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 .