Complications.

Diabetic complications take years to develop. People with type 2 might have complications soon after diagnosis if they have had some years of undiagnosed diabetes but that is not the case for people with type 1 who are generally diagnosed very soon after they develop the disease.

 

Retinopathy after 8 years of diagnosis.

 

Lost my leg after 34 years of absolutely terrible blood sugar control , no one to blame but me ! There are probably some mitigating circumstances but it took 34 years of absolute pants control for me to get complications

 

As a matter of interest would you say your control was generally good in those 8 years? I showed signs of retinopathy in 1971, but nothing could be done until 1979 - 1983. Worked a treat however! Good luck for the future.

 

remembering that there are quite a few type 1s who begin by being diagnosed mistakenly as type 2s......Sometimes this might be (possibly) for a year or even more?

 

The rule of thumb is a minimum of 5 years of sub-optimal glucose levels before complications develop. In any case, if someone is diagnosed with type 1 some time after being misdiagnosed with type 2, you would start the count from the original date of diagnosis of type 2.

 

My sis who is 66 had a below the knee amputation few weeks back - she has never smoked but had PAD for many years as our late mum did (who was also diabetic). My sis has just been diagnosed diabetic but they are saying The steroids did this to her. (I mean made her diabetic) I don’t think in her case it was diabetes do you? X

 

No my control has always been poor.

 

I really do believe it was diabetes and my lifestyle which resulted in my amputation, we all know that poor control and complications go hand in hand but what I will say is it can take a hell of a lot of poor control to get where I was , I was carrying on as if I didn’t have diabetes, saying that I think the way diabetes was treated in the first 10 of my diagnosis years didn’t help , plus I guess as always with diabetes the individuality factor ,
I don’t ever feel that I got a “ raw deal “ life has to go on no matter what ,I never dwell on” what ifs” if I did I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning , life is for living no matter what , and a positive attitude can make the worst situation feel better .
The saying there’s always someone worse off is very true so in the grand scheme of things in my own personal opinion diabetes ain’t that bad.

 

Fantastic outlook. My mum died from kidney disease (from diabetes type 2) in 1987. I was a very young woman/girl and I needed my mum so much. She never really followed her diet. I don’t ever remember seeing her eat a meal; just pick - but she was overweight so obviously all the wrong things. In those days no one had money to not eat what everyone else ate but now I understand we should have all ate that way. There was not an a1c in those days to my knowledge and I never saw (or heard of) her doing finger tests. Just texted her urine when she was due at the hospital.
I don’t blame her for not looking after herself she certainly never had the support of my dad. If only she knew then what we kno now. I applaud you. X

 

It is bloody hard. X

 

It is tough but after 40 + years I have learnt that I will never control my blood sugars like someone who isn’t diabetic, I have suffered the consequences of poor control but now my control is good , I don’t have a tight range I control my sugars at it’s between 5 and 9 I don’t worry if my sugars go high occasionally and I don’t “ chase readings , at the end of the day diabetes is a totally individual thing , as what works for one doesn’t fo another , experience which comes with time ( and mistakes ) helps immensely , starting off is tough and daunting but believe me when I say it does get better , all I will say is take small steps don’t try and eat the whole elephant so to speak , plus being on this forum as you can guarantee someone here has had similar thoughts and problems ,

 

Hi I have recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetics and I'm worried sick about gangrene and kidney failure is anyone else?

 

Type 1 does not mean either is guaranteed at all, for a start there is now much more tech and upgrades to insulins than back in the day - I know quite a few of us on these forums have had Type1 for 40+ years (myself included), my kidneys are still doing perfectly fine and I get tests every year (from the NHS) to make sure they are still fine - and there are treatment options if they do find anything, and I've certainly not got any gangrene, I mean we do have to keep an eye on any infections we may get as that can lead to trouble - but mostly that's just common sense anyway

But yes, whilst Type1 can be a complete PITA at times, there is much better stuff available now and lots of yearly (or more) checks to try and prevent/delay/treat/stop things going wrong.

And welcome to the forums

 

I am very sorry to read this. I think you are very courageous, and should not blame yourself. Poor control may affect different people in different ways, for many diabetics who have poor blood sugar control external to your control, and other factors as well, e.g. exercise, diet, blood pressure, time being diabetic, etc.

I would like to hear of what can be defined as "absolutely terrible blood sugar control":

I hope you have been taken good care of and can enjoy life.

Cheers

 

There are definitely other factors as you have said which can result in poor control, but in my case it was definitely my own doing ! And my poor control resulted in some of the reasons for poor control, high blood pressure being one , the main reason for my poor control was not taking my blood sugar , it was like guessing what my blood sugar was and saying “ that’ll be enough insulin , hmm doesn’t really work does it ? As I found out , having a HB1ac above 95 for many years will take a toll,
I was lucky, I was very fit, it saved my life , there were mitigating circumstances , difficult to take blood sugars at work due to industry I was in , etc etc but at the end of the day I was reckless ! Invincible , young lol , but now I’m older ,
wiser ( sometimes) and appreciate life a bit more , so I’ve “ screwed the nut “ and now respect my diabetes far more than I did , I don’t let it rule my life but we get on in more harmony now than we did and it works.it’s taken a lot of lessons and learning to get where I am today but hey that’s life a journey of mistakes , experiences and education

 

@Ushthetaff
That a real world honest tale.

Can I ask, has anything improved or resolved since you've taken control ?

 

I was diagnosed two and a half years ago and I was also terrified of diabetic complications. It kept me up at night. Then I came across Dr Bernstein's diabetes solution which is the route to normal blood sugars with type 1 diabetes. It's a fairly strict low carb diet and definitely not for everyone but if it's something that concerns you I'd recommend reading the book. I feel very lucky I came across it.