My story......

The scare stories do work for me (but will not be right for all) to motivate me to try and keep on top of this. So thank you @porl69 and @nessals946 for your bravery and honesty.

@NoKindOfSusie as mentioned I completely empathise with your mindset, as I was the same and actually think many T1's diagnosed as Adults are the same at a few months in. So I get the mind is in a dark place right now, and that's not going to change overnight no matter what anyone says to you right now.

But I've noticed a few of your comments "you don't know what you're doing", "your medical team don't tell you anything" and your numbers aren't where you want them to be, you can't exercise etc.

So lets concentrate on the practicalities (rather than your mindset) and the wealth of experience available here (the reason my readings are pretty good), and try and get you some good readings.

Can you post a thread detailing things like:
Basal - which, units, do you do one or two injections per day
Bolus - which, units, do you pre bolus (how long in advance)
Carb ratios
What you might typically eat in a day
Any exercise or activity (eg walking to work)
Testing - how often, what are your fasting and other readings, how have these changed over time, are they coming down?
Any HbA1c results you've had
Do you get hypers, hypos - how often
What books have you read on diabetes?
er, there's probably other stuff that would be useful that others can ask / add!

People here can help on the practicalities, we know stuff!

With someone as focused as you at tackling this, you should be able to get to good readings, get out there running again, and not live constantly with the levels of fear you have now within a few weeks.

I have sent complete records of a day to people.

Some people say "sounds fine carry on."

Some people say "you are a disaster."

Conclusion: nobody has any idea.

Sent you a private message.

Min

kev-w said:

Sitting waiting at the diabetic clinic in the mid 80s with the very high numbers of amputees & overweight ill looking people was the hint I needed to look after myself so I avoided high sugars.

I've had a lot of hypos mind....

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Yes, I don't like the look of the other people I've seen at the diabetes centre! Legs are weird, can't walk right, seem like they're not all there mentally as well. Perhaps the people who've had diabetes a long time but are well controlled don't go to the clinic?

Grant_Vicat said:

Nobody out of "you guys" ever mentioned or suggested "idiots." At least talking to somebody who has first-hand experience of complications rather than a (possibly condescending) doctor or nurse is more likely to have some effect. I had to talk to a class of 11 year olds in the local state shool. They not only listened, but asked very searching questions. The Head told me that she had never seen them that attentive. What have we got to lose?

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I think the other person was referring to all the people telling stories about ignoring diabetes in their youth. And I was agreeing that not all young people rebel against diabetes or try to forget about it.

NoKindOfSusie said:

Well that's exactly what I just said. I don't think I'd handle it differently as a kid. I think I'd be just as terrified and just as desperate to be careful. I certainly wouldn't be buying chocolate and trying to keep it a secret.

I would not hold myself up as an example to anyone, as the numbers show I am a miserable failure at dealing with this and I would never claim any different, but please let's not pretend that graphic descriptions of the likely outcome would help. I am already scared, trying to make me more scared is not going to make any difference. I think I've used up about ten lifetimes worth of fear in the last few months, I've spent so much time being frightened that it's starting to feel normal.

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I find myself getting more annoyed every time i read one of your posts.I didnt write my story for you,it was a reply to someone who had gone through the same diabetic journey as myself.
Good for you that you weren't a rebellious teenager wanting to fit in with your friends,maybe you didnt have any? Are you saying that you have greater intelligence than the prople,as kids, that didnt look after themselves properly? I dont know why you are posting on here all the time,you are obviously doing a great job.Well done.

NoKindOfSusie said:

I have sent complete records of a day to people.

Some people say "sounds fine carry on."

Some people say "you are a disaster."

Conclusion: nobody has any idea.

Sent you a private message.

Min

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It's not importent what other people think... YOU'RE not happy with the results you're achieving. If you share what you do and the results you get then highlight what you're not happy about, there's lots of people here who can help you understand why.

Interesting thread (and no need to fight, both sides are right in their own way)...

I'm in my early 50s and, until 2 years ago, I also had a very wrong idea about diabetes. And I'll point out to the main reasons, external to us, that make us ignore it first, no matter how old we are:

1) Most doctors still treat it as an incurable disease [later edit: T2, of course], and automatically prescribe us medication, when it is more about lifestyle (diet + exercise). So already a very wrong message!

2) The food industry still did not have its Nuremberg process, with people convicted for crimes against humanity. Cigarettes, drugs and alcohol have been labeled, but most meat from a grocery store kills people in a similar way. And nobody gives a dime. Yet.

3) The mentality shift - to switch to low-carbs and a better healthier lifestyle - has been adopted by many, but it's still not an event embraced by the massed. I expect in the next 10 years we'll see this revolution, where everybody will expose the fact the way we eat is criminal or suicidal.

4) We need better non-confusing primary info about diabetes. I had a thread in which I posted my own confusion about the threshold between prediabetes and diabetes 2, for instance. As long as some info about this is so confusing, people will not adopt it.

5) We live a stressful life (especially in western countries), and many of us prefer "getting high" with many unhealthy addictions (drugs, alcohol, smoking, food, sugar), for periods of time, knowing well they may shorten our life. It is the concept "enjoy life NOW at its best", or "better live a shorter happy life than longer healthy life that sucks". Well, I think we still have to improve that last part: live longer, in a healthy way, but without the feeling we give up so much joy with the unhealthy temptations.

cristis said:

1) Most doctors still treat it as an incurable disease, and automatically prescribe us medication, when it is more about lifestyle (diet + exercise). So already a very wrong message!

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Whilst some of this may apply to Type 2's and pre-diabeties, for type 1's yes it is an incurable disease and without insulin we will die - no amount of lifestyle changes will change that, and given that this thread is in the Type section of the site, most people in this thread are type 1.

cristis said:

but most meat from a grocery store kills people in a similar way. And nobody gives a dime. Yet.

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As a really picky eater I'm going to be very very upset if you take away one of the few things that I can (and will) eat without having to do an injection for!

cristis said:

4) We need better non-confusing primary info about diabetes. I had a thread in which I posted my own confusion about the threshold between prediabetes and diabetes 2, for instance. As long as some info about this is so confusing, people will not adopt it.

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This is very true, for instance a lot don't know the difference between type1, type 2 and pre-diabetes, and in news articles mostly they tend to get clumped under one 'Diabetes' title when they shouldn't.

cristis said:

Interesting thread (and no need to fight, both sides are right in their own way)...

I'm in my early 50s and, until 2 years ago, I also had a very wrong idea about diabetes. And I'll point out to the main reasons, external to us, that make us ignore it first, no matter how old we are:

1) Most doctors still treat it as an incurable disease, and automatically prescribe us medication, when it is more about lifestyle (diet + exercise). So already a very wrong message!

2) The food industry still did not have its Nuremberg process, with people convicted for crimes against humanity. Cigarettes, drugs and alcohol have been labeled, but most meat from a grocery store kills people in a similar way. And nobody gives a dime. Yet.

3) The mentality shift - to switch to low-carbs and a better healthier lifestyle - has been adopted by many, but it's still not an event embraced by the massed. I expect in the next 10 years we'll see this revolution, where everybody will expose the fact the way we eat is criminal or suicidal.

4) We need better non-confusing primary info about diabetes. I had a thread in which I posted my own confusion about the threshold between prediabetes and diabetes 2, for instance. As long as some info about this is so confusing, people will not adopt it.

5) We live a stressful life (especially in western countries), and many of us prefer "getting high" with many unhealthy addictions (drugs, alcohol, smoking, food, sugar), for periods of time, knowing well they may shorten our life. It is the concept "enjoy life NOW at its best", or "better live a shorter happy life than longer healthy life that sucks". Well, I think we still have to improve that last part: live longer, in a healthy way, but without the feeling we give up so much joy with the unhealthy temptations.

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To be fair, type 1 diabetes IS an incurable disease.

nessals946 said:

To be fair, type 1 diabetes IS an incurable disease.

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My bad, of course. I was thinking at T2.

cristis said:

My bad, of course. I was thinking at T2.

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