Type 1 What was type 1 treatment like 20-30 years ago?

[Smallbrit]

For those of you who had diabetes in the 1980s/1990s, how well could it be controlled?

My mum had type 1 diabetes, and sadly passed away 20 years ago, from what we've always described as a stroke caused by diabetic complications when travelling abroad and flight/time differences/jet lag/confusion over insulin injections contributing. She travelled alone, so no one knows how well she managed her insulin injections during the previous few days.

I see on this forum how much dedication type 1s have in maintaining their health, and am trying to imagine what it was like for my mum. I believe she was diagnosed as diabetic from her mid-30s/early 1970s on. All I really remember from growing up in the 1980s/90s was she had ginormous syringes of insulin. And she couldn't eat cake. But how did you know/not know how it was going?

 

[porl69]

I was diagnosed in 197, aged 5 1/2. I can remember glass and metal syringes that needed to be boiled before every use. using a cloudy insulin and clear insulin, had to draw it out of the vials, (cloudy long lasting clear fast acting. Different strengths of insulin as well. Doing urine tests (5 drops of urine and ten drops of water then a fizzy tablet that turned the mix a colour, blue being good orange being bad. Never knew what your sugars were until you hasd the "lie detector" test when you seen your Diabetic doctor for your HBA1c. Having to eat at specific times and having to inject at different times. Oh, nearly forget the **** needles....like darning needles which were VERY long and really not very sharp and had to use them for a week. Used to have a book of the dietitian with food in there which had the "portions" per food item. Allowed a certain amount of "portions" for each meal and having to eat a "portion" between meals.
Things have moved on a LOT lol.
Can vaguely remember going from testing urine to testing blood (cant recall the year). I also remember the outcry in the national papers saying about the cost of the "New Tests" for diabetes. Pretty much the same as the Libre is doing now in the UK

 

[Grant_Vicat]

For those of you who had diabetes in the 1980s/1990s, how well could it be controlled?

My mum had type 1 diabetes, and sadly passed away 20 years ago, from what we've always described as a stroke caused by diabetic complications when travelling abroad and flight/time differences/jet lag/confusion over insulin injections contributing. She travelled alone, so no one knows how well she managed her insulin injections during the previous few days.

I see on this forum how much dedication type 1s have in maintaining their health, and am trying to imagine what it was like for my mum. I believe she was diagnosed as diabetic from her mid-30s/early 1970s on. All I really remember from growing up in the 1980s/90s was she had ginormous syringes of insulin. And she couldn't eat cake. But how did you know/not know how it was going?

Hi Smallbrit, It was an interesting time, because Blood Sugar meters only came in at the end of the 70's and you had to pay for strips - very expensive, but fortunately King's College Hospital often gave me strips, because, as one of their diabetic Ward Sisters said many years later "We didn't think you would survive." The DAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) scheme, was nearly 20 years away and I think most type ones would have been on a carbohydrate controlled diet. This did not mean low carbs. I was put on the following at the age of 8 in 1966:

Breakfast 45g Elevenses 30g Lunch 60g Afternoon Tea 35g Supper 60g Bedtime 20g

I had a dose of fast acting (Rapitard) mixed with Slow Acting (Monotard before breakfast and before supper. The only other injections I would have were when my sugar levels went too high. Before testing machines, we only had urine tests which were not indicative enough. I would inject if I recognised Ketosis or my parents could smell 'pear drops on my breath. But a meter would indicate your exact level, and so you could react accordingly. The problem is that so many things affect body chemistry and efficiency that any two diabetics could fare remarkably differently on the same treatment. Metabolic rate plays a part. Deciding on how much insulin to some extent would be trial-and-error. I hope this is of some assistance!

 

[porl69]

Forgot about the pear drop smell with ketones

 

[TheBigNewt]

I was diagnosed in 1984, in the last year of my 9 years of medical training. I diagnosed myself. At that time I had access to a glucose meter pretty quickly, it was a large plastic thing in a case the size of a laptop computer, but it worked. I always had the disposable little plastic syringes with little needles for insulin they were 1cc each. I was put on NPH insulin at first, 2 injections/day. I did test my urine for sugar at first before I got the meter. But pretty quick the endocrinologist put me on what was known as the "portable pump" which we now call MDI. I used ultralente as my basal, and regular as the mealtime bolus. I went to Lantus when that came out, and Humulin for bolus, then Humulog. Fortunately my A1C's always ran 6-7. I quit going to doctors about 2 years after diagnosis, just managed myself. Now I check an A1C with a fingerstick kit I buy at the pharmacy. I prescribe my own insulin, and buy my strips online for 20 cents apiece. I'm glad I didn't have to deal with the boiling glass syringes stuff, my hat's off to those who went through that. I guess I was "lucky" to get it when I did lol.

 

[mytype1.life]

Yep I had to draw up insulin with a syringe... needles were huge and there was a totally different (ineffective) approach or understanding... at least for me!

 

[Granny_grump_]

I was diagnosed in 1972, aged 6. I can remember glass and metal syringes that needed to be boiled before every use. using a cloudy insulin and clear insulin, had to draw it out of the vials, (cloudy long lasting clear fast acting. Different strengths of insulin as well. Doing urine tests (5 drops of urine and ten drops of water then a fizzy tablet that turned the mix a colour, blue being good orange being bad. Never knew what your sugars were until you hasd the "lie detector" test when you seen your Diabetic doctor for your HBA1c. Having to eat at specific times and having to inject at different times. Oh, nearly forget the **** needles....like darning needles which were VERY long and really not very sharp and had to use them for a week. Used to have a book of the dietitian with food in there which had the "portions" per food item. Allowed a certain amount of "portions" for each meal and having to eat a "portion" between meals.
Things have moved on a LOT lol.
Can vaguely remember going from testing urine to testing blood (cant recall the year). I also remember the outcry in the national papers saying about the cost of the "New Tests" for diabetes. Pretty much the same as the Libre is doing now in the UK

Hi @porl69 i too remember all that you wrote about has my sister was 10 years old in 1972 and my mother was terrified of having to inject her,they gave her a syringe and a huge needle and told her to practise on an orange before she was allowed home each of the foods she was allowed to eat where counted in lines so many each meal, it must have been terrifying for my mother Has she had never in her life had to do anything like this! K

 

[porl69]

Hi @porl69 i too remember all that you wrote about has my sister was 10 years old in 1972 and my mother was terrified of having to inject her,they gave her a syringe and a huge needle and told her to practise on an orange before she was allowed home each of the foods she was allowed to eat where counted in lines so many each meal, it must have been terrifying for my mother Has she had never in her life had to do anything like this! K

Forgot about the practise with an orange lol. My mother and father had to do my injection before I was allowed home. My mother, a small dainty lady, had no problem at all, my father, a 19 stone ex-para with hands like shovels, was a trebbling mess when he had to do it. So I took the syringe and bottles of insulin off him and drew up the correct dosage and did it myself and went on my way to play with the other children lol. Been doing my own since then (aprox 58K+ jabs to date!!!)

 

[Bluetit1802]

My husband's best friend was diagnosed T1 aged 9 in 1954.
I knew him well from around 1970. I have no idea what his insulin regime was but I do remember he had to eat at the same times every day, and if he was delayed for some reason he had to eat a KitKat or drink something like Lucozade. He certainly did not avoid carbs, and ate normally including fish & chips etc. He was responsible, looked after himself as best he could, and always very careful to follow doctor's orders, so I assume his doctor had told him to eat normally. He was never seen without hypo treatments, mainly the KitKats and Lucozade, and he attracted cats due to the pear drops smell. I witnessed several of his hypos, and also was present when he collapsed and ended up in hospital with presumably DKA. His health deteriorated. His eye sight was abysmal and he had to give up work. His feet were very bad so he could only shuffle. His kidneys failed, he was on dialysis for several years, eventually had a kidney transplant. It killed him in the end. He was 40.

 

[himtoo]

I was diagnosed on august 14, 1972 ( not that it is totally burnt into my memory ) aged 14.
( so not 20-30 years as asked for -- but still a relevant snapshot as things didn't change much until the early 1990's for me other than moving to 2 injections per day in the early 1980's )

the biggest thing was the really strict routine

7 days a week - up at 7am , test urine , take injection ( 1 per day of 2 insulins mixed )
then eat breakfast at 7:30am-- the exact same breakfast every day 1 egg ( boiled or poached , 2 pieces of canadian bacon ( the lean round part ) , 2 slices of white toast , 10 grams of butter , 1 x 150ml glass of orange juice

lunch at 12 noon - always the same 1 sandwich -- either beef or chicken and 1 granny smith apple

evening meal at 5:30pm
every meal was similar -- meat ( either lamb chops , mince in gravy , pork chop , roasted chicken , fish ) and a measured portion of mashed or boiled potato , and then all the broccoli and cauli i could stuff my face with !! I still love broccoli and cauli -- my 2 hero veggies !!!!!

snack at 9pm -- 1/2 a sandwich and a small ( 200ml ) glass of milk

did that for 7 years solid -- no deviation

I did play football -- and always carried my "kit bag" with me to the pitch --- in those days it was little 150ml tins of orange juice
I don't remember glucose tablets being in existence.

 

[dancer]

I was diagnosed in 1978 and used a glass syringe to inject long acting Monotard once each day. I couldn't understand how this could possibly give me good control but the only time my urine tests weren't blue was when I wasn't well.

In 1982, a new consultant arrived and I was shown how to mix quick acting Actrapid with Monotard and had to do this before breakfast and evening meal. A few weeks later, I was shown how to test my blood and was sent home with BM test strips and some lancets. I was given the order details for a device suitable for the lancets, so that it would be easier for me to prick my fingers (as far as I remember, it cost £5). I was also told to half the strips, so that they would last longer (strips weren't on prescription, but my new consultant had persuaded the hospital/health board to fund the strips.)

We got our first DSN in the '80s. I think she arrived in 1983, as she was there before my wedding but wasn't there in summer of '82.

I remember she showed a video showing a group of us the new way of injecting. We had been taught to have the needle at a 45 degree angle but were shown how to inject with the needle at 90 degrees. I think this was the 80s but I'm not sure.

Disposable syringes came, at last, and I was told to use one for a week, or till it felt blunt, and keep it in the fridge between injections.
I got my first insulin pen from the hospital, in late 1992 or early '93 and was changed to the basal bolus regime.

The good old days? Thank goodness I have my pump and cgm now!

 

[Madmaureen]

Hi all
Brought.back so many memories for me I was diagnosed in 1970 a young girl with my whole life ahead if me!
It has never prevented me from doing what I wanted to do and I have!!
I used to stick to 160 carbs.per day never detracted from that it was very strict in those days.
Now just.finished DAFNE and trying.hard to eat what I like when I like and not to stick to my old routine its great.
Have two beautiful sons 2 adorable.grand daughters and I am proud of what I have achieved and lets all face it - what we all have to achieve on our own!
One.word for me I say it all the.time as I now have. F R E E D O M!!!
Well done all!!!!

 

[Altaf_7]

I was diagnosed in 1972, aged 6. I can remember glass and metal syringes that needed to be boiled before every use. using a cloudy insulin and clear insulin, had to draw it out of the vials, (cloudy long lasting clear fast acting. Different strengths of insulin as well. Doing urine tests (5 drops of urine and ten drops of water then a fizzy tablet that turned the mix a colour, blue being good orange being bad. Never knew what your sugars were until you hasd the "lie detector" test when you seen your Diabetic doctor for your HBA1c. Having to eat at specific times and having to inject at different times. Oh, nearly forget the **** needles....like darning needles which were VERY long and really not very sharp and had to use them for a week. Used to have a book of the dietitian with food in there which had the "portions" per food item. Allowed a certain amount of "portions" for each meal and having to eat a "portion" between meals.
Things have moved on a LOT lol.
Can vaguely remember going from testing urine to testing blood (cant recall the year). I also remember the outcry in the national papers saying about the cost of the "New Tests" for diabetes. Pretty much the same as the Libre is doing now in the UK

How is living with diabetes for so long? Have u had any complications till now ?

 

[porl69]

How is living with diabetes for so long? Have u had any complications till now ?

Yeah, have not really been a very well controlled diabetic. I am needle sensitive (bloody hate needles lol). Have lost the sight in my left eye and 2 years ago was diagnosed stage 4CKD. The last 2 years I have regained control (really don't want more needles poked in me for dialysis!!). Have just had the Freestyle Libre prescribed and am now waiting for approval for the Omnipod pump. So, yes, have had a few complications but am now a pretty well controlled T1D. Only taken 45 years lol

 

[Draco16]

A slightly different angle (as I was only diagnosed in this decade) but my mum was a paediatrics nurse from the 1960's through to the 2000s. She administered thousand of insulin injections over her career to babies and young children.

What she tells me about the treatment and tools back then shocks me now. But she did witness the considerable improvements over those decades.

When she see's my Dexcom hooked up to my Apple watch nowadays she is amazed!

I tip my hat to anyone who had to deal with this back in those days.

 

[TheBigNewt]

When she see's my Dexcom hooked up to my Apple watch nowadays she is amazed!
I tip my hat to anyone who had to deal with this back in those days.

How does the Dexcom connect to the Apple watch? I'm interested in both devices. thanks in advance.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Forgot about the practise with an orange lol. My mother and father had to do my injection before I was allowed home. My mother, a small dainty lady, had no problem at all, my father, a 19 stone ex-par with hands like shovels, was a trebbling mess when he had to do it. So I took the syringe and bottles of insulin off him and drew up the correct dosage and did it myself and went on my way to play with the other children lol. Been doing my own since then (aprox 58K+ jabs to date!!!)

Thought this picture, part of my museum going back 58 years, might interest many on this thread! The needles at the front were the last type I had before platic disposable syringes were available. If you look to the left of the first glass syringe, you can see an unopened much longer (and thicker!!) neeedle in the case (about 1973). It was this case that caused my temporary arrest at a brand new Al Italia office just outside Milan Central Station in 1978. The following is extracted from the book in my hand:

1978 I went Interrailing round Europe with Jonty Ward, a great friend from school. We stayed with some of his relatives in northwest Paris for three days and then progressed towards Florence. By the time the train had reached Novara I was not very well and we decided to leave the train and look for somewhere for me to do my injection, in relative privacy and hygiene. We found nothing useful. Later on we looked at the Michelin Guide in which the first entry stated “Novara is a grim town.” We proceeded to Milan Central. As expected, the station was enormous and we had little difficulty spotting the signs for “Gabinetti” (WC). Unfortunately these were all holes in the concrete with squatting slabs. Nothing would make me inject myself in there. We therefore crossed the street and headed towards a brand new Al Italia office. Jonty sat with the back packs against a bus stop, while I ventured inside a very plush office, hoping to spot the magic sign. They were downstairs, which meant passing the reception desk. Once downstairs I was able to wash my hands and find the first proper lavatory in Italy. Wouldn’t the Romans be proud? This meant that I had somewhere I could sit behind a locked door. Having injected myself in the thigh, the fact that somebody in heavy shoes had been constantly pacing backwards and forwards outside my cubicle suddenly took on an alarming significance, so I pretended to be in there for legitimate reasons. He tried the door handle. I sweated. After a few minutes I realised the futility of my acting and decided to brave it. A tall man in a very smart braided uniform allowed me to wash my hands and then walked slowly ahead of me towards the stairs. On the way up, he spun on his heel and curtly demanded “Documenti.” I handed him my brand new passport, which aroused suspicion. He snatched my syringe case, which was of the old type, with a double ended spirit-filled tube inside an aluminium box. He opened this and started to unscrew the tube. In the best English that flooded into my racing head, I advised “I shouldn’t do that if I were you.” Spirit sprang over his wrist and for some reason he took exception to this. He had found what he wanted and pulled me up to the reception, where two other men were seated. Their conversation reminded me of a million starlings. Eventually I uttered the only words of Italian which I knew (probably in a laughable accent) “Sono diabetico.” Blank stares. Help! Should I try French? “Je suis diabetique et en regime d’insuline.” Suddenly the smallest of the three brilliantly deduced “Ah, e diabetico.” I could have kissed him and happily shot the other two.
The black plastic travelling case was the best I ever found (made in Switzerland) but for some reason wasn't available for very long.

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Hi @porl69 i too remember all that you wrote about has my sister was 10 years old in 1972 and my mother was terrified of having to inject her,they gave her a syringe and a huge needle and told her to practise on an orange before she was allowed home each of the foods she was allowed to eat where counted in lines so many each meal, it must have been terrifying for my mother Has she had never in her life had to do anything like this! K

Hi @porl69 i too remember all that you wrote about has my sister was 10 years old in 1972 and my mother was terrified of having to inject her,they gave her a syringe and a huge needle and told her to practise on an orange before she was allowed home each of the foods she was allowed to eat where counted in lines so many each meal, it must have been terrifying for my mother Has she had never in her life had to do anything like this! K

Hi Granny Grump (love the name!) I thought the following extract from the book I'm holding might amuse you. It would have been September 1966:
I remember a ginger haired and very tall boy coming in for an operation on an in-growing toenail, a girl coming in with non-stop hiccups who was applied to an oxygen mask, and a 12 year old girl (I think her name was Christine, but I can’t be certain) who was a newly diagnosed diabetic. The nurses took advantage of her arrival by pointing out that she was a girl and had started administering her own injections straight away and that I was being a wimp. Although I believed this, I stubbornly refused to “self-harm” way beyond Christine’s incarceration. One morning I surrendered and aimed the frighteningly thick Luer mounted needle towards my right thigh. Just like trying to remove a splinter with a sewing needle. Having made a bloody, but futile mess, one of the nurses whipped the syringe out of my hand and plunged it straight in. I was given an orange on which to practise, but I was not convinced that oranges have any sense of pain. It would be nearly Christmas before I was able to be discharged and even then I was not as stable as they would have liked.
All the best

 

[porl69]

Thought this picture, part of my museum going back 58 years, might interest many on this thread! The needles at the front were the last type I had before platic disposable syringes were available. If you look to the left of the first glass syringe, you can see an unopened much longer (and thicker!!) neeedle in the case (about 1973). It was this case that caused my temporary arrest at a brand new Al Italia office just outside Milan Central Station in 1978. The following is extracted from the book in my hand:

1978 I went Interrailing round Europe with Jonty Ward, a great friend from school. We stayed with some of his relatives in northwest Paris for three days and then progressed towards Florence. By the time the train had reached Novara I was not very well and we decided to leave the train and look for somewhere for me to do my injection, in relative privacy and hygiene. We found nothing useful. Later on we looked at the Michelin Guide in which the first entry stated “Novara is a grim town.” We proceeded to Milan Central. As expected, the station was enormous and we had little difficulty spotting the signs for “Gabinetti” (WC). Unfortunately these were all holes in the concrete with squatting slabs. Nothing would make me inject myself in there. We therefore crossed the street and headed towards a brand new Al Italia office. Jonty sat with the back packs against a bus stop, while I ventured inside a very plush office, hoping to spot the magic sign. They were downstairs, which meant passing the reception desk. Once downstairs I was able to wash my hands and find the first proper lavatory in Italy. Wouldn’t the Romans be proud? This meant that I had somewhere I could sit behind a locked door. Having injected myself in the thigh, the fact that somebody in heavy shoes had been constantly pacing backwards and forwards outside my cubicle suddenly took on an alarming significance, so I pretended to be in there for legitimate reasons. He tried the door handle. I sweated. After a few minutes I realised the futility of my acting and decided to brave it. A tall man in a very smart braided uniform allowed me to wash my hands and then walked slowly ahead of me towards the stairs. On the way up, he spun on his heel and curtly demanded “Documenti.” I handed him my brand new passport, which aroused suspicion. He snatched my syringe case, which was of the old type, with a double ended spirit-filled tube inside an aluminium box. He opened this and started to unscrew the tube. In the best English that flooded into my racing head, I advised “I shouldn’t do that if I were you.” Spirit sprang over his wrist and for some reason he took exception to this. He had found what he wanted and pulled me up to the reception, where two other men were seated. Their conversation reminded me of a million starlings. Eventually I uttered the only words of Italian which I knew (probably in a laughable accent) “Sono diabetico.” Blank stares. Help! Should I try French? “Je suis diabetique et en regime d’insuline.” Suddenly the smallest of the three brilliantly deduced “Ah, e diabetico.” I could have kissed him and happily shot the other two.
The black plastic travelling case was the best I ever found (made in Switzerland) but for some reason wasn't available for very long.
View attachment 24912

Wow. Can remember the blue box. I had one of those. And the memories of the needles just came flooding back....OUCH!

 

[Grant_Vicat]

I was diagnosed on august 14, 1972 ( not that it is totally burnt into my memory ) aged 14.
( so not 20-30 years as asked for -- but still a relevant snapshot as things didn't change much until the early 1990's for me other than moving to 2 injections per day in the early 1980's )

the biggest thing was the really strict routine

7 days a week - up at 7am , test urine , take injection ( 1 per day of 2 insulins mixed )
then eat breakfast at 7:30am-- the exact same breakfast every day 1 egg ( boiled or poached , 2 pieces of canadian bacon ( the lean round part ) , 2 slices of white toast , 10 grams of butter , 1 x 150ml glass of orange juice

lunch at 12 noon - always the same 1 sandwich -- either beef or chicken and 1 granny smith apple

evening meal at 5:30pm
every meal was similar -- meat ( either lamb chops , mince in gravy , pork chop , roasted chicken , fish ) and a measured portion of mashed or boiled potato , and then all the broccoli and cauli i could stuff my face with !! I still love broccoli and cauli -- my 2 hero veggies !!!!!

snack at 9pm -- 1/2 a sandwich and a small ( 200ml ) glass of milk

did that for 7 years solid -- no deviation

I did play football -- and always carried my "kit bag" with me to the pitch --- in those days it was little 150ml tins of orange juice
I don't remember glucose tablets being in existence.

Hi Himtoo, In 1972 you could get rolls of glucose tablets roughly the size and thickness of a Trebor Extra Strong Mint in a tube about three quarters the length. The tubes were yellow and black bands with a Boots logo and Glucose Tablets written in red capital letters. For me, the effect of putting one in the mouth (they were as smooth as finishing plaster), was a horrible mixture of cold plaster and sweet metallic dust. I'm glad you didn't experience this!