Hello, everyone. I’m OcelotKitty, A.K.A. Ann. I was diagnosed with T1D when I was 10 years old. I’ve been a type 1 diabetic for 17 years now.
It was a rough start and it was rough all through the teen years. I went into DKA 4 separate times, as a teenager, one of which the doctors said they don’t understand how I survived. When I was 19 years old, I finally decided to take better care of myself. By age 21, I got my A1c down from 14+ to 8.4. At age 24, my A1c was down to 5.6!! It’s been in the low 6’s to low 7’s ever since.
I have delayed gastric emptying (diabetic gastroparesis) and diabetic neuropathy. I also have bladder problems which the doctors say may be caused by diabetic nerve damage in the bladder. I had diabetic retinopathy for 8 years, found at age 16 and gone/healed at age 24. I don’t believe I would have these problems had I just taken care of myself from the start. But, by taking care of myself now and taking an alpha lipoic acid supplement, I believe I can reverse the damage or at least keep it from progressing.
I’d like to make some friends here. I live in Utah, USA. Thank you for reading.
Hi @OcelotKitty and welcome to the forum family. Thank you for sharing your experience and your challenges. If you ever have any questions or suggestions to share, please do. We’re people living with diabetes, not medical professionals, willing to share what we have found works and what does not. Looking foward to seeing your contributions!
Hi Ann @OcelotKitty, you and I both. If only I knew now what I should have done decades ago I may be in better shape today than I am. Having been diagnosed as a teen with diabetes, after having hid and ignored symptoms, I soon learned how to pretend I didn’t have diabetes. My behavior in the 1950’s and early 1960’s caused irreparable damage. Especially to my eyes even with retinopathy repaired by LASER since 1966.
Now when I speak to people affected by TypeOne, especially at gatherings of newly diagnosed, i will say, look at me, but do not try to do what I did about diabetes.
Hello Ann. Welcome to the Type One forum - you should be able to participate with your experience. I have been Type One now for over 74 years and have at least one complication that my doctors say is related to my long-time experience with T1 diabetes. I also have what they called diabetic neuropathy of the bladder. A year ago this month I was having bladder problems going through lots of tests at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston - and finally resulting in my use of catheters each day. Wish there was some other way to correct this problem but they said NO! Back in the 1970s, I also became Celiac (gluten-free) which doctors say is related to Type One diabetes, so be careful to watch for this in any testing done. You begin to lose weight with terrible diarrhea. This would have killed me back then, but was solved with a gluten free diet. Sounds diet complicated but turns out to be not so bad at all. Best of luck to you and feel free to communicate with the forum whenever. I am also involved with JDRF for many years and they can be a long of help to short as well as long-term diabetics. My name is Leon.
