I was diagnosed 6 months ago at age 51 after becoming very ill with DKA. I feel like a complete idiot since I am a research scientist who worked on diabetes for years! I thought my symptoms were maybe menopause (though I lost a lot of weight which wouldn’t be typical for menopause). My advice to others would be to not ignore your body, Type 1 can develop at any age and don’t make assumptions - get checked out if you feel poorly.
All is good now. BG is in good control and I feel healthy and happy.
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@sneathbupp, go easy on yourself. you aren’t an idiot because you missed a self-diagnosis. half the world’s doctors would misdiagnose an adult with autoimmune diabetes as type 2 anyway.
welcome to the club no one wants to be in! glad you are doing better, beware that the first couple of months after diagnosis can be significantly easier from still making a bit of insulin yourself. I hope you have access to a CDE and endo, please check in once in a while and good luck!
Thanks so much for the kind words! I am not making any insulin at all, but the CDE associated with my doctor is awesome and has been a huge support from the beginning.
Yes I was diagnosed this past May at 33 with Type 1 and my Endo informed me that it is a myth that only people in their 20’s and younger can get Type 1.
Hang in there!It sure has been very stressful and hard on me these past fews months but we’ll get thru it!
Best of Luck!
Hey there, I’ve had Type 1 diabetes for 28 years and still brittle.
You shouldn’t feel like an idiot for not knowing that you had it. Sounds very interesting what you do!!!
My body is very sensitive to whatever I eat, even the smallest amount of carbs. And you’re very right about it developing at any age!!! I just can’t figure out why my blood sugars rise about 100 mg every time I have Whey protein powder with water, and it only has 5 mg of carbs per scoop! I usually only take one scoop so that’s only 2.5 mg. So my big question is why is it raising it so high? Unless that manufacturer is not listing the carbs correctly.
But glad to hear your BG is in good control!!!
Yes, TypeOne onset can be at any age; I know someone diagnosed and authenticated as T1 when in his 70’s.
Michelle @Amethyst8, I too have been diagnosed as “brittle” sometime in the early 1970’s when I admitted myself as a patient in a diabetes center - and after 60 years living with diabetes two endocrinologists, in the last 5 years, with whom I work have told me to stay very alert because of my brittle condition.
Unlike you, I eat a lot of carbs, average over 200 per day, but I like you am sensitive to every carb I eat - yes, I carefully count carbs and “pay the price” for miscalculations. During the last 20 years or so I’ve become more sensitive to insulin and need to measure bolus and basal dosages carefully in increments of 0.025 units. Total daily insulin usage is about 20 units - big change from 45 years ago when syringes became too small for the dose I needed - that is when, under the tutelage of a diabetes research doctor to begin counting carbohydrates and take doses of Regular at every meal - yes, the beginning of MDI.
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Hi Dennis, yes, it is hard living with diabetes due to the constant monitoring and carb counting. My basal rates had to be changed as my blood sugars were dropping too much.
Feels like you become a slave to it, as you can’t just eat anything at any given moment without knowing what your sugars are and counting the carbs.
I know how you feel, I’m a nurse with two other autoimmune disorders. Never thought about DM until my labs shown a A1C of 17! Lost 30pounds , had all the symptoms bit just didn’t want to believe it. Better now, in the honeymoon phase. I’m aware this won’t last forever.
Hi Michelle,
I wouldn’t say I’m a slave to diabetes, but I AM constantly aware of my condition, what I’m doing and of course what I eat - what I eat can be countered by knowledgeable adjustment. In my lifetime, there isn’t anything that I wanted to do where diabetes held me back - that includes recreational activities such as bike riding, advanced alpine skiing for several consecutive days and sports. I’ve worked at manual trades, building, painting, roofing as well as desk jobs up to and including being CEO of a well known national corporation and didn’t let diabetes stop me even with cross country flights and meetings that disturbed meal patterns - OK, some people told me I was foolish.
Just this fall, I sat between two of my sisters at a wedding banquet [well was with them for a few days of wild parting] and they reminded me of the anxiety I caused our mother - yes they all worried about me but let me run my life. I was brought up in a big family and wasn’t treated any differently than my six siblings - and I wasn’t told until forty year later that doctors were giving me no more than five years - medical thought in the 1950’s.
Yes now in my mentoring capacities, I tell newly diagnosed, and parents of, to live a full, active, productive and fulfilling life and manage diabetes well to make this happen.