Risk for Type 2 Diabetes? What Can You Do? have been told they have type 2 diabetes, but experts heart and put the person with diabetes at greater risk …
Bret Michaels
was only
six years old when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes Now 44 years old, hes a twenty-year veteran of the rock and roll scene as the lead singer of the eighties band Poison Not one to slow down, hes soon going on tour with the band again And hes about to appear in his own VH1 reality show, in which several uninhibited women vie for his attention and spar with each other in an attempt to win his heart
by Linda von Wartburg
Lives Life Large
38
Bret Michaels, Poison, Diabetic Lead Singer of
DIABETES HEALTH / AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2007 / wwwDiabetesHealthcom
B
ut in spite of his raunchy public style and rocker persona, theres a deep undercurrent of mature common sense when it comes to his life with diabetes Living by the mantra you cant bury your head in the sand, and the motto mind, muscle, and motorcycles over matter, he works just as hard as he plays, which is pretty hard indeed
An Early Diagnosis
Bret describes his diagnosis with type 1 diabetes at such a young age as a blessing in disguise because it has always been with him, accepted as part of life from the beginning A very active child, he remembers feeling really, really worn out before his
diagnosis, having a funny taste in his mouth and itchy skin, and being, of course, thirsty beyond belief His family attributed his symptoms to various temporary illnesses, so by the time he got to the hospital, his sugar level was sky high and he was going into severe ketoacidosis He remained in the hospital for three weeks, during which his parents helped him realize that its not going to be fun, but its part of life now For the first few years of his life, Brets parents gave him his single daily injection of slow-acting insulin in the morning He was really thin and active, and he had more lows than highs He went into insulin shock about four times when he was younger, once at the school cafeteria and once at home That time, he almost bit his fathers finger off while his dad, afraid that he was seizing, was trying to open his mouth At about age ten, Bret went to a diabetes camp, the optimistically named Camp Kno-Koma, where he met other diabetic children for the first time while learning to give himself shots and eat properly He still feels strongly about the value of camp, and many of his fundraisers underwrite camp scholarships Brets Current Regimen Now Bret takes three
injections a day, at breakfast, again at dinner, and then a little bit at night In the morning, he usually takes about six units of NPH; his dose of rapidacting Humalog depends on his blood sugar If hes at 78 mg/dl, hell take about four units; if its 220, hell take eight or ten His last A1c was around seven percent I know injections are a little old school, Bret comments, but its worked for me He is moving toward getting a pump in the next year or two, but he isnt cosmetically ready for the pump just yet Bret has two meters: he usually uses a FreeStyle Flash, but he also has an antique LifeScan meter the size of a brick that he keeps with him all the time as a good luck talisman He usually checks his blood glucose four to six times a day, but when hes on tour, he ups it to at least eight times a day He doesnt want to dump sugar into his body thinking he needs it and then have a 350 blood sugar, but he also doesnt want to be on stage with a blood sugar of 42
First thing in the morning, Bret eats a light breakfast of egg whites, wheat toast, and a little bit of peanut butter Peanut butter is his favorite food of all time Man, I could eat a jar of it, and thats why I have to just
keep it away from me He has a really light lunch, maybe a turkey sandwich without one of the bread slices Sometimes he just drinks a Boost or Glucerna for a pick-me-up at midday because it gives a perfect balance of protein, carbs and fat, and it just gets me through without loading down on a whole lot of carbohydrates Bret takes a specially formulated packet of diabetes supplements every day, but he doesnt follow any particular formal diet His main strategy is portion control: Cut em back He says, The more carbs you pound in, the more your blood sugars just going to rise Your blood sugar goes high, you start to gain a lot of weight, and next thing you know, its a lose, lose, lose situation that just spirals down Bret runs around a lot on stage, so he doesnt like to eat much before a concert and takes very little insulin before performing The band has deliberately built two breaks into the show, a guitar solo and a drum solo, just so that Bret can go to the dressing room under the stage and check his blood sugar The stage is also stocked with water, orange juice, and Gatorade for Brets use If Im feeling good, I drink water; if Im feeling a little lowGatorade; and if Im starting to
feel real low, I go right for the orange juice, which bumps it up pretty quick Lows Happen Just after his career took off, before hed gotten his stage routine down, Bret had a severe low in, of all places, Madison Square Garden It had always been his big dream to play there, and he was so nervous that he couldnt eat anything beforehand Unfortunately, hed already given himself his insulin He walked out, made it through about six songs, and then collapsed onstagethat was the last thing he remembers until he woke up in the hospital Bret notes that one thing hes learned from having diabetes so long is how to control his emotions He deliberately refuses to become scared and paranoid when hes having a low because the more scared you get and the more your adrenaline pumps, the quicker your blood sugars going low He does not have hypoglycemic unawarenessa low blood sugar will wake him up even when he is sleeping He keeps glucose tablets by the bed because he knows that if he is at a certain level, four of them do the trick; if hes really in trouble, he takes eight He finds tablets preferable to drinking orange juice or eating jelly because he can control how high up hes going; he doesnt
want to overshoot the mark The Hazards of Touring When Bret is touring, alcohol is pretty much a fixture of backstage life He emphasizes, however, that he drinks
continued on page 40
wwwDiabetesHealthcom / AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2007 / DIABETES HEALTH
39
continued from page 39 moderately and accommodates his drinking to his diabetes If I start to feel like Im getting a little bit drunk, he says, I immediately let someone know around me, and Im going to check my blood sugar right now I want to know that my blood sugars 160, not 25 If youre going to drink, you cant kid yourself and drink an entire bottle of Jack Daniels and pass out, because you can go into insulin shock and never know it
to get the bike out and do it He hauls his Harley along to tour around the various cities, and he has a dirt bike that he takes to the track when its close enough to the concert site Bret confesses that he still goes out and plays basketball alone, pretending to shoot balls to himself and acting like a kid His philosophy about working out is Dont overthink exercise Just find something you like and do it Jump on your mountain bike and go out for eight minutes Because you know what happenseight minutes
into it, your endorphins kick in, and thats the best high you can getyoure ready to ride another hour Brets New Reality Show Brets reality show on VH1 starts on July 15, 2007, and runs for two-and-a-half months Called Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, it pits 25 beautiful women against each other in a contest to win Brets affections He describes the series as a genuine reality show, as real as it gets, and an honest attempt to find a girlfriend He adds, Ive done a lot of crazy things in my life, a lot of crazy things–but this would be the most bizarre thing Ive ever done Ive never dated in this fashion before, and the show is entertaining to say the least He reports that prior to the show, he had always been either in a longterm relationship or on the road Consequently, the standard rituals of
Its all about maintaining a balance, says Bret Thats the weirdest thing for a rock star to say: balance But as a diabetic rock star, its been about balance in my life For every rose, theres a thorn: thats a song we have, and thats what it is Its finding a sense of balance Exercise is Paramount Bret works out every morning, even when touring When everyone else in the band has been up until
4:00 in the morning and is sleeping in until twelve or one the next day, Bret is still up at nine or ten am to carry out his usual regime of eating breakfast and working out He might take a nap later in the afternoon, but you have to find a way to make it work, and thats what its all about The band carries around the components of a full gym in one of their tour trucks, and the equipment is set up in a room at every venue Bret also takes his mountain bike with him on tour so he can bike around the ampitheaters: There are tons of places to go ride; you just have
I had the p 
leasure of meeting Bret a couple of times You can be confident that his message is coming from the heart and has little selfpromotion intended As Bret and I are both diabetics, I can attest from experience that Bret does watch his personal habits and takes his condition very seriously BretGet off a fifty-year-old insulin called NPH and go on a peakless insulin called Lantus with a flexible mealtime insulin called
Apidra, and you wont have the horrific highs and lows throughout the day It will mimic normal physiologyTry it Its very interesting to find out that you can be
diabetic and still live life fast as long
as you are in control When I was diagnosed with type 1 less than a year ago, six weeks after seeing Poison in concert, I kept saying to myself that if he can be on stage and do all this, then I can surely manage my daily chores I was in control three weeks later Thanks for the messageit helped me a lot I am also a diabetic musician who constantly deals with low blood sugars while playing I actually suspend my pump during the first two
40
DIABETES HEALTH / AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2007 / wwwDiabetesHealthcom
courtship were unfamiliar to him, and much of the shows humor is associated with watching him stumble and bumble through dates Brets contract mandates that the reality show clearly acknowledge his diabetes It was very important to him to convey the fact that he has survived well with it for a long time Obviously, how much of his daily life with diabetes is portrayed will depend upon how the show is edited During the filming, however, he explained diabetes to all the women, and he tested his blood sugar and injected his insulin in front of them All of them were interested and genuinely concerned, Bret says It was actually really nice, and it all played into the show Some of the women
even took it upon themselves to read up on diabetes Those women, Bret notes, lasted longer on the show than those who were not very proactive He even asked the women to give injections into an orange, and the one who did the best job was asked to give him an injection Says Bret, I found the smallest needle I could find It was the top of the butt cheek, the safest area I could think of with the most fat in it, and I said fire away She did a pretty good job A couple episodes into the show, Bret did have a really low blood sugar while filming Hed been at the beach all day and taken his insulin, but he hadnt eaten before they started shooting again Thinking that he was just tired and sunburnt, he didnt heed the usual low sugar warning signs Right in
Bret Michaels
Age: 44 Years with Diabetes: 38 Injections: 55,328 Blood Tests: 110,960 Top 40 Singles: Ten Albums Sold: 25 million Ranking on Playgirls Sexiest Rock Stars list: Top ten Bones Broken in 1994 Ferrari Accident: Nose, Ribs, Jaw, and Fingers
the middle of it, I was having a low blood sugar, he says, and they just kept the cameras rolling, apparently The woman whom he was dating that evening rushed around trying to get orange
juice and it was pretty intense for a few minutes His blood sugar was probably down around the thirties at the time Brets Advice for Kids Bret acknowledges that diabetes can become depressing if you think too much about the potential complications or the lifetime of injections, especially for a youngster looking down the long road ahead To them he says, I use diabetes just as one more challenge in my life You have to accept it because there is no other choice You either do well with it or it will take over your life, and then its not going to be so great Bret emphasizes that it isnt easy to keep everything under control all the time He really wants to convey the understanding that the control comes with a lot of work Its no easier for him than for anyone In fact, what with all the travel, plane food, and general mayhem of his touring life, it could be even more difficult He tells youngsters who come to his concerts, Listen, I live a really tough lifestyle on the road, and Ive managed to control it, so you can manage to control it He says, I kind of do the tough love thing, and I tell them, youve just got to make it happen When youre younger and you have diabetes, you might be able
to get away
continued on page 41
sets and set it to 45 percent during the last set My blood sugar typically comes in at 110 Ive seen many previous pictures in which Bret is smoking with a drink in hand Im glad to see he is taking his health more seriously nowadays Ive had type I diabetes since the age of five, and my family prepared me for a future of amputations, dialysis, and going blind Thank you for the positive words, Bret Youve encouraged me to let go of those warnings from my past and replace them withEvery rose has its thorn, but so what? I am going to live my life to the fullest
Wow What an inspiration If a talented man like Bret Michaels can remain healthy and positive about handling his illness, then I can too What a great story I was a big fan of Brets back in the day Poison was one of my favorite eighties hair bands, and after reading this I am even more of a fan I love Brets positive attitude and energy and appreciate his honesty Keep rockin, Bret
wwwDiabetesHealthcom / AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2007 / DIABETES HEALTH
41
continued from page 41
with self-pity for a little while, but when you get into the adult world and everyone has their own set of problems to deal with,
theyre not as concerned about your problem anymore And thats why I try to tell the kids to be selfreliant Youd better start to prepare for this life To kids who reach the rebellious teenage years, Bret repeats the same admonition: Youve got to take care of it He acknowledges that teenagers are going to try drinking, theyre going to try risky things because theyve got to get it out of their system But at the same time, at the back of your brain, youve got to take care of your diabetes He explains, As much as I was rebellious on my right hand, on the other hand, I also had common sense enough to take care of my health If you dont build in that safety factor to take care of your diabetes, the downside could be pretty horrific Bret attributes his safe passage through his rebellious years to the common sense attitude of his parents, who said, You better make sure your buddies know what to do if you go into insulin shock If youre going to go out there and not come home and think youre going to party with your buddies, youd better make sure youve got insulin and your stuff, because your friends are going to want to run around with girls Theyre not going to care about your diabetes You
need to take care of yourself Keep pulling your head out of the sand, says Bret, and accept it Once I had that safety net built in, I could go have a great time I never had a lot to worry about because I knew I had OJ in the car and I knew that I had my insulin with me and a couple of buddies around me who were good people So I knew I could have a great time, and be rebellious Im still doing that, as a matter of fact, but at a different level
Influences and Beliefs The biggest influences in Brets early personal life were his mom and dad Whether I loved them at the moment or was in my rebellious teens and thought that I hated them which I didnt, my parents were the biggest influence in my early personal life When Bret was a kid, his most influential role model was a Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker by the name of Jack Lambert Says Bret, He was one of these people that just had this ferocious go-for-it attitude And thats the attitude that helped to develop my thinking When they would be losing games, you could just see him come on the field and motivate that team to win Finding a way Youre not going to win every game, youre not going to have a platinum record every time you put a song
out, but its the going for it that is really the pot of gold Bret believes in a higher power, and hes convinced that your energy and your soul go to a better place He also believes that good positive energy and what youve done right in your life comes back in good karma He says, I try to respect everyone around me, and then if they are not respectful back, its okay to be angry and get them out of your life They say that positive energy causes positive things For the most part, it does At least it does for me For his parting words, Bret says, Look at diabetes as a blessing in this way: If you deal with it right, it will give you total awareness of your body and what your limitations are, what you can and cant do It may actually be an advantage, because it made me self-reliant at a young age and put me ahead of the game It made me a non-selfpitying kid When I wanted something, it was all about going for it, just like Jack Lambert He always willed his team to win the game, and we got four Superbowls out of it I can do it; you can do itlets rock
42
DIABETES HEALTH / AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2007 / wwwDiabetesHealthcom
