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How do your friends and family react to your diagnosis?

semiphonic

semiphonic

Well-Known Member
Messages
905
Location
Torquay
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Ignorant people, diabetes!
These are the majority of the answers I've had -

"Well at least it's not the bad one"

"Yeah I had that a couple of months back"

"Oh, you can't have sugar then"

"If you eat a biscuit will you die?"

"If you start shaking do I have to give you a Mars Bar?"

"You don't look like you've got Diabetes"

I even have a friend who I've known for years, we kiss each time we meet, after my diagnosis she wouldn't kiss me as she didn't want to catch my "sugar disease"!!

Every time I try to talk to my wife about my diabetes or my diet she changes the subject.

For the last week I've been regularly testing my BG.

We went out for a meal and a few drinks tonight, as I'm relatively newly diagnosed I decided I wanted to see what alcohol (more specifically Strongbow!) does to my BG so I took my back-up meter with me (didn't want to mess with my averages on my 'usual' meter), the wife was horrified when I got my kit out in the restaurant, even though I was hidden behind a pillar. I've decided to try low carbing, so my BG was fairly low.

To cut a long story short, I pretty much had to tell my wife "I'm diabetic, it's a progressive disease, if I don't manage my BG it will have an effect on me, get over it"

When we went to the pub and I got my kit out to test after a few pints, EVERYONE wanted me to test their BG, I had enough lancets and test strips so I did.

Remember the friend who doesn't want to catch my sugar disease? Her BG was higher than mine........

Strongbow seems to raise my BG by about 0.5


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I met a friend in the street and he asked, "How are you?". I said that I had just been diagnosed with diabetes. He asked, "Is it the one you can manage with diet?" and I said it was.

"That's OK then", he said.
 
When I had a working diagnosis of LADA, my brother wouldn't stop making Eastern European car jokes. MODY, my next temporary diagnosis, was annoyingly easy to pun. What a relief therefore to end up as monogenic mitochondrial: hard to remember, impossible (so far) to pun :)

Kate
 
I have been diagnosed less than a week, my mum cried and close family were shocked. However friends have took it in their stride but i find that everyone monitors very closely what i eat!! I thought you cant eat that?! Is the regular thing so far (at my mums bday party)
 
Tar811 said:
I have been diagnosed less than a week, my mum cried and close family were shocked. However friends have took it in their stride but i find that everyone monitors very closely what i eat!! I thought you cant eat that?! Is the regular thing so far (at my mums bday party)
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It's amazing how many people become experts in diabetes, isn't it? I was recently on a course, chose not to eat rice with my chilli and had to endure huge lectures about the dangers of LCHF and why I needed to eat more carbs. Shoot me now! Lol!
 
Tar811 said:
everyone monitors very closely what i eat!! I thought you cant eat that?! Is the regular thing so far (at my mums bday party)
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I get that on a daily basis at work. My colleagues are all expert nutritionists since I went low carb.

You should eat a lot of fruit. It's not carbs, it's fruit
I don't understand why you cut out milk. It's dairy and it's good for you
You can eat whatever you want and take enough tablets to deal with it.

My most-disliked is the 'Oh, I could never stop eating bread and baked potatoes. I like them'. Replying that so did I, but I like having working eyes and kidneys even more was apparently 'offensive' but criticising my dietary choice isn't. :rolleyes:
 
Scandichic said:
It's amazing how many people become experts in diabetes, isn't it? I was recently on a course, chose not to eat rice with my chilli and had to endure huge lectures about the dangers of LCHF and why I needed to eat more carbs. Shoot me now! Lol!
Click to expand...

I had the same experience on my first night of the XPert Patient course, which should be called the Obedient and Compliant Patient course as the whole idea they gave of self-management was 'Let us make all the decisions, based on info that only we have access to and your part is to take your medication.

I was told there was no reason to refuse a biscuit (yes, biscuits and coffee with sugar on offer at a diabetic course!) because 'There's no need to avoid any food at all'. Until I mentioned that I'm a low-carber and eat bacon, cheese and butter. Apparently eating what you like only applies to things on the list they give you. Rice, potatoes, mullerlight yoghurts ... the whole carb-fest list.
 
I am LCHF. Usually quite easy to ask for salad instead of chips but have had to laugh recently when on two separate occasions I got these responses:
- asked waitress for pate without toast but extra salad - 'how does that work?'
- waiter in Indian restaurant when confirmed that I did not want any rice or Nan and hadn't forgotten when placing my order. 'The meat comes in a sauce. How will you eat your meal?'. Spoon and fork, perhaps! (I do know it is usual for Asian food to be eaten using fingers and rice as one Indian diner was doing so but this was in Surrey where all the other diners were using cutlery.)
Makes you giggle sometimes.
 
my boss said to me when i told him ... do i need to give u a spoonful of suger if u drop lol ,,, then 2 weeks later as it was xmas he bought me a tin of celebrations as my xmas bonus ?? sad but reality im afraid
 
lizzief said:
I had the same experience on my first night of the XPert Patient course, which should be called the Obedient and Compliant Patient course as the whole idea they gave of self-management was 'Let us make all the decisions, based on info that only we have access to and your part is to take your medication.

I was told there was no reason to refuse a biscuit (yes, biscuits and coffee with sugar on offer at a diabetic course!) because 'There's no need to avoid any food at all'. Until I mentioned that I'm a low-carber and eat bacon, cheese and butter. Apparently eating what you like only applies to things on the list they give you. Rice, potatoes, mullerlight yoghurts ... the whole carb-fest list.
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It makes me absolutely fume when I read about experiences like this. After all you wouldn't offer someone who is trying to give up smoking, a cigarette, would you?! I would love one of these supercilious morons to explain how putting sugar into my system helps lower my blood sugar! (Slaps forehead and mutters Doh!) but then I remember - they take their advice from a website which advocates diabetics eating cake as long as they use half the sugar!! If you require any evidence about the effects of low carb then the following might be of interest:
http://authoritynutrition.com/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets/
Sorry about rant! :(
 
My family and friends have been brilliant. My work colleagues, not so brilliant.

The first aider for our department (also my line manager) told me that if I was going to have one of those hypo things, to go home first because she didn't want to deal with it. She's now asked if she can let her training lapse and give up being the first aider because she's terrified that I'm going to pass out.

Another of my colleagues is one of those people who likes to collect illnesses, and particularly hates it when someone else has a health issue. Well, having diabetes has out-done her, and she doesn't like it one bit. She's now diagnosed her husband and sometimes her daughter with "probably diabetes". I told her that if that's the case then they need to get checked out by a Dr. She said that it was only "slight" diabetes, so they wouldn't need to see anyone just yet.
 
My manager at work is T1, she has been an absolute rock for me throughout this. Giving me loads of advice etc

My other colleagues are similar to me tbh and don't know enough about T2 so it's a huge learning curve for us all


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luceeloo said:
My family and friends have been brilliant. My work colleagues, not so brilliant.

The first aider for our department (also my line manager) told me that if I was going to have one of those hypo things, to go home first because she didn't want to deal with it. She's now asked if she can let her training lapse and give up being the first aider because she's terrified that I'm going to pass out.

Another of my colleagues is one of those people who likes to collect illnesses, and particularly hates it when someone else has a health issue. Well, having diabetes has out-done her, and she doesn't like it one bit. She's now diagnosed her husband and sometimes her daughter with "probably diabetes". I told her that if that's the case then they need to get checked out by a Dr. She said that it was only "slight" diabetes, so they wouldn't need to see anyone just yet.
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Rofl! One colleague told me that LCHF was dangerous and that I was seriously at risk of a stroke and should eat more carbs. Love it!
 
Oh, some of these comments really made me laugh!

My husband was quite upset but has been wonderfully supportive. My brother has been pretty good, considering he's more of a perfectionist than I am! One friend did come round with chocs for Mike but I ignored it, realising that she was really stuck what to get him for Christmas, and Mike took them away to eat later!
One friend keeps asking if I'll be able to eat all the normal things eventually. I think she's a bit worried about getting diabetes herself.
Carol-P


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One thing I find particularly annoying is my wife and I ever have a "disagreement" or if I'm in a bit of a mood for whatever reason I am always asked by my missus or kids if I "need a biscuit". Grrrr !


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mo1905 said:
One thing I find particularly annoying is my wife and I ever have a "disagreement" or if I'm in a bit of a mood for whatever reason I am always asked by my missus or kids if I "need a biscuit". Grrrr !


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My husband usually starts singing isn't she lovely in addition! Lol!
 
I was diagnosed T2 10 years ago. Immediate family were and are great. Extended family too except I think my elderly aunt has forgotten as she recently went on a bit of a rant about 2 diabetic friends of hers who apparently "go on about eating bananas all the time" and according to her it's their fault anyway for being greedy. :)
Only one "friend" annoys me as she constantly asks me should I be eating what I'm eating and is like the food police as she keeps saying "Don't eat that as I don't want to have to do 1st aid on you". She's also started aping what I eat as she's worried in case she's diabetic too (symptomless!). Have to stop myself from telling her to get a life.
 
Shocked, but glad it's not them, then lack interest....not my dear oh though a great rock of support x
 
Been T2 for nearly a year now my family never really said much when I told them as my mam had T2 also unfortunately she could never control it had complete kidney failure at 65 nine year last week since we lost her. Some of my friend understand but I still got nine boxes of chocolate of them at Christmas had to laugh.


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