Scott Benner 5/17/23 Scott Benner 5/17/23

#913 The 5-4-3-2-1 Method

Erika Forsyth is an LMFT who has type 1 diabetes. She and Scott discuss the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique.

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Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 913 of the Juicebox Podcast

Erica Forsythe is back and today she and I are going to speak about the 54321 grounding technique. I know you've never heard of it before, and you're like, sounds like counseling, Scott. But there's little more to it. While you're listening today, 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 healthcare plan, or becoming bold with insulin. At the end of this, if you find yourself saying I loved Erica, I want more you could make an appointment with her at Erica foresight.com. Erica serves a number of states right now. Virtually virtually that's the word right. California, Oregon, Utah and Florida. And she's in California if you'd like to meet her in person, Erica forsyth.com. How would you like super comfy sheets soft and luxurious? And how would you like to pay 35% less for them than other people Bay. You can do that at cozy earth.com When you use the offer code juice box at checkout. That's right, the word juice box at checkout saves you 35% This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the company where my daughter gets her Dex comment on the pod supplies from and you can get that and more from us med us med.com forward slash juice box that's how you get started. You go to the link or you call them at 888-721-1514 us med let me just give you a taste a tease right. US med carries everything from insulin pumps and diabetes testing supplies. The latest CGM is from freestyle, and Dexcom. They also have Omnipod, five Omnipod dash control IQ. That's the tandem stuff. They have so much at us. med.com forward slash Juicebox Podcast is also sponsored today, by better help. Now if you can't get to Erica, but you still want to visit a therapist, check out my link better help.com forward slash juice box, you can save 10% On your first month of therapy when you go to that link. Hierarchy. Welcome back.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 2:36
Hey, thank you.

Scott Benner 2:37
I have you here today. Because well, let me tell you why. You've mentioned something to me before about coping grounding techniques for anxiety. I remember you saying it to me. And you just we glossed over very briefly. And very recently, a famous person who I've been following my whole life had what they described as a breakdown. And that they went to get help. And that one of the things at the therapy that that they sought out that was incredibly helpful is something called the 54321 coping technique. You call it that Do you have a word or name for it?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 3:23
I can't grounding technique.

Scott Benner 3:25
Okay. I want to just, I don't imagine I'm going to get to talk very much in this, but I'd like you to explain what it is. Talk about the steps of it, and then maybe give me some examples of how to use it in real life.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 3:39
Okay. So the grounding technique, there can be you can utilize all five of your senses. Sometimes I also teach my clients just the three to one technique, which I will explain. So grounding, what that actually means is bringing your mind and body and your senses to the present moment. This Do you want me to review it? What it is first? Or why? Why might be helpful?

Scott Benner 4:12
I think I think why? How do you get into that situation? Because what it makes me feel like is that you become a little disconnected from reality. Like maybe you get lost in a in a feeling or a thought or a problem, right? And it's almost like, in my head, it feels like it feels like the visually like if you've ever seen in a movie, somebody's getting sucked out of a dream. Like they're having a dream and then all of a sudden, they they suck them back to where they are. It's almost like to me it's that feeling of I'm away in this dream in this other place and I can't get back to me. Yes. Is that okay? Yes,

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 4:48
yes. So I would I would encourage someone to use this technique when they are feeling like people describe it as they're spiraling right there. mind their thoughts are racing, they feel like they can't control the experience they're having whether it's physiologically like your heart is racing, you're maybe even feeling like you're spinning a little bit. And your thoughts are just, you're perseverating on something, usually, it's about anticipatory fear, something that you're worried about in the future. But it can also be something that's happening currently. Or it could be something that happened in the past, and you feel like you cannot get yourself out of that moment and added the feeling. And it feels really scary and overwhelming, that often can also, this experience can be connected to having a panic attack, where you, which are very, it's very scary, and other people describe it as feeling like they might, it's as if they're dying, right, that their their heart is racing, they can't catch their breath. The the grounding technique can be difficult to utilize once you're experiencing a full panic attack. So this would be something that it can't be done, but it's really, really challenging. So this is kind of when you're in the space of your, you know that your mind is just going going going going and your heart is racing, and you can't feel like you can't make it stop. So what you want to do, so the grounding technique, again, you can call with your ball, five senses, or three is bringing yourself to the present moment. And sometimes even before, using the grounding technique, it's helpful to kind of check in with your breathing. So two different ways to do that one is just placing your hand on your heart. And you're just kind of getting in touch with your body and you might feel your heart racing, you might feel it slowing down, you're just kind of letting your body know that you're here like you were with your body. Because sometimes people describe when they're feeling panicky is that's the you know, the out of body experience. So you're connecting your hand to your heart and connecting with your body. Another way and this kind of goes with the 54321 technique is holding up one hand and you're tracing the other hand, you're tracing one finger on the other hand, up and down the finger, your fingers, it's might be hard to do without seeing it,

Scott Benner 7:15
I used to, I used to do this when I was a kid, I started my wrist and go around my thumb and then around my pointer finger and then just keep going around the edge of your hand like that.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 7:23
Thank you Yes, and then you're inhaling as your as your pointer finger is going up one finger, your thumb, and then you're exhaling, going down. I encourage people to try these breathing and you kind of go through up and down each finger inhaling as slow as you can, and then exhaling as your pointer finger goes up and down each digit to just kind of slow your mind and body down before you do the grounding exercise. There's really no right or wrong way to do it. But sometimes people will tell me, and I know it can be really challenging to be in this headspace of, of panic and say, I'm going to do my grounding technique. It's hard to jump into that. So the breathing exercises kind of helped slow everything down. Okay. Okay. So the 54321. The first one is, look, you're looking in your realm, wherever you are, you could be at the grocery store, and having this experience, you could be driving in your car, you could be at your office, you could be at your child's school, wherever you are, you're looking around in your physical space and identifying five things that you can see. Now what this experience does, is it It forces you to stop thinking about whatever you're thinking, because you're then having to look and identify, Okay, I see this book, I see the layout, I see the desk, and you kind of want to it takes time, but you kind of want it as slow as possible. You don't want to be like okay, see, boom, boom, boom, and blah, blah, blah, next. But again, that's it. So kind of look around and taking it okay, see five things. The next one, and oftentimes it gets confusing of like, which sense do I do? 54321? It doesn't really matter.

Scott Benner 9:10
Yeah, just an hour. I want to get back to what you said. It doesn't really matter what census but but in the, in the idea of like, five things that I see around me. It's, it's not like I see five pieces of paper and I'm done. But do I say it out loud? Do I see I see a pack of paper. I see a camera like, am I saying it out loud? Or am I saying it in my head? Or does that not matter?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 9:36
Um, I think it probably depends on your comfort level. If you're alone, it could be helpful to probably say it out loud and then define it like okay, I see the tissue box and it's rectangle and there's orange and yellow and blue print on it. You could say it out loud if you're in a public place and you prefer not to it's okay. Okay, okay. Yeah. But yeah, try as I said, you know, going doubt around the objects slowly identifying them if you can, describing them out loud or in your head, right? So, just you're just slow. You're bringing your mind and body and now first, your vision to what's in front of you. Okay, the next one is for things you can touch. And that's not just like, you know, again, I see my smooth laptop, you're gonna feel it. And you're gonna think to yourself, Okay, this is kind of rough. I can feel my fingertips going back and forth over it. And then the next thing, okay, oh, this is really smooth. The mousepad is smooth, and it's pink and purple, you know, whatever. The next one, three things you can hear. This is quieting, you know, you're you're using all of your senses to quiet your mind and quiet your body. And so you're listening. And this may take some time. It could be you hear your heartbeat. It could be I can hear myself

Scott Benner 10:59
breathing. I can hear. You can hear silence even if you get quiet enough like that. You can hear the room, which is silence. I don't know if that makes sense to people. I wear a lot of headphones. So I think of it that way. But I can hear nothing. If that makes sense. Yes, right. Stillness. Yeah. Okay. All right. So like that five things that I see. I see my I see my microphone. It's on a stand. It's got a long cable on it, like take a minute to describe it. If I already decided to touch that microphone. It's metal on one side and cold and smooth. On the other side. There's a foam cover the foam covers rough and it's porous and to actually touch while I'm thinking three things. Three things that I can hear is an idea of how to get quiet and then really listen. So you're just calming yourself down really right you're grounding yourself. I mean I know that's what we're talking about. But that's it's really fascinating before we get to the next thing where does this come from? Like where did this idea originate?

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Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 14:18
Do you know of grounding technique I imagine it's connected to you know an Eastern philosophy of you know mindfulness being present in the moment I couldn't tell you exactly who created it or where it originated but I imagine it's you know getting to that place of the practicing the art of mindfulness stillness being present with your body. Have you discovered who created it

Scott Benner 14:45
here the National Institute of Health says was first developed by Lowen one one the Madonna of psychotherapist apparently only get one name 1958 between 1958 1979 Oh, one was one of the first body psycho therapists. Okay.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 15:04
Okay, well, thank you. We give him give low end credit him or her? Yes, thank you.

Scott Benner 15:11
I'm usually the one that just calls. Okay? Okay, so number two, okay.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 15:20
So then two things you can smell. And again, you know, taking your time and this is, it could be your own, you know, something that's in the air, your body, your perfume, your, you know, whatever, whatever is feeling that maybe you don't even have candles or if you if you don't have anything that you can smell, you could light a candle at you know, do if you have the oils, something if

Scott Benner 15:48
it just shows your shirt, right? You probably smell your own hair like anything.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 15:52
Yes, yes. Anything. And then one thing you can taste, which is this is tricky. And this is why I go over the three to one. You know, sometimes people get caught up and like, well, what if I don't have like a strawberry in front of me, but it could be also just tasting and being mindful of what is the flavor in your mouth. It could be leftover breakfast flavor, it could be your coffee, you know, that you've had? It doesn't have to be something that you are actually tasting in the moment. But just kind of going back to being mindful. Like what did I have this morning might be your toothpaste, right or your mouthwash that you're tasting in your mouth?

Scott Benner 16:27
I don't need to lick my desk when I get up. That's correct. Right. Right. Right. And by the way, how proud is everyone of me that I didn't say that you could smell what the rock is cooking. Because that did pop into my head. I've never watched wrestling in my life, and it still came to me. So so the taste thing am I actually looking, but my first thought is to put something in my mouth and taste it.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 16:54
If that's if you had happened to have something, or maybe you have your coffee or your tea, or you have food in front of you or a snack, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that it can be something like there's a residual taste in your mouth typically,

Scott Benner 17:07
how long? Do you think the 54321 process takes a person? If they go through it mindfully this or not? Uh, this?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 17:17
That's a tough? Yeah, I don't I think it can be, it probably depends on as you as you practice, it will probably take longer over time. I mean, you could probably do it in as quick as like, a minute or two. But I don't know if that that might not be as effective. So maybe if you could stretch it out even over five minutes, 10 minutes, I think would be a challenge, but could be done.

Scott Benner 17:40
Okay. So be seated standing doesn't matter. Do you think?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 17:45
So these are good questions. I think a lot of times people associate grounding with you know, going outside barefoot and grounding your feet on the grass on the ground and really connecting your body to the earth. You can do that in that process. But I also really want to encourage people that you don't have to be in a special position or environment or place to practice this. So whatever I would say whatever makes you feel most comfortable and focused on the exercise, but if it just means you're at you're sitting in your car at the stoplight, you can do it quickly. Right. And oftentimes, the clients will get it's confusing to think, okay, 54321 What sense am I supposed to say am I supposed to touch five things, I supposed to see three things. And so sometimes it just to remember, three to one, which is if you if you maybe if you're at a stoplight, and you only have a few minutes, a minute, three things that you can see two things, two things that you can touch. And one thing that you can hear that eliminates the smell and that tastes but sometimes that isn't as easy to do. And again, really, I don't find maybe in the literature, it is important to do it in that order. But I think really the the emphasis is grounding yourself to the present moment and interrupting the Thought Cycle and then calming your body physiologically as well through the process.

Scott Benner 19:16
So the first time I heard anything about this was from you. When I was explaining leaving my son for the first time in Atlanta, and that it occurred to me that I should call my brother and talk to somebody and you said, Oh, that you are grounding yourself. And I was like, Oh, I didn't know I was doing that. But it does make sense like, and then it's distracting. The conversation is distracting then even though like we talked about what was happening, even saying it out loud makes you realize like, oh, it's not as bad as I thought it was when it was when it started to happen. I don't if that makes sense or not like almost talking it out loud is helpful.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 19:57
Yes, and I think you were also do doing that while you were driving. So you had to be you had to be kind of mindful in the moment as well of driving, bringing you were in the present moment. And grounding yourself can look like yes, you were you were talking to him and talk me through what happened. And then also thinking about what was next.

Scott Benner 20:23
Yeah. I have to say I also find the work of a guy named John Sarno around back pain to be really valuable. And one of the things that I've always taken away from his books that I read years ago the that the idea of that you can tell yourself like, I'm not injured, like yeah, my back hurts, but I'm not injured. I don't have a physical injury didn't fall. I wasn't hit by a car like something's not structurally wrong with me. Yes, I'm feeling pain right now. But I'm not hurt. I'm okay. My back's okay. Like, I used to tell myself that, and it was actually incredibly valuable. So it mean, to the point where I would say that, that the stress could kind of exasperate the, the pain, like so you have the pain, and then you get stiff? And then you start worrying, like, am I going to be able to go up for work tomorrow, and like, you sort of spiral, I guess, same thing we're talking about. And then I would just tell myself, and I would say it out loud, if I, if I had the opportunity to I'm not hurt, my back is not injured. This is okay. And it would actually help. So,

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 21:31
yes, I mean, that's really effective, you know, with people with chronic pain, right to there's the pain that you experience. And then there's the thought process that goes alongside it that can contribute to even more pain, emotionally, or sometimes even physically. And that's, that's a great exercise of there is the pain, you're not like ignoring it, diminishing it. But the thought process as a result of that you're separating the two, you're not connecting them.

Scott Benner 22:01
Is there a world where I would ground? prophylactically? I'm sorry? Is that a word people know? It I'm sorry. Just for context, it means like something I would do ahead of time so that the thing never happens, like, can I ground myself before I become, like, upset.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 22:20
So like, free, like a pretty meditation,

Scott Benner 22:24
right to do something. We're just talking about meditating at

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 22:27
that point. So front to front load. I mean, I think anything you do that you practice, even when it's not in the crisis moment, it's going to be easier to implement in that crisis moment, or in those stages of panic. So if your mind and body is accustomed to grounding yourself, which could look like meditation, which could look like various, you know, different practices. If you know how to do that, instinctively, it'll just be easier to do. And, you know, post, right, right, when the moment when you feel like you really need it. Yeah. When is that beneficial? i Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Benner 23:10
I guess anything that works for you is beneficial, but like, it just occurred to me like, I wonder if it like is becoming disconnected? A thing that happens, like at the snap of a finger? Or is it something that maybe happens throughout the day? And you don't recognize it until you know, you're you've slipped over the slope at that point?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 23:29
That's a That's a great question. I think part of the initial process that when you're becoming a is having that awareness that you are cycling, or spiraling, or per separating, and you're experiencing the anxious symptoms, because oftentimes, you might not even realize you're doing it until you are at that place of having the panic attack or feeling like you cannot function, whether it's momentarily or seasonally. And so, one of the first steps, you know, is to increase that self awareness of like, Oh, I'm doing that thing where I'm, I keep saying I'm using what if, you know, worst case scenario thinking? This is kind of going back to some of the you know, that the cognitive distortions or the lies or the worst case scenario thinking, becoming aware that you're doing that is is really the first step, and then being kind to yourself in that moment. You say, Oh, gosh, I'm doing I'm doing that thing again. Gosh, this is because I'm feeling really nervous about this upcoming event, right? I'm feeling really nervous about letting my child go to school. Okay, I am. So you're being kind of kind to yourself, being aware and being kind to yourself, helps kind of lead you to the end to the next step of whether it's the you know, the deep breathing exercises are the grounding technique.

Scott Benner 24:51
And do you like from your perspective, obviously, this is something I should I should be asking you. This is something you use with people who see you.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 24:58
Yes, yeah, yeah. So we've talked about this all the time

Scott Benner 25:01
do people report back with with success? Normally?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 25:06
Yes. And I think it can be successful. But the common issue is that it does take practice, right? So it, it's hard to go from the state of panic to Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm feeling panicky, I'm gonna go do my grounding technique. It's really hard, right? And so it does take that practice. And that's why we kind of we break it down into what are the thoughts that you're thinking? What are Are there different distortions that you're believing, being kind to yourself in that moment, replacing those with truths, all the while, integrating the coping skill. So it's hard to go from the A to Z, without some of the steps in between. And then it just, it takes practice.

Scott Benner 25:52
I'm looking around online while you're talking. And because it just keeps striking me that anybody who knows about like electrical work, right, you have to ground the socket, you have to like, and you grounded, you're grounded into the earth. So that if there's not an electrician, but so if there's a surge, instead of zapping you, it were the house, it literally goes down, there's a metal spike somewhere outside of your house, it's driven in the ground and your whole electrical system is is attached to it so that, you know it can ground we're not talking about anything different, really, we need to help people to go outside, walk barefoot lie on the ground. I even see here submerse yourself in water. And then there's equipment to ground yourself with, which I would have no idea about. But my son brought this up to me like last year, he's like, you know, you can get like, like a mat to sleep on that literally is, is grounded the outdoors. And I was like, why would that be? And I can't wrap my head around it. But maybe there's something to it. You know?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 26:53
That is such a great analogy. Yes. Thank you. That is good.

Scott Benner 26:57
I like it when you thank me. It makes me feel it makes me feel evolved. Like it makes me feel like oh, Erica Foster, thank me, I must have been really thoughtful just then.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 27:10
Well, it was good. That was a good,

Scott Benner 27:12
thank you. I appreciate it also makes me feel like you're way healthier than I am when you do that. Always like she's, she's either so good at this or just way more together than I am. By the way, I want people to know when they hear this first run. This is coming out during I think it's National Mental Health Awareness month in May. It is it is I cannot take credit for doing this on purpose. That is not why this happened. So I saw something in my social media a few weeks ago. And I mean, for clarity. I mean, he's very public about I guess I'd be happy to say it. The movie director Kevin Smith had a mental health crisis. And he put out a 30 minute video talking about what he did for himself. And I watched it. And he was talking about this grounding technique, which made me think oh, wow, Erica brought this up to me. And, and I thought wouldn't that be nice to walk through it to? To share it with other people? So that's how we got here? Um,

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 28:15
yes. I think one of the beautiful things about it is that it can be done without anybody knowing like a lot of my a lot of students that I work with you maybe have test taking anxiety or, and even even caregivers as well. You can do it without anybody knowing it doesn't have to be this big. You know? Yeah, exercise that is embarrassing, or causes a lot of, you know, public or personal distress in public. And so you can do it. No one even knows you're doing it. And that's the beautiful thing, kind of

Scott Benner 28:49
like opening up your phone to look at your CGM. Like that's right, right. Just Oh, I'm doing your thing. No one knows but me. And that's yeah, that is really wonderful. So practicing it so so not not indifferent, indifferent, not unlike almost anything else in life. Like, don't just reach for this information in the moment where you're actually having a panic attack. For example, like do it today. Do it now just practice so you, you know the steps and maybe it will maybe you can even like because I mean, I'm doing it while you're talking. You can feel like that. I guess centering is the way to go or balance or calm even like it made me realize that when I because I sit in like 1000 different positions while we're talking like I lay back like my microphone moves around really easily. Sometimes I'll sit back I'll sit up, I'll sit forward. But I found myself sitting up straight and and planting my feet on the ground. And I'll tell you, I never considered it before but there's an alleviation of something. When I'm when my body knows I'm in a stable position. I've just I've done it like four times while you're talking. It's happened every time I can pointing exactly what it is. But I feel stable in this position with my feet planted firmly. It's very interesting.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 30:06
That is, that is a great point. Thank you for reminding me that, yes, it could be helpful. If you're able, if you are seated to have your feet on the ground, kind of everything at right angles, if you can buy your knees, and then your your hips, your shoulders above your hips, because that is your kind of in alignment. And that can help you focus if your bodies in that posture, it can also you're bringing mindfulness to your body through the guidance. The grounding technique. Yeah, it doesn't have to be. But that is another helpful tip.

Scott Benner 30:43
An arc is the person who slept through high school, I feel weird saying this out loud. But I feel like what I'm what I'm experiencing. I'm just trying to tell you, I didn't do well in science. But I feel like what I'm experiencing is my body is not making a bunch of micro adjustments to keep me balanced. And so it's almost like my body's able to relax. Because I'm in this position. It feels like the it feels like the chair has me chairs under me, it has me it's behind me the way my weight is there. And even when I think to shift, I can't because my feet are firm. But if you stand up, I don't know if we think about this a lot. But you're constantly. Like if you've ever watched like a robot try to balance like when they're teaching robots to walk, and you can. Okay, so you can hear well, you can hear the servos in the legs and the articulations where it's constantly like it's constantly balancing itself, like forever balancing itself. And I just realized that when I sit up and I put my feet on the floor like this, my body doesn't feel like it's, it's working to hold me up. And it's relaxing. So anyway, I mean, it's grounded, because my feet are on the ground. But I think more I think more like it's like an alleviation of like, processes that you don't know are happening constantly. So one less thing your body's doing. It's kind of how it feels. But again, slept right through psychology as a senior. So I did I did a final but did not did not listen, Have I ever told you that story? No, congratulations. Oh, thank you, my, my senior year, we had a half year psychology class. And it came right after lunch. I was always very sleepy during this class. So I would I would sleep through the class every time. The guy was boring. And it's not that I didn't like the topic. I thought the topic was great, but he just didn't deliver it well. Anyway, halfway through the year, it's time to make the final because only half your class. We come in, he hands out the final. I fall asleep. Like let it take I just I looked at the finals. Like I put my head down like went to sleep. My friend woke me up. And he goes, I remember his words. He looked at me incredulously and said Don't you think you should at least take the final I thought as a valid point. And I sat up and slapped myself in the face a little bit and took the test. The next day we came in for the last day of class. This the dejected man at the front of the of the classroom holding the finals graded in his hands. He was so like, it'd be used distraught. And later I realized he was distraught because I think he thought his existence was a waste of time and unnecessary because I got the best grade on the final. Oh, he was so pissed. And he goes, How is this possible? And I said I probably learned while I'm sleeping. Anyway, I found it. I love psychology. I just didn't like the way he spoke about it. But I'm fascinated by it. Otherwise, I appreciate you doing this. Is there anything we're leaving out? Or any?

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 33:53
Yeah, yes. I think I was just thinking back when you asked you know how to clients report is as effective. One thing that can be challenging is it's easier if you're hearing someone tell you to lead you through the steps. And obviously it can be done independently. And so if you're finding when you're wanting to try this or practice this, either writing it down on a sticky note, you know, 54321 with the different senses. You could also record I'm sure I know, there are probably you know on various apps or even you could YouTube, Google YouTube, you know someone walking you through this. You could record yourself which can be really powerful. Walking yourself through the steps. So if you're finding that it's either challenging or doesn't feel as effective if you're working through the steps internally by yourself if you need to hear someone walk you through that. That's just another I just wanted to suggest that as another tip. Yeah.

Scott Benner 34:56
I don't know firsthand, but I would also bring it Up to the I've heard so many people talk favorably about Transcendental Meditation. And TM is I think they offer like a tiered system to pay for, like to learn how to do it. And I think it's pretty reasonable. If that's ever something that I'm that you are interested in if they charge you by your household income. So if you want to learn how to do TM, I were find another form of meditation that just seems like such a good idea, honestly, like just the idea of sitting quietly. In general. Yes, yes. There's so much going on. Erica, like, I mean, there's a moment today, when I mean, we work from home, you know, my wife's downstairs, she's working, she hasn't been feeling well. You know, Arden's two weeks from coming home from school, we're traveling soon to pick her up. And my son still away, he's by himself, I tried to work, I had an advertiser, like, got a little funky, and I had to work it out. And like, you know, like, there's everything going on, and I come downstairs, and my wife starts telling me something about an experience she had at work today that was really genuinely interested in her as she's talking, the dog has to go outside. And now I'm like, hold on, hold on, wait, I'm pausing her and I let the dog out. And then I get outside and my neighbor's waving to me. He's got a question about something. And then I'm talking to him. And before I know what, it's 20 minutes later, and I'm back inside. And I'm like, Kelly, what were you saying? She didn't even remember, she was talking to me at this point. And all I could think was, there's too much happening. Like, there's just there's too much happening. And I gotta go back upstairs. And I have to edit three of these podcasts today. And I have four phone calls. And I have to set up this thing. And Eric and I are going to record and, and I can understand when people just like, like spiral out like, it's, it's like my life's going well. And it's still a lot, and I don't know what you're supposed to do when things aren't going well. And all these things are still happening. And these are just little things like, these are just momentary things that I find myself bumping into, while I'm going through my day, there are other big ideas going on here. There's, I have a whiteboard next to me is like 50 things written on it that I have to do, and it's already time to pay like my taxes again, and like, you know, like, it's just like, it's, it's a lot, you know, and I don't know, it just it feels like it would be valuable to have a couple of moments of quiet. And whether you're, you know, having an issue or just trying to stay present, I guess is the right word. It's so funny when you say it. When you say present, grounded, when you say grace, when you say things like that. I think these are so like obvious ideas. Like, I don't know why we don't talk about the more, you know,

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 37:53
they're in there. So they're hard to do for ourselves and internally, like we can offer grace to our children, we can help them oftentimes, you know, we can help them calm down. We can help lead them to say no, it's okay. You can move from school and you're in your child's you know, running around, they've all this homework and their blood sugar's high. And it's, it's easier to maybe help someone externally. Yeah, to kind of pause and take one thing at a time as opposed to in our own body and mind. And so we I, we often talk about, you know, trying to think, how am I going to ground How am I going to calm myself the way I would my child, or my best friend or my partner,

Scott Benner 38:37
I'm going to try this. And because this may sound may sound opposite of what I just said, but I'm having a struggle, like a personal struggle right now. And that is, I'm bored. I don't have enough to do. Like, I have too much to do. But my kids aren't here. Like, I I'm not, I'm, I am not good when I'm not helping people. Like it feels very hot. My Existence feels hollow right now. Like, I feel like I'm getting up and doing the thing I'm supposed to do. And, um, you know, working on losing weight, which is going well and, you know, like thank you. And, and and so everything's moving the way I want it to the podcast is very popular, it's doing terrific. I can't, you know, all that. So there's nothing going wrong wrong. And yet, I keep thinking I'm bored. And when I really stopped and thought about it, like I'm not involved with the kids as much, and I didn't realize how much I would miss that and how much of my I mean, I knew how much of my life it was. But I didn't understand that there'd be a vacuum like that like and there's a vacuum I did not expect and anyway, I just I need to do something because I don't know like i right Now I feel like I'm floating through my life at the moment, if that makes sense. So, anyway,

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 40:05
maybe a bit a bit untethered from where you found your, your purpose. Yeah, and you derived a lot of value and purpose from that. And so with them gone, maybe there's a little bit of untethering. And that can maybe lead to various amount, you know, think thoughts and feelings, and which are all valid and true. So you get to feel that and in that process, maybe going back to the, you know, grounding yourself and letting yourself feel those feelings of boredom and maybe sadness or loss, I don't know. But that's what grounding can do is, like, also create space for the feelings that might be suppressed, because you're going going, going from one thing to the next, you're getting all your checks off the whiteboard, and then the feeling that is there. Once you're grounded and present, it allows for it to come out.

Scott Benner 40:56
I don't know if this sounds silly, but I woke up the other day, and I had a text from Arden. And she just wanted this special soap, like a bar of soap. And I like ordered that soap and had it shipped to her and sent her the tracking information isn't the best 20 minutes of my week. And I just was so silly. Like I was like, Oh, am I not having conscious thoughts? Like, oh, I'm valuable again. Like it's not like that. It's that I think I actually enjoyed this. Like, like, like, hearing their thoughts and their their things that are going right and things that are going wrong and like having conversation back and forth about it all that stuff is like it's just gone now. But you know, and and then I'm also thinking they don't have somebody to talk about it with. Like my son especially he's living in a city by himself right now. And I feel very badly about that. Like I want him to finish this part and go somewhere where there's more people and I don't know I just anyway, I'm going to try this is my point.

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 42:01
Yeah, good dad.

Scott Benner 42:04
Sets sappy stuff about myself. Anyway All right, one day Erica. We're gonna we're gonna we're gonna go over you One day One day find out what makes you tick sit these conversations on your on your throne of good thoughts and no. I want to hear it all figured out. I wonder what a mess you are one day I can't be the only one telling stories about sitting around feeling hollow

Erika Forsyth, MFT, LMFT 42:43
What do I appreciate the vulnerability

Scott Benner 42:45
Thank you very much I appreciate you doing this

Hey, how terrific is Erica find her at Erica forsyth.com Also, while you're looking for things us med.com forward slash juice box for call 888-721-1514 Get your free benefits check and get started with us med. Of course, better help.com forward slash juice box. That's the link where you save 10% off your first month of therapy with better health. Let me throw one more in here for you. 35% off cozy earth.com your entire purchase by using juice box at checkout and what the hell athletic greens.com forward slash juice box get five free travel packs and a year supply of vitamin D with your first order. Will you use my link thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. If you can't wait that long, head over to the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes become a member join the 40,000 other members and talk about diabetes with them doesn't matter if you have type one type two type, whatever, Lada you know what I mean?

#912 Dead Chuffed About Ryan Taylor

Ryan Taylor has type 1 diabetes and I love the way he thinks about type 1.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, welcome to episode 912 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On today's show I'm joined by Ryan Taylor. Ryan has type one diabetes, and he's a reality TV show Star in the UK. If you're listening from England, then he's just a reality TV show Star. While you wait to find out if I offer Ryan a rose, 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 or becoming bold with insulin. I was 1,000,000% Sure I was going to call this episode as happy as Larry. But Ryan just man he was just so good. And I I'll admit later in the episode, you'll hear me say that I it's not what I expected from him. He was terrific. This conversation about type one was masterful. And that's why the episode is called dead chuffed about Ryan Taylor, because I am pleased about Ryan Taylor. Just what a lovely time thanks to a couple of people from the UK in my private Facebook group for confirming that dead chuffed about Ryan Taylor means pleased about Ryan Taylor. You guys are terrific too. All right, you're ready to get started.

This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by the contour next gen blood glucose meter. Find out more about the contour next gen the Contour Next One and the entire line of contour products at contour next one.com forward slash juicebox. Use my link support the show you can buy them right there. You'll see when you get there. 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 therapists who can help you with a wide range of issues. Better help.com forward slash juicebox to get started, you just answer a few questions about your needs and preferences in therapy that way better help 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 betterhelp.com forward slash juicebox links in the audio player you're listening in right now. Right and then show notes of the audio player and at juicebox podcast.com. To contour BetterHelp and all the sponsors

Ryan Taylor 2:40
Yeah, UK Joyce I guess obviously America is the podcast bigger in America, UK. How's it go?

Scott Benner 2:46
Well, it we're just gonna actually why don't we just start Brian, and we'll fill in the rest as we go. So, overwhelmingly, the podcast. It really, really does well in the United States. But oh, cool. Yeah, but there are there are countries where it does strong, like, like, very strong. So I don't know how to put this like in a way that somebody who doesn't track this stuff would would understand. But Apple, Apple takes categories for podcasts, there's yeah, there's a main category. And then there's a subcategory. So I'm in the main category health and fitness. And then in the subcategory medicine. So, okay, so because you got to pick one of them. So I'm looking here so in Great Britain, I am number 45 in the medicine category today,

Ryan Taylor 3:49
last month is crazy. But there's loads of countries you won't even think of so like my tick tock when I first started it I just have a specific diabetic once and like I was going like crazy viral in like Budapest throughout France. There was some videos I got way I got like 4 million views and it was all in like random regions. And like at the start I'm now finally my audience is sort of majority UK and America which is cool. But at the start I'd say I was having to translate in the comments stuff I was saying basically put a transcript and is many different languages possible because my audience at the start was majority random countries like wondering when you would think diabetes is probably bigger.

Scott Benner 4:30
Yeah, so because I have the screen open to answer your first question. This is gonna take like 20 seconds. Okay, but yeah, this podcast is currently charting in Malawi, Turks and Caicos, Brunei, Nambia Bahrain, Moldova, Cambodia, Qatar, Malta, Latvia, Egypt, Luxembourg, Iceland, Kenya, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Slovakia Kuwait, Vietnam, Slovenia, Greece, Romania, the Czech Republic, it's not the Czech Republic. It's Czech Republic, United Arab, Emirates, Hungary, Chile, Thailand, Finland, Israel, Argentina, Hong Kong, Philippines, Belgium, India, South Africa, Switzerland, Italy, New Zealand, Netherlands, Japan, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, France, Australia, Canada, Great Britain in the US.

Ryan Taylor 5:26
is crazy, isn't it? Yes, well, it's actually net, you already have a thing. I know how it's I lived in America for a short period of time, basically came back and forth from the staff about probably eight to nine months. And I only ever think of like how it is for Americans, obviously. No, it's very different compared to at least getting your medication in the UK. So you never think that I wouldn't want to cite to people in some of them, like Egypt, like, how did they manage that, but you said they have dou f CGM. And now it's like the same insulin like you wouldn't even think stuff like that. But obviously, it's a disease, which was it one in 14, you now have a form of diabetes. So you just got to be worldwide, isn't it?

Scott Benner 6:03
Yeah. And because a lot of the a lot of the technology that people desire is US based. And those and those companies do not have an easy time getting set up overseas. And then on top of you know what I mean, and then on top of all that, there's an expense to set up and there's probably a cost analysis where they say, I don't know, we can't afford to get into this country, you would be surprised by mostly its UAE, Bahrain, like Brunei, like in their Qatar, I get a lot of emails from people who are like, I'm going to leave the country and buy supplies, and then fly back again. And they and they're trying to make a plan to the some people, there's there were somebody on here, once that, that regularly flies into the US, buys supplies in cash, and then just flies back again.

Ryan Taylor 7:02
That's crazy to me. I know, there's a way there's obviously the price cuts going on at the minute in America. And it's obviously if you have insurance, it's totally different. But my biggest fear, I was the opposite. So obviously in the UK, we get everything, Skype via the NHS, which is great. So I when I was working in America, I happened to forward during COVID. I was in Miami. And the big decision for me was obviously no one knew how long that whole period of time would last. We got told on the news, it might be a three week lockdown or whatever. And my mom was saying to me she's like, You got to take into consideration review. It's different because it's not just free if you get stuck out there the whole summer and there's no flights home how much is your insulin requirements? How much is you see gems and costs. And when we price it all, it was far more worthwhile to get a flight from America even at the prices they were going to at that point to get a flight home just in case and obviously ended up lasting what couple years. So thank God I did. But yeah, so crazy people will fly to America. But to me when I hear I get tagged in some stuff on tick tock some people saying how much they paid for their medication this month, and I feel sick when you see it because it's not, I don't think medication in general you should pay for but then when you see people paying 1000 pounds for an autoimmune disease of medication, which keeps them alive. You can see why people do stupid things like not inject the right amount or find us as little instant as possible, which then makes themselves Yeah, that's when you paying that much for it. Like, you can see why people are doing stupid stuff.

Scott Benner 8:27
Yeah, I think it's not just money. But I think it turns into a rationing mentality, where they're just like, run out of this. You know, what's worse than not taking it off? Not taking any. And so yeah, so I'll just keep stretching. I mean, it's horrible. Now, I don't know how where are you? You know, why don't we do this? Why don't we tell everybody who you are before we keep talking?

Ryan Taylor 8:54
Yeah, let's do this. Let's do introduce yourself. So I'm Brian Taylor. I'm 26 years old. I'm from the UK. It's a small city in the UK. We won't know it's Coventry. But the closest that you will know to it is London. Yeah, I've had diabetes since I was 10 years old and just made the best of it. I'd say I'd say I'm definitely one big thing I preach on social media. And the work I've done with diabetes UK is the worst thing you can tell a diabetic person is they can't do something because of that condition. I think I've always tried to show him that through maybe lifestyle choices, career choices. I've definitely tried to do as many things that people wouldn't think diabetics could do. And I guess that's what sort of drives me now.

Scott Benner 9:37
Yeah. How did we end up hooking up? How did you get on the podcast?

Ryan Taylor 9:43
I reached out to Joe was, I got a reminder, a week ago, about a month ago, I think it was go on the Juicebox Podcast podcast and I was like, sort of what I looked at it and it was a reminder from a year ago I was booked on it, but it was that the About that much of a backlog of people coming on here. It was June last year. I think it was in the UK it was called, like word diabetes week. Or it might be worth diabetes. No, no, it's always worked out easily. And at that point, my agent had got me a load of podcast to do diabetes ones to I've never really been big on sharing diabetes on social media. I wasn't, I was never sort of first to hide that diabetes. If you knew me knew I had it. But I wasn't I wouldn't go out there openly talk about it. And then thinking about your government decision up or not. So last year, I remember she booked us on about three, four or five different diabetes podcast. I think this was one of them. But it was you had that much of a backlog of people. This was the next day, which was

Scott Benner 10:45
you should be on my side, bro. Oh, my God. No, I would love to do that. Here's a link. Describe the first thing you can get. I said that to someone last night who emailed me back and said, I mean, it's March right now. 2023. And the person who emails me back and says, Okay, well, I'll see you around Thanksgiving. It's like, great.

Ryan Taylor 11:03
Yeah, it was literally about that long ago. But yeah, it was really cool. Obviously. One of the podcasts I've only listened to anyway. There's definitely a few that I think are really good. And yeah, just it's cool. To be honest, excellent.

Scott Benner 11:17
Agent, why do you have an agent?

Ryan Taylor 11:20
So I do like, I do, like reality TV act in loads of different things. And after doing a reality show, in 2021, it was a company that approached me and just said, like, we'll help like, well workflow get you more work in different areas. So they've definitely it's definitely been fun. Like I've done a lot of acting since I've managed to do live TV commercials, adverts and stuff. It's never going to be my main thing. I'm never a reality TV. I don't care about reality TV. Like every so often the odd thing pops up that I'm that I want to do that. And I'll get put forward for it. But apart from that, it's just it's again, it's life experiences. It's when I was 16 1514. I never thought I'd have a chance to do any stuff like that. So when I when I got approached and asked do it it's always a yes for me. I'm definitely always there with no I've never dealt with any regrets. I say that

Scott Benner 12:12
what reality show were you on?

Ryan Taylor 12:14
So I did I NC when I was a kid, little baby. I was 21 I did a show called IB for Weekender, which is about potty and and then in 2000 2001 I did the UK version of Jersey Shore called Geordie Shore. Oh, no kidding. Yeah.

Scott Benner 12:32
Did any of those things raise your profile in a way that was shocking to you?

Ryan Taylor 12:40
More like so went to the iBeacon. So it sounds expensive. So I'd be if we kind of when we got off of that we were so young. And to us it was a dead shirt. Like it totally been. I don't even watch it anymore. And I was like, like 19 I was probably like just above the target audience who watches that show? It's just about going into IB firepot and a little bit. And well I'm not I'm not I didn't take full advantage of all the opportunities that come after. But we've got a decent amount of lag a little bit of falling for it. Geordie Shore is a sort of show that you'd expect to get a lot from, but I'm always realistic in it like it was season 25 or something that I went on, but people don't watch this crap for years. The main reason I did it was it was my favorite show when I was a teenager like when I was 13 I never thought I'd get challenged on it when I got offered it I was like yes it didn't do it's not the show didn't tell you I think it's actually been it is finished now as always when it was last year as but the opportunities after I've been like I said getting into agent getting into so many different things in podcasting so act in commercials and I do always have to pay I do put a lot of it down to I get I got basically a foot in the door from Geordie Shore I do think the only reason I still get a lot of opportunities in that sort of worldly because I do while out and I don't think you're not getting just offered stuff just gives you around the reality show a couple years ago you've got to see that you've got a good background in actually over performing everything you do and I do think yeah, that's pretty much where I was to go but Geordie Shore was some people thought there was other people I think for me who do in that first season or that they put on another workshop again, I think can come on like reality. TV definitely pays more in America as well but it also is just watched by more people is so oversaturated in the UK now that like I did it because it's a once in a lifetime experience. That's why I see it as I didn't do it so I wouldn't have to do anything for the rest of my life and I live off doing crappy crappy posts on Instagram.

Scott Benner 14:37
That must have been like just sitting there listening to someone say well this is it where I'm famous

Ryan Taylor 14:42
now. Yeah. You'd be shut down people who move country for it like from other parts of the UK into England for those people who left their jobs for it. I didn't know that. I got paid holiday but my other job and then I went on and got paid to do it. So I got double pay basically. There was nothing Yeah, I didn't do it was is never the angle from ours for anything that comes from it. It's just an add on. But at bare minimum, I have this crazy experience of getting filmed partly and having a bit of fun and going on the show that I loved when I was a teenager.

Scott Benner 15:12
Yeah, so it's sort of, Am I saying it right. Geordie Shore?

Ryan Taylor 15:17
Yeah, Geordie Shore. Yeah. Okay.

Scott Benner 15:20
So when I looked like I've been like banging around while we're talking and everything, there's an article here that says that daily mirrors and it's like it's it says, Ryan Taylor claimed the show's producer would not let him discuss diabetes while dating on the show. Is that true? Yeah.

Ryan Taylor 15:39
Yeah, I've tried to get some of these things are really just because, well, it fat have I'm not too bothered by that one. I'm probably about some of the stuff I have my own tick tock definitely cool that a lot of things by reality TV just for a bit of fun. They seem to make a lot of papers. The problem of it now is in my head, I still I still wouldn't mind doing another show at some point. And it doesn't look good when you type in your name on Google. And that comes up. But yeah, I had someone the other day basically, they were once featured by a show we've seen quite interested in turned around and said they brought up three or four different articles and they said that doesn't look good. If you want to be in this industry, I just said that I don't really want to be in the industry, like you message me like I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna change it. But with the diabetes, one that was more specific, because I was starting, I was starting to get a feel for personal diabetic content on Tik Tok. And I just remember, remember somebody from when I was on the show, I basically was sort of set up who you're dating, but I was dating a fellow diabetic, and you don't know this person before you get there. We get on the show, we start having a chat about diabetes. And the producers come over to straightaway and say, Oh, it's really good that he's getting on but we can't air and so I've made the Tiktok by and people if people weren't quite like they've got a lot of people on my side that have some people, Oh, who cares about diabetes, but some people were like, oh, it's awful. They wouldn't do that. I wasn't making that to attack the show. I haven't had the show about those other stuff. But personally with diabetes, and I do understand it's not the best look for a type one diabetic when we're talking about diabetes and our experience with it. And then that night, we're both blackout drunk, I guess it's a it's a partnership in the day. So they probably don't want to be seen as given advice that this is the lifestyle you should live with diabetes. I also think when it's two people who, who they wouldn't the sun accent though, but when you meet when you date someone, you've got a connection, and they always have the same condition as you. To me that was pretty cool. And that was a big thing of like, while we got on even if we had no connection romantically. We both got a condition which is pretty cool to have we both done quite cool thing. She's a former singer. So the fact that we're able to bond over that, to me, if you cut that hose part out, you can have quite a big part of our story on the show. So that was what I that was my main gripe with it. But yes, the Daily Mirror around me like

Scott Benner 17:56
that's so she you are in this house. I mean, I assume the idea is, right. I don't know another way to say this as a as a guy who doesn't date men, but you're you're hot like You're like you're very attractive guy. So so they put you in this house, I imagine with other incredibly attractive people and then alcohol on top, and then they film what happens. And yeah, you're you meet a girl. And as you're talking to her realize that the two of you have diabetes.

Ryan Taylor 18:33
So the thing that I've said to people in the comments that said that the thing I was more bothered about is I thought the way we found out was triple A diabetic, was very interested in so I knew a little bit about Amelia. I had Googled her and stuff like that do the basics, didn't know she was diabetic, we get in there and on. I think like one everyone's sort of getting ready for the second part. And I do outfit scientia looks like a different eye on camera or whatever. And she's in our room. And she's like, looking in the mirror or some of the guy says, oh my god, I'm so full of bruises on my leg or whatever. And she turns around to us and she and I was often asked to run through I said that'd be stupid, like so fine. She says our nose is from injections, and she's oh, by the way, I'm diabetic. It's not like heroin or anything comes up but it's not laughing. But like it was just like I fully aware of her talents. And I was there on the arm diabetic too. And she had to fight it was like just being in there with it. She had like a CGM, which I'd always been against having one of them and like just getting to speak to a few days it made me try one straight after. So like I do think it would be cool to have little moments of that in there. But at the same time that I guess to me, it matters more because I'm diabetic. Is that what the audience really cares about? But that's for the producer to the side?

Scott Benner 19:46
Yeah, maybe maybe it makes you too real. Yeah.

Ryan Taylor 19:50
In reality, without being all over shopped on reality TV, but reality TV is less real than something He's often an act and we'll just say that it's very, they the producers have an idea of what they what they want from each person. They have people writing down the script each evening and what they think is going to happen the next day. And they're essentially trying to make it fit that script because they can only film for so long. And if everyone's just getting unhappy as Lowry and nothing's going wrong and just chaos then where's the drama in these episodes? I think a lot of people don't realize that reality TV is probably more scripted than the scripted entertainment entertainment that they watch.

Scott Benner 20:32
You're telling me the Curb Your Enthusiasm is not as well. Scripted is the show. So well, you know, but to dig into it for a half a second. We're like putting yourself in the perspective of the producer of the show. Like you're trying to paint a picture of like, I mean, it's it's young, attractive sex, alcohol, right like and yeah, that's it the year along they're going so I CGM. What is that?

Ryan Taylor 21:00
They're probably sitting every year why? What are they talking about? We want it we want someone talking about CI in and I love her after one day. I get it. They're not interested tell you about us. And that's why when I made the TIC tock I sausage pork roll. I was sort of like no, like, I wasn't mad, but I understand it like yeah, who the hell wants to watch that? When that Geordie Shore obviously is very similar to Jersey Shore. It's even more than a normal reality TV show is branded as sex party relationships, all that stuff.

Scott Benner 21:30
I just imagined people in like a room somewhere wearing headphones, like, you know, overseeing the filming. And one of them turning to the other one and going did the hot guy just tell the hot girl that he has diabetes like that? That's not fun.

Ryan Taylor 21:47
To cut out. They're

Scott Benner 21:49
really getting into it. What the hell somebody look up a CGM? What's the CGM? For God's sakes? These two separate them?

Ryan Taylor 21:58
Yeah. There's definitely a spanner in the works. So what they expected?

Well, I always I always try. Like I said, I'm always gonna be real to me when I'm on them shows and stuff that I I was already pretty uncomfortable with that you dated on TV wasn't meant to be gay. And it got swept again, that's in the COVID story. It was meant to be the ultimate party season. So I'm actually from so jordiz are from Newcastle in the UK. I'm not from Newcastle. But the whole concept of this season because Geordie Shore was sort of getting bored and dying out a little bit. We're gonna take people who worked very party jobs elsewhere. So I was on the X, I was a nightclub promoter in America. We had a dancer on it, he was danced in nightclubs, we had the strippers all sorts we were going in, and we were going to be the new party, the young party animals that we're going to show the original Castlight house party, we get into isolation, which is sort of they keep you in there to make sure a few days we go on the show so they can get everything set up. While that happens, another COVID lockdown happens and all of a sudden, the whole show changes to We can't leave the actual Geordie Shore house now. So we need to put them on the plan. So that's when it became Oh, you're dating each other? At that point, if you leave, you're not getting paid. You've just wasted all these weeks in isolation, and you didn't get to see if it's gonna be a good show on that. So it the fact is that beta loads a bit like weird for me, I just think that I'm never gonna, like, you know, I'm never gonna meet anyone on TV, especially reality TV, who's actually what I look for in a girl. So I definitely, yeah, I was always gonna be myself when they finally realize as soon as it changed from partying today, and I can party hard, but I'm probably not gonna be the most entertaining person date and like, my specific type, and that's always what I go for.

Scott Benner 23:38
Brian, I'm gonna ask a difficult question. You just said something, right? You just say I'm not gonna meet a girl that I'm interested in dating on a reality show? Yeah, but you're on a reality show. So are you a guy that women wouldn't be interested in dating?

Ryan Taylor 23:54
Oh, man, I'm very lucky to have found a woman who puts up with me I'm a nightmare state and I like there's so many things that I do in career wise, it's never for just being a terrible boyfriend or anything. It's only things I do career wise, which is not fun to be my girlfriend when I'm doing that. I'm doing an ad and they decide on the day that okay, you're going out with this girl in the yard. You've got a kiss my girlfriend I suppose. Where is this money? It's another it's one of them. I wouldn't do myself. I like to think I'm really good in every other way. But yeah, the I personally don't think it's probably fun to date someone who does a lot of work I do. But like I said if I find someone that will put with it then I'm quite lucky man.

Scott Benner 24:38
Oh, of course. So you're see you're 26 Yeah 26 Okay, so you said earlier what was the other show Ibiza Weekender is that are uncut yeah

Ryan Taylor 24:50
yeah, I'd be for weekend that's now changed to a different shows now called cover so we can but yeah, I'd be for I was on there years ago.

Scott Benner 25:00
So they stopped a visa winter Cabos.

Ryan Taylor 25:02
And yeah, it's just like a basis everyone Geordie Shore changed up and put in new people. And it was the same as that the show was getting a bit old, so just change location. Gotcha.

Scott Benner 25:12
And so how many different places have you like how long I guess does it take to film a show? That's my first question.

Ryan Taylor 25:20
Oh, you will be surprised. It depends on what is getting fit in. Like, for example, like Geordie Shore, usually, like the normal jordiz loved us on that show, because they will film for six weeks to make eight episodes, but it's because there's, there's so little stuff happening. That like, you need to form fat long to get enough bear stuff that can go on the show with us because we were wearing that and it was dating. Like every episode, you had all the people who were currently dating each other out Yeah, to show that date show whatever's going on with them, do they get richer with them or not? And then you had new people entering who's he gonna go for her she's gonna go for there was that much sorry, Geordie Shore, we filmed for literally days. It was, and they got a whole series out of it. And I think like, it's crazy. Like when I think we actually work out what we got paid per day. Because of that it was very well, our usual series of a reality show will take probably you can out, it was at least two weeks up to six weeks or six weeks to film. But we managed to get it well I got asked in less than a week, because there's that much going on each day was actually like two episodes. So

Scott Benner 26:26
it's interesting. I'm using big brother in America as an example. But they're sort of like two different kinds of watchers, they're the people who want to see the program that comes on once or twice a week, it's an hour long, it's just it's it's everything turned up to 100. Because it's those little moments. And then there are other people who will watch the live stream of just people wandering nothing happening. Just people living, like like watching an anthill from far away, you know, and I don't know, it's, I don't care for it one way or the other. If I'm being honest, I don't. I mean, my daughter, when my daughter was younger, my wife, my daughter, my daughter's friends, like they would like all come to the house and sit and watch, like Big Brother, for example. And then they'd sit around and talk about it afterwards, like this one, and like that, and I was like, Oh, my God, like, I would just leave, I'd go, I'm gonna go upstairs. But so big,

Ryan Taylor 27:19
big river has, as is our place. So I always had this thing. I've said it on loads of podcasts. I said, when I was a teenager, and if you'd looked at me when I was a teenager, and you thought I'd ever do reality TV, you, you'd be off PMO. And like, there's no charge in everything I'd make on. So I always go based on this. My three favorite TV shows when I was a reality TV shows when I was a teenager, one was Magaluf Weekender, which turned into IB for weekend, which is now kind of last weekend. So I've gotten that. My other one was Geordie Shore. And my third one was Big Brother. So that is going to be the last one that I want to do. Hopefully, at some point we get Yeah, it's I know it's going back in the UK this year, it would definitely be something that I reach out to him about going on. So I had to worry, though, but it's just it would be cool. Because I've said that in podcast, probably about two, three years now that oh, that's the only reality show I'd do left. And like it would be pretty cool

Scott Benner 28:11
to do that is huge. In my house, there's a cup in my cabinet that says Big Brother on it, because they bought they bought bought them to us while they were watching the show. You know, and I think too, and then we'll move on. But I see I can see the perspective of of a producer who would say, while these two people have diabetes, it's not interesting to anybody who doesn't have diabetes. It's not what we're selling here. But I think it's short sighted because a lot of people have diabetes, and I think they would have been really interested in it and probably would have latched on to you and come back to hear more about it or just to see you after they realized you had type 100%

Ryan Taylor 28:47
I don't think it was actually the board. Like the thing that people wouldn't be interested in what from what I gathered from Amelia, which I said on the tic toc. I said, I think it's it was purely the fact that they can't be seen as giving any sort of medical advice. They don't want to do it. And they never want to get caught in a situation where, oh, I'm type one. I saw these two people have type one on your reality show. I started partying every weekend. And now something tragic happens to me. I remember they ever want to be customers or anything like that, which is fair enough. I do get that. Wherever it was also the finger is not interesting to them, then I don't know. But that's what I mean. Is it to me, so they can't be seen as given any sort of medical advice on such a complicated condition.

Scott Benner 29:32
That's interesting. And Amelia Lily right. We can say her name once. Yeah, yeah. Well, I just pulled her up and I agree or legs look fine. So

Ryan Taylor 29:42
maybe it's amazing.

Scott Benner 29:44
Terrific. She was on X Factor in

Ryan Taylor 29:47
UK. Yeah, that's so that was our big storyline. So when they came into me they said you're dating Amelia like what do you like but I quickly was like, oh crap that I watched it years ago on The X Factor and I really fancied her so that their big storyline was my mother crushing us since I was 18? I was you sort of you've sort of adjusted that a bit I just said I really liked on The X Factor but so that's what I that's what this storyline runway.

Scott Benner 30:09
Yeah, I'm gonna say she's two years older than you.

Ryan Taylor 30:12
Yeah, well partly she is my childhood crushes something that if you look on YouTube, there's some clips of a media makes Ryan's childhood dreams come true. Yeah, they love a story. They

Scott Benner 30:24
love a story. Yeah, no, that's interesting. So, okay. Where do I want to go from here? You I do have what I guess I have one question. It's gonna sound like it's about the show, but it's not really when I get contacted by a lot of people, and they want to know how do I successfully drink and to your point, like really drink with diabetes? And I mean, is this what is the secret is the secret you leave your blood sugar high so you don't have a problem with a low while you're drinking? Or do you really have it worked out?

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Ryan Taylor 33:09
There's no sweet science to it through is there's like I said, when I was a club promoter that was probably the rest of us years of my life because you'd be out all night pie in. And you'd also be risking so many other hormonal things which play which play a factor on your blood sugar. So a total lack of sleep because we'd be up first thing in the next day getting people signed up on our table for that night. So there was so come into it. Marketing is always a routine. I've said it to me before, it sounds like the most reckless lifestyle ever. But even when I lived in Vegas, I had a routine. I knew at a certain time, whether it's 4am 430 I'm going to be wrapping up at the club, I know that ideally I'm gonna want to be in bed by let's say 6am I'm going to be up at 11 00 and get back out on the strip and start getting people in. So if I knew that, to me, I always did inject for my drinks and this is because I've got to the point where I cannot drink vodka Diet Coke I hate it. If you drink vodka Diet Coke you you should be okay rarely you literally shouldn't really spike and then you'll get dropped play and you can't like with food for me I have to drink some of the bit sugar in because I hate the taste that drink now. So I would inject as I go along during the night. And then when you get to the point where you're gonna go low, I would then eat before bed. I'm lucky that I can eat for anything. So no matter what even if I'm ridiculously drunk, going to be sick. I will eat through an old stomach it fine. And then I'd wake up in the morning a good level. Now I now have a wine guy Guess I'm getting old. And again, wine is a bit of a blood sugar spike and drop later but again, I won't be out all night anymore. I'm not not as much as a pot. Yeah, so if I'm drinking it, it's definitely Brian Jett. For what I'm drinking I take into account because I drink it fairly often. I know how much he's gonna raise my blood sugar And then when you get to the point where several hours later we're going to start getting that drop from it. Oh, eat again. It's not as convenient. I do think sometimes if you're in a position where you can't maybe you haven't got a CGM, it's more, you're not gonna be testing yourself a lot. It might be better to let your blood sugar's run slightly high, and then the drop won't affect you through the night. But to me, it certainly is preparation like I used to go out with that test get some times I just again go to bed before we're about testing. And I'd always think about not a lot guard. So like he's only a few years ago, but I feel like God I wouldn't dare do you like now it always check because I know how fast things can change your blood sugar. I just think if you're more prepared, no matter what if you test at night, even if you're still high, you know to factor in, okay, I'm going to drop by a certain amount because the alcohol, but it's trial and error, I'm not saying go out and drink every weekend, just so you can factor it in just so you learn enough about it. But if you drink once a year, it's gonna be a lot harder to know what to inject for when you're when you're drinking, than if you're doing a little bit more regularly. So if it's a once a year occasion, maybe err on the side of caution and suffer with some bad blood sugar for that one night because it's not worth risking it to me. Yeah. So

Scott Benner 36:14
when you were younger, you I mean, you basically just got lucky for a while. You didn't get oh, right, and then your blood sugar's higher.

Ryan Taylor 36:23
There were times where I got lucky with higher and lower. There was times I have vivid memories on one certain night where we got back after an all day like a rave or whatever. And I'll be and I remember getting into bed. And at this point, I was getting a weird thing where I wasn't Sensing my blood sugar's as well. And I wasn't sensing going low as well as usual. And I still was just wrecking it as it did. And I knew we had a big day tomorrow. So I took a sleeping tablet. And as I was literally dozing off, and rolling over and being like crap about tests, our test was off and was 4.1. And I've been partying all day, drinking all day, a lot of steps a lot of alcohol. I would have went crazy low and that seemed to have that could have prevented me from waking up. Yeah. And there was there's vivid memories of that where it's like God thank God rolled over and testing South don't do that the previous two nights when it's obviously you can tell but so there's there's definitely, I was so lucky. I had the best time of my life doing it. It was unreal. I can't even think of being that reckless now.

Scott Benner 37:29
Yeah. 4.1 for people listening 74 So yeah, you're, you're, you're at bat as low as you want to be. And yeah, and then you're falling asleep and you're and you're waiting for a sleeping pill to kick and on top of all that you're that

Ryan Taylor 37:43
Yeah. And you've got the drop of all the alcohol where enough potentially the the post exercise drop, because that was one thing when we were abroad. We were racking up 20 30,000 steps a day when we're at a party arrive every night. Yeah, you looking at a big sizable drop. I went a lot food that night, I think I still woke up at like, only like a slightly low ish level the next day.

Scott Benner 38:05
You may I say, if I drank to excess, and was out eating late at night and everything. I don't think I'd have abs. So where is there a lot of exercise in your life as well.

Ryan Taylor 38:22
I'm very there's a lot more when I was young as a personal trainer for many years, and it was my life. Like, I didn't see it as my life. But when I worked well actually look at how, when you're in the gym or day, you've got time you can stretch over the day you do some cardio in the morning, I'd get in a session afterwards, I'll go sauna steam room, I can't do that. Now I'm busy. 24/7. But one thing I am is I'm very if you look at my tic tock you you think I terribly and it is sort of to prove a point. I think that is very much meat eating crap food and inject him for it. And a lot of it is to show I'm very big on showing that like you you can do what you want with diabetes. You can manage it no matter what you don't have to eat zero carb. You don't have to do any firm. But I think the only way to still have our daily weight works me doing this is if I still have good blood sugar's are still look reasonable while doing it. So the way I do it is I'm very active. I try and get in 10 15,000 steps every single day. I try and do some form of weight training every day. I do somewhat outside hobbies. I do professional wrestling. So I'm training for that at the minute. So there is a lot of activity in my life. I'm trying to be more functionally fit now. But it's not like when I was a personal trainer. I was living to be like a bodybuilder or even when I was a club promoter in America. Like I cared very much about how the I was gonna look on the beach. Right now my main part is always health. But yeah, a big part of it is I'm still going to eat crap because I will show people that like, mainly that like you can still do it with diabetes, I guess so 2520 to 50 messages a day. via Tic Tac Toe Instagram asking for advice on like diet, diabetes. And I do think it's, I do think I will reach a lot of people in the next few years and hopefully golf and mesh that you can do what you want as diabetes, because for so long, they have been told by doctors, gurus, dietitians that your carbs have to be in the 50 grams a day, you don't get to enjoy this everything. It's enjoy that. And that's actually why, in my opinion, they suffer so badly when they do you're never going to keep on that diet for life. So when you do have that cheat day at Christmas Day, and you have that cheesecake, you don't know what the how to inject for it. She's never that bad. You've never, you've stopped your diet so well, that all of a sudden, when you throw in a lot of carbs and fats, yeah, your blood sugars go sky high. And then you're reaffirming what that person has told you. Oh my god, I can't eat foods. I think I don't think people should be told I'm a very big phenom work with diabetes UK to do seminars with young children. And a big thing is there's like, tribe, like you're going to try it with a new life anyway, I'll be open eyes, it's how you my my experiences with everything, not just food. But when pie in with girls with this and that. I'm not going to reach it dads and tell them, but I'll be totally honest with you guys. And my biggest advice is be your own Encyclopedia of knowledge. Like you don't ever learn how to deal with a certain situation if you don't put yourself in that situation.

Scott Benner 41:22
Right? Right, I have to tell you, I'm certain you probably don't listen to this podcast. But you and I are so aligned on this. It's, it's absolutely freaking it's I started this podcast saying to people, I don't care how you eat, that's not my business. You need to understand how insulin works with the foods you're eating, and be right and you can go ahead and restrict carbs. But it's always been my just from my personal experience. Doing that just at some point, there's just a day where you go, I can't eat chicken again, you know, or I just I can't I can't do it anymore. Like, I don't want bacon like you don't want to get into a spot in your life when you don't want bacon. If you and so you need to understand how does this insulin work in this situation for me. And then after that I tell people you go eat any way you want and apply that knowledge to what you're doing. Because I want you to have stable, lower safe range, blood sugars, no matter what you want to do, and your activity levels and everything. I'm just it's so funny, because I'm listening to you for the last couple of minutes. And I was like with the exception of the fact that you are half my age 700 times better looking than I am. And British you and I are saying the same exact thing.

Ryan Taylor 42:43
So that's and I think it's so necessary because there's there is other people who are actually really admire in the diabetes space online, because they motivate me to to do better. But I put myself in perspective of a few years ago, when I saw that sort of content saying you've got to eat like they should call you that. It would make me put me off ever wanting to talk about diabetes on social media. I've never been that I've always been someone who's exactly what I've wanted to eat. I can't do a keto diet, I've been through so many calories in a day, I don't even know how many hundreds of grams of fat I'd have to eat to sustain my body weight, like, it just wouldn't happen. So I would see still people online. And for so long. I want to like share my story with diabetes I never did. Because I was I'm not that person. I haven't got totally private reasons I don't eat 100 grams of carbs a day, I want. And I realized like, the more people don't want to be told you've got to do that. They want to be educated on exactly how insulin works, and how can how much how you can then use that to help you with whatever your diet needs. Whatever your exercise needs are, I think a big thing we benefit from now is how easy it is all food labels have carbohydrate counts on them all my fitness pal, all the different apps you can use. Now there's other truckers in America as well. We're in a there's a massive benefit to having technology in this time. And we shouldn't be told I didn't quite go through it. He told me a bit controversial and I said if your guru if you're a doctor, if you're a parent, and you tell you, your kids, they've got eat a certain way they or they can't participate in the same hobbies as their friends go into. They can't live a certain lifestyle that they've always dreamed of living. You are the problem that you are what's going to cause depression, anxiety, unhappiness in your children, you're not going to let them live the life they want it and then they're going to be they're always going to resent having diabetes because I did for years. And now it's one of the most positive things in my life. I say it all the time to people that I hated having it for years. I was always Oh my God, even when I was living a good life in America party and abroad. It was always Oh joy if I didn't have to bring my own simple Bovary. I wouldn't need an extra three suitcases worth of stuff. But But, but at the same time now this is only positive because some of the best people I meet is through social media and talking about Diabetes getting to. And it keeps me more on track. It keeps me more on track. So I know I'm posting my readings on my story every day on tick tock, I'm going to be a little bit better than I would usually word. So there's definitely, yeah, I don't think people should ever be scared to talk about diabetes. I do a lot of tiktoks talking about diabetes data and how early you should mention that when you're dating someone, some people they're lying. To me, I've always been scared to mention the other day, and I was born now I used to hide it for weeks months until they had to see me inject. That's the first time I've talked about it. Now. It'd be one of the first things I talked about, because it's such a big part of my life. And I think it's only getting to the point where you're comfortable. You're diabetes, comfortable your management of it. You know, it doesn't change anything in your life, really, apart from the fact you've got to be screwed on 24/7. That's what's made me embrace it.

Scott Benner 45:48
Ryan, what's your handle on tick? Tock? I don't follow anybody on tick tock, but you're gonna be my first.

Ryan Taylor 45:53
So Ryan T one day. All right.

Scott Benner 45:57
And I don't think that's completely true. I do. I think I follow a couple of people, but I see you okay. Yeah. All right. Brian, can I say something that's gonna sound wrong at first, but yeah, you'll take it the right way. I don't know how to say this. I made. I made an assumption about you because of how you look. And I wasn't right.

Ryan Taylor 46:21
Right. Now, I look like I don't

Scott Benner 46:24
know, you look forward. Well, here's what I mean. Just in case you're not understanding, right? You're pretty and in shape. And I thought, Oh, God, I'm gonna have to talk to this guy about reality shows for an hour. And what else are we gonna talk about? And you're the exact opposite man. You're Yeah, it's it's exciting to talk to you about diabetes. Like you've no idea how, like, they just kind of like lit up I was when you were talking. I mean, yeah.

Ryan Taylor 46:51
So I tried for so long. I've tried for so long to not be sort of pigeon holed into beard, like I really do what I say was never a big part of life. But I do in the standards for conception that I'm a very big headed all about myself. Who, yeah, probably only cares about Jim and this and that. And yeah, I tried to be very far away from that. But I said to doctors for years, like one of the things I loved about my parents, when I got diabetes, they're the most best parents in the world, they would have done absolutely anything to me, they would just learn everything about diabetes themselves if I wanted them to. I hated the fact that I sorted the kids who let their parents do that. Because I knew when I was going to get to 18, I was going to do stuff in my life where I wouldn't have contact with my parents. So I don't want to be ringing them when I'm at my first sleepover, when I'm a teenager saying, How much do I inject for this coke, like, I was from the age of 11. I was on that PubMed. I was researching everything about diabetes. And I said, I've built this encyclopedia of knowledge, which is called share online. But I'm also very passionate about other people's stories with diabetes. It's a it's a it's a good subject for me the most fun I have in my life. Yeah,

Scott Benner 47:59
I also imagined at some point you were planning on dating a ton of women and you didn't want your mom you need your mom. They're going Honey, don't forget the Bolus for that.

Ryan Taylor 48:09
Yeah. Get that nighttime insulin. Yeah, that's a big thing. I've got a lot of videos in recent weeks about the importance of your partner into diabetes management and I would never say as like a of my ex ally I will always have a soft spot in my heart for all of them because they were my partner during very important years of my life. If only this year, I realized how important be with my current girlfriend, how important it is to have someone who shows such an interest in your diabetes management. She doesn't sit there and want to carb count on me or anything but she she knows how important it is to my life factors that in fact I spent a lot of time online talking about a lot of time doing videos about it. She also is massively encouraged she's she always be on the game plan with me. So if I we get we drink a lot we party when we go we do our little holidays each month we do a trip somewhere we drink a lot with pie, we eat crap food. But if I come back and say I need to turn it off for the next couple of weeks. I'm the chef so I'll cook or anything she wants. But she's always she's on that time with me. If I say my blood sugar readings haven't been good for a while I need to go some really basic foods just so I can get back into control and sort of get a sense of what's going on. And wouldn't even be a question she's she's on that same diet with me. And that's really cool tough.

Scott Benner 49:27
If you What do I want to say if you look like be What do you think you would do for a living?

Ryan Taylor 49:35
I think I'll do what you do. And I hope to I have to do it anyway. That's my end goal. It's gonna sound very big headed. And but I've always been someone that as I've hoped by the time I pass away, I will have helped more young diabetics than anyone else on the planet and that's what I intend on doing. And it doesn't even seem like a lot stick out to me. But I know there's people out there who have maybe even if it's a doctor or even people that you put out, so you can pick us every single week and reach millions people, I still think by the time I pass away, I will reach more. And it's just because I feel like I was made to be the person to do it because of the lifestyle that I live when I was younger. That will catch the eye and will be intriguing to so many teenagers, and also my honesty as well. But also to give a full perspective on it. I think it's very easy for someone who maybe hasn't done anything crazy in the last big diabetes didn't hold you back from anything. I think I've constantly proved our one goal I've set for myself is to each year do something I never thought I could do. Because I want to prove that I doesn't hold you back when I think because of that. Over time. And that's my that's my goal in life.

Scott Benner 50:49
Right? There's no way you've seen the movie twins with Danny DeVito. And Arnold Schwarzenegger, right.

Ryan Taylor 50:56
I've heard of it. I love it. I've never I've never watched it.

Scott Benner 50:59
You understand the concept of it that these two people who look nothing alike are actually twins, twins. Yeah. I'm gonna tell you something right now. We're twins. You and I are that we're the diabetes pair of that you're obviously Schwarzenegger in this scenario. And I'm Danny DeVito. But I've said on this podcast a bunch of times, like there are moments when you're talking about other things. And the way I usually put it as I guess people, some people might find it morbid, but when I die, I want a bunch of people to show up at my funeral and be like, That guy helped me. Like, like, my blood sugar's better because of that. I listened to a podcast, but an odd thing. You know, like I, I pushed a couple of buttons on my phone and listen to people talk about diabetes, and my health got better. And I don't, by the way, let me be clear, I don't really want you all to come to my funeral. I'm just trying, I don't even think I want a funeral. To be honest. I might just a little, you know, when they burn you up? I think I'm good with that. And yeah, yeah, I'll take that. But, but my bigger point is, is just what you're saying. Like if I would keep talking about it and be serious about it. I think there's a way to reach people with good information. And I think there's a way to give it to them. So that they can take it up and actually use it in their life and not just intersect with what you were kind of talking about earlier, which is the way the establishment likes to talk about, which is in a way that nobody wants to listen to isn't in any way fun or engaging, and in the end, doesn't actually help you because they won't go the extra mile to talk about how the insulin works. They'll you know, and I find I want to be clear, don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are plenty of people who eat like a low carb lifestyle because they want to and they enjoy it. And I'm not talking about them. But people who find themselves limiting their carbs, because they can't figure out diabetes. i It makes me sad. And for the same reason that you talked about it, like just making decisions in your life one way or the other, that that's not what you want to be doing. To fit yourself into a problem that doesn't really exist, you just don't understand how to do it. And and that's just a It's just a shame. You know, if that's happening to people,

Ryan Taylor 53:21
I think it's the lazy way out for the medical industry because there's so many more factors that fit into diabetes management, or if you actually break down as a million hormone levels, which also will cause it was a big one I had a huge surgery and experienced firsthand the effects of high and extremely low cortisol and how that affects you diabetes after but there's a million other factors I said you activated there your movement your lack of sleep will make you insulin resistant people but the easiest way to just put it in a manual for loads of trainee doctors treat and for them to spew it to millions of people is the less carbohydrates you eat the less the easier it is to control. However, it doesn't take into effect the fact that they at some point they either don't might not want to eat low carb or the fact that it doesn't take effect that eventually they are going to cheat they are going to have something else and then if you've never trained him to try enough different diets and to try and have different foods that they learn their own body then you haven't really done anything you basically put in a plaster over the the injury just put it on there temporarily. I do think one thing I was crazy with that it's managing like I said I was a bit of a mad scientist and with diabetes I'll try every different form of training in the gym see how it affected the blood sugar I tried every diet I did it all fruit vegan diet I did the because I saw it was really good for making it too sensitive. I've done all meat carnivore diets, I've done low carb, high carb and then I realized like yes might have a slightly better effect on my body one than the other but not not worth enough to be like oh I have to eat these certain foods. So then it becomes a thing of oh what you're gonna enjoy because how many years you have on this planet Your food control a massive part of the dopamine release in your brain. Are you really going to eat foods that you hate? Just so you can have that perfect HB one C? Or are you going to just spend a little extra time working out how to make that HPA once the good? No matter what?

Scott Benner 55:13
Right? I love you. I don't I don't know. I'm sitting here daydreaming about flying to England and doing a short podcast series with you in person about

Ryan Taylor 55:23
oh my god, that'd be that's got to be done. Now. You can't fit that in my head. We've got to make this happen.

Scott Benner 55:29
It's just it's like, oh my god, I swear to you that you're the nicest surprise I've had in a long time. Seriously, it's and I don't and I I feel like I'm gonna just apologize. I said it once. I really did miss judge you. I honestly, I did the thing that you tell people not to do. I when I went off some of my other experiences I've had where? Yeah, there have been people who have come on, they're like, I'm an actress. And I'm like, Oh, okay. And then that's nothing else that happens in the conversation just like, can we dig into any of these things? And the answer is usually no. But you could go on forever about this. And, and really, intelligently and well thought out, like your thoughts are very clear and valuable on the subject, and I'm trying to anyway, I'm never gonna do that again. Like it's, it's okay. Yes, you're hot Ryan. Okay. You're pretty and you're some beautiful mix of people. I don't know what your background is. But

Ryan Taylor 56:32
I've just very tan I'm actually English.

Scott Benner 56:35
Oh, for certainly I thought your mom or dad was was black. That's it. You're just tan. See? How do you How did you get out in the sun?

Ryan Taylor 56:42
God, Oh, God. Now nowadays it is some birds, some birds, but it's more of a. I spent years in these hot countries. I was in Miami in Miami. And then obviously I'll be in the top places. I had a really good time. And then when I sort of made a decision, okay. That part of my life is over when you realize how quickly you lose that. I mean, it's hard and it's hard. So yeah, I do spend a lot of time with Sinbad it's something that I don't love doing. I know it's not half before Yeah, but

Scott Benner 57:10
I don't know how you got diabetes. Like everything else looks like Do you have any other autoimmune issues?

Ryan Taylor 57:17
Salah minute Yeah, I I've always struggled since either sepsis in 2021 Right before going on Geordie Shore. This is what did dampen the Geordie Shore experience when I stopped either a blood clot in my leg and sepsis at the same time, two weeks for getting on the show. So I was on crutches until the day they picked me up because I didn't tell them how bad it was. And yeah, massive surgery on my leg was absolutely out of it. The whole time was on the show that I was in no condition to really be on the show. And then after I've somehow you get this thing me and my friends advised and coffee reality TV shows as adrenaline dump after doing one that you do this really cool thing. And you go back to normal life and it's quite hard and I wasn't ready to so I thought you know what, one more summer in our beef, went out tried to party realized very quickly. I couldn't handle it because I would go out one day and sleep for nearly 48 hours and I was like why can I stay up massive bags into my eyes and stuff went and got came home got locked down. And I had very low cortisol. Basically I was in Addison's shock the whole time I was out there and barely injecting insulin went days without injecting the insulin was still going low. So that I was prescribed hydrocortisone. I've successfully weaned myself off though very recently, but course or something I have to pay a massive look at if I now don't get the right. It's crazy because I live this crazy lifestyle for seven years, not caring about sleep, not caring about rest recovery diet. And then now I feel everything. Like if I don't sleep for a couple of days, I'll notice some bugs in the nose and dry hands and it will be really long quarters or so I need to take it again. But um, I'm going to put my building a good enough routine that we're okay. So yeah, no other apart from that. We will

Scott Benner 59:06
do you take the medication or you said you wean yourself off of it.

Ryan Taylor 59:10
So I weigh myself off. I still I've got it all prescribed so I can go at any time. I always keep some on me just in case. I really don't want to be taken them sort of Graeca steroids for long periods of time. They're not good. And if needed, and like I said if it if I'm regimented on my lifestyle, it's there. And it's one of them that cortisol plays such a huge impact on your diabetes. I need to take a look at it because if you have low cortisol, you probably got low blood sugar. If you have high cortisol, you probably got high blood sugar. So I do take that into account now and that's part of why I could my friends aren't in Miami currently. So it's hitting that time of year spring break and it's not even nearly appearing to me because I know the damage it would do to me at this point

Scott Benner 59:52
Arden's my daughter. I'm sorry, do you I don't have diabetes. Ryan. My daughter does and yeah I got that. Yeah. And I'm just I got to the point where I was like, I don't know, I think I think this guy is just fulfilling something he said he was gonna do last year. It's so, but she sees a more integrative endocrinologist, like she just turned 18. So in the states here, there are pediatric endos. And they're done with her. Now they basically at her last visit, at the end, they go, Okay, well, we need to talk about like, you know, you get out of here, because we can't see you anymore. So there's a doctor that's been on a couple of times, talking about thyroid stuff, she's really brilliant and helps my helps my family with a lot of things. And we were, we get we talked her into seeing Arden for her diabetes, because she doesn't usually see people for diabetes. That's not the kind of Endocrinology she does, but I don't care this woman is, she's who she's who I want helping Arden. And cortisol is one of the things that every time you get a blood test with her she checks for, and understand, I bet you most endos don't do that.

Ryan Taylor 1:01:02
I'm gonna do obviously, this is something that someone messaged me the other day saying, like is that other factors, they told me how low carb they how many 1000s of steps are doing every single day. And I listed several things which could play a massive factor in losing weight, I said you shouldn't have to restrict your diet that much to lose weight. And iron is a big one. BT was a big one. Vitamin D is a very healthy almost have at the top of the reference range. And I said your biggest ones, your thyroid, and your thyroid is massively impacted by your cortisol, you can have even if you take thyroid medication, your thyroid levels can come back, okay. But that just means it's in your blood. It isn't actively put to work if there's too high levels or too low levels of cortisol in your body, which is one of the things I experienced with when I've had to first start taking that hydrocortisone I went deadly skinny before last year, which was scary for me because I've always managed to maintain my weight and I was eating a taller junk food and my cortisol was extremely low. And I was losing so much weight and then when they first put me on it, my FICO my FICO has slowed down massively. I know you won't believe this, but I was in some of the worst shape of my life in that December time. And we eventually got it balanced. But yeah, they know. Yeah, the whole man.

Scott Benner 1:02:19
Right? I'm more than believe it. I just made a note for myself. I have a doctor's appointment on Friday. I just got a bunch. So my daughter went off to college this year. And my son just graduated from college and got a job so I finally have some time to think about myself. I have I have trouble with anemia, like so. Oh, right. So my my iron right now you are talking to me. I am. I'm talking to you completely fueled on the excitement I have for what you're talking about. Because my ferritin is seven right now.

Ryan Taylor 1:02:52
Oh my God, that's crazy. Yeah. So obviously I was I was always right, I always was right at top of reference range for iron, the top. That's probably what I play so much part of being in good shape, too. When I was younger, that without even trying, I always hit them. And then it became an issue with I said when when when when my hormones went off and the cortisol started going off. Now it is that regular check on all of them because all of a sudden, it's up in the reference range in the space of two months became bombed the reference range on a few of them. And I was I'm taking the I mean the exact same foods roughly taking the exact same supplements and now all of a sudden, it to me it works synergistically. And one of them's after the other one stopped paying about so yeah, definitely other that's I get that I know I

Scott Benner 1:03:35
will trust me, one of the things I'm doing today is bothering a doctor about getting me on their schedule, I'm gonna get an infusion. Like, I'll just get a like,

Ryan Taylor 1:03:44
that's what you should. Yeah. When you as low as you are. That's what you like, if you took tablets now. It would take so long to bring bring you up. Yeah, you need that infusion. And then it's obviously you can maintain otherwise, but

Scott Benner 1:03:56
yeah, but the doctor that I saw, like, really, like gave me a battery. Like I went in. I said, Look, here's So Ryan, but between you and I that people listening, my biggest My biggest issue is that I don't eat in a way that should be reflective of my weight. And if that makes sense or not my activity, I move around. I mean, I'm old nah, but, uh, you know, it's just if you and I stood next to each other, and I said, Brian, how much do you think I weigh? You'd miss my weight by 40 to 50 pounds? Really? Yeah, you would be off by that much how I look versus what I actually why. And so I went into the doctor, I'm like, This isn't right. Like, I don't I don't eat or live in a way that should reflect this. So she tested my my thyroid. She tested my iron. She tested my testosterone like she she gave I had a I gave blood for a felt like 10 minutes when I went to the doctor, and I'm my follow up opponent Less than two days and we're gonna see what she's gonna do. So

Ryan Taylor 1:05:03
that's that's cool is very cool is what documents he has, I think would be interesting because so many people are in that situation like, they think, Oh, I've just got diabetes, but now you've got autoimmune conditions are so when they they're not taking into account which is what I'm trying to say so many room, there could be so many other things autoimmune wise which are affected because you have diabetes, it's not saying because you have diabetes, you've got all these things wrong here. But there's a better chance of it because you got diabetes. So I say to him, it's not as effective for the average population, it might be as simple as calories in versus calories out. If you if you're on a good diet, and you notice that you're not losing weight you've been active, then definitely take a look at these almost off because the worst thing is doctors don't even really point it out until it's a serious problem. Yeah, there's there's a reference range. And then, but that reference range, if you're at the bottom of it, that's sometimes very deficient when you're at the bottom of that. And they weren't even mentioned it until you're under the reference range, which is, I don't like that, to me. It's like you're there to prevent problems. And it's if you're leaving it too long, for some people, you might be causing yourself more work when they are firm issues down the line and the further medication and they actually will have

Scott Benner 1:06:12
and that mindset isn't it permeates medicine, like you know, a one said, Oh, don't worry, it's not, you know, you're not too bad. You know, yeah, you have this, that's not too bad of a number that's in the range, or thyroid is a huge one right? There. I

Ryan Taylor 1:06:27
referenced.

Scott Benner 1:06:29
Oh my god, there are people with TSH is of five and six who have every thyroid issue. And the doctor says to him, Well, you're in range, so we're not going to give you the medication. And

Ryan Taylor 1:06:39
if they if they put you on a form of T frailty for your TSH would be, you'd be gets limited to barely anything. So why is it okay to be about fine?

Scott Benner 1:06:50
Exactly. I trust me, I have episode upon episode where I'm just banging that drum over and over again, like if you're, if your TSH is over two, you need to find a thoughtful doctor, who will really can do this for you. Anyway, I think I don't know what I'm going to end up on. But you just said something that I wouldn't have thought to do that I'm going to do after I get answers. I'm going to take the this piece of paper I'm holding right here that I still happen to have that has all the blood work on it that they did. And I'm gonna sit down on the podcast and go over it with people so they can see what they looked at and what we found and what we're trying.

Ryan Taylor 1:07:25
Yes, I said that you'll be surprised how many people have the same issues as you're experiencing. And like I said, if you can point out slightly faster to them than they would have been some people. Whether it's a money issue or whatever, it's just, I'm gonna run myself into the ground and live as I'm fine. I'm just going to self medicate with prescription stuff until I until I absolutely crash, somebody would don't go and get their bloodwork done. So if you point out certain things you're experiencing, and then what your blood tests are often that's yeah, you could save someone Yeah, cuz

Scott Benner 1:07:57
no one knows what they asked for, you know, and, and, you know, I know your points just very strong, because I'm adopted. But my daughter has type one diabetes. And it wasn't and no matter how many people I get on this podcast, I'm like, so you know, how about in your family line, like what's in people like, Oh, my, my mom has celiac, or my brother in law has vitiligo or I don't know, like stuff like that. And I never, I always thought, well, I just don't know my history. But then I have some, it's interesting, you know what I mean, but then I have some of these issues. And because I think because I don't have diabetes, I don't see this is probably a psychological thing, because my kid has type one. I don't have type one. So therefore, I don't have medical things that deserve attention, if that makes sense. Yeah, 100%.

Ryan Taylor 1:08:49
But no one even knows what type one comes from. And like I said, you might have just been blessed enough to not get that but you still have the same genes that essentially will allow you to go deficient in the same hormones and the same the same blood markers that type one would go in so it is weird thing of like they people do or say that like it's not meant to be G it's not meant to be passed on by genes. But my brother was my stepfather was quite a cousin of mine did have it. She passed away when she was young. So yeah, it's it's weird. I do always speak to people and I do always ask her. Did you have any family members? Because it is quite intriguing. Like, it's crazy. They haven't looked down exactly. Is there a way it gets passed on or not?

Scott Benner 1:09:32
Well, I ask it to get people's minds turning like the people listening. I want them to think like oh, wow, this does run in my family or Yeah, we do. You know, there are four people in my extended family who run to the bathroom after we eat dinner. Like is that me? Is that celiac? Is that like, my stomach hurts? Could that be it? It's just my stomach hurt because I have type one and my thought and my pancreas isn't helping. You know with my digestion which by the way, hope happens to my daughter. My daughter has to take care Yeah, just an enzyme tablet when she eats. Yeah, just meat and stuff. Exactly. Yeah. Ryan, why? Where have you been all my life? Dammit.

Ryan Taylor 1:10:12
Yeah, the research about the research? I do. Yeah, I know a lot of people who I give it to my girlfriend as well she's always struggled with digestion obviously, being my partner she does eat a lot more probably meat and she used to cook it most likely does include it. So yeah, I've looked at again, I am what age was your daughter diagnosed to two. The one of the saddest stories I heard. But another thing that really motivated me to to do as much as I can in the diabetes space I was doing probably a lot of pilots, I guess they call in America but dry runs, we call them in the UK. So before reality show aired, they put a film a new reality show, they'll do a practice run of it. And they'll run it like it's real. But it'll be with it's typically actors or people who have been on reality TV before. So they've been asked to play out for the camera and stuff. And they do it just to see have they got the right camera angles in this location is the storyline of the show any good. I do a lot of them. And I did one that turns out to be a really good shot and really good. I didn't actually on the show. But about a year ago, and I remember, the first night everyone's in their room, having a good time mingling and talking about his castle getting paid to do this. We're living in a castle for a week or whatever. So we're all doing that I hit diabetes mentioned repeatedly. So I'll go over here, this guy has reached out to him, and I thought it'd be him. And he's talking about his daughter having it. And he said to me, he lists off the how bad it was her diagnosis said last year this way, was wetting the bed every single night throwing up every single night and was getting misdiagnosed for months. And I thought in my head, she's got to be my age, because that's the exact same thing that happened to me. I went down. I was 10 years old and I only weighed four stone. I'm not sure when I was in kilo, but it's looking at around 60 pounds. Yeah, at the age of 10. And I was weighing myself every night, throwing up most nights. And so I assumed I said I'll hold you thought I think he was gonna say my age. And he turned around he said, Oh, that was only a few weeks ago. She's three years old. And I couldn't believe how diabetes is so widely known now Hala people still having them saying terrific stories nearly dying. And I can't get diagnosed. Like to me if you've seen them certain signs on a kid and shows it's not enough education in the general population. Definitely not in the medical field. But yeah, I think it's crazy. Like the fact that just people need dying to get diagnosed and it was in what 2022? That's wild.

Scott Benner 1:12:40
Yeah, well, especially in the emergency room situation, you would expect doctors to know that. You know, when when when a doctor doesn't know that your TSH shouldn't be six. I don't know if they're going to know that peeing all the time. You know? Yeah. Yeah. It's it's hard to know.

Ryan Taylor 1:12:56
They should to make sure we weren't you started tests on comes in L? How hard? Is it? fingerprick. It shouldn't be one of those that honestly should be one of the most standard things whenever there's any of them. Was it the four P's The main symptom, or 40s? That makes sense. And the type one diabetes, if someone comes in with any of them should be standard, we have to do a blood test on it. And then, yeah, I'm never gonna have the chance to change your medical field. I'm not stupid enough to think I have that much power and influence. But I think this is why I love podcasts like this. I love Elon, he puts out information that could catch on, because he didn't have a clue about diabetes until his daughter got it. But he wishes you know, now to not put through the trauma she suffered for months leading up to it. So yeah, I have

Scott Benner 1:13:39
a couple things. First of all, you said four T's? What? What are their thirst?

Ryan Taylor 1:13:45
So first, tired.

Unknown Speaker 1:13:49
Toilet, toilet,

Ryan Taylor 1:13:51
toilet. That's the one you

Scott Benner 1:13:53
misspoke. And you said four peas. And I thought on a different podcast, I'd ask Ryan. What is I think I know one of them. So well, you know, I wouldn't say that. Don't Don't give up on the idea of really being able to impact a lot of people because like look at the look at the weird course you take to getting to me today, right? Like you're on a reality show and your and your, you know, your person's like, Here, go do podcasts about diabetes. And that was a year ago and now here and you and I are talking and also I am I don't put a ton of effort into making sure you're here. So you Yeah, you have to respond. You have to look at that email and go Oh, damn, I did say I was gonna be on a podcast next week. And and then and then be here for it which I really appreciate. Sincerely, yeah, knows.

Ryan Taylor 1:14:42
It's been great. I know. I know. I'm gonna that's why my goal is always to reach and most people have anyone in the diabetes thrilled. I just think I'm not I'm not medically trained. A lot of the stuff that I do is against doctors and how they prescribe and how they go about teaching Okay, so I'm never gonna get welcome into that industry like diabetes UK probably hate that. I come out and I say like your doctor is wrong about this, this and this. And all the talks that I do for my staff saying, like, I think you should listen to your doctor on half the stuff, because they're the manual that they read on diabetes is this many pages long when it should be this many. And they probably don't like that. But they also know that I probably give the realest advice to children. So I know I'm gonna reach a lot of people. And I just, I just think personally, you can only control what you can control and but yeah, your path to so many things as well. And I always think there's so many things in my life that I said, I when I was 14, I never thought I'd do reality TV. If you saw me at 14 I definitely wasn't someone who you think would be allowed to do anything like modeling reality TV, anything. And even podcasts that I do, I have my own sports forecast. Now I do a lot of I try and do like one interview chat or podcast, in different areas, sports relationships, party and traveling, I try to do one of them a week, my agent tries to get me through some of that. And I always tell her like, I was in speech therapy until I had no confidence one but I was also in speech therapy and up until the age of six years old. So I was sitting there while they're going to, to to serve just so I can say words. And the fact that I get to do stuff like this. That's cool to me, because I never thought I'd be a good talk. I know for their constant talk for sure. Well,

Scott Benner 1:16:17
you're sure you're absolutely terrific. I actually was going to ask you. And then you just said you're in speech therapy, which makes me want to ask you more. Do you Do you know your IQ? Has it ever been tested?

Ryan Taylor 1:16:30
I don't think it'd be very good. I just because I disagree. I'm very I've said this before, I'm obsessively interested in subject in certain matters. So if I and it can be something so small, and I'll have to be the most educated person on that random subject. And I'll spend hours in my free time just researching it and gathering knowledge on it listening to podcasts on it. But if it's something I don't care about, I'm useless. Like, I remember I worked in car sales at the age of 21. I got there. And for six months, I was stealing a living. And on my last day, they caught me and they gave me a test that I had on my first day. I don't remember the test on my first day. I scored worst on my last day when they fired me that I did on my first day,

Scott Benner 1:17:14
right? I don't care. Because you're, you're describing me. Like, yeah, if you think I know about, like nuclear fission or something like I don't, you know, I struggled to get through school, primary and secondary. And but the things that I that I think about? Well, I think people say it's the things you care about, but it's the things that kind of light my brain up that they're I can go on, you know, and and I'm telling you, I'm not lying, I would send my daughter to you, as an endocrinologist before some of the endocrinologist that we've met. Yeah,

Ryan Taylor 1:17:50
that's right. I think that so again, we go into that. That's where the education system fails. Yeah, I was. I wasn't booksmart at school. But if you put me in a creative subject, something like media, which is like journalism, ALR it designing something, I was very good. If I had to read about you will know, but Shakespeare is a very famous author in the UK in English literature. Oh, my God, I was awful. And that's where school fails you because you should play to your strengths, because you don't have to be good at every single thing. I wasn't amazing at maths. I wasn't good at numbers. But I just said like, if it's something I'm passionate about God, like, I'll be very passionate about it.

Scott Benner 1:18:35
Let me let me share this with you. I'm published. I am a published author, okay. I don't read I don't like reading.

Ryan Taylor 1:18:46
It's one of them that to me, I'm not like, I'm not saying I'm the busiest man in the world or anything. But I like I like to live quite routine after I can fit in as many things as I can in the day, like, we have to work we have to do some things after gym. So certainly I do which take up a large portion with this happy so routine, the routine. Problem is if I do, I sat there and read for an hour, I don't see that as a massive waste of time because I could I could listen to the audiobook version of it while doing some sort of exercise or something like, I'm a very efficient guy and readers never fit into my lifestyle.

Scott Benner 1:19:19
I found it since I've read a couple of great books that I've really enjoyed. But I just don't like to read. I'm not I'm not embarrassed. I used to. I was on a book tour once. And my publisher pulled me aside and said, Hey, let's stop telling people you don't read okay? And I said, I said why he goes well, because you wrote a book and it doesn't sound good. And I was like, Oh, okay. I said I thought it sounded like I thought it was like Hey, book and he doesn't even read.

Ryan Taylor 1:19:50
I think yeah, it's it's never done much for me like so. I won't be efficient, but I also I just I can't concentrate on words. I feel like I'd pay massively off people's like voices emotion, which I guess you wouldn't get an audio book. But it's probably why I like so many podcasts. And so I like hearing that if I'm going to ask me, like, made up stories up for a real life story. It's always fun what interests me. So I would have to be more like a biography, which I'd be interested in, but I still hear the voice behind it. I've definitely always connected better with the expression you can put in your voice. And I guess if you can see them as well, but yeah, breeding to me, it's just I've never been asked to it. And it's annoying because I try and be so there's so many you always look at are the millionaires morning routine. And I'm very much on the I go over five year don't care. It's Monday to Sunday, I'm about five. I always try and get Jim out of the way early. I'll try and just start my day at five. It's just something that I've managed to get into routine. I love doing it. But there's certain things I now try and add in when I can read it. It's always says I'll read nine to 12 and dine afternoon. For any period of time.

Scott Benner 1:20:57
Brian, let me tell you what, what the Google machine tells me whether or not it's actually true or not. But average IQ of a person with a stutter is 14 points higher than the national average. That's pretty crazy. I have your IQ in the 120s. That's my guess, really. I'm very good at picking people's IQs. People who knew me

Ryan Taylor 1:21:19
at school would massively laugh at that statement. I like I said, but I do think like I said, it's something. And we're talking about a subject that I'm very passionate about. And I put a lot of time into researching because to me, that's one of the most important things when you're giving advice to young people and stuff. Like, I got to tell you go and do this because I did it. And it's great. Like, if you do it and you're gonna die, I can't put that risk on myself and live for myself doing that I've had to be very educated on any my opinions on

Scott Benner 1:21:47
I appreciate that. I'm just telling you that you're not giving yourself enough credit. You're you're having multi level thoughts about things that are existing on different timelines, and you're keeping them all together and explaining them in a very simple way. And that that's not that listen, I barely got out of high school. Like, I'm not kidding you. But I barely got out of high school. Like when they gave me my diploma. I was like, huh, I pulled this off. We did it. I was like, no kidding. Alright, thanks. You sure. All right, I'll take it. But I like my kids, like my daughter's in college. And she's She sends me a text the other day and she goes, Did this report on this history topic. And I was like, right, and she goes, I got a 96 out of 100. And I said, Yeah, and she goes, I don't understand where I lost these four points that I thought you wanted. Yeah. And I'm like thinking, if I got a C, like, like, middling grade, I was like, I did it. I would give him a 30 percentage worried and be like, Oh, I'm doing terrific.

Ryan Taylor 1:22:56
Yeah, that was me in school as well. And then, but her mindset is sort of a mindset of about now that I'm not sure if she's very passionate about the the test she took. But there's certain things where I'm, I'm not my biggest critic in everything I do. And a lot of it. It's subjective, but when I'll do a professional restaurant, for example, it's totally subjective. Like people can think I was amazing. People think I was rubbish. I purely go on crowd noise because the crowd is loud. I did a good job I entertained. And but I I'll be obsessively over it, I will put the rest of the show into a program that tells me the different level of noise throughout the whole show. And I will see who gets the best reactions. Who gets the worst what moments that the best thing worse is the same a podcast if someone comes on our podcast or the comments, or one of our local football team, and he's funnier than me. Oh my god, I stay off for that. I used to call a bad joke. So I there's certain things that I ruthlessly hard on myself about but like I said, if it's that driver, make sure that she's okay, got that.

Scott Benner 1:24:00
Right. I'm just gonna say it again. I'm Danny DeVito. to your to your percenter. We're basically the same person. I did a TV show once where I was in front of a live audience like 500 people. And there's a moment when you can feel it. Like I've gotten I'm gonna say something in a second and they're gonna laugh and then I'm gonna move it in this direction and then this is gonna happen and then another person started speaking up it's a letdown for them and I'm not talking and very um, you can if you can see it anyway.

Ryan Taylor 1:24:35
I Yeah. I love I love it because it there's so much growth like people would think after doing that relatively Oh, this guy's got insane confidence. You can do anything. But I said the rest of the stuff came just after it was one of the first things that messaged me after like come in to help us build an audience for the show. At first time I went to ring God I thought I was confident talking I thought I could engage audience I thought I would know Oh, You'd be quiet when they're loud. So you don't want to get you don't want to basically when you watch the bag, the crowds booing over you talk and you kind of hear what you're saying. I've thought I'd have all these things down to a point and I watch my first show now cringe but you It's so good to see your progression in a certain subject because at the start I've got a heartbeat see be and I'll just be hoping no one's gonna say anything, like really bad. I think sort of what some fads to fansite agenda are who is AI for AI at this point, I was meant to be not a bad guy with regards to sort of play in the middle because I hadn't decided what they wanted me to be. They're going to base it off the crowd. So I got I got their reactions All right, but then some lads Snapchatting who I think I was trying to think my feet before it's a bad guy. I was like more relevant than you that's who I am. And then they all booed we got a situation we will offer written feedback like, just like in that second. I love that I have like a wet your brain to turn around. Because if not, some people can crumble under that sort of pressure. I'm having a live audience heckling. Yeah.

Scott Benner 1:26:03
I love speaking in front of people. I don't know what that says. Only but I enjoyed it very much. All right, Ryan, I have to let you go because I'm going to propose to you in a second and I'm gonna have to go to have to explain to my wife and I'm leaving her for a guy in his 20s in in London. So you just really I had such a just a lovely time speaking with you. This is terrific.

Ryan Taylor 1:26:24
No, it was so much fun. Yeah, so I'm not gonna lie when you said oh, we're just winging it. And then you didn't I expect you like oh, well, roughly talking about this will roughly talk about that. But we'll wait and get and let me just said that show headphones winging it. And I was I couldn't go off the cuff but I just thought I was gonna have a really boring chat. And this has been hilarious. Oh,

Scott Benner 1:26:41
no, I'm really good at this Ryan.

Ryan Taylor 1:26:47
would be if so it's okay. It was a bad conversation. Something's really went wrong.

Scott Benner 1:26:52
I've never like had I've never made a podcast and thought Oh, nobody can hear that. That'll be terrible. I I have one question before I let you go really early on like an hour and a half ago you said as happy as Larry. Yeah, what does that mean?

Ryan Taylor 1:27:10
It's a it's a weird British saying that it's just no I'm not sure if there's I don't know there's an actual Lowry This is somewhere in my IQ mate might fail. I don't know if there's actual Larry this this seems based off but it's like Hafeez Lowery's like just someone who's having the best time almost a bit like delusional to like anything that's going wrong in his life. He's just always having a good time.

Scott Benner 1:27:30
So it's, it looks like it's, I'm looking it up here. Larry, the best known character in a world of similes. The expression He instigates is most likely to be of Australian or New Zealand origin. Earliest printed reference known from the writer gl mirdif Dating 1875

Ryan Taylor 1:27:51
Oh God, I know it's been it's been I've always heard this a lot. I was happy as Ireland this happened. So as well and with like someone who's almost just everything's going great for that person. Alone. She is usually used because everything was so good. And then something happened.

Scott Benner 1:28:07
So popular Australian writer Tom Collins in 1903, in something called barrier of truth wrote, now that the adventure was drawing to an end, I found a peace of mind that all the old fogies on the river couldn't disturb. I was as happy as Larry is Larry. You go Alright, well, nothing Ryan. That's what your episodes called. I love it.

A huge thanks to Ryan for coming on the show today and sharing what he knows about type one diabetes. Thought he was terrific. Thanks also to the contour next gen blood glucose meter contour next one.com forward slash juice box use my link support the show. Speaking of links and support the show better help.com forward slash juice box save 10% off your first month of therapy with better help. I sincerely appreciate when you guys use the links. It really does keep the show going. So if you're looking for Dexcom on the pod contour BetterHelp Athletic Greens us med what else touched by type one so many chi voc hypo pen? I think that's it right now. No, no, no, no, it's not it cozy earth.com use the offer code use box at checkout to save 35% If you're looking for anything about those, please use my links. Sorry, I just turned my head to read off a whiteboard. I can't it's a lot of them. It's hard to keep straight in my mind. I can't thank you enough for listening sincerely. I'll be back soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast. You're probably right now thinking I can't believe we got through this whole episode. Scott didn't do one like I really like British accent the whole time I didn't What do you think of that op ed growing up didn't even mention Harry Potter

#911 T1D, Lupus and Epilepsy

Makayla has type 1 diabetes, lupus and epilepsy.

+ Click for EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Scott Benner 0:00
Hello friends, and welcome to episode 911 of the Juicebox Podcast.

On this episode of the podcast I'll be speaking with Mikayla, she's a 22 year old type one who has a seizure disorder, and lupus. While you're listening, 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. Or becoming bold with insulin. I got some stuff for you here, you can save 10% off your first month of therapy, when you go to better help.com forward slash juicebox how'd you like to save 35% off of pajamas, bedding, towels and so much more you can at cozy earth.com Just use the offer code juice box at checkout to save 35% Their stuff is soft, it is quality and you will love it cozy earth.com use the offer code juice box at checkout. If you're looking for community around diabetes, check us out on Facebook Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes is a private Facebook group with almost 40,000 members in it. There's 110 posts a day, someone there 24/7 If you're looking for community and support. That's the place. This episode of The Juicebox Podcast is sponsored by ag one from athletic greens. I drink ag one every morning and you can to athletic greens.com forward slash juice box with your first order you'll get five free travel packs, and a year supply of vitamin D where you use my link athletic greens.com forward slash juice box. And if you're already an ag one drinker, no shame in the game. If you switch over to me, you know I'm saying if you're getting through another link, get it through Scotties link athletic greens.com forward slash juice box on September 16 That touched by type one annual conference is happening in Orlando, Florida. You can go to the website right now you click on programs go to it. It says Where can I see a list of speakers and sessions it says We are finalizing this list check back in a couple of weeks to view the complete list of speakers and sessions. Here's what I know. I'm gonna be there. And I think some other people you like are gonna be there too. I don't think I'm supposed to say their names. But I mean, Jenny touched by type one.org. Check it out, would you head over there?

Makalay 2:39
My name is Michaela. I'm 22 years old. And obviously I'm type one diabetic. And I've been diabetic for 15 years now.

Scott Benner 2:48
Wow. That's seven years old when you were diagnosed? Yes, I was seven. You're impressed at all with how quickly I did that.

Makalay 2:58
I am Thank you.

Scott Benner 3:00
Thank you very much. There click with math. It's my goal to impress people who are bad at math with my math.

Makalay 3:07
You impress me because I'm not good at math at all. So

Scott Benner 3:10
I could tell because you just take the 20 and you subtract the 15. Right, and then you're left with five and you add two and you have seven it's pretty quick.

Makalay 3:16
Perfect really quick. All right.

Scott Benner 3:20
So do you have any brothers or sisters?

Makalay 3:23
I do actually have a really big family. I'm the youngest of seven kids. So I have four older sisters and two older brothers. And then I have three brother in law's now and four for how many? I have one niece and three nephews and four on the way

Scott Benner 3:43
and Jesus are their siblings younger than you are right. Um, no, I'm

Makalay 3:47
the youngest. The youngest. Okay.

Scott Benner 3:49
We'll get there. My math fell apart in two seconds. Okay.

Makalay 3:52
Yeah, that's a lot.

Scott Benner 3:54
So, wow. Your parents? Like, is this a? Is it a mixed family? Are these the same parents of all seven kids?

Makalay 4:04
No same parents and no twins at all.

Scott Benner 4:07
Wow. Mikayla, is this a religious thing? There's a lot of No,

Makalay 4:12
it's not my parents just wanted a big family. They're like, the more the merrier. So well, they got one seven kids was best for them.

Scott Benner 4:19
What did your dad sleep like three hours a day and your mom has 14 part time jobs

Makalay 4:26
are older now. But yeah, yeah, I

Scott Benner 4:28
would imagine right. He was probably the guy who like came in the house at like, eight o'clock me like there's that guy that slaps mom on the butt. And then because I'm assuming I'm assuming Mikayla, he had to keep it hot to make seven kids. You know what I mean? Don't Don't think about it at all. It'll just make you upset. So you're you're seven when you're diagnosed. You're the youngest kid. Are some of your siblings. So old. They were out of the house by the time you got diabetes. He's,

Makalay 5:01
um, yes. In college. So I think when I was diagnosed there was five of us in the house.

Scott Benner 5:10
Wow. What did you mean? Who took care of you? Mainly?

Makalay 5:14
My mom and my dad, mostly my mom, because she was home with me. And our schools were pretty nearby. So she was always the one that coming to school and giving me shots before the nurses were allowed to do that. Or the school nurses, but mostly my mom. But I had a really good support system with like, my whole family. Yeah.

Scott Benner 5:32
Okay. Well, that's nice. Um, were you born in 2000?

Makalay 5:36
I was there you go with your math again? Oh, no, no, no,

Scott Benner 5:38
hold on. That's not don't give me credit for that. It's my my son was born in 2000. Really? Yeah. And it's the greatest thing because it's, I always know how old he is by the year. Yeah, you don't have to be convenient. It is insanely convenient, actually. So. And that's what made me think that so. So you were born in 2000. You were diagnosed in 2007. And still, the people at your school wouldn't help right away? Or how did that go?

Makalay 6:07
I think like right away since I was in second grade. My school was pretty small. It was only second and third grade in the school. And I think I was actually the only diabetic there might have been one other kid, but it was pretty new, I think to my school nurse. I mean, she was like, amazing. But at first it definitely was a lot of my mom coming in and working with the nurse and working out schedules. But eventually my nurse was giving me shot to just took like a little bit of an adjustment period.

Scott Benner 6:35
Okay, so your mom didn't do it forever. She just did it in the beginning. Yeah, just to start off, where you just literally just had needles at that point.

Makalay 6:45
Yes, I was. I was shot for seven years.

Scott Benner 6:48
Okay. Any any CGM or anything like that in those first seven years?

Makalay 6:53
I got my CGM. I got the g4 right when it came out. So I think that was I don't know, like 2013 or 2014.

Scott Benner 7:02
Okay. Was it really? Is that your first 120 13?

Makalay 7:07
I'm the first one I got was the Dexcom g4 Right when it came out. I think that was 2014. Okay. And right in my eighth grade, so I think it was like 2013 2014 ish.

Scott Benner 7:19
I see. And were you have you been using some sort of a CGM since then?

Makalay 7:23
Yeah, I've been sticking with the Dexcom. Okay. Alright. So

Scott Benner 7:27
you have to the G six at this point. I am Gotcha. All right. Okay, so what was it? I have a question, but I'm not sure what it is yet. Still learning about you. I feel like I need to know more thing about you before I can ask my question. So did you play sports in school?

Makalay 7:47
I did play sports. Basically, my whole life. What did you play? When I was younger, I think my parents signed me up for every single sport. There was like Community Soccer when I was younger, but and I was saying the other day, I think have played every sport besides basketball and volleyball. But I stuck with lacrosse, and then played that through like my childhood and in high school and then started field hockey in high school. So I played field hockey for four years lacrosse, like track in middle school. So I like running.

Scott Benner 8:22
Look, yeah, yeah, you're gonna have to if you're doing that stuff, lacrosse, lacrosse is the long tennis racket with a little event right? Is Yeah. Description. Field Hockey is the one where they make this stick to shorts. You have to bend over the whole time. Yep. I know what they're okay. Did you end up going to college?

Makalay 8:40
I did go to college. just graduated, right? I did. Yeah, I was. It's so nostalgic. Like, I was so excited to graduate. But I now home and I miss it so much. What was your major? I majored in linguistics for speech pathology.

Scott Benner 8:57
Wow, do you have any, any leads for jobs yet?

Makalay 9:02
Well, I have to go to grad school. So I decided to take this fall semester off and then start grad school in the winter. So I'm doing applications for that now. But unfortunately, I like can't get any job until I have my master's. But I've definitely been like doing shadowing and things like that, just to get experience. And I really love it. So I wanted to make sure I really, really loved it before I committed to go into grad school.

Scott Benner 9:28
That's that's incredibly you know, that's very smart. So is this a year or two years of grad school to get through?

Makalay 9:35
Two years.

Scott Benner 9:37
Okay. All right. So do you have do you have schools in mind and you just have to apply or are you just hoping one of them

Makalay 9:44
weighing it all out. I personally like the way I learned I really love the online schooling and like remote learning. So I'm looking into a lot of those programs but I'm definitely not like not considering in person because in person like class It's just nice as well. But it's just more finding a school that would start in the winter that is like the right fit for me. So I'm looking at a whole bunch of different schools just hopefully getting into

Scott Benner 10:11
Can you tell me more about why you prefer online versus in person.

Makalay 10:16
Um, I like online just because I like being able to like, go back and rewatch lectures and like, pause them and take notes. And in like, class, I did get like accommodations for that when I was in college. Like, I was able to like record lectures if I wanted to. But I think having like the zoom, and, like watching it, and then the recording of it going back and like going to special points, I was like, confused, I really liked that part of it. And I also now that I'm like, older, I like being able to, if it's like online, live wherever I want because like my friends are getting jobs now. So like, who don't have to go to grad school. So if they're like moving out into us, and like I could live with my friends if I wanted to, and I'm not really like, I down to wherever my university is. I said I would go

Scott Benner 11:02
to Yeah, that makes sense. Is your mom and dad, they're like, You got to get out of here? Or did they still have other kids living with them?

Makalay 11:11
I'm the only one right now. And they're totally fine with it. I think they love it. At least I hope so don't make it seem like they do. So if they're faking and doing a great job, but I think they actually do like me being here.

Scott Benner 11:22
I bet you they do call my son at home. And I think it's terrific. I really love it. It's actually interesting that Arden left for college last week. And it gives Cole the ability to be like the only child for a while like art and got to do that while Cole was in college. And now he's getting to do it. And you have a different I don't know like it's not a relationship, the relationships the same, but the your ability to spend time with people and, and it changes you know, because you're not splitting your time between a bunch of people like though, I'm going to tell you right now, Makayla, the thing I love the best about art not being here. She's such an indecisive eater. So she comes into the room and she's just like, I'm hungry. And it's very, like, I'm hungry. And I'm like, okay, cool. What do you want to I don't know, then. And then she lays in a pile like it's a like a 1950s like black and white movie and lays there. Like, we don't want to eat something. I don't know what I want. What do we have? And now and then you you stand in the kitchen going? Well, we have a you start listing everything like just open the refrigerator listed. I know. That doesn't sound right.

Makalay 12:38
Okay, thank you don't know what you want, but you want something but nothing sounds good.

Scott Benner 12:43
45 minutes later, she's just like, forget it. You're like, wait a minute, what?

Makalay 12:50
Aren't you still hungry?

Scott Benner 12:51
You're still I'm still hungry. We don't have anything. I been listing things for 20 minutes. It's not possible that you don't think we don't have anything you know. So I can't I'm so happy. She's not here because of that one thing other than that, I really miss her. And I can see when she Bolus is on Nightscout. And truth is, she's eating on a very like, like, she apparently can figure out what to eat when she's by herself, just not when I'm there. So anyway,

Makalay 13:20
as long as there's no influence, she can figure it out. She's like, Oh,

Scott Benner 13:25
I'll never understand it completely. Like, like, you know, she'll eventually eat something and be like, this isn't what I want. I don't know about you, Michaela. But I grew up in the 70s. It's a time a long time ago. And my mom would take a piece of paper and write Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then she'd write a food underneath of it that we could afford. Not even like, you know, anything people wanted. And she cooked that schedule every week. And then as I got older, she got lazy and stopped moving them around. So it was just like Thursday, we had chicken. And that was it. You don't I mean, she couldn't even like put chicken on Monday just to be exciting. So anyway, you're living? Nice. Yes, like, oh, it's interesting. You would like that, huh?

Makalay 14:17
I think so. But then also, like, last minute, I might see something and be like, ooh, actually, I don't think I want that. And then it's like, well, it's already right there. So I guess I have to eat it.

Scott Benner 14:26
There's a question about you getting an accommodation at college. Do you have a diagnose issue that you were able to point to? Or was it as easy as telling the college look, this just works better for them for me, can I do it like this?

Makalay 14:39
So I also have epilepsy. And I've had I think seven seizures and most of them I've been like standing and then I'll fall on hit my head. So I've had a lot of concussions. So I really like struggled with I called post concussions concussion syndrome. It's basically just like prolonged headache. and like, makes you like really tired and sometimes hard to focus. I also am like a little bit like add so.

Scott Benner 15:08
So that was enough to

Makalay 15:10
Yeah, they were really good about working with me and like, giving me my options and asking me what I wanted, which I thought was really nice instead of having like, one like uniform accommodations that everybody gets. So that was really nice. I also got like, the eating and class and things like that. And if my phone goes off for my Dexcom, obviously, like, professors don't really get mad about phones a lot. Like a lot of them don't. But like if my phone's going off, I liked my professors knowing that like, it wasn't my friend calling me like, my blood sugar's high, like my blood sugar's low, right? But yeah, it was really nice that my school was so flexible with me,

Scott Benner 15:47
it is, it's, um, art in school was incredible. They had a meeting in the summertime before she left. And the person just was like, hey, just explain my your life to me. And we talked, talked about it and, you know, said, look, there's, we know, there are things we can ask for here. But the truth is, they're not necessary. So we're not gonna we're not going to burden you with like, everything, we would make everything perfect. Just you know, is there a possibility because art in school is spread out over a city? Like, can we leave some supplies in a couple of buildings? Just so? Yeah, just so she doesn't get, you know, 20 minutes by bus away from where she's living, and suddenly have to run home? Like, you know, can we? Can we have a tiny refrigerator in her room? We got one of those little I don't know if you ever seen another like medicine, refrigerators? They look good. They would hold two cans of Coke maybe? And, yeah, keep her insulin there just in case like her roommates. Don't you don't I mean, like, we didn't want to put the in somewhere. Everybody was constantly moving around it. Yeah, exactly where we could save you. They were really great. So tell me a little bit about the other things that are going on with you. So epilepsy, is that a seizure disorder that you've had your whole life? Or did it develop over time,

Makalay 17:03
so is the seizure disorder, I got diagnosed with it and 2015. But by that, that year, I've already had two seizures before that. And it's actually really like the Dexcom. We were so grateful for it, because for a while, like I had two seizures, one, like, within the year I was diagnosed, and then another one in seventh grade. And when I went to the hospital, they my mom was saying, like, I don't think that this is diabetes related. And of course, like their first thing was like, Oh, her blood sugar was low. And then we would be like, Okay, well, I checked my blood sugar right after and it's perfect. And then we would usually get the response like, oh, during like that state, her body will naturally like, bring the blood sugar back up. And we always were like, a little bit weary about it. But I only had the two seizures by that point. And then the one in 2015. That summer, I had three, but the first one, I had my Dexcom. So we finally were like, here's the proof, like my blood sugar wasn't low, my blood sugar was fine. And then they did like more in depth testing and like EGS. And so like, I guess, like watching my brain activity and things like that. And then they found that it was irregular. And then I've been on medicine for it since 2015. But I've had a couple more because they're like some factors. Like if I'm like super tired, things like that. And like if I'm sick, and I guess the blood sugar could play a role in it. I guess if my blood sugar is like really low, I could have a seizure. But I think that like, that's a risk that a lot of people have. But yeah, so I've had I had my last one was in May of 2021. And it was because I was I had finals, and I was not being responsible as they should have been and not sleeping as much. So I was not I was pretty sleep deprived. So that's why I had that one. But it's been nice that every time I have one we're able to, like attribute it to, like why it happened. It's not like, what happened there. It's like, oh, she was super tired. That's why it happened. But why but yeah,

Scott Benner 19:06
let me just have questions. Sure. Okay, so from the time you had your first seizure, until somebody agreed that it wasn't diabetes related, how long was that?

Makalay 19:16
Um, I have one in 2008 and then another and 2013. So I guess there was two.

Scott Benner 19:26
So yeah, 2008 2013 then you finally got meds in 2015. So sometime between 2013 and 2015, you were able to explain to somebody this wasn't diabetes.

Makalay 19:38
So I had one in the spring of 2015. And then that's when we were like, look at my Dexcom my Dexcom is showing that my blood sugar was fine. And the doctors at that point were like, shocked. They're like this Dexcom is so cool. I'm like this Dexcom just saved my life because I want to be on medication. Yes.

Scott Benner 19:56
Seven years. Mikayla seven years for you. To be able to talk somebody into it, and you're only having them, I don't want to say only but they're pretty, like 2008 2013. It's five years, and then it takes two more years to have another one. Then you get the medication. Do you think the medication is helping? Because it was, was it six years till your next one and 2021?

Makalay 20:18
I think it was helping. So I had two more in the summer of 2015. And that was because one of the medications I'm on, it's you have to work up in it in like small doses. So I wasn't on they said, like a therapeutic level yet. So I just I couldn't have I would break out in like a rash or something, if I took too much of it. So I was still working up on the medication. So that's why I had two more than they actually were the same day. And then Christmas of 2017. I had another one and then may 2021.

Scott Benner 20:54
So I want to except I want to ask you a question. That's kind of fresh in my mind. Because while we're recording this in September, you're this won't come out for a while. But tomorrow, believe it or not, the next episode of the podcast with Arden is coming out. Oh, really? That's so sweet. And in in that episode, we sit down the night before she goes to college, and we just record late at night before we go. And I really thought we were going to just talk about management. Like I wanted to go over all the management stuff with her one more time, you know, and I thought, Oh, it'll be interesting for people to hear the things that I've talked to her about. And of course, Arden's personality just does not allow for that. She doesn't want to hear about it that way. And, and in two seconds, we direct the conversation to Rails. And she brings up that she had a seizure after her senior prom. Oh, really? Yeah. But it was it was blood sugar related. And so she goes to she explains the whole thing, you know how it happened and everything we tell the whole story. But, you know, she was talking about, she was talking about it felt like she was jumping. And then she explained what that was. And she said that there were other people in the room. So when hurt when she would, I guess her brain took a picture of what she was seeing, like, for instance, her friend would be across the room in the corner. But the next time she was aware of anything, the friend was 10 or 12 feet closer to her. And she said it. And she talked about it jumping. And I was just wondering what a seizure feels like for you.

Makalay 22:30
So mine, I actually like don't remember anything I remember like the moment up to it and then waking up and it's usually like paramedics that's like the first like vision or whatever I have when I wake up, but it's crazy because I've had seizures. Usually there's other people in the room. Besides one of them. I was like upstairs and my brother and my mom heard it. But I the one I had on Christmas, my whole family was in the room like my siblings. And they said that like I remember putting I was under blanket. And then they said like once I was under the blanket, that's when it happened. So it's like kind of crazy to think about up to the moment and then it's basically like I blacked out and then wake up.

Scott Benner 23:11
And do you have any deficits when you wake up? Or are you just like back on, you're like, Hey, I'm here.

Makalay 23:17
Um, um, usually it takes me a little bit to like, figure out what happened. There's this I try to be a very nice person. There's been a couple of times, I was a little bit like, like, I remember this is kind of funny, but my driveway goes in front of my house. So I had the seizure. I woke up and it was night. So I saw all the paramedics like ambulances, the cops, like all their flashing lights. And my first thing was like, Are you going to turn those off? Like, you know, you can have another seizure right now. And I think that's like the meanest thing I've ever said when I woke up. But other than that, it's usually just me like, trying to figure out what happened. And then I don't usually want to go to the hospital when I'm like, like that. So they're usually saying like, you need to go to the hospital and I'm like, trying to bargain with them. Like no, guys, it's fine. Like, don't worry, I'm fine. And everyone's like, you're obviously not fine, but I'm just tired afterwards for like a day or two. But I usually bounce back pretty quick.

Scott Benner 24:07
That's your love. That's as mean as you've gotten

Makalay 24:12
with the paramedics I just like felt that after I said that, but I hope that they like forgot that happened. And if they remember they like she just had a seizure. She doesn't know what's going on. But it's funny because I didn't know if that actually happened or not like I asked my mom like I think it was like a week later and I was like wait, did I say this? Did I did I dream that that happened? She's like no, you actually said that. And I felt terrible. I was like I want to go to the like firehouse where the paramedics are and like apologizing my mom's like, I don't even think they're gonna remember you said that but

Scott Benner 24:41
I haven't asked this in a while but why are you so nice?

Makalay 24:45
I just try to be a nice person.

Scott Benner 24:49
Of course, I think that's a beautiful goal. I'm not saying I'm just why is there like pressure to be nice.

Makalay 24:57
No, I just tried to be like I think that when I think about like, I'm being like diabetic and I also have like lupus and epilepsy and like everything going on, I try to be like a happy and nice person. And I think like other people, like you never know what people are going through. And like, if you looked at me, you probably wouldn't know maybe if you saw like my Dexcom or my pump, you would suspect diabetes, but you wouldn't under like, you wouldn't see that I have everything else going on. So I like try to think like, oh, other people are going through things. So why not be nice? You never know what people are going through, like at home or what they have going on. So just try to like, think of other people and be nice to them.

Scott Benner 25:35
That's lovely. Are you are you using a tube pump now?

Makalay 25:38
I am I'm using the T slim. Okay.

Scott Benner 25:41
So I'm stalking I'm trying to figure out who you are on Facebook. I think I've got you. So I

Makalay 25:46
think it's under K.

Scott Benner 25:48
We don't say your name. Kava.

Makalay 25:50
Oh, I'm sorry.

Scott Benner 25:50
I'm sorry. Just teasing. Hopefully. Okay. So, you know where I live? Right. Um, I don't know, in New Jersey and central New Jersey. So you went? You went? Dress? No, no. Mikayla, do you think I was like, do you know my exact address? But you went to college near me, right? Yes. Okay. All right. So I have the right person. So So okay, you look delightful. Like you look, your face matches the, the attitude that you have. It's very lovely. Okay, so you have no recollection of the seizures? Can you feel them coming on?

Makalay 26:34
I can't, unfortunately, a lot of people get like that aura, but I don't. Wow.

Scott Benner 26:39
So I guess what I want to talk to you about then, in the moment, before we get to the diabetes and the other stuff you mentioned. What's it like, psychologically to think you could just shut off?

Makalay 26:54
Um, it's definitely, like, gives me a lot of anxiety. But it's usually I get like that anxiety like after I had a seizure, because I think like, that just happened, like for like, a month or so after I'm like, a little bit like, apprehensive, but I tried to just like, say, like, I'm taking my medicine, everything's gonna be fine. And if something happens, like, I know, I have people around me that will help me and I know that I'll be okay. Because I've been okay. Every time I've had another one. I just hope I don't fall and hit my head because I had six concussions. So I'm like, Please, no more concussions. I guess that's one of my worries. But I tried to just like, like, have faith in like my medicine and know that I'm, I'm going to be okay, just kind of, like try to be positive affirmations. Like, that's never going to happen again. Like, I'm going to be good. Like, don't worry about it. But I mean, there definitely are times when I'm like, maybe I didn't sleep enough. Like, I should be a little worried then. But I really tried to just be like, positive about it and not, like, think of it in like negative way. But I do like it does make me a little nervous.

Scott Benner 27:59
Well, I mean, it's obvious that you're keeping a good attitude, but I mean, do you drive?

Makalay 28:05
I do drive? Yeah, I've never gotten my license taken away, which was good. I was always nervous about that.

Scott Benner 28:12
But you wouldn't if I said, You, Makayla, you should learn how to fly a plane, you'd be like, that's definitely a bad idea. Yeah, that's definitely do you do do you wear identification that says you have because if you have diabetes, and a seizure disorder, and you pass out, they're gonna give you something for the diabetes no matter what I would imagine. Mm hmm. So do you have like identification?

Makalay 28:38
Yeah, I wear my Apple watch. And on my Apple watch, I have like a little it's like a sleeve almost that goes on the band. And it says like type one diabetes, it says, Pepsi and endo insulin dependent. So I try to wear that every day.

Scott Benner 28:53
I'm trying to imagine myself as a as a paramedic showing up and I'm like, oh, insulin, diabetes, this kit await epilepsy. I don't know what to do now. Now. I guess they check your face more to it. Yeah. Right. Does this make dating difficult or no?

Makalay 29:11
Um, no, just because like I said, like, I feel like, this is my I don't know, you can't really see what's going on right off the bat. So it's not usually something like I talk about right away. But no, it hasn't.

Scott Benner 29:26
Okay. What about the other stuff, which you said, I'm sorry, I lost track because this is kind of fascinating, but fascinating to me, Miguel. Not to you. You're like yeah, no, it sucks Scott. But it's fascinating for this lupus.

Makalay 29:45
How do you do this?

Scott Benner 29:47
How do they diagnose lupus I thought is lupus a, like a diagnosis of exclusion? Do they just tell you everything you don't have or is there actually a way they can tell you? You have lupus.

Makalay 29:57
So there's like this criteria. Korea have, I'm not sure like the amount I would want to say like 13 to 15 like symptoms. And I think if you have like five or six of them, then you are considered like a Lupus diagnosis, obviously with like, blood work that's consistent with it as well. And like other symptoms, like I know, like one of them is like a blood a butterfly rash, like, that's one of the symptoms that is like a, like a marker, I guess, for lupus. But the way I got diagnosed was actually like, crazy. I started having like allergic reactions to tree nuts in January 2021. And it was like crazy, like, my body would break out in hives, I'd like feel like my throat was like scratchy and was like scary. So I, I cut the train out out, I stopped eating them and went to an allergist and it was during COVID. So she only did zoom. So I was telling her over zoom with my mom like this is what happens and she's like, Okay, you definitely have a trainer allergy like I'm prescribing you an epi pen, everything. But then she's like, but I want to do bloodwork, like let's see if there's anything else you're allergic to. So she calls me and she's like, weird because you're not showing any sensitivities at all to any nuts at all. Like your your bloodwork looks good. So I'm going to test your blood for autoimmune things. So I'm like, Great, okay, another autoimmune thing, but I'm like, okay, like, whatever. And yeah, I'm like, awesome, okay. But she calls his back and she's, I guess, like, the, it's like an AMA marker or something like that was positive. And she's like, this is a, this test is usually like tells you you have lupus, and she's like, I'm an allergist. So I can't diagnose you with that. But I like strongly recommend you go to a rheumatologist because like this, this is like when this is positive, like you have lupus. So I'm like, awesome. Find a rheumatologist. And she says I have it. But I've been like really good with not having symptoms. Like, one of the symptoms is I like your joints and hurt and like body aches. And by stiffness, which I feel like sometimes, but it goes away. And it's like manageable. So I'm not on any medication for that yet. I'm just hoping I never will have to be but it's just a pill. So if I have to go on it, it's not the end of the world. But I'm trying my best to not have to do that. Because it I guess like with lupus it can like flare and I haven't had a flare in a while. So so far so good with that, but that's like a fairly new diagnosis. So

Scott Benner 32:40
are you allowed to have nuts now?

Makalay 32:42
Yeah, I am. I was so upset because I like had to get rid of peanut butter. I'm like, I love peanut butter. And I can have it now. It was really a sad time, mostly because I was like, I missed so many foods. I didn't realize how many like peanuts and tree nuts.

Scott Benner 32:55
I was gonna say because I was reading a list of tree nuts while you were explaining this. Like, I wouldn't care if they told me I couldn't eat any of these things. So no,

Makalay 33:02
I was so upset.

Scott Benner 33:04
Well, and you're so sweet. I didn't make any kind of joke about nuts in your mouth, because I just don't know how to do it. Because you're so nice. Three different versions of it teed up while you were talking. I was like, Nah, can't do it. What am I gonna do with this girl? She's so sweet. I mean, you know, you were worried about offending the paramedics when you were like, hey, please turn off those flashy lights.

Makalay 33:32
I still feel so bad about that. I don't think I'll ever get over it.

Scott Benner 33:36
When you came on, tell them. As soon as you started talking like a half hour ago. I actually double checked with you about your age because I thought because of your voice. Like maybe I didn't. I thought maybe you were younger than I thought. So.

Makalay 33:48
I'm like lying about my age. No, it'd

Scott Benner 33:50
be on a diabetes podcast. Yeah. Gotcha. What? Oh my gosh, you're such a rebel. Okay, so the lupus diagnosis is from the the AMA response that they got with the testing, but beyond some like, uncomfortableness in your joints. You don't have anything to say like that. That you noticed. Frequently

Makalay 34:21
it's fine. It was weird because the allergic reactions like stopped so they said that that was part of it because like my feet might like my body a break out in hives, but like I would have a rash like that was like kind of looked like a butterfly rash. So they were saying like that could be part of it. That was one of like symptoms, but my bloodwork was really consistent with it. So they're like yeah, sorry, you have it. Okay. But other than that, I don't really feel any symptom. They definitely get like tired sometimes, but I'm like I have so much going on. I don't know what this is from. I could just be tired. But I was so far so good, which I'm really happy

Scott Benner 34:58
about for every thyroid levels check.

Makalay 35:01
Um, I have and they've been fine but a lot of my sisters and my mom have like thyroid issues. I don't know if it's hypo or hyperthyroidism. Okay.

Scott Benner 35:11
Do you know what the medicine is they take the word Synthroid.

Makalay 35:17
Yeah, it's that so hypo.

Scott Benner 35:19
And do you know if there's our auto immune Hashimotos or just hypothyroidism?

Makalay 35:26
Um, I know my one sister has Hashimotos I think my mom and my other sister are just like him. I don't think they have the Hashimotos.

Scott Benner 35:39
So when you say your levels are okay, do you know what they were?

Makalay 35:44
Um, no. I wish I did. I wish I had that. That's okay. But I did get tested for celiac. And they said it was like borderline like the level one was one away from having celiac after not eating gluten for three months. So it's never confirmed, but they're like, basically you probably do but I just don't list that. I'm like, I can't add anything else to this list. But I eat gluten free I just say because it's an intolerance, but I probably have celiac. I'm like too scared to get that level of tested again.

Scott Benner 36:27
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Makalay 38:13
Exactly. I promise I'm responsible like medically I'm very responsible. But that is just something I'm like. It's fine.

Scott Benner 38:21
But who are you promising right now? Me are the people listening? Everyone

Are you guys Catholic?

Makalay 38:35
We are

Scott Benner 38:36
Yeah, I can hear the guilt in your voice sometimes. It's okay. Jesus is alright with what you're doing. Michaela. Don't worry about it. Let me let me let you off the hook. Okay.

Makalay 38:45
I needed that. Thank you.

Scott Benner 38:47
Okay. Yeah. Do you like Do you have any of that? Like pressure?

Makalay 38:52
I'm not really we definitely like our Catholic but I'm not like going to church every Sunday, but I do have like, I guess like Catholic core like

Scott Benner 39:05
stuff that's in your head since childhood? Yeah,

Makalay 39:08
exactly. But it's I've never felt like any pressure from like religion to do anything, right? Like diapers, rot or anything.

Scott Benner 39:17
Like, what's the level of it though, when you're doing something wrong? And I'm making quotes because I can't imagine what you do. That's wrong. But when that's happening, do you picture Jesus on a cross? And you're like, oh, no, he died for my sins. I have to put this candy back. I can't shoplift or like, what's your level of pressure?

Makalay 39:33
No, I don't like think of the cross and Jesus or do I just think of like, okay, I guess I could like, I guess I don't have to do this. Like, this probably isn't the best option. I mean, I definitely like making mistakes all the time. But I try not to like, if I'm doing something and I like the I have. I've like very strongly, like I have like a guilty conscience. Like if I'm guilty about something like I'm not gonna let it down. So I just like really try to be truthful. For, I guess my own sake. So growing up, it's always like honesty's the best policy. So I have that nailed in my head as well.

Scott Benner 40:07
Nailed, no pun, right? Let me let me ask you a question. Okay. There's no consequences, right? No one's ever gonna know. And it's not going to matter. It's not going to hurt anything. What's one thing you would do that you would never do otherwise? Oh,

Makalay 40:25
I don't know. Um, maybe like somehow get free gas like with the gas prices these days? Like probably like get free gas somewhere. I don't know. I don't know. I can't think of anything off top my head. I'm gonna think of something in like an hour and be like, Man, I should have said that.

Scott Benner 40:44
McHale I gotta tell you if it wasn't, if it wasn't for the risk that I think the two of you would produce a super auto immune bomb. If you had a baby, I would introduce you to my son because that's just such a nice. I thought you were gonna be like, heroin. Maybe you know, like, No. No. Okay. Maybe I'd get cheaper gas. Yeah. Even free.

Makalay 41:09
I'm telling you in an hour, I'm gonna think of something and be like, that would have been so much better.

Scott Benner 41:15
Not like, I'd like to kill a person to see the life train out of their face. Nothing like that at all. Just just, I'd like cheaper gas, please. And if the gas prices were lower, I Where would you even go on with that idea. I have no idea. I'd like 15% off on like

Makalay 41:34
I know guys. It's so expensive. And my car takes so much gas. I'm like, Oh my goodness. Can we stop with this? So I guess it would just be completely free gas.

Scott Benner 41:41
Are your brothers and sisters this nice? Or is this? Are you an outlier?

Makalay 41:45
Um, you know, sibling wise, you know, there's always like sibling, like, like rivalries maybe, but I think we're all pretty nice.

Scott Benner 41:54
Okay. Background. So now you're Catholic. You're from the East Coast. Are you? Irish? Are you what's your background?

Makalay 42:03
A very Irish. So my dad is 100% Irish. I guess my grandmother came to America when she was 13. Like, right off the boat. So from Ireland. So she's my dad's very Irish. And my mom is very Irish, too. I think she has some maybe German or French in there, too. I think it's French, German and Irish. But we're very Irish family. Like all blue eyes. Blonde hair type thing? Yeah. My sisters have brown hair. But we're all like, we look Irish, I guess. Well, I

Scott Benner 42:39
didn't ask you just so I could call the episode very Irish, which I'm very close to doing. But I asked because the prevalence that I find with people from whose descendants come from that part of the world and autoimmune stuff. Really? Yeah, no kidding. Like, and there's other clusters like that Minnesota area from the Nordic there's like a lot of Nordic people of Nordic descent, like in Minnesota, Wisconsin. And it's, I don't know, there's something about that. There just is so interesting. I've

Makalay 43:10
never heard of that.

Scott Benner 43:12
Now. That's how I got to so like for everybody who's listening who's like, oh my god, Scott's amazing. He heard Giltner voice and thought she was Catholic. Not really, really what I figured out was first of all, Michela is like I found a picture of her. You know, you're a poster child for White. You don't I mean, so. Yeah. You're pretty white. And I was thrown off originally. Because your name I thought maybe she's Hawaiian. Like, but no. Oh, really? All right. And then then I was like, Okay, it's your last name with your first name that made me think that and so then I started realizing a lot of brothers and sisters, that's Catholic. Then super white, probably Irish. And then that's where I'm getting and then you said all your your brothers and a lot of your sisters have thyroid issues. And then you started talking about celiac. And I was like, This is it like this is? This is because of where your ancestors are from, in my opinion, that's the case. But please, I just didn't want people to think that I was omniscient. You know what I mean? It's just putting the pieces together. That's all talking about the rest of your family for a little bit. So you said the lot of the girls have thyroid stuff. Is there anything else? Anybody else? poop a lot after they eat or anything?

Makalay 44:25
We I'm trying to think um I don't know. I just feel like we have a lot of autoimmune issues going on. My sister is also celiac. Um, my other sister has a few like chronic conditions. Um, what else like my also like my mom, relatives like my aunt's also have like, my aunt is diabetic as well type one. So she is type one. Yes. And then she has another autoimmune condition as well. But Yeah, I just feel like we have a lot going on now. I'm like blinking.

Scott Benner 45:04
Okay, how many freckles? A lot. Yeah, in the

Makalay 45:07
summer. And this summer a lot.

Scott Benner 45:11
Lots of freckles. Yeah, yeah. More freckles, and you have autoimmune, that's for sure. But

Makalay 45:17
let's keep it that way.

Scott Benner 45:18
How about your dad? Does your dad have anything going on?

Makalay 45:21
Um, my dad, he has more like heart. Like conditions like that, but not autoimmune.

Scott Benner 45:30
What are we learning here? Mikayla? White people are ruining the world. Isn't that right?

Makalay 45:34
Yeah. Me, maybe it's just me. Just you. I'm kidding. But yeah,

Scott Benner 45:42
it just, it's fascinating, isn't it like, like, you know, every group of people have something that sometimes the other group doesn't get as frequently. And I'm just telling you like, after, I mean, I don't even know how many people I've talked to now, like, you seriously are in the hundreds for me, as far as my interviews go. So it's just there's something about it, like the type one diabetes and other autoimmune issues coming out of that part of Europe? I just, it's crazy now, is it? Is it people who have left Europe? And are here? Like, is it something about the mix of, I don't know, the wiring, and then the lifestyle or the geography? Like, I wonder, I wonder if I get to find more people in Ireland like, like, because from, from the conversations I'm having, it makes it feel like 80% of the people walking around Ireland must have an autoimmune issue.

Makalay 46:38
Yeah. You know, my parents just got back from Ireland. We have family that lives there. And we try to visit them like pretty frequently, but I actually reach out and ask them what's going on?

Scott Benner 46:48
I'd honestly love to know.

Makalay 46:51
I'll reach out to them. I don't I have to use like WhatsApp or something like that. But I'll reach out I have my dad ask them

Scott Benner 46:58
I know they're not allowed to use the phone over there. I don't I don't even

Makalay 47:01
know if they like have iPhones

Scott Benner 47:03
might well, they have they have iPhones. But it's very expensive for them to call over here. Yeah. Like, my daughter's friend just went to London for college. So cool. And she's like, I'm gonna show you guys like guys all gotta get WhatsApp. And we're like, I don't know, not doing I don't want to talk to you that badly. You don't I mean to have another app like Kayla. Seems like a lot.

Makalay 47:29
Does.

Scott Benner 47:31
How did you? You went to a really big university, but a lot of people. I don't want to tell anybody where you went. But, but I've always wondered how that's possible. Because every one of your classes is just probably lecture, right? You and hundreds of people in the lecture hall.

Makalay 47:49
So the class not like the classes, the higher level classes, those were usually like, smaller, okay, but a lot of like my Zoom classes, I minored in psychology, and I noticed, like, all the psychology classes were like, huge, huge lectures. But those were mostly like online. But it's actually funny, because, um, I ran I like, did random for my last or my two years at the junior and senior year, and my roommate also was diabetic. And we had no idea until I got there and met her. And I was like, Guys, I have to keep my insulin in the fridge like, hope you guys are good with that. And then my roommate was like, Oh, my goodness, I'm diabetic too. And I was like, Wow, that's crazy. That is insane, actually. Right. And she's like, my best one of my best friends now. So that's worked out.

Scott Benner 48:37
That's really, I mean, I want to say the odds of that are crazy, but maybe they're not. I don't know. I know. She does. I think the odds went way down. I think what we should say now is of course, she had diabetes. So

Makalay 48:57
everyone who's Irish should just get some test.

Scott Benner 49:00
Listen, I don't it's all just, you know, I don't know, circumstantial evidence as far as I'm concerned. Right? Like, it's just me just talking to people, but I don't know how many times somebody has to say something before you go. That's can't be a coincidence. I mean, honestly, the amount of people who come on who have a family member with some sort of bipolar disorder is is a lot like it's just a lot like think about it. Do you have a bipolar uncle summer? Probably kill us like

Makalay 49:34
family so big. It's like probably somewhere in the line. Yeah,

Scott Benner 49:38
no, no, it's really it's really something else. So okay, um, so you manage pretty slim are using control IQ?

Makalay 49:44
I am How do you like it? I love it. I noticed like my agencies have always been like, pretty good. Right after control IQ like my agency got even better and it's been like pretty consistent. It's so nice. Especially like I've It's like crazy to think that I never had low IQ like what was I? How did I do this without it, but I love it.

Scott Benner 50:05
No, it's excellent. How long you've been using it?

Makalay 50:10
Yeah, since it came out.

Scott Benner 50:11
Were you using Basal IQ before that?

Makalay 50:15
I don't think so. Okay. I wasn't I just went right into the control IQ.

Scott Benner 50:20
Do you listen to the podcast? How did you? How did you end up being on the podcast?

Makalay 50:25
Oh, my sister listened. I do listen. You're my sister. My sister's a big fan. I am too, obviously. But,

Scott Benner 50:32
Mikayla, this is super interesting. So your sister found a diabetes podcast to understand your diabetes better? Or because she thought there's no way one of my kids isn't going to have diabetes. So I got to figure

Makalay 50:43
her son is diabetics and my nephew is Oh,

Scott Benner 50:47
no. So it's you, your nephew, your aunt? Are there more? Not that I know of, you know of well, a second ago, there was only two or three.

Makalay 50:59
No, I mean, like, like relatives like I'm trying to think of like my aunts and my uncles and my cousins. I think it's just us three.

Scott Benner 51:06
Okay. Oh, okay. So your sister so your sister's like, I don't want to go on the podcast, but I'm gonna do it. Or do you think you'd

Makalay 51:14
love it? It's, I think just like the amount of like conditions I have, like, makes it interesting. But I think my sister would love it. She would rock it on your

Scott Benner 51:23
Well, first of all, she should come on if she wants to. But But don't you? Isn't that crazy? Like in what other walk of life? Would you say? You know, what made me a good guest is because I have a number of conditions. I sometimes wonder if people who are like, Oh, I just have diabetes, think I can't come on the show. I don't have enough wrong with me to like to be on this show. Because that's not the case.

Makalay 51:45
Anyone listening? Do not think that everybody is interesting and special in there. I just haven't have a lot going on.

Scott Benner 51:51
I'm gonna say this right now, if you're a lady who can't put nuts in their mouth, come on the show. We'll talk about it. You know a man. Yeah. I want to hear about all that stuff. Like, like, like allergies. And I'm fascinated by all of it. Like, the things that the things that people, you know, like, My son said to me is like, you can't just do a podcast forever about diabetes. I was like, Man, I don't even know if it's still about diabetes. To be perfectly honest with you. I was like, it's,

Makalay 52:22
you know, I think that's great, though.

Scott Benner 52:24
Yeah, there's a lot like talk about Yeah, we're learning more about people and things that they're running into. And for me, that other people listening? Like, I bet you, countless people will find a ton of likeness in the statement you made about your celiac, where you said like, I take care of it. I just don't want to know I have it.

Makalay 52:46
Yeah, sometimes, like, ignorance is bliss. Like I just try to think like, Okay, I'm taking care of it. It's all good. Don't worry about it.

Scott Benner 52:54
Because psychologically, I mean, how many more things can you know that you have? Like, isn't it some, isn't it? Listen, it's terrific that medicine can help people. But what's better living in 1970 Telling people like Oh, my wrist get tight, or walking around saying, I think I have lupus. You're me like, not that not that. No, not knowing is good. But for some of these things, that back then there was no medication for that. Like if your grandmother had her joints hurt. That was it. You know what I mean? Like, they weren't gonna do anything for ya. So like, maybe psychologically, it's comforting not to have to think I have four things wrong with me because it feels like that, right? Like, it feels like, yeah, there's something wrong. Sure. I'm still fascinated about the seizure disorder, though. Like, I don't know how you're keeping a good attitude. I don't know. Like, because so I mentioned earlier, excuse me that Arden had a seizure from a low blood sugar. And there's the episode you can go listen, hold on a second kill. I'll tell people what episode it is. You would think I would know, but you know, I'm about the I'm the last person who understands everything about the bites gonna be 757. It's called Arden is back. Because I keep thinking Arden's going to be on a lot. And I don't want to run out of art in titles. So anyway, she wanted to call it what did she want to call it? I can't think of what she wanted to call it. It was something funny, but inappropriate. I was like, we're just gonna call it Arden is back. So. But she talked about two very important things. Like if you don't go listen to the episode, here's the takeaway from it, that after Arden had a seizure, and you can go listen to all the myriad of variables that led to it happening, but that for a couple days afterwards, she couldn't even sleep by herself. Like she was almost 18. And she slept in bed with me and my wife for a couple of nights. And that's not something that would have been normal at all. And then one day, she said, I just thought, well, this is silly. And I And she's like, I just went back to my bed, but she was having trouble sleeping. If she wasn't, I think the way she put in the episode is like when you were there, I knew you'd take care of it if there was a problem, and I couldn't get the sleep otherwise, but then she got past that. And then she began to just Bolus normally again for her food like she didn't. And I've heard too many people on the podcast tell me, especially adults living alone. Like, look, I've had a couple seizures, so I leave my blood sugar higher now. And it's not that I don't understand the idea. But I was proud of Arden for just being like, No, I know why this happened. It was a really odd set of circumstances. And I'm not going to not take care of myself, because this happened one time, but you're in a different situation. Yours just happens like, like somebody bumped the light switch. So I'm fascinated that you're so I don't know, not mad. Where you're hiding it.

Makalay 55:57
I mean, I mean, sometimes I do get like a little bit frustrated about it, just because I'm like, annoyed that, like, I'm, this is gonna sound bad. But like, I sometimes get annoyed that like, I have to deal with this stuff. And like most other people don't like, obviously, like type one diabetes, plenty of people deal with epilepsy, plenty people deal with, like, everything not to like, I don't know, I just get on with it. Sometimes I'm like, I wish I didn't have to deal with the epilepsy part of it. But then like, when I start to think like that, I'm like, I have to be positive about this, or I'm gonna like dwell on it. And, like, think about it negatively. But it's funny you say not funny, sorry. But that's not the right word, but that she was sleeping with you because you're sleeping about with you. But like my parents, like, I remember after my last seizure in May, I woke up and my dad was sitting in my room and he my dad drinks his coffee, like so loudly and it like drives me insane. I remember I woke up my dad was like drinking his coffee so loud in my room, like, just making sure like, I was okay, because a lot of my seizures happened in the morning. And I was like, You need to get out like, you need to get out right now.

Scott Benner 57:02
What's your dad doing? Was your dad doing what I do with my oldest dog in the morning? Like I stare at it? And I'm like, do I see the chest moving at all?

Makalay 57:11
Like, is she good? Nothing's gonna happen. Right?

Scott Benner 57:15
Well, let me go backwards a little bit, because you just said something. And I'm not your parents. Mikayla. But you said this is going to sound bad. And then you said, sometimes I don't. I'm mad that other people don't have to deal with this. That doesn't sound bad. Because that sounds rather human. Yeah, I mean, it's okay to be it. So I think it's okay to be disappointed, or are angry or, you know, feel lost. But I also think that the way you handle it is admirable. Yeah, no, seriously, because you could easily just devolve into, like, black eyeliner, and, you know, Whippets pretty easily. And clearly, you clearly haven't done that you wouldn't even take completely free gas when I gave you a magic wand. So people work hard to get that oil out of the ground, and they deserve to be compensated to Scott. But seriously, like, I'm not worried for you that you that you preface it by saying this is going to sound bad. But I would I would offer to you that you shouldn't. You shouldn't think that way. You shouldn't you shouldn't you should feel the way you feel. And not worry about how it sounds to other people. Yeah, that makes sense. Because you're gonna don't apologize to me for it. Because you're you were very close to apologize.

Makalay 58:45
I was gonna because

Scott Benner 58:48
I know you Michaela, not you but people like you. And you know. So, alright, I want you to what do I want you to do? I don't want you to break a law. And I don't want you to do heroin. That was an over the top example. But you should do one thing that you think of is that you want to do that you wouldn't normally do. Just don't turn into like, seriously, don't do math or something like you and me like something lower than that. But, but I think you should do something that feels freeing.

Makalay 59:19
And then I'll be like, Scott told me to do it. Yeah. When

Scott Benner 59:21
you're sitting in jail, tell the people I was on a podcast and this guy said I should let go a little. But yeah, but seriously, though, like, just a little bit.

Makalay 59:30
Yeah. And I do like with my friends and stuff, but I like really try to be like, I don't know.

Scott Benner 59:37
So here's what I'm gonna say. I think you are a good person. I don't think I think you need to try to be a good person. Ah, do you see the difference?

Makalay 59:46
I do. Yeah.

Scott Benner 59:48
Why are you thanking me? It's just nice to not do you not know you're a good person.

Makalay 59:55
No, I do. I do know. Okay, good.

Scott Benner 59:58
Yeah. So it's Do you see the distinction though, between trying to be good and actually just being good? Like for instance, I'm going to give you an example here that I should not give you. Okay, it's fine, but it's got a bit listen to the podcast. It's an interesting people are gonna stop listening. So let's be honest. Okay. This morning, Arden's in her second full week of college, I get a text from her that said, something like, bra. Does that be are you Ah, there's a kid in my class losing his mind. And she starts telling me the kid transferred in you know, it's only a weekend, I guess the kid dropped the class and pick this class on. He gets there and realizes that he's a, an assignment behind already. And literally just starts walking around the room going, Oh, God, Oh, God. Oh, god, Oh, God. And apologizing to the teacher, an artist like he's having a full on panic attack right now. And, you know, just absolutely terrible, right? Like anxiety. Not funny. Like, none of it's, it's terrible, right. So I know, I respond back and I say, I feel bad for this kid. Like, obviously, it's a tortured way to have to live. This is not a big deal. Like this is a design class. Like Mikayla for clarity. The assignment that the kid missed is drawing lines in succession that get dimmer and dimmer and dimmer, just to teach you pressure with a pencil, right? This is done it like the back of the class. It's accomplishable to fix this problem, right? And instead, my, my daughter says, now he's saying, I'm, I wish I could have I'm gonna try to find the quote for you. Because I found it very sad, because this is not. I mean, obviously, this is not a big deal, right? It is to him, but it isn't in the grand scheme of things. This is a quote, I'm supposed to relax when everything is falling apart around me. So in this kid's mind, this scenario, is everything falling apart around him. And I have all the compassion in the world for that. I think anybody listening knows that. I don't think this is funny that I think it's terrible. And I hope the kid gets help. As a matter of fact, I say to her, like, hey, you know, with somebody helping him. He needs to get to a counselor is the professor doing something I say all the right stuff. And then when I realized it's getting tense in the room, and Arden needs a little comic relief. I said, you know, in 1850, his parents would have helped him have a swimming accident. But I'm still a good person, Mikayla. I think I think for the people listening, I am undeniably a good person to present but I still said 150 years ago, someone would have drowned that kid in the river. And so. So you don't I'm saying, and I don't think there's I don't think you should equivocate about that. I don't think I'm a bad person, because I made an obviously over the top joke to my daughter trying to help her relax in a situation where she was like, Hey, what the hell's going on? You don't I mean, like, she's not texting me, like, hey, there's a loopy kid in here. She's worried about what's going on for herself and, and everything. You know. I don't think that makes me a bad person. If somebody's listening and thinks that makes me a bad person. And there's not much I can do about that. But yeah, like, it's, I know, I am a decent person. And yeah, you are,

Makalay 1:03:30
you're a good person.

Scott Benner 1:03:31
I don't wonder I don't walk around wondering if I am or not like, I never would have mentioned this. It had just not happened this morning. And you and I weren't having this conversation. But do you do things that later you judge?

Makalay 1:03:45
Um, no, I try not to. I try to just kind of like, be who I am. And like, take it as it is. Like, if you like me, that's great. But if you don't, that's okay, too.

Scott Benner 1:03:57
It's so funny. It's interesting, the way you attack the question, because I don't think of this question as something you would apply to how someone else feels about you. Uh huh. Like, I'm trying to get through to you. You're not listening to me. I'm trying to get through to you that I know that what I texted Arden some people would find offensive that they would attach that thought to a bad person. But I don't. I know I'm a good person. So I wouldn't even bother considering it.

Makalay 1:04:27
No, but yes, also because you like show compassion first. Like you're like, Okay, this is what might be going on. Like, I feel bad for him. But then it's like, but it's gonna be okay. So it's fine to just throw a joke in there.

Scott Benner 1:04:37
Yeah, I didn't just feel bad for him. I was giving like real like, hey, is this happening? Is this happening? Like somebody should be doing this like, meanwhile, my daughter's probably like, I don't want to be involved in this. It's my second day of college. I have my own stress, you know? Yeah. But still, there was some levity needed, and was that much levity needed? I don't know what to tell you. That's the joke my brain came up with. So I'm going Okay, but I'm saying that when I asked you the same a similar question, you're like, Well, you think of it from other people's perspective, but I'm asking from your perspective. You're a good person, right? Yeah. You think off color thing sometimes? Yeah,

Makalay 1:05:15
I think everybody does. Yeah,

Scott Benner 1:05:17
I hope they do. Yeah, I really do. I genuinely hope they do. I think it's interesting, because you've grown up right through. I think happened Mikayla, like, the eye. For five seconds, the idea of being woke was this nice thing, where people were like, I'm gonna think about the bigger picture and how my actions impact others. And in five seconds, it turned into Kancil culture, and just crazy things where everyone's broken down. Like, we ran out of people to judge in the moment, and we started judging people posthumously. Back, do you mean, like, we went back 300 years, and we're like, Hey, this guy. Can you believe what he did? And I'm like, Well, I mean, 300 years ago, that was probably like, a, like, a Tuesday. You don't I mean, like, like, we're all growing as people. And now we're trying to judge people going backwards, and your generation got caught right in the middle of that. And I'm wondering if that hits you at all? Do you ever think I can't say this out loud? Not because I disagree with it, or because I even think my friends will disagree with it. But because if it gets out into mainstream culture that I said this, that I could, that somebody could come after me for? Do you ever have to have those thoughts?

Makalay 1:06:34
I do just because also like, I feel like with social media, and like, even like, technology, like not in person, like anybody can interpret anything differently than how you said it. And like, with there being so many different ways to like saying something someone, like someone might find it funny, but then some of my like, take it and twist it and think it's offensive. So I like think about that a lot. Just because it's like, sometimes if I like think something I'm like, is it even worth saying that because it might get taken the wrong way? So it's like, I don't want to have to deal with like someone saying, like, that was really mean. And then it's like, a whole like, no, that's not how I meant it. Like that type of thing.

Scott Benner 1:07:10
Yeah. You know, the problem is that people have an ability to, to reach you at this point, not you, but people like because of electronic electronic communication. Because before you could have been in the lunchroom when you were eight and said something and the girl down the the end of the table heard it and thought they didn't like what you said. And they'd have no ability to tell anybody about that. Maybe a couple of people that their friends, but then it would die like that. Right? Like, again, the telephone can't work that well. But it but digitally, it feels like because the person reaches you that their that their thoughts are more important than they actually are. I don't know if that makes sense or not. But

Makalay 1:07:49
it does. Yeah, it's just

Scott Benner 1:07:52
it's not real. Is my is my point is it's cool. It's cool that people think, what they think and not everybody has to agree with each other. But if somebody doesn't agree with you, and moreover finds what you said offensive or whatever, their interpretation of your speech is not real. It doesn't actually affect you. So I don't know, I just I think it's sad that, that a whole generation of kids actually feel like, Oh, I can't say something or do something or feel something. Because I could get cancelled. But you can't Michela, you can't get canceled. You're not famous. You know what I mean? Yeah, like that. I mean, don't get me wrong if you if you took the last couple minutes of this podcast that come out for I don't know, racism. You don't I mean, like, but in day to day stuff, like, I don't know, I hate that you judge yourself. It makes me sad. Yeah, I

Makalay 1:08:46
mean, I try not to, but sometimes it's like, I feel like with society today, like it's hard not to have that like as your first instinct. Yeah. Trying to

Scott Benner 1:08:56
try to ignore it. I think it's meaningless. I don't even think it's real, to be perfectly honest with you. For sure. Yeah. Because you're not the you know what I mean, you're not not a congressman. You know, you're not a you're not somebody with a public like, facing? I don't know, Mikayla, who cares. So we, nation, you're 22 and I'm 50. done talking about this, but I don't know. I just thought you're such a sweet person. I just want you to go be yourself. I think you're you're an asset to humanity. Thank you. That's so nice. I mean, except for the fact that you might just bang your head. That part. Yeah, like that sucks. Hey, do you ever think of wearing like, like, what am I want to say?

Makalay 1:09:38
Are you gonna say helmet? No. Oh, I've heard that. So many times. What have people said that to you? Yeah. Like, okay, they're kidding. But then it's like, sometimes I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna just like say that they're kidding, because I don't want to believe that they're serious. And whatever happens happens, it's fine. I've recovered from six concussions. So if I get a seven year old that'll suck. But

Scott Benner 1:10:01
no, I was just what I was gonna bring up is that my son grew up around this kid who just had a bunch of concussions, they were all sports related. And, you know, and silly things like, you know, one time it was football and one time it was he got hit with a, like somebody passed a basketball like across the court, not to him, and it hit him in the head. And so by the time he had three or four concussions, they made him stop playing sports. But they can't make you stop walking around. Like that was the disconnect that I was trying to understand like yours is like, your body just goes over the way it goes over. So if you've if you've hit your head that many times it stands to reason that if it happens again, you're going to do it again. So I don't I don't know. Is there any conversation about how to deal with that? Because I can't for the life of me over the last hour, think of anything that would be helpful.

Makalay 1:10:51
I'm not really it's just like, a disc. Hope is not going to happen again. Because like, again, like I tried to not think about all the time like I could have a seizure right now. So I tried to not think about like, Okay, I can't hit my head, even though like they're not directly correlated, because I've gotten concussions, like not from seizures, like I got a concussion in. I think it was like September of 2020 walking up the stairs in my like, apartment at school, doing laundry like the this like piece of wood underneath the stairs was like too low and I was on my phone and I just like ran right into it. So I'm like, I have to start doing dumb things like that. But I don't know, I tried to just be careful when the best I can. But I'm like, I'm not gonna let it like stop me from doing what I want to do.

Scott Benner 1:11:36
Yeah, you should just slide in feet first. Mikayla. Yeah. Well, the one last thing I didn't ask you about the seizures that I'm interested in is there's no diagnosis for structurally what's happening.

Makalay 1:11:52
Like with like, can

Scott Benner 1:11:54
they say hey, there's a I don't know like I don't know anything about seizures but did they have they scanned your brain have they been able to say I see what's happening here or

Makalay 1:12:03
so they every time I've had a seizure I usually get like admitted to the hospital after and then I get an EEG which is like they can be like various amounts of time like some people can have them done like in the office for like 40 minutes but mine are usually 72 hours and it's like little like I guess like leads all over your head with like this like really strong glue and then they wrap it up. And it's just like monitoring your brain activity. So they like try to do those to see like, after the seizure and like they're usually normal after the seizure which is the weirdest thing so they're like okay, probably was like sleep deprivation you hide your seizure. You slept it off, now you're back. But it's like, I don't know with with the medication, my brain activity is completely normal. But when I have the seizures, it's usually sleep deprivation. Um, I've worked with the other ones like the one on Christmas like I was a little bit sick. I was tired and they say excitement. But like again like I'm pretty happy person I get excited a lot. So I'm like, I don't I don't think that's right for me. I don't think that's yeah, they did like it not even like flashing lights or anything like that. It just is like kind of random.

Scott Benner 1:13:18
It's amazing. can sleep deprivation trigger a seizure? Yes, it can. seizures are very sensitive to sleep patterns. Some people have their first and only seizures after an all nighter at college or not sleeping well for long periods. Wow, this is there any side effects of the medication Are you very happy with it?

Makalay 1:13:35
I'm really happy with it. The for I there was one that I was on and it's like not a febrile favorable medication but that was the one that I had to be on like right away because I could start taking like a high dose of it while I worked up on the other one. But I slowly like worked up to like a good level on the one medication that was the good one and then slowly backed off the other one. So during that time, it definitely was like okay, this this is a little scary because I'm like going off one medication. But since then just being on the one has been like really great. And it's like I think they say like the best seizure medication there is because there are like minimal side effects.

Scott Benner 1:14:18
Wow, it's amazing. Well, I'm glad they found something that helps you it's it's really astonishing. Hey, how are your blood sugar's like, what's your agency? What are your goals for your blood sugar's

Makalay 1:14:27
my agencies are usually between six and six five. Nice. Nice, so I tried to keep it pretty tight.

Scott Benner 1:14:34
what's your what's your high alarm, low alarm setup?

Makalay 1:14:38
AD and one Ed, when

Scott Benner 1:14:41
do you let the algorithm do most of the work or do you intervene?

Makalay 1:14:45
I intervene sometimes. I try if I'm like just going over I try to do like, if I'm like, the arrow is like slightly up or like I'm not too high out of range. I let the pump take care of it. But if I noticed like okay, I ate something an hour ago and I didn't think I needed insulin for it now or then and now I'm spiking then I'll give myself insulin and add the correction and be like, Why did I do that? But I sometimes I get so controlling because I'm like, so like, I need my blood sugar's to be perfect. So I get so controlling, like, do it over the pump. I'd say it's like 5050 Like, especially while I'm sleeping like I sleep through the night I just let my pump do everything.

Scott Benner 1:15:25
Yeah. Well, listen, we did your settings change greatly when you got to college? Or were you not using control IQ before college?

Makalay 1:15:35
I wasn't using it before college.

Scott Benner 1:15:38
Did you commute? Or did you? Did you stay there? You said your high school. I stayed. Alright. Excellent. Did your settings change much when you got to college? Um, do you remember?

Makalay 1:15:52
Remember? No, I don't think so. The only thing that changed was like, like the times of my, my profile, like, when I was like eating lunch at school, like it was like, the same time like 12. But then, when I was like, had tendencies to eat at different times at college, then it was like changing my, like the same ratios. Just different time settings.

Scott Benner 1:16:17
Okay, I see. How about leaving school? Did your stress lesson and your insulin change or anything like that?

Makalay 1:16:25
Um, my stress definitely lessened, but I've been like, pretty consistent with my like, profile. Okay.

Scott Benner 1:16:34
Interesting. All right. Is there anything that we haven't talked about that we should have?

Makalay 1:16:38
Um, I don't think so.

Scott Benner 1:16:41
You think we did. Okay. Yeah. All right. Cool. Well, then I'm gonna say thank you.

Makalay 1:16:47
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Scott Benner 1:16:49
It's my pleasure. Hold on one second.

A huge thanks to Mikayla for coming on the show and sharing her story. I also want to thank athletic greens and remind you to get your ag one at athletic greens.com forward slash juicebox. Want to save 35% off your entire order at cozy earth.com. use the offer code juice box at checkout. And do not forget my favorite type one organization touched by type one they're on Facebook, they're on Instagram. They're touched by type one.org. Go find the private Facebook group Juicebox Podcast type one diabetes doesn't matter if you have type one, type two, Lada any kind of diabetes. All are welcome. Thank you so much for listening. I'll be back very soon with another episode of The Juicebox Podcast.