Type 1 diabetes isn’t caused by a bad diet or by eating too much sugar. Type 1 diabetes is caused by the immune system attacking the pancreas and killing the insulin-producing beta cells, leading to a life dependent on injected insulin to keep you alive. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the carbohydrates you eat into blood sugar, which it uses for energy. Insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body.
My everyday life with type 1 diabetes includes an extra 180 decisions on average vs someone without type one. Most of these decisions are surrounding food intake and exercise. Food raises your blood sugar and insulin lowers it. Exercise (in any form) lowers your blood sugar as well. Alcohol does whatever it wants to your blood sugar. So depending on the day, I will either be stressed out of my mind trying to control my blood sugars or burnt out from spending so much time trying to do the work of my pancreas. Its a 24/7 job and there are no breaks, if I take a break I die. Literally. If I don’t get enough insulin I will die in 48 hours.
Now that we’ve gotten what diabetes is out of the way, here are things I’m tired of hearing and questions I’m tired of answering. Let’s start with the questions since I assume you’re thinking of some:
“Were you born with it?” No, I was diagnosed at age 16 actually. Most people with type one diabetes are diagnosed within childhood or before they reach the age of adulthood, although type one can develop at any time.
“Were you diagnosed because you ate too much sugar?” Nope absolutely not. None of the many forms of diabetes are caused by eating too much sugar. Type 3c is caused by surgical removal of the pancreas due to health complications. Type 2 is caused by insulin resistance which is a problem with the thyroid and metabolism and in women the endocrine reproductive system. Type 1 doesn’t have an exact cause, but mainly it’s caused by the immune system suddenly seeing the pancreas as a threat and disabling it by killing off the insulin-producing cells.
“Does it hurt when you have to inject insulin?/Does it hurt when you have to put a new pump on?” Does it hurt when you get a flu shot? Does it hurt when you get a tattoo?
“Can I touch your insulin pump?” Why does everyone always want to touch my insulin pump or my sensor? It doesn’t feel like anything special and it hurts when there’s pressure applied to the site. So, uh no, please don’t touch my insulin pump.
“Can I have one of your snacks?” Generally speaking no since I use the snacks I carry to treat low blood sugars (for the record, low blood sugar can be deadly) but if I happen to have enough sure why not.
“When your blood sugar is low you need more insulin right?” No, too much insulin is probably what caused this issue and, if I take more insulin while I’m low, I’ll probably legitimately die. If my blood sugar is too high, that’s when I would need more insulin.
Now, moving on to statements I’m tired of hearing. Seriously, why do people say some of these things to me?
“Oh, my grandma/grandpa/family member died from diabetes” What is the point of telling me this? Now I’m sad and stressed out, thank you.
“My cat has diabetes so I know how it feels” Feline diabetes and human diabetes are different. Like extremely different. I bet your cat doesn’t have to wear an insulin pump or have to carry around snacks for low blood sugars constantly.
“Type 1 and type 2 aren’t that different” Bro. They are completely different. Just in case you didn’t know, type 1 diabetics are completely dependent on insulin to keep us alive while type 2 diabetics can manage their diabetes with pills and a good diet and can even reverse the effects. Type 1 diabetes is an incurable autoimmune disorder, so a good diet can help with stable blood sugars, but we’re all stuck with this disease until some brilliant scientist figures out how to cure us.
“But you’re thin how do you have diabetes?” Girl, I-I don’t even have words. I saved this one for last because of a few reasons: First, don’t comment on other people’s bodies, I’m sure you wouldn’t like someone doing it to you. Second, diabetes isn’t a disease based on body fat and/or how much someone weighs. Diabetes doesn’t discriminate, neither should you.