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If you or your child had T1D while in school, were your blood glucose (BG) levels typically impacted during tests or exams?
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I didn’t check my blood sugar at school so I never knew what my bs was during the day. 89-2002 only time I had a check outside of breakfast and dinner was if I felt low, or extremely high. With the tech and tight control I have now I have no clue how I survived my youth flying by the seat of my pants like that. But, that was the norm.
I was diagnosed with T1D as a freshman in college. I don’t remember a test specific blood glucose effect. Mostly remember challenges trying to avoid lows during class/lac experiments while on NPH injections.
When I was in school – more than 65 years ago – testing blood sugar at home/ school did not exist.
I answered ‘other’ as my high school experience was prior to glucose meters, pumps, etc.
we had urine test tape, and fasting blood sugars at a lab, but no self diagnostic tools. Times have improved.
I was diagnosed on 1972. No blood sugar checks back then.
Diagnosed in 1969 when there were you could only check urine at home or school.
Imagine bringing the catch basin, the eye dropper, the tablets, the test tubes, all that stuff to school and being able to face a class mate. Testing was definitely not today’s high art! I’m so grateful to have survived through all the improvements! And still think we should have an affordable, easier cure!
Yep, I sure didn’t bring that equipment with me to school.
Boy oh boy that was quite some time ago and unfortunately from what I can recall no noticeable changes. Now I’m sure if I had the tech that’s currently available I’d probably notice some impact or not. The other issue is I was new to the T1D 1973 and being young somewhat invincible and full of energy my body was able to cope with these scenarios much better then today. Awe to be young again……and retain the knowledge I have today.
Sometimes we were would let her run higher for standard tests so the alarms would not go off
Didn’t have glucose meters or other equipment to test glucose readings in the 60’s.
There isn’t any way for me to accurately answer this question. Even when I received my latest degree at age 39, “blood sugar” testing results still took hours to react. Digital readout glucose meters were still years away.
I was diagnosed as an adult so never impacted me. However, my daughter when in high school (T1D)
had only one low blood sugar ever at school and that was during a test. Someone noticed she was not moving and staring while taking her test, the proctor had someone accompany her to the nurse and she ate something and recovered to go back to her test taking.
Something sort of happened to me like that when taking a math test in 8th grade. My teacher noticed I seemed confused and wasn’t answering any questions (I was always good in his math class). He called me up to his desk and went over the first question with me and I was able to continue the test with no problem. Since there was no blood glucose testing in the 1970’s, I really am not sure if my confusion was due to low sugar or not. My teacher probably didn’t know I was diabetic and even if he did, he may not have known confusion is a symptom of low blood sugar.
There were not blood glucose meters available to me during my school years, even into college.
I didn’t have any way to accurately measure my blood glucose when I was in school. I got my first bg meter after graduating from college.
I did not have a way to monitor my blood sugar while in school. It was 1975-1982.
Ny answer to this is that I simply don’t know. Until 1980, almost 20 years after I became diabetic, there was no means for testing BG except from drawn blood in a lab. What I would usually do for an exam is to avoid low BG by eating more than I should. That way, it did not become a distraction during an exam.
I was diagnosed in 1974….no cgm’s.
I did not have anyway to check my sugars in school,in the year 1971 at the age of 5;yes old.
When I was in school, there was no blood glucose testing!!!!
Can’t know, before glucose meters or accurate testing were invented! Went to Bedrock High, ha!
same here
I hadd a friend in college (early 1970s) who had gone into DKA several times during exam weeks.
I don’t remember a pattern. For standardized tests I tried to drive my blood sugar up to avoid lows and there was one time it worked a little too well and I nearly wet myself. And once in 4th grade my blood sugar went low enough during a spelling test that I blacked out and had to take it over again. But those two instances were the extremes, not the norm.
When I was in school, home blood glucose tests were not available. I never went to the hospital before and after school tests to determine how school tests affected blood glucose tests.
At home blood glucose monitors were not available when I was in school.
I was in school and college 1945-1963. I did not have a glucometer until 1985.
Same here Richard
I didn’t have blood glucose testing through all of the grades from 3rd grade to 12th grade as urine testing was all that was available. I started blood testing while in college but to tell you the truth, I don’t recall how much my blood sugars fluctuated.
Ditto to Richard Vaughn and AnitaS
No bg meters whe I was in school
I was diagnosed in 1966 and when I was in school grade school I had no idea what my BG was because glucose meters didn’t exist then.
I said lower, because I think so, but BG meters and CGM did not exist when I was in school. [65 yrs with T1D]
My school years were long before home bg testing was available. I only know I was running on low because of the symptoms I experienced while taking the SAT exam in 1963, the GRE in 1975, my MA Comprehensive, where my written answer to an essay question became more illegible as I tried to control muscle spasms and ended up falling out of the chair. I brought a Coke with me to my MFA orals, just in case, but fortunately didn’t need it.
I don’t know what my sugar was in school. that was the 1970’s and there was no way to test my blood sugar at home except urine sticks and they were not accurate.
Honestly, I was so burned out from working a job and attending college, that I barely noticed what my BG was only that it was never remotely low.
There were no meters when i was in school. Peed on a stick.
I didn’t have an extra meter to test while at school. Not until I started using Dexcom in 2008, was I able to see in-time cause and effect to everything. If tests did effect me either way, I never knew.
When I was attending school, at home glucose testing was not available.
I did not have meter until I was in high school, that’s when insurance began covering them. In the mid 80’s. I honestly don’t remember if they were affected.
I didn’t have T1D until I was a freshman in collage
I didn’t have a cgm while I was in Elementry or Middle school. I also didn’t have the knowledge I have know about controling my BG. If there were fluctuations during tests i had no idea at the time that the stress was causing the issue.
I had T1D in high school and college, but it was pre-home glucose monitoring! I d not recall any incidents…