To everyone who was diagnosed at a time they could understand stuff…

[Hoodiegirl3]

What was it like to be “normal” if you can remember.
No intention to offend anyone, pure intentions of genuine information…(because I really wanna know)

 

[Zhnyaka]

I'm not sure that I really understood much at the age of 8, but when you're "normal" you just live and don't think about it, the advantages that you had begin to appreciate only after you lose them. I don't remember paying any attention to my health before diabetes. I definitely had friends (but now I have friends too), I can't say I was very fond of sweets, but I really liked bread. I was more active and sociable than I am now, my parents weren't afraid to leave me with my relatives for a long time.

So far, I haven't had a headache when the weather changes (it started when I was 24) I didn't pay any attention to how good my head was without pain, I only started thinking about it when the pain came so I don't think that "normal" people notice that they have any advantages.

It seems to me that psychologically, the earlier a person develops diabetes, the easier it is to get used to the fact that you have it, because you don't have to radically change your life because of the disease.

 

[Hoodiegirl3]

I'm not sure that I really understood much at the age of 8, but when you're "normal" you just live and don't think about it, the advantages that you had begin to appreciate only after you lose them. I don't remember paying any attention to my health before diabetes. I definitely had friends (but now I have friends too), I can't say I was very fond of sweets, but I really liked bread. I was more active and sociable than I am now, my parents weren't afraid to leave me with my relatives for a long time.

So far, I haven't had a headache when the weather changes (it started when I was 24) I didn't pay any attention to how good my head was without pain, I only started thinking about it when the pain came so I don't think that "normal" people notice that they have any advantages.

It seems to me that psychologically, the earlier a person develops diabetes, the easier it is to get used to the fact that you have it, because you don't have to radically change your life because of the disease.

For me it’s a lot of crazy stuff like stereotypes and the fact I can’t regulate my emotions that’s what gets to me.
I hate it.
I remember all the time in my life people pity me or judge me or think they know what I’m feeling, even my own family and that’s what makes the feelings worse but on the numbers side I just hate pump changes and doctor appointments

 

[helenb1979]

I'm not sure that I really understood much at the age of 8, but when you're "normal" you just live and don't think about it, the advantages that you had begin to appreciate only after you lose them. I don't remember paying any attention to my health before diabetes. I definitely had friends (but now I have friends too), I can't say I was very fond of sweets, but I really liked bread. I was more active and sociable than I am now, my parents weren't afraid to leave me with my relatives for a long time.

So far, I haven't had a headache when the weather changes (it started when I was 24) I didn't pay any attention to how good my head was without pain, I only started thinking about it when the pain came so I don't think that "normal" people notice that they have any advantages.

It seems to me that psychologically, the earlier a person develops diabetes, the easier it is to get used to the fact that you have it, because you don't have to radically change your life because of the disease.

I was 46 when I was diagnosed. (47 now) Every single thing had changed. I need to think ahead to what I'm eating that day. Plan my life around food and medication. Have I drunk enough. And the effects on mental health, this time last year I was okish but now not so good. If I'd had a choice I would have preferred to have been diagnosed in childhood. Because my normal now wouldn't be so bad.

 

[helenb1979]

For me it’s a lot of crazy stuff like stereotypes and the fact I can’t regulate my emotions that’s what gets to me.
I hate it.
I remember all the time in my life people pity me or judge me or think they know what I’m feeling, even my own family and that’s what makes the feelings worse but on the numbers side I just hate pump changes and doctor appointments

It's the way people look at you. Some feel sorry you others are like well you did it too yourself. I don't tell anyone now

 

[Zhnyaka]

the fact I can’t regulate my emotions that’s what gets to me.

You're only 14, no one at that age knows how to regulate their emotions. People begin to do this normally when their frontal lobes are fully formed, that is, by the age of 25-30. Yes, we are more irritable during hypo, but I can control it as much as possible, so as not to snap at the boss or apologize аnd go into another room, so as not to offend people dear to me. I mean, "normal" people can't always control their emotions either, it's just that no one blames their diagnosis for that.

To be honest, I like to laugh at other people's stereotypes about me, and I like it when someone jokes about my diabetes. It gave me a strange pleasure to teach my friends how to give me injections, and they were very proud that they could do it "like adults." When my frontal lobes formed, I realized that it wasn't cool

 

[Hoodiegirl3]

Thanks guys.️

 

[Antje77]

I was diagnosed at 39, almost 10 years ago.
While I'm sometimes annoyed and frustrated with diabetes, and I'd love to be able to eat bread and fruit without hours of extra work with diabetes, on the whole I think diabetes helped my mental health, strange as this may sound.

I've been depressed - like not being able to work depressed - for many years.
My diabetes diagnosis gave me a goal I could pursue in the safety and chosen solitude of my own home, and I found I was good at it. (Low carb and time, no distractions is my trick mostly.)

I also fell into this forum early on, finding help and helping others.
Being of use during a very dark time in my life when I had nothing before made a huge difference.

So for me, and this is an unusual take, diabetes has made my life better, much as I miss good bread or burying my head i a water melon on a whim.

 

[EllieM]

So for me, and this is an unusual take, diabetes has made my life better, much as I miss good bread or burying my head i a water melon on a whim.

Not sure whether to give your post a winner emoji for making the best of your diabetes or a hug for dealing with depression, but I am very happy to count you as one of my friends.

You're only 14, no one at that age knows how to regulate their emotions.

@Hoodiegirl , I'm afraid I 100% agree with @Zhnyaka here. I was miserable when I was 14 (bullied at school) and I don't think it had anything to do with my diabetes (in those days there were no glucometers so I just ran high and had my insulin adjusted once a year when I saw an endocrinologist). It was honestly the worst time of my life and one reason I've never had serious depression since is that I look back to that time and remember that it got better.

As far as the diabetes go, it never really impacted me mentally till I got the tech at twenty and was able to get some sort of control of my condition. ( But having a T1 mother meant that I never felt it was a particularly strange condition, because it was normal in my family.)

Having said all that, I do remember counting carbs as quite a big thing, but it was more like learning to ride a bicycle, which I did around the same age, a new skill which you acquire. The chemistry experiment every day with a test tube and some urine? Yes, I didn't like that.

Though the tech means that today's T1s have much better health outcomes, I think it is genuinely mentally more onerous for new diabetics than the (lack of) tech in my day. (I do love my pump though.)

 

[Hoodiegirl3]

This was so much help

 

[Ushthetaff]

Diagnosed 1st September 1980 aged nearly 18.far too many hormones and testosterone . Didn’t want it hated it and having it wasn’t going to change me . Bearing in mind things we far different then to what they are now , I didn’t respect what I had and boy did I regret it ,but life goes on. To be honest I don’t find it difficult any more I’ve screwed the nut , experience and being old probably the reason .

 

[Tony337]

I was diagnosed aged 6 and now i'm 58.
I don't recall not being diabetic so thats the normal for me.
The big game changer for me was getting a libre and analysing the data.
Long term diagnosis has affected my view on food and often avoid it so i don't need to take insulin.
Before the libre i couldn't do it as successfully as i do now.

Normal it would appear is the new normal (if i could do emoji i would pop a smiley face on)

Tony

 

[Jaylee]

Diagnosed on my 8th birthday. Ran the gauntlet at school. One memorable was a kid threatening to pour a bag of sugar down my throat.. (paraphrase my sesponse.) “do it & I’ll burn it off making sure it’s the last you do…”

Funny enough. Around a decade ago I was added to a Facebook group (somehow) involving my old school.
Lol, a lot of the guys apologising for any bullyment they may or may not have done at the time?

Regarding “normal.”
My normal was me & not for everybody.. Unfortunately those with a less stable background can use it against you within the confines of the school yard “pecking order?”
I found out some had some shocking home life in their youth..

Just glad it wasn’t me..

 

[helenb1979]

Diagnosed on my 8th birthday. Ran the gauntlet at school. One memorable was a kid threatening to pour a bag of sugar down my throat.. (paraphrase my sesponse.) “do it & I’ll burn it off making sure it’s the last you do…”

Funny enough. Around a decade ago I was added to a Facebook group (somehow) involving my old school.
Lol, a lot of the guys apologising for any bullyment they may or may not have done at the time?

Regarding “normal.”
My normal was me & not for everybody.. Unfortunately those with a less stable background can use it against you within the confines of the school yard “pecking order?”
I found out some had some shocking home life in their youth..

Just glad it wasn’t me..

I work in a primary school. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I have to hear/read.

 

[Tony337]

I work in a primary school. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I have to hear/read.

I work in a primary school too.
We have just 1 child who is type 1 and is now year 6.
If my alarm goes off on my phone i get asked if i need some food as its the same alarm noise as the year 6 child.....
I'm 58 so it is quite entertaining.

Tony

 

[sgm14]

What was it like to be “normal” if you can remember.

Some of my friends would say I was never "normal", but before diabetes :

I could eat what I wanted. For most of my life I have been either slightly underweight or just over the lower recommended BMI, so didn't need to worry about my weight. I rarely eat sweets or desserts, except for special occasions - like Christmas day. But the point is if I wanted to, I just did it. Also never needed to try to guess what was in a meal that I had not prepared myself.

I could eat when I wanted or not eat if I didn't want to. It was not usual for me to skip meals times. I regularly worked late and often did not have my evening meal until late (10 or even 12pm). Quite often I would skip dinner completely. There were also a handful of times when I had breakfast and then eat nothing else until breakfast the next day. Can't do that now. (Working late was the cause of my first hypo!)

I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. If I wanted to go for a walk or to do some physical work, I could just do it. Now I need to plan ahead. Example, take less unit of insulin at breakfast because I am going to walk to the shop. First time I tried cutting my lawn after starting on insulin, I have to stop twice as I was going low.

I could change my mind. Example, I plan to cut the lawn so I take a little less insulin. Then it starts pouring or I get a phone-call and have to do something else. Now my blood sugar goes high.

Being sick wasn't such a big deal. Take the flu. As the practice nurse at my local doctors put it. "You aren't any more likely to get the flu because you are a diabetic, but if you do get it, it will feel twice as bad and take you twice as long to recover". Turns out she was right about it especially about taking a lot longer to recover, even from a cold. And I need to take a lot more insulin when sick and keep a eye on my ketone levels.

I had to pay for eye examinations. Now that I am a diabetic I get them free. (Hey - what do you know, a benefit of being a diabetic!) On the other hand, I am now supposed to get them every year as the risks are much higher. I am also supposed to get my feet checked regularly as well. And the statistical survey I was given says I am 5 times more likely to get a heart attack in the next ten years. (Went from around 1% to 5%)

I was 46 when I was diagnosed. (47 now) Every single thing had changed. I need to think ahead to what I'm eating that day. Plan my life around food and medication. Have I drunk enough. And the effects on mental health, this time last year I was okish but now not so good. If I'd had a choice I would have preferred to have been diagnosed in childhood. Because my normal now wouldn't be so bad.

I was diagnosed when I was 52 , but unlike you I am extremely glad that I wasn't diagnosed in my childhood.
I've only had to deal with all this for ten years. My sister was diagnosed when in her teens and she has being dealing with it every day for about 50 years. Plus I remember the huge syringes she used to have and I am so glad I never had to use them. My nephew was 3 and a bit when he started on insulin! (Imagine being a child and none of your uncles or aunts buying you sweets or chocolate!)