Adults Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes Speak Out
Thursday August 21, 2008
Have you been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as an adult? There aren't many resources for adults with type 1. Most of the literature, and most of the support, is geared toward kids because typically type 1 strikes kids and teens. Not so long ago, type 1 diabetes was known as "juvenile diabetes."
How does it feel to be hit with a disease that is usually diagnosed in children? E-mails and comments from readers to About.com talk about some of the issues of dealing with a new diagnosis of type 1 as an adult.
Read additional comments and stories here...
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Comments
I understand how newly diagnosed Adult Type 1 and Tpe 1.5 diabetics feel. I’ve had Type 1 diabetes for 49 years, since I was 8. Nobody explained anything at the time, except that I would have to give up sweets and take “shots” for the rest of my life. Of course, now I know and understand much better what’s going on with my diabetes and how to take care of it. I have continued to learn all I could about diabetes through the years and am very healthy, in spite of my diabetes. It’s frustrating, sometimes difficult, but one thing I have learned is that if I control my diabetes, it won’t control me. A lot has changed over these 49 years, to imporve diabetes treatment: insulin pumps, blood glucose meters, newer oral medications, newer insulins, disposible syringes/needles, etc.
It may be difficult to accept having diabetes, but the faster and more thoughtly that you accept it, the longer you will go without diabetes complications. Diabetes complications hit those that don’t that don’t take the ownership of their diabetes.