So after 5 1/2 years my immune systems is trying to shut me down. I am at high risk of heart disease, at age 15. ( I know sucks right!?) I have my expiration date set for before 30. My blood glucose, retains to HIGH. I have neropathy, Which causes me to lose complete feeling in my legs, then, about 5 times a week, I feel thousands of needles running up and down my legs for about an hour. I go to the hospital 3-7 times a year for DKA. I have chronic depression. Anxiety attacks.
well yeah, My body is seriously screwed up.
I’m so sorry this is happening to you. I think if you can get better control the symptoms you have will fade. I’m much older but I seem to have a host of autoimmune problems acting up. Some I’ve probably had all my life that were
undiagnosed. Now they are flaring up and I feel like my expiration date is fast approaching. Like all things in life
there are ups and downs though so whatever is happening now is almost certainly temporary.
Don’t give up. Get some help with your control.
@FredTheMedicalNerd - it sounds like you have a lot going on with your mind and body. I hope you have support of friends and family behind you. I don’t have the answers, but I know at 15, it was really hard for me to control T1D. First - I didn’t want to have to, and second, hormones cause all sorts of issues.
So - what to do. You have to want to take control of the situation. If you are having trouble with that, I’d talk to your medical care provider about recommending a counselor that you can talk to. You sound like you might be on a negative thought path right now (it happens to us all - living with a chronic disease is tough and draining). A counselor might help you get all of your feelings out there, and start to look at the world through a different lens.
You do have the power to control type 1 diabetes. It’s not easy. IF you aren’t doing blood glucose checks, you need to start. If you are doing one or two a day, up that to three or four. If you are doing four… up that to six until you have a handle on what your body needs and when it needs it. You have to act on those numbers - give insulin for any highs. Don’t overcorrect lows. If that doesn’t work, talk to your medical care provider about trying new brands of insulin, or starting on an insulin resistance medication to help the insulin do it’s job.
Hang in there. Try not to look too far down the road. Get through today, and think about what steps you can take to improve tomorrow. Good luck.
Yes, I too can relate. I was diagnosed at 17, and felt then that I wouldn’t make it to 25. Well, 25 came and went. So did 35, 45, & 55. I am now 57, and I do suffer from multiple autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s. Even with all the ups and downs, neuropathies, retinopathy, lows & highs, I would not change a thing. God has blessed me with a beautiful 21 year old daughter, a wonderful husband and a life I couldn’t have dreamed of 40 years ago. So please hang on and get help if you need it. There is no shame in that, with all that each of us go through every day. We all need some help at certain points in this journey called “Life with Type 1”.
My prayers are with you!!
Fred! Please don’t give up! I believe the worst is behind you and now everything will start getting better!
An implantable bio-artificial pancreas developed in Israel is going into clinical trials to determine if its unique features provide the key to a cure.
The ßAir bio-artificial pancreas, developed by Israel’s Beta-O2, was recently implanted in the first of eight diabetes patients in Sweden as part of a $1 million pilot human study on this groundbreaking treatment and potential cure for type 1 diabetes (T1D).
Chairman of the Board Dan Gelvan tells ISRAEL21c that the advanced implantable system is science-fiction-come-true for people with T1D, an autoimmune disorder — also known as insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes – in which the immune system destroys the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas.
T1D patients (about three million people in the United States alone) must monitor their glucose and take insulin daily to do the essential job of converting sugar, starches and other food into energy – a task normally handled by about two grams of islet cells.
“Imagine if those with type 1 diabetes no longer had to worry about insulin injections or glucose levels. They could eat what they wanted, exercise as they wished and need not measure every step they took,” says Gelvan, also managing director of life sciences at Aurum Ventures, the company’s lead investor. “This is the future that Beta-O2 envisions ßAir will help to create.”
Oxygen makes the difference
The technique of transplanting cadaver islet cells into T1D patients has been practiced for nearly 30 years, Gelvan notes. However, patients must take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives. To get around this problem, several companies have developed encapsulation techniques that protect the transplanted cells from the immune reaction to foreign matter.
Beta-O2’s encapsulation has an added, unique feature that addresses the remaining problem: getting enough oxygen into the encapsulated cells.
“Islet cells are huge consumers of oxygen. If they don’t get enough, they won’t produce enough insulin,” Gelvan says. “This company has taken an engineering approach to finding a way to make sure there is an active supply of oxygen to the transplanted cells.”
People with the ßAir would need to refill the air in the tiny device via a replenishing system with a dedicated injector, once every 24 hours.