met

anyone on here type 1 diabetic? how does it / doesnt it affect your daily life and have you had any discrimination etc work or other? just looking for opinions/advice
thanks

Phil

My son is diabetic and gets some trouble with the teachers [well until I have a quiet word ]

Karyn aka SheScooby SIDC Membership Sec is also Diabetic as is RobMo an ESC Member perhaps they could advise

SteA

Yes I am mate

For the first 6 years or so it had minimal impact on my life, I was very active and it still remained predictable and easily controllable....

The last few years have been exactly the opposite, very unpredictable no matter what, so quite often it could be described as a right pain in the **** it can also effect my moods, I'm generally happy, sociable and communicative... if my blood sugars all over the place, I'm really not

Work wise, I'm now pretty lucky, I'm a university lecturer, so I am pretty much in charge of myself workwise..... I tend to check it frequently during lectures and do have to give impromptu breaks on occasion.

met

my son was diagnosed as type 1 in dec 2005. and we are just about getting his numbers right ish although he had a bug last week and was really sick and his number were hovering around the 2's and 3's even after hypostop gel, we have got his number back up again by cutting a lot of insulin out and he's better now but just wondered how it affects some of you guys daily or your kids, how old is your son phil?

Phil

12 now

been diagnosed since he was 3

RussBoy

I am. Type 1 - I'm 34 and I was diagnosed at 28. The shock of both my parents dying at the same time was said to have triggered mine though both my grandfathers were also diabetics so my cards were probably already marked anyway to be honest. 29 is late for a diagnosis of Type 1 - I'm lucky as I managed to have a 'normal' childhood.

The first 3 years for me I managed to survive on a very strict diet and tablets - I now inject 4 times daily. However...I moved to Spain last year partly because of my health. For some reason, my diabetes is massively better over here - I inject about 25% insulin of what I would in the UK and I normally always meet sugar targets - I was very hit and miss in the UK. The doctors say the heat and lifestyle are helping and I'd tend to agree.

Has it affected my life? Certainly. But I'd probabvly one of the few that says ultimately it's improved it. I watch what I eat, I look and feel relatively healthy, I enjoy life and I do more noe (just to prove a point) that I did pre-diagnosis. And remember, in the UK, there's said to be as many undiagnosed as there is diagnosed cases at the moment (type 1 and 2) - I'd rather know and do something about it than not know.

Whilst I am quite mentally comfortable about the illness itself and how it affects me, what is a pain is the side effects. For example, I also have high blood pressure and this seems to be linked and for that I have to take pills every day - ironically, I'd rather take another injection if I could as you get much more used to those after a while. I also get tired from time to time and also find the 'social' effects a bit of a pain. For example, I was in a big meeting last week which started at mid day. After an hour and a half I had to leave to eat something as I'd have passed out otherwise and trying to explain this to others is a challenge sometimes to say the least....

Feel free to PM for any advice etc. I'm no doc but will galdly share any experiences and findings etc. with anyone who wants to know...

Cheers,


Russ

met

cheers guys, my son is 2 and from what i can make out i am glad he was diagnosed now instead of 5 -10 yrs ago due to the improvements in novo pens and the roche diagnostic kit that we now have, by dad was diagnosed at age 40ish(hes 62 now) and he used to use all manner of nasty looking syringes etc. he is about to go onto the inhaler too to try that, Phil did the docs eve talk to you about pumping? my mum works for great ormond street and weve been talking about pumps with the prof, what was schooling like for him as a toddler and throug to where he is now? i am worried about the hardship this will cause him thanks

Phil

Robbie, is a very laid back lad

Robbie's schools have always been very proactive, that coupled that until this year his twin sister has always been able to spot potential lows

We have tried to let him get on with it with so far much success

Teachers at his new School seemed to have a few difficulties to start with

i.e. Teacher asked if he HAD to have a snack during his lesson I retorted as long as he didn't mind him dieing in the lesson

Naughty but got the message home

Re the pumps not reviewed that yet

My wife is a nurse and keeps a breast of all the latest advances

Robbie enjoyed being part of the Tadpole club [BDA Junior Membership] they run some good courses to help the kids become independant

There are benefits to claim as well which does help

Huxley Chick

I have been diabetic for over 26 years now

Never really had any discrimination - had a few problems when I was at school with certain teachers getting upset when I ate during lessons & fellow pupils referring to me as a junkie

And I'm always first on the list when having to undergo operations

Most of the time it doesn't affect my day to day life, but obviously there is the 'equipment' that you have to carry around, which can be a pain. Plus there's the complications. Mine have been restricted to my eyes so far (I've had laser surgery on both for retinopathy) but everything else seems to be in good working order

If there's anything you want to know, feel free to PM me

jimi

Hi

I have been a type 1 for 25 years now and over the last couple of years i have been feeling very upset at the prospect of being a diabetic.

I feel very trapped and some times i hate my self for having this disability,you can never ever relax or get away from it.

The side effects are horrendous and the complications that you will get sooner or later are very servere.

JIM

jimi

Anyone else on here?

JIM

bruce

iTrader: (5)

Ive been type 1 for 33 years, I'm 36 now so dont really know any different.

met

we were in great ormond st last week to get my son checked out, as he hypo's 5-6 time a week every week at the moment, they are looking at possibly changing his insulin regime. to put it into perspective how many clicks of slow and fast are the older diabetics on this thread taking?
my son is on 11 clicks slow,(glargine or levemir) and 3 clicks fast (novorapid) 3 times a day, and his number range between 3-16 depending what he's been doing. that said he can go from a 15 to a 3.2 in under 2hours and that is with a bag of hula hoops and a carton of juice in the middle!!!!

Boost II

iTrader: (1)

I might only inject 5 ish units of Novorapid for a bag of hula hoops and a bit of juice and I'm 6'2" and about 15 stone. Perhaps 3 is too much for the little chap? Best to stick to advice from the hospital though, everybody's body is different.
I vary mine quite a lot depending what I'm eating could be anywhere from 6-26 units of Novorapid with a small-large meal 3 times a day and 44 overnight.

Must be very difficult looking after him. I was diagnosed in my mid twenties and have so far been able to keep fairly good sugar levels and don't find the whole thing too much of a problem now I'm used to it.

Stick with it no matter how difficult - if you can keep his levels under control he will grow up fine and by the time he is my age there is a good chance of a cure being available

Adidas

**cough cough "School Governer" cough cough**

bruce

iTrader: (5)

Met I was in and out of hospital more times than I can remember, between the ages of 7-13/14, lots of changes happening to the body at that time as I'm sure you know, threw my control out of the window at times. seemed worse when I went through a "growing spurt" I suppose is a way of putting it.

Phil

It does have some advantages

jimi

You must understand that being a type 1 diabetic is a life threating disease.

JIM

Phil

I was refering to being a Governor

I am fully aware of Diabeties and its effects if you read all the thread