When The Penny Dropped For You?

[spook_kate_]

I guess I'm one of the weird ones. For me, it was the day I was diagnosed when the doctor said "We think you have type 1 diabetes. I hope you have good insurance because you're probably going to need it." (I'm in the USA).

I kept waiting for that moment when I would feel sad, frustrated, or angry, but it still hasn't come even after 2 years. I'm confident it's never going to come at this point.

For me, there was immediate acceptance that this was now a part of my life, and there was nothing I could do to change that.

Oh buddy, some of us have gone through diabetes for 25-30 YEARS with only the penny dropping. Diabetes has nasty habit of messing with your emotions and mental health but sneakily!! Good luck, you might find you need it

 

[spook_kate_]

Hi @DiabeticDadUK . Absolute legend. I was very lucky, diagnosed 1991 at a time when research was a big thing at the Royal Infirmary. Got to spend a good 5 hrs or so on a one to one lesson in diabetes.
Also worth mentioning that after the skirt lift I had to drop my jeans and inject into my thigh, we must have looked a right pair.

Hahaha

 

[TorqPenderloin]

Oh buddy, some of us have gone through diabetes for 25-30 YEARS with only the penny dropping. Diabetes has nasty habit of messing with your emotions and mental health but sneakily!! Good luck, you might find you need it

Eh, I doubt it, but I suppose I can't completely discount that thought until I'm 55-60 years old. Don't get me wrong, I have my frustrating days, but I'd argue that there plenty in life that can be frustrating and that's not exclusive to T1D.

Now, if I were diagnosed 25-30 years ago that would be an entirely different story. The technology available today makes it tremendously easier to live with this disease than it was even 10 years ago.

I had a few years in my early twenties when my career took priority to my health, but again that's an issue with age/maturity rather than T1D. Consequently, I can easily see how someone diagnosed very young in life might not come to terms with the disease until they're in their 30s. Many people (T1D or not) do a lot of growing up around that time and become more aware of their mortality.

 

[nmr1991]

Also having depression it sort of clouds that feeling of denial and acceptance as it's own way of dealing with any traumatic events in your life or have an existential crisis which makes you think nothing makes sense, why am I alive etc.

 

[Emily101]

I was diagnosed as T1D when I had just turned 11. Although I knew thimgs could go wrong, the penny properly dropped for me when I started reading about it in more depth at university. Before then, I solely relied on what my Diabetes team would tell me. :/

 

[Emily101]

I had just turned 11 when I was diagnosed. Although I had two serious hypos before my 20s, it didn't properly hit me until I read up on it at uni!

Eh, I doubt it, but I suppose I can't completely discount that thought until I'm 55-60 years old. Don't get me wrong, I have my frustrating days, but I'd argue that there plenty in life that can be frustrating and that's not exclusive to T1D.

Now, if I were diagnosed 25-30 years ago that would be an entirely different story. The technology available today makes it tremendously easier to live with this disease than it was even 10 years ago.

I had a few years in my early twenties when my career took priority to my health, but again that's an issue with age/maturity rather than T1D. Consequently, I can easily see how someone diagnosed very young in life might not come to terms with the disease until they're in their 30s. Many people (T1D or not) do a lot of growing up around that time and become more aware of their mortality.

 

[Deleted Account]

The penny dropped for me when I had to inform the DVLA. I was diagnosed about a week earlier and not dealing too badly with the injections. Until I read the DVLA form, I was describing diabetes as a "condition". The form described it as a "disease". Until that point the worst illness I had ever had was tonsilitis which meant a week off school. I had never had a "disease". That sounded more scary and serious than "diabetes".

 

[DiabeticDadUK]

The penny dropped for me when I had to inform the DVLA. I was diagnosed about a week earlier and not dealing too badly with the injections. Until I read the DVLA form, I was describing diabetes as a "condition". The form described it as a "disease". Until that point the worst illness I had ever had was tonsilitis which meant a week off school. I had never had a "disease". That sounded more scary and serious than "diabetes".

I still refer to it as a "condition". When I read "disease" or "illness" is makes me think of being sick/unwell. While diabetes can make you feel sick or unwell sometimes, in general I am not. I manage a condition to avoid that

 

[Juicyj]

Agree @helensaramay I have had a few epiphany moments and the DVLA licence was one and the fact I had a condition which could cause me to lose my licence was a bombshell, another was just last year when I questioned the fact I had an NHS exemption certificate and was told it was because I take medication to stay alive, that left me feeling slightly vulnerable as I hadn't ever given this much thought. Like most moments you learn to take them in your stride, and I certainly do appreciate the moments where I can defy my diabetes

 

[Dodo]

At the age of 12 in hospital for two weeks. According to mother, a neighbour sent me flowers, which I flung across the ward announcing I can't eat those! I think I was a bit of a handful.

 

[DiabeticDadUK]

At the age of 12 in hospital for two weeks. According to mother, a neighbour sent me flowers, which I flung across the ward announcing I can't eat those! I think I was a bit of a handful.

That one made me laugh.

 

[kieraw]

I was diagnosed May 2010 age 14. I remember the doctor telling me, my mum crying and me having no idea what it was. I had good control for about 6 months after diagnosis...

Food was a massive factor for me, I was a teenage girl being told I had to test and inject whenever I ate?! Not gonna happen. I neglected insulin on and off for 5 years.. was placed on an emergency pump and have tried EVERY regime possible.

September 2015 I experienced my first DKA, for the next year or so I suffered badly with ketones frequently hitting 6.0+. It has only been since September 2016, when I decided enough was enough. I'm in a stable positive relationship and have career goals, influencing a routine into my life helped massively! Step by step I managed to inject my degludec once a day for a week, then two weeks, then a month (I have no idea when I last missed a dose).

My long acting insulin has gone from 50 units a day to 13, and my novo rapid is minimal. I use a freestyle libre to check my sugars which is 100% easier.

HBA1C in June 2016 = 16.8 %
HBA1C in February 2017 = 8.1%

I'm getting there