Scott Benner 4/2/23 Scott Benner 4/2/23

#878 After Dark: Lots of Auto Immune and Lots of Weed

ADULT TOPIC WARNING. Brittani has type 1 diabetes, a lot of auto immune issues and a lot of weed!

You can always listen to the Juicebox Podcast here but the cool kids use: Apple Podcasts/iOS - Spotify - Amazon Music - Google Play/Android - iHeart Radio - Radio Public, Amazon Alexa or wherever they get audio.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

DISCLAIMER: This text is the output of AI based transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors and should not be treated as an authoritative record. Nothing that you read here constitutes advice medical or otherwise. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making changes to a healthcare plan.

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 878 of the Juicebox Podcast

today Brittany is on the show she is an adult living with type one diabetes has a really cool story. And she enjoys the Mary Jane, the dope, the grass, the reefer, the pot, the weed, the Bambi the blanket, you know what I'm talking about? Brittany is going to talk about smoking weed. She's going to tell us where the term DAB came from. And I'm going to tell you something high was surprised. To be serious. Brittany is here to tell us about all of her autoimmune issues and how marijuana helps her. Please remember while you're listening, that nothing you hear the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. Becoming bold with insulin, or smoking until your face melts off. Very quickly. T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Go if you're a US resident who has type one, go if you're a US resident who is the caregiver of someone with type one, when you get there, fill out the survey completely. And once you're done, you've helped. That's it. See how easy it was to help T one do research. All you had to do was go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox and complete the survey

this show is sponsored today by the glucagon that my daughter carries G voc hypo Penn Find out more at G voc glucagon.com. Forward slash juicebox. There are so many more afterdark episodes, and you can check them out at juicebox podcast.com. Or by going into your audio app and searching Juicebox Podcast or just juice box one word. Do it like this juice box after dark. Three words juice box after dark. They should all just pop up in front of you. If you're not listening to the podcast in a podcast app or an audio app like Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple podcasts, you probably should. It's a simple and free way to listen to this podcast and any other podcast that you enjoy. Last thing if you're looking for community around diabetes, please check out the Facebook page for the group 35,000 members and growing every day Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook. Hey, real quick before we start, I just pulled out my Spotify app and I I searched juice box after dark because you know I wasn't 100% sure what I told you was actually right. But I mean it felt right. And it really is it popped up right in front of me. Episode 274 Drinking edition 283 was about weed. This is God three years ago. Kate bipolar psychedelics eating disorder, depression and self harm Emily mama wants her happy I wonder what that's about sex worker John? diabetes heroine sex with type one diabetes from a male's perspective that was heroin addiction I'm sorry. After dark when in Rome after dark male disordered eating after dark gaming after dark life struggles after dark Nolan's story trauma and addiction bulimia and depression sexual assault and PTSD, divorce and co parenting. Childhood Trauma California sober that was a good one. Actually, these were all great ADHD, cocaine and abandonment, striving and grateful. On and on. One thing after there's so many here, like you could do this with anything you could type in juicebox. And then pro tip if you want to see the Pro Tip series, for example, boom, they're all right in front of me. Why does so many people come to me online? They're like, I don't know how to find that episode. Just that. I mean, that works in Spotify. I mean, half of you use Spotify and half of you use Apple podcasts. Hello, sorry, Apple podcast, search. juice box. After Dark. didn't spell right. Now I did search. Scroll either. All right here. I never want to hear from you guys. Again. You can't find something just searching your app. Alright, sorry, that got off the rails. Here's Brittany.

Brittany 4:28
My name is Brittany. And I have been a type one diabetic for 24 and a half years and I am 32 Now

Scott Benner 4:40
24 and a half years. Wow, that seems like a long time to me. What were you ate when you were diagnosed?

Brittany 4:50
I was two months before I turned eight right before I was diagnosed in June of 98. And I turned my workdays in August so

Unknown Speaker 4:59
yeah

Scott Benner 5:01
I know you have a sister. But do you have any other siblings?

Brittany 5:05
Yes. So my parents were teen parents, and they didn't have any other children together. So I have. Well, from from both of my parents, they both had a child at the same time. So my sister, the one that I'm living with now, and my other, my brother that came from my mom, they are three months apart. And then my mom much later had a child. She just turned 14. So we are 18 years apart.

Scott Benner 5:35
Your mom is the ridin ridin it right to the end? Hmm. I didn't mean oh, I meant, I meant life. Sorry. Sorry.

Brittany 5:46
Me at 15. So that was a month before she turned 16. And my dad was 17 at the time, so they were babies.

Scott Benner 5:55
So your mom's about 47? Right now.

Brittany 6:00
She was born. She was born in 74. So she's 4848?

Scott Benner 6:05
Okay, I think is that? Is that something you get accustomed to after a while and you don't notice it, that you're so close in age?

Brittany 6:13
Yes. People think that. You know, my parents were like, my mom would be my sister. And somebody may think that like my dad's my boyfriend. Because my parents were so young. And then with me and my brother, being 18 and 15, when our younger sister was born, people always always thought that she was our child, because I'm closer in age to my mom. So we're 15, almost 16 years apart. And my sister and I are 18 years apart.

Scott Benner 6:42
Okay, so like when your youngest sister was born, people would look at you and think, oh, Brittany had a baby.

Brittany 6:48
Yes, if I would, I would have had her we were 18 years apart. Yeah. So when like, I was involved a lot in her life. And she was like firstborn. And the following years after Todd moved away, and you know, so we would be out doing things and people would think she was mine. Like Nassif, my sister,

Scott Benner 7:07
how would you describe your relationship with her? Is it more parental or more sibling?

Brittany 7:13
Um, it can it's kind of both way she there was definitely like when she was, I would say, definitely under five. Like in that toddler stage, she would almost like try to, you know, almost like, fight with me with a sister like with her stuff, or, you know, take my food and phone and just stuff that the kids do. Right. So she, it was, it was interesting, but we're like best friends. I'm really close with all of my siblings.

Scott Benner 7:41
So when you see now when you guys are together, or you hear a story, and it's a little like, I don't know, racy for the kid, you think? Do you think like a sister? Do you think like a mom when you hear it?

Brittany 7:55
I though, so it just it just depends on what it is. But, you know,

Scott Benner 8:02
happens. That's why I was wondering, like, I can't, I don't firmly have a parental or a sibling relationship with my brothers. You know, it's just and it's not because of our ages, as much as it is, you know, the situation where I just sort of raised them, you know, in a certain time of their life. But it's, it's super hard. It was difficult for me to never know really where to draw the line when something happens. Like, you know what I mean? Like something cool happens to them that your parents wouldn't like, but your brother would love and you're like, I don't know what to say. Yeah, yeah. So I know what you mean. Yeah. Yeah. So you've had diabetes. Since you were eight. Does anyone else in the family have it? No, nobody else. Does anybody else have any autoimmune stuff that a Lago, celiac, Hashimotos, anything like that.

Brittany 8:54
We do have some arthritis, and thyroid. There's nothing else that I can really think of. Or I know off off, offhand, but I know like, I've listened to every one of your podcasts. So, uh, does run like I know, you've talked about it running and a lot of the female members in the family or at least in New York, that's how it is. So it's kind of that way in mine as well. Like my mom and grandmothers and things like that, than ants

Scott Benner 9:31
is the is the arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis. Like autoimmune arthritis. Who has it the worst? You don't have to tell me. Someone pop into your mind when you think that

Brittany 9:42
both of like I know on one one grandmother does. And I'm pretty sure the other one does I just the one that comes to mind. She kind of talks about it more, I guess you could say

Scott Benner 9:56
is it limiting for them?

Brittany 9:58
No, she still works. She's I don't know how she was 39 when I was born, so how she was born in 51. I know people, years sometimes I forget how old they actually are. But she she still works.

Scott Benner 10:15
Okay. It's just such a I'm gonna curse. It's such a mind. You talking about people's ages? Like my grandmother, she was 39 when this happened, I'm like, wait, what?

Brittany 10:28
Yeah, I just remember she was, how old she was, whenever I was born and what year they're born so that I go on my calculator and do it if I forget their actual age at the moment.

Scott Benner 10:41
It's interesting. Okay, so do you have just type one or do you have anything else?

Brittany 10:46
Oh, yes, I have a lot of stuff. I've had. Well, I have currently I guess you could say fibromyalgia. I have dysautonomia. I have some gastroparesis. But it's really mild. It's really triggered by certain things, which are honestly things you shouldn't do anyway, like certain like, fast food or like fried foods or different things like that. And what else do I have? I have a little bit of neuropathy as well. But that, thankfully to you, you know, since my agency is now in the fives, I don't really have a lot of the symptoms of the neuropathy, like I did, when it first started. For a while, I would even have like, just like the pain in the feet, whenever like my blood sugar would be high. But now if it does shoot up, I haven't felt it. Probably since my linseeds and, quote unquote, normal.

Scott Benner 12:00
Brittany, you caught me like, we're, you're the only recording I'm doing around Christmas. And my family's here and my kids are getting ready to leave and you just made me cry. I don't know, like you just said like, thanks to you. And they you started talking about not having nerve pain. And I got really emotional. I'm sorry. Yes,

Brittany 12:18
yes. Like I know, you ask people if they would name their children after you and I do not have any living children. But I all of my baby names I have on my list for in the next few years are like hippie name. I don't know how yours would fit in. But I've literally thought about how like, You've changed so much like I was like, I would love to like one day if I had the money like by the span of vacation, like for his family to go on. Because like the like I talk about your podcast all the time. I tell people if I ever, like find out that you know they have it, I tell them or anything, anybody uses insulin. So even if they're type two, and I'm like to use insulin, and I tried to tell I have a friend who's fiancee recently, who has type two who recently asked me about things and I told them things, you know, like hydration and and other things that I could think of but you know, that would help them without using insulin. But yeah, quite amazing.

Scott Benner 13:19
Oh, that's really kind of you. And you just gave me a great idea. I think we should send me to Bora Bora. I think everyone should get together. I know nothing about the place. I just think of those, those huts up on stilts that are in the water. That would be amazing.

Brittany 13:36
That's what I want to do for like a honeymoon. That's where I want to go like one of those places where it's just like I call it a hut in the middle of the ocean. Yeah. Well, I mean, I don't

Scott Benner 13:44
have a good name. You don't I mean, I don't have a good name like Adele or something. So I don't expect anybody to actually call their child's got even a boat or a motorcycle. It'd be nice. You know?

Brittany 13:55
Well, I have pets are my thing. So I made maybe a dog one day. Oh,

Scott Benner 14:00
I would take that gleefully. But I'm just happy that you're well, how long have you been listening to the show?

Brittany 14:09
I discovered your podcast. And I started listening because that when I learned about it, I probably started within like a week or two actually listening but it was at the end of August and 2020. And I had listened to all the podcasts by Thanksgiving that you had at that time. So I started at the beginning at number one, and I listened to about 50 And by that time I'm I guess I was part of the Facebook group and I heard about the pro tip. So then I went and listened to the pro tips. And then I started back going through all the others from like I said it was about 50 were started those prototypes. Oh,

Scott Benner 14:52
that's amazing. I'm so happy. I just saw a note the other day like there are people's names that I know I don't even know why To how to tell you why, like, it's probably just like spellings that hit my brain differently. You don't I mean, like, then some people's names stick out. Yours is spelled a little differently. And so your name sticks out to me. No, and it's but there was this, um, there was this post the other day, I'm gonna find it for you. If my was it,

Brittany 15:24
maybe the one about was it the Spotify. Right, I'd said, I wish, I wish I listened to it on Spotify.

Scott Benner 15:32
Oh, that one's where I the last time I saw your name, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna tell you something from a different a different person I know. So this post goes up around Christmas. And this happens around the holidays, like people are very kind and they take a little extra time to say thank you about the show or something like that. But this gentleman discusses that his daughter was diagnosed, and he finds the podcast, like that evening, like just out walking, and how we, you know, he talks about devouring the content and how it brought him up to speed and, and, and where they are now. And you know, as I'm reading it, I'm floored a little bit like I really am like, even as you're talking about the show, in my mind, I think, Oh God, I wonder if it sounds like one of those like, I don't even know how to put it. But like one of those very like saccharin, like produced shows where someone comes on to say, Oh, I love this or you know what I mean? Like because it's, it's still strange to me to hear somebody's story like yours, like I believe in the podcast, and I believe in the content. And I generally think that people will have experiences like yours. But still, when it happens, and someone tells me about it, it doesn't feel like they're talking about me. And I had this experience reading this person's story, Matt story on the Facebook group the other day, right before the holiday and, and I just I read it. I was like, Oh, it's this isn't about my podcast, like it just never feels real enough. I don't know if it will one day or not. But right now, I don't think it's imposter syndrome. I'm pretty aware that what you said is true. It's just, it's hard. It's just hard to take it you know what I mean? It's a weird thing. Yeah.

Brittany 17:16
I actually know exactly what you mean, I own my own business. And all on Google, we have all five star reviews. And i i Sometimes I'm like, you know, but I put my you know, like you do I put my heart and soul into my business. I'm very passionate about it. So you just kind of get out what we're putting in?

Scott Benner 17:37
Yeah, well, it just it's, I don't know, it's, it's hard to completely. For me, it's just hard for me to completely. I don't want to say except I do accept that. Maybe I can't absorb it completely. I don't know, like, this will sound like a humble brag, but it happens so frequently that it can get overwhelming. You know, so you start reading someone's note and you're like, oh my god, this is amazing. And then it's a half an hour later and I'm tagged in something else. And it's a very similar note from a different person and you really want to read them all and give them their weight. Because this person is having an amazing you know, transformation experience for themselves. And, and I definitely want to be there to say congratulations. But I don't know it's hard to put into words. I guess I've only been at this nine years now. I guess I'll figure out how to say it eventually. But for the moment, it just feels really good. And and I don't know what to do about it. But so So okay, so fibromyalgia, let's pick through these for a minute. But this auto attack, is it this auto num How do you say it? Guess autonomia this autonomia how does that affect your life

when you have diabetes and use insulin, low blood sugar can happen when you don't expect it. GE voc hypo pen is a ready to use glucagon option that can treat very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to G voc glucagon.com forward slash juicebox je voc hypo pan has no visible needle and is a premixed auto injector of glucagon for treatment of very low blood sugar in adults and kids with diabetes ages two and above. Find out more go to Jeeva glucagon.com forward slash juicebox G voc shouldn't be used in patients with insulinoma or pheochromocytoma. Visit G voc glucagon.com/risk.

Brittany 19:51
Well, it currently doesn't because of the reason that I'm on for the podcast. My marijuana use such, but why I first started having symptoms, my resting heart rate was like 130. So it was hard for me to like even to stand outside in the sun. I live in the south. So there's a lot of humidity, and just being outside for like five minutes would, it would just I would be exhausted already. And, you know, miserable. In my heart racing even more, or doing anything like physical was like really exhausting for the same reason. So I saw a cardiologist they did a lot of tests. And that is what they kind of told me was my diagnosis, and I was taking, you take a beta blocker to treat it. So I was taking that. And then once I started using marijuana, like all the time, I guess you could say or daily or however you want to put it often. I noticed that I guess maybe I didn't like half my medicine or I don't maybe i i was during my transition to moving to Florida. So I may have not as went like get a new doctor hadn't went and didn't have the medicines like little I don't need it. And my resting heart rate was normal what it should be. So I didn't I didn't take it anymore. But before I was using marijuana, it wasn't just that I was probably on so many pills, because I got it for the fibromyalgia. And I was on to different pain medications and things like that.

Scott Benner 21:34
Wow. So the, what's the order of the diagnosis is type one first. Ah, yes. And then how does Fibromyalgia come into your life? And how do you know you haven't? How did they diagnose it?

Brittany 21:51
I was having a lot of pain. And they really rolled out a lot of other things. Fibromyalgia. I don't know if it does now, but then it definitely didn't have a test. So I was 20 about 23 When I got that diagnosis, and that one and the dysautonomia, and really the gash of Rhesus, like I had a kind of those all came together, I guess you could say almost within a year. Did I get those diagnosis?

Scott Benner 22:25
Wow. So it all just sort of piled on you at once.

Brittany 22:29
And actually, they didn't diagnosed me with the neuropathy, technically, until I brought it to their attention. I was losing like a bunch of weight. And the reason why was because I was getting full really fast. And they did all kinds of tests. And I've, you know, been pretty much regular my whole life, those have been different GI issues written on island.

Scott Benner 22:56
I'm so sorry, I'm gonna do something crazy. Give me a second. I just did not take a phone call. Hello, okay, no problem. It is. Brittany, I'm so sorry. No, you're okay. Yeah, just to give this a tiny bit of context, before we get back to what you were saying my son is now about eight months out of being out of college and been applying for these, you know, a ton of different jobs. And what he wanted to do was one, it's one of these situations where the entry level of what he wanted to do is still not entry level, if that makes sense. Like would they hire people for entry level. And these people already have years of experience in like other businesses and things like that. So he's, he had been, I don't need to be coy about this. He was trying to get a data analysis job with a major league baseball team. And he was trying to get these like literally like they call them internships sometimes but he was under qualified for them because they were hiring people who had been out in the workplace already for so long. And so yeah, he spread his spread himself out a little bit, and found this other job that he was interested in and applied. And they said, he got he got the job, which was really terrific. And but he needs to relocate. And very quickly, so they were basically like last Monday, you got the job. There'll be about a week of you filling things out. And he literally is just right now out proving who he is. I didn't know that businesses did this, but he had to get something they called an i nine verification. So we had to go to this location here in New Jersey, and use like his passport to prove who He was. And and then he has to start working in 14 days in in Georgia. And so we have to relocate him find them a place to live and it's an Not as easy just to find that apartment in the area that he's at. So we found one, they have one left that he can afford, you know. And, and I just lucked out if I don't answer this phone and they give us away, I'll he'll kill me. So I appreciate you letting me stop for a second. Oh, yeah, I apologize. Okay, well, you were in the middle of explaining to me about Fibro. And am I right about that?

Brittany 25:27
I think it was, I was explaining to you about the neuropathy. How.

Scott Benner 25:32
Okay, so

Brittany 25:34
I started having the GI issues, and they did a bunch of tests and everything was coming back. Okay. And I think that's actually when they diagnosed me with the gastroparesis, which I did one of those scans, whatever they do for the diagnosis, I did one of those when I was a younger kid, like, I want to say, a year or two after my diagnosis, I'm not sure why they did it. Except for just to see where I was

Scott Benner 26:02
aghast. You're like a gastric emptying study.

Brittany 26:05
Yeah. So when they did it, they gave me my diagnosis. This time, they didn't do one of those. So I do want to see how far along it is, especially since you know, I don't have a lot of symptoms itself. Ones that are triggered by food. And I do have some of like the slowed digestion, like I can see that like my insulin needs, and like where my fat and protein rises happen,

Scott Benner 26:30
right? Did you hear Arden's episode about the supplements she's taking for her digestion? Yeah. And I've

Brittany 26:37
been so busy. My work is really busy at this time of year. So and then with my move, and everything else, I haven't gotten around to go and get it into trial. But I do. I want to try that. And I did look up I guess the other one that she's on for the female issues, the one that starts equipment, oh, yes,

Scott Benner 27:00
I will talk about that.

Brittany 27:02
I, I, you know, I want to have babies, like within the next few years. So like, is that something that's just making everything better? And why not? So yeah.

Scott Benner 27:13
Oh, good. Yeah, I mean, it's, but even if you're busy right now, like, I don't want to, I'm not pimping a brand here. But I'm gonna look here and find it for you. You can just go on Amazon, or go to a health food store or anywhere I would imagine to find this. This digestive enzyme is made by pure encapsulations. And so it's pure. It says like, it's a white bottle with like, a blue little label says pure encapsulations digestive enzymes Ultra. It's not cheap. Like, I'm sure in a health food store, you could probably find like a knockoff kind that's a little cheaper. But if you're looking to just give it a try, it'd be at your house like tomorrow if you had Amazon Prime, so And she just takes them with her food. And yeah, just speeds up the it just helps the digestion. And you know, you're on your way do you have I'm so sorry to ask you, does everything come out the way you expect? Or do you get Do you not have

Brittany 28:20
regularly like I'm fine. I have no issue. I am currently on ozempic for like off using the off label for weight loss, which it's been working. So that does cause constipation and itself, which I just tried to drink more water and different things like that. But with a gastroparesis. It's it's like diarrhea and things like that, that I have like in the dumping. Yeah. and forth like the food. Like if there's any weird food items.

Scott Benner 28:53
Yes, there's some foods you just you can't process well at all. Me. Yeah, right. Yeah, I Arden went to a magnesium oxide to help her go to the bathroom more regularly. And I have to admit, I started taking it. I was like, huh, since I was taking fiber as a supplement, and now I don't have to take fiber anymore. So the magnesium oxide did the trick for me. And I've also been popping the digestive enzymes just because like my stomach would get upset with certain foods or there were things that I would say like, I can't eat that. You know what I mean? And when I look back at it now, it was probably fattier foods or fried stuff that I would have trouble with. Sometimes protein, like, sometimes chicken. I can't digest chicken very well. Interesting stuff. But I mean, these things are incredible. I mean, they're affordable in the grand scheme of things, you know what I mean? Like if you know if $100 every two months is gonna keep you going to the bathroom. Well, you find a way to make $100 and get that stuff. And it's not it's not like crazy Easy. I also don't know that if you couldn't prove it to a doctor, if they couldn't write you a prescription for it, you know what I mean? I'm not sure how people's how people's plans work all the time. Because that's the one. Yeah, that's what it sounds like you're saying, right? Is that like certain kind of junky foods you can't get through?

Brittany 30:18
Yeah, and don't get me wrong. I II, like the way of eating the last few years. A lot, you know, better and healthier than what? You know, I'm sure my parents fed me and I eat in my early 20s. But yeah, I don't really eat a lot of bad stuff. And I travel for work. I know you said if I wanted to buy Amazon, I'd do it tomorrow, but I will hopefully be home. By Thursday night or Friday morning. I'll leave after this to go to Ohio doesn't go to Virginia. So Oh,

Scott Benner 30:48
good feel you're getting back to where you mean to be there?

Brittany 30:52
Well, I travel for work.

Scott Benner 30:54
Oh, I see. Oh, I see. Yeah. What do you do?

Brittany 30:59
Um, I own my own business doing animal transportation.

Scott Benner 31:03
Oh, no kidding. So what kind of animals do you move around?

Brittany 31:07
Um, it's mainly dogs, cats, but I have transported rabbits and mini pigs. And I have another mini pig scheduled on at the end of January.

Scott Benner 31:19
So people will literally pay you to like trailer I'm assuming or transport somehow an animal like a great distance, like if they're moving or something and they can't do it.

Brittany 31:31
Yep. So I have worked with the rescues, especially refugees in my area, where dogs are either being pulled from like a shelter and go into a rescue that would then go to a foster home and be adopted, or they're being adopted by somebody. Also people that get new puppies and kittens. So sometimes they may find a breeder or find somebody that's really holding their dog from somewhere that they don't want to drive. And also, people that go on vacation and move. So I have a lot of people that they like to fly when they move and they just, you know, hire movers to take their stuff and then hire people like me to take their pets. I work with a lot of high end clientele that are like snowbirds. So I get a lot of requests to drive their luxury vehicles with their pet in it. So I recently flew to New York, gotten a car with a dog drove back. I have a few repeat clients that do that I drive their land rovers or BMWs with their their dogs in it while they go on their vacations or their snowbirds. Yeah, I have I have an issue via Honda Pilot. So I do it in my personal vehicle otherwise. And my dogs go with me if there's room so I have a trip coming up where I'm going to be going up the East Coast, we're I really won't have room for my dog. So I'm gonna leave them home.

Scott Benner 32:59
That's an interesting, that's an interesting way to see the country too. That's kind of great.

Brittany 33:03
It is. I have I saw a lot and I go from California to Maine. So all the like the snow storms that happen on the East Coast earlier this year, I drove through all of those in the snow and I had never really drawn into snow for but I'm a really good driver. So I adapted well.

Scott Benner 33:21
Wow, that's really interesting. Well, then how do you mix in this other thing? So you you said that you've been managing your one of your issues at least with with weed right? So you're How do you characterize the frequency in which you smoke?

Brittany 33:38
Um, recently, it's kind of went down honestly a little bit. And part of that is just because of cost and access. So when I first started, like, when the election I'm live in Florida, so when the election happened in 2016, and they allowed medical marijuana. I was at the time dating a guy that was a nurse, and he knew a lot of friends. He was from the area that we lived in, in Florida was where he grew up. And so he knew a lot of high end people that would buy marijuana from this person. So it was a friend of his and he got some for me to try just to see if it would help with the pain because at this point with the fibromyalgia I had started on what is Tramadol but at the time, Tramadol is now a controlled substance, where before when I started taking it, it wasn't. I was on the max dose of that. And it turns out that I was actually addicted to it and didn't realize it. I had I was taking so many pills at the time. I had a pill container with like morning and night, seven days a week. And there was a day where I knew I took my medicine that morning like it was so I was so sure that I didn't even look in the thing to double check. But I was having pain and I was having been like sweats and like chills, and I just felt nauseous. And that evening when I'm gonna go take my medicine, I realized that I had not taken it that morning like I knew that I had. And I was like I've been in withdrawals all day. And so I tapered myself off of that. And then after that I was on GABA pin. And that was the only thing that worked. I had tried other things like Lyrica and Gabapentin made me gain a lot of weight, and it made me very fatigued. So that was just that it wasn't, it wasn't great. So when I tried it, whenever he wouldn't got it, it worked. And I was speaking with my rheumatologist, he really didn't know anything about, you know, how to apply for it. And I did some research and I found a doctor. And you know, the election was in November. So by August, and the next year 2017, I had done my application for my medical card in Florida and saw the doctor and since it was so new, and there were so many people applying it took them six months to approve me. So I didn't get approved until February, we're now you may have a month turned around, if even that it may only take a few weeks. So that's how I started during that time. I was I was buying it illegally. You know, that person that source kind of fell through. But I had a friend that I had met in Florida, where his family member basically dealt with that. So I would always go to them. And they they actually didn't even get it directly. They got it from somebody else. And they were like, Well, why don't I just you know, connect you with this person. I'm right now. That's very female, I don't want to go to that neighborhoods by myself, I'll I'll go with you. Or you can go for me. So I just, you know, supplied her some first some business for a good year. So every day on pay day, I went and bought what I needed, and I made part of it into animals, and then the rest was basically smoked.

Scott Benner 37:13
Okay. Is is so let's ask let me ask you first. How would you describe the pain that you were medicating yourself for? Is it all over body pain? Was it joints muscles, like, what were you trying to escape?

Brittany 37:28
It was it was a lot of both. It was really both joint and muscle pain. But like the fatigue was another big thing that comes with fibromyalgia that's I don't even know that maybe we're still in the pain. Sometimes I feel like so like, anytime I try to do anything. It's like I really have to like, prepare myself mentally and just physically to do it. Living in Florida, I love Disneyworld. I have an annual pass and like if I go to Disney for the day, I'm like did the next day and these transports that I do I'm easily like down for a day. Whenever I get back from them. They like they really wear me out.

Scott Benner 38:11
Yeah. Okay, so you were and they gave you some fairly heavy medication which obviously you got away from was that medication though helping with the pain, the Tramadol, for example.

Brittany 38:24
It was in the beginning. But it it gets to a point where you're kind of on the max dose and you're your body's like beating more. So, I mean, it would work but it's like it, you know, it becomes an addiction that if I didn't have it, I was you know, like I explained.

Scott Benner 38:42
Yeah. Okay. So then we'd smoked or eaten both helps you the same way.

Brittany 38:50
Yes. And I was I recently discovered this has many benefits with the diabetes as well. And many of the symptoms, you know, the gastric greases, things like edibles can help so if I do know that I'll be eating something. I'll take an edible and when I say edible, it doesn't have to be a food. It could be a capsule, it could be a concentrate that comes in like a syringe that you heat up and just kind of like a like a honey or wax like substance that you would eat. So it doesn't when I say edible, it doesn't necessarily mean have to be like a candy or food. It's just something that's taken orally.

Scott Benner 39:32
Either and either way is valuable for you.

Brittany 39:36
Yeah. So like I was saying, if I know that I'm going to be you know, eating something that may bother me will take something before if I think of it and it'll help but I recently discover what I do. I do a lot of cooking with it as well, more so recently than I did in the beginning because in the beginning When I was saying I would, I would go get, you know the amount that I would get every pay day and I would use a quarter of that I would normally just like make a pan of brownies or something like that. And that's what I would eat on for, you know, when I needed it to, for that time period until I knew I was getting more. But I've recently started like making butter and olive oil and coconut oil, and avocado oil. And when I've made the butter before, and I've used that in this year, but my boyfriend's birthday was back in October, and he is a big user like me. So what I did for his birthday was for every meal we had it was infused. So for breakfast, we had pancakes that had or no apologize, we had French toast, and we had infused omelets. I'd use like the the butter and the oil that was in the pan was infused. And I had to have I think, all sorts of useful breakfast.

Scott Benner 41:04
Like doing what you were doing, does it leave you? Is it medicinal? At that level? Is it right? This would become recreational desert? Is there a point where you can't function? Or is this a functioning day?

Brittany 41:18
It depends on the person. So the people I was with that day were all heavy users. So it was my boyfriend, my brother, and one of his best friends, which is one of my current sources that I get stuff from. So we I actually did it perfectly. It's one of the things that I'm interested in doing is like doing like, I'm a really big Cook. I'm a really big foodie. So I thought about like doing catering, like meals or infused meals and different things like that for people as I need them or dinner parties. Yeah. Because knowing what I knew about us. The thing is, is when you when you make these butter edibles or whatever it is, there's no way to when it's homemade like that there's no way to measure the THC percentage. So if I was to go to a dispensary, it would say it has this much THC but I have no way of measuring it. So what I had done is knowing how much of I would use to make something and what I would you know dose myself with, that's kind of how I went about this was how much flour and last a flower that is the bud of the plant. How much I was putting in to actually make the products.

Scott Benner 42:36
Okay, wow. Well, you'll see you're learning about it as you go as well. Yes. Can you use it while you're transporting the animals with, like success?

Brittany 42:49
Um, I really don't sometimes, like at night, I may if I have pain, but I use I have a lot of with the driving has a lot of fatal physical thing. So I use this cream. And with the cream you don't get like you don't get high, it just treats the like, it's a topical. Yeah.

Scott Benner 43:06
And that you find that valuable. Because, you know, it's funny, our company just reached out to me. I said no, but they wanted me to I guess they wanted me to, you know, take on this topical CBD as a as an advertiser, and I just didn't know enough about it. So I kind of went into the group and I asked people like, does this work? Like, you know, you mean like, Is this something I want to like? Would anybody care about this or not? And and it was funny how the the answers came back people like I use it and I love it when people like I use it. I don't think it does anything and I think oh, somebody please. There was no there was no like middle ground to be found. But if it's helping you Yeah, that's amazing. So you couldn't do an edible and drive or like what's the level for somebody who's never tried wheat at all? Is it does it like for you? What's your level of functionality when you're using it for pain and it's working for the pain

Brittany 44:00
so I can do everything? Scott it just wouldn't be professional to do that locally. So you know with me, I can really do anything with it. You do get to a certain point especially I've had this experience with edibles if you take too much it can make you sick so that's what I have to watch out for. I wouldn't get necessarily too high too I couldn't do anything I would just feel miserable. edibles are intensified by fat, protein and alcohol. So if I know I'm going to be eating a meal that has a lot of fat protein or I'm going to be drinking alcohol I will take less of it just because it you can just use get sick.

Scott Benner 44:51
Okay, how much do you think it costs you a month to help yourself with the pain?

Brittany 44:57
Um, I don't spend as much now, but back when I first started, I can tell you, when I was buying every pay day, I was spending almost $600 a month. Wow. Now I know I may spend a few 100 I'm it's hard to tell because now that me and my boyfriend are living together and we're buying together, it's not the same and I had when I was buying from dispensaries, I was getting, they have a lot of deals in Denver point system. So I would stock up on stuff at different times. So I've used that kind of the last year since things my income has changed,

Scott Benner 45:38
like a punch card.

Brittany 45:41
Um, yeah, I mean, this is a digital punch card, essentially. But after so many points, you get a, you know, a reward or 10% off. And then they still had, they had their own deals that they would have daily, you know, by two things, one free and different things like that.

Scott Benner 45:57
Well, if anybody thinks retail is not hard, we dispensaries have had punch cards. Yeah. It's not easy making a small business work.

Brittany 46:08
Yeah, but one of the things that I was gonna mention about the diabetes, the day that I did that, that edibles I made that from our boyfriend and we had a meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I needed 50% less than one, that's

Scott Benner 46:21
what's gonna be my next question is, is does it lower your stress and change your insulin needs plus pain, adrenaline from pain, all that stuff that comes with pain as well. So tell me, tell me what you need in a day with it without it.

Brittany 46:38
Uh, well, in that day where I had done, you know, I had eaten all day, like I said, I needed 50% less, and then also 50% less the next day. But one of the things that I learned to make from that meal was I made a homemade caesar dressing. And I'm used, I made it with the olive oil that was infused. And so every once in a while, I'll make that and we'll have like a Caesar salad at dinner. And I'll put it on and I don't feel anything from it because I have such a high tolerance. And it takes so much for me, but I would need probably 50% less insulin for the next like six hours, maybe 12 at the most. And I maybe wouldn't have to Bolus as much like for that meal if there was other items. You know, if I was eating like fat and protein like that would help out that spike later, too. But that was that was only recently in the last few months that I discovered that if I was to take like an edible randomly, like this day just for painting or whatever, I don't notice that it's only noticed that with the cooking of the oil and the butter and the food that I eat fresh food that

Scott Benner 47:40
okay, okay, so smoking, it doesn't change your insulin needs.

Brittany 47:44
Not that I've noticed, but I will say when I first started seeing the benefits of it, I would say after six months or a year just in my life in general. After I started using it, I went to my doctor and that was back when I wasn't taking care of myself the way I should have like I wasn't checking my blood sugar. I wasn't giving insulin like I should. And my agency had dropped two points. Because I knew when I started using it, and it went from like a 10 to an eight over but that makes that timeframe.

Scott Benner 48:18
How do you like when you say you infuse the oil or the butter? Can you tell me can you tell me how you do that?

Brittany 48:26
Yeah, so what I do is I use a crock pot. The method that I used I did some research on places that have labs where they can test the THC percentage, and I use a method that yields the highest THC. So you have to take the flour the bud and you grind it up and you decarb it in the oven. So you cook it at 200 degrees for like 30 minutes. You take it out you spray it with Everclear which is this very disgusting liquor. That's very bad quality, I guess you could say okay, you let it sit for 15 minutes and then I put it in a crock pot for probably like at least six hours but you can really like sometimes I'll just leave it overnight so it could end up being there for 12 and you let it cool down and then you straight it with like a cheesecloth

Scott Benner 49:24
and then what's left? That's it

Brittany 49:28
and you can say like the buzzer what you string now you could use recently when I made some coconut oil and the buds smelled it smelled delicious smelled like coconuts. And I had used that like as a topper on like a frozen pina colada that I made. I put like some whipped cream or something and then I sprinkled some of that on top. It was delicious. Do you

Scott Benner 49:53
do you? Do you feel from other people any judgement about it at all?

Brittany 50:00
Oh, yes, my mom is my worst critic she does is horrible because she's a nurse. But she thinks that like people can't do anything. And I'm like, Well, that is what helps me get out of bed. And that is what helps me be productive, especially because of my fibromyalgia and the fatigue that I have. With marijuana, there's different strains and the sativa strain is upper and gives you energy. The indica is more of a downer. And then there's a hybrid, which is a mix between both but it can lean either sativa or indica dominant. So I completely stay away from me, because I would only buy that if I had, you know, if I went somewhere, and I was like, I have $20. And they're like, well, the only thing is $20 into good. I may, that may be the only time that I would buy that. But I bike also TiVos and the strain specifically, there's a part there's different parts of THC, so the thc v, I look for stuff that has that in it. Because that actually helps with insulin resistance. And it helps the appetite suppressant. So it helps with weight loss and different things like that.

Scott Benner 51:17
Wow, is there? How long I guess my question is, how long did it take you before you? You felt comfortable that what you were doing wasn't just like random, like, when you were being more purposeful about it, I guess for your pain for an example and and do you? Do you also use it? Like recreationally?

Brittany 51:44
I mean, yeah, it's part of me feels like everyone's doing it. for medical reasons, you know that everybody's got anxiety, or you know, life, just call the stress, anything like that. So part of me feels that way. There are many people that I know that don't like it, and I wish they would try it and chill out. But, I mean, I don't do it as much. I will say I don't do it as much recreationally now, just because of cost mainly, I don't like how I space it out. Like if I know you know I only have this much until

Scott Benner 52:32
end of the week or next time you get paid or something like that. Then you make it work in that timeframe. Brittany, you're going aren't you? Hello? Hello? Hello. Hello. Hello. She is gone. Gone? Back. Are you back?

Brittany 52:53
Yes. My blood sugar alert. My Dexcom went off. So I guess it policy or

Scott Benner 53:00
the Dexcom alarm? Pause the. The audio? Yeah, wait, okay. Dexcom whatever. Pretty good. I just say something. Okay. Yeah. dexcom.com forward slash Juicebox. Podcast, just head over there now and, and get started. Sorry about that. So yeah, so, so you recreationally, you not as much for cost you spread it out so that it lasts you for your needs? Yeah. And then you mentioned tolerance before. So your weed tolerance has gone up just like your narcotic tolerance went up. But as your weed tolerance goes up, you're not withdrawing and having terrible symptoms, right? It's just It mean Can you can you talk about the difference between those two if there is?

Brittany 53:46
Yeah, it's, there's, there's definitely not, you know, I'm not obviously I'm not having any symptoms. If I you know, let's just say I left today and I went on a trip and I didn't bring my crew with me like I'm going to be pretty sore whenever I get home. And I'm going to feel it that way and you know, since I may not be smoking as much uppers and things like that I may be more fatigued so I'm going to have more just my regular symptom. But if I'm if it's just like a regular day where I'm at home and like I'm relaxing and I may be doing you know, like household chores or whatever, I could probably go really a good day or two in between without really having too much pain or too much symptoms. There may be things with our morale just sometimes there's things that will come and they'll be there for just you know, I'll have a spot that may hurt for like five minutes and then it kind of goes away it's not in that spot anymore. So it just it's not as definitely not as bad as what I was feeling before and even with me, you know not using as much as I you used to the pain just isn't as bad and it's still working. It's wonderful. spreading it out.

Scott Benner 55:10
It's really terrific. So when you talked about the cream, is that something you buy at like a local dispensary or is it a retail thing?

Brittany 55:20
Um, I make it and a dispensary. So the any of the like retail stores that have like CBD and that was one thing I was going to mention about CBD, anytime you're buying like a CBD product, whether it be from like a gas station or a drug store or wherever, like you would want to make sure that the CBD product is a full spectrum CBD product. So that way you're getting all the full benefits of the flower. But a lot of times for pain. What they've discovered is you really do need a little bit of THC with the CBD. So the one that I used to get from the dispensary, it was 5050. So it was half and how CBD and THC.

Scott Benner 56:04
And when you talk about pain relief from it, it's is it cumulative. Does that build up? Like you used it every day for a week and it felt better or you put it on? And 20 minutes later, you're like, Oh, this is great. It's helping, like how does? How's the impact for you?

Brittany 56:19
Yeah, well, you could use it that day. So like I said, I haven't you know, passengers new world. And I will put it on my feet the it helps with like inflammation. So I'll put it on my feet all day that I know I'll be walking a lot. And also I'll put it on my feet if I'm gonna like wear heels or shoes that may be more uncomfortable because it's going to help with that.

Scott Benner 56:40
So if I wanted to go get the screen for myself at a dispensary I live in New Jersey weeds legal here. Do I have to have a I don't need anything right? I can just walk in as a regular citizen and buy it.

Brittany 56:51
If you have if it's recreational there, you can buy it. If it's medical than you would have to go through like your state process of applying for a card and seeing the doctor.

Scott Benner 57:03
I wonder what it is.

Brittany 57:06
You can Google it. There's a map because whenever I go through like transports and different states, I'll look it up because I've stopped. Let me see

Scott Benner 57:21
where to buy recreational marijuana in New Jersey, six dispensaries in South Jersey and cemetery station one of the first Okay, so is recreational here. Okay,

Brittany 57:30
probably I know that like I know, like, different stuff in our area would be like New York and I know like down to DC, and things like that. But yeah, the map that I'm assuming

Scott Benner 57:43
some of these places are very oddly creative. But dad jokey were the names of their business. Mo weed, which I think is amazing. And then Holly weed again. It's silly and stupid, but thoughtful at the same time. I guess that would be most of the fun of opening up a dispensary is coming up with the fun title, or the fun name for the place.

Brittany 58:09
Maybe that's what I can do. When I get to a point where I'm growing my own weed. I could name a strain after you know,

Scott Benner 58:14
hey, now you're on to something. That's way better than a baby, don't you think?

Brittany 58:19
I mean? Yeah.

Scott Benner 58:20
Somebody named maybe after?

Brittany 58:22
Yeah, people will be asking for me or asking for you. By me, that'd be

Scott Benner 58:27
wonderful. I was gonna say someone named a baby after Arden and she didn't know how to feel about it. She's like, that's weird. And I was like, I mean, I don't think it's weird. And she's like, I do. All right.

Brittany 58:38
Yeah, sorry, was great. Um, she allows me to follow her on Instagram. And she's, she's wonderful. I love her podcasts. And I agree with her. At least some some political thinking on a lot of things.

Scott Benner 58:52
That's funny. Yeah. So you're one of the people that she refers to as your people are following me. Is that is that you?

Brittany 58:59
Well, I yeah, she you know, she makes it to where you have to improve her. Yeah. So she, she allows my, she approved me.

Scott Benner 59:09
Yeah, I know. She. She's like, I gotta make my account private. She's like, everyone's following me. I was like, Alright. What's it for them? She's like, it's just for me and my friends. I was like, Alright. Anyway. So you know, for somebody like let's just, we're, you know, we're up on an hour and but let me let me ask you a couple of questions. I have never in my life smoked. Like here. Here are the ways that the internet tells me I can take the weed and it says that I can use a bong. It says I can use a pipe, a joint edibles. vape pen, this thing called a spliff which I think I know is I think I know what that is. Then there's a blunt dabbing. That's new for me. Yeah, tinctures. Which I guess is like oil. This one's good.

Brittany 59:57
I bought a dab before this before this call. Did you okay,

Scott Benner 1:00:00
hold on, we're gonna explain what's a one hitter. We're gonna go through the whole thing. So I think, I think obviously, I know what a bong is this this person saying that this is a little more advanced, I wouldn't start with a bong, she's saying you don't agree.

Brittany 1:00:19
I mean, I don't really, I don't really know what the best thing to start with. I know the first thing. The boyfriend I was dating at the time he did not smoke then he couldn't because he was a nurse. But he had smoked earlier in his days, and he got me a pipe. And that was like, Oh, I don't like this. I didn't like the coughing but I didn't realize that the coughing was really going to come with everything. So I moved to a bong next. And then after for a while I actually had like our Urvi. So it was like a vape pen where you still put the bud in it and then you just move it around, rotate it around after a little while after taking a few hits, and then you can clean it out and put more in. So I did that for a while. But then the person that I bought from they got me using blunts and that's where you take the the cigars and you cut them open, you empty this stuff down and roll them up that way. And then joints are made out of paper. So that's what I prefer blunts has like tobacco in them, those are bad for you. All Smokings bad for you, but that's even worse. So the papers, or the cones is what I use. So that way it has a filter at the end. So you just basically stuffed the stuff in the columns.

Scott Benner 1:01:36
And later, a pipe would also be called a bowl. Is that right? Okay, so I see these cones are basically they're pre rolled papers almost that you just pack. Yep. And blunts. I know that's a mix of like, it's usually like a junky cigar that kind of you kind of split open and pack it is that right? What else do we have here? Do the tinctures work at all the THC like oils.

Brittany 1:02:09
Um, I've actually used those the least I felt like they were may have remember why I never bought them at the dispensary. I was recently going to make them but they whatever I was going to make them for it takes like a few weeks to make them you have to like let it sit for a few weeks to make it so I haven't I haven't really made them but I have heard good things from people that do use them regularly.

Scott Benner 1:02:37
And the dabbing hit you hard is that right? Like quick?

Brittany 1:02:40
Yeah, so you know the dance the damn, I do. Okay, so where that comes comes from it's because you're coughing so hard. You're coughing and your elbow. Which I'm sure a lot of parents that you know have kids recorded doing this thing don't realize what they're doing.

Unknown Speaker 1:02:58
Oh, oh, that's hilarious.

Brittany 1:03:02
For a dab you have you have a bong but you take the bowl because a bowl could also be from a bong as well from the piece that holds it there. So you take out that piece and there's another piece you have to buy that's like a quartz banger where it has a little it's a little bowl but it doesn't doesn't have a hole in it like the other one does. And you heat it up with a torch and then you take a concentrate so that could be a wax or shatter their crumble. There's all kinds of things you can get. And you put that down in there normally with a nail if it's like shatter where it's like candy you can like drop it in and then once you hit it you could have carved cap and the top

Scott Benner 1:03:52
Brittany This is the weed This is the smoking equivalent of looping people heard that and they're like it sounds good but I don't know how to get

Brittany 1:04:01
a lot of steps over to my house I can show you

Scott Benner 1:04:04
but you put on a display. Alright, so tell me this then. What are the downsides? Like if you step out of your life for a minute, are there any like to being involved with we like at the level you are like are there any things that you like I love what it does for me but I wish this didn't come with it.

Brittany 1:04:27
Um, well outside of health reasons the high costs and government being you know, keeping it from people and things like that. That's that sucks. But as far as for health reasons, like I mentioned the smoking, you know for smoking any something's bad. So like when you are using a bomb that is going to be water vapor and the dabs that's all going to be done like water vapor compared to where if you're lighting it with a, you know, a cigarette one The things that I do to help are very health conscious, is instead of lighting like if I was to light a bowl or a pipe with a lighter, you use hemp ropes. So you like the hemp rope, and then you like that, your bowl with that instead of the light of directly. Okay. So that helps cut out some of the carcinogens

Scott Benner 1:05:24
from that. What about socially does does it bother you that your mom doesn't understand?

Brittany 1:05:32
That's more so just frustrating. More than anything else.

Scott Benner 1:05:37
Okay. What about like, do you think that you fit in a profile? Like, do you think if I looked at you, like right now when I go, Oh, Brittany smokes weed?

Brittany 1:05:48
Well, because of my hair, yes. But that's probably the only giveaway. Okay, for looking at me.

Scott Benner 1:05:57
Like, I don't know what that means. Exactly. I'm just wondering if it's a culture, I guess.

Brittany 1:06:03
I mean, I do think that there are certain types of people you know, that use it. i There's a lot of I will say there's a lot of people who use it who aren't as open about it as me that hide it. Because whether it be employers, you know, they don't post about it on social media as much as I do. So it just, it just kind of depends.

Scott Benner 1:06:25
Yeah, but do you think that if we went into Manhattan, you and I, and we were walking down the street, and there are people walking by with like briefcases and like they weren't expensive suits, that there's an there's people in that group where I were, they would be able to have the same conversation you would have they just are able to like, or they're trying to visually hide that they're part of that culture. Do you think that exists?

Brittany 1:06:50
Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah,

Scott Benner 1:06:52
yeah. Like people you just couldn't sniff out? Well, I guess you'd be able to sniff them out. But people you couldn't see visually, visually.

Brittany 1:07:00
I met people that I didn't expect. You know them to be users. And then they were

Scott Benner 1:07:06
nice. And now what if I asked you, like, forget all this thing. Forget your pain for a second the things that you're trying to help medicate yourself with? If I asked you just come on and talk about weed as a fun thing, would you have spoken about it differently than you did just now? No, no. Would it sounded the same? Yeah. So you're not like getting up and just getting ripped and baking in an entire day of your life away, and not really knowing what happened or getting so high, you can't function like that kind of stuff. That's not for you.

Brittany 1:07:38
No, that was back whenever I worked. A quote unquote, real job or wasn't my own boss. That's kind of how I got it to work. I hated my job. That's why I quit my job and started my business. It was how I was able to get out of my door and, and drive to work and deal with the people that I dealt with every day.

Scott Benner 1:07:57
So you were pretty blasted at your job that you didn't like? Yes, yes. Did that slow down your performance? Do you think you weren't rocket technician or something? Well, you

Brittany 1:08:09
know, I worked in a call center for a bank. Oh, so it really made me. I mean, I don't deal with people anymore. I deal with pets, you know that for five minutes at a pickup and five minutes that are drop off. So just dealing with the people and dealing with a company that had issues that they refuse to fix. And we just had to take the heat on the phone every day or every call type of thing. It just kind of kind of

Scott Benner 1:08:40
fun, right? Just kind of sucks. Yeah. So then when when I'm on the phone with somebody trying to get my account reset or something. They're not bored. They're just a little high. I guess that makes sense. That makes more sense.

Brittany 1:08:53
It may seem definitely more like, I guess talking to those people, like I wasn't in a in those professional settings. I wasn't like I wasn't going to ask you as much. I don't know personal stuff as maybe than another person would have like I was going to be very business, you know, what do you need help with? Here's the answer, you know, kind of really straightforward. So I know that there was a certain strain that I would sometimes use for work. One of the when you buy it from a dispensary, it'll tell you the things that it helps with or the side effects that it made you talk to.

Scott Benner 1:09:28
Okay, I see. All right. Is there anything I didn't ask you about that you would want people to know before we before we start

Brittany 1:09:38
definitely be careful with edibles because they can they can make you sick. That's why some of the dispensaries have actually put limits on the milligrams so they can sell in one package. Start off with like five milligrams. I mean even even a friend of mine five meets her. She doesn't do it. hardly, hardly ever, but five makes her very, very high, especially if she's been eating or drinking or anything like that with

Scott Benner 1:10:10
just just blasts are often doing like she's not functional. Yeah.

Brittany 1:10:13
Well, we were about to go on a cruise once since she was walking in New Orleans and she had to like hold her hand and he on the street wasn't level and she like where we'd go. And it was night. So, you know, she just wasn't all there.

Scott Benner 1:10:29
I understand. Is there ever been a time that you've been too high to take care of your diabetes?

Brittany 1:10:35
No, no, not that I can think of. I mean, don't get me wrong before I started listening to your podcast, or before I started preparing my body for babies. I didn't do things as I should. And so that could be a gray area. But I wouldn't say it was, but it wasn't because of the week,

Scott Benner 1:10:56
what would you say that you took from the podcast that was most valuable for you with your management? You said you're in the fives now, right?

Brittany 1:11:04
Yes. There, there was really a lot there. Just being bold with insulin, I had a lot of trauma in my childhood related to diabetes. And we can talk about it whenever you'd like, whether it be in another podcast that after dark. Or if you have time today, whatever you want to do, but a lot of traumas that it just, you know, cause me to not do things as I should. And when the guy that I was previously dating, when you know, we thought we were going to be ready to get married and have children. I'm like, okay, and I went and got index calm. I'd had one before. But that was before it went with your phone, and I kept losing the receiver. And I kind of just kept running out of money to replace the receiver. So I said, Well, I'll get it again, when it connects with your phone, which was years later, and then it just took me I didn't get it right away when I started that. So it took me a little bit longer to actually go and get it. But I got the text column and and that's how I found your page was, I was on our Dexcom Facebook page. And somebody posted this horrible graph. And this other person said, listen to this podcast, it changes how you think about insulin. And that's when I saved it. But But yeah,

Scott Benner 1:12:35
wow, that's amazing. Well, I will have you back on sometime. And we'll talk about the rest. That sounds that sounds like a very good idea. I have to go now. So I can't do it right now. I don't You are the or you are the only person I'm recording with for like, I gave myself off for let me say 234567890 My God, I gave myself 21 days off without recording. But like Slack like but in the middle of all of it, I'm recording with you. Because this is just when we could we could find a time to do it. So I just I really appreciate you taking the time to come on and talk about all this and put context to it. It's a it's an interesting conversation, I think it would be fair to say that anybody who's pretending that weed smoking is not I would say prevalent at this point within society is, you know, is fooling themselves. But I think it's interesting to say that you don't really see it. You know what I mean? Like, you might be walking down the street one day and feel like I smell something or in a movie theater and you think somebody got hired before they came in here. Like that kind of thing. But, you know, for all the people who were like, well, they're gonna make it legal, and then everything is just gonna be Hi, people piled up on top of each other outside. I haven't noticed any difference. Honestly, the world doesn't seem any different to me. I think it's a it's worth paying attention to. And I mean, if for someone like you, who has these specific issues, can feel that kind of relief. I don't think why don't know why it matters where it comes from, honestly, you know,

Brittany 1:14:15
I definitely agree. I mean, I'm able to function and you know, do my job better than if I wouldn't have have had.

Scott Benner 1:14:24
No, I take your point I really don't. Okay, Brittany, thank you so much. Huge thank you to one of today's sponsors, G voc glucagon, find out more about Chivo Capo pen at G Vogue glucagon.com forward slash juicebox you spell that GVOKEGL You see ag o n.com. Forward slash juicebox. I also want to thank Brittany for coming on the show today and sharing her story. And of course Thank you for listening, subscribing, following sharing all that cool stuff you do with the podcast just a couple of weeks ago, we hit our 11 million downloads total for the show, which is crazy. And that's up over 10 million, which happened less than two months ago. Thank you so much for sharing the show. I'll be back soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

#877 Be Undeniable

Karen has type 1 diabetes and a great message.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 877 of the Juicebox Podcast.

Today I'll be speaking with Karen and Karen has had type one diabetes for a very long time. She's on the show today to talk about her life with type one, and to speak a little bit about being an advocate for your own medical needs. While you're listening today, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, please Always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan, or becoming bold with insulin. Now, if you're a US resident who has type one diabetes, or is the caregiver of someone with type one, please consider going to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box and completing their survey. This survey helps support type one diabetes research, you can do it completely from your home. It's HIPAA compliant, absolutely anonymous take you maybe 10 minutes or a little less, you're really going to help AT T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juice box. If you're looking for some nice comfy sheets, jammies, or actually joggers, like I'm wearing now cozy earth.com use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 35% This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is brought to you by us med us med is where my daughter gets her diabetes supplies from and you could to us med.com forward slash juice box or call 888-721-1514 go online or call the number get your free benefits check and get started with us med. today's podcast is also sponsored by touched by type one.org touched by type one is a wonderful organization helping people with type one diabetes. And they've asked me to ask you if you wouldn't go check them out on Facebook, Instagram, and of course their website touched by type one.org. Check out that link. See all the good they're doing? Check out what's going on over there. They have a ton of different things coming up, including a speaking event in Orlando that I will be at touched by type one bad word.

Karen 2:29
My name is Karen and I live about 20 miles outside of Boston. And I was diagnosed with diabetes in 1977 1977.

Scott Benner 2:37
Did you live in Boston your whole life or? Yes. Really? How come you don't sound like you're like going to the bar or something like that?

Karen 2:48
Well, because my mother was from New Jersey. My father was from Missouri.

Scott Benner 2:53
It's like why do you spend the most? You didn't pick up tonight at home? Right? Yeah,

Karen 2:59
I love when you say water, you know, brings me back to my grandmother's house in New Jersey.

Scott Benner 3:05
You should tell my kids that because daily, I am mocked at my house still. Yeah. And the truth of it is if you told me right now, you say the word in one way. But there's another way to say it. And it's correct. What is it? I don't even know that I could. I don't even know. Yeah. Like I know that I say data because people have beat it into me. Yeah, right. But it's my inclination to say data. Yeah, but I can tell you data and data. I know that the stuff that comes out of the faucet is water. And I know that somebody else says it a different way. And I mean, is it water?

Unknown Speaker 3:51
I don't even know.

Scott Benner 3:53
Karen I don't even know. Was I wrong? No, you're not wrong. So, so I'm supposed to be saying water.

Karen 4:01
That's a Well, that's what people will say water.

Unknown Speaker 4:05
That sounds like it has.

Scott Benner 4:06
Oh God. We're gonna like spin down a rabbit hole.

Unknown Speaker 4:10
It sounds it sounds wrong to me.

Karen 4:14
I don't know what what the way New Jerseyans say water? It sounds like it's a U instead of an A?

Scott Benner 4:20
Yeah. I always think of it as being like, what like wott Hey, har water. Why not how you spell it? So you're saying? Wa is wha Hmm, I guess it is water. But that sounds really wrong.

Karen 4:40
Yeah. Sounds wrong on you. That's for sure.

Scott Benner 4:44
In my brain has to tell me to say it that way. Like I'm forcing myself to say it like that. It's very interesting. Okay, anyway. 1977 Well, you missed the Bicentennial by just a year. Isn't that a shame? You

Karen 4:55
know, I know. Well, I was not even married a year. Yeah. We were still newlyweds. And I was 22 at the time. And so I had seen my gynecologist because I just had a miscarriage. And so he sent me in for some blood tests. And it just popped up in a blood test. And he called me on the phone and said, Well, you have diabetes, so you should go see an internist. Right. So that was my introduction to my diagnosis over the phone, you know, just was kind of surprising. You know, of course, my mother is like, well, we don't have that in our family. So she had to go research all my father's family and give them a third degree. You know, it's like, I'm a mom, you know, this. It's an autoimmune disease, you have Hashimotos. So I don't think you should look any further than that.

Scott Benner 5:57
I've been married a long time here. And I know who to blame. Let me get your dad and his mom. I know, these people from Missouri.

Karen 6:06
That's right. You know,

Scott Benner 6:07
they're the ones. Well, isn't that interesting that well, first of all, it's interesting that you were diagnosed when I was five. And, and I'm looking at you right now. And I don't think we look any different niche. So I either You look terrific. Or I'm in trouble. I can't figure out what it is

Karen 6:24
really on this on this screen to look to read. So a lot of people think I'm, I'm younger than I am. Yeah, no kidding.

Scott Benner 6:31
I wonder why. It's because you hide inside from the winter problems.

Karen 6:35
No, no, no, it's because my mother never went gray until she was like, 85. You know, so I don't have too much gray hair. That's

Scott Benner 6:42
your that's your real color. So it looks natural on you. Yeah. Whereas and I don't want to add anybody but most women I see on the streets who are of a certain age are dying.

Karen 6:55
Yeah. And actually, somebody said to me one day, at the studio, they looked at me, and it was a friend of mine for a long time. And she goes, Oh, you don't even dye your hair. Because I have I have some gray strands coming through, you know, so it's like, finally I can prove I never dyed my hair. Because everybody assumes that I do my

Scott Benner 7:17
gray hair gray hairs fun. I yeah, I have a couple. And I think I have a couple of them. The other night artists like you know, there's a lot of gray in your hair. I was gonna say

Karen 7:25
you have to have a lot of gray. For what you have to have to deal with

Scott Benner 7:31
no idea. You really have no idea, man, I just say for younger people to get ready the worst gray hair. I can't believe I'm just gonna say this. It's in your nose if you get a gray hairs coarser and so it will grow through your nose like a sword and just reach to the other side and eventually just poke you and a prickly and when you're when you're you know, not accustomed that the first time it happens. You spend days gone like why is my nose itching and running? Something's wrong with me. And then you look in there. It's horrifying. Like, oh god, there's a gray hair in my nose and Oh god, it's a steel BB. It's growing through the other side of

Karen 8:14
my husband was very good about that stuff. You know, he's always watching for things he should be clipping out.

Scott Benner 8:21
I'm in there like a hedgehog. I gotta be honest with you. I was like, Get out. Get out. Everybody get out. Yeah, thank God, my ears. I think I would I saw. I saw a video online the other day where they waxed an older man's ear canal. And they really they put they put wax like into his ear put on and rip and it came out like a giant cotton ball. And I was like, more? More. I was mortified. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 8:49
7777 Yeah,

Scott Benner 8:52
and beef and pork.

Karen 8:55
Yes. He's started me on one injection of the day, believe it or not. And I've I've heard other people some other people say that that was what they started on to which, you know, now we know is totally ridiculous. You know, we were doing urine testing. So clinic test with a little test tube and, and all that, you know, and my blue and my orange, you know. And, interestingly enough, I weigh the same amount as I did when I was diagnosed back then. And he put me on the diet. Like I was a type two or something, you

Scott Benner 9:30
know, trying to keep you away from carbs, you think?

Karen 9:33
I don't know. But he said, you know, it seems to when I think think back on it now. I mean, that would be maybe standard protocol for someone with type two, you know, because a little bit of weight loss can make a big difference, but I mean, I'm, I'm 142 now and I'm a yoga teacher, you know, it's like I don't have a lot of fat, you know, I got muscles, you know and So I went on that for a couple of months and one shot a day, you know, and took off like 40 pounds in a hurry. So the doctor increased my, my calories to 1500 calories a day and I lost another 10 pounds. Well, you were

Unknown Speaker 10:22
90 pounds at some point.

Karen 10:24
I was 102. How tall are you? I'm 530. My good knife. Five, four. Yeah. Yeah. So he says, Well, I, I guess you couldn't handle the extra food. I'm thinking, well, how? Maybe you give me a little more insulin?

Unknown Speaker 10:41
Because it's possible

Scott Benner 10:42
your blood sugar is still very high. And you're losing weight because of that, right?

Karen 10:46
Absolutely. Absolutely had to be. Absolutely had to be. So he took me on, he put me on. Finally, multiple daily injections, beef, pork, insulin, NPH. And regular. And he thought I was doing great that I thought I found out later that I really wasn't, you know, because back then it was really hard to find any information. We didn't have the internet. We didn't have Google. And, you know, all we had was diabetes forecast magazine, which really didn't give you a lot of management information back then. You know, it was mostly about, you know, what celebrity has diabetes and what school kids are, you know, raising money for JDRF or something like that. And really nothing of much value in terms of management was there. Although I did find an ad one day for glucometer. So I took it upon myself to buy it as Oh, this has got to be better than what I'm doing. You know. So I started testing and for for the first time, I actually had information that I could work with. You know, it's not like, what my blood sugar might have been two hours ago from a clinic test, but now I can find out what it is right now.

Scott Benner 12:12
What what year, do you think that was current that you got it? That was?

Karen 12:16
That was probably maybe 1980?

Scott Benner 12:19
So you round that the other way for four years or more?

Karen 12:23
Yeah. And, and we'll find out what, what happened. Because of that, you know. So I go into the doctor on my next appointment, and I'm, I'm all jazzed up about this glucometer and everything, and I'm telling them about what my numbers are when I get up and just say he goes way, way way. He says, I don't know what the numbers mean, aren't you still testing your urine? And I go? No, this is so much better. You know, and it was like, a rude awakening for me that, you know, I was probably not in the right place, not in with the right doctor. So a little bit later on, I discovered a book that changed my life in a bookstore. And, you know, we still didn't have the internet and all that jazz. And it was called the diet, diabetics, self managed self care methods. And it was written by a husband and wife team of Intrapreneurs ologists, who also had type one diabetes. And it laid out, you know, here's finally all that information about what the a one C numbers mean, you know, what your, you know, what level you should be at to have the best results. And a program using a different insulin. That was what they termed as sort of the poor man's pump. And it involved Ultra lenti insulin and using that instead of NPH. And this is also the first time I had ever read in print. That mph may not last as long as advertised in everybody. And that was that ended up being a very important factor in my management. No,

Unknown Speaker 14:19
yeah. So

Karen 14:26
I started to implement what I could, but I still didn't have that ultra lenti insulin. So the next appointment that I went to with my internist, I asked what my a one C level was now knowing what they meant. And he told me and I was obviously profoundly disappointed. And he said, he says, Well, he thinks he's being, you know, consoling, good doctors as well. You know, sometimes it just can't be any better than that. And I was bullied. I Whereas both because I said, Look, I'm only 10 years in now, I have written apathy. I have neuropathy. You know, do I need to get kidney disease? Before I get this under control?

Scott Benner 15:15
Yeah, you make me think that there's so many, obviously processes that happened inside of your body that take a lifetime to come to an end, let's just think of aging, right? Like you don't see aging happen. And if you're lucky, you make it to, you know, a ripe old age and you dropped it. But that thing's been happening to you the entire time. We don't think of it that way. Not until you get something like hypothyroidism, or Hashimotos, or diabetes or something to that effect, where the whole process is sped up. And the the the the human inclination that things are going to change. And that's okay, because they're going to change slowly enough that I won't care by the time I'm in the can, right? Like, your brain doesn't switch when your situation fast forwards like it does. Right. So the doctor says something like, oh, it's the best you can do. Or don't worry, this is how it is. Except Except you're the one who's I mean, what are you 32 years old with reference to it the time yeah. 22 By the way, the diabetes self care method by Charles Peterson and Louise Jacque Giovanni Vic Peterson. First published in 1984. Yeah.

Karen 16:34
So is that well, so I didn't find it till later, I guess. Yeah.

Scott Benner 16:37
And the blurb is it teaches diabetics How to Achieve Self self help management for a freer, more balanced lifestyle and provides the most current information about insulin dosage adjustments, exercise therapy, glucose monitoring options, diabetes medications, and they should have just got a podcast, it's much easier. You don't have to write down all the words that Yeah.

Karen 17:03
Thinking back on that time, was like, in the meantime, I have become a runner, you know, and I can't even imagine how I managed to stay safe out there. You know, I would get up in the morning, I'd have like a glass of cran apple juice or something, not even, you know, full strength as low sugar and go out and run five miles, you know, and I'd ran 40 miles a week for a couple of years. And I think and I had you know, my little sugar packets in my in a plastic bag tucked in my waistband just in case. And I think I only once had one time when I was really sure I wasn't going to make it home. But that was like a 13 mile run. And I never did that again.

Scott Benner 17:57
Have you found that getting your diabetes supplies can be a pain in the butt. I have to, but not any longer because now we're getting Ardens diabetes supplies from us men. To get a free benefits check, just call 888-721-1514 or go to us med.com forward slash juicebox. US med has served over 1 million diabetes customers since 1996. And they want you to know that they're offering you better service and better care than you're getting now. US med always provides 90 days worth of supplies, and fast and free shipping. They carry everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies to the latest CGM like the FreeStyle Libre two and the Dexcom G six. Arden gets her Dex comms and her on the pods from us med. US med accepts Medicare nationwide and over 800 private insurers. US med is the number one distributor for FreeStyle Libre systems. The number one specialty distributor for Omni pod dash, number one fastest growing tandem distributor, the number one rated distributor index com customer service satisfaction surveys and they are proud of the white glove treatment that they offer their customers. Us med.com forward slash juice box or call 888-721-1514 and that 888 Number is special just for Juicebox Podcast listeners. Now if you decide to go to the website, it's super simple. Here's what it tells you when you get there. Getting started is easy. from the comfort of your own home or office. You can now join over 1 million satisfied customers who rely on our staff of courteous knowledgeable and trained us med customer care representatives to keep you are up to date with your medical and diabetic supplies delivered right to your door. Super simple benefits check name, phone number, email, zip code, and then just hit the button that says work. quest to free benefits check. It's that easy. Let us med take care of your supplies so you don't have to worry. The podcast is sponsored today by better help. Better help is the world's largest therapy service and is 100% online. With better help, you can tap into a network of over 25,000 licensed and experienced therapist who can help you with a wide range of issues. betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox to get started, you just answer a few questions about your needs and preferences and therapy. That way BetterHelp can match you with the right therapist from their network. And when you use my link, you'll save 10% On your first month of therapy. You can message your therapist at any time and schedule live sessions when it's convenient for you. Talk to them however you feel comfortable text chat phone or video call. If your therapist isn't the right fit, for any reason at all, you can switch to a new therapist at no additional charge. And the best part for me is that with better help you get the same professionalism and quality you expect from in office therapy. But with a therapist who is custom picked for you, and you're gonna get more scheduling flexibility, and a more affordable price. I myself have just begun using BetterHelp betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox that's better help h e l p.com. Forward slash juicebox save 10% On your first month of therapy

Karen 21:54
but, you know imagine all the chances that we took you know people in my age that were diagnosed when I was just because we didn't have the information we have now like the Dexcom. And you know, all that is just it boggles my mind to think because I don't want to be anywhere away from my phone to see my Dexcom now that I have it.

Scott Benner 22:17
You lived without Did you ever have a seizure? Oh, yeah, I've had seizures. Yeah. A number of them like more than you can recall.

Karen 22:26
My husband can recall. Yeah, probably. Well, more than five probably

Scott Benner 22:33
okay. You know, do you ever when you did he ever tell you? Where they were any worse than others? Like, did you ever think like I thought this was it?

Karen 22:43
Yeah. And actually, at one time, I told him I thought this was going to be an IME. And I remember thinking it was in the middle of the night, I had a really bad insulin reaction. And he's given me glucose. G voc and and I had been, you know, drinking juice and stuff. And and I remember thinking to myself as I laid myself down in the bedroom, is this. Is this the way I'm gonna go out? Really? Come on. It's like, after all this, you know,

Scott Benner 23:16
Karen, I have to I have to clarify something with you. Did this happen recently?

Karen 23:21
Actually, this did happen. We so you

Scott Benner 23:23
actually use G voc? Oh, I thought you were I thought you I thought the people who make Jeeva hypo Penn, we're just going to be thrilled that their product was being used artificially as glucagon in an old story, but this actually happened to you recently.

Karen 23:37
This was like a couple of months ago. Wow. Okay. Yeah. It was just like a ridiculous drop in the middle of the night. You know?

Scott Benner 23:45
That's the Dexcom catch it.

Karen 23:48
Oh, yes. That's why my husband, he goes to bed much later than me. And so he came up because his phone went off. What the hell's going on? You know? Don't ask me.

Scott Benner 24:03
He's like, I'm too old to meet another person and start over again. You either have to stay alive or I'm going with you. There's no in between here. Yeah.

Karen 24:12
And he's 10 years older than me. So

Scott Benner 24:15
he must appreciate that hypo pan then because it is easy to use, right? Oh, yeah.

Karen 24:19
So much better than then the box with the, you know, mixing everything together and all that jazz, you know, and the G folk the hypo pen, especially the one that isn't, you know, that's not the injections is the one I carry with me because many times, you know, at all conscious, I can still give it to myself. Yeah. You know, and this, you know, the teachers of the studio, if there's something going on. If they need to give it to me, it's very easy. You just tell him no, it's like a epi pen, you know? And

Unknown Speaker 24:54
would you call yourself hyper one aware?

Karen 24:57
You Oh, definitely. Yes. Absolute Luckily, yeah, that was another thing that came along with everything else, you know, but I'm very blessed that laser was available in the 90s. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be able to see. And now they have the injections in the eyes that are even better than laser. And, you know, so it's, it's really been a blessing to live this long. You know? And, and you know, when you're everything you read back then is not very optimistic, you know about whether you're going to have children or how long you're gonna live. And you know,

Scott Benner 25:39
well, you probably had that first miscarriage because of you were probably, I mean, you were undiagnosed when you were pregnant. Right. So

Karen 25:47
right, that's right. Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I think the first one was that that they didn't think the other ones really had anything to do with it. Because it was later on. You had more than one. Yes, they did. We but we have other fertility problems between us. So there's a lot going on there anyway,

Unknown Speaker 26:05
did you end up having any kids? No,

Karen 26:08
we never did we have cats.

Scott Benner 26:11
Hey, look at that cat doesn't want to go to college.

Karen 26:13
Perfect. That's right. You know?

Scott Benner 26:17
I have a kid I trade for a cat. What do you think of that?

Karen 26:22
I have three cats. And we had goats. We had a lot of different things, you know, so we managed to fill in this space a little bit, maybe not the way we expected. But, you know, yeah, it's been a good life anyway.

Scott Benner 26:35
Well, it's interesting to hear you say it's been a good life. And at the same time, you're talking about first four years, not really being managed at all having to figure out what a glucometer was on your own have to teach your doctor what blood sugar readings, and then having to find a book to even figure out more things. You're just on the edge probably the whole time. Probably never using enough insulin and, and yet still getting low. Yeah. Yeah. That's fascinating. And yeah, what is

Karen 27:07
his crazy, you know? So anyway, after I told the doctor, you know, and he decided to send me to his and endocrinologist friend, who apparently was the one that he was getting, you know, if he had a question about me, he asked him and stuff. So he sent me to the Endo. And the endo was kind of, he's, he's sort I think, I came in, and he already had, like, a decision in his mind that I was, like, a problem patient or something like that. So, you know, he sort of treated me like, I was just being non compliant, you know. And I mean, nothing could be further from the truth. For the last 45 years, I have written down and weighed every single thing I eat, you know, or if I had packaged, you know, information, that was good. But I mean, I've been very vigilant about my diet and everything else that I did. So just, you know, I'm trying not to get too upset about it. And so I said, Well, I want to really want to try another insulin because I don't think MPH is lasting, you know, long enough in May. And it was just no, you know, just no. And so, being the stubborn person that I am, I went home, I started testing every two hours. And I kept very detailed records. And I sent them all to the dam. And so he, you know, so eventually, he ended up being my doctor. And you could really see from the test, the testing that I did that there was a big hole in my day where I wasn't being covered by anything, because the the NPH was just cranking out, you know, before whatever hours they they expected it to. So and as it turned out, insulin didn't need a prescription back then. So I decided to go to the drugstore, and I bought myself a vial of ultra lentil. And I started to implement the, the method that was in the book, right? So you take two shots of ultra lenti a day, 12 hours apart, whenever you want to, you know, make that 12 hours and then just like a pump beat, so that's like your Basal insulin, and then your you would just inject regular for when you're going to eat right, so I started I started doing that for a couple of months and I went back to my internist had an N A one C, and I asked him what it was. He goes It was 7.2. That was like, at least two whole points down because I'm sure it was in the nine. Yeah. You know? And he said, and I said, Well, I'm just so smart. You've got this. But did you do my sample? I went on insulin, that doctor, my other doctor specifically told me not to go on. Right. And

Scott Benner 30:30
don't worry, I read it in the book. It's good. Yeah.

Karen 30:34
That's the equivalent of off the internet now, you know? Yeah. And so, you know, he really couldn't, couldn't argue with that, you know? Sure. So we fast forward a little, a little time. And then he was decided he was going to move to California with his because his wife got a promotion. So he's gonna send me to his friend, permanently, right. And I said, Well, I don't know. Because, you know, I did. What do you exactly told me not to do? And he said, Well, it'll be fine. It'll be fine. So the first appointment with the Endo, the first thing he says to me is, well, I guess, mph just doesn't last very long for you. So which is what I went in with the first time to tell him Yeah, and after that. All right, our relationship just absolutely blossomed. He was such a blessing in my life after that, you know, there was never an appointment that I went to, that he didn't tell me something new he discovered or something he'd heard about at a conference or something. And he would tell me, since I tell other doctors about you, you know, he says, You're like my star patient. Really, you know, look where it started, you know, we became very, very close after that. And I was I was just torn apart when he retired, you know, and, and he's passed away now. But he's, he made such a difference in my life. And he was the one that got me on a pump. Fine. And it was, you know, if so, it's a relationship that certainly went full circle, you know, from what being on the outs with them.

Scott Benner 32:15
Yeah, you had a process happen within a process. So what I'm seeing Yeah, I mean,

Unknown Speaker 32:20
I think, I think that you don't,

Scott Benner 32:23
no one really considers, excuse me, I'm having a bad week from my throat. I, no one really considers that we don't really know very much about the human body, and how to just magically fix things like we I mean, the stuff we know, is amazing. And it's of course, you know, leaps and bounds above 1000 years ago, 500 years ago, 100 years ago. But you were, you were caught in that process that you were, you were diagnosed at a time where the doctor, let's be honest, was thinking, Oh, she'll be dead by the time she's, and he had a number already. Yeah. I'll just try to keep this lady's life as nice as possible. Until this kills her, which it's going to do is what he was thinking, you're not thinking that because you're thinking, I want to stay alive. And, you know, how do I be healthy. And you also have that expectation, I realized in every generation of people I talked to in every decade of people, everyone imagines that what exists, is more magical than what it really is, or that it's more immediate, or how we want healthcare to be like, I take a pill, and then I'm better. Or I take a nap. And when I wake up, I feel better. Like everyone wants that. It takes you a while to realize that we're just, we're just in a star map size, race, with discovery about medicine. And we're really very early on in it. I think it's amazing to listen to you talk about the process that you went through. And it's likely a testament to your stubbornness and desire to be okay, and willingness to I didn't want to say reach out God, I don't want to say think outside of the box was the only thing in my head. But

Karen 34:13
you you'd ever say that to a woman?

Unknown Speaker 34:16
No, we shouldn't your ability

Scott Benner 34:17
to look at like, well, this is what this is, what the standard idea is. But let's look on the fringes of that and see what else exists.

Karen 34:26
Yeah, because everybody think I know as a yoga teacher, and we tell this to our students all the time, you know, your body is everybody's body is different. And your own body is different every single day, you know, so there is no we can't boil it all down to being mechanical organism. You know, it's like it's not and sometimes, you know, we we tend to go towards the health is more a measure of balance of a bunch of things rather than taking a pill and you're gonna be better. You know, maybe you need to balance out some other things in your life that are affecting this, uh, you don't realize, you know,

Unknown Speaker 35:10
I think of health. The way I think of

Scott Benner 35:13
my brother's behavior when we were children, my youngest brother Rob, I don't know if I've ever shouted him out before, but there were two states of Rob, Rob was either in trouble. And you could see it, or he was getting in trouble, and you hadn't found out about it yet. And I think that way about health, like, you know, you look around and you think, Well, you know, my family has autoimmune issues. Nobody else has these troubles. Like, you know, look, there's people walking around the grocery store, they don't worry about this. And the truth is, I think everyone to some degree is, is dealing with something, they're worried about something Yeah, some things are more obvious or more immediate or emergent, maybe, but the amount of people who look up and they're like, I'm 85, and nothing ever went wrong, this doesn't really happen. You know, that's not how it goes, and maybe you're not going to have and I still think you're going to have troubles. It's whether or not those troubles are impactful enough, that they change your life enough that you pay attention to them, I think is how I I'm coming to think of it as I'm trying to stand back. I don't know anybody that doesn't have something. Right. You know,

Karen 36:26
everybody has something, you know, so, people, you know, I remember, you know, back back when I was diagnosed, you know, there was always a saying about the women who, you know, were a little sickly, you know, or whatever, in a relationship, you know, it's like, it was like, Don't ever think of me as being sick. You know, I because I'm going to do a lot of things. And I did I mean, I was, my husband used to call me his prairie woman, because we, we burn wood to heat our house, and I split with wood with them all. You know, I'm out there for four hours in the summertime when I was off from work, and I'm splitting firewood, you know?

Unknown Speaker 37:10
Yeah. 100. Yeah. I don't think I wouldn't want

Scott Benner 37:14
anybody to think of anybody is like sickly. But you do look back at that time and realize that. I mean, just think about what we know. Now that probably we didn't know before, like, women could be tired all the time. And no one no one ever thought like, well, what if your periods heavy and your iron slow? Like, right, like, right, they would tell you what, eat a piece of liver? Will? That'll help my 1314? Should I eat a piece of liver that should just fix it? Right? We're taking these iron tablets that then cause incredible constipation. So you can't you can't take them anyway. And nausea. Or, you know, you know, you know, Patti up the street. She's, you know, how she is like, what does that mean? Exactly? Like, what does it mean? Yeah, what is it means her hormones are all over the place. And you're just calling her nasty? Like, right? Like, it's not something she can, can do something about and hormonal imbalances are still not something that we particularly understand how to impact very well. Sorry.

Karen 38:14
But you notice, like, a lot of those things were always centered around women of color, you know, you know, it's like, the little woman or whatever, you know, it's like I died, you know, my mother in law. God rest her soul. She and she was an absolute saint. But Schuster, after I was diagnosed, you should always go, Well, you shouldn't rest here. You should. Like, you know, no, I need to have activity to balance out when a meeting, right? Like you don't understand how this works.

Scott Benner 38:42
She wants you to be Scarlett O'Hara, right? Yes. Oh, I'm, I've got the vapors. Let me sit down. Even what does that even mean?

Karen 38:50
Somebody make me a drapery dress.

Unknown Speaker 38:53
And that's really only

Scott Benner 38:55
that's really only you know, what, 70 100 years ago were like, you know, oh, they have the vapors, let them sit down or she's hysterical. Like that was a real diagnosis.

Karen 39:08
Right? Well, you still hear that today? Sometimes. You know,

Scott Benner 39:11
it's amazing. To me. It's

Unknown Speaker 39:13
amazing. Now men,

Scott Benner 39:14
you know, you know if we're if we're if we act crazy. I don't know. Everybody just seems to be like, that's fine. I don't understand at all. You know, it's

Karen 39:26
not good. You're entitled to do that. Apparently,

Scott Benner 39:29
I'm allowed to feel any way I want your history is what

Karen 39:32
I've learned. That's right. Your historical Yeah. Well, so

Unknown Speaker 39:35
yeah, it just,

Scott Benner 39:36
I mean, listen, Modern medicine has saved everybody. It's been on this podcast. It's good saving people I love it's helping me I just had again after thinking it wasn't going to be a problem anymore. I just realized a few weeks ago that my iron got low again. Again. Yeah. And so I I was just like, I gotten bitten by something. I like a little bump on my hand. And it kind of started to get systematic. It spread around my hand a little bit. It kind of left in my other hand, I was like, What is going on? And I was I started getting really tired in the afternoon, I thought what bit me that I'm falling asleep at two o'clock like that. Oh, odd. And so I thought, Oh, it'll go away. Yeah, and I went to I went to urgent care, and they jacked me up with a steroid pack. So for 10 days, I felt like Superman, because I don't know what's in those steroid packs. But I was like, Yeah, everything's okay. And it solved the problem. Soon as the steroid pack tapered off, the bumps on my hands would go away, but I was still tired.

Karen 40:38
Oh, and you have to go back to the hospital for infusion. I

Scott Benner 40:41
just got my second infusion yesterday. Yeah, so I had one a week ago, and I had one yesterday, and I already feel a million times better. But then I started going back and looking over the past month or so before I felt tired. And we found ourselves, I'll probably be able to talk about this at some point in the podcast. But for now, we found ourselves in a doctor's office where Artin needed to be seen by a new doctor. And they made the appointment, we set it up, we got there filled out all the paperwork waited. And then they called me over to the to the table and they say, Hey, she's not 18. And I said, yeah, no. And they're like, we don't see people under 18 here. And I said, when I called I said to the I said to the person on the phone, I'm calling from my daughter, because she's a minor. And then they set all this up, then she's Yeah, we're really sorry. Well, Arden was having a real problem. And anytime, like she needed to be seen, so we could figure something out. So we could make an adjustment for something. And they said, Well, we can see her after she's 18, which was like six weeks later. And I said, well, she's going to be in pain every day for six weeks while you're figuring while you're waiting for it to be a team. And something happened inside of me. And I was unreasonable for the next five minutes in that doctor's office, like I pushed, and I was, I was combative. And I did not accept one of their answers, even after I realized, these people are powerless in this situation. Like, there's not a decision maker here. Like I really pushed back to the point where we got outside and Arden was like, I was not comfortable with that. And I'm like, what? And like, I just thought I was defending her.

Karen 42:21
You were Papa Bear.

Scott Benner 42:22
You know, what I was? Was I was in that situation with a low iron. Yeah. So we found ourselves back there two days ago. And the first thing I said to them was, hey, look, I'm really very sorry, I'm still pissed that you set up this appointment, when she wasn't 18 and then said, Oh, we can't do this. But my reaction was not anywhere near what it would have been if my iron wasn't low. And so I see that and then I think about people with thyroid issues. And are they okay, are their thyroids handled? Well, people with their blood sugars, are they okay? And, and then that's just the stuff you can see outwardly, what about right? People who are going to find out their eyes are going to go crazy. 10 years from now? And yeah, etc. So, anyway, you, you I'm sorry, talking for like, a half an hour? Oh, that's fine, longer, but you, you really did want to come on to talk about, like advocating for yourself?

Karen 43:18
Exactly. You know, because I, you still see, I'm one of the podcast followers, and I'm in the Facebook group, and you still see people saying, well, you know, there's something wrong and, and, you know, we don't see the endo for three months, you know, and I wouldn't be here. If, if I didn't advocate for myself, if I didn't, you know, if I wasn't brave enough to take a step. You know, it's like, I really didn't have a lot to lose, but, you know, and I would say to those, those people, and I know, you know, most of them are parents, and it's, it's scarier when it's someone else other than yourself. But even if it's, if you think something needs to be changed, you don't have to make a big change, you can start small and see if it has some has some benefit, you know, so you know, you're not going to like, switch to a whole nother insulin like I did or something like that. But, you know, if you if you can see that there's something happening. You know, don't, don't wait for somebody else to tell you and give you permission, that it's okay to try something different. You know, I mean, you can make small steps that aren't going to be risky. And then see where see where you go. And if it works, then you could go a little farther, you know, and by the time you get to the end domains, you won't need them. By the time you get to the end knows and you can you know, really work it out in detail because

Unknown Speaker 44:54
you might be

Scott Benner 44:55
being told something by a person like going all the way back to your diagnosis is just like go, wow, I didn't know what those numbers meant, like that person was telling you what to do for four years. Isn't that unbelievable? No, it's not. I wish it was Karen. But it is. I mean, even this thing with Arden, which I'll have to talk around from him, because it doesn't have a resolution yet, and I don't want to have tell a story. But we had to track down to different doctors on our own, that were more integrative outside of the box thinking, to go through a host of things and check them off go. It's not that it's not that it's not that it's not that to get down to it's probably this. And this is probably impacting this other thing. So now we think we have one problem that's feeding a different problem. And we needed a test to check on the secondary problem. Now, this person, not an outside of the box thinker, we just needed them to do the thing. They did the thing, we got the information we needed. But if I would have left there with what that doctor said, then the answer would have been, hey, this is bad luck. And here's some medication. And this is gonna be your whole life. But now taking the information that we got from this from the first doctor, we see how the thing that she found is probably causing the thing. The second thing. And so if we fix the first thing, it should fix the second thing. But a regular old doctor, they don't think that way. They know he knows the thing he does, it's, I mean, it's like it's like having a guy come out and put a fence up around your property. And while he's there, ask him about the plumbing. Yeah, he just doesn't know. He can put the fence in, he'll do a great job with the fence, you need a fence or he's a fencer. Beautiful fence. This doctor was great at what he did. He was lovely. He was helpful. He was extraordinary what he did, but then to ask him what to do with the information you should take, you should take a pill. That was all. So you just learned to live with it. It's going to be bad. Take a pill, the other person was like, I think if we do this, this and this, it'll clear that up. I mean, fascinating. So So I kept thinking and I said to I mean, I've been talking to Jenny about I've been talking to my wife about it privately. What do most people do in these situations?

Karen 47:17
Unfortunately, they do just what the doctor says. They don't even they don't think beyond that. You know, but I

Scott Benner 47:23
chose to do that though. Because I'm sure a doctor said something to me in my life that if I just listened to I be okay. How do I know the difference between and you know the difference? Because your outcomes, except what if your outcomes are happening so slowly, you can't see them as you degrade. Like me yelling at a doctor because my iron is low. I didn't know my arm was low that day. I had no idea. It took me six more weeks, I actually think had the bug not bit me. My iron. I was like teetering. But something about getting sick, crashed me the rest of the way. And then I could recognize the symptom. Yeah. And then my wife said to me, I told you, you were being bitchy like three weeks ago, and you didn't listen to?

Karen 48:02
I was like, yeah, sorry. And we know what bitchie sounds like.

Scott Benner 48:06
You don't know what it sounds like from me, you think of me is like the nice guy on the podcast?

Karen 48:12
Yeah. Well, the thing is, is that, you know, people have this I don't know what the word is complex about doctors, the god complex about doctors, you know, like they, they're the be all end all they know what they're doing. But the fact of the matter is, you know your body better than anybody else does. And you have to be your own doctor every day of the diabetes. You know, so

Scott Benner 48:45
we you have to be involved Karen in no matter what it is, I'm telling you last week, my son has a little car that we we set him up with to go to college is a lease, I'm telling you, if it cost me six grand to lease this car for three years, do you know what I mean? Like it was yeah, it was just a little car, and the lease ends. And because of the state of everything right now, finding other cars was like difficult. So we said, Well, why don't we just buy this car. And so I had to go to the dealership where we leased it from and I said, Look, we're just going to like get a loan and buy it. I don't think I'm going to keep it very long. So I was like, I'm just gonna do this. And it was that amount of money it was for it was 14,000 $14,000 on the car. It's what it was going to cost to buy the car. And we go in to sign the paperwork for the loan. And the guy just we walk in, he starts chatting us up and everything and you're just talking and we're going along and he says something about so you're going to get the loan you're getting GAP insurance, you're getting this he said a bunch of things. And I remember thinking at first thing, what do I need GAP insurance for? I was like, first of all with the state of the world. The car costs 14 grand it's worth $24,000 Because nobody can lay their hands on cars. I could literally sell it today for $24,000 If I wanted to I'm like, why don't I need GAP insurance? That's like a thing for, like, that's an old timey thing for at least. And I thought, well, if it comes with it, who cares? You don't I mean, and then we're going along and blah, blah, blah. And a minute later, he

Unknown Speaker 50:10
turned the paperwork around, assign it. And I looked down, and I was like, wait, I'm like, Stop, like, How much money are we financing? And he goes, and he looks at it, and he says, $22,000, and I was what, I only owe 14 grand on the cars, like what is happening right now. And he starts telling me how the GAP Insurance is $4,000. And the, and the other thing that he mentioned was $2,000. And this was the and I went, Whoa, man. Do I have to get the GAP Insurance is no, you don't want it? And I went, No. And he goes, okay. And he looked, he looked at me, like, caught me. And I was five sec, because I just like it was a simple thing with me. You know what I mean? Like 14 grands a lot of money. But it's not when you're buying a car and you're stretching it out over 1000 years. It's a couple 100 bucks, you know, and so I'm like, just trying to get this done brutally hot day outside. I just want to go home. And had I not stopped and just look through it. I almost signed paperwork where I was just basically financing me giving the car dealership, seven grand. Wow. And I tell you that because I think that's the same thing that happens to people in doctors offices. I think you just go okay, what, okay, okay, okay. Okay. And then you don't ever stop and think about like, well, is this right? Like, is this going to fix my problem? Or if they say something you don't know about? Like, I gotta go take some time to research this. Let's find out what it was. So like, I actually have to find out. Is this what they said it was?

Scott Benner 51:47
Why are they given me this pill? What does he really know, etc. And listen, as I say that, it's a lot. And it's a pressure. And I wish I didn't live with it. And I know why some people just put their head down and sign the papers. Because there are days, I don't know how, like, we left that doctor's office yesterday. And, and I had a moment where I was like, Oh, God, like, this is so much like this is always happening. You know what I mean? Like I just, but what's the alternative? And the alternative is we pretend that that pill was the answer. And we let Arden live in, you know, some sort of pain for the rest of her life. And I'm like, I'm not, I'm not doing that. And so I told her afterwards, because she looked jected and I said, Arden, we're gonna figure this out, or I am going to die trying. I was like, I am not going to stop just so you know, I'm like, we are going to get this straight. And I don't even think she believes that at this point. But there is going to be a day where we get it all balanced out. And and I'm going to feel accomplished. I don't know how to I can't put that on my resume, I guess but it's going to feel like a big part of my life's accomplishments.

Karen 53:00
For Kim, she's she's been through so much fibroid and everything else. You guys

Scott Benner 53:05
all have been through so much. So it's not her

Karen 53:08
now I'm now I'm trying to get somebody to believe me about thyroid because my PCP you know, is one of those well, your, your test results are normal, you know, and actually, the new endo said the same thing to me. But I did advocate and get I said, look, it's not gonna hurt me to try since or I you know, I said, But I'm, I'm exhausted all the time. I'm gaining weight for no reason. I mean, I worked my brains out, you know, and, you know, you know, my nails are

Unknown Speaker 53:43
just what was the TSH they said was okay. It was

Karen 53:47
it was one point something I don't know. It wasn't it wasn't very high. Yeah. But I I still had all those symptoms, because well, it could be something else. Let's find out what what else it is because I can't live like this.

Scott Benner 54:01
Yeah, well, there's also there's also things right, there's other things that could impact that number and make it look lower than it is I can't off the top of my head. I'm not thinking of it right now. And if it's not that, did you have your iron tested?

Karen 54:15
Yeah, my iron is is low too. So she's got me on iron. But yeah, because I don't eat red. I don't eat red meat. Right. You know, but I I eat all the other things that have iron in it too. How do you know I know I cannot chop my head. You should for it to say low.

Scott Benner 54:35
I'll tell you right now the the infusions if your insurance will cover them, they are about the closest I've come to magical in my entire life. So I like I drugged myself to that first one. Like I was like, I sat down like the girls like I can't find them. And I'm like I said, or here's what I said. I don't care, cut my arm open and dump it in the cut. I said, I said shove the bag up my ass if you have to. I don't care how you get there. Same there was like, just do it, you know? And so she puts it in. And it's not an immediate thing. It's not like you're not like, wow. But in five hours or so my body started functioning better. So I was, I started to retain water. Yeah. So once the iron infusion was then I started paying regularly, which I was like, Oh, great, this is good, thank you. And then slowly over a week, my tiredness that used to be I was getting to the point where no matter how late I slept, I was tired by one o'clock. That's where it got to. And then I couldn't walk up and down the stairs anymore, because I'd get out of breath. And so like, all that stuff is slowly getting better. But what you're really waiting for, now that all that iron or whatever the hell's in that bag, I honestly don't care what it is, it looks like rusty water, and I wouldn't drank it if they told me to. And once it gets in there, and your body remakes, the cells, it rebuilds, when it makes your next round of red blood cells, it makes it with the proper amount of iron, and then, and then the cells can hold the oxygen properly, and then you're not tired, and then you can run up and down the stairs again, and

Karen 56:08
stuff. So the biggest, most noticeable symptom that I had, and I still have is I've had marking loss of strength in my arms. And, you know, so they sent me to a neurologist, you know, because they thought, Well, maybe it's neuropathy related, you know, and all that jazz. So, there was nothing there. I mean, they did all kinds of tests on it, and it had nothing to do with neuropathy. But, you know, still, I'm not as I'm a little bit stronger than I had been. But I still haven't gained all the strength back, which is a little disconcerting to me, you know,

Scott Benner 56:44
you need to get down with that infusion. Because I tried to get a bucket of balls out of a trunk. The other day I looked at my son was like, You're gonna have to get that, like, get in that class ridiculous. And now, two weeks later, but that's okay. Again, like we there was a moment where my son and I were throwing, and I had to I said, I said, we got to stop. And he said, why I said, my arms not moving as quickly as my brain wants it to to catch the ball. And there's like a, you were throwing at me way too hard for me to miss the ball. So like, like, like, I doors a day where I was like, I can't do this. And you know, and now we did it again yesterday, and I felt much better. But we were, we were at a point where if I took like, a three or four quick steps, I was like standing out there going. Like, I couldn't catch my breath. And just with that infusion, it just starts to go away. It's really something else.

Karen 57:33
Do they have any idea? What causes the lack of iron in your care system?

Scott Benner 57:39
I so I don't know if it's not being absorbed if I'm not eating well, and it's a slow drift away? Or if God Karen, you're gonna make me say something I've never said on the podcast before.

Unknown Speaker 57:51
I don't know if I want to say this. It could be first, how God can. Go ahead.

Scott Benner 58:00
Go ahead. Listen, you don't know how many people we're talking to. I'm the only one who knows how many people are gonna hear this. Okay. So

Karen 58:09
I have a good idea. Because I listen to every single one. It could

Scott Benner 58:13
be from like a hemorrhoid. I could be I could be losing blood that way. Because I go through bouts with with one. And so I'm thinking about doing trying to do something about it. But I've done in the past. And the old methods didn't work very well, and were unpleasant. And it's not. It's not constant. It's just sort of like it'll happen. And then it takes a few days to get it under control. And then you know, it. I don't know, maybe it happens more frequently than I recall. And maybe between that, and I don't know, I do have Berets. So I don't know if I'm absorbing things exactly, as well as I should be. Anyway, I got away from taking my iron supplement, because I felt so good. And I was like I'm doing great. And then I think it drifted down. And then your body function just kind of like everything gets washed wacky. So like, nothing starts working the way I expect it to. And then it snowballs. So it's like every other health issue, honestly,

Karen 59:11
when one of our relatives actually had to have an operation for him. Right. Yeah, you know, and it helped him a lot. You know, I don't know exactly what they do. You know,

Scott Benner 59:23
well, I saw an ad for the other day where they're like, We that it's like done differently now. And I was like, it was at a gastro that I trusted and I thought like, am I gonna call them? I guess I am. Because I don't want to yell at another lady. I'm yelling at a woman in June because I bled and like, I don't know April, you know, maybe like it seems unfair. But But uh, but I I will look into it one more time. I did try it when I was younger and all I can tell you was it was incredibly unpleasant and did not do much and yeah, yeah. So I'm just saying, I, what am I trying to say, Karen. I tried to say 15 years ago, I saw someone coming at me with a speculum, and I was like, Wait a minute. I don't think we should be doing this. But we did it anyway. And then about halfway home, I drove dry. Oh my god, this was 20 years ago. Coal was like, coal was little, he was two or three years old. And I was a stay at home dad. So I did it in the middle of the day, because I didn't think much of it. And boy, this episode took a turn. And then so I'm driving. So I'm driving home. And it's only a 15 minute ride. And halfway through the ride, I pulled over on the side of the road and just leaned over sideways in the car, because I could not sit down anymore. I was like, I'm like, I'm gonna cry in front of this kid. And I don't know how to get him home even like it was Yeah, so I finally what did I do? I think I took some sweatshirts or something and like, put them under my thighs, and like jammed my back up into the back of the seat and I basically hovered.

Karen 1:01:08
And why didn't they give you a donut pillow? Okay, and

Scott Benner 1:01:11
you're asking good questions. They told me it wasn't gonna hurt. And so either either I'm a big baby, or, you know, they never had it. So we got a we got home. And he was little I was like, Hey, buddy, I'm like, you just play here in the living room hang out with me. I'm gonna just lay on my guy called Kelly. She used to work in the city. And I was like, come home as quickly as you can.

Karen 1:01:36
So please come along, was the recovery

Scott Benner 1:01:40
wasn't bad after that. Like it was, you know, a day or two later, everything was okay. Again, even that, like no instruction about how to eat like, you

would think somebody might say, hey, like, why don't you stick with a liquid diet or soft foods or something like that? It was all just like, and it was only it was only 20 years ago? Yeah. I

mean, I'm just saying when you're asking people to know about your insulin, just remember. Yeah. It's not like I have 1000 hemorrhoids. It's one and they can't they can't bear it out. Nobody knows anything. Those doctors are laughing somewhere on their vacations.

Karen 1:02:14
Yeah. I don't know what what's causing my low wire, particularly because you know, I eat plenty of chicken and spinach and all that jazz. I don't think whether or not I include meet twice a week should make that much of a difference, you know? Because I plenty of everything else. But

Scott Benner 1:02:35
well, I mean, since Listen, since you made me say him right out loud. You know, you're screwed. I'm gonna ask you questions. So you must be through menopause, right? Oh, god. Yeah.

Karen 1:02:49
Yeah. I'll be 68 in November. I

Scott Benner 1:02:52
was gonna say I did the math earlier my head year. 67. So, but, I mean, it could have just be a lifetime of having periods. And then getting older and but you're you've you're saying you've had enough time to rebound?

Karen 1:03:06
Yeah, I've been Yeah, I've been past menopause for a long time. So you know, probably 12 years. You know, past past menopause. So

Unknown Speaker 1:03:15
is your b 12. Low to do they look at B 12 and magnesium.

Karen 1:03:22
I'm not I'm not sure. Yeah, those would be that'd be an avenue to check. Yeah, cuz

Scott Benner 1:03:27
absorption maybe. I mean, you know, I think people with autoimmune all live with more than their fair share of of inflammation, right? And inflammation happens everywhere. Maybe you're not absorbing the vitamins well anymore. Like who knows? Right? Oh, no, look at this mess. And once you get out of it, really.

Karen 1:03:48
But it's it's it's iron pills are really hard to take. Yeah, it's like I I tend to search around for a whole bunch of different ones before I find one that didn't make me nauseous all day. You know, it ended up being a plant based protein. Iron, so

Scott Benner 1:04:07
I don't know if it's plant based but Thorne makes really good supplements the comp Yeah. And I if I would have just I think if I would have just continued to take them away and I was only taking them like three times a week. But I was pairing it with an absorb ik acid and the iron tablet very easy on my system. I don't have any trouble with that. And I was doing okay. As a matter of fact, I had to cut down because I had been taking it more frequently and I got one follow up blood testing guys like Yo, man, your iron is way too high. And I was like cool. I figured this out. And then I had it back a little bit and then I got I don't want to call it lazy I think I just forgot. I think it stopped being a problem in my life and they just say stop take stop taking him and not on purpose. Not on purpose either. I just stopped taking them.

Karen 1:04:50
It wasn't in the front of your mind anymore.

Scott Benner 1:04:52
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was in the back.

God,

Karen 1:05:00
speaking of that, I could not be more grateful for cologuard Oh, God,

Scott Benner 1:05:08
well, even when my iron is really good, I don't have to take fiber. Yeah, I even noticed that I didn't realize like one of the things that bounced back quickly after the infusion, besides, I started urinating, like properly again, like, I wasn't retaining water was that my, my entire digestive system just started to work better? About five or six days into it? Yeah. And

Karen 1:05:31
because I have to take a lot of fiber because my, my digestion is fairly slow. Okay, you know, so if I, I take a lot of fiber, and it helps you get a tremendous amount

Unknown Speaker 1:05:42
to get a pain up high. From slow digestion?

Karen 1:05:47
No, no, no, it just takes, you know, to go through.

Scott Benner 1:05:52
Does that have you using more insulin? Do you think? Because it's so the food that's sitting in your stomach? It's just getting into your intestines and then not counting the rest of the Yeah, gotcha. It has.

Karen 1:06:05
I've seen it on on camera. So it's, it's shaped in kind of an interesting pattern. So I can see why it would take a little time for it to get out. But you know, I can't do colonoscopies anymore. They're just I don't get cleaned out enough for them to be too horrible. Oh, no kidding. Yeah. And the last time I had I had to prepare for when I passed out, and I fell backwards. We have a brick wall in our house. And I fell backwards against the brick wall. And I ended up with seven staples in my skull and a concussion. I said, I'm not doing that anymore. You can just give me cologuard.

Unknown Speaker 1:06:49
Can What did you mean? What do you mean, you're passed out?

Karen 1:06:51
I just don't know if it was just from the stuff you have to drink, or whatever it is. And I was on like a to a two day prep because I'm so slow of digestion. And I just, I just fainted twice that morning, once against the doorway, and then I fainted backwards and my husband's getting ready to take me to come down the bathroom. And there I am on the floor bleeding. No think we're getting there today.

Scott Benner 1:07:20
I've only had one of those so far. And I mean, as I drank that stuff, Kelly just like she sat across the room like half and heart and half laughing at me. And I just was like, I'll bleep it out. But I was like, fuck this. This tasted so bad. And I was like, trying to force it in.

Karen 1:07:39
And I'm like, oh, yeah, you have to use a straw. Use a straw. It's not as bad you get it down without noticing.

Scott Benner 1:07:47
You sound like me on a date when I was 18 There are ways to make this better for you. There's no good way to drink that stuff is terrible. No really was

Karen 1:08:01
in the darkness would never believe me when I said no, I drank the whole damn thing. You know.

Scott Benner 1:08:06
I'm still you didn't have the experience afterwards. Which by the way

Karen 1:08:10
is Yeah. Oh, I've had it before, but not recently.

Scott Benner 1:08:14
Yeah, I remember after living through the six or eight hours and then go into bed after I took it. I woke up in the morning and I was like, Well, the one thing I know for certain I won't have to do is use the bathroom like Yeah. And so we get there to the to the room and I get right up there put me on the gurney and she goes should just go to the bathroom one time and I was like, Lady listen. It's over. There's nothing inside. She was just try. And I was like, Okay, it's like I have no urge. She goes, you wouldn't have an urge. She was just try and I was like, Okay, I went in like came back. I was like, Oh my God, how did you know?

Karen 1:08:48
She was I've been blocked

Scott Benner 1:08:51
is my job. Trust me. And I was like, Wow, that's crazy. And then an hour later, I was saying inappropriate things coming out of anesthesia. So it was perfect. Yeah.

Karen 1:08:59
All right. Well, the anesthesia is the best part of that.

Scott Benner 1:09:03
I really do like that. The Jackson juice. It's nice. Yeah. And I feel bad. He's dead and off. But I mean, I don't know. Are we supposed to feel bad that Michael Jackson said I forget. I'm not sure anymore where we're culture stands on that stands. Yeah. But But I'll tell you what, man it it just turns your lights out is really something you wake up like you're almost reset. You know, like the next two days after like, I'm just like, I feel a mixing

Karen 1:09:35
yourself up a little

Scott Benner 1:09:36
that I ended up telling people like this is gotta be why Michael Jackson was doing that. So it's like it really? It's unreal. Anyway, don't don't don't do that. I mean, I don't know if any of us have enough money to pay an anesthesiologist to come over to the house every day. Probably don't. I ended up in jail, didn't he? Karen? Yeah, I think so. Turns out you can't do that. Yeah, kudu turns out you can't kill Michael Jack. Some that's gonna put you in jail,

Karen 1:10:02
can't kill a celebrity and not go to jail.

Scott Benner 1:10:05
Kill regular people. Yeah, just not people against saying that. That's it.

Karen 1:10:09
I think he, I think he probably wasn't really in his right mind at that point anyway. I mean, Michael Jackson Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:10:15
Well, I think what we talked about today was like, I think we I feel like we talked about the sin of complacency. Just not of just saying this is okay. This is good enough.

Karen 1:10:30
I mean, it's your life, you know? You have to direct it. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:10:35
Yeah, that's, it's very true. And if you can't make sense of what you're seeing, I always say follow your gut, right? Like, if what's happening doesn't make sense, or it's not resolving correctly. And you can't make better sense of it for yourself, that's when you have to go find other people to help you. Right? You just don't go asking like, you know, go find someone else. What am I trying to say? Like, don't find other people who are on your level, right? Like, right, like I do, I do the very same thing, I figured out as much as I can. And stuff I can't figure out, I find somebody who knows more about than I do, and I go talk to them.

Karen 1:11:14
You know, people are always making fun of, you know, Google and all that stuff. But one thing I will say about the internet is, even if it everything on there isn't necessarily applying to you, at least you have the ability to ask the right question. After you have some information here, and it may not apply to you. And it may be it does. But it really can help you zero down on what you need to be spending your time at the doctor's office discussing.

Scott Benner 1:11:46
It's not easy. I'm not gonna say it's actually very frustrating. And you could, I mean, look at you, you're having trouble getting somebody to help you with being exhausted, right? Like that shouldn't that shouldn't be a heavy lift for you to get figured out. And yet you're, you're always going to end up in the situation that we were in where the doctor is like, look, this is what I do. This, I'm not thinking about this any farther than this. I saw x I saw y. So Z, and I'm telling you right now it's this and it's that pill and that's it and I don't I'm out, like I'm not gonna sit down and Dr. House this with you, this is not do. So you do have to, sometimes you have to come up with an answer, like you did with the meter that is so concrete, that when it's held in front of somebody, it's undeniable. And they have to go Hmm, okay, well, maybe you do need an iron infusion. Or maybe we should look at your thyroid closer or, you know, let's try this. Because I mean, the alternative, like in the case of your of your situation currently, like maybe maybe you don't need Synthroid, but it would really only take a week to find out. Right, you know,

Karen 1:12:53
right. And they have me on a low level of it right now. And it has helped me some. So I know it's working. In the beginning, it didn't really seem to be doing anything in the darkness, as we'll see. And as I swab, what am I supposed to be taking it and I was not taking it by itself. I was taking it with my breakfast, you know, so now take it in the middle of the night now. Because I'm not waiting for my coffee. I'm telling you that I

Scott Benner 1:13:22
have a great I have a great episode about it. If you haven't heard it.

Karen 1:13:26
I'm sure I'm sure I must. Many I've missed

Scott Benner 1:13:31
so we're gonna we're gonna button up here and get done because we've been talking for a while but and I actually have to go are you heading off to college soon? And she tells me she needs a computer. So I'm gonna go spend a bunch of money today.

Karen 1:13:42
Yeah, I saw the picture of her. You posted the other day. What a beautiful girl. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:13:46
thank you. I made it. I made her myself. Kelly had nothing to do with it. Really?

Karen 1:13:52
What was she? What was she dressed up?

Scott Benner 1:13:54
That was her senior prom? Yeah, she looked really great. She did. That was an interest. She

Karen 1:13:59
really did. She looks absolutely stunning.

Scott Benner 1:14:01
She's got that kind of. She's pretty in a different way. I don't know if that makes sense or not. But she doesn't. Like she doesn't look like many people that you know.

Karen 1:14:13
She happy that you didn't just only post pictures of her when she was little.

Scott Benner 1:14:18
Um, like I said, I'm gonna wish you a happy birthday online. I'm going to use this photo of when you were a little and you can tell me which other picture to use. She's like.

Karen 1:14:28
So she's good choice.

Scott Benner 1:14:30
She was happy with it. She actually went through and read everybody's wishes. And there were hundreds of them too. And she spent that she sat down very like kind of like nicely and, and she said thank you. I'll make sure you thank everybody. And I was like, okay, she's like, because I'm not going to like I know you're not going to go on Facebook and thank hundreds of people. I was like, I'll take care of it. Don't worry.

Karen 1:14:52
I gonna be able to convince her to come back on.

Scott Benner 1:14:55
I think so. Yeah, I do. Just trying to get her into a spot where she's In the right, mindset, sorry to mind yeah, yeah. So we'll say, I really do want to talk to her one time before she goes to school, which is coming up now in. Oh, geez. Maybe seven weeks. She's gonna leave.

Karen 1:15:16
How are you feeling about the separation? Very upset. So yeah.

Scott Benner 1:15:22
I don't, I don't I've been thinking about it in different like planes of existence. I've been thinking about the diabetes stuff. I've just been thinking about the part where she's just not going to be here. You know, and hanging around like she and I, our personalities are very similar. So, you know, we spend a fair amount of time bullshitting together and stuff like that. So,

Karen 1:15:45
yeah, who you gotta bounce off. And she's not

Scott Benner 1:15:48
assuming Kelly's gonna shoot me within days after her. That's what I'm thinking. I'm pretty sure about that. So, but I don't know, and she's gonna go a great distance, which is unsettling. And then of course, you know, the idea of overnights like, you know, I mean, you can be as good at diabetes as you want. There's still like, if you don't think that, you know, we're not, you know, Arden's not drinking juice, sometimes at four o'clock in the morning, like, you know, she is, and so, still variables. So yeah, and everything's gonna change. Plus, she's been taking new stuff that we think might change her insulin sensitivity, and it's all happening as this is happening. And you're like, Oh, God, but there's no good time, like, you know, so I'm sure it's gonna be fine. It's gonna be fine. Because of, I mean, because of algorithms, and because of Dexcom. And, you know, because we can call each other and that stuff's all going to, you know, make it better. But, you know, I have seen seizures in my time. So I'm not unaware, I'm not unaware of them. And

Karen 1:16:56
I wanted to make sure that I said to you, before we close that, you know, I had said how the book really changed my life. And you really changed my life since then. Because I never 45 years never heard of Pre-Bolus We were always told Bolus right before you eat, you know. And, you know, so many things that I've learned from the podcast, and I go back and look at them again, and again, and again. Like, I'm still dabbling with fat and protein. But you know, your information, and your delivery has really made a big difference in my life since since I started listening.

Scott Benner 1:17:42
Karen, if you're trying to make me cry at the end, I'll do it for you. Because you're gonna cry. I'm gonna cry. Yeah. Luckily, we said hemorrhoid earlier. So I don't think I can. I can't get all the way to here today. I don't think although I'm gonna cry later, when I realized I said that on this podcast.

Karen 1:18:01
You have you have the edit button?

Scott Benner 1:18:04
I don't know. I don't edit anything out of this thing. Yeah, that's my detriment sometimes.

Karen 1:18:08
But it really, you know, even to an old, an old hand 45 year veteran, you know, you still had a big impact on my management and my control today. So

Scott Benner 1:18:21
I hear you, I'm more important than your husband, your life. Is that which that's true. That's true.

Karen 1:18:24
And he's really sick and listened to me talk about?

Scott Benner 1:18:31
Well, well, I mean, I don't know, I don't know what to say to that. Except Thank you. And, um, I'm very happy that it's valuable for you,

Karen 1:18:40
I wouldn't have known about Dexcom, I wouldn't have known about G voc, I wouldn't have known that it was really overdue time to switch to T slim from where I was before, if it wasn't for the podcast. And it's really made a huge difference in my life and my husband's life.

Scott Benner 1:18:58
So I'm very, I'm super happy for you. And I'm glad that if I had anything to do with that, I'm also hearing that I don't charge enough for the ads. So that's true. So I'm gonna check up the ad price for next year.

Karen 1:19:11
I think you have to

Scott Benner 1:19:12
sell and stuff like crazy over here, you know? That's right. Well, I mean, listen, it really struck me during your conversation that that book was somehow the podcast for you back then. Like, exactly, you know what I mean? Like, it's just, it's this other information, where you can get away from your doctor and get outside of the bubble and say, Well, that makes sense to me. Or, you know what, I don't like that part. But like, you know, because I don't think you know, I'm not under some delusion that everyone's managing it exactly the way I would. I just think we all talk about it, and then you take from it, what's best for you and make your own adjustments?

Karen 1:19:50
You know, we're all doing better in one way or another, you know,

Scott Benner 1:19:54
I have to say, it's, it's, um, I don't know. I don't know what to say even The other day, I said something, Jenny checked on me because my iron was low. And she she texted me in the middle of the day. And she said, Hey, are you okay? And I said, Yes. And later I said, I appreciate you checking on me. And she said, Well, someone should check on you look at all the people you're helping. And I and I really, honestly, I don't I mean, I don't think of it that way day to day, you know, so day to day, I'm having conversations and editing conversations and putting them up. And sometimes I step back. And I think, like this thing is, it's important for people who use insulin. And I didn't mean for it to be like this. Like, I didn't expect this to happen, but it did. And so now it seems like, it almost seems like a public trust at some points. And

Karen 1:20:49
exactly that exactly. That. And all of us feel that way. Well, that's, you know,

Scott Benner 1:20:55
thank you. There's three reviews. I don't think those people feel that like me at all.

Karen 1:21:03
But you probably never really listened.

Scott Benner 1:21:06
They would like me if they met me. Yeah, that's true. Or my wife would say, we're probably not.

Unknown Speaker 1:21:12
But I just think that

Scott Benner 1:21:16
Listen, I'm not the first person to talk to people who have diabetes, I'm not the first person to say stuff out loud about how they manage, I think I might be the first person who found a way to scale it. Like to really scale it, not just like, you know, I mean, there's some popular blogs out there in the day. But they don't hit numbers like this. And I'm glad for other people who are doing the same thing. But the truth is, best I can tell. You could take all the other podcasts that have to do with diabetes and add them up. And they might not reach as many people as this thing does. So like there's something there's something about, about scale, because scale creates a movement. Right? And it's not something you can see, like I'm pretty much the only one that can feel it because I'm centralized to touching people. But now that the Facebook page is so big, I think if you're in there, you can see it too.

Karen 1:22:12
And it's it's been truly the key for so many people. Yeah, really unlocked all that knowledge, all that all the possibilities, you know, really gave our lives possibilities. Well,

Scott Benner 1:22:25
listen, I'm all of you. I just was another last person who was trying to figure out what to do about diabetes, really, I was just trying to figure it out. And then honestly, I just started talking about a long line because I was trying to raise money for the JDRF. And then it just grew from there. And the focus changed. And then technology changed, which is really, which is really the big benefit of this. I mean, honestly, I think I just got to it first. I mean, I think I'm good at it. But I think I also got to it first.

Karen 1:22:59
I think the availability of having it as a podcast is is really invaluable. And actually, I had never listened to a podcast until I got hearing aids, you know, and then it was like, oh, Dingo books on tape. And podcasts I can listen to right through my hearing aids, you know, and you go everywhere with me, you know, you're always in my back pocket someplace, I'm out the garden, you know?

Scott Benner 1:23:24
Well, now I'm smiling. That's nice cam before you made me cry, now I smile. Well, you're very kind to say that, and I appreciate it very much, and

Karen 1:23:33
makes it easy to get the information, you know, for it to be so available. Cuz I'm gonna be so available.

Scott Benner 1:23:40
I'm delightful. Really? That's what it is. That's true. That's true. Well, listen, Karen, you're you're very nice. I think maybe if I did, if I innovated anything, it was talking about diabetes in a way that was meant to be entertaining. Because no one wants to listen to that. Like, I mean, a dissertation on bolusing. Like, who's gonna sit through that crap? You know what I mean? Like, it just might be it's very important for you. But it's not something that people are going to purposefully be like, Yeah, sure. I'll put five hours into this over five weeks. And then you get the podcast big enough and popular enough. And then here comes the pro tips. And you think I like the other stuff. I'll try this. And then hopefully, the pro tips or even, you know, still entertaining enough that people will go oh, let me try another one and then hear your story or someone else's story. Because I think that's where, if I'm being honest, I think I think most of the benefit comes out of people's stories. Because ABS

Karen 1:24:40
Absolutely because as even for all the years that I've had diabetes, I only recently for the first time met a diabetic in the rat in the wild. No kidding. I'd never knew anybody else that had type one diabetes, you know, something, you know, people say Oh, well, my aunt has Type Two was not the same thing. You know?

Scott Benner 1:25:02
It took like all those never to miss all those years

Karen 1:25:05
never never encountered another person

Unknown Speaker 1:25:08
with type one that you knew about that I

Karen 1:25:10
knew of. Yeah. And I'm just very always out out front with mine, you know. So

Scott Benner 1:25:17
you think you would have you would have met somebody? You I know as long as they were willing to speak up about it. Yeah. Because you were right about it.

Karen 1:25:25
It was crazy. You know, it's like, and so the stories mean everything to me. They're like, my community that I never had. Right, you know? So well,

Scott Benner 1:25:33
I feel the same way. I really do this. But it's, you know, I still take crap from adults who are like you make a podcast, that's what you do. And even sometimes my kids are like, it's hard to tell people what you do. And I was like, I know, don't worry, like, because she's like, did

Karen 1:25:48
you say you're a diabetes consultant?

Scott Benner 1:25:51
Listen, I'm not that because nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered. etc

I want to thank Karen for coming on the show today and sharing her story. I want to thank touched by type one, and remind you to go to touched by type one.org. I'd also like to thank us med us med.com forward slash juice box get your free benefits check today. Prefer the phone that's fine. 888-721-1514 don't forget all you need to do to save 10% On your first month of therapy with better help is to use my link better help.com forward slash juicebox 10% off your first month. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.

#876 Best of Juicebox: Altered Minds

Originally aired on May 28, 2021. Scott and Jenny talk about how high and low BGs impact your ability to think.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends and welcome to episode 876 of the Juicebox Podcast

Hello and welcome back to the best of the Juicebox Podcast. Today, we are revisiting episode 485 altered minds. This is an episode where Jenny Smith and I discuss how high and low blood sugars can impact a person. While you're listening today, please remember that nothing you hear that Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your healthcare plan or becoming bold with insulin. Are you a US resident who has type one or the caregiver of someone with type one, please go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Join the registry complete the survey. When you complete that survey. You are helping type one diabetes research to move forward right from your sofa. You also might be helping out yourself and you're supporting the podcast T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox.

This episode of the podcast is sponsored by cozy earth. Now you can get 35% off your entire order at cozy earth.com Just by using the offer code juicebox at checkout, I'm wearing cozy Earth joggers and a sweatshirt right now these joggers are like the best and our sheets are super duper super, super cool. And silky and soft. Also from cozy Earth cozy earth.com use the offer code juice box to save 35% Hello and welcome to episode 485 of the Juicebox Podcast guest who's on the show today.

Today on the podcast, I'm joined by Jenny Smith. Jenny, of course, is from all the defining diabetes episodes, and the Pro Tip series. And today she's here to talk about how people can be altered in their in their minds when their blood sugars are high or low. Right. So if you're looking for an understanding of what high and low might make someone feel like or could make you feel like this is the episode for you. During this conversation, please remember that nothing you hear on the Juicebox Podcast should be considered advice, medical or otherwise, always consult a physician before making any changes to your health care plan. Were becoming bold with insulin.

Jenny holds a bachelor's degree in Human Nutrition and biology from the University of Wisconsin. She is a registered and licensed dietitian, a certified diabetes educator and a certified trainer I'm most makes and models of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors. One day when I grew up, I hope to be just like Jenny.

The T one D exchange needs 6000 people to join the registry. And I have to keep saying this to you until you do it so that he went to exchanges looking for T one D adults and T one D caregivers who are US residents. They want you to participate in a quick survey that can be completed in just a few minutes from your phone or computer after you finish the questions. And they are very simple. I completed the survey in about seven minutes. You may be contacted annually to update your information. And they may even ask you a couple more questions. But this is 100% Anonymous, it is completely HIPAA compliant, and it does not require you to ever visit a doctor or go to a remote site. See this is interesting. This is a way for you in just a few minutes to help other people living with type one diabetes. past participants have helped bring increased coverage for test trips. Medicare coverage for CGM, and changes in the ADA is guideline for pediatric a one C goals. These are important behind the scenes things that people with type one diabetes need, and you have a unique opportunity to help them. These are not deep probing personal questions. They're pretty simple basic surface diabetes stuff, but they just need the data. Help them AT T one D exchange.org, forward slash juicebox. And at the very least, if 6000 of you go right now, I don't have to say this again, do it for me. I'm kidding, do it for the other people living with type one diabetes. But I mean, if you want to think of me while you're doing it, it's fine. This one's weird. But I will say.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 5:22
I mean, it's it came from somebody

Scott Benner 5:24
came from somebody, but it's not from somebody. But But it made a lot of sense to me when they said it, and then I left it on my list for a long time. And every time I look at the list, I'm like, Yeah, we're gonna have to talk about that. I think so.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 5:38
Hopefully, I have something.

Scott Benner 5:41
So I'm posing this next question to you, Jenny. Because you have diabetes, and you would have, you would have a real feeling for what this is? Maybe? We'll see. We'll see. Hopefully, I think you will. So I hear this from either parents or spouses usually. And it's something we make light of in communities and joke about, like I've said before, to my daughter, you know, when she was little, I'm going to test your blood sugar. And if it's not high or low, you're in trouble. Right? You know, like, because you kind of can't, you can't tell, like, is somebody acting a certain way? Because they're altered? Or are they acting a certain way? Because they're, you know, right, a pain in the ass. So like, you know, which isn't, but that always makes me feel like what is the person with diabetes hearing when they're altered? And so that's what I want to understand. And when I'm we're gonna do both. But let's start with higher blood sugar. So I know there's no Mendoza line that you can point to perfectly. But I will say I've always said in the past that as Arden is active if her blood sugar starts to creep above 161 80, I could see her slow down, her reactions get slower, things like that. We know that people get cloudier. We've talked about on the podcast a million times as you get higher and higher. But what's it like to be in your head? When your blood sugar's higher? Like, like, what if your kids are acting up? Or your husband's being unreasonable? Or you have to make dinner? Like and like, what does that feel like to you?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 7:18
Yeah, I think it to me, it feels one, I'm just annoyed. Right? And it's not annoyance with them. It's annoyance for the number for whatever it is where it is, right. And it can be even worse, if it was like a bad site, right? That now, you know, like, fiddling with for a while to actually get it. And I think then it the mental piece of that then comes when you're trying to manage this number that you're not happy with. And somebody interrupts that train of thought and that interrupt by, they're not like doing it intentionally to ask you, you know, can we have applesauce for dinner mom, you know, like, it's just a piece in the mix. So I think mine is more like, it's just a mental struggle at that point. And I do also tend to, I get kind of headachy. Okay, not so much when I have lows, but more. So when I am higher, it's that like, mental, that foggy kind of piece. And it makes me feel headachy not the kind that's like a throbbing, but it's like that cloudy kind of headache that you get. And again, that's just an irritating factor in and of itself, too.

Scott Benner 8:40
So there's a mechanical portion of it where it is, you know, for whatever reason, either you, maybe you missed on a Bolus, or you said your site went wrong or something. So there's, there's a mechanical piece like I need to fix this thing, which becomes irritating as it would to any person like, like, if I walked into a doorframe, I'd be like, I cannot believe I just walked into a doorframe like that. So you've got that going on. And then you have the actual act of having to fix it. And then you're focused on that someone else comes in so this is still all mechanical like but then the headache happens. And that's not something like a like a like a warning light on your palm doesn't go off and say Jenny's got a headache now, right? So when a five year old comes at you, you you can't say to yourself, I'm I feel the pain in my head that I'm not even aware of yet. I'm going to react it you don't have like, that's not how thinking works. So then you're just level of irritation is, does it? Here's how I Here's one. Here's how my wife puts it. Around her period. She'll tell me I'm not being unreasonable. I just have less space for bullshit is how she puts

Jennifer Smith, CDE 9:52
it. That's really great.

Scott Benner 9:56
I don't I think she's covering for herself but I understand Have the intent of what she's saying. So there's a, there's a ceiling in people before they get upset, right. And there's all kinds of, of outside irritants that can limit that ceiling. But just your blood sugar being higher physically, can take away from your ability to, to abide both, basically, I guess, correct.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 10:21
And, you know, from my standpoint to, you know, with the work that I do, and all of the data management that I do and interpreting things for people, I mean, the majority of my management is just because they want to be healthy, right? But the other piece of it is, it also leads into my work. Can I get worked on really well, if I'm sitting really high, or if I'm sitting really low, my brain isn't functioning well on either level. So that management piece is always also there to benefit. I'm not typing out a message that's like, you know, I don't know why you're blessed.

Scott Benner 11:02
Mary, why don't you just figure it out yourself? I paid this lady helped me with my blood sugar. And she yelled at me. Yeah, that wouldn't be great. No, but I want people to understand that whether and I think they do. But if I do, I think they do understand that a higher blood sugar could be an issue. But the problem is, again, that you don't walk around as a person with diabetes with your blood sugar across your forehead. So when I come up to you, you're just Jenny to me. I don't know if your blood sugar's to 20. And you have a headache. And so how, what I guess what should those people be looking for? So that they can back up and go, Oh, you know what, this could be that because even if I understand that your budget, say I come up to you, you react oddly. And I immediately understand that your blood sugar that's high. If I say to you, oh, your blood sugar is high. I'm sorry. That's just gonna make it worse. Right? That's the, that's the diabetes equivalent of me saying, Oh, you have your period. I won't bring up the car payment right now. Right. Okay. Okay. Yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 12:02
Yeah, kinda. And I think it does bring up a good. A good point, though, especially for I think this goes more for adults who have a spouse or a significant other or partner or whatever. Because like, Nathan, he follows he's got Dexcom follow, you know, if Scott my stuff, but I mean, he doesn't keep it open and follow me all day, he's got the alarm set, and all of that for like, high and low. But other than that, I mean, he just, he likes me alone, honestly, which I'm very thankful for, I'd say to counting carbs for me if he's like done dinner or something, you know, which is awesome. But in that regard, I think it also means that as the person with diabetes, you kind of also have to share more at times. Because as I do more often with my kids, I share with them, you know, this is what I feel like right now and go color in your coloring book for like 10 minutes while Mommy changes her bad pod, or whatever it is? No, but I think it means that you have to express a little bit in order to decrease the chance that somebody's going to interpret your reaction to something in the wrong way. Because certainly, I mean, that's happened in the married a long time. And there's definitely been like blood sugar reasons for reactions that didn't really come out as response that I meant it to come out kind of sounding like. So I think sometimes you have to be open enough to be able to say, hey, you know, I need this, like, 15 minutes to manage around this, come back and like, ask me in a bit,

Scott Benner 13:42
but that could come out as I wish I would have dated your brother instead. There you go. So I have a little context around this, which I've mentioned often on the podcast over like the last year or so. And it's just that my, my iron level got really low. And I completely understand what you're saying, like saying words, not having the intention behind them that the words have and also not being able to see that it's happening. Like that's the interesting thing, like when you're saying something to somebody, even if it's a tone, you know, just the wrong tone. And you don't know what's the wrong tone while you're saying it. Like when you're being sarcastic with somebody when you're you know, when you're in an argument you're like, I'm gonna ramp this up right now, you're aware you're going to do like, I'm going to say something now that's going to make you upset, but it's happening. And not only do you not know what's happening, but you don't think it's happening. And that's the that's the real fascinating part like is that you're doing this it feels like it's you're doing it but it's just that there's a level of a, a trace element or something in your body. For me it was iron, you know, for you, it's going to be not enough insulin, and you're just you're not yourself and it's It's tough because you're asking you're getting you're an adult who's Ultra aware of their blood sugar's like you really like you're, you know, you do an amazing job for yourself. So maybe you can see it. We're all trying, right one way or the other. But my point is that maybe you've been able to teach yourself over time to go my numbers up, like I won't get involved in an important conversation right now, where I'll send my kids off the collar for a second so that I don't tell them I wish I didn't have children. But but you know, when your kids 16, or you're 24, and you've had diabetes for a year and a half, and you're at work, like you don't, you're not gonna see that common like that.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:42
No. And mine's more so in terms of like, like, spit out of things that I don't even know that I've like said the way that I've said is more so even when I'm low,

Scott Benner 15:53
honestly, let's switch to that idea. Now.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 15:57
It's, there's much more like the it's like a fragment of like thought in your brain. You're trying to manage how you're feeling with this low while you're probably waiting for the low to not be low anymore. And in that come the things of life. I mean, unless you're a single person and not interacting with kids or adults or other people around you. There's always someone you're interacting with. And that interaction, then in that time period where your brain isn't really firing all. Wait, it doesn't you don't interpret it coming out in sort of the jagged way that it does. And then aftermath is often Well, I'm really sorry, or, you know, I didn't mean that, or, I've Well, I felt like crap. Does he bother to me?

Scott Benner 16:49
Does it feel like that afterwards, like after it's over, and you're okay. Do you have the guilt that you did something wrong? Because it's not true? Right, you know,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 17:02
right. I mean, only in the scenario that, you know, we may have been potentially discussing something or whatnot. And that was the case during that discussion. Yeah. I mean, that obviously, every time by any means, do I feel bad about, you know, yeah. But yeah, it's a hard, it's a hard thing. And sometimes even with lows, I think that I will have responded to something. And it's been in my head that I've actually and my husband will be like, Did you hear what I asked you? And I'll be like, I told you, whatever. And he's like, No, it really didn't say it out loud. It just like that muddiness that I've, I think commented about before when I feel like I'm like, sort of like

Scott Benner 17:50
that's the real low there's a slide in there there in the beginning, right and numbers wise, doesn't really matter. But you know, if you're the way I think of it with Arden is maybe between I would say it's 65. Artem maintains herself. Hey, Dad, I feel dizzy. You know, like, she's just like that. She's a little kind of jokey about it right there. It's almost like you could be like, Hey, let's not do anything and see if you die. And she'd be like, okay.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 18:16
Yeah, that level, but it's Yeah, right. She's

Scott Benner 18:19
elated for some reason, right there, okay. And then it goes down, and her energy drops away. But if you were to catch her there, if somehow she got past the elated part into that part, and that's where you first intersected her, she'd be snappy, like, Loreal, short and nasty, right? And then I think after the nasty is what you were just talking about where the last, the last fragments or thoughts are, right? Yeah. Okay. It's almost like a and then there's, you know, falling over and not being able to help yourself. But as it's happening, are you able to consciously think, hey, my brain is trying to shut off and I'm the only one who's going to stop it. Right? Or does it turn into just a physical like, eat something feeling?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 19:06
I think it's probably a little bit of both. I mean, in my, I can't remember a specific time. Soon after my first was born, we had gone I think it was too cold to actually and I was standing in, and I was nursing IVs at that point. So all the fluxes that can kind of come with blood sugar and whatnot, mostly like lows and my husband had gone off looking for something in like the men's department and I was standing like, in the toy department. We were looking for something specific for our little guy. And I can remember feeling low, and like, you can determine like those dropping lows. I was dropping, and so I sat down with my baby on the floor. And I get out you know, my glucose tablets and I'm eating my glucose tablets and I I had my husband found me. I mean, I was fine. But I was sitting there just like waiting for the load to fix itself, because I knew that I had taken care of it. But in that I had also gotten my phone out. And I was texting him to come to the kids department, right? Because I was low, only I never hit send. Okay, I was just like, that's kind of that like, broken, like thought kind of that can happen.

Scott Benner 20:28
Wow. Do you ever get in a moment like that? Is? Are you cognizant enough to think don't fall forward on the baby? Like, do you have like, do you have those feelings? Like all

Jennifer Smith, CDE 20:38
the reason that I sat down? I mean, from my back thought to what I was doing, I would have thought, you know, I need to sit down. I've got a baby who clearly can't stand on his own yet, you know, I mean, it was I think he was probably like six months old or something. And it's a sit down, treat your low blood sugar. I mean, I've always been able to treat so I've never had an issue with not being able to help myself. Outside of like, when I was a teen with my parents. So yeah, but it's, it is I mean, in those instances, sometimes there's not enough to like even like, be angry, you just can't even communicate quite right.

Scott Benner 21:15
It's interesting. It's super interesting to me the way that first of all, the way your body handles a falling blood sugar, it's, it's when you start losing faculties, you're it's your body shutting down, it's basically services. It's like, oh, we don't need that one, like and it just, it just, it has this finite amount of sugar in your blood. And its goal is to keep your brain running. Correct, right. And so it starts shutting me out, stop, right, stop sending sugar to this idea. And this idea. So you're like, going down, and it's your body going like, it really is, it's like, let's try to see how long we can stay alive until something intervenes. But you describe the the actual actions you take very similarly. Like, alright, like, Okay, I'm not okay, I'll sit down, I'll start taking these things. That's more important than telling someone right now, it's important to tell, like you're doing the same thing. You're making these like,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:11
it's just that you're not like, consciously. It's almost like your brain like those, like files in the back that were like, do this now. They take over, even though you're not really like, consciously aware that you're like sitting down and like drinking your juice box, or whatever it is, you do it because it's a habit. And you know that that's what you need to do with the symptom?

Scott Benner 22:36
Would you looking back on a scenario like that, if that if the Jeeva hypo pen existed, then would you being with your baby, would that have been enough for you to be like, I'm not going to take tablets, I'm going to hit myself with glucagon. Or no, you still would have handled it that way.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 22:54
You know, possibly, with, with what I remember about that being such a quick drop in my blood sugar, I mean, it's not like we're running around the story. It's just like, I'd probably nurse before we went in the store to keep him happy. And like, there was enough to feed into the store. But I mean, maybe I mean, I certainly have got like an extra back cine that I typically take out, especially when we're like traipsing around the neighborhood to the parks, and whatever. I mean, my eight year old knows about it. So possibly, I might have done that.

Scott Benner 23:33
Just because me with the back shimmy, and like the G vote now being like ready to go. But prior to that I only ever thought of glucagon is like, you passed out and somebody came upon you and gave it to you. Like that's how it felt. But now all of a sudden, like it's there, and it's easy to use. And like, I wondered about that, like how you would think about it?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 23:53
Yeah, yeah, you could, I mean, it's certainly not a bad thought by any means. Especially I've worked with a couple of women post well through pregnancy and then postpartum who have had spouses who've been military. And so they have after a certain amount of time, postpartum, you know, their spouse goes back, you know, might be deployed again, someplace completely away from where they are, they're pretty much on their own. With a baby, they might have the support of friends or family coming in once in a while, but that's not at two o'clock in the morning. So you know, in a case like that, where you're dropping a really low and you're really worried about it not sure. That's what a product like that is therefore it's also the benefit potentially, of, you know, like mini dosing that age old red Lily glucagon.

Scott Benner 24:42
So, here's the question then, because I came at this from the idea of the people who are going to interact with a person who's either too high or too low. I have to be honest, when Arden in the past has been too low, where she's refusing, I just go with like a forceful Because I think like, I tried talking or like, you know, I've gone with the Come on sweetie drink it, it's really important like that stuff that doesn't go it's almost like you're not talking to the complete her know, you know and so you just you make these declarative forceful statements, drink the juice, drink it, drink the juice, drink the juice drinks, and I'm talking like I remember I know people say to me all the time, you know, you must know what it's like to raise a little kid with diabetes back before all the technology and I don't talk about it very much, but it's really bad. And so you know, like back before CGM and all that. There's, it's three o'clock in the morning. You're there with a six year old and you're like, alright, and drink the juice, like drink the goddamn juice right now, you know, and because there also was no CGM, like at some point. So what's happening? Yeah, I'm like, you know, and you don't, you're not yelling, you're gonna die. But you're, it's how it feels in your head when you're talking to them. And I think that's much easier to figure out with a low blood sugar, right? Like, that's obvious to people, but it's the, it's always the high ones that make me I feel badly, like, I feel badly when I hear I've used this example over and over again, but it sticks with me, like right in the center of my heart so much that a woman found the podcast, it helped her daughter. And when she sent me a note, months later, to thank me, she said, I really just thought my daughter was a bitch her words, and that we weren't going to get along for our whole life. And it turns out, my daughter is a lovely person. And I didn't know because her blood sugar was always high. And that makes me want to cry. And, you know, and, and the, the idea that that could happen, either at the beginning, right? Like, you'll hear people say, Oh, I didn't realize, you know, that this stuff happened, or I helped somebody recently, with a baby, a young kid who has autism. And at the end of talking, I said, Hey, you might see a difference in, you know, just how to validate personality and stuff. And that person was so sure that that wasn't going to happen. And then three days later said to me, you know, he is happier. And I said, Yeah, like you don't, you don't know. And then that's a sad situation, because then the the poor kid couldn't tell, you know, could isn't verbal to begin with very much. And but I just think about that for everybody else, if you're running around with blood sugars that are 170, all the time your body gets used to it. So physically, you think you're okay, but you're not like you're not the person, you were going to be right without diabetes, you know. And so there's just what

Jennifer Smith, CDE 27:40
even from a mental standpoint to even from performance, right? You may not be, you may not be putting out everything you possibly could putting things together, whether it's in school, or college or job or whatever. Because your brain is really not working at the level of glucose that is healthy for it to work at

Scott Benner 28:06
this conversation is at the core, why I initially years ago, brusque, so hard at the idea of better high than low. I was like, I don't think that's right. You know, you know, like, I think that that that does not seem right to me, I've known people who through a lifetime, we're not who they were supposed to be, I just know it. And if you lose your you know, it's it. Every day you lose is gone, every hour you lose is gone. And days turn into months that turn into years. And before you know what people just think you're a prick. And you know, and that's just not,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 28:40
you may not be at all. Yeah, maybe with

Scott Benner 28:43
another two units of basil all day long, you would have been an absolutely delightful person and that, and, and then I think about the people on the other side who have to deal with you who love you. And then think, Oh, I love a guy who's just a jerk, but maybe isn't, or you know, vice versa, or your kids or I don't know, I just I want people to be very aware that outside of a normal range, that the lack of or addition of sugar in your blood is having a real big impact on your personality and your ability to live and make decisions and everything right?

Jennifer Smith, CDE 29:16
I mean, I've even had parents who who've asked me, you know, how do you? How do you discipline your child with diabetes? When you're like, do you always refer back to the blood sugar to begin with? Or, you know, do you just discipline them as if they don't have diabetes? And quite honestly, think if they require discipline, because they threw the stone through the front window? Because they were aiming and wanted to do it? I mean, really, unless their blood sugar's like 12 really low or really high. Obviously, that was that was like a decision on their part. They deserve to be punished right away that

Scott Benner 29:56
if your blood sugar's 150, and you're breaking windows You're just a gift. Yeah, but, but But I mean, but if your blood sugar has been to 20 for your whole life, and you can't do well in math, it might not be because you're not good at math. Right? And you got to make that decision. Yeah, I mean, listen, I There are times, there's been one or two times that Arden has been so low, that she has said horrible things to me. And I just, I bear down and I think that's the blood sugar, and I just let it go. But you really have to be ready for it like because it's hard not to react. You know, I mean, Jenny, I'll bleep this out later. But when an eight year old calls you and you're like, Whoa, hold on. Please drink the juice. I wasn't looking for this I didn't recognize. And you know what, I've heard adults talk about it too, in a marriage situation where one person is physically stronger than the other person. And you know, can get low and then get, you know, violent, like, not on purpose, right. And now you're in a much different situation. Yeah,

Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:09
I actually had that when I was working in DC, a couple, an older couple had actually come in to our diabetes clinic. And the man was complaining, he's like, sometimes I'm scared. I think she had gone to the bathroom or something. And then we were just chatting. And I think it was on the topic of like, hypose. And he brought up he's like, sometimes I'm kind of scared of her. He's like, one day she threw a coffee cup. Okay, well, that wasn't really your wife. That was a low blood sugar.

Scott Benner 31:42
So I will tell you for blood sugars every 95 and she throws something at you. I don't think she likes you.

Jennifer Smith, CDE 31:48
Then there was something you did really nasty to her. So

Scott Benner 31:51
that's okay. I appreciate you talking about that was really good.

Could you just not talk to Jenny every day, I know I could. I wish I could actually just doesn't work out like that. Anyway, Jenny does this for a living it integrated diabetes.com. And you can check her out there. There's a link in the show notes. What comes next is about the T one D exchange. If you heard it in the last episode with Johnny, and you haven't done it, let's get to it. But if you haven't, the T one D exchange needs your help. And the help they need is super simple to give. You just go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. That's my link, use that link. And then when you get there, click on Join our registering now. And after that you complete this simple, quick survey. It's for US residents only. But it's so easy. Like right now, if you did it right now look at your watch. Or you probably don't have the watch to pick up your phone, touch the face of it. If you did it right now, you'd be done in less than 10 minutes. It took me three hours to bring you this episode. And this is all I'm asking in return. T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. I mean, seriously, I had to book Jenny, record the thing. Edit it. I mean, you notice how there's no like pops and clicks and noises and nothing distracting while you're listening. You're welcome. That was me. Scott. click click click with the mouse. They fix the whole thing for you. hours it took like you're just like, oh, it was a quick 25 minute episode. It was nice. God said insulins important. Bah, bah, no, no, there's more than that. It's deep. It's deep. It's building a narrative in your life about type one diabetes, giving you the tools and the access to information for the free. And all I ask is that you go to T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. I only need 6000 of you to do it. I mean, there were hundreds of 1000s of downloads last month. I just need six of you. And I'm saying of the hundreds of 1000s of downloads. I need 6000 I'm tired of saying it too. I know you're tired of hearing it. I'm tired of saying it. But I mean at some point one of us has got to pick up the mantle and do their part. I can only do this I filled out the survey is easy. Alright, I'm gonna stop I apologize. That was I that was too much. Too much. I should just say T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. You need to be a US resident who has type one or is the caregiver of someone with type one. Please go fill it out if you have the chance. I mean that's that's how I should say it. But I mean, come on. This podcast is amazing. And it's free. Free and what do I say to you? You know if you want to try out an omni pod, go to omnipod.com Ford slash juice box I say if you want to check out a Dexcom go to dexcom.com forward slash use box I say you want to get a great meter contour next.com forward slash juice box I say hey, my daughter's got this G voc hypo pen you should check it out. That's it. I mean, you don't have to check it out. I'm not telling you to buy an AMI. But it's not like if you don't buy an AMI pod, you're not allowed to listen anymore. I'm just saying if you're going to go check it out, but this T one D exchange thing. I mean, you're on the internet constantly. I see the people in my life. I know you don't put the phone down. And I'm not judging you. I'm just saying why you're doing it. You don't I mean, P one, D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Help a guy out a little bit. Don't make me beg you. It's embarrassing. I'll tell you what, if the T one D exchange contacts me at the end of the month, next month at the end of June and says we've added 1000 new people to the registry. Thanks to you. If they say that, what will I do? I will do an online talk about using insulin. Once a week, in July, once a week. Okay, I'll come on. I'll do it on Zoom. It'll be free, obviously, because you helped me out with the D one D exchange thing. And I will answer everyone's questions as long as I can. If we reach 1000. Now if we reach 1500, I'll get Jenny on one of those calls. If you do 2000 I'll do the call. Right? Every day every what I say every week in July. Jenny wants and what else will I do? I'll do something else. That's cool. I don't know what yet, but trust me, I'll come through T one D exchange.org. Forward slash juicebox. Use the link complete the survey. That's it

I hope you enjoyed this best of episode altered minds. It's a personal favorite of mine. Would you like to save 35% on this sweatshirt that I'm wearing here? Are these silky joggers? Am I rubbing my legs while I'm saying it? I'm not gonna tell you because it sounds creepy, but they're super soft, cozy earth.com Save 35% at checkout with the offer code juice box. And of course you can get 10% off your first month of therapy@betterhelp.com forward slash juice box just by going through that link. It's all you have to do. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. If you enjoyed this conversation and you're not in my private Facebook group, it's absolutely free and I think you would love it Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes on Facebook private group 35,000 Plus members. That's over 35,000 members, tons of conversations, opinions, perspectives, and great conversation absolutely free. Go check it out.