The Life Of A Type One Diabetic

Hi everyone I have been a type one diabetic since I was 8 (21 years) I wanted to share what its like and some things we wished everyone knew. First I would like to say what's in the picture. The bottle that says freestyle are test strips, we use those to check our sugar. The other bottle that saids ketostix is for checking our ketones when our sugar is high to make sure we are not in DKA ( explain DKA later) the meter looking thing with a strip coming out of it is actually the Omnipod insulin pump. That is the first and only insulin pump that is tubeless. Insulin pumps give us a little insulin every 15 minutes just like your Pancreas would. It also gives us boluses when we tell it that our sugars are high or we eaten ( corrections). The other little thing is a lancet device it helps our stick our fingers to create blood so that we can check our sugar levels.

The difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes you must take insulin there is no other choice, you don't have to be over weight to have diabetes, most type ones are actually pretty thin not all but most. Type 1's immune system actually killed our Pancreas, It's an autoimmune disorder. There is absolutely no cure to type one, we will be type one our entire life. No matter what we eat or do it will never go away. No magic wand. Type 2 diabetes you can take watch what you eat and exercise more to lower your sugar levels, take a pill, or become insulin dependent. Most type twos can reverse their type two and become non diabetic again. Most type twos are over weight and once they lose the weight they can be non diabetic again, but not always. Again not all type twos are overweight either, but 90% of them are. Please don't judge us just because of our weight.

Things we have to do as a diabetic. We have to check our sugars at least four times a day. We have to take our medicines, We have to watch what we do, we can't just leave the house for hours on end without it being planned, so if you want to surprise a diabetic with a camping trip they actually need to know about it. We have to watch what we do, 99% of insulin pumps are not water proof if someone has an Insulin pump please don't push the person in the pool if they are wearing their pump, it's a medical device and this could hurt the person very badly. We have to count carbs that we eat, please don't make fun of someone for measuring out their food, we do this to make sure we don't end up in DKA ( diabetic ketone acidosis)

What is Diabetic Ketone Acidosis? It is a serious and life threatening diabetic condition where our bodies produces excess blood acid (ketones) The symptoms can include thirst, even if you drink a lot it may seem like you haven't drunk anything in days. Nausea\throwing up, please if you are throwing up black stuff please I beg you go to the hospital especially if you are extremely thirsty as well. Weakness\fainting, fruity scented breath ( if you are with a diabetic and you smell a fruity smell please tell them they will thank you for it later, as we can not smell this ourselves. DKA again is life threatening, If someone is in this they will need a hospital as it can take their life away. Most importantly if you are a diabetic and reading this please do not sleep if you think you might be a diabetic.

What we wish you knew about us.

Everything and I mean everything affects our sugar levels. Insulin, food, drinks, stress, sickness, exercise, literally everything. We can do everything that we are suppose to do and our sugars still may not be perfect. We may have perfect days but it won't stay long. Our doctors and ourselves try our very best to get the disease managed, but there is no cure to type one. We can eat anything that we want to as long as we take our medicine. So you see a diabetic reaching for candy, donuts etc please don't be rude we may actually need it to bring our sugar up from a low. Low blood sugars require sugar\carbs to bring it up, Not insulin. Diabetes is mentally draining and lots of mental health issues can be found in diabetics, such as depression, and an eating disorder which is called diabulimia, as well as insomnia.

Diabulimia is an eating disorder in with people with type one diabetics give themselves less insulin than what they need or stop taking it altogether for the purpose of losing weight. Its a serious conditioned as this leads to DKA or death. People with Diabulimia do need help and you can be helpful by giving them support to being healthy and giving them someone to talk to. Please don't hound these people and yell at these people those it's literally like a mental illness as well. Just be caring and supportive.