I didn't know a thing about diabetes when I was diagnosed six years ago. In the first few weeks after being diagnosed, I experimented with insulin injections and sports and I learned that it wasn't always easy to live with diabetes.My parents and friends didn't know anything about diabetes, either. So I did a lot of research on the internet: That was really scary in a way, because I read about all the potential complications. At the beginning I had a pen, and I've had a pump for a couple of months now. The pump frees me up a bit. After I'd been doing sports, especially volleyball, I used to have hypos in the night. It's definitively more practical for mountain biking. I simply adjust my basal rate and can do sports without having to eat carbohydrates all the time.I check my blood glucose several times a day, and the number of checks really depends on the day. Sometimes I have to check 10 times to keep things in balance. Testing is irritating but extremely important when you do sports. When I have to check myself in the middle of a volleyball match, it's annoying to have the referees giving me funny looks. But when it comes to checking and injecting, I'm open about it. I don't head to the men's room when I'm at a restaurant; I just lay everything out on the table and do it right there.

When it comes to alcohol, I just try things out. For example, I've tested what happens to my blood glucose levels when I drink a beer. After an hour, I monitor my blood glucose levels so I can better compensate for the beer. That's how I do it. I'll admit I don't always come home from a party with great blood glucose levels, but my girlfriend doesn't mind. She's known me long enough, and for her, I've always had diabetes. But she looks after me when I go pale and tells me to go check my blood glucose levels.

My advice to you: Try to adjust your diabetes to fit into your life, and not the other way around.