I am currently starting a blog, and I am super interested in trying to make sure people know the difference between type one and two. I, personally, find it extremely defensive if someone thinks I’m a type two.
What’s your input on people making the mistake?
I have to admit, I also usually get annoyed when people think I’m type 2. This is mostly because it leads to a lot of annoying comments that people somehow don’t realize are offensive. I’ve been asked if I’m diabetic because I used to love cupcakes before diagnosis. I’ve been asked how I’m not overweight, and if I’ll become overweight now that I’m diabetic (what?!), and lots of other really, really offensive things. So yeah, I get defensive about it.
But I’ve also come to the realization that, while I want to educate people, I also want to be really careful not to throw type 2’s under the bus. Yes, there are links between type 2 and obesity. But type 2 is also a lot more complex than that…it’s not all about self-control like all the jokes make it seem. And at the end of the day, it is really, really crappy when type 2’s get blamed for their disease and have it turned into a joke. It must really stink to have to live with a life-alternating, terrible illness with so little support or understanding. We all understand that lung cancer isn’t a joke, even when the person was a smoker. We don’t joke about liver disease, even when the person was an alcoholic. So why have we decided that diabetes, of any kind is a hilarious joke?
Okay, off my soapbox. So yes, as a type 1, I appreciate your desire to educate others and hopefully make life a little easier for those of us dealing with this disease. I’d just implore you to also consider that people with type 2 are facing huge challenges. I hope you post back here with a link to your blog, it’s so great that you’re passionate about this!
Thanks for the amazing feedback 
@cmanton thank you for writing that =)
Hi @TayRomero12,
It will be a challenge trying to help civilians understand that Type One is a result of the body’s immune system, that there isn’t a cure [sure we are getting close to some effective “workarounds” such as AP] and that we didn’t cause our “problem”. Yes, above I wrote “civilians” to distinguish the general population from so-called medical professionals; lately I’ve had to explain the difference to hospital personnel.
I have recently read a couple of articles in which “younger” PWD have started publishing in Great Britten “facts & myths” about T1D. I don’t have the links handy but some of the information I read was accessed through JDRF - UK.
What Christa @CManton wrote is so true in that in your blog you must be “sensitive” to those who have one of the other types [not T1D] of diabetes. A few months ago a RN who has known me for 50 years was visiting me and was lamenting about the troubles one of her housemates was having because “she has just gotten the BAD kind of diabetes” … and she wishes that her friend had only the EASY kind that I have. Yes, I held my tongue and didn’t say anything other than “… yeah, she didn’t have to struggle with it to reach age 75 like I did, she has just been diagnosed at age 75”.
Totally annonying! Go for it! I have been wanting to get involved in a public awareness campaign. It’s not just civilians that don’t understand the differences. I was hospitalized for dehydration during a severe stomach bug and the hospital refused to give me my long actin insulin because I wasn’t eating foods yet. To top it off their glucose meter hadn’t been calabrated in who knows how long so my bg was reading in the 150-250 range when it was actually in the 350+ range! As soon as my mom arrived (I was in college out of town) I was able to check my bg on my own meter and do my insulin. And I was able to show the charge nurse the different meter readings. They addressed the issue.
The more the word gets out there the better! I wish we could change the names to help with the confusion. So often in media and articles Diabetes is just called Diabetes and is not labeled with it’s type. That would be fine if each condition had it’s own name.
Like Mimo, I have been waiting to be involved in a public awareness campaign as well.
Being mistaken for a T2 is not only extremely annoying, but downright dangerous for our health: too often have I experienced severe lows when invited to dinner by stupid people who had been certain I had to eat very low-cal (and low-carb) meals… and each time this happened in places where there was no way to get an ambulance coming soon. Too often have I met doctors or health providers who couldn’t tell the difference between T1 and T2 and merrily proceeded to wreck havoc in my insulin management.
And I can’t really see where the problem for T2 lies. Of course I do resent being mistaken for a T2, and that is for exactly the same reason why I would resent being mistaken for someone living with epilexy or asthma or you name it: because they are entirely different conditions, period. And having people acting/thinking upon the wrong assumption that they are one and the same thing would be a serious danger for my well-being, my health, and even my own life. So, sue me for stressing the point.
T2s will excuse me, but if they feel offended by my attitude well, that is entirely their own problem, not mine.
I definitely think educating the general population of the differences is important and a noble pursuit I get so tired of people trying to tell me how to live my life because they don’t realize I’m type one. A couple years ago I started specifying when I tell people, now i automatically say Type One every time I talk about myself. It now often leads to me having to give a short synopsis of what that means. Nevertheless people are either too confused or knowledgeable enough that they no longer tell me what I can and can’t have. I hope your blog is successful! Good Luck!!
I don’t have much to add. . . Our daughter has had type 1 for the last 13 years, diagnosed at 11. I have had type 1 (LADA) since January, being diagnosed at 61. Our son was diagnosed in February of this year at the age of 26. For him it also seems of LADA as he’s only using daily long-acting insulin.
in all our cases, if we don’t get insulin, we’ll die. Folks don’t often get that!
When I was diagnosed, I had lost about 30 pounds, my eyesight was affected and my blood glucose was 450 (A1c at 11). Doctor gave me insulin to get my level down and sent me home with metformin. We tried that for a week, but no results. Insulin worked.
Funny thing? My doctor really didn’t care if it was type 1 or type 2. (Please don’t bash my doctor. I think he’s great and mean no ill will.) My regular internist only cared about my blood glucose control. Well, I knew immediately what to do! No more sugar, refined carbs, and focus on low glycemic index foods.
Endocrinologist did the whole antibody thing and told me my condition is type 1, it’s LADA, that my honeymoon will linger, but that I need to be mindful of changing insulin needs, etc.
I get it!
What I don’t get is our societies need to support strange public health initiatives! I mean our governor is all focused on the economic development associated with the micro-brew beer industry! Thankfully, I quit drinking 15 years ago!
good luck in your blog. Post the link in this thread if it gets up and running!
f-d