Diabetes type one its not as bad as you think (Insulin Dependent Diabetes)

Member Name: nisbet74

Product:	Insulin Dependent Diabetes
Date:	09/09/09 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Makes you more aware of your health

Disadvantages: Not aloud to fly planes,drive HGV or drive trains

I am a Diabetic or at least that's what it says on the card in my wallet. I am 34 nearly 35 and I developed diabetes at the age of 12 so you could say I'm an expert or it feels that way at times.

What is diabetes?
There are 3 different types of diabetes, diet controlled, pill and diet controlled and insulin dependant or type one diabetes where you inject insulin every day (type 1). What happens is the pancreas that produces insulin to control blood sugar stops producing insulin. In type 1 the pancreas produces no insulin so you have to inject insulin to control your own blood sugar. Quite literally if you eat any sugars/carbohydrates you need to inject insulin to control it. You also have to test your blood sugars to keep an eye on your blood sugar level to make sure it's correct. This is where most people make the mistake with diabetes. It is a balancing of the blood sugars and for type one it's a myth that you cant eat sugar. This really winds me up when people make comments to me that I shouldn't eat sugar! I used to really get annoyed at this but over the years I've changed and try not to let it bother me. I will explain more about the balance a bit later on.

My history with diabetes

When I developed it they had no idea how I developed it as there was no history in the family and I was a healthy 12 year old boy very active and as healthy as any other 12 year old. Over the period of about 3-4 months I slowly became ill. I was always tired and thirsty and running to pee every 10 minutes. Ten I started to loose wait and became gaunt. It sounds drastic but all these symptoms came on slowly and it took a bit of time for my mum and dad and I to realise something was up. The thirst at the end was shocking, I would walk for 5 minutes and I would be desperate for a drink. I would down a can of juice and 10 minutes later I would be desperately thirsty again. When I went to bed I would wake up to go to the toilet and my mouth would be physically dry to the touch. On top of this came extreme tiredness. It was the summer holidays when I became really sick and I slept really late and just couldn't be bothered doing anything.

My mum took me to the doctors and he did a blood test and a urine test. He was a young doctor and I don't think he was aware that he said out loud "Oh No" when he tested my blood sugar and I remember looking at my mum convinced that I was about to be told I was dying, more than that I remember the look on my mum's face which confirmed that she thought the same. It was all rather quick and it was almost a relief to hear it was diabetes.

They took me into hospital that night which was a really old hospital and I was put in the men's ward which was full of old men some very ill and for a 12 year old it was scary. However the doctors and nurses were brilliant and the old guy next to me was really nice. I was in for the weekend as they taught me how to control it. The best thing they ever did was when it was time for me to do my first injection on my own they brought in 2 female student doctors and some young female nurses. And as a 12 year old boy I didn't want to look like a chicken in front of these females so I stuck the needle in and went for it. I've always been convinced they did it on purpose.

I got home and I just got on with my life. I never though of it as being a hindrance or a problem nobody told me it could be a problem so I just got on with it. Over the years the insulin has changed drastically as has the blood testing equipment. The first insulin I was given was taken from pigs but that quickly changed and they started to give me the man made stuff. They would give you about 6 syringes that had to last for a couple of weeks. You would reuse them over and over again. They would become really blunt and sore to use. My parents were good enough to buy me syringes which made a huge difference. They insulin I took also took about 45 minutes to react. The new insulin reacts in 5 minutes, it's brilliant. Also at the start you had to plan how much you would eat for the day but modern insulin lets you eat what you want when you want. You can even skip the odd meal although your better not to. The old blood testing equipment used to take about 3 minutes to work and was really expensive to buy. The new ones take 5 seconds and are really cheap.

I want to say something about NovoNordisk who produce the insulin I use. They supply all my pen injectors for free as long as I use their insulin. The pen injector is the modern equivalent to the syringe. It just looks like a pen and it holds about 3 days worth of insulin. You can change the needle as often as you like. The needle is only about 8mm long and so sharp you very rarely feel it going in. So good.

Diabetes now
I have never let it hold me back. I am married with two children and I have a good job as a sales manager. I drive allot and I have to renew my licence every 3 years to make sure I am still healthy. Its no big deal and the DVLA are always really helpful. I keep good health and although I do get a bit tired every now and again I don't let it stop me doing anything. I go to the hospital twice a year and the eye clinic once a year. The NHS is so good at keeping an eye on you and making sure you are in top health although I do need to loose about two stones. As I said earlier diabetes type 1 is a balancing act and with the way you count food you can more or less eat what you want as long as you take it into consideration when you are taking your insulin. Sometimes with diabetes you can have to much insulin in your blood because of not eating enough or making a mistake, this is called a hypo and you need to eat something sweet to bring the sugar levels back up. This is when it's annoying when you are mid hypo and someone walks up to you and points out that your diabetic and shouldn't eat sweets!!!! If you go hypo you start to become dizzy and light headed and you need something sweet quickly. If you don't get something sweet you become unconscious and would need hospital treatment. I am really blessed because when a hypo comes on me I get really good warning signs in my body so that I can take care of it quickly. Many diabetics get no warning signs and I'm not sure how I would cope with this.

If you see someone who is diabetic and there is something wrong chances are they need something sweet. A sugary drink is always a safe bet. As I said earlier it's a balancing act sometimes you need sugar sometimes you need insulin. With type one you have more freedom because you can make the choice what to eat and how much insulin you take. Diet and tablet controlled diabetes isn't as easy, they have to keep away from much of the sweeter things because it's not as easy to control. So although type one is more serious it lets you have the control.

Do us all a favour though if you know little about the condition then don't tell us what we should or shouldn't do. I have found over the years that I usually know more about the condition than most doctors or nurses do unless they are a specialist but even then I often find I am ahead of their knowledge on how to control it. This isn't arrogance it's just having almost 23 years of experience of dealing with it and being on various courses throughout the years. More than this I know how my own body feels with diabetes.

The future
Not sure what the future holds. I keep good health just now and you never know when this will change. All I know is I have an amazing wife who is just great and they are ploughing millions into research every year. There are new things around like insulin pumps and stem cell research. You've just got to make the best out of life and as a Christian I am a firm believer that I am watched over.

Summary: Diabetes dont ever tell one they shouldnt eat sweets