My Top 20 List of Type 2 Diabetes Ignorance Pet Peeves

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1

This post is, in part, to let off a little steam... In the short amount

of time I've had Type 2 Diabetes I've heard an infinity ad nauseum of misconceptions regarding Type 2 Diabetes, and those who have it... It is very hard to hear, and deal with... And I'm trying very hard not to be so angry... as to alienate some of the poor, clueless people who believe these things. This list is in no particular order of importance... Share your own, if it helps.

1. All Type 2 Diabetics are the same

2. Type 2 Diabetics don't need any insulin, and only a small "minority" of them ever require it.

3. Type 2 Diabetes is curable, if you only "wanted" to cure it.

4. Only old, fat people, get Type 2 Diabetes.

5. Only fat people get Type 2 Diabetes.

6. Getting on a low carb diet/raw diet/vegan diet/juicing fast/beet diet/fad of the month diet will cure your Type 2 Diabetes

7. Type 2 Diabetics don't get hypoglycemia.

8. Type 2 Diabetics don't get DKA.

9. Type 2 Diabetics don't struggle keeping their blood sugars level all day.

10. Type 2 Diabetics can just take a pill and eat whatever they like.

11. Type 2 Diabetics should have prevented their disease, so NO ONE should ever have to have it.

12. Type 2 Diabetics should not go on a low carb diet, because they're already full of fat.

13. Type 2 Diabetes is cured with exercise.

14. Type 2 Diabetes is cured with weight loss.

15. Type 2 Diabetics don't get complications.

16. Type 2 Diabetics only get complications when it's their own fault for being binging, fat pigs.

17. Type 2 Diabetes is caused by obesity.

18. Type 2 Diabetes is easy to manage.

19. Type 2 Diabetes is the "wuss" Diabetes.

20. Type 2 Diabetics have freedom.

21. Type 2 Diabetes is not a real disease.

22. All Type 2 Diabetes is preventable.

23. Type 2 Diabetes is the patient's fault.

24. Type 2 Diabetes has no worries.

25. Type 2 Diabetics don't die if they don't get proper care.

26. Type 2 Diabetes only happens to adults who let themselves get fat, and never to kids.

27. Type 2 Diabetes doesn't progress.

28. Type 1 Diabetes is worse than Type 2 Diabetes.

29. Type 2 Diabetics can breeze through their day.

30. Type 2 Diabetes is NOT Diabetes.

31. Type 2 Diabetics don't lose beta cell function.

Okay, I lied, and it's 31.... But I could keep on, and keep on. Need to vent a little bit? I sure need to, today. Let's keep it polite, though... People may NOT respect me as a Type 2... but that doesn't mean we need to stoop to their level. It's just working through some feelings... and letting them out... You know, before I murder someone. lol

2

Unfortunately I have believed some of these myself (i.e. the whole diet issue and keeping it at bay). However after reading this I have learned a lot and thank you for this. Shedding ignorance everyday should be a part of everyone's to do list.

3

I hate the snide smile and the question, 'how are you doing with the diabetic diet'. Grrr, I was already eating low GI as per dr. instructions, guess that was tipped me over from pre to D2.

4

did you read my blog about that stupid civil war article? saying one type of diabetes is easier than the other is plain ignorant.

5

I did. It was a good blog. :)

6

I address this whole issue quite simply:

You will find entries on 'Diabetes' in any Endrocrinology book.....

both in the same section......metabolic disorders.....blood sugar disturbances....

its a common struggle at the end of the day, with some (obviously major) diffrences as to the cause

what matters is how daily blood sugars are controlled, one day at a time, over the long long run

with some daily challenges of course, for either type (I or II).

there is no cure at present for either type...

but 'MANAGEMENT' is the buzz word here

Good luck to all my friends, you can do it (no, you must do it!)

7

#2 is hopefully changing as more Type 2s 'go public' with their insulin use and let the world know they DO sometimes need insulin. I work with a Type 2 who uses a pump. She and I have fun educating our co-workers about how our types are similar, yet different.

#6 is irritating for Type 1s too. I love that people think a cure for diabetes in any form is as simple as diet. If it were that simple, we'd all be cured.

8

People making statements like: Type 2's can't get DKA - I had DKA at diagnosis.

This really really bugs me. Grrrr!

9

I liked Sarah Janes comment about "civil war". I have almost been "banned" from TU for engaging in heated type 1 type 2 arguments.It is good that people's ignorace stirs up the bee's nest every once in a while. Hopefully it can change the views of people who have pre concieved ideas about type 2's. The latest commercial that pisses me off is an advertisement for the supermarket Big Y. The commecial explains they have a new nutritional guide for the food on the shelves.NuVal system. The medical guy who came up with the food scores proceeds to say it will help obesity, type 2 diabetes and other preventable diseases by eating more nutritionaly.. UGHHH So it is not just some of the type 1's that are ignorant, it seems like the general public is misinformed through the media.Shameful.

10

Well, I just set up a group for Type 2, because amazingly enough, there weren't any that didn't have some other purpose!

Come join the group and vent all you want to -- Type 2's need to be a majority in at least one little corner of TuD. I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about, because the group is for everything a Type 2 needs to deal with.

One little correction before I'm done. Type 2's almost never get DKA, but get HHC which is Hyperosmolar, Hyperglycemic Coma. It's what happens when a Type 2 doesn't get their meds, or doesn't get insulin, and it has a significantly higher mortality rate than DKA. Type 1's don't even know it exists. I saw Type 1's tell a Type 2 to test for ketones when his BG was 520, but Type 2's normally don't make ketones, unless the BG is very high, and even then, it's only a small amount.

MY pet peeve is that Type 2's don't get the quality of medical care that Type 1's do, both because a lot of GPs think they can handle it on their own without knowing all that much about it, but also because insurance companies are restrictive of what they will pay for for Type 2's.

There! Done! Hope to see you in Type 2!

11

Yes... I already joined your group before you even asked! lol And while I am well aware that it is uncommon to get DKA as a Type 2, I wouldn't say almost never, and it certainly not impossible. Type 1's can also get HHC, sometimes, too, in rare situations. My dad went into DKA a couple of times.... I made ketones when I was very high... Not a small amount, either. lol I had already lost like 30 lbs by the time I was diagnosed, from by body eating itself away...

12

Lots of people still think diabetes (especially the kind that only 'fat' people get) is caused by eating too much sugar.

One of my quirks is that I have an almost absolute lack of sweet tooth despite being a home baker of some repute. I have a bizarre list of things I don't like to eat which includes stuff like cauliflower, green peppers, chicken breasts, Spam, and virtually all sweet things. So when I told close friends about my diagnosis, the first thing every single person said was 'But how can that be? You don't eat sweet stuff!'

13

I'm tired of hearing people say that exercise and low-calorie diet prevent type 2, because if that had been the case, as a constant exerciser and a careful eater, I never should have gotten it to begin with. My body didn't care that I was eating whole-wheat bread and oatmeal and fruit; to my body these carbs were all the same: bad. Triglycerides in the 400s and steady weight gain in the face of a calorie deficit should have tipped somebody off about that one. Even when type 2s come on here and say "I brought this on myself," and genuinely had bad eating habits or whatever, I want to say SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, because YOU DO NOT REPRESENT EVERYBODY!

14

While I see all those type of irritation, my heart aches for those Type II who have internalized some of them. Some who blame themselves and feel guilty. Others who think its not "full blown" diabetes, (which is Type I), so they take their pills in the morning, eat what they want, don't check their BGs except at the Dr office, where they get the news that their A1C is runnig 7.5 to 8, which is OK right?

15

This I believe , I copied from the CDA's website re # 17 :" Dr. Ian Blumer, a Toronto-based diabetes specialist, says it's unfair to blame diabetics for their own disease when active people with healthy weights can also develop it.

"Sure, being sedentary and overweight increases one's likelihood of having Type 2 diabetes," said Blumer, who's authored several books on the subject. "But it's clearly not the only reason because lots of overweight people -- most overweight people -- don't have diabetes."...

A statement I know for years by experience , when I chaired a newly formed support group for people with diabetes , start 1984

16

My problem is with TV shows like Biggest Loser - where those people come into that program morbidly obese and on a variety of diabetes/blood pressure meds and by the time they're finished at The Camp, they're off all their meds and have normal blood sugars, normal blood pressure and missing a myriad of other ailments they were medicating before, while overweight. So how do they do that? The TV show sure makes it seem like they lost a ton of weight and exercised their little hearts out and pretty much CURED everything that was wrong with them pre diet.... even their psychological hang-ups - gone.

While I respect the people on that show and the journey they've made - I really don't understand how they can come into the program WITH diabetes (and shooting insulin several times a day) and within 3 months their pancreas is producing its own needs again. What up with that?

And another thing they do on that show is make people who are exceedingly overweight - as in 400 pounds and more - RUN and JUMP and exercise all day! These would be people who would have had trouble STANDING - and within days, they're running on that treadmill and 3 months later - still weighing 250+ - they're running a marathon! How do those poor little legs carry those big people? I know at 200 pounds I could not run to save my life. Yet I watch these incredible people climb a Jacob's Ladder for hours.

And all those family problems that drove them to their slow suicide behaviour - healed! NOW their families are behind them 100% and everybody loves them. These same people who teased and taunted them for years - mega supportive while the cameras are running. I have trouble with that premise too, and the fact that both trainers are practising psychiatry without a license. I think if I had some perfect-bodied chick standing on my spine and screaming at me on national TV, I might say or do something the camera's might not fully appreciate. And the men are completely emasculated as they shed as many tears as they do pounds. And this is "Reality" TV. Argue with me.....

17

My extended family has both T1 and T2 diabetics. I still worry about T2 and since my daughters were diagnosed with T1, I have met so many T1s who were diagnosed in their late 30's and 40's that I now worry about T1 as well.

One of the very best things for my girls when they were diagnosed is that they already had exposure to testing BG and "medicine" through my extended family. It wasn't a complete unknown. We don't distinguish between the two diseases when we discuss it within our family other than to discuss why some take insulin and others don't.

18

Has anybody been watching the Extreme Diabetes Makeover on Take Control of Your Diabetes.com?

Now, I am all for controlling your blood sugars but the stereotypes in this programme really made my blood boil!

The programme features 7 diabetics with HBA1Cs higher than 7.5. Two Type 1s and five Type 2s. I should have known what was coming when I looked at a pic of the 7 diabetics and could immediately pick out who was T1 and who was T2. You guessed it. The two T1s were 20+ and 30 years old respectively, both thin. One is a keen badminton player who practises at least 15 hours a week. The other was shown in gym attire, leading an exercise class on the weekends. The T2s were age 35+ (average age about 50?) One was fairly big-boned but all the others were pretty fat.

On diet, one of the T1s is shown tucking into a bowl of pasta, while a T2 gets grief about eating candy. Another T2 is admonished for eating chicken wings for breakfast. I guess he should have had muesli with a banana instead? Another T2 is told to switch from eating white bread to wholegrain bread. Grrr! (I got so mad I almost threw a chicken wing at the screen at that point.)

Given that 20% of T2s are of normal weight, and they had 5 of them in their group, couldn't the show have tried a little harder to challenge some of the evil, pervasive stereotypes? Hell, they could have looked on HERE and easily found lots of T2s who don't fit the stereotypes (though I am guessing that the fact that they are on here in the first place means they're pretty empowered and wouldn't have blood sugars high enough to 'qualify' for the makeover.)

19

@Lila ... I was disenchanted with TCOYD when they were on tv telling people that they got Diabetes for being fat, and that they could cure by by losing weight, and basically, didn't make any distinctions at all between types, either...

20

What's wrong with chicken wings for breakfast, or any other meal for that matter? I love them. And they are very low carb as long as not breaded. :)