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Type 1 Life expectancy & Retirement advice please

P

Paul Blampied

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:( Hi Looking for advise on when to retire.

:o I'm 50 & have been Type 1 for 38 years (since age 12)
Surprisingly after that amount of time on insulin I'm still reasonably fit,
6'4" & 19 stone, beer belly (seldom drink during the week, but 2 pints & 2 JD's most Fri & Sat evenings), On Lisinopril & Simvastatin for Blood pressure & Cholesterol

:mrgreen: Avoid exercise like the plague, but walk three quarters of a mile to work & back daily, work in an office looking after messengers, & when there's holidays I'm still fit enough to be doing the messenger rounds myself.

:D 4-5 years ago I started planning for retirement, at the time I was unable to find and details on life expectancy for type1 diabetics, but plenty of sites showing 6 year reduction for type2, so from that reasoned that i needed to factor in a 10 year reduction in life expectancy. 77 less 10 gave me an age of 67 for my plans.
:evil: But now there are statistics, apparently type1 have a 20+ year reduction in life expectancy.

:shock: Wow I know there are lies, dam lies & Statistics but statistically now that means I only have 6 & half years left! No wonder I was recently turned down for life insurance!

8) Plan was retire at 60, after seeing child through university, as my small work pension kicked in. Sell the house, purchase a liveaboard boat, me & wife head for the Med to live out retirement. (But if I'm unlikely to make it to 60, it's now looking like a bad plan). I may be able to get a reduced work pension & go sooner at 57 (same year as statistically due to die?) but it would financially be very tight, not enough pension to live on, so we would be rapidly be using up any capital left over from the house sale. (I't wouldn't be fare to die & end up leaving the wife with nothing, I wouldn't do it)

:roll: Please can anyone advise,
If the expected 20 year reduction for type1, changes as you get older?
If the original 20 yeas includes all those who died early after complications,
Can I assume having got to 50 without any serious complications, my life expectancy is better? and if so by how much?
What would you do in my circumstances.

Best Regards
Paul
 
really cant help with advice on this but did make me quite sad my son is 8 and had type 1 since the age of 4 so thinking about him dying is really not what i want to be thinking about.

all i can say is everyone is different so statistics really mean very little u could go on for many years yet with no problems at all and i hope this is the case

anna marie
 
Hi Paul

I have a Type 1 friend who is now nearly 90, after becoming diabetic in her early 40s. She has a better social life than I have, lives alone and copes very well.

Also Dr Richard Bernstein, author of the 'Diabetes Solution' book, became Type 1 at age 11 and I believe is in his 70s now and doing well.

Have you discussed this with your pension company? I took mine pre-diabetes, unfortunately, but seem to remember that diabetics get a larger pension from their 'pot' because they are statistically likely to die earlier! Just make sure they don't put a time-limit on it (eg stop paying at 80!).

If you're otherwise generally healthy and you are well-controlled, I don't see why you shouldn't have some good years of happy and active retirement, doing exactly what you want. How awful if you get to 90 and haven't done it all!

Don't forget the statistics take into account all those Type 1s who have died over the past 2 or 3 decades, when treatment wasn't as good and control wasn't as "easy". Having said that, my mother had a Type 1 friend (a contemporary of my gran) who died in her 80s in the late 1960s. Admittedly Charlotte was blind, but I don't know whether that was retinopathy or some other cause. I think she was Type 1; she certainly injected insulin. If you think how well things have come on since then, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't beat the statistics. All the people like the friend I first mentioned haven't become statistics yet

Keep in touch from the Med.!

Make your plans, put your affairs in order, and then enjoy every minute as it comes along. After all a meteorite might drop on your head tomorrow - and that's not a complication of diabetes!

Viv :D
 
Simple advice.

1. Retire as early as you possibly can (I retired aged 49 yrs)
2. Never worry about what tomorrow will bring.
3. Live your life to the full.
4. Just get on with life and living.
5. Never let your sense of humour die ! :D

Some Death Myths .........

http://www.videojug.com/tag/death-myths

You could get run over tomorrow........sh*t happens ! :lol:
 
Dec12th 2012 Next year so we all only have one year left SPEND SPEND SPEND 8)
was all in the Sun so its real :)
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/article2087784.ece

Well if you think like that
Your more than likely end up over 90 and not have a pot to pi*s in
Life is a lottery :mrgreen:

Wifes farther is T1 from 16 now 89 Still alive and kicking ten toes ten fingers
Nothing wrong with him ,no intention of popping off any place soon .
Eats and drinks what ever he likes no kidding,
Door step bacon buttes .egg and chips fish and chips ,in fact he has chips or spuds with everything ,
old puds like treacle pudding,Rolly poly pud spotted **** all with custard
Drinks whiskey beer,Ice cream ,2x99s from the van every sat ,
Will not touch pizza ,Indian or Chinese food (foreign muck) :?

My mum is spending hers like water as she reckons if she has to go into a home later
council will take it all off her for that,
Shes 86 T2 Thin as a rake ,Fit as a fiddle well had two hips replaced
and just off to Cyprus for 8 weeks with her mates ?

So you putting it all on the Red or Black :D



like ken said sh*t happens
I'm 55 forced to stop work last year after an accident :?

Heath is more Important than money. however it helps to oil the wheels



Bob
 
:D Many thanks for all the replys.

:lol: Have decided to take a bit mor care of myself, with the expectation of beating the statistics!

:!: As I have always kept my BC a bit on the high side to avoid Hypos (I always aim to keep around 10) I am now looking to get some sort of continious testing meter so to give me the confidednce to aim for a lower level.

:idea: The Dexcom seven plus looks to be ideal, but the price (only seen US dolar prices quoted) not so good as my local Diabetic centre (Jeresy) wont supply the sencors. Apparently DEXCOM now have a UK dealer Advanced Therapeutics (UK) Ltd. I am awaiting price details from them before deciding if there is any way I can afford.

I will will advise once I have the info

Best Regards
Paul
 
Hi paul just having a good laugh at what you said about us type 1s life expectancy is 20 years less than a normal person!!!i read that as well.its my 57th birthday tomorrow i got diabetes aged just 17 been on insulin for 40 years in april!!i love my life go out have a glass of wine (bottle!!)holiday dine out just do everything anyone does.I test bloods sugars before every meal except when im out and wouldnt be able to anyway after a feww wines :lol: :lol: the only things whats wrong with me is what a lot of people get anyway like frozen shoulder and trapped nerve.i look after my partner and 4 kids(well they all still live at home and are in their 20s)i only work part time so i never stop working and everyone in my family think ive nothing wrong with me anyway because i never moan or am never sick!!!anyway if weve only got so long to live i may be dead in a couple of years :lol: :lol: When i got diabetes in 1970 doctors told my parents i wouldnt live a very long life and would probably never had kids!!!my partner takes the p---s out of me and says (skitting at my age)how come your still here and weve got 4 kids!!!i thought you told me you only had a short lifespan.!!anyway as long as i get to 80 and can still do my own injections that is what i want.
 
Sugarybibs,

Nice to see you've proved the doubters wrong! :D

Nigel
 
Live 20 yrs less? My goodness - I'm 59 now already after Type 1 for 52 yrs. I don't feel like I only have like a yr left or something ! :D
 
Hi, my name is Liz and I have had Type 1 diabetes integrated into MY life for 51 years. I say it is integrated into MY life, because I am Liz first and a diabetic second, I do not live my life for my diabetes.

When I was diagnosed at 9 years old, the consultant who saw me with my parents decided to use the old scare system on me. Terrify them into compliance by telling them they will die young and horribly, blind, legs chopped off etc. There are still people in the "caring" professions like this today. This consultant told me I had only 20 years until I was dead or severely disabled, even less if I did not do what I was told. Maybe he works for the insurance companies nowadays :evil: .

Luckily within 5 years we moved home and I was put in the care of a paediatrician who believed in education and developing patient autonomy. It took a lot for my parents to let go of the fear instilled in them by the previous consultant. But from that day I took charge of my diabetes and have remained autonomous since. I would advise anyone who has a member of the "caring" profession using the old scare tactics :twisted: , move to another practice where they treat you with more respect. Bullying into compliance has no place in the modern world of medicine/nursing. Living in fear, instilled by doctors/nurses/insurance companies etc, raises stress hormones and reduces most peoples ability to comply with health advice.

So I have now had 51 years of injecting insulin, I trained as a swimmer and reached the all England championships as a teenager. I weight trained, did circuit training etc and integrated diabetes into MY life with the help of my consultant. I had to apply to seven different hospitals to be accepted for Nurse Traing in the 1970s, most thought I would not cope because I was "a diabetic". I worked for 40 years as a Nurse, Ward Sister and later as a Senior Lecturer. I rarely had any time off and I have few complications, something I put down to having a positive attitude and focusing on having a full and active life :idea:

I do not believe there is any such thing as predicting how long people can live while integrating diabetes into their life. I believe that the most important thing is to have a positive attitude, enjoy life and fulfil your dreams/ambitions. I have been retired for a year now and it has taken me time to adjust to a pace in life. But that has nothing to do with diabetes, life has changed and I will adapt and persist in living my life according to my belief that I am Liz, not just "a diabetic" :D
 
Hi

I am now 64 and have been a Type 1 diabetic for 31 years. I'm fit, run a few miles 3 or 4 times a week, walk lots, do pilates and am fitter than people 20 years younger. If diabetics lose 20 years off their lives I wouldn't still be here! I retired a year ago and am busy doing stuff all the time.

I am well controlled, my HbA1C is 6.3 and I do watch what I eat etc, so I plan to live to 80 at least! Love your life and enjoy it, no-one knows how long they have, it's in the lap of the Gods.

Remember about statistics and **** lies!

Lynne
 
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