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Do you ever wonder why?

jessie

jessie

Well-Known Member
Don't get me wrong, I am by no means feeling sorry for myself, I just can't help but wonder why / how I came to get Type 1. I was diagnosed in April 08 after the usual symptoms of tiredness, tremendous thirst etc. My blood sugar was apparently 'above 27' so couldn't be read by the nurse, I spent an afternoon in hospital and was back at work the next day. There is no history of diabetes in my family, I had not been under any stress or had a virus of any kind so it all came as a bit of a shock. The only thing I can think of was having food poisoning in late Dec 07, but it wasn't particularly bad.

Up until diagnosis and since my teens (I'm now 31) I was always feeling tired, craving sweet things, drinking loads of water and constantly needing the loo. I feel liberated now my sugar levels are under control as I can manage a whole shopping trip without needing a wee! Anyway, what I'm getting at is, is diabetes something that can be underlying for many years or does it come on quite suddenly? And is anyone else in my position in that they have no family history of diabetes?

Thanks :D
 
Yes is the answer to this question. I've had diabetes (Type 1) for 50 years, today. I was 11 when it was eventually diagnosed after my Mom taking me backwards and forwards to the GP, for 9 weeks, who told her I was spoilt and telling her to make me eat. I eventually went into a coma and rushed to A&E whereupon on having my first insulin injection felt great the next day.

There is no diabetes in my family but I was a premature baby (6 weeks) which is known to put you at greater risk of diabetes. Were you a prem baby.

I think you did really really well to be fit enough to go back to work the next day. Well done you. Hope you are coping. Good luck for the future.
 
Hi Paula,

That's terrible that you ended up going in to a coma. I wasn't a premature baby no...but I can't help thinking there must a reason. Or maybe there isn't and I just need to accept that!

Thanks for the good luck wishes! x
 
I know what you mean by the 'why' me question, I think that at times I found this to be one of the hardest parts of my diabetes to deal with as really it can't be answered..

20 years ago I became the first diabetic in the family which consists of 9 children, me and my twin sister being the youngest... After 20 years and the family being extended by another 2 generation, and the oldest of the youngest generation are the same age as my own children in there late teens... I'm still the only diabetic in the family there is none in generation above or below me I seem to be a complete fluke...

I have no rhyme or reasons that I can say this happend before I became a diabetic!!

I have slowly come to terms with the notion, that it is more than likely that I will never know 'why' or what 'happened' that made me the only diabetic in a very large family..
 
No-one nows what causes T1 diabetes. there are a few theories, but none definitive. an important thing tto remember is It isn't yourr fault. You can't get it by eating too many sweets.
 
That's what the doctor told me when I was in hospital, I was convinced that my levels were only so high because of the amount of cake I'd eaten the night before!

I still can't help thinking it's something I've done though, I've not had the holiest of lifestyles, growing up with the binge drinking culture etc...

Jopar it must be very frustrating for you, but a positive thing that none of your children have diabetes.

x
 
Hi Jessie,

We have all wondered 'why me' at some point but I have a little motto in life that generally gets me through. When something is stressing me out I ask myself:

"Can I do anything about this situation?" If I can do something, I get on and do it. If there's nothing I can do, I forget it and move on. If the situation keeps bugging me (which diabetes has... it ain't going away!) then you can try asking yourself a different question.

Different questions will obtain different answers which will themselves leave you feeling differently about the situation. For example, when feeling down, rather than asking "why me" I asked myself "How can diabetes improve my life?". I have definitely improved my diet, which will undoubtedly have an overall effect on my lifelong health. I take more notice of when and what I eat around playing football matches and have consequently vastly improved my match-day and training preparation.

So it's not all bad... even if it feels like it is sometimes.

Feel free to pm/email me.

Sam.
 
Hi,
I'm similar to you, wondering what I've done to get it (diagnosed yesterday)

but I live a really healthy lifestyle, in great shape, never smoked rarely drink, exercise 5 times a week, don't eat ****, no family history. Yet i still have it! mates of mine get ****** every night, smoke 20 a day, never exercise eat takeaways or pot noodles every day and are "healthy"

you can't bring type 1 on yourself its just one of those things that happen to us unfortunate ones.
please dont beat yourself up about what you might have done, you havent caused it. but you can control how well you manage it. at least thats what I'm telling myself. i get to decide whether i'm someone that wastes away with it or whether I control it and do things most non-diabetics wouldnt be physically able to! :D
 
Hi Everyone

I wonder what's going on in my family all the time, my Dad was one of 4 children and he was the only one to get diabetes. I have a brother and a sister and both me and my brother were diagnosed at age 9. I have two children both of them (a boy and a girl diagnosed aged 9) and my bothers little girl also diagnosed around 9 (she was actually just a week past age 10 on diagnosis).

On my Dad's side of the family, as I mentioned he was 1 of 4 - and there are lots of cousins (my generation) and now they all have children of their own. I have recently been in touch and found out that non of them have diabetes, not my Dad's generation, my generation nor any the next generation down. Wierd how it is incrediably strong in our family and yet nowhere else!
 
Thanks Sam :wink:

I too am a great believer in positive thinking - my lifestyle has greatly improved which can only be a good thing. And my situation could be a lot worse, injections are something I can live with! x
 
Well said, Sam.

I think most of the diabetic members on this forum could probably agree that they know a helluva lot more about diet, nutrition and the human metabolism than they would otherwise have picked up in a lifetime without diabetes. It wouldn't surprise me if, with the tools now at our disposal, we might outlive the non-diabetics, and certainly be fitter and healthier than some of them in the meantime.

Anyway, I'm the only T1 in my family so I haven't a clue why it got me to be honest. Interestingly, I was diagnosed on exactly the same day as my closest childhood friend. He and I used to share colds and illnesses as we grew up, so who knows how early the seeds were sown?

My main concern is that my 4 sons avoid it if possible. Not that there's a great deal I can do about that, other try to ensure they eat well.

All the best,

fergus
 
I wonder why but at the same the same time realise how very lucky I have been to develop it so late. Its odd though, within a year of me being diagnosed my cousin (who I've never met) also developed slow onset type 1 and its made me wonder about the cause of death of my grandmother who was apparentlly very thin when she died in her late 30s.
 
When I was diagnosed they had no idea about causes whatsoever, so the bits about genetics etc in the DAFNE course (update on what they've found out since 1973!) were fascinating. But even the expert researchers don't know the full reasons T1 occurs, which I think is justification for not blaming ourselves!

No other type 1s in my family before or since, which is quite common with T1. The genes can be inherited, or corrupted at time of conception. I'd love to have my and my parents' genes tested to see which side of the family its most likely to have come from.

I'm always amazed at non-diabetics who take multiple tablets and don't understand what they are or why they're taking them. Can't imagine doing that - maybe as a result of coping with insulin etc from a young age. I suspect having to observe cause and effect and live with consequences of getting it wrong encourages a logical, questioning, responsible mindset in those diagnosed as children.
 
21 years and 14 days ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

I've wondered most my life about why or how. After many years of thought I now believe that a trigger of a virus or maybe some other antibody causes your own body to malfunction and kill off it's own cells, seeing them as not one of your own.

In my case I think it was the TB test I had, the one where you have the 6 little bumps stamped into your arms. I turned out to be immune to TB and never had the jab - but in turn, I think it screwed up my own bodies defenses because about month later I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes - I had no symptoms whatsoever before the test.

Now, a fantastic thing is happening right now which concerns TB drugs... and that is it's being tested by a Dr Denise Faustman in the US as a possible cure! she has cured it in mice and is now in the 2nd stages of human trials!!!!

Can you imagine, if Denise Faustman (my current hero!) is successful in this, she will produce a cure within 4 years from now, using an extremely cheap drug thats' already on the market!

I can't say i'm not excited about it all. :D
 
I remember so well, on diagnosis, saying to the DN "What have I done wrong?" Although I ate fairly healthily, I felt it had to be "my fault".For weeks I went through everything in my head over and over again, wondering where I had "gone wrong". I do lots of consumer competitions and I remember winning a years supply of biscuits around the time of diagnosis. I used to wonder if I'd eaten too many of those (although I gave a lot of them away to friends and family.)
In the end, you get to a stage where you realise whatever caused it, you can't make it go away, so you just have to put the "why" to the back of your mind and look for the positive ways of coping with it. Not always easy, I know but if you don't do that,you can drive yourself mad.
 
I think everyone has gone through the 'I wonder why?' phase, I had cancer a few years before I was diagnosed with diabetes and asked myself why and why me, then the same with diabetes, although I was told that having no thyroid gland would make me more susceptible to developing diabetes.

I was very angry and refused to accept the diagnosis, I became also very depressed and resentful, but now I am glad it was me and not my husband or son or anyone else in the family, I know myself, I know my body, I am coping and I am healthy, at least I dont have to worry about anyone close to me being ill. And of course, why not me? There are so many people out there who are far worse off than I am or ever have been.
I did blame myself for diabetes though, I knew I had eaten far too many sweets and unhealthy food.

This year, like most years, my husband and I were given numerous boxes and tins of chocolates and biscuits for Christmas, from clients and other people who are meaning well and wanted to show their appreciation, we disposed of all of them, after all that I know now I just dont want to pass on such unhealthy, potentially deadly 'food' to other people. I know I am extreme, forgive me people please, but I would feel just too guilty and I really want everyone out there to be healthy and happy, oh I wish I could get hold of a magic wand...

All the best and love to all

Karen x
 
My son developed diabetes at 8 months of age. This is apparently a reasonably common occurence for children with Down syndrome. I have a cousin that is T1 but no other family member known. My cousin also has epilepsy and his brother has needed a liver transplant. Genetics seem to be the fault in these cases. I imagine it would be hard to find members of a family who have been diabetic as, not too long ago, these people would of died and a lot could of been undiagnosed. I often wonder why I have a baby with Down syndrome but other times I think "Why not me". Statistically there is a chance of anything happening. Diabetes is very hard to manage but if you are not mentally or physically impaired it shouldn't stop you living life to the full.

At least we know the HOW.

Jen
 
Hi Paula,
I hope ur getting to grips with things. Interesting question you ask, and one that's bothered me since 1989.. No-one in my family has it. I was diagnosed type-1 at the age of 19. I often wondered if it had anything to do with having my appendix out when I was 8!. The appendix must have a use, and as my 2 sisters never developed diabetes, or had their appendixes out, I wondered if there was a link.
I have posted so many times about my hatred of Lantus, and my advice is avoid it at all costs. I was on "human" insulins-and how they get away with calling it that is beyond me!- for 19 years, and my 20th , since changing to pork is the best ever. I feel like I did before I got ill, not tired, not ill, human again! It's worth doing research on insulin, you'll find the only "true" insulins are purified pork and beef, the synthetic stuff is real bull!
The IDDT are a great source of info-look them up.
Take care
Jus
 
Ok now i became T1 due to pancreatitus and having it removed...

So i did get the feeling of "why me" but for a bit of a different reason, but i know before all of my "things" started my grandad was diagnosed with diabetes and we went through the same things with him, no on in his family of 15 brothers and sisters have it, non of his 6 kids had / have it and touch wood barr me no one else has it... i spose you just have to put it down to one of those things...

ive been through the depressed bit of asking why i got the pancreatitus / gaul stonnes and c - diff and at the end of it all i came up with nothing, not a bit... so after 2 years or so i more or less just said sod it and looked forward! - ok its no perfect answer and still doesnt explain much but it helps me through,

"if i can't change yesterday - lets see what i can do about tomorow??"

Oh well hope you find your answer to "why me" somewhere!! good luck!
 
Like everyone else who has posted my story id one of becoming very ill (30+ years ago) and eventually being taken, skeletal like and bursting for the loo, to my GP. Thereafter, a very rapid transit to A&E...
 
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