Diabetes and discalculia (numerical dyslexia)
I wonder if anyone can help me, particularly in the UK.
I have a problem with reading and writing numbers - and as we all know, certainly in the UK we have to write down dates, times, test results, carbs eaten, etc, and most of it in numerical form! Unfortunately my nurses have been very unsympathetic and accuse me of being lazy, attention seeking etc .... The doctor is a bit more sympathetic and has yet to come up with a solution. The numbers can change value or I simply do not recognise what they are and try to write them down and then they go from example a 3 to an 8, or a 2, or a 4 - something seems to scramble between eye and hand! Not very helpful!
I wonder if anyone else in this group, either has a problem with numbers or knows someone who has and is diabetic, and how they deal with the problem.
I have a Jazz glucose meter which is supposed to download onto a computer and my diabetic nurse earlier this week had never seen one before. I got it because it said in the blurb, that it would download test results etc, but I now find it does not like Windows 7!
I think a meter which does download might help - I do seem to be able to read bar charts and graphs - and if I were to draw two lines - one for normal levels and one for too low then I should be able to see what is going on.
As yet, I have not found a glucose meter that will work with Windows 7 and I am not clever enough to change my laptop. And I am unemployed, so cannot afford to change either.
I have a problem with reading and writing numbers - and as we all know, certainly in the UK we have to write down dates, times, test results, carbs eaten, etc, and most of it in numerical form! Unfortunately my nurses have been very unsympathetic and accuse me of being lazy, attention seeking etc .... The doctor is a bit more sympathetic and has yet to come up with a solution. The numbers can change value or I simply do not recognise what they are and try to write them down and then they go from example a 3 to an 8, or a 2, or a 4 - something seems to scramble between eye and hand! Not very helpful!
I wonder if anyone else in this group, either has a problem with numbers or knows someone who has and is diabetic, and how they deal with the problem.
I have a Jazz glucose meter which is supposed to download onto a computer and my diabetic nurse earlier this week had never seen one before. I got it because it said in the blurb, that it would download test results etc, but I now find it does not like Windows 7!
I think a meter which does download might help - I do seem to be able to read bar charts and graphs - and if I were to draw two lines - one for normal levels and one for too low then I should be able to see what is going on.
As yet, I have not found a glucose meter that will work with Windows 7 and I am not clever enough to change my laptop. And I am unemployed, so cannot afford to change either.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by hannah_75 on -
Hi,
How are you with verbally stated numbers? There are definitely meters, I can't remember their name right now, that say the blood test result out loud. If you are alright with mental arithmetic but struggle with written arithmetic that might be helpful.
Also, do you have a pump or injections? The accu-chek pump (and maybe other, I just have the accu chek one) comes with a blood test kit that you set up with all of your rates. You then do a blood test and tell it how much carbohydrate you are eating and it works out how much insulin to give you. There is lots of maths involved but if you put everything into the machine (i.e. every time you eat even a tiny amount) it will work out the insulin and the correction dose needed. I don't know if it would help but you never actually type in numbers to the kit, you scroll through them, so 1unit takes less time to get to than 2 or 8 etc. I have a fried who has number dyslexia but is ok as long as things are sequential, so this would help her. She isn't diabetic though. I do know that there are lots of different ways of finding numbers challenging so sorry if this wouldn't help.
Hannah -
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Permalink Reply by 1970clea on -
If you have a phone that can use Apps there are some good ones out there, such as OnTrack, which will do the leg work for you. Just search the market for diabetes.
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Permalink Reply by latvianchick on -
Thanks. My problem is not so bad that I cannot recognise that on £45 a week to live on, I am unable to afford anything more than a basic, bog standard, cheap mobile. I cannot afford the high tech ones!
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Permalink Reply by CheekyGrin2011 on -
U can buy insulin calcalators on ebay cheap im on beniefts too and was just able to buy it. tjhis has helped me as this is my biggest hurdle with diabetes is the maths causes me much anxiety and high blood sugars but the calaclator has helped u tyoe in how much carns ure bms and it works out how much insulin u take.
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