's some people I've kind of watched a lot of diabetics on TikTok and things like that.
ClaireAnd, you know, lots of people not raving too highly about the g seven either.
So Yes.
I think it's just
Scott Bennerit's super interesting people's experiences with devices that are, you know, mechanical devices that are, you know, interacting with, like, human flesh.
It's like I I I say this all the time, 100% true.
My daughter puts on a g seven.
They almost never fail, and they last right up to the ten days plus the extra time.
It just Okay.
Scott BennerI don't and then other people you see, like, I never get past day six.
I never get past day seven.
Like, you know, or whatever.
Like, I'm wondering when they come to the fifteen days.
I think the fifteen days are probably gonna work for her as well.
Scott BennerYeah.
I think there's something about her and it, you know, that went together.
I do you know, Dexcom did have a couple of issues more recently, but I do know they're they're addressing them.
I think I am allowed to say, like, I'm on an advisory council right now.
Like, it's a short term advisory council for Dexcom.
Scott BennerThey are putting a pretty comprehensive plan together about, you know, dealing with a couple of topics that that we brought up, in the council and, you know, things that we thought they should be looking at.
So, we'll see.
This stuff's always
ClaireIt's interesting.
Changing.
Scott BennerYeah.
Yeah.
ClaireI think here, I can but by the time I if if I were to raise my issues with my Libra, that's how I would get a Dexcom.
Mhmm.
I just need to say, look.
This is failing all the time for me.
You know?
ClaireAnd and then I can I think my diabetic team can apply for funding for me to get a Dexcom?
So that might be a road I go down, but I think I just need to see how the the Omnipod how they get on Yeah.
Which obviously I'm massively nervous about sort of starting.
I'm just sort of getting to grips with how diabetes works, and I'm more confident with correction doses and things.
Scott BennerLet's dig into this six months with with insulin.
But first, let me just say, Libre is not a sponsor, so I don't feel any reason to play devil's advocate for what you said.
Okay.
But seriously, like, you've had so you've had this diagnosis for, like, a type one diagnosis for how long?
ClaireSix months.
Scott BennerSix months.
Okay.
Did it first of all, did just getting the diagnosis change something, or was it the is it more about the massive need for insulin suddenly striking you?
Like, did you have time to think about the psychological part of what just happened to you, or is it more about figuring out insulin, keeping yourself going, getting through all this stuff, and and trying to find firm footing?
ClaireYeah.
I think I think all of those things I think the diagnosis was was a massive shock.
I, you know, I didn't know where that had come from sort of learning, obviously, to look after myself.
My I think my husband, my kids, my middle daughter is a children's nurse, so she had a big understanding of what diabetes is.
But my husband has been absolutely amazing.
ClaireHe's, you know, he's given me the opportunity to leave my job to try and get on top of things this year.
So I left my job in February.
I'd I'd done the same job for fourteen years, but, you know, I was a bit fed up anyway.
And he was just like, do know what?
Just have a break.
ClaireJust have a break for a bit and concentrate on you.
Scott BennerYeah.
ClaireBut at times, I just I suppose I just feel a bit frustrated.
He he doesn't get it.
I don't think he really understands.
And, you know, you see all the classic memes of people saying, oh, okay.
Oh, do you need to take a shot?
ClaireYou know?
Mhmm.
People people really don't understand diabetes.
You know?
They really don't understand the difference between being high and low and the different treatments and how you're gonna manage it and the different decisions you've gotta make.
ClaireIt it's just massive.
And, you know, I think even my family, you know, my mom, bless her.
She's you know, in the early days, she was so you're gonna have to take those for the rest of your life?
Mhmm.
You know?
ClaireWhat what about that thing on your arm?
If gotta you wear that all the time.
Scott BennerYeah.
Oh, I just I by the way, just yesterday, when we were out shopping, I guess I had to use my driver's license, and the the person behind the register was like, oh my god.
Is that's you?
And I was like, yo.
Yeah.
Scott BennerYeah.
And I I was like, I've lost a lot of weight on, GLP medication.
And you look terrific.
Thank you.
Next day statement.
Scott BennerDo you have to take that forever?
Right away.
Like, that's the like, it just pops into people's heads.
Like, I'm like, yeah.
Probably.
Scott BennerAnd they're like, oh.
Then they act like that's a problem.
And I go, I'm like, no.
I'm good.
I'll I'll take it.
Scott BennerLike, I I'm I'm happy.
ClaireYeah.
I'm gonna take it.
Scott BennerYeah.
It's interesting how that pops into people's heads.
I don't think it's just about diabetes is my point.
I think anytime you tell somebody you're on a medication, the inference to them is if it's not a medication that stops at the end of ten days or something, then that seems scary or odd or whatever.
I don't even know what exactly how it hits them.
ClaireYeah.
I've had a couple of of friends say to me, the thing on your arm, if you're gonna wear that forever, and and it and it does kind of hit you then at the like, yeah.
Actually, yeah.
I I I will.
I guess forever.
ClaireYeah.
I hadn't hadn't really thought about that till you mentioned it, but, yeah, I probably will.
Scott BennerYeah.
But when I die, I'll have it on.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like, 97 years old with my CGM.
ClaireAnd and that's a bizarre thing as well.
I so when I was 16, 17, I was my boyfriend at the time was diagnosed as a type one diabetic, and I'm going back in I'm going back in the early nineties.
So I'm going back thirty thirty two years ago.
Yeah.
He was a twin, and at the time, twin brother had been diagnosed.
ClaireAnd six months later, he was he was diagnosed.
I don't it wasn't a massive shock to his family.
Scott BennerBy that point.
But Yeah.
ClaireAt that point and and so I I kind of I do know a bit about diabetes from then, although it's been thirty years.
And I but but back then, when I look back, I mean, I'd love to bump into him one day now, but purely because I'd just like to chat to him about how the technology's moved on.
You know?
I think, god, when I look back, he he used to just finger prick at meals.
And Yeah.
ClaireObviously, injects, and then, you know, he only ever finger pricked if he felt a bit odd and and whatever outside of those times.
So I do wonder, you know, and I know there's many people he he would be a couple years older than me now that have lived with diabetes for sort of thirty, thirty five years.
Yeah.
Crazy.
Finding Community and the Podcast
Scott BennerWell, you know, it's funny.
One of the follow-up questions I had in my head for you while you were talking was, does that feel when people don't understand it, does that make you feel lonely?
But now I got my answer because you're willing to talk to a boyfriend from thirty years ago.
So you you're you're looking for you're just looking for someone who gets it to talk to.
ClaireYeah.
I I think I definitely I I need some diabetic friends.
Yeah.
Scott BennerI I bet you do, actually.
Yeah.
ClaireYou know, I'm looking forward to getting to this pump start next week.
I went I went to a pump convention, actually.
I I convention might not be the right word, but you back in January, they they had all the pumps of pump suppliers at the hospital so you could go and meet them.
And, you know, it it was humbling for somebody like me that's been diagnosed for six months because there were people there, you know, that were in their fifties and sixties that have been diabetic for years and years, you know, the excitement for them to be getting a pump.
And I I I fit the criteria under the NHS for a pump because I suffer horrendously with dawn phenomenon.
ClaireMhmm.
So of you know, they call it fit to floor syndrome.
So I'll I'll give you an example.
Like, I went to bed.
The blood sugar's at seven and eight last night.
ClaireI don't know what that equates to, but they were in range.
The that's a good range to go to bed on.
Yeah.
I I woke up this morning to that they'd risen through the night with with no rapid insulin on board to 15 Mhmm.
By the time I wake up in the morning, and that's just for me breathing in the morning.
ClaireI literally don't listening to
Scott BennerLet me tell them a seven's a seven's, like, 01:26, an eight is 01:42.
And what did you go up to overnight?
ClaireFifteen.
Scott BennerFifteen is two seventy.
ClaireOkay.
Scott BennerYeah.
Yeah.
So that's I mean, they've been meaning it more than doubled overnight.
ClaireYeah.
So I sort of doubling overnight without, you know, no food, nothing, just breathing.
And it's probably hormonal.
You know, I'm I'm a woman of a certain age, and I think that's been a a battle as well is is not knowing what's diabetes, what's hormonal, what's menopausal.
I don't really know what's going on, and I don't know whether I should be feeling the way I feel sometimes.
ClaireAnd, you know, I think I had a chat with somebody recently, and they said, gosh.
It it must be you know, because I relate everything that I feel at the moment down to the menopause.
Oh.
And I'm like, yeah.
But Yeah.
ClaireI I can't I can't I can't relate because I'm not sure whether it's diabetes or menopause.
I just have to weigh up and think, you know, I'm not sure.
Scott BennerI got yelled at online last night for not having enough menopause content.
So I I Yeah.
I promise to do some.
ClaireYeah.
Yeah.
I'm I'm I'm here for that cause it it's it would be interesting for me to listen to.
But, yeah, I don't sometimes know whether I'm feeling a certain way or whether it's hormonal or or anything like that.
But, yeah, I just my blood sugar so that that makes me fit.
ClaireEverybody's telling me that the Omnipod's gonna do wonderful things for having this rise in the morning.
Scott BennerWell, I mean, the algorithm will try to get ahead of it, and it'll, you know, notice it going up and get after it.
So, I mean, there's a ton of benefit with that.
You just I think you'll end up loving it, honestly.
ClaireI hope so.
Scott BennerYeah.
Yeah.
And you listen to and if you and if it's not right for you, there are other pumps too.
You know what I mean?
So Yeah.
Scott BennerI hope the one you wanted works, but if not, keep looking.
ClaireYeah.
Yeah.
I will.
I will.
I'm Good.
ClaireYou know, I've had I've had it all delivered at home.
It's all very exciting.
So it's all been delivered last the end of last week.
So it's all set up, and I'm just ready to I have to have a couple of appointments for the pump start now.
Scott BennerOkay.
Well, can I tell you?
I have a really great series to get you ready for it.
ClaireI've listened to it.
Oh, okay.
You're I'm I'm ahead of you.
Scott BennerOh, okay.
ClaireI've done your your bold beginnings, and last week, I I listened to all of your Omnipod five episodes.
Scott BennerOh, cool.
Did you find it helpful?
ClaireReally helpful.
Scott BennerOh, good.
Good.
Good.
ClaireYou know, I've I love I love quite a lot of your episodes.
So, you know, there's lots of things I can relate to.
So, yeah, it's it's a it's a great podcast.
Scott BennerThat's great.
My accent's not hard for you to follow?
ClaireNo.
I'm just kidding.
Scott BennerI'm teasing you.
ClaireNot at all.
I do I do like it when, you know I I love that you do English.
You know, you you come across the pond as well.
So
Scott BennerOh, yeah.
ClaireI recently listened to there was a lady you had.
She's who works for the Daphne course.
Scott BennerWasn't she great?
ClaireYeah.
So that was a great because I I'm actually doing the Daphne course in
Scott BennerJune Okay.
ClaireHere.
So that that's great.
Things like that.
It's it's just really helpful.
You know?
ClaireAnd it it's helpful to hear that sometimes that you're just not alone.
There's other people having, you know, similar similar experiences.
Scott BennerYeah.
No kidding.
I I listen.
Just on diabetes conversations, I forget the Daphne course.
I thought she was really a fantastic guest.
Scott BennerI I actually find myself wondering.
I hope she she'll come back.
Hope she'll hear this and come back sometime.
I had a good I had a really good time talking to her.
I felt like, it was a very nerdy diabetes conversation that that I enjoyed, quite a lot.
Scott BennerYeah.
I know.
Look at me.
I'm almost British.
I said quite a lot.
Scott BennerThat's right.
You're rubbing off on me.
ClaireI feel like I've just rambled for the last hour.
Scott BennerNo.
You're doing to know?
Stop it.
You're doing terrific.
Are you kidding?
Scott BennerAre you were are you nervous to do this?
ClaireOh, really nervous.
Really nervous.
Not told anybody, just my husband because I thought that way.
I'll only tell people if if when it comes out and it sounds okay.
Scott BennerYou'll listen first.
Make sure they're allowed to hear it.
ClaireWell, listen.
And then I and then I'm like, tell people.
Scott BennerI just did some I just went online last night.
I you know, sometimes I'm just sitting around at the end of my day.
And I I put up a post in my Facebook group, and I said, look.
Tell me one thing I do right, one thing you'd think I wish I'd do differently, and I'll answer a question for you.
During the course of those conversations, somebody, you know, talked about, like, you know, they wished I don't know.
Scott BennerIn one situation, I would let I would have let somebody go on longer or something like that.
And I just Okay.
ClaireYou know,
Scott BennerI ended up saying to them, like, you know, it's it it really is just I have people on who don't ever do stuff like this.
Like, some of them take to it really easily and some of them don't.
Some of them need more prompting.
Some of them don't have as big of a story as far as time goes as you think and some of them don't have a skill for telling a story.
So sometimes they get their thought out and it's very short and like, well, there's nothing cinematic about that.
Scott BennerWe're gonna have to stretch it out a little bit or we're gonna have to find another thing to talk about in it.
And in the end, like, I hope everyone realizes that, like, most of the people who come on this podcast have never done anything like this before ever.
ClaireNo.
Absolutely.
Scott BennerAnd I offer you no prep for it whatsoever.
And you you come on because you really wanna share your story or you're really looking for something or whatever.
And that's why I think the podcast ends working out so well is because Yeah.
I put you on my schedule and you need to show up.
I don't hold your hand reminding you, like, in four weeks, in three weeks.
Scott BennerAnd, like, I think it maybe pops up a week before and tells you and then, like, the day before.
And that's Yeah.
Pretty much it.
And then, from there, you know, people are coming on and and just, like, they're very nervous sometimes.
They're not practiced at this.
Scott BennerThey maybe never will do it again.
But I really appreciate it because I think I think you should let everybody hear it because I think it's really valuable for you to sit down and tell your story like that, the the way you have so far.
Yeah.
Seriously.
ClaireThank you.
Scott BennerNo.
Of course.
ClaireI I I do I do want to share.
I think I think people, you know, need need to know that, you know, diagnosis at 49, 50, it it happens.
And and and it's not the end of the world.
It's, you know, it's it's just learning to live a different on a different path, really, finding a way.
Scott BennerYeah.
What what's been the most difficult part about using insulin so far?
Was it scary?
Is it scary?
ClaireIf somebody had said to me twenty years ago, you're gonna have to inject yourself, like, six times a day, I think I probably would have gone absolutely not.
But, you know, a a Mounjaro I'd obviously was taking Mounjaro, so I was doing a weekly injection.
Because the the lady when I was in hospital, she she was showing me how to put the needles on and stuff, and she she was like, you you know how to do this?
I was like, yeah.
But I'm okay.
ClaireMhmm.
But it didn't didn't prepare me for the six times a day injections that I probably need.
Yeah.
But but I'm just you know, I'm getting on with it.
I'm I'm I'm my body looks battered and bruised in certain places.
ClaireI'm exhausting every injection site.
Just my thighs are covered in bruises all the time.
I don't know why I seem to bruise so easily.
Scott BennerYou guys don't have the sun there.
Maybe that has something to do with it.
You should get a sun.
ClaireYeah.
Yeah.
I'm sat in a darkened room at the moment because I didn't want I'd shut all the blinds so the dog wouldn't bark.
That didn't really work out for me, did it?
Scott BennerWell, hey.
Don't forget, don't forget to take vitamin d.
You know, people with autoimmune issues need, often need more vitamin d.
Listen.
I take actually, you just reminded me that I have to take my Zepbound today.
Scott BennerI was supposed to take it yesterday, I forgot.
But and I've been doing it for three years.
Right?
Certainly not as much as six times a day or what a person with type one goes through, but it still does.
Every week, I grab that needle, and there is part of you that you're just sort of like, okay.
Scott BennerI guess I'm gonna jab myself with this needle now.
You know what mean?
Like and even though, like you said, you just kinda get on with it and it's a thing you're almost accustomed to.
But still, you just as you're reaching for yourself, you're like, okay.
I don't know.
Scott BennerNine times out of 10, it doesn't even hurt.
And then the one time it pinches or, like, the the liquid goes in, like, and hits a nerve or something, you're like, god damn it.
And it always is in the back of my head no matter what, and I'm only doing it once a week.
ClaireThat yeah.
And that's the other thing as well.
I I was diagnosed, obviously, end of September, beginning of October.
So I had a whole winter of covering myself up.
So I'm about to go into a spring summer here where, you know, more t shirts, more and, you know, you see more CGMs on the show and things.
Scott BennerMhmm.
ClaireYou know, I have I've literally I've had one person ask me, what's that on your arm?
And and just to casually explain to them that I did read I watched something on social media last week that it was it was obviously very tongue in cheek, but a diabetic she somebody had asked her what it was, and she said, and they went, are you giving up smoking?
Yeah.
I'm giving up smoking.
People thinking it's an aid to help you giving up smoking, and he's just saying, I'm like, gosh.
ClaireAm I gonna get people asking me questions like that over the summer?
Scott BennerOh, yeah.
Sure.
Are you gonna give are you giving up smoking?
There is by the way, I don't know if it's in The UK, but here, Omnipod the company that makes Omnipod Insulin also makes it's a drug for after a cancer treatment.
I think it's for nausea, maybe.
Scott BennerI'm not sure.
It's like a follow-up drug after after one of the treatments.
And the kinda cool thing about it is is they used to have to, like, bring you back, but now they slap a pot on you.
It delivers the the medication, and then, like, twenty four hours later, I think you take it off.
You might get that.
Scott BennerYou might get, like you might get a lot of stuff.
Or you know what?
Maybe you're gonna get a lot of people with diabetes who come up to you and go, like, hey.
Me too.
And maybe you'll meet your friends that way.
Scott BennerYou know?
ClaireI think I think that's what I need.
Like, I I saw a young girl at the gym the other day with I could see her her Omnipod and her her Libra, and I was like, oh my gosh.
Who knew?
And I've seen her a few times at the gym, but, obviously, it's the first time I've seen her with a t shirt on.
But she she jumped in the shower before I had time to to chat to her, but, you know, this this is quite a new experience for me to start noticing it.
Scott BennerYeah.
Listen.
My daughter does not talk about diabetes very frequently at all.
And the number of times over the last few weeks that she's come back from school, she's in college, and, you guys call it university.
She comes back because she's she goes close enough to home that she comes back, you know, at the end of the day.
Scott BennerAnd she's like, dad she's like, dad, I keep seeing more and more people wearing Omnipods, and they're not people I know.
She's like, I just keep seeing new people wearing Omnipods, like, lot of them Yeah.
More than I can count.
I she's like, I I can't believe it.
You you know?
Scott BennerSo you're gonna see it.
You're gonna see CGMs on folks and, you know, I listen.
You got you can make a community somehow.
Right?
ClaireYeah.
This time last year, I wouldn't have I would I I I I did know what a CGM was, fortunately, and and I also knew what an insulin pod was.
But I would never have battered an eyelid or looked out for it.
But it's amazing the difference a year makes now because I I will be looking out for it and, you know, making that eye contact with somebody just to
Scott BennerLittle smile.
There's two
Clairegirls Yeah.
Scott BennerTwo women that came on here one time.
They met at a at a yard sale.
You know what I mean?
Like, do people do that in The UK?
Put their crap out on the front lawn and sell it?
Scott BennerRight.
Right?
What do you call what do you call it there?
ClaireWell, they could they they do call it a garage sale, but we have something called a car boot sale.
So that's where all these people put all their crap in their cars.
They drive to a field.
They pay £12 for the privilege, open your car boot, and you sell all your crap out your car boot.
Scott BennerNice.
So so anyway, like that, they were at a, they were just at a garage sale.
ClaireOkay.
Scott BennerThey noticed each other's devices, and then they started talking.
Then one of them said to the other one, hey.
Do you listen?
And she said that before she completed her sentence, the the woman went the other woman went to the Juice Box podcast.
I do.
Scott BennerAnd and she said they became friends, and now I get pictures of them out at, you know, dinner together and, like, you know, they're they're friends now.
They met at a met at a garage sale.
So it could very well happen.
You know, meet your people.
Are you in the Facebook group?
Scott BennerAre you using that at least for
Claireonline gaming?
Facebook group group.
Yeah.
I've joined the Facebook group.
And like I said, I I I love reading all all the different stories, and I listen to your podcast a lot.
ClaireI I walk.
I have to walk for an hour every day with the dog, and I listen to podcasts all the time while I walk.
So you can imagine that that, you know, that's adding up to seven, eight, nine hours a week of of podcasts just while I'm walking.
Scott BennerRight.
ClaireAnd let alone any other times that I might stick them in my ears.
So I listen to a lot.
Scott BennerI appreciate it.
Well and I hope it's I mean, it sounds like it's valuable for you, but I I'm I'm glad that you're finding it to be valuable.
Really?
I said to someone the other day, there's this question, I guess, I've been asking forever, probably because I have a hard time believing that I I make a popular podcast.
And and people I'll say, well, well, how'd you hear about it?
Scott BennerI'm sure I'm gonna ask you in a second.
Like, how'd you hear about the podcast?
And the woman goes, come on, Scott.
I heard about it because, you know, it's everywhere.
And I I thought, do I have to stop asking that question?
Scott BennerDoes it sound disingenuous when I go, how'd you hear about my little podcast?
But I feel that way still.
So when somebody says that, you know, it's been helpful for them or they go take it on their walks or anything like that or, you know, sometimes people pop on like, I'm sorry.
I'm nervous.
You're just very famous.
Scott BennerAnd I laugh.
I'm like, it's insane.
But, but, you know, it it's it's it's really lovely.
Anyway, how do you hear about it in England?
How does it how does it get to you?
ClaireSo I use Spotify platform, for all my music and my my podcasts and things, and I just searched diabetes.
I think yours comes up as one of the top.
It took me a while to get to grips, and and then obviously because I was quite newly diagnosed, and then I think you mentioned the bold beginnings.
And then I started going through your website to to to to find the series.
They're much it's much easier to navigate through your website with the the recent where you can do the drop down of the pro tip and, you know, the bold beginnings and the Omnipod that I listened to last week.
ClaireSo yeah.
So that was how I just searched diabetes.
There there was a couple of guys that did a UK one, but I think they've stopped now.
But they talked more about their personal experiences.
But Okay.
ClaireWhich was useful in itself, but yours also offers, you know, the whole bold beginnings, the Omnipod the Omnipod series, and everything like that.
Scott BennerBeen We have a little bit of everything.
You know what I mean?
Like
ClaireReally useful.
Yeah.
Scott BennerGood.
I'm glad.
Oh, I'm I'm actually I'm thrilled, actually.
Yep.
This is gonna sound crazy.
Scott BennerWe're coming up on an hour, and I wanna make sure there's nothing else you wanna say.
The part that's gonna sound crazy is that while we've been recording, my oldest dog kind of fell ill out of nowhere and was breathing really weirdly, and my wife just kinda rushed him off to the vet.
ClaireOh, no.
Scott BennerSo I have to You missed I'm gonna get off to check on him in a second.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But I don't wanna short change you.
So I need two things from you.
Scott BennerWanna make sure that we haven't missed anything that you want to talk about.
And don't feel rushed.
Just tell me if there's anything that you that you still wanted to get to.
ClaireNo.
I think I think I've I've told my story.
Scott BennerYou feel good?
Okay.
And now I I need a British ism for a title.
Oh.
Like, I watched these two kids.
Scott BennerI can't believe I'm calling them kids, but you just said the nineties were thirty years ago.
So, obviously, they're kids.
They're like these two kids in their twenties.
I think they were on TikTok, both from England.
One very southern, one northern.
Scott BennerThey're dating now.
Mhmm.
And they were bringing up, like, household things or, like, even just, like, gosh.
One of the things was, like, I don't know, like, an alleyway.
The guy was like, what do you call an alleyway?
Scott BennerAnd she called it something completely different than he called it.
So I need a British ism for what we talked about here today.
What do got for me?
ClaireI don't know.
I I can't think of of British ism at all.
I'm not I'm not witty at all.
This is where I need some help.
I'm not witty.
ClaireI can't be I love it when you think up titles.
I probably haven't said anything.
Scott BennerNo.
You said a couple of things, but I was just wondering if something popped into your head.
I might call it British, not witty.
How's that?
ClaireYeah.
That's me.
Yeah.
I am really British and not witty at all.
In fact, my husband and my kids, they call me the fun police because I'm so boring, you know.
ClaireOh.
Anyone's having a bit of fun, you know.
That that that's what they call me.
So British not witty.
They they all love that.
Scott BennerAll love well, then that'll give the people who tell me that that the titles don't aren't about what the the episode's about, that they don't like.
You know what's funny?
Again, I got feedback last night.
Equal amounts of people said, I love the titles.
Who said and and equal amounts said, these titles are not helpful.
Scott BennerI never know what's in the episode.
And I I always say to at least one person in a thread whenever this comes up, go pick a couple of episodes where it strikes you that you really liked it or you found it valuable, but the title didn't help you, and you write a better title and send it to me.
Because
ClaireOh, no.
I like the titles.
Scott BennerThank I
Clairelike them.
Scott BennerBecause it's not as easy as think.
ClaireI read what the episodes are about as well.
So I, you know, I like to look and and pick the ones out that that I that I know that I like.
Scott BennerThank you.
I've been putting more effort into that in the last two years.
So Yeah.
Although, I gotta be honest, AI really is what does it now.
So Yeah.
Scott BennerI've I've a massive process that the, after we're done, the m p three goes into it goes into AI.
It turns it into a into a simple transcript.
Then I drop that simple transcript into into a different AI that turns it into what you're seeing on the on the website now Wow.
Kind of breaks down
ClaireIt's impressive.
Scott BennerHow it looks on on there.
And then when it's done and it turns it into that for the website, the last thing it does is it gives me a, basically, a 30 word or fewer description of the episode.
Because I don't know like, you and I are talking now.
If I stopped right it's very strange.
If I stopped right now and you made me write down what we talked about, I'm sort of not in that headspace right now.
Scott BennerLike, I'm very trying very hard to be in the moment with you.
And Yeah.
If you ask me a couple of hours from now, I probably could contextualize it better, but I don't think about it a couple of hours now.
I don't think about it for weeks and weeks and weeks and sometimes months until I get it back.
And then when I get it back from the editor, I don't know what the hell it's about.
Scott BennerI could have to listen to it at that point.
It's a weird process to put, like, a title on something, and nobody's famous.
Because if if you were famous, it would just be, you know, it would be your name.
And and people would be like, oh, that's great.
You know?
Scott BennerDax Shepard's on the podcast today.
I know that guy from that Parenthood TV show, and that would be the end of it, you know, or he's isn't he married to that girl from Frozen?
That's not gonna work with your name.
Also, now I'm very self conscious because now people are like, oh, I I because somebody said last night, like, don't start telling your stories in the middle of their stories.
I'm like, am I not a part of this too?
ClaireNo.
I I agree.
I I think I I think that's what makes her, you know.
Scott BennerThank you.
ClaireLike, I would I think that's what makes the whole thing.
Scott BennerYeah.
It's interesting.
My wife got off a a work call this morning, and she said, got a note from somebody on the call that they really thought the call went well.
And I said, you know, all that means is whatever you did was what they would do.
Mhmm.
Scott BennerAnd so they think it went well.
Because what I've really noticed and I don't there's no shade about this for anybody.
But, like, when I ask people, you know, what do you like about the podcast?
What do you wish was different?
I like to get feedback from people a lot.
Scott BennerWhat you learn is the things that go the way they would do it, they like.
And the things that go the way they wouldn't do it, they think should change.
And it's Yeah.
You you know?
It's like, they don't have any actual input.
Scott BennerThey just are like, well, that doesn't seem exactly right to me.
ClaireAbsolutely.
Scott BennerOne person said, I love the way you pivot with the conversation and keep going where you think it's interesting.
And another person used the exact example to say that I ruined the flow of the conversation.
And I was like
ClaireSo you're right.
It's it's just what you what what people like to listen to.
Scott BennerYeah.
You either like me in the way I think about this or you don't.
And there's not a lot you can like, it's not me being wrong or you being wrong.
It's just it's just how things work.
You know?
Scott BennerSo, anyway alright.
We're gonna call it British, comma, not funny.
ClaireOkay.
Yeah.
Thanks for your time, Scott.
And I do hope your dog's okay.
Scott BennerNo.
He's very old.
This I mean, the truth be told, I'm not sure.
But hopefully, will be.
But hold on one second for me because I do need to talk to you before we go.
Outro and Sponsors
Scott BennerOkay?
ClaireOkay.
Scott BennerA huge thanks to US Med for sponsoring this episode of the Juice Box podcast.
Don't forget, usmed.com/juicebox.
This is where we get our diabetes supplies from.
You can as well.
Use the link or call (888) 721-1514.
Scott BennerUse the link or call the number, get your free benefits checked so that you can start getting your diabetes supplies the way we do from US Med.
The podcast episode that you just enjoyed was sponsored by Eversense CGM.
They make the Eversense three sixty five.
That thing lasts a whole year.
One insertion?
Scott BennerEvery year?
Come on.
You probably feel like I'm messing with you, but I'm not.
Eversensecgm.com/juicebox.
Today's episode of the Juice Box podcast was sponsored by the new Tandem Mobi system and Control IQ Plus technology.
Scott BennerLearn more and get started today at tandemdiabetes.com/juicebox.
Check it out.
Thank you so much for listening.
I'll be back very soon with another episode of the juice box podcast.
If you're not already subscribed or following the podcast in your favorite audio app, like Spotify or Apple podcasts, please do that now.
Scott BennerSeriously, just to hit follow or subscribe will really help the show.
If you go a little further in Apple Podcasts and set it up so that it downloads all new episodes, I'll be your best friend.
And if you leave a five star review, oh, I'll probably send you a Christmas card.
Would you like a Christmas card?
If you've ever heard a diabetes term and thought, okay, but what does that actually mean?
Scott BennerYou need the defining diabetes series from the Juice Box podcast.
Defining diabetes takes all those phrases and terms that you don't understand and makes them clear.
Quick and easy episodes.
Find out what bolus means, basal, insulin sensitivity, and all of the rest.
There has to be over 60 episodes of Defining Diabetes.
Scott BennerCheck it out now in your audio player or go to juiceboxpodcast.com and go up into the menu.
The Juice Box podcast is edited by Wrong Way Recording.
Wrongwayrecording.com.
If you'd like your podcast to sound as good as mine, check out Rob at wrongwayrecording.com.
