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At what point do complications of diabetes start?

james122

Well-Known Member
Messages
63
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
HIGH blood sugars!
I want honest answers here because no matter how careful we are we will develop complications after a number of decades.

I am really struggling as everyday I keep wondering how old will I be when I start to get really sick.
Other people my age who arn't sick with long term illnesses don't have to worry about WHEN will it happen!
I see old people who are 80 + and are really healthy and I admire them for getting to that age and still living reasonably well but I think I'll never get to that age healthy and well

Please I'm just looking for a straight answer.

There isn't a day that goes by where I don't think about complications.
 
I don't think there's a standard answer to that. The only thing we can do is try to manage it well and hope that doing so prevents complications.
 
There isn't a defined point, there's members on this forum and elsewhere who have lived with type 1 for several decades and are complication free as where there's some members who have got complications after 10-20 of living with the condition.

It's best not to worry about complication as they may never happen, just take care of yourself and live your life to the full @james122
 
It all depends on how you manage your diabetes, in my case after 55 years of not being in total control I have just a couple of problems ; feet and loss of smell which stops me from enjoying food
 
Hi,

Just focus on control/management & enjoy life..

Because the truth is. There is no "mystic Meg" who knows the answer.

.... Oh, and remember the Green cross code too!
 
My great nana type 1 died aged 96 the only problem she had was poor eyesight, and that was mainly due to age

Edit had type1 from being about 8 years old, she low carbed.
 
i think one of the main reasons nobody can give a specific answer is that TIME itself is a key factor.

-- when I was diagnosed in 1972 -- self blood testing , insulin pens , pumps , continuous glucose monitoring systems had not been invented -- nor had blood pressure medications , eye laser therapy, and I am sure there some other things too..

so who can see where we will be in even 10 years time...........................

so doing your best to control things and concentrating on living your life now would seem to be best advice
 
@james122 I think you are wrong - it isn't a question of WHEN, the question is if.

Obviously, we have increased risk of diabetic complications. But it is important to remember that risk is not the same as certainty. There are lots of things we can do to minimise the risks by keeping good control - there are loads of tools and diabetic technology and improvements in treatment that have come along since DCCT that would suggest that the risk in the context of diabetic management now is probably overestimated.
 
Whilst there is a huge amount of data from various studies there is one very important aspect that is often ignored. Genetics (or luck). Some of us may never develop complications in spite of ourselves while others may, in spite of trying really hard. We simply can't know, so it's really not worth looking at other than to do the best you can to keep yourself healthy and fit in the now.
 
In this day and age its if not when as already mentioned. There are quite a few of us on the forum who have clocked up over half a century without any complications. My uncle is over 80 years of age and is fit and healthy he also has over 50 years with type1 diabetes.
 
My old school teacher has been type 1 since childhood. When he taught me in the 1990's he was in his late 60's and complication free. He ran marathons and played football.

He's now well into his 80's and is still seen hiking around the local town, fit as a fiddle and (as far as can be observed) complication free or they aren't impeding his life any more than the complications of "old age".

It's not inevitable at all though I accept that there might be a bit of a genetic lottery. All you can do is take the best care of yourself that you can and live life for now, after all, you might get run over by a bus tomorrow and that would have naff all to do with diabetes complications (unless you were hypo and staggered into the road....ahem)
 
That story gives us all hope that we can remain active and relatively well, in spite of type 1!
 
MickyFinn said:
That story gives us all hope that we can remain active and relatively well, in spite of type 1!
Click to expand...

Indeed, I often think of him when I'm feeling worried about complications.

I also remind myself that both my uncle and grandad died well before 60 of cancer and heart problems, neither had diabetes. Three of my relatives were killed in the Bradford fire at a young age and both my grandmothers were riddled with health problems from about the age of 50, neither diabetic and still lived into their late 80's so there's no rhyme or reason to any of it. All you can do is play the hand you've been dealt.
 
i think its like people who have smoked all their lives and lived up to a normal dying age for whatever is the average in any given country and they never got lung cancer, heart disease or lung related diseases. Some people may have managed their diabetes as well as a non-diabetic but still have the misfortune of getting complications
 
I think the one advantage we have is that we know from a young age that we need to take our health seriously. I am 34 and yes, my blood sugars will never be as good as my three best friends. But my cholesterol, BMI (and I strongly suspect) liver are in a much better state.
 
@james122 Control your diabetes, be sensible, take care and enjoy tomorrow.
 
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