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Thank you for sharing this, my most sincere condolences and my very best wishes to you in continuing to cope with your situation. I am a recently diagnosed typ
by ninjin 11y ago
Thank you for sharing this, my most sincere condolences and my very best wishes to you in continuing to cope with your situation.
I am a recently diagnosed type 1 diabetic, hospitalised on my 29th birthday earlier this year. Not having received it as a child it is difficult for me to add to the post, but I do think that I can add some value by elaborating on exactly how tricky glucose monitoring and insulin dosages are.
Type 1 diabetes is uncommon in comparison to type 2 diabetes, if I remember the numbers correctly, it is about 10% of diabetics that have type 1. It is an autoimmune disease, meaning that your immune system, for some as-of-yet unknown reason, attacks your pancreas and destroys your ability to produce insulin. There is no medication or treatment other than injections of insulin into your bloodstream for the rest of your life. Personally, I had deteriorating eye sight over the course of several months and finally a very sudden urge to drink large amounts of sweet drinks and water.
As a type 1 diabetic you need to monitor your glucose level several times every day. The most common way to do so is to prick your finger and put a drop of blood on a one-use testing strip that goes with a digital monitor [1]. This is remarkably easy and you get instant results. It is however a relatively new invention and prior to this you had methods like urine test strips that gave far less immediate and accurate results. The most modern monitoring available would be continuous glucose monitors. They are essentially a needle with a sensor attached to a patch that you attach to your skin. This sensor then sends a signal to a device that you carry with you and that can warn you if your values are too high or too low. It is however not widely available in all countries, partially due to the cost.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_glucose_monitoring https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_glucose_monitoring
So, about dosages, how do you do it? Well, every person is slightly different, but there are tricks. You can use the same portion size of carbohydrates every day and keep your dosages fixed, or you can attempt to guess the amount of carbohydrates and adjust the dosages accordingly. What happens if you overdose? Nothing immediate, but over the next few hours or so you will start to feel lethargic, sweating, act "drunk", and in the end loose conciousness unless you compensate by taking in additional carbohydrates. As you grow older you may loose these signals and falling too low becomes increasingly risky. What happens if you underdose? Nothing immediate, but much much less immediate than with an overdose. You will have high levels of glucose in your system which gradually will wreak havoc on your eyes, feet, kidneys, etc., there will be consequences further down the line. This is one reason why getting insurance coverage as a type 1 diabetic is almost futile as pretty much anything could arguably be caused by your diabetes.
To add to all of this your dosages will vary due to what kind of food you are eating, carbohydrates from chocolate acts slower than pure sugar due to it being coated in fat that slows down the digestion. If you are sick your body is likely to be much more difficult to read and your dosages may change radically. Add to this that your immune system is significantly weaker as a type 1 diabetic. Dosages also vary depending on whether or not you do physical exercise, your stress levels, and more.
I really want a book describing all of this to me from the bottom up, molecular chemistry and all, so that I can better understand my own disease. For now I am gradually building a mental model from experience and picking up bits of pieces by reading.
There is hope in stem cell research and computerised systems that automatically read your glucose levels and inject an appropriate amount of insulin. But we are not there yet.
- lfam 11y ago> This is one reason why getting insurance coverage as a type 1 diabetic is almost futile as pretty much anything could arguably be caused by your diabetes. Do you mean that insurance won't cover things related to type 1 diabetes?
- ninjin 11y agoThe insurance company will exempt itself from anything that could be caused by your type 1 diabetes, there are many of them [1], regardless of how well you keep your levels under control. I understand their position as treatment costs are very high, but that does not make it easier to be on the receiving end. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complications_of_diabetes_mellitus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complications_of_diabetes_mell...
- stevofolife 11y ago"I really want a book describing all of this to me from the bottom up, molecular chemistry and all, so that I can better understand my own disease. For now I am gradually building a mental model from experience and picking up bits of pieces by reading." I want to reach out to you regarding what you've said. Mind hitting me back?! chensteven[at]outlook[dot]com
- ninjin 11y agoSure, I will try to get around to it later today. Not sure why we can't discuss it here though, I can't think of any aspect of a book conversation that would be necessary to keep private.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- terminalcommand 11y agoT1D for 10 years here, I'm now 20. The longer you live with T1D, the risk of getting a complication worsens. The sad fact is you can't control it all the time, the hormonal changes, your stress levels etc. all have an impact on your glucose levels. Especially if you are young, you want to show people that you're not a disabled person, that you can work harder and achieve the same if not better results than the others. The immediate result of this is that your glucose levels fluctuate, your health deteriorates. But complications are in your opinion worse consequences that could happen to you. You are adjusted to seeing blurry, feeling dizzy, vomiting, losing weight from time to time. You generally feel sick. You can cope with that, but having a permanent disability, like going blind, losing a foot... You suspect things, but ignore them because you don't want to face reality, you know that something is wrong but you think you can handle it, because you've been feeling sick all your life. The doctors do know what complications may arise, but living with T1D, they have no clue. You always need to be conscious of lows, aware of highs. After a point, if you're a teen you just ignore it. Low blood sugar can kill you immediately, but highs, you can live with them. My best advice would be: eating less carbs, getting blood tests and eye examinations regularly and hoping for the best. I wish I had the willpower to follow these all the time.