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Type one is EASY!! for me.

Tfqleeds

Active Member
Messages
26
Location
Leeds
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Ok so firstly please do not let this post offend you if you are really struggling with Type one or you have to deal with complications or other medical conditions, or other issues in general. I have felt compelled to write this piece to reassure anybody newly diagnosed and new to this forum to please not allow some of the very negative posts to bring you down or mislead you into thinking dealing with this condition will always be difficult.

In my own experience of being type one since September, I don't know what all the fuss is about. I think it is such an easy condition to live with compared to many other much worse ailments.I prick my finger 3-8 times per day and inject myself when I eat, generally 2-4 times per day. When I am exercising and eating low carb I generally only need to inject the slow release Insulin. I have had one hypo which wasn't the worst experience of my life and i generally keep my blood sugars between 4 & 7. Am I lucky in this respect? maybe but maybe you will be too.

When I first started reading the threads on this forum I convinced myself that the future was pretty grim, this so does not have to be the case. Type one is so much easier to live with now than what it was ten or even five years ago (according to my consultant).

I can only speak for myself (30 year old male no commitments outside of work) but it has had such a minimal impact on my life. On a plus side I enjoy body building and insulin is very anabolic, great for building muscle! I have met an incredible girl who was not remotely put off by me being diabetic (that was a crazy thought that first went through my head). So my message is please be positive there isn't really anything to be that down about in the scheme of things!!!!
 
Congratulations. You are still in the honeymoon. It is much easier in that phase and we are all very pleased for you. Keep an eye on those blood tests as they are all important for spotting changes. As for the difference to five or ten years ago? It's pretty similar.

But the point is that it is nothing to be scared and you should live your life with and around it, not let it dominate everything. Keep up the good attitude.
 
I concur that it will be easy for me once I get a job, but at the moment it is not, because I sort of need a job to build my motivation in general to do things instead of just putting things off like injecting insulin, binge eating, and hoping to win money by gambling with my benefits. Without a job you feel useless, you feel the weight of the world pushing you down, depressed and anxious (not that everyone doesn't go through this everyday even with a job), but with a job my life would have meaning and a reason to survive.
 

Hi Tim,

I don't know if it the honey moon period or not to be honest. I discussed this with the consultant and he thinks not. Some days I will eat and my BG just won't be affected, even if i ate say Jelly Beans then other days the same foods will really affect the BG if i didn't take insulin.
 
Does sound like the honeymoon period, but even if it is...you're right it isn't all doom and gloom forevermore!!
Remember that most people only share their problems as they need support, and rarely share what's going well!
Hope all goes well for you @Tfqleeds
 
Your post is fair enough and I don't take offence but you have been diagnosed for 2 months. Come back and let us know how you have got on after 30 or 40 or 50 years as some of us here have been and you will have a huge range of stories to tell and many of them will not be good. I hope you find it this easy for ever but can pretty much let you know bad stuff will happen! But keep up the good attitude as it will really help you out when you need it.
 
I think its partly down to strength of mind and how much your willing to fight the disease/condition,all we can do is try our best on a daily basic right. alot of people who have had diabetes for a number of years have more than likely had to deal with alot so i imagine that would affect how they see the outcome in fighting diabetes and maybe thinking,whats the point!!! been positive is hard but fighting on is what were all about right!! even been here was a fight so we're born fighters! hopefully in the future there maybe a cure or something else to help in treating diabetes,have a good folks
 
Tfqleeds said:
. On a plus side I enjoy body building and insulin is very anabolic, great for building muscle!
Click to expand...
Can someone explain this to me? How is having T1 a benefit for muscle building, surely we are just replacing our body's own insulin with our injected insulin? As someone who is slim and trying to bulk up a little I'd be interested to know more!
 
Hi Pinewood
If you are injecting insulin there is a chance you are giving more than naturally required or you are having to due to higher levels which may result in weight gain.

*edited by a moderator*
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It has become trendy for 'cheating' body builders to inject small amounts of insulin, in order to increase their size.

I think they are idiots.
 
Early days, and best of luck to you. Glad you are positive about it, but be prepared for things to get more difficult once the honeymoon period is over.
 
I envy you...I really do...and I admire your positivity...long may it last.

A wise man @himtoo said some wise words to me just the other day...'the diabetes doesn't actually change...it is our attitude to it that changes...'. There is so much truth in these words...we all have good days and bad days...ups and downs...highs and lows...it won't always be easy...it won't always be hard...but it will always be there...and your attitude to it will change along with everything else that life throws at you.
 
pinewood said:
Can someone explain this to me? How is having T1 a benefit for muscle building, surely we are just replacing our body's own insulin with our injected insulin? As someone who is slim and trying to bulk up a little I'd be interested to know more!
Click to expand...
I created a new thread to explain my situation without derailing this thread.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/type-1-my-transformation-from-overweight-to-obese.87395/

Tfqleeds and I have a very similar situation. While I agree that it's "easy" right now. I'm realistic in expecting it will eventually become much more difficult.

The "benefit" of being a type 1 in this case is that we can control how much and when we have insulin in our bodies. Not only that, but we are injecting insulin directly into our fat/muscle rather than having it released from our pancreas.

Insulin promotes general weight gain. Consequently, you have to be the one that controls if that weight is healthy (muscle) or unhealthy (fat). The general concept is to deliver amino acids to your muscles at the most important times (usually just before/after and during a workout) and avoid delivering excess carbohydrates that will ultimately turn into fat.

Off to the gym for a bit. @Tfqleeds I'd love to hear more about your personal approach to bodybuilding.
 
Wow - good to hear a positive post - let's be honest though forums are there for people who need help so generally people are posting here who need support and advice. There are positive posts but here are people who are trying to get by and just cope with living with type 1 and many who have lived with it for years but just need to feel part of a community and need that support. If you're regimental and your body acts in a text book fashion that type 1 is easier to manage, this is true but life throws many curve balls which make it harder to cope at times, not all the time though.

I hope you continue to live well with this condition, if you find anything helps then share it here
 
Hi @Tfqleeds. I'm in the same situation as you, I was diagnosed in July and I don't really carb count at the moment, if I stick to complex carbs I rarely have to give my self more than 4 units of bolus with a basal of 14 units a day. If I'm active, which I am most days of the week I do not require insulin after exercise and less insulin the day after. We are most definitely in the honeymoon period as I work with a few T1's who have been T1 for years and they sometimes require 10 units + of insulin with lunch and they split their basal up into morning and evening, 28 units in the morning and 16 in the evening if I recall correctly. I also believe me finding my diabetes early helped with all this, no DKA, just been feeling tired and thirsty for 2-3 weeks. I think when injecting insulin we give our pancreas a rest and we'll stay in the honeymoon period a bit longer. Do you mind me asking what you're levels are at before and after the gym and do you eat/drink a snack before?
 
Really pleased you've come to terms with your diabetes in such a short space of time @Tfqleeds, with your positive attitude you won't go too far wrong in life. Well done.
 

Oh my man, I thought exactly the same as you within the first few months of being diagnosed Type-1. It was so easy. You have got to be honeymooning. I too found BG control really easy immediately after diagnosis.

I honeymooned for about 1 year before it started getting tougher - but then I started getting into regular cardio and now weight lift 4 times a week, eat only low GI carbs, it makes a remarkable difference. Keep it all up and maybe you'll never notice!
 
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