Live a long & complication free life

[PcChris]

I became a Type 1 Diabetic 56 years ago, at which time having 1 injection of suspended insulin each day, eating 3 meals a day at precise times and only being able to test my sugar using a Clinitest tablet in the urine.
Now, with the real advances in glucose monitoring and insulin I can control my diabetes better than ever before and live close to a normal life.
But through all the changes in diabetes management in my lifetime, it was impressed upon me how important it was to control my diabetes and I always tried my very best to do this. I ate well and exercised regularly.
So now, I live an exciting life, in France, I run with the dogs daily, take long walks in the countryside, love kayaking, swimming, playing Badminton and all this luckily because I have no diabetic complications.
So, look after yourself, share your condition with others, count on your friends and collegues, be confident to do your blood tests or injections in public whenever you need to and with a bit of luck you'll enjoy all the things you want to do right into your 70s and more.

 

[therower]

@PcChris . Welcome to the forum.
What an inspirational post. Thank you for posting such a positive account of how you can live with T1.
I can only manage 28 yrs experience to your 56 yrs. Like yourself I feel exercise is imperative along with an open, positive mindset.

 

[Debandez]

@PcChris this really should be in the inspirational stories thread too. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Welcome, as other's had said, very inspirational and positive I think many of us try our hardest to live a non complicated diabetes life and want to live life to the fullest.
Take care

 

[Emirp]

Hi to you all, I was diagnosed with T1 diabetes in 1949 at the age of twelve years. I had, over the period of a few short weeks, lost almost half of my body weight. Our local GP had to consult with others to determine my condition before rushing me to the General Hospital.

I spent one week being stabilised, taught about carbohydrates and diets. I was shown how to sterilise equipment and sharpen needles and measure dosages. After that I was sent home with a diet sheet a single glass syringe a couple of needles and a Carborundum stone. I attended a clinic at the same hospital every six months where, during one of the visits, I was shown how to test urine samples to better control my glucose levels. My medication was a single morning injection of Bovine insulin consisting of equal parts Soluble and protomine zinc. I continued this regimen until the late 1990s the only change being to the use of plastic throw away syringes.

From there on I led a fairly normal diet controlled life, my mother would weigh such things as bread potatoes and other root vegetables but that was a far as the diet control went.

I participated in most field sports plus cycling, wrestling and swimming and I only ever remember a single episode of hypoglycemia until I reached my thirties. I currently walk for at least one hour each day most of it at a brisk pace, and running up short flights of stairs. I am a keen gardener and grow a good variety vegetables which means quite a lot of digging.

During my fifties & sixties I travelled extensively throughout the world spending extensive periods in Southern Africa, Asia and Australia without encountering any difficulties other than one occasion in Zimbabwe where my Insulin spoiled.

This narrative is not meant as a boast but more of a statement of what a person with T1 diabetes can do with a certain amount of control and guidance.

 

[Bon83]

I became a Type 1 Diabetic 56 years ago, at which time having 1 injection of suspended insulin each day, eating 3 meals a day at precise times and only being able to test my sugar using a Clinitest tablet in the urine.
Now, with the real advances in glucose monitoring and insulin I can control my diabetes better than ever before and live close to a normal life.
But through all the changes in diabetes management in my lifetime, it was impressed upon me how important it was to control my diabetes and I always tried my very best to do this. I ate well and exercised regularly.
So now, I live an exciting life, in France, I run with the dogs daily, take long walks in the countryside, love kayaking, swimming, playing Badminton and all this luckily because I have no diabetic complications.
So, look after yourself, share your condition with others, count on your friends and collegues, be confident to do your blood tests or injections in public whenever you need to and with a bit of luck you'll enjoy all the things you want to do right into your 70s and more.

This is very inspiring- personally I let diabetes have far too much control over me. I worry a lot about hypos when I exercise and doing other tasks - I find it a bit overwhelming sometimes- it's good to know it can work out ok

 

[brendan101]

I became a diabetic in 1986. At the time I remember counting carbohydrate exchanges and testing my urine with clinitest tablets! A blue colour was 0% and an orange colour was 5% which meant high blood sugar! I used the ‘NEW’ Actrapid and Monotard Human insulin. I was 10 years old. I took a mature outlook on life and exercised regularly over the years. I even became a body pump and spinning instructor around 2006 and motivated others to exercise and stay healthy! I moved onto BM strips soon after diagnoses which tested blood sugar and then onto basal and bolus insulin. I flirted with 2 insulin pumps but they didn’t suit me. Unfortunately I developed massive swings in blood sugar levels around 2013 and my Rapid acting mealtime insulin made me quite unwell. I also lost hypo awareness. I transitioned to Afrezza inhalable insulin in 2015 and managed to lose weight (I wasn’t hugely overweight) improve my eye health as I had background retinopathy and now live with non diabetic blood glucose levels each day. I had to transition to pork isophane insulin as I couldn’t tolerate analogue insulin so I still use a basal insulin from the 1920s but my hba1c is 5.5% which is 37 in new money and I feel amazingly healthy. I don’t have to count carbs anymore and I can eat what I want when I want with my inhalable insulin. Medical advances are great but I really believe in not letting diabetes control your life. I am grateful for all the support over the years from doctors and those around me to support and understand my condition. I have learnt that it is possible to live a long healthy life with insulin dependent diabetes!