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T2 vs T1 stigma - anyone else feel a bit 'shamed' for having T2?

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Yes totally agree with this. Slim T2s have probably made exactly the same mistakes as obese T2s but they just don't realise it and diagnosis comes as a shock to them as they thought they were doing everything right.

Hoping4Cure said:
Meanwhile I got a foot ulcer the day after eating my sorrows away in the form of an Indian feast, when my buddy died suddenly a month ago, and now my neck pain is back (arthrosis and pinched nerves, results of living with type 1 since I was a kid).
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So sorry to hear this. I wanted to give your post a 'like' because it was so good, but also a hug - so here's the hug (((())))
 
@Hoping4Cure not all T2s manage remission - even with strictly watching what is eaten. It depends on many factors, but yes there is the strong possibility of remission.
 
@Hoping4Cure You said consider yourself lucky if your type 2! Nothing lucky about it no matter what type you are. Some of us have othere illnesses which make it very hard with even type 2. We should all support each othere no matter what type we are
 
So easy to say 'consider yourself lucky' - and so fundamentally wrong.
It just shows a basic misunderstanding of other people's situations - each of them unique.

The majority of T2s are diagnosed when older, when their bodies have started to fail through age, following a lifestyle that wasn't great for them (bear in mind that many people follow the same lifestyle with few if any ill effects). Many T2s have additional co-morbidities, health problems and may have had T2 for years before diagnosis.

'Reversal' is trendy, hip, and temporary. No one knows how long it will last, and whether it will work for them. The ones it does work for are the recently diagnosed who are able to get both liver and pancreas back into working order. No one knows how long that will last. There are no long term studies on this, and the people involved in the short term Newcastle Diet studies were cherry picked. No other co-morbidities. All recently diagnosed. All given massive support and monitoring.

If there were two phrases that I wish I could wipe from this forum, they would be

'consider yourself lucky'
and
'if I can do it, anyone can'

I just think that both statements show a fundamental lack of empathy and compassion.
 
I'd add 'cured' and possibly 'remission' and replace with 'controlled' or 'managed', mostly to avoid false hope. With these shakes, I cure thee! But if someone has a predisposition or developed a carb intolerance for whatever reason, the 'cure' is to manage T2 by watching carb intake. I've got my HbA1c down to 'normal' levels, but firmly believe that that was due to the LCHF advice here. But I also believe that if I go back to eating 'normally', I'd quickly go back to being T2.
 
I am a T3E diabetic because I take prednisolone I can never stop taking prednisolone so no cure for me and remission was an illusion which evaporated when I had to increase my dosage of prednisolone. Believe me when I say I do not feel lucky

No one with this dreadful disease diabetes is lucky and no one deserves to be blamed or disparaged for it.
 
I've read, many a time, a person with T1 saying 'I eat a normal diet and calculate my insulin accordingly' (or words to that effect).
Funny that, I ate a normal diet and I developed T2.

The cause/s of T1 are unknown, that is a fact. And the same goes for T2.
 
I guess I have been lucky. Had little negative comment.

With modern logic how do people not see that the organ for fat and protein is the size of a football weighing several pounds and the organ for sugar is the size of a fag packet. Why then are we told to eat 'sugar'.

How are people so blind. I'm lucky I feel great on low carb. My health and well being changed litteraly as my carb intake dropped.

I work with 2 people with higher 1c's and neither suffer any ill (current) effects so continue to eat 'normally' confusing the issue. They think I'm daft for eating how I do.

If other t2's and high pre diabetics cannot see the troubles it is a long road to sort the muggles.
 
I absolutely agree. I am on my NHS records as being 'in remission' which sort of suggests that I can now eat normally. The reality is that I control it with Keto and intermittent fasting. There is absolutely no doubt that if I increased my carbs to 50g (which is actually not that high carb) the diabetes comes back really fast and I am back on the insulin.

The reason I know this is because I did try increasing carbs and it actually only took a few days before I was back injecting. I did this more than once and it happened everytime.

I have now been totally off the insulin for just over 7 months because I am controlling/managing my blood sugars with no more than 20g carbs, intermittent fasting and exercise. It is definitely not diabetes in remission, cured, reversed or resolved. I am very happy though that I can control it and that I no longer miss the carbs.
 
I was diagnosed 22 years ago (not overweight) and honestly do not remember any stigma existing then. I told everyone and had little criticism. I think the "lifestyle" stigma has been fed more recently by the press and other media.
I was even told by a friend that her T1 friend was better off than me because he could eat what he liked and just inject for it!
Perhaps I have been lucky to develop few problems but currently on LCHF am better that ever. I have certainly never blamed myself or any one else for the diagnosis but just done the best I could to deal with it.
The thought that T1s and T2s are at odds is quite distressing. We should all understand one another.
 
Glad I'm not alone in experiencing this reaction. I am relatively active & weigh in at 10st. Not obese by any means but yes, I get the smirky looks. "Oh, what type are you? Oh, type 2; never mind it could be worse. You could be type 1. You can't help it if you're type 1." Let's get real. Diabetes is no fun, whatever type you are. Some folk get it, others are lucky. It's not a contest. None of us would wish for it.
 

Those of us who are obese T2s sometimes do get told directly that it is our fault that we have Type 2 including by some medical professionals as well as the smirky remarks.
 
Having type 1, my experience is slightly different.
However, I have been exposed to a lot of ignorance about diabetes since I was diagnosed.
"Is that the bad type of diabetes?"
"Did you eat a lot of sweets as a child?"
"Have you lost a lot of weight since your diagnosis?"
"You can't be diagnosed with type 1 as an adult . You must have Adult Onset diabetes."
"Why are you injecting insulin? Diabetes can be cured."
...

I have also heard of children being bullied because they have diabetes.
Now diabetes seem to take up a lot of media headline space (let's face it, how many people read and digest more than the headlines?), I am surprised it is not taught in schools which would help silence some of this ignorance and judgement.
 

Hear, hear.
 
My brush with prejudice came from a friend. I had a meet up with a good friend from my college days after not having seen each other for decades. I told her about my type 2 and she was gobsmacked - but you aren't fat, said she.
No, I was very slim.

( What she did not know was I had lost 4 stones to arrive at my slimness. I didn't tell her that, I just went on about fat on the inside mattering more than fat on the outside, and obesity is a symptom not a cause.)

This is a highly educated, highly intelligent person, and very health conscious.

To be honest, apart from this conversation I haven't met any prejudice .... and have never felt ashamed.
 

I have heard of T1 diabetics accused of being drug addicts when they inject in public. I've also heard of T1 children being bullied in school and kids with severe allergies being threatened with allergic substances. I've worked in the schools here (Canada) and the schools I've worked in do make an effort to educate about both (students as well as all staff) . I used to supply teach and I've had several elementary school students tell me that they have Type 1 diabetes and I might see them snack if their blood glucose got low or to keep from getting too low (none of their classmates took any notice.) I always thanked them for telling me. Howeever I agree that there needs to be better education about diabetes.
 
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I agree with everything @Brunneria wrote above. I believe Diabetes of any type is neither lucky or easy and everyone needs equal empathy.
 

Oh my goodness! Your GP really said that? Who are these people!? Such medical professionals deserve our scorn - plain and simple.

BTW, I like another interpretation of the body type that can get us into serious blood glucose dysregulation - it's not a thrifty gene, but the norm for humans, and its those with the special adaptations to high carb low fat are the ones who are protected from T2D when putting on fat/storing fat. As more and more of the world is getting prediabetes and if they are unlucky enough with sick fat cells - getting type two - an interesting twist to the thrifty with fat humans idea.
 
I totally agree with you. Type 2 is seen as the fatty disease. I was diagnosed as a Type 2, 12 years ago, by going to Lloyds pharmacy having been to the doctors on and off for 4 years as I was exhausted. My GPs were shocked. Obviously they didn't think I was in the right demographic for diabetes. When I broached the subject of the various forms of Type 2 with my GP especially as 1 of them is hereditary she laughed AND SAID "that they did not distinguish between any of the different types of Type 2 such as MODY or LADA". This makes me seriously wonder if you are Type 2 because you are fat or fat because you are type 2. Research already done is not specific enough. Incidentally both my sister's were later diagnosed as pre-diabetic and they are thin, one has had issues with being underweight. We need more research and definitely need the media especially the Daily Fail and including doc's on TV, to drop the fatty angle as it doesn't help anyone. Sorry needed to vent!
 
I am adopted. I grew up in a closed adoption meaning that I was not allowed to know anything about myself - ethnicity, family medical history - absolutely nothing.

I have met my bio father who never knew I existed. He has type 2 diabetes. It's one of the first things he told me. I also took a direct-to-consumer genetics test via 23andMe. It showed that genetically I had a higher-than-average risk of developing diabetes.

I have long been an adoptee rights advocate for things like unsealing adoption records (in Canada half of our provinces/territories still have sealed records) and the importance of knowing one's family medical history. As a result I am very open about my diabetes (and other medical conditions) to illustrate the influence of genetics, and how wrong it is that adoptees are not allowed to know family medical history.
 
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