Coping with diabetes and getting the support you need can be really tough! I tend to have my blood sugar troubles at night when everyone else is sleeping. It’s so hard to talk to others who don’t have diabetes when you don’t know what to do. Diabetes can be simple and not so simple. It changes every time you turn around! I love meeting new people, hearing their diabetic diagnosis story, and knowing how they cope with diabetes now. Would any of y’all like to be my friend who I can talk to on a daily basis? I love being there for other people as well. I get down and out about my diabetics sometimes, but don’t we all?? Feel free to comment or message me. I’m all ears! I don’t have many diabetic friends, so it doesn’t help when I am having trouble in the night and other non-diabetics can’t relate.
Hi! I’m Sydney, I was just diagnosed this June so I literally don’t know anyone with type one lol. It doesn’t run in my family or anything, so it was really unexpected and random. I have great friends but they don’t really understand what’s ever going on haha
Type One is not as common as Type 2 so it is harder to find people that can relate to you. Friends are great to have, but when you’re having diabetic complications, it is a harder situation for them because they don’t know what it takes to bring blood sugars up and down. I still have friends who ask me, “do you need to eat carbs” when my blood sugar is low knowing that carbs will just absorb and not help my blood sugar go up.
Hannah,
This forum is great that we have each ither to talk with and ask questions. Prior to diagnosis, I knew practically nothing about Type 1 and was alone too. Keep reaching out and you will find encouragement and support here. I am usually up late, so feel free to message me if you would like. I live in Portland, Oregon.
Karen
Nice to meet you, Karen! I was definitely alone as well. Type 1 diabetes does not run in my family, but Type 2 does. All of my grandparents have Type 2 and do not take good control of theirs. It makes me think I’m better off with mine than they are. Most of them take pills, but my Papaw takes insulin. I stay up every now and then, especially when I’m having diabetic problems or it’s a weekend! I bet our time differences are different. I’m from southern Arkansas! I’ve heard Portland, Oregon is pretty big and one day I would love to visit there.
I was in Arkansas once and remember beautiful green spaces, but it has been a very time.
No other members of my family have Type 1 either. My husband is very supportive and has read and studied on the disease so he understands what a daily struggle it is to manage. My sister who is a nurse is the one who diagnosed me when I told her my symptoms and urged me to seek care immediately. Sadly, in her nursing training program they had only two days on diabetic care and were told Type 2 is a progressive disease that virtually nothing can be done with, so expect the person will go down with complications. They were given about 15 minutes on Type 1 and told not to worry about it as it was rare and they would likely not encounter it. Fortunately she is smart and educated herself. Who knows how much longer I would have went before things got really ugly. It is so important to educate ourselves, get advice from people who know what they are doing and take an active role in our own care. Really, we do doctor ourselves every day with insulin adjustments and all of the factors that we must account for.
My mother had Type 2 diabetes and to my everlasting shame, I did not have any sympathy for her due to my ignorance of the disease. Unless you are battling the disease yourself, it can be really difficult to understand what another person is struggling with. Now, I know how difficult it was for her and it makes me sad the way I disrespected her.
Hello! I joined this site because I really want to connect to other adults that have type 1 diabetes. I was diagnosed 6 years ago and have spent most of that time trying to wrap my mind around everything. I honestly felt extremely depressed and alone. It’s hard to go through the daily struggles of having T1 and not having anyone that fully understands. I have finally decided to get over feeling depressed about my diagnosis and I’m trying to educate myself and improve my levels. Thanks for making this forum!
@Alannahc I still am trying to wrap my mind around diabetes. There’s things I question that I feel like I should know! Old habits, new ways confuse me. Diabetes is so depressing!! I let it run my life sometimes. I can’t look at it so negatively though because there are some pros to having diabetes like: staying away from unhealthy habits and lifestyles! I did like the sweets before diabetes. I would go to the candy store and fill a whole bag up with sour gummy candy. These past few months I have stayed away from sweets because I know they do no good (may splurge every now and then), but it hasn’t discouraged me from getting into the low carb sweets and sugar free ones. Although, some sugar free sweets are worse than the actual sugary sweets and are gross!
Yeah, it’s hard not to let it run your life because it’s 24/7. My endocrinologist still has me coming in every 3 months and every time I go it makes me feel even more depressed. She’s not very helpful but there aren’t many other options. I loved sweets but now I pretty much eat 0 sugar. I’ve been trying out ketogenic dessert recipes and they are actually super good! I won’t eat any candy that says sugar free because it makes me feel sick. I actually made a really good dessert recently that only used stevia, almond flour, and unsweetened cocoa powder. At least there’s some good options out there. I mostly struggle with finding things to make for dinner and snacks.
Hi Alannah @Alannahc , I also live in southwest Florida, and I offer you a warm Welcome to TypeOneNation! I do hope that your visits here will help you.
I see a very good endocrinologist every three month even though I’ve been living with my diabetes for well over 60 years and I find her insights very helpful in “fine tuning” my very brittle diabetes; note that I only began “regular” visits with any doctor in recent years.
I’m certain that if you are unhappy with your doctor that you could find another with whom you could relate. But yes, there are some “specialists” who think ‘diabetes is diabetes’ and every one should be managed in the same way - yes, we are all individual.
I don’t know where in SW Florida you are, but I’ve found a good, small group that meets monthly on the Manatee / Sarasota county line; it is connected with the very active Tampabay JDRF Chapter. If you send me your email address in a private message, I can forward you a copy of the current month;y Chapter email. or you can visit the main JDRF webpage [jdrf.org] and click on “JDRF Near You” at the top of the page. There is also a Chapter in Naples.
Thank you Dennis! My endocrinologist used to be better but the last few years she has sort of brushed me off. I’m not sure if it’s my age or if I’m doing well enough that’s she’s not super worried but she doesn’t seem to care. Last time I saw her she said that my A1C isn’t accurate for me. I didn’t understand why and when I asked she just said that some people’s aren’t accurate. It didn’t make me feel the best because I thought I was doing pretty good based off of my test results. I live in Cape Coral so Sarasota isn’t too far at all. I’ll send you my email address. Thanks for the welcome!
HI Karen,
My husband has type 2. and we have been through helll and back.
we worked for 5 years trying to save his leg. It started with a ulser on his foot. we were un educated, and tried to treat it. I finally told him. he needed to get to the Dr but his stuborness finally cost him his leg. I cant explain how we tried to save it the drs, the wound center, the dedacation that went into those 5 year to save it. and finally. we said just take it… we were worn the Drs had prepared us for what might happen. they took toes, and the arch, and finally the leg. were adjusting hes on his second one aand in pain every day. but he goes to a pain management Dr and is on pain meds. Its hard.
Im sorry for the miss spelled words, but wanted to write, and say hi.
im new here. its my first time I need friends who deal with this horred mess. cheri.
Good day I am Carlos with diabetes 1 - 13 years ago from south America living in Australia to study English and improve it with my Medtronic pump 670 and sometimes when it doesn’t works well I use humalog and degludec, it’s great idea to chat and can support each other with this condition because it’s terrible I sometimes have hypoglycemic and eat a lot of delicious sweet food to be better but days later I have headache so it’s complicated but if there’s life there’s hope 
Hello, I’ve had diabetes since I was 6 years old! Have you ever thought of going to a Type 1 Diabetic camp over the summer! I’ve went for a week or so for a couple of summers and it was an amazing experience!!
I understand some of my friends don’t understand diabetes 2. But, my best friend has seen me do site changes, correcting my self, etc and now she even knows what to do when my blood sugar is high!!!
Hello all. I joined this site yesterday, in part because I’m in a small town in Texas a hundred miles from any large town to speak of. There aren’t many T1Ds around here and I was hoping to meet some online, and maybe find some support. I’ve been diabetic since I was three years old. Going on 54 years. I had an extended honeymoon period. The doctor called it prediabetes, even though I was only 3 years old. I eventually required insulin, but because of my previous diagnosis, I was then misdiagnosed as T2. It wasn’t til many years later, when I was finally tested (for SSDI benefits) that my true diagnosis was discovered. I always had to have the treatment plan of a T1, I had complications of a T1, but I was labeled as a T2. I had a very confusing life. Fortunately, I educated myself and learned to speak up for myself. Anyway, I’m glad I found this site. I’m enjoying what I’m reading here so far. Thank you very much for the support.
Alannah, I had a friend on one of the old Diabetes List that had that problem. She explained that her home glucose test averages were always higher than her A1cs. Her endo found that her blood chemistry doesn’t have the “normal” chemistry that the test is based on. In fact her red blood cells are replaced faster than normal, so it changes the rang for the readings. So every A1c is multiplied b a factor they determined after a while, and it lines up with her home tests now.
Hi AlannaHC. Please do not allow T1D to dictate to you, your mental state and well being. There is no need to be despondent or to feel that the problem is insurmountable. I was diagnosed in 1950 and at that time treatment was very rough and basic. No mod cons or technology to assist. I was eight months old when diagnosed, but fortunately had a Mom who was very strict and with her the buck stopped right there. She taught me to be responsible, and I had to abide by her rules or else.
Now after almost 70 years of good health and a wonderful wife and friends I am so happy to be alive and very blessed.
Exercise is very important (Walkig for myself) as it releases all kinds of great enzymes and " I feel great chemicals in the brain." Test Bg 4x per day and learn for yourself the amount of insulin to inject per your daily food intake and food type and amounts that you ingest. Surround yourself with positive people who encourage you and can give you great tips and advice. Do not allow yourself to be influenced by negative, critical people. I do not and haven’t been to see an Endo or Doctor for the last 20 years as they are so negative and unhelpful. For myself, BG control is common sense and a will to succeed.
All the very best and please do not ever give up.
@Laramie My friends learned to give me insulin when I used pens because I made them. I was very uncomfortable doing it in my arm so I made them do it, but I eventually learned. Now that I have my pump, I don’t feel comfortable putting the pod site on my leg, but I was always injecting my insulin pen in them. You’ve had diabetes for awhile then!! My family knows it better than my friends because luckily half of my family are nurses. My sister is a pharmacist and her husband is a doctor so they really help me out a lot!
@lauraquinlivan I actually had a friend who was misdiagnosed as well because she was overweight. The doctors put her on Metformin for 3 months and when they realized her blood sugars were not getting better, they then diagnosed her again, this time correctly with Type 1. It’s crazy how even some “diabetic” doctors or even specialists can misdiagnosis. She is in her older 30s now, but she was in her older 20s when she was diagnosed.