Explaining which 'type'

[sugarless sue]

Sometimes it seems from posts I have seen types 2's aim to be upgraded to taking insulin so as to legitimize there condition.

Most type 2's would look on taking insulin as a retrograde step not an upgrade! I certainly would.

As to 'legitimizing' the condition ? I am a type 2, I may or may not have caused my own diabetes by my lifestyle but I do not need to be legitimized because I am what I am. I cannot turn back the clock but I can and do learn all I can now to control my condition as best I can. That is where this forum comes in .

We have specific forum for type 1 and type 2 at the request of the members, not to segregate them but to offer places where type specific questions are answered. Everyone on the board is welcome to make knowledgeable comments, in any area,there are no demarcation lines, if they have the experience to do so and think that their comments can help the OP or the subject in hand.

 

[Debloubed]

I was diagnosed 6 years ago as type 2 my own fault as far as I'm concerned I was hugely overweight ate to much **** & drank to much. I'm now type 1 and underweight anyhoo I could'nt believe the massive difference between the two

Now that is interesting! So do you think you were mis-diagnosed as a type 2 before you lost weight?

 

[cugila]

I was diagnosed 6 years ago as type 2 my own fault as far as I'm concerned I was hugely overweight ate to much **** & drank to much. I'm now type 1 and underweight anyhoo I could'nt believe the massive difference between the two

Now that is interesting! So do you think you were mis-diagnosed as a type 2 before you lost weight?

Yes, that is interesting !

I was diagnosed as a Diabetic T2 back in 1997. I was as fit as a 'robbers dog', healthy, not at all overweight.....but gobsmacked with the diagnosis.

It was only the ensuing 'healthy' diet I was told to follow that caused an increase in weight and the ensuing complications, BP, Cholesterol, eyesight problems etc. It took me nearly 11 years to find out what was the thing that made my Diabetes worse. As for Insulin, I'm with Sue on that, I view it as a retrograde step. If I HAD to then yes I would use Insulin, but not through choice !

kegstore wrote:
I know a great deal about Type 1, but considerably less about Type 2 and would never dream of offering advice on the subject specifics. Just a thought.

Really ?? I thought you always gave very good advice to all and sundry Keg ? Didn't matter if it was T1 or T2 or about specifics. Must have been somebody else ! :?

 

[lovinglife]

It's a small minority that have type 1 diabetes - approximately 250,000 in the UK and the amount of type 2's roll in at over 2.5million. Big difference and people should be made aware.

I tell them that i was born with a defect in my body (the pre-disposition) and that it's assumed that a virus triggered my immune system to attack the beta cells in my pancreas, leading to me producing no insulin, and currently it is incurable so i have to inject 4 times a day. I tell them that the majority of diabetics are type 2 and that this type is generally a result of poor lifestyle.

Ouch!!! - I am newly diagnosed T2 - do I consider it my own fault? - as someone with severe PCOS since my late teens (now 47) and my father and all his siblings with T2 in their 40's - who I would like to add were all tall and skinny and fit as a butchers dog - I probably had a predisposition to it - could I have prevented it - probably not - maybe could have delayed it for a while.

Well you must excuse me while I go whip myself with a shredded birch twig and say 10 hail doughnuts to St Sugary :wink:

 

[Synonym]

I was perturbed to read the post made by RebeccaSmith and then Carolineincornwall’s sad reaction to it and feel that they highlight the problems and misconceptions that are prevalent.

It is sad that diabetes is being used as a threat or a stick which can hurt people by promoting guilt. Adverts which are currently being aired do not help as they tar every single person who has diabetes with the same brush.

We are all unique and the reason we have diabetes is just as unique as each individual and in fact it is unlikely that the absolute reason for each of us having diabetes could ever be pinpointed.

Unless we can educate those who have diabetes about the varied causes and often unknown origins of the disease it is difficult to know how we can ever educate the general public. This will result in intolerance and bigoted opinion being expressed in such a way that it makes everything so much worse for hurting and confused people like many newbies whose posts we read on this forum.

When you are newly diagnosed it can make even the strongest person confused and vulnerable. Then add in the ignorance of those who promulgate the view that there is only one route to diabetes and it is no wonder that there are many people left with un-necessary guilt that they had somehow brought it on themselves.

It is important that everyone is aware that there is not a single route to Diabetes!

 

[ham79]

It's possible when in hospital when first diagnosed 3 docs said type 1 3 said type 2 maybe they flipped a coin who knows. The problem is going from type 2 to type 1 is very weird as a type 2 was told do this don't do that then as a type 1 in the diabetes ward the staff nurse asked "why are you not eating that cake" to which I looking rather confused replied "is this not the diabetic ward and therefore I should'nt be eating that" now she looking confused said "haha your on insulin eat what you like as long as you match it" which contradicted the education I'd received for my type 2

 

[phoenix]

I can understand where Rebecca's coming from. When I was diagnosed I had to spend 10 days in hospital, I was very thin as a result of the pre diagnosis weight loss, I had spent 4 days on an insulin drip, had had multitudes of tests and now knew I had to take insulin for the rest of my life. I had been told by the consultant that, I actually had type 1 even though It had been a relatively slow onset and I was well past the age to be called juvenile!. My ignoring of obvious symtoms for a while could also have caused problems for the future.
When I left hospital I was still very confused and, frightened for my future.
Within half an hour of leaving hospital the very first person I met said 'Oh you must have been eating too much of our good French food'. Really upset, I went back to the car in tears. There was I through no fault of my own (as had been stressed in hospital) being wrongly blamed for a potentially dangerous condition. I felt like this and I was a mature, well educated woman. I can imagine how I would have felt had I been in my teens.
After that everyone I met got the lecture about type 1 and 2 and the odd person who gets type 1 in later life.
I also decided to demonstrate to myself and others thay I didn't have a lifestyle disease I started training for a marathon.
Since then I've learned so much more, and I realise things aren't so simple. People with type 2 often have a strong genetic tendency. There's not just type 1a but 1b as well, there's LADA, ketosis prone type 2, gestational diabetes,LADY, MODY, MIDD, steroid induced diabetes, lots of medical conditions can cause diabetes. I could go on down the page.
I'm more confident in myself now and give fewer lectures ,they'd be far too long, In fact I don't usually mention it unless people see my pump and then I explain that,

 

[sugarless sue]

It's possible when in hospital when first diagnosed 3 docs said type 1 3 said type 2 maybe they flipped a coin who knows. The problem is going from type 2 to type 1 is very weird as a type 2 was told do this don't do that then as a type 1 in the diabetes ward the staff nurse asked "why are you not eating that cake" to which I looking rather confused replied "is this not the diabetic ward and therefore I should'nt be eating that" now she looking confused said "haha your on insulin eat what you like as long as you match it" which contradicted the education I'd received for my type 2

Think it's the nurses at ARI that need the education !!
All diabetics need to watch what they eat whether type 1 or 2.

 

[pavlosn]

Although I have every sympathy for people who develop T1 diabetes, especially at a young age and can partly understand their wish not to be tarnished by the same brush as the "guilty" T2s, I have no sympathy for anyone, diabetic or not, trying to attribute blame on any individual for developing a disease. And T2 diabetes is just that, a disease and not a punishment for the unworthy.

I wonder how many of the people who critisize T2's for bringing the disease onto themselves, lead lifestyles which are so very different? I guess all non diabetics must be on healthy diets, exercise regularly and not smoke or drink.

I accept that,unlike a T1 my lifestyle may have contributed towards the onset of my diabetes, but I refuse to feel guilty about it.

I am a T2 and yes, I do regret that had my lifestyle been healthier before perhaps I could have avoided the disease, but I do not know that for sure. There is a history of diabetes on my mother's side of the family, so perhaps I would had developed diabetes anyway.

Feeling guilty about developing a disease can only be counterproductive and, in my opinion, irrelevant. There is no use crying over spilled milk. What is important is learning to deal with the disease both emotionally and physically.

What next? Do we start to blame cancer patients or STD sufferers for whatever aspect of their lifestyle "brought on" their disease? Do we then stop, often expensive treatments to these "guilty" patients?

Let the one without sin cast the first stone.

Please let us not start another division between us.T2 or T1 what difference does it make? Surely what is important is that we offer advice and support to each other to help us cope with our disease.

Regards

Pavlos

 

[kegstore]

Please let us not start another division between us.T2 or T1 what difference does it make? Surely what is important is that we offer advice and support to each other to help us cope with our disease.

I agree with the sentiment Pavlos, but also very conscious of not forgetting that they're essentially two different diseases, albeit with a few similarities. So advice for one doesn't necessarily fit the other...

 

[cugila]

Please let us not start another division between us.T2 or T1 what difference does it make? Surely what is important is that we offer advice and support to each other to help us cope with our disease.

I agree with the sentiment Pavlos, but also very conscious of not forgetting that they're essentially two different diseases, albeit with a few similarities. So advice for one doesn't necessarily fit the other...

That is so right Keg. That is why the advice given here is usually tailored to fit. Much better that way.

 

[ham79]

oh I forgot about the steroid connection I was on a heavy dose from age 9 to 12 to strengthen my lungs after falling ill with bronchial asthma. Got my old diabetic nurse back she has fixed so much ,I know after 13 weeks how much insulin to take and that my practice diabetic doc had me on less than half the starting dose of amytriptalin. And as she was my nurse when I was type 2 she knows me and could tell straight away that I wasn't me and shocked at the fact I am literally half the man I was (23stone - 9) glad after all the probs I've had that my wife and me have finally been given a wee bit of hope.

 

[pavlosn]

Please let us not start another division between us.T2 or T1 what difference does it make? Surely what is important is that we offer advice and support to each other to help us cope with our disease.

I agree with the sentiment Pavlos, but also very conscious of not forgetting that they're essentially two different diseases, albeit with a few similarities. So advice for one doesn't necessarily fit the other...

I agree with you about differing advice needed for T2s and T1s. Perhaps it is unfortunate that the two diseases share the same name.

Not being an expert or a medical professional, any advice I offer to anyone is based primarily on my own limited experience with diabetes. Being a T2, I often find that I simply luck the necessary personal experience to advice a T1. So I then prefer to wait for someone else on the site wth more relevant exerience to come forward and respond. Luckily there are plenty of people here who are willing to do so.

Sometimes though, even a general awareness of the disease is sufficient to offer some advice as it is clear that what the individual is really after is support and that I think that we are all qualified to offer.

In some way's I think that T1 is a more terrible form of the disease as it primarily afflicts the young and it appears to me that it is harder to manage. I have nothing but admiration for T1 suffererers who are asked to learn to cope with such a disease at very tender ages and I pray to God that I am never put in the same position as the parents of a T1 child, as I am not I sure I would be equal to the challenge.

But T2 is no less serious a disease than T1.

Let us not forget that what the two types of the disease have in common are the same terrible long term complication if left unmanaged and help each other to control our diabetes.

Regards

Pavlos

 

[Debloubed]

All diabetics need to watch what they eat whether type 1 or 2.

everyone should watch what they eat! Healthy eating is not just for us lot

 

[Diabetic Al]

My current speech is fun:

"I'm a diabetic. No I don't know which type yet. My blood gave conflicting results. So they're treating me as Type 2 with diet and meds and I'm testing at a Type 1 frequency as my Doctor thinks there is an 87% chance that I'm type 1. My pancreas seems to be dying, but isn't dead yet hence the lack of insulin.
I won't know which Type I am til January."

Usually met with:

"Well the good news is you can't be Type 1 or you'd be injecting insulin."

or

"Surely your Doctor must know." and so on.

I've also had complaints about doing my Bg tests in the tea room and now have to go from the 6th floor to the first aid room on the 2nd if I want to test.

Fun

 

[Debloubed]

I've also had complaints about doing my Bg tests in the tea room and now have to go from the 6th floor to the first aid room on the 2nd if I want to test.

Fun

I'm not happy about that Al!! Have 'they' asked you to go to the first aid room? or did you decide to go for a quiet life?

 

[Diabetic Al]

'They' wanted me not to do it in the Tea room. 'They' actually suggested the toilets!
The first aid room was my idea as I couldn't find anywhere else.