Tempted but scared

[LooperCat]

I know we shouldn't ask for the age of a lady so I wont.
But for kids getting diagnosed with Type1, it typically wasn't happening until you in reality had had the disease already for like 6-9 months or so, until it became soooo obvious that you were like 8-12 kilos below a decent weight for your BMI to be 'normal'. That of course next to your final stage of permanent nausea, vomiting on a daily basis, living next to the water tap and the toilet to pee 24/7.

So you were discovered 'early' to be type1 after your onset, so not completely just a skeleton when getting the right Dx confirmed?
Or your time of Dx was at a more 'mature' age?

I was 24 when I was diagnosed in ‘98, following a nasty dose of gastric flu. I’d lost a few pounds, but nothing drastic, there wasn’t time for that to kick in - and I thought it was due to the gastric flu anyway. They did a urine test, declared I was producing golden syrup and packed me off to hospital. I had to get my PhD supervisor to take me, as I was too wobbly for the bus! I was a few hundred miles from home, so couldn’t call on my family. So I suppose I was lucky they caught it when they did - my consultant is pretty sure that the gastric flu was what caused my immune system to go into overdrive and eat my pancreas, and fast. In the 20 years since, I’ve suddenly developed all sorts of allergies, with no warning. Oilseed pollen, hair dye, and in the last couple of years, mammal meat, then bird meat and more recently cow dairy. It’s like when my immune system decides it doesn’t like something, it does it quickly and in spectacular fashion!

 

[nessals946]

Yes. Back in the pre-historic days when I was diagnosed it was not possible to measure the bg at home. Even at the hospital it could take hours to get the result. And the 'therapy' you had to follow was strict adherence to a fixed intake of a daily fixed amount of insulin units no matter what you did. And all you ate during the day was put on a scale and scrutinized down to the last gram before you could start eating anything. So yep, I had aka the same breakfast day in and day out for more than 15 years.
And I bet you many diabetics of my generation can still remember precisely the time for each daily food intake, what it was supposed to be, how many grams of food in total and how many grams of carbs it contained. You essentially had to eat to feed your insulin. All executed with military precision.

...Except, as we all know today, it gave terrible bg levels never the less. And typically resulted in severe complications within just a 8-12 year timeframe from initial diagnosis.... But back then the hospital staff praised you for exceptional good control as long as you just didn't have ketones in your urine. Little did we know....
So due to this strict control and no diversion (if you complied to it, which most of us tiny skinny type1 kids did) we typically also remained tiny and skinny as we grew up.

Thank God we got better gadgets in our hands, the medical world started to understand how we could exchange and swap food items on our diet with others of equal carbs, we got bg readers for home use and fast acting insulin with a reasonable predictable effect curve.

Suddenly enabling us to start eating very flexible, eat when we were hungry and skip other meals if not. Or take that forbidden food and indulge ourselves in diverse palate pleasures which previously were dictated to be absolute no-gos!
So now we can shoot insulin to counter and match our chosen food and lifestyle and no longer do it the other way around.
But the previously indoctrinated discipline will probably still linger in the back of our heads...

That was me! Diagnosed in 1975 at age 6,it was archaic and nothing like today.I relied on my parents of course.

 

[ickihun]

I know its a very dangerous thing to do,but im sorely tempted to stop taking my bolus insulin and just have basal.If i stopped just the novorapid for a little while then i could kickstart my weight loss.
Before i get shot down,ive had t1d for 43 years and im sick of struggling with my weight.Ive been a size 6 up to a size 14 but if my blood sugars are good its always ended up with me being heavier.It seems i can only be thin when i barely eat or inject.

Me too unless I do low carb no cheese, butter, cream and nuts or too heavy fats.

 

[jacqfromdwed]

Hi Guys, we have moved most of our support over to facebok and you are welcome to join our group over there at anypoint should you feel the need, you can access it by simply searching for the charity facebook page, we've had loads of issues getting notifications from the forum and as part timers we don't have the resources to keep up with new threads on this forum. Please please though pay attention to the stickies, we don't allow talk of weight numbers or dress sizes as it is potentially very triggering for people who come across these posts and it is also really unhelpful when trying to recover.

In terms of being tempted to fall back into diabulimia I recommend you get yourself some psychological help as soon as possible, Diabulimia NEVER ends well, whether that's putting all the weight back on, bringing on complications or dying. You know this though, you've already been through it. So have I multiple times and as I said it never ends well. Diabulimia doesn't 'kick start' anything other than mental illness.

 

[asortafairytale]

Hi Guys, we have moved most of our support over to facebok and you are welcome to join our group over there at anypoint should you feel the need, you can access it by simply searching for the charity facebook page, we've had loads of issues getting notifications from the forum and as part timers we don't have the resources to keep up with new threads on this forum. Please please though pay attention to the stickies, we don't allow talk of weight numbers or dress sizes as it is potentially very triggering for people who come across these posts and it is also really unhelpful when trying to recover.

In terms of being tempted to fall back into diabulimia I recommend you get yourself some psychological help as soon as possible, Diabulimia NEVER ends well, whether that's putting all the weight back on, bringing on complications or dying. You know this though, you've already been through it. So have I multiple times and as I said it never ends well. Diabulimia doesn't 'kick start' anything other than mental illness.

Facebook support group for people in the UK with experience (those with past history welcome) of T1ED or/and Diabulimia: https://www.facebook.com/groups/T1EDUK/
Support group for friends, family and carers of people with T1ED: https://www.facebook.com/groups/T1EDFFCsupport/

The groups are closed so nobody outside of the group will see your posts.

 

[ExtremelyW0rried]

My weight has been up and down over the years. T1 for 25 years now. The heaviest I’ve been has been around 10st and the lightest 7 stone. I’m 5 foot 5.

The only way I manage to stay reasonably slim is by not eating. Like at all. And even then I’m fatter than you’d think I would be for what I’m eating.
I’m on a pump and have around 16-18u total daily. I eat perhaps one or two pieces of toast a day and perhaps a couple of low carb snacks. Currently my weight is 8st 2lbs but I’d like to lose another half a stone. Really I need to tone up as my arms and thighs are still fat but I find inevitably exercise leads to low or unpredictable sugars. I try to walk a lot though.
If I eat anything like a ‘normal’ person eats - three meals a day - I get fat and quickly.
I don’t know why being diabetic seems to make us more prone to putting on weight, I have been told background insulin encourages weight gain but I only take novarapid in my pump. Some people say ALL types of insulin encourage weight gain. Some people will tell you that isn’t true.
My t1 dad eats very very little and is still overweight.
It truly sucks. However not bolusing and eating runs a real risk of DKA and then when you’re over that the weight will likely go back on anyway.
There is no good answer.