Type 1 diabetes story - Teenage Diabetics at Risk.

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AppId is over the quota

by Donna Dexford (UK)

My name is Donna. I am now 40 years old and was diagnosed as type 1 diabetic when I was aged 2.

In the 38 years that I have been diabetic, a lot (and I mean a lot) has changed. Not only in the way that you inject the insulin into yourself (I remember having to sterilise the syringe and needles for using again and again) but there is so much more freedom now in what you can eat, drink and do. And also in people's perception of what a diabetic can and cannot do.

At the age I am now I have many health issues, mostly to do with diabetes.

It's easier in this day and age to live with the disease than it was many years ago.

However, one thing that will remain the same throughout the coming years if you are diagnosed diabetic as a child and that is in the teenage years.

Are You a Teenager?

The first point is your diabetic self, you will rebel and if you use your diabetes be warned, at the time that you are playing around with your diabetes (i.e.. not doing your blood sugars or missing injections or drinking too much) it will throw your sugars out, it will come back and bite you on the bum.

I rebelled and, at the age of 24, I was told I had retinopathy which is bleeding blood vessels at the back of the eye. I have had over 3000 laser blasts on the back of both eyes and I am now registered as partially sighted. This is due to rebelling as a diabetic teenager.

I have a kidney problem, this is due to being a rebellious diabetic teenager.

The nerve endings in my stomach sometimes tells my body that what I have in my stomach needs to come out, so I am sick for hours on end. That was caused by being a rebellious teenager.

I have heart problems, poor circulation and calcification of the legs (hardening of the blood vessels) etc etc etc. I think you get the picture.

Admittedly not all the problems I now suffer from are totally down to being a rebellious teenager. Some of them are down to the results of being long term diabetic but I can assure you, the rebellious teenager stuff did not help.

For the Parents of teenage diabetics here is something that you probably need to know and understand...

When I recently told my parents that I could go blind they said it was my fault for rebelling as a teenager. This is something that I should have said to them, but didn't, and this is something that you need to be told or warned about.

When your child rebels as a teenager with their diabetes, the chances are they are not rebelling because they are diabetic, they are using the one thing to hand to rebel and invariably it is the diabetes.

Even though I have had diabetes for a long time and do have health issues with it I now understand, as an adult, how important it is to

1. Keep my diabetes under control.
2. Do regular blood checks.
3. Attend diabetic appointments at the Doctor/Clinic

and finally

4. OK, so you may have diabetes and sometimes you feel the world is against you but you can live life to the full.

DO NOT LET YOUR CONDITION RUIN YOUR LIFE.

If you have (or are) a teenager coping with diabetes have a look at this colourful guide Tips for Teens with Type 2 Diabetes. It contains useful info for type 1 diabetics as well.

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Type 1 Diabetes Story

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AppId is over the quota

by Gordon Fowler (UK)

During my work with Siemens Plessey at Christchurch (UK), as the Customer Training Manager, it came to my attention that a student from the United Arab Emirates - who was a diabetic - came to the UK for a six week training course and failed to bring his insulin with him .

He left the UAE on a Friday and it was not discovered untill the following Tuesday that he was not well.

I took him to see the Medical Sister and we discovered that he had not brought his insulin with him, up to that time neither I, nor anyone else, knew he was a diabetic.

I was told to take him to Bournemouth Hospital as quickly as possible. By the time I had got a taxi and got him to the hospital he was in a very bad state.

Once in A&E he was examined - I stayed with him as he spoke little English.

When I told them he was a diabetic and had not had any insulin since last Thursday they rushed him off and started injecting him very quickly. In fact he was very close to death when they examined him.

I wondered what all the fuss was about because I knew very little about the condition. Then the ward sister told me that I was a very lucky man, and so was he, as he could easily have died on the way to the hospital.

The important point from this is that all diabetics should at all times carry their insulin with them and should let others know that they need to take medication on a regular basis.

[Have a look at the Travel Tips page for a checklist of how you should prepare for travel. Carol Ann

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Diabetes diagnosed - a young teenager shares their story

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In this story Umm Alkhayr describes being diagnosed with diabetes type 1...

Hey Readers

well I only had diabetes for 5 days .. but here's my story. I'm telling it so every teen who finds out they have diabetes knows that they're not alone and they're not the only people with diabetes.

My name is Umm Alkhayr. I come from a Somali background. No-one in my family has diabetes, well maybe my mother's side but she really wouldn't know because before she came to Canada she was born in a 3rd world country and if people were sick they didn't really know why they were sick. They probably say "it's just a cold" and get on with their daily lives. For example my uncle, my mom's brother, had diabetes for the longest time but he didn't know. He just found out when he went to the United Emirates.

Well anyhow - about a month or 2 months ago I been starting to get really sick. It didn't really bother me so I just avoided it as much as possible. I started to lose weight and get really thirsty; drinking water. My family nor me didn't really know what the symptoms of diabetes were.

As I just went on with my daily life things became more and more harder for me like staying in class without asking for the bathroom every 20 mins and even paying attention. I just began not going to school for about 2 weeks, not caring about my marks. My mom and family members ask me constantly "are you okay?"

I would hide my sickness however and whenever or wherever I would be till my family saw how I would always be tired because I would sleep half the time I was home. I dropped playing sports because it took up too much energy. I would come back from school around 4 and sleep till 8 without eating.

During school days I would never take lunch or even eat in the morning. I would probably only drink 4000 ml of juice and 4 L of water a day. In my mind I was losing weight and loving at that time I was about 120 pounds. All this time my skin was looking really nasty; always dry even if I put cream on.

Then one day came I ate so much junk, I ate even tho I wasn't hungry. Then I started vomiting, then I went to bed, got up 9times to drink orange juice till I finished the whole 2 L's.

The next morning my mother forced me to go to the doctors so we went together and they totally didn't even know what they were saying (like, come on - I had all they symptoms of diabetes) she said you're problem is facing a serious cold, but still we will have a blood test taken. And this was on Tuesday so she said come back Wednesday. We came back and did the blood test and we called for the test results the next morning. They said wait 7days.

So I just went to school with 3 bottles of juices in my lunchbox and 3 slices of pizza and chicken wings. After I ate all that at lunch I felt kinda high, but I still felt good in my head. I was still trying to hide it.

I was really sick so I asked my religion teacher if I could sleep during his class he said "yes" then right after I asked my gym teacher the same thing she said "yes". Then after few of my teachers spoke to me asking me if I was feeling alright because I didn't look too good I said "oh pssh nothing, I never felt better!" when really I felt so-o bad.

So she told me that I was really behind in her classes and I need to get up a lot from a 40 to at least a 60 because I been sleeping in her classes the past month. So I decided to go to library after school to do some assignments.

So me and my twin sister went to my mother's store to go get some money to eat before we go the library. She gave us money but begged me to go to the hospital before I go to the library. I said "no I'm not going" so she let me go and me and my sister went to get some food. Of course being 14 years old we spent all the money on junk food.

I drank about 2 cans of red bull and 1 chocolate bar thinking it would give me energy to do my work because lately I never had energy to stay up and do my work. So I started my assignment on the computer, printed it out and told my sister "o god, I'm so tired I'm going downstairs to sleep till mom comes pick us up." She said "okay" then, behind my back, she went to go call my mom saying that I went to sleep and I look really sick.

So my mom came 20 mins later and they both forced me in the car to go to the hospital which the whole time I'm like "I don't need to be here." So 2 hours in the emerg I asked my mom for money for food. She gave me 20 $. I used it on energy drinks, vitman water and pizza chips; junk like that.

An hour later I was going on and off to the bathroom then finally the nurse called my name and ask for a pee sample. So I gave it and she found sugar in it. Then she tested my sugar level. It was at 34 and she said I couldn't eat and my sugar was really high. Then she asked for a blood sample, so I gave it.

Then she told me that I have type 1 diabetes and I probably had it for 6 months and I didn't know. And she put me on machines, you know how it goes. The whole time it wasn't a big thing to me because at least it's not cancer.

I thank god for diabetes and not cancer. It's one of the fastest growing diseases in the world but I believe soon there will be a cure.

I haven't had diabetes for a long time to tell you there's ups and downs. I have no problems, then again I only had it for 5 days its REALLY NOT THAT BAD..

Thank you for sharing Umm - I'm sure many young teens will appreciate your story and maybe realise they need help if they are displaying any of the symptoms you describe.

If you have a diabetic teenager in your family check this free publication offering tips for teens on how to cope with diabetes; diabetes teens

Also get them to read this story from Donna Dexford: Teenage Diabetics at Risk

Other free publications offering advice can be found at Free Publications

kind regards,

Carol Ann

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Type 2 Diabetes Story - Misdiagnosed

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AppId is over the quota
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in January 2005 on the basis of a single Fasting Blood Sugar result.

Though I have always been 'in denial', I attended my 3 Diabetes Education Sessions, and followed the dietary and exercise advice conscientiously.

I invested in a testing kit, so that I could monitor my blood sugar levels at home. My readings here, as in my routine blood tests at the surgery, have always been comfortably below the diabetes diagnostic cut off point.

Having become tired of constant congratulation on how well I was 'managing my diabetes', I demanded a Oral Glucose Tolerance Test, which I took on 15th March. The day before yesterday (27th March) I learned that I am not in fact suffering from the condition, neither have I ever been!

So why am I writing?

Just to advise those who are newly diagnosed that they insist on an OGTT if it is not/has not been offered by their Doctor or physican.

Wishing you every success with your site. What an excellent initiative.

John Ainsworth

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Type 1 Diabetes Story

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

by Gordon Fowler (UK)

During my work with Siemens Plessey at Christchurch (UK), as the Customer Training Manager, it came to my attention that a student from the United Arab Emirates - who was a diabetic - came to the UK for a six week training course and failed to bring his insulin with him .

He left the UAE on a Friday and it was not discovered untill the following Tuesday that he was not well.

I took him to see the Medical Sister and we discovered that he had not brought his insulin with him, up to that time neither I, nor anyone else, knew he was a diabetic.

I was told to take him to Bournemouth Hospital as quickly as possible. By the time I had got a taxi and got him to the hospital he was in a very bad state.

Once in A&E he was examined - I stayed with him as he spoke little English.

When I told them he was a diabetic and had not had any insulin since last Thursday they rushed him off and started injecting him very quickly. In fact he was very close to death when they examined him.

I wondered what all the fuss was about because I knew very little about the condition. Then the ward sister told me that I was a very lucky man, and so was he, as he could easily have died on the way to the hospital.

The important point from this is that all diabetics should at all times carry their insulin with them and should let others know that they need to take medication on a regular basis.

[Have a look at the Travel Tips page for a checklist of how you should prepare for travel. Carol Ann

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Top: Type 1 Diabetes Story

Type 1 Diabetes Story

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

by Gordon Fowler (UK)

During my work with Siemens Plessey at Christchurch (UK), as the Customer Training Manager, it came to my attention that a student from the United Arab Emirates - who was a diabetic - came to the UK for a six week training course and failed to bring his insulin with him .

He left the UAE on a Friday and it was not discovered untill the following Tuesday that he was not well.

I took him to see the Medical Sister and we discovered that he had not brought his insulin with him, up to that time neither I, nor anyone else, knew he was a diabetic.

I was told to take him to Bournemouth Hospital as quickly as possible. By the time I had got a taxi and got him to the hospital he was in a very bad state.

Once in A&E he was examined - I stayed with him as he spoke little English.

When I told them he was a diabetic and had not had any insulin since last Thursday they rushed him off and started injecting him very quickly. In fact he was very close to death when they examined him.

I wondered what all the fuss was about because I knew very little about the condition. Then the ward sister told me that I was a very lucky man, and so was he, as he could easily have died on the way to the hospital.

The important point from this is that all diabetics should at all times carry their insulin with them and should let others know that they need to take medication on a regular basis.

[Have a look at the Travel Tips page for a checklist of how you should prepare for travel. Carol Ann

Return to Type 1 Diabetes Stories List Return to Diabetes Stories Main Page

Send in your Diabetes Story

Go to Your Diabetes Home Page

Top: Type 1 Diabetes Story