I have been a type 1 since age 9, now I’m 37. My daughter is 2 and I am constantly watching for signs.
My Endo says that it’s not hereditary, but my father has Type 1 and I have read information saying it is hereditary and it’s not.
Anyway, I am just wondering if anyone has little ones that were dx’d as well.
Thanks
I worry about the same thing - I developed Type 1 at age 11, and my first cousin on my dad’s side also developed Type 1 at age 11 - we are the only two in the immediate family, but I watch my kids for signs just in case. My son is 4 and my daughter is 2, and so far, so good. My daughter is built just like I am, though, so I especially worry about her - my son’s physical make-up is more like my husband.
I worry too. I was told that there is a higher risk for children of moms with Type 1. I was diagnosed at age 12. I have a 5 year old and a 1 year old. Just last week my 5 year old went to the bath room a few times at a friends house and I was checking his sugar. I have 4 first cousins who are Type1, but no parent - child link with them. Doesn’t stop the worry, its built in.
I have a little one, but I do the same thing as you. Worry and watch constantly. I have been told by my endocronoligist, that child’s chances of getting diabetes, are greater if the father was the carrier. Which I guess is true in your case. I really do not see how a statement can be made across the board about this, as they really do not know the cause of diabetes. If they did, we would have the cure. So…I say to both of us, we should try not to worry so much. And, if for some reason this does happen to one of our children, we should be thankful for technology. I am 45 and I can remember having to go to the Dr weekly to get my blood drawn because blood glucose testing systems were not available at that time. I can remember having low blood sugars contantly and then eating more to compensate and gaining weight. It was a vicious cycle. I was diagnosed at 9, as well. Hang in there.
Hello.
I don’t have any children of my own yet. But I am in a similar situation as you, with a diabetic parent. My mother was diagnosed at 6 with type 1 and I was diagnosed at 16. The consensus seems to be its genetic BUT requires not only the genetics but some sort of environmental factor as well.
Ive come across this in my research http://www.diabetes.org/genetics.jsp
My mother is type 1, I am type 1 as well. All women on her side of the family are Type 1 diabetics.
They said it is rare, but it can happen.
Another member of this community mentioned that antibodies associated with type 1 often show up 6-7 years before diagnosis. You can add this to the routine testing with their doctor. That way if you are facing type 1, you may know well in advance (I’m not sure that they can test for all types of antibodies, but they can test for many!).
Hello ladies my name is Star and I have had diabetes since I was 10. I have 2 boys ages 5 and 6. Diabetes does not run in my family I am the only person to ever have it, and it runs in my husbands side of the family but only through the women…my 5 year old son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 16 months old. he has been on a pump from the very first day. I noticed symptoms early and his sugar was only 300 when we found it…I still watch my other son and check his sugars often but his doctor says the chances of him also getting it are very small…My husband and I totaly believe that the only reason our 5 year old got diabetes is due to the complicated delivery I had that was totaly the doctors fault. we believe that if it wasnt for that he would have probably never gotten it…
Star-
That is very interesting. My father has Type 1, since he was 7 and I’ve had since I was 9.
I have a 2 year old and so far, she seems to be ok. But, WE also had a tough delivery.
I would love to hear more about your story and also, if you had any trouble getting pregnant etc.
Only if you feel like sharing.
Thanks
Heidi
I was dx at age 11 - the only T1 in my family. My son was dx at age 5, he is now 9. I have another son who is non-D and is 6. I caught my son fairly early on - he was never hospitalized. His random glucose midmorning was in the 300’s (18ish for those outside of the USA). I believe there is a genetic link to autoimmune disorders and which autoimmune disorder(s) you get is the “luck of the draw” I guess you could say. They don’t know what triggers any of the autoimmune disorders out there, but lots of research points to genetics together with some sort of environmental trigger.
In my immediate family I have T1, my sister was dx with Hashimoto’s (hypo thyroid) about 6 years ago in her 40’s. We cannot really look at our family history because they are all in Europe and we can’t go back further than one generation (long story). On my husband’s side his sister was dx with celiac’s (another autoimmune disorder) a couple of year’s ago when she was 40. He has 9 siblings and she’s the only one with an autoimmune disorder. So perhaps the chances would be greater because the genetics lie on both sides for my children.
Here is a link for some genetic and statistical info. I don’t know how up to date it is though. There has been so much research going its hard to keep up with it all.
http://www.genetichealth.com/DBTS_What_Is_Type_1_Diabetes.shtml
I think its natural to be paranoid, and I think it so very important not to pass that paranoia on to my non-D son. I ask him to pee on a stick every now and then (I usually buy the combo stick which measures sugar and ketones). They are cheap and non-invasive. I think because we are so aware of the symptoms that our children will not get to that point of being so sick of being hospitalized. I never put my non-D son in the Trial Net Study because I don’t want to have to worry about “when” if there are autoantibodies present and I also don’t want to be fooled if the autoantibodies are not present, because they say even if they are not present right now, they may be later. I also don’t want to subject him to the needle pokes of which he is mortified. (Which I think is kind of odd, because he has no problem giving me injections or finger pokes. I guess its not him feeling the poke.)
This is purely just me though and I think its fine if someone else goes ahead with the testing.
Well, my son is the first in the family with Type I, but I wanted to add that kids should be screened for
celiac disease yearly, since Type I and Celiac disease go hand in hand. Also, I wanted to add that my friend’s son was just diagnosed at age 9. His grandfather and aunt both have type 1. His father and 2 brothers do not have it - yet. IT seems as if they don’t know that much about it, and please tell me why there are so many new cases
of it, because when I was growing up I did not know anyone. In my circle of acquaintances I know 6!!! THat seems
mind boggling to me !!! Nancy
The rate of developing T1 is increasing steadily! The increase is seen mostly in children aged 4 to 7. You will also notice now that people in their late 20’s and early 30’s are developing T1, which was much rarer 20 years ago.
Why - my theory - all the garbarge we are being exposed to knowingly and unknowingly. “They” have changed the genetics of plants they are growing food to make them grow bigger and faster, they supplement all the animals we eat with hormones and other additives to make them grow bigger and faster. They add preservatives of upteen sorts to our food so it lasts longer. They put chemicals and “what not” in everyday household products and packaging we use that are ingested by us somehow. The list could go on forever. Just my humble opinion…
Actually - I am thinking the increase in type 1’s may be due to the newer technology that allows us to successfully have children. Before home BS testing, sugars tended to run higher (they don’t even show in urine until 150-180) - mother’s with type 1 often lost their babies in the last months of pregnancy & often had to spend several months of their pregnancy in the hospital to allow a successful birth. Even my 2 daughters born 21 & 23 years ago were induced 2 weeks early as was routinely done then.
I think the fact that type 1 diabetics haven’t been able to have many children until the later part of the last century is part of the reason they still question how inherited it is. In my family we have all been type 1.5 - I was diagnosed at age 29 & was the youngest - my mom was 40 & my uncle, the oldest I know of, in his 60’s. Because of the late onset most of my diabetic ancestors had already had children before they became ill, so they were able to pass the gene on.
My 36 year old daughter was diagnosed with diabetes last year - although she is still managing to avoid insulin (she HATES needles) by using a low carb diet. Since she is my oldest child & it tends to hit in the 30’s in my family, I don’t know yet about my remaining 4 children),
So yes your children could become diabetic - so keep an eye on them - but don’t obsess. My mother and her brother both ended up diabetic, but her other brother is almost 90 & is still ok. Consider yourself lucky that you will be able to recognize the symptoms early if they do occur so that your child will have the best care possible.
Wow Carole, I had never thought about this.
They say that children with a diabetic father are more likely to develop diabetes that children with a diabetic mother. I wonder if these numbers are somehow skewed by the fact that perhaps more diabetic men used to have children than diabetic women.
I was dx’d just after my 15th birthday so I started developing diabetes when I was 14. Neither one of my parents have diabetes (either type) but my moms mother was diagonosed with type 1 in 1949 when she was pregnant with her 3rd child at age 30.
in 1954 my grandmother got pregnant accidently with my mom and gave birth to her in 1955. My mom, to this day is healthy as can be. The mom the youngest of 4 gave birth to myself and then to my brother less then 2 years apart. My brother is healthy as an ox. None of my cousins from my mom (or my dads) side have any form of diabetes. Just me.
One of my dads cousins has type 1, but according to that side of the family (she got it at 16) it was a side affect of a severe allergy to penecellin (sp?) that shut all her organs down and her islet cells never started working again.
So who knows how I really got it. But I have it and i pray that my future children don’t develop it.
I have no kids. I’m not married. I have been with my Boyfriend for 3 yrs and I love him. We already know we are going to get married just need to get some things out of the way before we do. I am 20. I was diagnosed in Feb and he has been through all this with me. I feel for him. He can escape the carb counting and eating salads when we go out but he doesn’t. He sticks by me. The fact that he does means a lot to me. His mother was diagnosed as a type 2 about 1 year ago. My mother was told she was a type 2 about 2 years ago. She swears it went away but I don’t think so. She hasn’t lost the weight and she sure as hell doesn’t eat healthy! Anyways, I have those ppl in my life. My biggest fear is that when Martin (my bf) and I have kids they’ll have it. Especially type 1. I don’t want to see my kids going through what I go through. I don’t know if it genetics or what. I don’t know of any Type 1s in my family. And it’s like I’m a freak to them. Taking shots to them is the worst. They look at me like a drug addict. I know there are a lot of questions but I don’t know how kids deal with diabetes. I think it’s hard of me so I’m sure it’s horrible for kids.
My Mom is type 1, diagnosed in 1981 (at 38 years old), my only sibling, a brother, also type 1 diagnosed in 1986 (at 13) and I am as well, diagnosed in 2002, at 26.
I have a daughter who is almost 2 and we test her every few months. All of my doctors have told me that Type 1 is not hereditary. I beg to differ.
The part about Penicillin is interesting to me. We think that I had a mild allergic reaction to Penicillin before I was diagnosed, but I never put the too together. Maybe that was the “environmental trigger” for me.
I was diagnosed just before my 5th birthday. My mother has been Type one since she was 12 (47 years and counting!) There are a number of autoimmune diseases in our family, especially on my mom’s side.
I am pregnant now and also wondering about the likelihood of passing Type 1 on to my new baby. I have always though that it would really be fine with me if my child were diagnosed … I grew up with it just fine … but now that I am actually pregnant, I am starting too feel a sense of guilt about the whole thing. Then again, maybe it’s just the pregnancy hormones. I did get teary-eyed over a coffee commercial the other day!
I was dx’ed at 11 (now 24).
no one knew anything until I was dx’ed then everything came out: my dads side-Both my paternal grandparents are type 2, my father also type 2- all 3 were/are morbidly obese and had/has general metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high cholersterol, etc). No other family history.
When I was 4/5 I got scarlet fever which left me hospitalized in an almost comatose state. From this event I lost most of my hearing and speech capabilities. (after years of experimental treatments I did regain 80% of my hearing and speech). When I went through puberty my body couldn’t handle it and I became diabetic, most likely from the already stressed out immune system from the scarlet fever episode.
I test my siblings regularly and no signs of diabetes in them and no other cases in my family.
(I know my parents weren’t type 1 but Id figure Id chime in on how other factors can come into the situation)