Number 2 – The Glucophage and Glargine

In September 2009 I thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where people could just pop in and have a chat about anything in general, and to escape from their diabetes for a while. What better place, therefore, than a virtual pub, where you could drink and eat whatever you wanted with absolutely no effect on your blood sugar levels! The pub was a great success, and contains the highest number of posts of any thread on the forum to date, at 9977 posts, and approaching 100,000 views!

There had been some talk of including a ‘chat room’ facility in the forum, but I think, for an environment like ours, having posts is a better idea. Chat rooms are hard to monitor, may not have enough people present for any kind of conversation, and leaves no record behind of the discussions. Although much of the chatter in the G&G may appear inconsequential, I think it illustrates how much of a community the forum has become. People choose to just pop in, order a pint of vodka and a Victoria sponge, or whatever, and relax amongst like-minded people. There’s a great deal of humour too, plus those occasions where the ‘customers’ just want to let off steam. I think having such a place has helped many people feel less isolated with their diabetes, and that is one of the principal reasons for starting the forum in the first place. I know that many people will ‘eavesdrop’ on the conversations, even if they don’t actually post themselves, and this can be a comfort in itself, to see a group of friends passing the time together, often bouncing banter off each other and escaping the stresses of the day.

Six months after opening, the pub was beginning to look a little tired and grubby, so it was closed for refurbishment and re-opened as the Banting and Best – another highly successful thread with over 6,000 posts and almost 120,000 views. The latest incarnation moved away from the sawdust and spitoons and established itself on the tropical island of St Bedeia, so we can all escape the impending dark, winter nights!

Post link: http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=3929