New To The Site, Relatively New To Td1. Anyone Else In The Same State?

[Diav_S]

Hello there. My name's George and i've had TD1 for 3 years now. My experience with it has been... quite full i'd say. I've gone through every phase, from high glucose levels (which resulted in diabetic ketoacidosis) to the really low ones (I've passed out once so far due to hypoglukemia). My problem is.... I've never felt it's okay i'm like that. I know that there are FAR worse conditions someone can be in but still. I tend to focus more on the struggles of it than accepting it fully. I've dealt with it to some extent but it's something foreing to me to this day. However, when i found this site, i was way happier than i should have been xD. There are some many people here that showed me it's okay to be like this. And that i should not let it get me down. So what i wanna do is: If anyone wants to share their thoughts on how they feel about it or tell their "origin story" (bad pun, i'm sorry ) feel free to do so. I wanna be helped, but i want to help as well. I hope all of us who still struggle with it to find some peace on our minds for a change.

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I can't help you at all. I am T2 not on medication. Hopefully some of the T1s will arrive soon.

 

[Diav_S]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

I can't help you at all. I am T2 not on medication. Hopefully some of the T1s will arrive soon.

Hello, thanks for the welcome.
It's okay, i'm glad you don't have to go through medication and such. This community has pretty helpful so far and i wanted to relieve myself of some of my thoughts on the topic. Have a nice day.

 

[Scott-C]

I hope all of us who still struggle with it to find some peace on our minds for a change.

Hi, George, and welcome to the forum.

I think it is possible to find peace with T1 but it takes a while.

I was dx'd at 21, had been very sporty before it, was totally wrecked with DKA, and thought I was doomed.

But, slowly and surely, after recovering from the DKA, I started getting back into sports and reckoned, ok, I can do these, just have to pay more attention to making sure I've got sweets with me and watching levels.

That's not to say it's been a walk in the park. There's been times I've deeply resented it when a hypo has turned up out of nowhere, despite best efforts.

But all that has been mitigated by the times I've been standing on Scottish ski-slopes on fresh snow in Spring on a sunny day looking out over the mountains and realising I would have been dead and not seeing this without insulin, even though it throws me a wobbly from time to time if I get the calcs wrong (and even sometimes when I get them right!).

I was terrified about complications when I started out. I thought it was inevitable I would go blind or lose limbs. But as time went by, I realised I was over-worrying it. The regular eye checks etc. will spot things early doors, and numbers published by the collators of diabetes data show a surprisingly small number of T1s suffering from serious complications, 1 or 2% in most cases, and they're mostly older people who didn't have the advantage of newer techniques, or younger people who haven't bothered and run around in the 20s all the time.

The most deeply frustrating thing about T1 is that we are meant to manage volatile, constantly bg levels by just using little snapshots every so often with strip testing. That is unfair.

What's levelled the playing field a lot for me is getting kitted out with Libre and then adding a bluetooth transmitter to it to turn it into cgm. That way, I can see my bg moving in more or less real time and apply little tweaks and nudges to keep in range before anything nasty happens.

It just makes it so much fairer a game when I can see what I am dealing with. Still a postcode lottery on who gets libre on prescription, but it's starting to move in the right direction.

I'm fairly content with my T1 now. It's something I co-operate with, not fight.

Good luck, George, I can't remember how I felt about it after 3 years, but I've been doing it for 30 years now, and you know what, it ain't that bad.

 

[Antje77]

tell their "origin story" (bad pun, i'm sorry )

42 year ago my mum and dad did 'it', I suppose, so I came along!
Diabetes didn't come until 40 years later, and I haven't nearly had as rough a ride with it as you have, although it's still a pain in the, err, fingers (bad pun deserves bad pun ).

 

[Diav_S]

Hi, George, and welcome to the forum.

I think it is possible to find peace with T1 but it takes a while.

I was dx'd at 21, had been very sporty before it, was totally wrecked with DKA, and thought I was doomed.

But, slowly and surely, after recovering from the DKA, I started getting back into sports and reckoned, ok, I can do these, just have to pay more attention to making sure I've got sweets with me and watching levels.

That's not to say it's been a walk in the park. There's been times I've deeply resented it when a hypo has turned up out of nowhere, despite best efforts.

But all that has been mitigated by the times I've been standing on Scottish ski-slopes on fresh snow in Spring on a sunny day looking out over the mountains and realising I would have been dead and not seeing this without insulin, even though it throws me a wobbly from time to time if I get the calcs wrong (and even sometimes when I get them right!).

I was terrified about complications when I started out. I thought it was inevitable I would go blind or lose limbs. But as time went by, I realised I was over-worrying it. The regular eye checks etc. will spot things early doors, and numbers published by the collators of diabetes data show a surprisingly small number of T1s suffering from serious complications, 1 or 2% in most cases, and they're mostly older people who didn't have the advantage of newer techniques, or younger people who haven't bothered and run around in the 20s all the time.

The most deeply frustrating thing about T1 is that we are meant to manage volatile, constantly bg levels by just using little snapshots every so often with strip testing. That is unfair.

What's levelled the playing field a lot for me is getting kitted out with Libre and then adding a bluetooth transmitter to it to turn it into cgm. That way, I can see my bg moving in more or less real time and apply little tweaks and nudges to keep in range before anything nasty happens.

It just makes it so much fairer a game when I can see what I am dealing with. Still a postcode lottery on who gets libre on prescription, but it's starting to move in the right direction.

I'm fairly content with my T1 now. It's something I co-operate with, not fight.

Good luck, George, I can't remember how I felt about it after 3 years, but I've been doing it for 30 years now, and you know what, it ain't that bad.

Wow. That's a very nice perspective you have. I try myself to be as active as i can. School's never been a problem for me and i can keep up with it pretty well. But since it's summer, i decided to start fresh and do anything i like. I'm still using the strips to test my glucose unforunately. But everyone around me has been supportive in their own way and helped me as much as possible. I guess it's time for me to start seeing things a bit more possitive, uh?

 

[Diav_S]

42 year ago my mum and dad did 'it', I suppose, so I came along!
Diabetes didn't come until 40 years later, and I haven't nearly had as rough a ride with it as you have, although it's still a pain in the, err, fingers (bad pun deserves bad pun ).

(That's true, i appreciate it. ) Quite the origin story you have there. And i'm glad you didn't have to go through DKA to understand something's wrong. It's not something anyone should look forward to. Keep it up! The pain in the... fingers should not bother you any time soon.

 

[Fairygodmother]

Hi George, I’ve had it for 48 years now, diagnosed when I was 20, and am still active and fairly fit. Fitter, in fact, than a few of my similar-age friends. No complications apart from earlier-than-usual cataracts ten years ago. They were a blessing in disguise as my sight’s now better than it’s been since I was 6.
I can’t pretend it’s been a walk in the park as the relentless nature of T1’s sometimes got me down; I’ve quite a good stock of swear words. But it’s better than dying of DKA!!!!!! As you know, that’s foul.
And it’s more than possible to have a good time despite T1: since diagnosis I’ve lived in West Africa (with my T1-aware husband), driven along the Sourhern border in Niger, swum in hot pools and watched the baboons come to drink, driven in Cameroon, scuba dived in the Pacific and the Indian Ocean, travelled alone in Europe, ridden a horse alone in the African bush, wandered alone through many foreign markets, etc etc - I’ll stop now before I regret that I’m no longer so gung ho - must be all the new info about how we can damage ourselves holding me back -NO, I’m NOT getting older!
Yes the hypos are scary, and frustrating, and annoying, and the constant testing and correcting can sometimes get you down, and swearing’s cathartic, but it feels so GOOD when bs are in range and you know again what it feels like to be ‘normal’.
So best wishes from me to you at the start of your long, and I hope happy, journey with T1 as your faithful companion.

 

[hodders]

Hello there. My name's George and i've had TD1 for 3 years now. My experience with it has been... quite full i'd say. I've gone through every phase, from high glucose levels (which resulted in diabetic ketoacidosis) to the really low ones (I've passed out once so far due to hypoglukemia). My problem is.... I've never felt it's okay i'm like that. I know that there are FAR worse conditions someone can be in but still. I tend to focus more on the struggles of it than accepting it fully. I've dealt with it to some extent but it's something foreing to me to this day. However, when i found this site, i was way happier than i should have been xD. There are some many people here that showed me it's okay to be like this. And that i should not let it get me down. So what i wanna do is: If anyone wants to share their thoughts on how they feel about it or tell their "origin story" (bad pun, i'm sorry ) feel free to do so. I wanna be helped, but i want to help as well. I hope all of us who still struggle with it to find some peace on our minds for a change.

Hi George
My name is Claire and I like you gave not had this disease long - just coming up to 5 years now. And I feel just the way you do- even though I am in my 50's. I have accepted the gremlin is there with me daily but I have to say that I still try and battle it.
I had all kinds of symptoms to begin with which culminated in me being admitted to hospital with dka. Fortunately there was never really an issue with me not being diagnosed even to start with as a type 1. Even had about 12 students around my bed at one stage to come and view "this weird older lady" who all were eager to ask me questions.
Anyway George I still live life at 300 miles an hour and so have to deal with the fallout from that- high,low or maybe in between.
Luckily I have just been approved for the Libre on the nhs so I may then be able to get back to my kind of normal.
Thanks George this is really my FIRST POST AND YOU INSPIRED ME TO THIS. Keep on inspiring us!

 

[Diav_S]

Hi George
My name is Claire and I like you gave not had this disease long - just coming up to 5 years now. And I feel just the way you do- even though I am in my 50's. I have accepted the gremlin is there with me daily but I have to say that I still try and battle it.
I had all kinds of symptoms to begin with which culminated in me being admitted to hospital with dka. Fortunately there was never really an issue with me not being diagnosed even to start with as a type 1. Even had about 12 students around my bed at one stage to come and view "this weird older lady" who all were eager to ask me questions.
Anyway George I still live life at 300 miles an hour and so have to deal with the fallout from that- high,low or maybe in between.
Luckily I have just been approved for the Libre on the nhs so I may then be able to get back to my kind of normal.
Thanks George this is really my FIRST POST AND YOU INSPIRED ME TO THIS. Keep on inspiring us!

Hello Claire and thank you so much for your kind words. I hope you live your life to the fullest and keep on doing all those things that make you happy.