Living with Type 1 Diabetes
You probably know someone who lives with Type 1 Diabetes or have at the very least met someone with it as the condition affects over 400,000 people in the U.K. with over 29,000 of them being children.
Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic illness and isn't caused by an unhealthy lifestyle or poor diet; it isn't caused by anything that I did or didn't do and there isn't anything I could have done to prevent it. It is an autoimmune disease in which your immune system attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells in your pancreas known as beta cells and it is not yet understood why. Insulin is crucial to break down the food you eat to use it as energy so your body can function properly and without it blood glucose levels start to rise which, over time, can be extremely dangerous by damaging nerves and blood vessels and the organs they supply.
This however is just the medical and scientific side to Type 1 Diabetes but it has s great affect on a persons life no matter how much or little they show it; for example, we're constantly checking our blood sugars, carb counting what we eat and worrying about all the other factors which can effect out blood sugars (which believe me is a lot) including something as little and uncontrollable as the weather.
What Diabetes is actually like:
- Pricking your finger at least 4 times a day for blood glucose checks
- Not being able to go to the gym without worrying about how it will effect your blood levels; whether they'll drop, go high or surprise you later on in the day when you're not expecting it
- It's having to carb count every single thing you eat and drink so you can take insulin accordingly
- It's not being afraid of blood or needles because you're so used to them
- It's people watching you whilst you give yourself your injections like you have 3 heads
- It's people looking at you like you've broken the law when you eat sweets or chocolate
- It's waking up feeling hungover due to high blood sugars all night which no amount of corrections could fix
- It's seeing all the scars all over your tummy from sight changes and loosing all self confidence
- It's having to refrain from screaming every time you have to explain to someone that Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes are not the same thing
- It's people asking you 'should you be eating that?' or 'Can you eat that?' everytime they see you eating something with sugar in
- It's remembering what it was like before getting diagnosed and getting upset
- It's watching people turn their head and make a scene when you're about to prick your finger which makes you feel so much worse about the whole thing
- It's feeling lost and dizzy and confused when your bloods are low
- It's not being able to carry on what you were doing straight after a low because you have to recheck your levels and then it can take hours to fully fell better again
- It's finding test strips everywhere you can think of; bottom of handbags, shoes, the street you walked down yesterday
- It's people telling you to correct your high blood sugars when you've been trying for hours and nothing is working!!
- It's having to take a huge bag every time you leave the house to carry all your supplies
- It's wanting the people you love to know how you feel, to know how hard this shit it but knowing they don't
- It's putting up with people who think they know more about your illness than you do
- It's you're whole life revolving around numbers; from counting all the carbs you eat every meal to your blood glucose levels and hba1c and seeing your weight fluctuate every 3 months at compulsory hospital appointments. I am more than just a number
Type 1 diabetes is hard. There's so much more to it than anyone who doesn't have the disease could understand; there have been so many days where I've just wanted to throw the towel in and feel 'normal' just for once but I know I can't do this because my life depends on it. But this has shaped me into who I am today and I won't let Diabetes win.
Useful Links:
You probably know someone who lives with Type 1 Diabetes or have at the very least met someone with it as the condition affects over 400,000 people in the U.K. with over 29,000 of them being children.
Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic illness and isn't caused by an unhealthy lifestyle or poor diet; it isn't caused by anything that I did or didn't do and there isn't anything I could have done to prevent it. It is an autoimmune disease in which your immune system attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells in your pancreas known as beta cells and it is not yet understood why. Insulin is crucial to break down the food you eat to use it as energy so your body can function properly and without it blood glucose levels start to rise which, over time, can be extremely dangerous by damaging nerves and blood vessels and the organs they supply.
This however is just the medical and scientific side to Type 1 Diabetes but it has s great affect on a persons life no matter how much or little they show it; for example, we're constantly checking our blood sugars, carb counting what we eat and worrying about all the other factors which can effect out blood sugars (which believe me is a lot) including something as little and uncontrollable as the weather.
What Diabetes is actually like:
- Pricking your finger at least 4 times a day for blood glucose checks
- Not being able to go to the gym without worrying about how it will effect your blood levels; whether they'll drop, go high or surprise you later on in the day when you're not expecting it
- It's having to carb count every single thing you eat and drink so you can take insulin accordingly
- It's not being afraid of blood or needles because you're so used to them
- It's people watching you whilst you give yourself your injections like you have 3 heads
- It's people looking at you like you've broken the law when you eat sweets or chocolate
- It's waking up feeling hungover due to high blood sugars all night which no amount of corrections could fix
- It's seeing all the scars all over your tummy from sight changes and loosing all self confidence
- It's having to refrain from screaming every time you have to explain to someone that Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes are not the same thing
- It's people asking you 'should you be eating that?' or 'Can you eat that?' everytime they see you eating something with sugar in
- It's remembering what it was like before getting diagnosed and getting upset
- It's watching people turn their head and make a scene when you're about to prick your finger which makes you feel so much worse about the whole thing
- It's feeling lost and dizzy and confused when your bloods are low
- It's not being able to carry on what you were doing straight after a low because you have to recheck your levels and then it can take hours to fully fell better again
- It's finding test strips everywhere you can think of; bottom of handbags, shoes, the street you walked down yesterday
- It's people telling you to correct your high blood sugars when you've been trying for hours and nothing is working!!
- It's having to take a huge bag every time you leave the house to carry all your supplies
- It's wanting the people you love to know how you feel, to know how hard this shit it but knowing they don't
- It's putting up with people who think they know more about your illness than you do
- It's you're whole life revolving around numbers; from counting all the carbs you eat every meal to your blood glucose levels and hba1c and seeing your weight fluctuate every 3 months at compulsory hospital appointments. I am more than just a number
Type 1 diabetes is hard. There's so much more to it than anyone who doesn't have the disease could understand; there have been so many days where I've just wanted to throw the towel in and feel 'normal' just for once but I know I can't do this because my life depends on it. But this has shaped me into who I am today and I won't let Diabetes win.
Useful Links:
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