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The blame game

M

mandydowns

Well-Known Member
Messages
48
I am becoming more and more angry at diabetes being the one thing that is crippling the NHS in the opinion of a growing number and, by association, this becomes MY FAULT as a type 2 diabetic. I do not smoke or drink, both vices which cost the NHS millions and yet are generally ignored by the media, and yet, because I am overweight (through chronic depression and the consequential overeating) it is my fault for GIVING MYSELF diabetes that the NHS is in dire straits!!

I work hard, take hardly any time off, even when I feel terrible, and so contribute to the wonderful institute of the NHS and so I feel it right and proper to benefit from the service in times of need. I dont ask for tattoos to be removed or for my figure to be enhanced cosmetically, just for basic care when it is needed.

PLEASE DO NOT BERATE TYPE 2 DIABETICS!!! We are not born with the illness like many type 1s and we do NOT give it to ourselves intentionally, if at all. WE ARE NOT THE CURSE OF THE NHS!!!!

Sorry, but I am feeling particularly sensitive today as I have just heard a conversation whilst commuting to work, which has made me feel really angry and almost ASHAMED of being a diabetic.....I wish the media would not generalise about diabetes - this is fuelling the public perception of the illness being self induced and I hope that other groups of people which chronic illnesses brought on, supposedly, by their lifestyles, are singled out in the future as much as we are.

Rant over!!
 
Hi Mandy its fine to rant sometimes when something melts your usually calm exterior, assuming of course that you do normally have a calm exterior :D

Only a very small percentage of overweight people contract T2 diabetes, and in fact only 80% of T2 diabetics are overweight at diagnosis so dont blame yourself for your condition or the state of the NHS as that is entirely down to its mismanagement from Whitehall down to hospital management. Only yesterday on the news it was reported that lady who is now in charge of overseeing the change over for the failing South London Trust, itself the first Trust to be effectively bankrupt was herself accused of mismanagement in her last role looking after the Croydon Mayday Hospital and saying its accounts were in the black when it was 20 million in the red!!

Ive just written and deleted a long rant of my own about the mismanagement of the NHS, the country and everything else in this world that culminated in farming and the decline of the bumble bee that has recently been discussed on the European stage. Then I remembered this is your rant....... :oops: :lol:

So rant away and remember, dont blame yourself, unless its your fault, in which case learn from it and move on :D
 
It's good to rant once in a while! :D

I do feel that we are all getting tarred with the same brush re diabetes Type 2. 'It's a disease of fat, lazy, junk food swilling working class people', is one diatribe I read lately! :evil:

It makes me very angry when I hear those kind of phrases being bandied about about all Type 2 sufferers, although it has to be said that some people are not helping themselves avoid diabetes, and some simply either do not have the inclination to change their lifestyle to help themselves, OR they do not have the information needed to help control their diabetes.
This forum goes a long way in helping many of us to really get an insight into changes to help ourselves. I know that I have made changes which are hopefully helping me to control my condition.
The thing is that there must be many causes of type 2 diabetes, not just the ones the media are banging on about.

In my case, I was only mildly overweight, due to an underactive thyroid, (now diagnosed) I eat very healthily, I don't drink, nor smoke, and try to be as active as I can, although that was difficult as I have Psoriatic arthritis, which is very similar in some ways to Rheumatoid Arthritis, (except I have all the skin problems too).
I believe, although there is no evidence I admit, that my auto immune-disease has contributed to hypothyroidism, and now diabetes....so I really am annoyed when the finger of blame is pointed at me and my supposed bad lifestyle, and I am made to feel guilty about developing this disease.

A case in point. A relative of mine, now in her 80's has been grossly obese almost all her adult life, eats far too much sugary and unhealthy foods, does no exercise and never has, yet has not developed diabetes.
However her husband, who has always been extremely slim, very active and still is, has a very small appetite, eats very few sugar-laden foods, has had diabetes for over 10 years!

Lumping everyone into one category is just not unfair it can also be cruel to those who are suffering anguish at being diagnosed with a serious condition such as diabetes.

Rant away,I think I've certainly had mine today! :thumbup:
 
I think it is very difficult when you are diabetic to look objectively at what is going on. Diabetes is on the increase and it is costing the NHS a huge amount of money and the potential increase is staggering. What do you do about it? The media will publicise it and run stories on it. If 80% of T2's are overweight at the time of diagnosis then this will be picked up on and reported. The statistics for how much "more likely" you are to contract T2 diabetes if you are overweight speak for themselves. This does not say your are going to contract it. This does not say it is your own fault for being in the "at risk" category.

Similar statistics are, and have been, reported for smoking and drinking. The change in advertising and display of tobacco in the last 20 years has been quite astounding. Alcohol is starting to be targeted in the same way. No one is ignoring these vices and smokers and drinkers are talked about with disdain. However, turning to drink or tobacco is just as easy for someone suffering depression or anxiety as food. Different strokes for different folks.

You can't take these things personally, at the end of the day only you know your personal circumstances. It is my belief that we live in a world where we are all educated enough via television, school and what we read or see each day with our own eyes to know what drinking to much, smoking too much, eating too much, exercising too little etc will do to us. The NHS get the stick but how do they cope with people who won't stop smoking when the packet they are carrying shows in graphic detail what it is doing to them or people who keep on eating to excess when they have lost feeling in their feet and they are ulcerated?

Not everyone is to blame and it's **** when you know you're not but you get tarred anyway. So rant away!! A lot of people, however, are to blame and if obesity in 10 years time is being tackled as well as smoking and drinking the entire country will be better off.
 
I agree - my mum has COPD and still smokes like a chimney........drives me crazy!!! I guess that in a country where we have the right to live how we wish (within reason!) it is hard when you see people that you care about living a really unhealthy lifestyle that you know is ultimately damaging health - I wonder if treatment will ever be with held for those who are deemed to be 'self inflicting' their illness (smokers, drinkers and the obese).

There are no easy answers, but I hope that all people can be treated with respect and understanding rather than being vilified and pre judged.

Thanks for your support - feeling much better now :thumbup:
 
I don't think we will ever be a society that doesn't treat people who ignore the dangers - and rightly so as where do you draw the line and how do you judge? It'd end up with medical insurance and the insurance companies would love that!

But, let me tell you what really annoys me!! Why does it cost £12.50 for a little tub of 25 testing strips? These things must be made in the millions and having worked in Manufacturing and Engineering for a number of years I refuse to believe that these can't be made for pennies. If the NHS and the Government need to save money then tackle some of the companies getting rich off of the back of diabetes. A fair profit is no issue and maybe I am totally wrong about the cost but I have my doubts!

As an example - I work away during the week and have once forgotten my testing kit! Doh! I went to the local hospital, explained my situation and walked out with TWO new metres. They told me they had them "coming out of their ears" as every company wants their metre used. Why? To coin in the profit from the strips!
 
What riles me is when I see test strips for sale on ebay........don't people realise how lucky they are to be given them in the first place? To me, it is dishonest to ask for medical supplies free of charge and then sell them on. I really wish this practice could be blocked by internet companies, and selling strips when you are an individual passing on your prescription is a thing of the past. Grrrr!!!

Sad thing is though, because of the price of them, as you point out, there will always be someone happy to pay less through trading sites :twisted:
 
mandydowns said:
I am becoming more and more angry at diabetes being the one thing that is crippling the NHS in the opinion of a growing number and, by association, this becomes MY FAULT as a type 2 diabetic. I do not smoke or drink, both vices which cost the NHS millions and yet are generally ignored by the media, and yet, because I am overweight (through chronic depression and the consequential overeating) it is my fault for GIVING MYSELF diabetes that the NHS is in dire straits!!

I work hard, take hardly any time off, even when I feel terrible, and so contribute to the wonderful institute of the NHS and so I feel it right and proper to benefit from the service in times of need. I dont ask for tattoos to be removed or for my figure to be enhanced cosmetically, just for basic care when it is needed.

PLEASE DO NOT BERATE TYPE 2 DIABETICS!!! We are not born with the illness like many type 1s and we do NOT give it to ourselves intentionally, if at all. WE ARE NOT THE CURSE OF THE NHS!!!!

Sorry, but I am feeling particularly sensitive today as I have just heard a conversation whilst commuting to work, which has made me feel really angry and almost ASHAMED of being a diabetic.....I wish the media would not generalise about diabetes - this is fuelling the public perception of the illness being self induced and I hope that other groups of people which chronic illnesses brought on, supposedly, by their lifestyles, are singled out in the future as much as we are.

Rant over!!
Click to expand...

What exactly are you trying to say here? It's not your fault you're overweight and got T2 (because you're not overweight "intentionally"?), it's T1's fault because they got the disease without being able to do anything about it, so they are the scourge of the NHS? Yea, that makes sense, thanks for pointing it out to us.
 
I can't speak for the author of the original post, but I certainly have no axe to grind over T1 diabetics. Your lot in life has been very unkind in saddling you probably from a much younger age with diabetes.
We T2's at least, have usually had a normal lifestyle, unlike yourselves, up until our diagnosis of diabetes.

I think what makes some of us annoyed is that even those of us who develop diabetes later in life, and may not always be at fault,( although of course some may be, due to lifestyle and that can't be ignored) are used as the NHS whipping boys, so to speak. Those who smoke and drink don't seem to have the same accusations levelled at them about how much their later life care may cost the NHS and the taxpayer.

I couldn't agree more with both of you re test strips.

The medical companies are getting rich at the expense of the NHS and diabetics in general. I don't believe it either that it costs so much to manufacture and sell test strips, and I strongly suspect that they are keeping the prices artificially high for huge profit.

As for the test strips on ebay.....it's quite wrong, and in my view, unethical, that someone can earn money at the expense of others through selling unwanted, or unneeded strips! The taxpayer is the loser here..... I wish I could get just a few free from my GP, but my Health Authority apparently refuses point blank to fund T2's.

To be honest, although I feel it's wrong, you can see the GP's point as the strips are so horrendously expensive for the NHS budget. It's a catch 22 position.
It isn't fair, and unfortunately we honest diabetics are the ones who lose out in the end.
 
I'm afraid I'm with Scardoc on this one. There is just as much criticism going toward smokers and alcoholics to the point where refusing them transplants if they need them due to alcohol and smoking is being seriously discussed but, like Scardoc said, the alcoholics and the people addicted to smoking have the same problems obese people have with overeating it's just a different 'substance'.

I think it's just as unfair to pass the criticism to another group of people who abuse a substance that causes them ill health because type 2 diabetics who have the disease through being morbidly obese are no better than someone with liver failure who drinks too much - they eat too much! I appreciate not all type 2 diabetics are morbidly obese and I'm not trying to tar everyone with the same brush I'm just pointing out that if you are putting something into your body by choice that is making you ill then what that something is - whether it's food, alcohol or tobacco - doesn't make anyone any better or worse than anyone else as they are all doing the same thing.

As a newly diagnosed 1.5 I have to admit that, yes, sometimes I do feel angry toward people with type 2 diabetes who have it due to being Severely overweight and choose not to control it, because I am 26 with two very young children and would give anything to not have to eventually end up injecting insulin as I had most of my life ahead of me and now I don't know what the future brings. I feel even angrier toward all the morbidly obese people I see who do not have diabetes but then I remember - life isn't fair is it?


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.
 
I don't feel angry towards anyone who has a disease, self-inflicted or not, just annoyed that the press and the NHS seem to want to 'pick' on certain groups of people who are supposedly to blame for the high costs of the NHS, that's all. :wink:

You can have a very healthy lifestyle and still end up with some horrible disease or other, so none of us really know what is round the corner: Who said life was fair? It's certainly not in many cases.

I totally agree that we should all do what we can to help ourselves to keep healthy, but human nature as it is, many of us will never look after ourselves as we should.
Many will feel anger at being diagnosed with a disease, whether it be diabetes, cancer, arthritis or whatever. Three years ago, I was walking with a stick and could barely move from my bed, and I went through the 'why me' stage. I found that I had to accept what I couldn't change, and change what I reasonably could.

Responsibility to help ourselves is in our own best interests for sure, but we also have to have sympathy and understanding for others, as who knows what their backgrounds and circumstances are.

The media need to stop attaching blame to many sufferers of disease, which helps no-one, but sufferers also need education and help to be able to help themselves, that is also true.

By the way, Elaine I notice you too had gestational diabetes? I had it in two of my pregnancies, and perhaps this contributed to my present diagnosis. There is still so much to learn about the why's and wherefore's of diabetes, and hopefully one day we will have many more answers to our questions. 8)

Not a rant any more, just some musings. :silent:
 
To OneOfMany

I am really sorry if your read my post and thought that somehow I was making a point against people with Type 1 - this was not my intention and I am really sorry if it offended you. I have 2 members of my family with Type 1 - one who is a young child and seriously ill so I can appreciate how hard the disease is for those with it.

Yes - I am overweight. Did this GIVE me diabetes? Not sure. My dad is stick thin and has really bad Type 2, as did my Grandmother. I was not asking for sympathy because I am overweight, nor was I intending to point the finger at Type 1s - in fact, I think that this is worse than Type 2 in the sense that many are born with it and so have not had the freedom of choice regarding diet, etc. that I have had in the past. My weight was not a choice in the sense that it is a consequence of a bad mental illness, over which I have limited control.

I was trying to say that I was fed up with being accused of spending all of the NHS funding because I am Type 2 and if I said it in a way that caused you offense I apologise. :(
 
I'm sure you meant no offense, but still i fail the see the reason of your post. Do T2s suck up NHS funds? Sure, but so does every other sick person, what's the point of getting upset about it, suck it up and move on.
 
One of many, This forum is made so people can rant and vent and discuss things that bother them, I understand you may have been offended but I think you are wrong to say the post had no point because it had a point to the person who posted it. This area is called 'have your say' and she was having her say so I think you are being rather harsh in my opinion, have your say if you feel offended, then move on. It's not right to make people feel restricted about what they should or shouldn't post - there's moderators for that.


Diagnosed with GD in 2010, Completely disappeared postpartum. Re-diagnosed December 2012 with type 1.5 diabetes, age 26, BMI 23 currently controlled by only Metformin, 500mg twice a day.
 
Well, it's a different view and it presents a different way of thinking and a "personal" insight into type-2.
Possibly his proposition is correct too. That aside, it's a personal and competent account.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
What about the point of view that T2 diabetics are not diabetic because they are fat but fat because they are diabetic/insulin resistant? With something like smoking there is a clear link, ie no one would say someone starts smoking because they develop lung cancer - but obesity is a complex biological process, read Taubes he suggests that an excess of insulin the blood (from insulin resistance) will drive people to eat more - just as an excess of growth hormones in puberty will drive people to eat more in order to gain height, excess insulin (which is itself a growth hormone) can drive people to eat more to gain bulk.
 
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