Guilty Feeling ....

Unfortunately, some medical practitioners focus on the condition rather than the person with it. From what I have read, diabetes is not alone on the "empathy scale".
I think it may be slightly different to other conditions because it needs so much effort from us: we cannot just take a tablet every day; we need to calculate how much insulin to take.
You should not be feeling guilty for having diabetes. As for being on insulin ever since diagnosis for type 1, there is no choice: your body is not producing its own insulin but needs it to survive.

If there is anything in particular you are struggling with, the forum members are very good at providing advice (although we are not doctors) and support.

sapphire67 said:

This is my 24th year as T1 and have been on insulin ever since. I have been through a number of specialists since then and one thing is common ... their attitude induces a deep sense of guilt that has persisted along the years. Why is it that diabetes and a patient's management are so often frowned upon? Whatever I do, it's never right. I wonder whether any other medical conditions fare so badly on the empathy scale.

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Type 1 diabetes is such a lot of work for the person who has it. The specialists aren't always very empathetic, that is for sure. I think how we react emotionally to that depends a bit on us, though. I don't think I've ever felt particularly guilty, but I have often felt reduced to being a child while in the hospital, and also a sense of not being able to control it, which I think has fed into other parts of my life.

It might be good to explore in what way it makes you feel guilty, if you want to tell us it would be interesting, as people might be able to relate to it, but you don't have to.

Hello @sapphire67 I am curious to ask what experiences have you had with your team ?

Personally I am only 6 years diagnosed and in this time met 3. My first couple of appointments were fairly intimidating as I was still learning so much and felt inexperienced, I also felt that they didn't understand how difficult it was to live with this daily, but then I had a couple of turning points, one was asking a consultant what he would do if he were me, and then met one consultant who embraced my management and made me feel empowered with my control.

I always go to my appointments with the attitude that they are there to help me so try to ensure I walk out feeling that i've got something I can work on.