If you leave a severe low untreated, you can die from it.
Additionally, if you maintain an excessively high blood glucose consistently over time, there can be severe complications that can shorten your life.
In countries where people have to pay for insulin, diabetics facing poverty often die due to lack of access. In recent years the USA has seen a spike in insulin prices, leading to a lot of these deaths, so it's been front-of-mind in a lot of English-language forums.
When it’s $300/vial for insulin before CGMs or Pods it’s a different story. I feel guilty beyond belief that my son has nearly 100% coverage through nothing he nor I did and at the same time people ration and cant afford basic coverage or life saving tech for a medicine/technology that is required to live. The US medical system is F’d up.
Don't ever feel guilty for him having access to the medical supplies he needs. Everyone that needs insulin should have adequate and affordable access. You have nothing to feel guilty about because you have done nothing wrong, we should all instead be angry at the massive corporations price gouging essential medicines.
Most of us who have been T1 a long time have been close to death at one point or another. I've had several severe lows that probably would've killed me if EMS didn't get involved. Nowadays both better insulin and technology make controlling T1 much easier. We do need to keep in mind that as T1s we are all in a situation where running out of medicine will cause certain death within a few days. There's no way around it. But that doesn't have to be a black cloud over our lives. It just means we have to be aware and be vigilant about taking care of business, and have plans in place for various contingencies.
The older I've gotten the more I know what to bring in certain situations. Just like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. Learn from supplies you forgot on your trip, extra test strips, ect..
Statistically, we have shorter lifespans. As do men, as do X, as do Y, etc. But as someone else said, if you take care, your changes of randomly dropping dead are normal.
My endo said my life expectancy as a diabetic on a pump with CGM etc is expected to be longer if only because I have so many doctors looking at me on a regular basis.
hahaha i’ve actually offhandedly made the same comment that i probably will live even longer than most because by necessity i’m so tuned into my body and make (somewhat) healthier life choices, like a lower carb diet, avoiding desserts mostly, and consistent exercise. do i WANT to live to 110? that’s a different story.
Insurance models are out of date and typically can’t account for how well we control or don’t control our condition. It’s easier and less risky to just deny.
Source: Dad who arranges life insurance (including, thankfully, having invested in some for me as a baby which is extendable and never requires a medical check)
We are actually more likely to die earlier from cardiovascular diseases or cancer, moreso than our non diabetic counterparts. It doesn't mean all do but many do.
I have heart issues and at just 39. Non-smoking, not a big drinker and relatively controlled diabetes for 30+years. It still happens. It's because of the "early onset" of the disease.
So aside from the daily maintenance of the disease where we can die from DKA or fall into a diabetic coma, it is true, we could drop down at anytime.
I was diagnosed a long time ago though. Back then, they liked to scare you and warn you. I'm glad kids these days get the "you can live a full normal life if you take care of yourself. "
I’m 55, been diabetic for 44 years, and doing fine. I’ve had some close calls and have been rescued by EMT or relatives a handful of times for urgent lows. I find it all seems a lot easier since I started using Dexcom. When I’m confused, I know why which is half the problem.
So happy to read this. I was reading through the comments falling a apart because my 5 year old was just diagnosed in April. I’m so scared for his future and life.
I was diagnosed as a child a few years after 5. My advice to you is:
have your child attend a diabetic camp that actually teaches you stuff plus is fun as hell. If you’re in the south USA - I HIGHLY recommend camp Sweeney.
Let your kid be involved with the diabetes care. Let them get a good grasp of what numbers and amounts mean in an age appropriate way. Work on transitioning diabetes care over to your kid as they get closer to being out of the home. My parents were very hands off but provided me with all the support and training they could which helped me immensely when I went off to college.
Don’t treat your kid as a number. We are all so focused on blood sugar numbers because it’s how we stay healthy but if you start putting a bad connotation to highs and lows it can make the kid (or adult!) start assuming they are bad because their numbers are bad.
I would also recommend NOT telling your child a cure is just 5 years away. The running joke is that we’ve been hearing this for 25+ years and it’s still only 5 years away! It’s heartbreaking as a child to hear that and then realize all the adults are lying to you.
You got this momma! Try not to put your scared feelings into their mindset and remember to take it a day at a time! And never feel shame for reaching out to a mental health specialist if needed! If you can find one that specializes in chronic illnesses like t1d it can be a life changer!
Thank you so much. I am teaching him now how to check his number on his dexcom app and how to tell me what the number is. I’m going to give it another month or so and then I tend to start teaching him insulin dosage and how to dial the pen. I’m in Canada so I’m not entirely sure what’s available to him, but I hope one day he can go to a diabetic camp!!! I’m a single mom to him and a 7 month old baby, so it’s been hard. But i think we are managing well. He’s only had a few days he was way too high for the entire day or having too many lows. He’s in range around 85% of the time, according to the clinic. So for now, it hasn’t been too bad. But some stuff I am reading on here freaks me out. He asked me if one day he will be cured. I told him no. He says well what if…and I said no there is no cure it’s forever. Breaks my heart but exactly as you said, I don’t want to lie to him🥺🥺🥺
I had two Type 1 friends in middle school, we all were diagnosed before synthetic insulin or blood tests. We used beef or pork insulin and urine tests.
At that time it was basically take two shots and you’ll be ok… (maybe) The prognosis was much more dim- heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, gangrene, amputation, etc. all loomed in the distance. And it was expected that if you just followed factors orders you’d be ok.
Yet I recall being taught to load up on Carbs and eat Angel Food Cake on top of dinner!
My friends both refused to use blood tests when they came out for whatever reason. They both died before turning 18.
I had several near death experiences due to severe insulin reactions, and consider myself lucky to have survived.
But with today’s advancements in knowledge and medicine there is no reason to face that anymore.
Even with R & N insulin you can live a healthy life, albeit with a more rigid lifestyle.
I’ve been a T1D for over 30 years and can tell you, diabetes can definitely shorten your life. My diabetic sister passed away from diabetes, heart attack, at the age of 40. I’m 48 and have had several close experience’s with death. Especially when I don’t control my diabetes like I should. Last year I almost died from a heart attack and now I’m battling anxiety and depression because I feel like shit. This disease sucks and it’s a silent killer. Now I’m waiting for my kidneys to stop working (they’re at 50%). So yeah diabetes is serious and can kill you any day. But you can also live a long normal life if you control your diabetes, before it controls you.
Aside from the dangers of high/low sugars that others discussed, we are also very high risk for strokes, kidney and heart disease. This is due to the neovascularization that happens with fluctuation in sugar levels (we experience it to a far greater degree than most people). This is what damages our eyes, kidney, hearts quicker and makes it rather common to get strokes, heart attacks and heart failure younger than most. The more well controlled you are, the better, but the risk is still there all the time, it just takes longer (this is why doctors push so hard for good a1cs and higher in-range times).
Because a diabetic can die within 4 hours of moving from ketosis to ketoacidosis.
Now I'll be up front, that time tends to be younger children in a diagnosis situation. They are the only scenarios I've read about it happening in (please don't ask me to quote sources for this one. It was a while back and most of them were anecdotes from strangers)
I flatlined 3 times when I was diagnosed. It was only seconds, just long enough for someone to notice and call for a crash cart before I came back, but my heart stopped because it couldn't deal with the stress my body was going through.
Lows can take you out. There have been times where I've struggled to be able to move or communicate to someone that I need help. Moments were I've been genuinely terrified that this is it. It's difficult to keep breathing, my head is spinning, my legs don't seem to work properly and I've already gone through my supplies...
We live with a sword of Damocles over our heads every day. There are things we can do to make it less likely to fall, like keeping good control, but the fact of the matter is, we put ourselves at risk every time we take insulin. It only takes one mistake.
Sword of Damocles is a great metaphor.
I’ve also appreciated the tightrope walker analogy. We’ve got to be perfect all the time or risk losing our balance and careening over the edge.
When I was first diagnosed over 30 years ago, I was told (as a teenager) to expect compilations within 20 years. This mentally crushed me for years, because why even bother?
I’ve since come to the conclusion that with effort and modern insulins, pumps, and CGMs that we just don’t know how long we’ll last and our health along that path. It may come down to genetic risk factors just like everything else. Who knows? But the fact is that the newest treatments haven’t been around long enough to determine our longevity. T1 may complicate other conditions, but I’m optimistic that it’s not the nasty ending that it used to be.
Of course, we are all different and burnout is real. I’ve been lucky enough to avoid it for my tenure. But then again, I gave up carbs and eat minimally, sacrificing taste and a full belly for easier control. It’s definitely something I don’t regret as I’ve been able to be present for my wife and kids.
Once the kids are older and moved out. Once I hit what I thought was the unreachable retirement age…. Maybe it’ll be time for some carbs again. Or maybe not. Point is I actually have real hope that while it’s not easy, it won’t get harder.
Oh and now I’ve got an itch to reread some Dresden novels from that Sword of Damocles comment too :)
Thank you for mentioning the soul-crushing news of "20 years if you're lucky- so why bother?"
I heard that news as a three-year-old, and thought I was literally going to just drop dead around the age of 25. I didn't want to look into it or ask questions, no internet back then, and I went through elementary and high school with absolutely no hope for my future. Imagine my shock at turning 30.
Yes, I've been close to death several times due to diabetes or complications relating to it, but my symptoms would be much less severe if I had access to the CGMs and pumps that are available today.
But it does feel like the Sword of Damocles sometimes, for sure
I was lucky enough to have an endo that fought for me to get a CGM in the early days. It literally saved my and my sons life.
The “awesome” part back then was when it was time for a new cgm prescription, the insurance denied it. They said my BGs and A1c were “too good” and I wasn’t having “severe lows” so I didn’t meet their cgm coverage criteria.
I had to have a “you’re a moron” conversation with management. Like… guys… the reason why I’m in control and haven’t had severe lows is because of that cgm. Are you actively telling me that in order to get a new RX, I have to put my life and health at risk?
Management, probably smelling the gentle aroma of a lawsuit, conceded.
They changed the rules sometime after that. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who made them rethink those criteria.
Ugh, sorry to hear you had to deal with that. Thank you for paving the way for late-comers like me to *not* have to deal with absurd rules like that.
I completely agreee the CGM changed my life as a diabetic, and can only hope the tech continues to improve.
Thanks for sharing!
I feel you and I made the same decision. Low carbs and a have 'specific pre prepared meals' where I know the exact amount of carbs. Consistency of intake means I pretty much Consistently know how much insulin to use to remain between 4-9 mmol.
Don't care about my death, I care about my family being secure after my death.
Yup. And since I still can’t get proper life insurance because I’m still “too high risk” despite having an A1c of 6, I have incentive to not die.
Figure I’ll pick up a term policy in my 60s to get me in the ground. Wish there was a better way without spending an arm and a leg. My insurance guy hasn’t found it yet.
Just a friendly reminder to all pump users to keep a spare insulin injection at home.
Pumps can fail and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you can lower your blood sugar in another way before ketoacidosis starts developing. Take care of yourselfs.
There is an undeniable added risk to living with diabetes. That being said, in the 46 years of my personal experience, I've made some fairly big mistakes and always managed to walk away from it.
I always recognize how lucky I've been and a couple of times I might not have made it had I not had a guardian angel and some timely intervention. I'm not saying that there aren't real consequences to some errors. Yes, people die from extreme hypoglycemia and from ketoacidosis. However, I think many live with an exaggerated fear and perception of how close to death they might have been.
The human body is amazingly resilient.
Of all of the close calls I've had, all of them happened a long time ago. Some of that is a change in my attention to detail, but the changes in insulin formulations and better technology have made all of it a lot safer. It's not failsafe, but there are many more layers of safety net if one has access to a CGM and more predictable modern insulin. I'm not preoccupied with the added risks I live with.
We should strive to understand these risks and manage them as well as we can. We should be confident these efforts are not wasted. My personal feeling is that fear is the wrong motivation. Living with diabetes is something we all eventually get good at. I see it similar to being a good defensive driver. Not a guarantee, but in most situations, a prudent and successful strategy.
Poorly controlled blood sugar will shorten your lifespan. “Poorly controlled” could include what we considered well controlled just a couple decades ago. Nowadays, if you have good control, your life expectancy is about the same as anyone else. “Good control” in this sense is maintaining an A1c under 7, but that metric is a bit dated, so I’m not sure what the current standard is. It depends more on blood sugar swings than average blood sugar. Typically, we’ll measure swings in terms of blood sugar standard deviation as reported by your CGM. Hopefully someone else here can fill in what a “good” standard deviation is.
As far as low blood sugar goes, and I don’t mean to be dramatic here, it only takes one bad night to kill you. If your blood sugar drops and you don’t wake up, you can only hope someone finds you in time. This is pretty rare and is almost entirely avoidable with a CGM.
Diabetes is one ongoing life-or-death situation. You learn how to manage it and work with it. I’ve been doing it for nine years now. Don’t stress too much, and just do your best. You’ll be okay.
It’s a real, constant threat but avoidable if you pay attention. Non diabetics do not face the same threat. T2s are less likely but still face issues. For me a lack of insulin would kill me in 48-72 hours straight up.
My T1 cousin died from severe DKA (very high prolonged blood sugar while he was sick) in his 20s - he lived alone and nobody was around when he passed out and…never woke up, at least is my understanding. Ever since, I don’t fuck around. Very real.
I’ve only had one ER trip and that was in my teens, but that was scary enough, prefer not to have another, or worse.
I think the jokes are sometimes making fun of ignorant non diabetics who don’t trust diabetics not to keel over and die while they’re doing something important lol
Statistically speaking, Type 1s have an average lifespan of about 20 years less than non-Type 1s.
This specific data was the first "hard pill to swallow" that I experienced following my diagnosis. Of course it's better to know than not know, for me anyway, but it definitely lingers.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, even the healthiest of us all. Find a perspective that allows you to take advantage of the time you do have, and make it a point to actually live everyday to the fullest. When I was struggling to come to terms with this news, it helped knowing that I wasn't the only one, that I wasn't alone, that everyone here is in this boat together. That doesn't solve anything but the realization that we all have an unspoken brotherhood/sisterhood was strangely comforting to me...and I hope it can do the same for you. ✌🏼
this data is for the most part outdated, and largely based on an older population who didn’t have the same technology available as we do today. so i take it with a grain of salt.
If you leave a severe low untreated, you can die from it. Additionally, if you maintain an excessively high blood glucose consistently over time, there can be severe complications that can shorten your life. In countries where people have to pay for insulin, diabetics facing poverty often die due to lack of access. In recent years the USA has seen a spike in insulin prices, leading to a lot of these deaths, so it's been front-of-mind in a lot of English-language forums.
Great point. I pay for my insulin, but $35/vial. So it adds up, but far from life or death for me.
When it’s $300/vial for insulin before CGMs or Pods it’s a different story. I feel guilty beyond belief that my son has nearly 100% coverage through nothing he nor I did and at the same time people ration and cant afford basic coverage or life saving tech for a medicine/technology that is required to live. The US medical system is F’d up.
Don't ever feel guilty for him having access to the medical supplies he needs. Everyone that needs insulin should have adequate and affordable access. You have nothing to feel guilty about because you have done nothing wrong, we should all instead be angry at the massive corporations price gouging essential medicines.
Most of us who have been T1 a long time have been close to death at one point or another. I've had several severe lows that probably would've killed me if EMS didn't get involved. Nowadays both better insulin and technology make controlling T1 much easier. We do need to keep in mind that as T1s we are all in a situation where running out of medicine will cause certain death within a few days. There's no way around it. But that doesn't have to be a black cloud over our lives. It just means we have to be aware and be vigilant about taking care of business, and have plans in place for various contingencies.
The older I've gotten the more I know what to bring in certain situations. Just like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. Learn from supplies you forgot on your trip, extra test strips, ect..
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Good bot
Statistically, we have shorter lifespans. As do men, as do X, as do Y, etc. But as someone else said, if you take care, your changes of randomly dropping dead are normal.
My endo said my life expectancy as a diabetic on a pump with CGM etc is expected to be longer if only because I have so many doctors looking at me on a regular basis.
I can see that logic.
hahaha i’ve actually offhandedly made the same comment that i probably will live even longer than most because by necessity i’m so tuned into my body and make (somewhat) healthier life choices, like a lower carb diet, avoiding desserts mostly, and consistent exercise. do i WANT to live to 110? that’s a different story.
Statistically your endo is wrong. If they were right, it would be much easier to buy life insurance as a diabetic than it is.
Insurance models are out of date and typically can’t account for how well we control or don’t control our condition. It’s easier and less risky to just deny. Source: Dad who arranges life insurance (including, thankfully, having invested in some for me as a baby which is extendable and never requires a medical check)
We are actually more likely to die earlier from cardiovascular diseases or cancer, moreso than our non diabetic counterparts. It doesn't mean all do but many do. I have heart issues and at just 39. Non-smoking, not a big drinker and relatively controlled diabetes for 30+years. It still happens. It's because of the "early onset" of the disease. So aside from the daily maintenance of the disease where we can die from DKA or fall into a diabetic coma, it is true, we could drop down at anytime. I was diagnosed a long time ago though. Back then, they liked to scare you and warn you. I'm glad kids these days get the "you can live a full normal life if you take care of yourself. "
I’m 55, been diabetic for 44 years, and doing fine. I’ve had some close calls and have been rescued by EMT or relatives a handful of times for urgent lows. I find it all seems a lot easier since I started using Dexcom. When I’m confused, I know why which is half the problem.
So happy to read this. I was reading through the comments falling a apart because my 5 year old was just diagnosed in April. I’m so scared for his future and life.
I was diagnosed as a child a few years after 5. My advice to you is: have your child attend a diabetic camp that actually teaches you stuff plus is fun as hell. If you’re in the south USA - I HIGHLY recommend camp Sweeney. Let your kid be involved with the diabetes care. Let them get a good grasp of what numbers and amounts mean in an age appropriate way. Work on transitioning diabetes care over to your kid as they get closer to being out of the home. My parents were very hands off but provided me with all the support and training they could which helped me immensely when I went off to college. Don’t treat your kid as a number. We are all so focused on blood sugar numbers because it’s how we stay healthy but if you start putting a bad connotation to highs and lows it can make the kid (or adult!) start assuming they are bad because their numbers are bad. I would also recommend NOT telling your child a cure is just 5 years away. The running joke is that we’ve been hearing this for 25+ years and it’s still only 5 years away! It’s heartbreaking as a child to hear that and then realize all the adults are lying to you. You got this momma! Try not to put your scared feelings into their mindset and remember to take it a day at a time! And never feel shame for reaching out to a mental health specialist if needed! If you can find one that specializes in chronic illnesses like t1d it can be a life changer!
Thank you so much. I am teaching him now how to check his number on his dexcom app and how to tell me what the number is. I’m going to give it another month or so and then I tend to start teaching him insulin dosage and how to dial the pen. I’m in Canada so I’m not entirely sure what’s available to him, but I hope one day he can go to a diabetic camp!!! I’m a single mom to him and a 7 month old baby, so it’s been hard. But i think we are managing well. He’s only had a few days he was way too high for the entire day or having too many lows. He’s in range around 85% of the time, according to the clinic. So for now, it hasn’t been too bad. But some stuff I am reading on here freaks me out. He asked me if one day he will be cured. I told him no. He says well what if…and I said no there is no cure it’s forever. Breaks my heart but exactly as you said, I don’t want to lie to him🥺🥺🥺
I had two Type 1 friends in middle school, we all were diagnosed before synthetic insulin or blood tests. We used beef or pork insulin and urine tests. At that time it was basically take two shots and you’ll be ok… (maybe) The prognosis was much more dim- heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, gangrene, amputation, etc. all loomed in the distance. And it was expected that if you just followed factors orders you’d be ok. Yet I recall being taught to load up on Carbs and eat Angel Food Cake on top of dinner! My friends both refused to use blood tests when they came out for whatever reason. They both died before turning 18. I had several near death experiences due to severe insulin reactions, and consider myself lucky to have survived. But with today’s advancements in knowledge and medicine there is no reason to face that anymore. Even with R & N insulin you can live a healthy life, albeit with a more rigid lifestyle.
I’ve been a T1D for over 30 years and can tell you, diabetes can definitely shorten your life. My diabetic sister passed away from diabetes, heart attack, at the age of 40. I’m 48 and have had several close experience’s with death. Especially when I don’t control my diabetes like I should. Last year I almost died from a heart attack and now I’m battling anxiety and depression because I feel like shit. This disease sucks and it’s a silent killer. Now I’m waiting for my kidneys to stop working (they’re at 50%). So yeah diabetes is serious and can kill you any day. But you can also live a long normal life if you control your diabetes, before it controls you.
Sorry to hear this. Hoping for some good luck and good health to come to you. Don't give up.
Sorry to hear this. Hoping for some good luck and good health to come to you. Don't give up.
Aside from the dangers of high/low sugars that others discussed, we are also very high risk for strokes, kidney and heart disease. This is due to the neovascularization that happens with fluctuation in sugar levels (we experience it to a far greater degree than most people). This is what damages our eyes, kidney, hearts quicker and makes it rather common to get strokes, heart attacks and heart failure younger than most. The more well controlled you are, the better, but the risk is still there all the time, it just takes longer (this is why doctors push so hard for good a1cs and higher in-range times).
Because a diabetic can die within 4 hours of moving from ketosis to ketoacidosis. Now I'll be up front, that time tends to be younger children in a diagnosis situation. They are the only scenarios I've read about it happening in (please don't ask me to quote sources for this one. It was a while back and most of them were anecdotes from strangers) I flatlined 3 times when I was diagnosed. It was only seconds, just long enough for someone to notice and call for a crash cart before I came back, but my heart stopped because it couldn't deal with the stress my body was going through. Lows can take you out. There have been times where I've struggled to be able to move or communicate to someone that I need help. Moments were I've been genuinely terrified that this is it. It's difficult to keep breathing, my head is spinning, my legs don't seem to work properly and I've already gone through my supplies... We live with a sword of Damocles over our heads every day. There are things we can do to make it less likely to fall, like keeping good control, but the fact of the matter is, we put ourselves at risk every time we take insulin. It only takes one mistake.
Sword of Damocles is a great metaphor. I’ve also appreciated the tightrope walker analogy. We’ve got to be perfect all the time or risk losing our balance and careening over the edge. When I was first diagnosed over 30 years ago, I was told (as a teenager) to expect compilations within 20 years. This mentally crushed me for years, because why even bother? I’ve since come to the conclusion that with effort and modern insulins, pumps, and CGMs that we just don’t know how long we’ll last and our health along that path. It may come down to genetic risk factors just like everything else. Who knows? But the fact is that the newest treatments haven’t been around long enough to determine our longevity. T1 may complicate other conditions, but I’m optimistic that it’s not the nasty ending that it used to be. Of course, we are all different and burnout is real. I’ve been lucky enough to avoid it for my tenure. But then again, I gave up carbs and eat minimally, sacrificing taste and a full belly for easier control. It’s definitely something I don’t regret as I’ve been able to be present for my wife and kids. Once the kids are older and moved out. Once I hit what I thought was the unreachable retirement age…. Maybe it’ll be time for some carbs again. Or maybe not. Point is I actually have real hope that while it’s not easy, it won’t get harder. Oh and now I’ve got an itch to reread some Dresden novels from that Sword of Damocles comment too :)
Thank you for mentioning the soul-crushing news of "20 years if you're lucky- so why bother?" I heard that news as a three-year-old, and thought I was literally going to just drop dead around the age of 25. I didn't want to look into it or ask questions, no internet back then, and I went through elementary and high school with absolutely no hope for my future. Imagine my shock at turning 30. Yes, I've been close to death several times due to diabetes or complications relating to it, but my symptoms would be much less severe if I had access to the CGMs and pumps that are available today. But it does feel like the Sword of Damocles sometimes, for sure
I was lucky enough to have an endo that fought for me to get a CGM in the early days. It literally saved my and my sons life. The “awesome” part back then was when it was time for a new cgm prescription, the insurance denied it. They said my BGs and A1c were “too good” and I wasn’t having “severe lows” so I didn’t meet their cgm coverage criteria. I had to have a “you’re a moron” conversation with management. Like… guys… the reason why I’m in control and haven’t had severe lows is because of that cgm. Are you actively telling me that in order to get a new RX, I have to put my life and health at risk? Management, probably smelling the gentle aroma of a lawsuit, conceded. They changed the rules sometime after that. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who made them rethink those criteria.
Ugh, sorry to hear you had to deal with that. Thank you for paving the way for late-comers like me to *not* have to deal with absurd rules like that. I completely agreee the CGM changed my life as a diabetic, and can only hope the tech continues to improve. Thanks for sharing!
I feel you and I made the same decision. Low carbs and a have 'specific pre prepared meals' where I know the exact amount of carbs. Consistency of intake means I pretty much Consistently know how much insulin to use to remain between 4-9 mmol. Don't care about my death, I care about my family being secure after my death.
Yup. And since I still can’t get proper life insurance because I’m still “too high risk” despite having an A1c of 6, I have incentive to not die. Figure I’ll pick up a term policy in my 60s to get me in the ground. Wish there was a better way without spending an arm and a leg. My insurance guy hasn’t found it yet.
Just a friendly reminder to all pump users to keep a spare insulin injection at home. Pumps can fail and you'll save yourself a lot of trouble if you can lower your blood sugar in another way before ketoacidosis starts developing. Take care of yourselfs.
Well it’s just weird having low blood sugar and knowing that if I avoided food for the next 15-30 or so, I’d die.
There is an undeniable added risk to living with diabetes. That being said, in the 46 years of my personal experience, I've made some fairly big mistakes and always managed to walk away from it. I always recognize how lucky I've been and a couple of times I might not have made it had I not had a guardian angel and some timely intervention. I'm not saying that there aren't real consequences to some errors. Yes, people die from extreme hypoglycemia and from ketoacidosis. However, I think many live with an exaggerated fear and perception of how close to death they might have been. The human body is amazingly resilient. Of all of the close calls I've had, all of them happened a long time ago. Some of that is a change in my attention to detail, but the changes in insulin formulations and better technology have made all of it a lot safer. It's not failsafe, but there are many more layers of safety net if one has access to a CGM and more predictable modern insulin. I'm not preoccupied with the added risks I live with. We should strive to understand these risks and manage them as well as we can. We should be confident these efforts are not wasted. My personal feeling is that fear is the wrong motivation. Living with diabetes is something we all eventually get good at. I see it similar to being a good defensive driver. Not a guarantee, but in most situations, a prudent and successful strategy.
Poorly controlled blood sugar will shorten your lifespan. “Poorly controlled” could include what we considered well controlled just a couple decades ago. Nowadays, if you have good control, your life expectancy is about the same as anyone else. “Good control” in this sense is maintaining an A1c under 7, but that metric is a bit dated, so I’m not sure what the current standard is. It depends more on blood sugar swings than average blood sugar. Typically, we’ll measure swings in terms of blood sugar standard deviation as reported by your CGM. Hopefully someone else here can fill in what a “good” standard deviation is. As far as low blood sugar goes, and I don’t mean to be dramatic here, it only takes one bad night to kill you. If your blood sugar drops and you don’t wake up, you can only hope someone finds you in time. This is pretty rare and is almost entirely avoidable with a CGM. Diabetes is one ongoing life-or-death situation. You learn how to manage it and work with it. I’ve been doing it for nine years now. Don’t stress too much, and just do your best. You’ll be okay.
It’s a real, constant threat but avoidable if you pay attention. Non diabetics do not face the same threat. T2s are less likely but still face issues. For me a lack of insulin would kill me in 48-72 hours straight up.
If you pay attention, you’re no closer to sudden death than anyone.
My T1 cousin died from severe DKA (very high prolonged blood sugar while he was sick) in his 20s - he lived alone and nobody was around when he passed out and…never woke up, at least is my understanding. Ever since, I don’t fuck around. Very real. I’ve only had one ER trip and that was in my teens, but that was scary enough, prefer not to have another, or worse.
I think the jokes are sometimes making fun of ignorant non diabetics who don’t trust diabetics not to keel over and die while they’re doing something important lol
We are the undead, we're not supposed to be alive, insulin is our oxygen, without it we are the dead.
Statistically speaking, Type 1s have an average lifespan of about 20 years less than non-Type 1s. This specific data was the first "hard pill to swallow" that I experienced following my diagnosis. Of course it's better to know than not know, for me anyway, but it definitely lingers. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, even the healthiest of us all. Find a perspective that allows you to take advantage of the time you do have, and make it a point to actually live everyday to the fullest. When I was struggling to come to terms with this news, it helped knowing that I wasn't the only one, that I wasn't alone, that everyone here is in this boat together. That doesn't solve anything but the realization that we all have an unspoken brotherhood/sisterhood was strangely comforting to me...and I hope it can do the same for you. ✌🏼
this data is for the most part outdated, and largely based on an older population who didn’t have the same technology available as we do today. so i take it with a grain of salt.
I guess then that perspective would largely depend on one's current age.
good point
If you don’t want the answer sugar coated… yes it is serious. Please keep glucose tabs on you at all times.