Did many of you here as Adults have a few very stressful years or stressful events before onset of the autoimmune attack/diagnosis?
I had taken on new promotion, graduate school and night and a wedding. I was in NYC and remember always going, going, going and feeling very stressed by work and a tough boss. not eating as well (grabbing food when I could) or taking time to exercise as routinely. Though my job and school in NYC required me to walk a lot from location to location. Chaotic, high stress before onset. Like it was diet and stress that were a trigger along w my genes. So I sometimes am like duh of course it happened then!
Tell me your story or stress trigger.
Although they have pretty much agreed a virus sets off type 1 in people that have the gene that makes it possible, they haven’t ruled out other factors might too. Stress means your bodies immune system is usually compromised and might not function at it’s best leaving you more vulnerable. But from what I understand, plenty of people also get type 1 without any stress factor.
In my case there was a ton of stress. That year a dog almost died, another dog did die a few months later, my father in law died and the most crushing was the next month my mom died. All within 6 months. And while running my own business.
I have read that the triggering virus could be asymptomatic. The immune system took care of it and then got confused thinking the Beta cells were the infection.
Diabetes was just one of a number of tough experiences of that difficult time in life. It capped off an unbelievably stressful year including the death of my best friend, then my father became ill and died, combined with a move to a new city, during my first year of Residency, arrival of diabetes and the dissolution of my marriage. I was 28.
I don’t recall any viral illnesses but who knows?
For me I was just finishing up college in my senior year. I didn’t feel stressed, and I had the coxsackie B virus still when I was admitted to the hospital. I know I had an over active immune system becaiuse I also developed a severe case of eczema immediately after diagnosis. Stress could cause our immune systems to be depressed or over.active
What an interesting topic. When I think about it, I was under a great deal of stress the year before diagnosis at age 33. I finished grad school a few years before and starting working at a Fortune 100 company with the worst boss you could imagine. I can remember sitting in his office and just shaking as he screamed at me and anyone else. On top of that, my parents split up, and I purchased a house that I remodeled for my mom, grandmother and little brother. The purchase of your first house and a remodel added stress too. Then a year before diagnosis my beloved grandmother got sick. She lived to 92, but it was still so stressful to lose her. My life was very stressful. I don’t remember having any virus beforehand and was pretty fit and exercised regularly for years. At my physical exam 9 months before diagnosis, my blood glucose level was perfect. I know there is a genetic factor involved with now another brother developing type 1 as an adult and a niece and nephew developing type 1 as kids, but you bring up a very interesting point about stress.
I was diagnosed when I was 19. I was a full time student (also in NYC) and I was working 2 part time jobs. I literally didn’t have a day off unless it was a major holiday. The Spring semester I was diagnosed was a tough one and in March I started feeling run down and tired but chalked it up to constantly being on the go. I did decide to drop one class to give myself a break but was still taking enough credits to be considered full time. In early April I started to notice that I was using the bathroom more. Within a week or so of that, I was going to the bathroom between every class at school and also stopping at every water fountain I passed. Sometimes I would have to leave class to use the restroom and drink. At work I was constantly going to the soda machine to get a can of Pepsi. I remember panicking one time because I ran out of change for the machine and I was desperate for a drink. By mid-April I decided to take some time off work, thinking that just school alone would be less stress, but I only lasted one more day at school. I lay in bed or on the couch all day, begging my family to bring me drinks and only getting up to pee. One Friday my mother told me I needed to see a doctor. I hadn’t been to one in years as I was rarely sick as a teen. My sister recommended a nearby doctor and I called for an appointment the following Monday. That weekend was the worst. My father took me to the appointment on Monday morning. The doctor asked me why I was there and told me to pee in a cup. I assume that he used Ketostix or the ones that test for glucose. He came out of the bathroom looking worried and told me to get to the ER. He wrote a letter (I never read it) and said I should give it to them as soon as I got there because he wanted me admitted immediately. They still made us wait at least 30 minutes, and I used the bathroom & water fountain at least 5 times. Once they called me in to the ER they hooked me up to IVs and got me to a room really fast. I spent a week in the hospital.
The endo in the hospital asked if I had been sick with a virus or anything in the months prior to diagnosis but I hadn’t. She asked about family history and as far as we knew, there was nobody with diabetes on either side of the family. She seemed surprised and said “Sometimes it just happens”. Maybe 10 years ago, one of my sisters was also diagnosed with Type 1 in her 40s. She had classic symptoms like I did - sudden onset, weight loss, DKA.
Your story resonates with me, (I was between 30-34 ) even the mean boss and the fear/stress of that! I felt like I was a swimmer for a few years kicking off the wall to constantly race back and forth. We have the type 1 genes especially in my mom’s family and my dad’s has thyroid diseases but I do always wonder if for some of us the stress helps trigger the immune response or maybe weakness to a virus/ immune attack. I had hashimotos since 7.
I remember at the time my roomate (a friend from high school) was watching me always on the go, going to classes, working until 10pm and she was like “Um your crazy”. She was chill and enjoying life.
I ignored my fatigue also b/c there were so many variables w being on the go, It would have been more obvious if I was in a more settled time of life. In getting LADA at first I only had nocturia. I also got cystic acne ( my doctor thinks as part of insulin resistance) and was confused w the peeing at night b/c I was put on spironolactone. Its a diuretic which also has side effect of controlling acne. It was definitely a confusing time and doctors really did not ask good questions or ab family history. Very strange time indeed.
My theory is that I had physical stress and that brought it on.
I was in university. No huge mental stress beyond just being a student, but academically, I was very confident. What set mine off, I think, is getting chicken pox in university vs. when I was a kid. A few months after that, I went to student health because, unknowingly, I had all the symptoms of uncontrolled type 1. They took a quick blood test and gave me the bad news.
From there, my mental stress level went all the way up because I remember them saying, “you have diabetes” and me saying, “no, I don’t” and walking out. I then went straight to one of the many libraries on campus and read up on it. I then also bought a book and dug into that. Then I realized, yep, they were right, and checked myself into a hospital.
TBH, my mental stress level has been high ever since. Thankfully, I’m in my 50s now, so I figured things out.
Interesting. My mom is type 1. I got LADA in 30s . I had hashimotos since age 7 and always had issues w ovulation and my cycles. My doctor thinks I had PCOS since teens before developing the antibody attack but I’m thin w thick hair and doctors dismissed me when I asked If I had it. I read in thin woman w PCOS the hypothalamus pituitary access and nervous system has issues. I should have been on a low carb diet for years. My mom as a type 1 from the 1960s was poor and had a terrible diet of carbs, soda and smoked. She never learned how to eat or count carbs. My household was a disaster in that regard. I know so much now.
Sustained high levels of stress is definitely a factor in poor health. I was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 30 about eight months after leaving a job I didn’t like (stressful, sure, but not unusual stress levels) followed by satisfying extended international travel then starting a school program at which I both enjoyed and excelled.
I think that genetics set up the predisposition and an illness/virus may be the immediate trigger. Ultimately, learning how to keep your glucose in the normal range while living a meaningful life is the challenge that matters.
This is an interesting question for each of us, however. I came down with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever caused by a tick bite. This happened about two years before my T1D diagnosis. It’s made me wonder, but doesn’t change my day to day life.
I did not have an unusually stressful time before my diagnosis…but I was beginning the process of retiring from a high stress business I owned which probably caused some subconscious change related stress.
In the months before my diagnosis (when the symptoms of excess thirst, weight loss and peeing a lot appeared) I was spending all my free time on a back breaking landscape project so there was a physical stress associated with that. For a few months I obliviously thought the excess physical labor was the cause of my symptoms. I ended up losing 35 pounds over a period of 3-4 months before I finally went to my PCP and got diagnosed.
I went to nursing school at 53. Loved it but it’s guess was stressful. Was diagnosed right after graduation. Of course they said type 2. Took awhile to get correct diagnosis. But was armed with a lot of new knowledge. 20 years later was diagnosed with Graves’ disease and TED. No stress association that I noticed. So maybe just prone to autoimmune diseases.
