I just received an e-mail from Diabetes-Talkfest announcing the creation of a new on-line Type 1 Community. Let the exclusitivity begin? Should Type 2’s have their own on-line community?
I am a type 1 and i think we should all just share one because we all are human, we are all diabetics, and we have the same symptoms and issues. Whats the difference?
I don’t really understand why this is such an issue. I mean, honestly, I’ve not seen the whole “us vs. them” thing until I happened into the type two forums - until then I had thought that we were all just diabetic, regardless of how we came upon the disease and/or our methods of treatment for it.
I will say this, though, I don’t meet type one diabetics very often. The only time I really get to talk to anyone who deals with the disease in the same(ish) way that I do is when I go online and find forums that specifically say “type one”. We’re rare and sometimes it is nice to meet someone who also has a pump or has gone through a decade more of being diabetic or has gone through MDI, etc. It’s not about “exclusivity”, it’s about being able to talk about common experiences.
Yes…but not to replace this site or for “exclusivity” whatever that means. I’m sure you don’t mean to imply my arm is more broken than yours. The humanity and sense of community I find on this site is wonderful. If we hope to educate the general public and each other, combined sites like this are necessary so we speak with a unified voice. An online community for Type 2 diabetics should be a nice compliment to tudiabetes as I hope any Type 1 community would be.
I’m a newbie Type 2 and I’ve spent at least twenty hours on this site since discovering it several days ago and realized there is so much that I don’t know what I don’t know. Unfortunately, there is a lot on this site that I don’t need to know right now. A lot of discussions confused me as I tried to learn and sort through the different & similar issues for T1 & T2, not to mention the gray areas. There is so much info, it is hard enough to learn the basics without trying to learn if a particular discussion is relevant to a T2…or not. Especially a newbie Type 2. The bottom line is that I need to learn about Type 1 diabetes…just not right now.
NO. TYPE 1 DIABETES IS WHEN YOU PRODUCE NO INSULIN IN THE PANCREAS, WHILE TYPE 2 PRODUCES INSUFFICIENT AMOUNTS OF INSULIN IN THE PANCREAS. EITHER WAY, WE ARE THE SAME IN THE DIABETES COMMUNITY. WE MAY TREAT BOTH DIFFERENTLY, BUT WE ARE ALL DIABETICS. IT’S RIDICULOUS TO SEPERATE TYPE 1 AND TYPE 2 DIABETICS.
Yes, of course, and there’s no reason why we can’t all be members of the communities that provide the support we need. I have been a member of Juvenation (the Type 1 community you mention) for a few months now and I am on the administrative team here at TuDiabetes. I see them as different communities with different focuses. I would fully support the creation of a Type 2 community to provide that. Juvenation has some wonderful educational tools that I’ve already used to help others in my life understand type 1.
In my nearly 20 years of Type 1 diabetes, I have met less than ten type 1s. But Juvenation, the Diabetes O.C. blog ring, and TuDiabetes allow me to meet people I would not otherwise meet who share my treatment strategies, life experiences, or concerns. It is actually quite isolating to be a child or teen with diabetes with no one around to understand your plight but your great uncle or your grandpa. I first joined these communities last summer to learn specifically about type 1 diabetic women who are/were/or would like to be pregnant. I would join a community that specific if I could find one, too!
As a teacher, a woman, and a friend, I find that there are aspects of diabetes that Type 2s bring to my life and conversations that I am thankful to have, too. TuDiabetes is my favorite space on the internet and I have many Type 2 friends now. But that doesn’t mean I can’t patronize sites that cater to one type over another!
Sure , go ahead , organize one …I like to learn about diabetes. There is type 2 in my family . We have support groups here in my community 1 ) insulin pumpers… and we always invite interested parties, 2 ) type 2 …and I have joined .
I am living with type 1 diabetes for over 26 years and there seems to be times we can share our experiences .I never had a sense that it is about " exclusitivity " , but then again I have a simple mind set.We had a Canadian Diabetes Association diabetes EXPO here in March …open to all types and non diabetics .
Just as a clarification, type 2 diabetes is not only caused by insufficient insulin. It is caused by insulin resistance = when you have enough insulin, but it is not effective. Most oral medications are taken to reduce insulin resistance. Have insulin resistance for a long time is thought to reduce the natural insulin production, which means that some type 2’s need to inject insulin too. But the reason that they need to inject insulin is different.
Type 1’s do not produce insulin because there is an autoimmune attack on their pancreas.
I don’t think an entire community has to be made. Here there are different forums within this same community that support all types of diabetics. I’ve never liked the Type1 v.s. Type 2 issue. Why can’t we just all get along? 
Tu Diabetes appears to be an unusual community. When I just did an advance search of members about 2/3 have identified themselves as being type 1 diabetics. In the “real world” somewhere between 75 and 90% are type 2 diabetics. I prefer not to speculate on the reasons why this has occurred. There are some issues specific to each type and some overlapping issues. Politically, there is strength in numbers.
There are strong Type 2 communities already on some of the sites with forum style discussion boards.
My guess is that this site has more Type 1s because it was started by Type 1s and uses a format that is more like the communities younger people are attracted to–Myspace, facebook, etc.
A lot of older people (who tend to be the Type 2 population) prefer the forum design because it is more information-intensive and they are not lookng to build a new bunch of friendships around diabetes, just looking for information that will keep them alive and well.
There’s room for both.
Jenny,
Would you mind providing links to the T2 communities you frequent and find helpful?
Gerriann
I would them as well.
i think they do this for type 1’s because they are only a TINY percent of the diabetic community
but i understand where you are coming from
honestly like our set up better, easy to go through, lots of different people to meet. Lots of support. There’s a seperate forum for everybody here, everybody just stay here.
Why?? T1 or T2 … it’s still diabetes and we need each other.
Lois La Rose
Milwaukee, WI