Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabetes?

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 20, 6months later it was decided I was type 1. The doctor asked of my last serious illness and it was a bad viral infection I had at the age of 13 where I was rushed a to hospital for oxygen, they kept saying that could have triggered it x

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I'm another one - flu like virus with a bad cough followed by all the classic symptoms of diabetes. Went to the Dr to rule it out and was in hosptial within the hour having my first insulin injection. All this at the age of 46 and with no family history of diabetes, I feel sure the virus was the trigger.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I also was drinking a lot of milk until I was diagnosed. There is the cow milk protein theory, meaning not breastfeeding can lead to type 1, I don't think there is much evidence to support this though!

I am with vaccinations, seems a lot of young little ones are diagnosed at 13 months, this is when the mmr is usually given! Of course babies are diagnosed at a month old so they don't fit that theory, it's a minefield.

I'm actually slow onset type 1 (diagnosed in pregnancy aged 18) the year before, I had a terrible virus which had me bedridden for 2 weeks, out of hours gp said glandular fever and gave me penicillin, I didn't have any blood tests done or anything he just looked at my throat Lol. I'm wondering if it could of even the coxsackie virus now though, I was always told glandular fever doesn't respond to antibiotics?? I think my immune system has always been abit teets up though, as a kid I never got chickenpox even though my bro and sis had them on different occasions, also when I caught pox last July, I had to go to hospital and have something to boost my white cell count as it was near zero i was so Ill. When I was younger I would catch things like stomach bugs, tonsillitus etc and be ill for weeks with them yet family recovered after a few days. Sorry that's a ramble, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks x

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Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Yes I had a virus that tirggared my type 1 diabetes but i was only 10 years old so i do not know the name of it x

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Before dx I was always fairly healthy, rarely having even a cold, but that winter I somehow developed pneumonia. Bingo, there I was Type 1 within a few days. It was that rapid.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I had measles before I was diagnosed T1 when I was age 3! I'm 43 now!!
. I'm the only person in my family who has any type of diabetes!

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I had swine flu, pneumonia and pleurisy in Dec 2010. It took months to really get over it. I was completely wiped out. I had a big health check at Bupa in March 2011 as the doctors in a&e said I had a 'saggy' heart, when I had the flu etc! Don't know what they expected from a 46 year old, everything heads south! Anyway, at the health check, everything was great, lungs of a 26 year old, cosmetic surgery will help the rest of the body!
In October 2012 I was diagnosed with Type 1, no family history. The usual symptoms, thirst, peeing, weight loss, but not tiredness! I have a friend who works in research who says its probably an auto immune response to the virus. Who knows!

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Catsymoo said:

Hello again all. I've been doing some research to learn more about type 1 diabetes and why I suddenly got it at age 22 seemingly out of nowhere. It is in my family so I am sure it is very likely that it's just random genetic bad luck. However... I read that t here was a virus similar to meningitis that, if you are genetically susceptible to diabetes, CAN trigger an auto-immune response where the body attacks it's own pancreas beta cells AKA type 1 diabetes!

I did some more research into the virus, and while I cannot remember the name, it is a certain mild "type" of the virus which can trigger the response. I do know this virus can turn into meningitis if you are unlucky. Anyway, I know it's a long shot, but when I started to remember the past year or so... my boyfriend and I both had a virus at one point with identical symptoms to the one that can trigger type 1 diabetes.

It presents itself as mild flu like symptoms, tiredness/fatigue, sleeping a lot, feel weak, loss of appetite, and most of all, a red dot pinprick RASH on the wrists, tummy and sometimes armpits. It is also contagious. We both had this rash and I was terrified it was something bad. My boyfriend walked into the hospital we live next to, and they confirmed that it was a simple viral rash and nothing to worry about. It also in most cases, clears up by itself within 1-2 weeks. Which it did for both of us.

I'll never know if this virus indeed triggered my type 1 diabetes. Because I do recall that it was only a couple months after this that I started to get the symptoms . It is definitely something to think about.

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Yup, I had my worst ever cold, cough, flu type chest infection illness about 6 weeks before the diabetes symptoms kicked in. Never had flu afterwards! Used to get it before but not so bad. That was a lot of years ago. I was diagnosed diabetic type 1 on my 21st birthday. I am now almost 60!

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I was diagnosed in june with type 1 shortly after id had severe stomach bug. My brother is also type 1 and he got his after a severe stomach bug 10 years before me.

Maybe this was just coincedence or maybe the virus cause my diabetes who knows?

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Catsymoo said:

Hello again all. I've been doing some research to learn more about type 1 diabetes and why I suddenly got it at age 22 seemingly out of nowhere. It is in my family so I am sure it is very likely that it's just random genetic bad luck. However... I read that there was a virus similar to meningitis that, if you are genetically susceptible to diabetes, CAN trigger an auto-immune response where the body attacks it's own pancreas beta cells AKA type 1 diabetes!

I did some more research into the virus, and while I cannot remember the name, it is a certain mild "type" of the virus which can trigger the response. I do know this virus can turn into meningitis if you are unlucky. Anyway, I know it's a long shot, but when I started to remember the past year or so... my boyfriend and I both had a virus at one point with identical symptoms to the one that can trigger type 1 diabetes.

It presents itself as mild flu like symptoms, tiredness/fatigue, sleeping a lot, feel weak, loss of appetite, and most of all, a red dot pinprick RASH on the wrists, tummy and sometimes armpits. It is also contagious. We both had this rash and I was terrified it was something bad. My boyfriend walked into the hospital we live next to, and they confirmed that it was a simple viral rash and nothing to worry about. It also in most cases, clears up by itself within 1-2 weeks. Which it did for both of us.

I'll never know if this virus indeed triggered my type 1 diabetes. Because I do recall that it was only a couple months after this that I started to get the symptoms. It is definitely something to think about.

Click to expand...

I was diagnosed with T 1 in August 1988 after being very ill with a severe chest infection. I had been going to the doctor for 6 months concerned that i was losing so much weight just to be told I should eat more.(I finally lost 6 stone before a locum had me immediately admitted to hospital). I have since realised that all the headaches and vomiting as a child after eating sweet food mean that I had underlying diabetes for as long as I can remember.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

anna29 said:

Hi All.
Can I just say I have found this thread and debate sooooo helpful
to myself.

I was very poorly as a child and was kept indoors to recuperate etc....
Heart repair and ruebella affected .
Nearly lost my life to whooping cough as a little girl .

Both my mother and grandmother never pushed my poor appetite further
than I could ever manage.
On poorly days I could have whatever I did or didnt fancy plus the lucozade !

As a result looking back at my teenage years I ate so little and when felt
weaker with hunger would use chocolate as a quick fix...

Even now I simply cant tollerate a breakfast at all.
Have 2 strong coffees each morning to get me going then will eat a lite bite lunch
lunchtime .

Brilliant topic and posts here, extremely helpful to myself.
Thanks everyone :thumbup:

Anna.

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In the early 60s I had whooping cough as a child followed by mumps then chicken pox :sick: from then every time I ate sweet food or a lot of food I would develop a blinding headache and vomit and fall asleep. I wasn`t diagnosed as type 1 untill 1988 following a serious chest infection.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Yep. I had a typical winter vomitting bug around six years ago now in the January time. I wasn't eating anything, kept puking up bile as I had nothing in my stomach and generally became very unwell for two weeks. For the next couple of months I had the classic symptoms (not that I knew what they were at the time unfortunately) and then was diagnosed with type 1. The doctors said they couldn't pinpoint what caused me to have it as it is definitely not hereditary, so they presumed it was the virus.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I was 5, I had chicken poxs for two weeks, after a week I was in hospital with type 1.


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Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Yeah I did!

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Interesting stuff!

I'm always asking people about their diagnosis story, always looking for a link!

Over the years, I've come up with a few theories of my own , but I'm no expert. i lived down wind from a huge industrial tile factory (which pumped out horrid fumes - I can remember my mum shutting the windows because it was so bad). There were 3 kids with T1 that I knew of in our street, and various with T2 . I don't know about the figures now, as I moved when I was 11. That particular area also has a high incidence of suicides and extreme depression in under 30's, very creepy!

I wasn't breast fed wither, but I don't know much about the research on that.

I heard a radio broadcast on Radio 4 last year about T1's in the USA who were born with diabetes, who were being taken off their pumps and moved onto medication - successfully! It's worth looking up the podcast, as it's fascinating for anyone interested in the causes of diabetes. It seems that those born with it appear to have a type more similar to T2, and many are being taken off insulin! :clap:

As for th ecoxsackie virus, I've heard that for a long time, along with many other viral triggers, but I couldn't help thinking you 'd just be more succeptable because your immune system was waylaid with all the Beta cell bashing! :wink:

I found a paper that says the same thing, but I'm still not sure :eh:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10905477

In my family there were 3 juvenile diabetics. There is now only me. The other 2 (1 my brother and one my cousin) died 3 years apart, both aged 29 (as you can imagine, I'm reeeeally looking forward to my 29th Birthday (!) ) My gran had T2 in her 60's and my mum is attending diabetes clinics at the health centre as she is "pre - diabetic".

I know a lot of different diabetics, with wildly varying situations.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Interesting stuff!

I'm always asking people about their diagnosis story, always looking for a link!

Over the years, I've come up with a few theories of my own , but I'm no expert. i lived down wind from a huge industrial tile factory (which pumped out horrid fumes - I can remember my mum shutting the windows because it was so bad). There were 3 kids with T1 that I knew of in our street, and various with T2 . I don't know about the figures now, as I moved when I was 11. That particular area also has a high incidence of suicides and extreme depression in under 30's, very creepy!

I wasn't breast fed wither, but I don't know much about the research on that.

I heard a radio broadcast on Radio 4 last year about T1's in the USA who were born with diabetes, who were being taken off their pumps and moved onto medication - successfully! It's worth looking up the podcast, as it's fascinating for anyone interested in the causes of diabetes. It seems that those born with it appear to have a type more similar to T2, and many are being taken off insulin! :clap:

As for the coxsackie virus, I've heard that for a long time, along with many other viral triggers, but I couldn't help thinking you 'd just be more succeptable because your immune system was waylaid with all the Beta cell bashing! :wink:

I found a paper that says the same thing, but I'm still not sure :eh:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10905477

In my family there were 3 juvenile diabetics. There is now only me. The other 2 (1 my brother and one my cousin) died 3 years apart, both aged 29 (as you can imagine, I'm reeeeally looking forward to my 29th Birthday (!) ) My gran had T2 in her 60's and my mum is attending diabetes clinics at the health centre as she is "pre - diabetic".

I know a lot of different diabetics, with wildly varying situations.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Hi ya

Yes apparently I had a virus that triggered off my type one when I was 4 years old. I don't remember how I felt but mum said I wasn't well at all especially as I soon started getting ketones and peeing and drinking for England x


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Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I didn't have a virus but I had the most stressful period of my life in the 6 months leading up to my diagnosis in December... I'm slow onset at the moment still but I researched it too and apparently stress can be a major trigger. I'm a bit confused though as I had GD in 2010 so it should be linked to that...but then that went away... No family history of any type of diabetes with me.. Not a single known relative.


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

I had a virus a few months before my first pregnancy, like Elaine i was diagnosed with GD but was actual underlying type 1 in pregnancy. I've racked my brain with all the theories/possible reasons why i have it as nobody in my family has it, but i was always a sickly kid and whenever i got a bug/colds etc it would go on for weeks, i reckon my immune system was doomed lol

Re: Did any of you type 1s have a virus before you got diabe

Yea I did had lump on face


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