I agree. It is not possible to go from type 1 to type 2. She probably had type 2 but was on insulin.
I don’t know if there is any truth to this but I’ve heard people say that if someone has type 2, it will lead to type 1. My mother has had type 2 for over twenty years and only once was she given insulin at a hospital.
I also understand that type 1 means that the pancreas does not produce insulin that is why we use pumps and syringes.
Why is it that people say if you take insulin you are type one? I understand that our medical professionals are or have been prescribing insulin for type 2. Is the medication used to treat type 2 not adequate?
Barbara:
My doctor told me that if I lived long enough my pancrease would stop producing insulin. I am on two medications. Metformin to help with my cells being resistant to insulin. Glipizide to help me produce more insulin. As I have lost weight I have been able to cut back on the Glipizide since it was causing me to have morning readings in the 50’s and 60’s.
That’s good news Travis. My mother really doesn’t follow a diet and only takes .5 mg of Prandin. She used to take four times that much in the past but did watch her diet and lost some weight. Her A1C was 5.8 and I envy her sometimes.
Being a Type 1 for over 23 years and being the leader of our local support group and knowing everthing I know about diabetes through doctors, reading materials, etc. diabetes DOES NOT go away - whether you have type 1 or 2. As a type 2, you are able to control your weight and what you eat, etc and may be able to go off diabetes meds or avoid them for a while, but even T2 doesn’t go away. Eventually, your body will stop producing and/or not use insulin properly any longer and you may eventually have to go on insulin, but it could be when you turn 80 or 40 or 95. It all depends on your body (genetics, chemical make-up, etc) and how you take care of your diabetes now.
I think that all T1’s need to realize that our T2 friends have just as much of a reason to find a cure as we do.
I meant no offense. I was just taught that type one and type 2 are completely different, but type 2 would eventually need to have the same treatment as type 1.
I don’t think they call it type one and type two due to the treatment you are on. I was told that it is te way your body works. In type 1, yor panceas just fails one day, due to what ever reason (I still don’t think they actually know why).
In type two, the cells wont accept all the insulin being produced, for many different reasons (Not always lifestyle, contrary to popular belief). This causes thepacreas to compensate by pushing out more insulin, and therefore over wrking itself. Then, one day, it pushes itself too much and fails. It is at this point that a type 2 becomes in insulin dependant diabetic.
At the end of the day, it is all just lables and words. I think the real issue here is that we all need to watch what we eat and carb count, and that diabetes can be a right pain in the…
I didn’t want to offend anyone, and I don’t feel like type one is worse than type two or anything. I was just stating what I was taught. But I think it is one of those grey areas t be honest, where everyone disagrees.
here here.
Diabetes affects us all here no matter what type it is, and all this nonsense that the media release about ‘cures’ doesn’t help us one little bit.
Search Diabetes on google and you will find hundreds of adverts claiming they have a natural ‘cure’ Most of this is ways to get money out of us in times of desperation.
Hey Rebekah,
I hope that you didn’t think I was upset with you. I feel the same way you do. I am type one but my mother is type two. I was also raised with misconceptions so I had to post and ask.
I think the biggest point in diabetes is to try to keep our sugars under a good control in order to function well enough while we sadly wait for a cure.
I certainly was not offended in any way. I was curious as why and if it is a misconception. I hope I haven’t offended you.
I’ve got a another one. I used to hate when I heard someone say my diabetes must be really bad because I take more than one shot a day!
I had to ask my endocrinologist if this was true. How silly that people can think this way. They don’t realize that we’re taking insulin throughout the day to better manage the sugars.
I used to get so mad when someone made me feel like I was doing something wrong.
You didn’t offend me. I was worried about offending you. isn’t that funny.
I ha found this site to be one of the most supportive I have ever been on, and everyone is so considerate of each others feelings.
A ‘friend’ told my boyfriend that I don’t look after my sugars because her mum (Who s type 2) can’t have any chocolate. She got this idea that I don’t care for myself becaue about 1/2 a year before, I went low whle we were bowling and had to get a normal coke instead of diet.
She then didn’t see me fo 6 months, met my boyfriend 1 month after he got with me (We havebee together fo a year now) and told him I don’t look after my sugars so my foot will fall off and I will die. For days he wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, but she really worried him.
I am tired of talking with the medical people who think I am dumb because I am a diabetic or because I am a female. I have been injecting myself for over a year and a half without any problems. I start having problems with a pen this weekend and low and behold it must have been something I did. I wanted to reach in the phone and pull the person out so that I could have a face to face with them. I kept my cool and said the ugly words to my phone after I hung it up.
I also had to deal with a dietician recently who was amazed that I could figure out in my head how many carb I had eaten and how much insulin I should give myself. I am not on a pump so I rounded the numbers to the whole units and the dietician could not understand why I did this. She kept letting me know that I could not do it that way. I looked at her and told her that my pens do not do less than one full unit.
I do not consider myself the sharpest crayon in the box but, I am not that stupid.
We have “Goodie Day” every Friday at my school and since most of the items are baked goods I don’t usually participate. Last week one of the teachers told me that the scones were whole grain and really low sugar so they wouldn’t affect my blood sugar. I tried to explain that it is the carbohydrate level, not the sugar content that determines how high my BG will go. She was really surprised that I was eating a piece of melon instead.
I hate it when I tell someone that I’m diabetic and they say, “you should lose some weight and do some exercise” or “you shouldn’t eat any sugar”. I get mad at both these comments because I am not overweight, and I want to tell people, “why don’t you lose some weight and do some exercise”? Or when people tell me that I must have “bad diabetes” because I take insulin/am connected to a pump and their aunt/uncle/grandmother/grandfather… “only” had to take pills for his/her diabetes.
Or… this takes the cake… when someone told me that I have some nerve injecting myself in a public place when people may have needle phobia! Why can’t I go into the restroom to inject myself instead of doing it in front of people?? This other teacher actually said that to me in the staffroom. I said, “you have a million other things to look at in this room - why are you looking at me? I have to take my insulin, you don’t have to watch me… so why should I hide my disease???”
About a month later, her best friend’s son was diagnosed with T1. Her opinions sure changed after that.
I was spoken to about injecting in class. I have been given permission to eat in class as the lessons often go on over lunch. I then need to inject. It is embarrasing leaving during lecture, so I did it there. I think that he ddn’t know I was diabetic though.
WHAT? I make sure I keep my insulin on me when in hospital, and refuse to let anyone else treat me. This stems from when I was first diagnosed and I was in hospital. I was put on sliding scale, where I had insulin going in one arm and glucose in another. I went low at one point, so the nurse took me off insulin, but kept the glucose going in. Needless to say I went high again…
I have also been given the wrong type of insulin.
Me too! So many of us and I thought I was the only one that experienced these things. I actually thought I was mad! LOL Now I know it’s not just me.
I also learned to bring my supplies with me, along with my glucose monitor when I had to stay in the hospital. One time after a procedure, I was admitted and knew my sugar was high. Usually, prior to a procedure you are directed to take less insulin or none at all and, not to eat after midnight.
Well, I buzzed the nurses desk to inform them that my sugar was 200+ ( I can’t recall the actual number now). They asked me how I knew that. They didn’t believe me. I told them that was what my machine was telling me. They were not happy with me. They came to my room and tested my sugar against their meter. It wouldn’t tell them what my number was. It must have malfunctioned or something.
They called the doctor on me. Prior to calling him they told me that I was not allowed to bring my own medications, etc. because of liability issues. The doctor did tell them to let me take my insulin. It was so funny, my husband was amused too because he was there to witness that one.
Mistakes do happen in hospitals unfortunately. It is in my opinion, a good idea to bring your own supplies and to question the medicines they intend to give you.
My personal favorite as a shot taker is, “How can you give yourself a shot? I just couldn’t doit!” As if I have a choice. Duh, life or death situation.
I always say to these people - “Trust me, if you were diabetic, you’d get over your fear on needles really quickly.”
People always tell me I must be brave, because I am on multiple injections, so I inject during every meal. I get annoyed with this. I am not brave, I just have to do it, and anyone else would do it too, because you have to or you die. I just see other people who are braver because they have far worse things.
My brother had a terminal illness, there was no cure or treatment. He was brave, he lived knowing he was going to die. He spent his life wasting away in his wheelchair, finding each day that he could no longer do something he could do the day before. He was brave as he was always smiling and lived lifew to the full.
I get that a lot about my diet. “I could never cut back on carbohydrates, I judt couldn’t live without potato chips or donuts, etc.” Well, you can live a lot better without those foods than without your eyesight, kidneys or feet.