What do you think is the main reason why?.i don't think its all down to individuals own lifestyle
The studies on blood sugars, diabetic hba1c and complications tend to talk about the
probability of complications. As your levels go up, then the likelihood increases. Just as some people can smoke 40 cigarettes a day for life and smugly say in their 90s that it's never done them any harm, others smoke the same amount and get lung cancer or cardiac issues in their 30s or 40s. I also suspect there may be some genetics in there too. Maybe some people cope better with high blood sugars than others?
I'm 49 years T1 and my control was awful in my teens (pre glucometer) and I've had on again off again background retinopathy for decades. Tightening my control generally reduces or eliminates it. I'd argue that if you're running high a lot of the time then running lower will help many complications and at least make others not get worse.
But I've been very lucky in that though I'm sure that my body would be in better condition if I wasn't diabetic, I haven't yet got any other "official" significant complications. I have younger T1 friends who have awesome control and worse complications than me, and certainly a "better" lifestyle (eg a fitness instructor with a pump).
As regards loss of hypo awareness (which I do have to watch out for as I can lose mine easily) I think that is relatively common among long term T1s, and many consultants suggest running higher (above 5 or 6) for a few weeks so as to reset it. Of course that doesn't necessarily help with other complications
.
So no point in playing the blame game on complications. Maybe your "lifestyle" has been perfect, or maybe you wish you'd done things differently, you just have to work with what you have now. In your position I'd push for a libre on the NHS (assuming you're in the UK) and attach a miao miao to make it give you hypo and hyper warnings. If you're affluent/rich you could self fund a dexcom.
My biggest lifestyle fault is that I'm naturally very sedentary, and the best thing I did for my health was to start taking more exercise (joined a gym) when I was 50. It made an enormous difference to my well being and I no longer fear that I'll be reduced to a wheelchair (at the time a congenital back issue was giving me pain after walking or standing for 30 minutes and my T1 mother was in a wheelchair for her last few years). And no I'm not going to the gym more than twice a week (I'm still pretty unfit relative to non sedentary folk), but I also walk my dog every day and that moderate exercise makes me fitter than I was in my 40s. Exercise (in any form, you don't have to go to a gym) tends to make you feel better, though I appreciate that you may not feel up to doing it if your health is poor.
Good luck. I'm sorry you're in a bad place. Sending you virtual hugs. There are many folk on these boards who can sympathise and empathise with your position.
