What do you miss most from being diabetic

Heretic1

Well-Known Member
Messages
201
Type of diabetes
Type 2 (in remission!)
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Diabetes!
I just miss my old life - terribly! and miss all of the above. ☹️
 
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LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,233
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
If I think about it I really miss the addictive foods I used to eat all the time.

Mmmm....chip muffins......mmmmm.....still miss these at times.

I used to eat loads and loads of sweet things - at work I would have bulk packs of Mars Bars, KitKat, Flake, Turkish Delight to snack on during the day. Don't even go near these any more and I don't miss them. This thread stirred memories, though.

Most of the carbohydrates I don't really miss any more. I may try a bit for a "treat" now and then but pasta and pizza are a bit of a disappointment now. Not sure what I saw in them. Pub chips (especially those made with reformed potato) are distinctly underwhelming. The only thing I still really miss is sourdough bread with lots of butter.

I think is all a matter of conditioning. Others eat food which I would find really disgusting but this is only because I have not been brought up to value it. For example a Chinese friend eating chicken feet as a treat for the benefits of all the collagen.

So after being mainly on a low carbohydrate diet for a few years I don't really miss the food from day to day.

Fortunately food is the only thing that has really changed as I am able to do more or less the same activities that I used to. I have had to give up running (which I loved) because my legs are knackered but I put this down to age, not diabetes. I am within the normal weight range and lighter than I have been for decades so I can't see any connection to diabetes at all.

So, back on topic, I don't really miss anything on a day to day basis. Which I think makes me very fortunate.
 
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Mep

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,461
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
For me, since being diagnosed with diabetes I do miss not having to think about my food. I also miss the freedom of not having to take meds or injections, and having to have regular blood tests done. These days my diet is even more restricted because of other stuff so my reality is that it doesn't matter what I eat as it is all pretty much bad for me. My safe foods now are predominantly carbs which isn't good for diabetes. Go figure. I think I have to keep reminding myself not to stress myself out over food as I don't enjoy food anymore like I used to. Eating out is a nightmare... like the other night I couldn't find one dish on the menu I could eat... so I asked them to change one of their dishes which they got wrong and had to try again for me. You don't realise how much acid is in food until you can't eat it.... and the downside is restaurants put something acidic in just about every single dish they make.
 
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yingtong

Well-Known Member
Messages
487
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
People who.kock diabetes
Absolutely nothing,after being type1 for over 54 years I'm used to it all!
 
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lovinglife

Moderator
Staff Member
Messages
4,539
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I miss my self esteem- a strange one I know and it's not really related to my diabetes but more to my weight loss, when I was BIG I had confidence in who I was, knew what to wear, what suited me and how to make the most of myself - now I have no idea what to wear - I still buy clothes that are too big making me look bigger, I am less confident about my body - I know I'm weird lol - still I am so much healthier and wouldn't go back there - oh and pasta, I miss pasta every day:(
 
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Bic

Well-Known Member
Messages
89
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Spontaneity certainly comes first, as for Noblehead and others have pointed out so well.

But also not having to tell, re-tell, inform and explain about T1 every single people around me… I have no patience and the quick-on-the-uptakes are soooo few!

Then the zero risk of making myself conspicuous when I didn't want to.

Not being nagged by the 'know-it-all' in charge for the day about what I eat, when and how I inject, why I don't hurry up and why I did this to myself (which technically, for a T1, is a grim literal truth: it is my own body, after all, that set out to kill me).

Not having to dread and counter the sheer ignorance of not specifically trained (i.e. most) health carers.

My beautiful thick, long, curly hair, which thinned out and greyed before I was thirty.

And, you know what I miss, too? My time! All the time that now is eaten-up by diabetes-related chores.
For a working wife, that's perhaps most fatal loss of all.
 

therower

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,922
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Have landed on this thread so many times now. I'm starting to get really annoyed.
I genuinely can not think of anything I miss since being diagnosed type 1 25yrs ago. It's giving me a feeling of arrogance to say that. I fully understand people who are missing something and honestly would like to be able to list just one thing.
Maybe a good few years ago I could have answered, but not now.
I'm proud to be who I am. I am diabetic.
Probably the hardest thread I've encountered so far.
 

endocrinegremlin

Well-Known Member
Messages
433
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
People telling me how to control my diabetes. My health. Isms. People walking their dogs off leads in illegal areas. Meat that bleeds. Late buses.
Nothing. I don't remember not being diabetic. Diabetes now is so much easier to deal with now than when I was younger so I actually feel pretty hopeful over it all. Having to hand over a third of a bag of crisps or only be allowed to eat part of your dinner in a restaurant because of carb allowances was rubbish. So was always having to eat at certain times. I hated that all my friends could sleep in on Saturday but my usual 7.30am breakfast time could only be pushed to 8.30.
 

Lizzie2

Well-Known Member
Messages
67
Type of diabetes
Type 2
I miss big fat fruit scones and butter from the local garden centre, a nice thick slice of really solid whole meal bread sometimes toasted, sometimes not with butter and Bon Maman raspberry conserve.
 
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prancer53

Well-Known Member
Messages
209
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Professionals who know little about diabetes who generalise!!
Same here! I'm thankful to have had it pretty much all my life


Sent from my iPhone using DCUK Forum mobile app
Likewise--I just cannot imagine eating whatever I like & when I like because I have been type 1 for a very, very long time...........
 

Nickglanf

Active Member
Messages
29
Type of diabetes
Type 1
I certainly do not miss high carb, high in suger junk food. Having Diabetes has been a kind of life style change for my own health and well being.
 
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SRO

Well-Known Member
Messages
89
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Awwww man. I miss my old life of huge plates of pasta with garlic bread.

I think it would be much worse having it from childhood, though. I had 32 years without worrying, so having to think about it through my teens, to me, would have been horrific.
 
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add19

Well-Known Member
Messages
47
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
cheese cake, cookies, brownies, doughnuts, dates, fruit juice, French fries, pizza, Nuttella, Milky bar, bread. . . the list goes on. Never worried about portion size, not counting carbs. less needles . . . . But my diabetes is under control for a couple of years since my diagnosis. latest A1C is 5.2 without medication. I've found the diet that works for me without gaining a pound or loosing much and never looked back. Never find junk food tempting anymore. Yes it requires a commitment. No. it's not easy. Long live unsweetened avocado and kale smoothie! Love Almonds, walnuts, Pecans, Macadamia, cashews . . . These are my treats.
 
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gracopp883

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Type 1
was diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic with the characters of Type 1, 4 years ago. Now, not that this is best practice, but since becoming a diabetic, it has really sorted out my eating habits and I am a lot happier and healthier since. I still enjoy all the same foods, just not in the same proportions and especially with sweet treats at as often. Testing my blood and injecting Insulin, isn't too much of a bother, because it doesn't take long. I guess what I miss most is "Freedom". By this I mean, if I forget to prep properly before heading out. I went on a country walk with my 4 year old and half way round, I started to have the effects of a hypo, so unfortunately I had to cut the walk short and hurry back to the car, with my 4 year old on my shoulders to get my glucose tablets. This was annoying. So lesson learned and always learning.
 
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