If I do everything right, will I still have issues?

[harrisphil]

Hi guys.

There is something I’ve been struggling to get a decent answer out of a doctor, specialist nurse or even Google.

My story: age 33 lost 18kg within 4weeks due to (what we later knew) was DKA, diagnosed with T1D. Just over a year on, still train 5x/week, eat well, drink more moderately with friends and have a normal active life - and have had 6-monthly HBA1c results of 5.6% & 5.3%. So I would say things are going great relative to the card I’ve been dealt, but I do put in a fair amount of effort and am pretty obsessed with my Dexcom reading.

If I do everything right- meaning I keep my BS in a good range - can I live life without any of the “health complications of diabetes”?

Of course I know death/hospitalisation risk is higher, I.e. a serious Hypo and not being able to get any sugar. Or being trapped/lost somewhere for a week without access to insulin and going into DKA. Or mental fatigue from the management of diabetes leading to serious mental health issues...

But assuming those kind of things don’t happen... and my BS management, diet and exercise is on-point... Does my body live on the same as it was pre-diabetes?

The outcome of this question won’t mean I give up on diabetes management. But I might re-think the pursuit of such a low HBA1c Result - with the long periods of feeling low/tired from riding a 4.1 wave for hours before lunch... maybe a bit far

Thanks in advance!
Phil

 

[KK123]

Well none of us can say what might hit us health wise in the future no matter what our current condition, but I reckon the answer is yes. Otherwise why do they go on and on about 'lifestyle' so much? Many people with diabetes do not get those associated health complications (whether through good management or not) so I guess some of it is simply down to luck. Either way, I am sure that complications can be avoided or minimised by what you are doing. In fact I would go so far as to say you might end up better off than those without diabetes because you are following a healthy strategy. x

 

[NicoleC1971]

Hi guys.

There is something I’ve been struggling to get a decent answer out of a doctor, specialist nurse or even Google.

My story: age 33 lost 18kg within 4weeks due to (what we later knew) was DKA, diagnosed with T1D. Just over a year on, still train 5x/week, eat well, drink more moderately with friends and have a normal active life - and have had 6-monthly HBA1c results of 5.6% & 5.3%. So I would say things are going great relative to the card I’ve been dealt, but I do put in a fair amount of effort and am pretty obsessed with my Dexcom reading.

If I do everything right- meaning I keep my BS in a good range - can I live life without any of the “health complications of diabetes”?

Of course I know death/hospitalisation risk is higher, I.e. a serious Hypo and not being able to get any sugar. Or being trapped/lost somewhere for a week without access to insulin and going into DKA. Or mental fatigue from the management of diabetes leading to serious mental health issues...

But assuming those kind of things don’t happen... and my BS management, diet and exercise is on-point... Does my body live on the same as it was pre-diabetes?

The outcome of this question won’t mean I give up on diabetes management. But I might re-think the pursuit of such a low HBA1c Result - with the long periods of feeling low/tired from riding a 4.1 wave for hours before lunch... maybe a bit far

Thanks in advance!
Phil

Phil, you are young and have done everything right so far. For type 1s who get it at a young age, it takes a lot of poor control (high or rollercoaster levels) over 2 decades for complications to arise. A type 2 is typically older and has suffered un-diagnosed damage for 10=15 years prior due to high insulin levels
Keep getting feet and eye checks done as well as the normal lipid, BP and protein checks
On the 4.1 wave your body should adapt to that normal blood sugar but do you feel hypo because there is a little too much insulin around and you are going below 4 some of the time? If yes then cut back on the breakfast insulin or have a carb/protein snack. If it is hunger because you are being strict with carbs, then try having more protein and fat at breakfast as the protein will cause a slight rise in blood sugar but very gradually.

 

[Tophat1900]

The way I look at it is, there are no guarantees in life. Life is just so unpredictable, diabetic or not. If you manage things well then I think you can be confident you will live a good healthy life. I would however not be trying to ride a level of 4 on purpose. Feeling tired and low at that level isn't fun and there is risk involved that may not be worth pushing it that hard. That's just my opinion.

 

[harrisphil]

Thanks for all the responses
And a very good point about the difference about getting T1 short and sharp later in life, compared to a young child making mistakes with T1 whole still learning about their bodies in every other way, or an older person with slow onset due to T2.

I guess the area I am also looking to explore is, “is it all about BS management?” Or is there any common complication that arises from injecting insulin or the fact that your pancreas is dormant, or that the imbalance is causing other hormonal stuff kicking off reactions in the body?

As I’m new to it, and have been an expat living in China the whole time with relatively limited sessions with professionals, I am waiting for the “you should probably also know about XYZ” chat to come from a consultant/doctor or nurse check up sooner or later.

I am an engineer- now facing the biggest problem of my life so far having no known solution and not really a known reason (that I’ve been told) - so I guess it’s understandable that I have a lot of questions!