Hey everyone,
I am going to start college in the fall and was wondering how colleges deal with type 1 diabetics living on campus. Also, my mom seems to think that I am going to be messed around with when low and possibly be killed by stupid students screwing around with my medication. Does this stuff happen?
-Thank you.
When I was starting college 2 years ago I also worried. But now I see people around don’t pay much attention to my shots. They don’t treat me as a diabetic but as a normal person. Most of my friends always forget about my disease
and suggest me chocolate and when I remind them they say " Ooh, yes… I forgot… "
Hi Ryan,
I was diagnosed with diabetes during college. The most important thing that you need is GOOD FRIENDS. (That’s true not only because of diabetes!)
If I ever went to a party during college, I made sure that I had a friend with me who knew what to do if I had a low and who was responsible (i.e. would not get drunk). My biggest fear was that if I went low, people who assume that I was drunk (though I didn’t drink much).
Will you live in a dorm? Will you get assigned a roommate? I think it will be really important to make sure that your roommate is understanding.
Also, I went to a small college, but I found our that there were 5 students with type 1 diabetes at the college. I contacted the nurse and asked them to send my email address to all of them. Then they contacted me and we would meet up for dinner etc. It was nice to not be alone!!
College is an exciting time and you will do great! 
Also, I think that it’s normal that your mom is worried. Just reassure her that you will be responsible and that you will have good people around you!
I just graduated from a big university in Detroit… nothing gets more intimidating than that! Nothing actually happened to me except for one time when I went to a party and my pump failed and I was 2 seconds from DKA. Obviously, I rushed myself over to the detroit medical center and I was taken care of and released the same night.
Talk to the dean of students, there might be a support group on campus and if there isn’t, that would be the person to help you start one!
Just be careful about parties… its really easy to forget about the whole insulin/eating thing when your drinking a bunch and that gets REALLY dangerous… Dont go too crazy… but if you go out, make sure you go with someone who knows about your diabetes and what to do if you get really low and pass out… and carry a glucagon shot just in case!! Good Luck!! Youll be fine!
P.s. hardest part about being a college student w diabetes is trying to eat healthy (cafeteria food, fast food, Ramen, and beer is about all your gonna get… enjoy!)
I’ll second what everyone else said. As to being low, I have to say, roommates will help you out. I mean, I suppose it’s possibly you could get some incredibly mean person as your roommate who will ignore you or make it worse, but I get low quite a bit, and my roommates always helped me out. They’d give me sugar or call 911, if necessary. Probably you’re mom’s just worried about you going away. (My parents were really worried when I spent my junior year of high school abroad, but it worked out fine. To this day, they still worry about me, but I think that’s just a byproduct of me being their kid and me getting diabetes at a young age.)
I never had a problem at my university. I went to Southern Methodist Univ (SMU) in Dallas. I started a support group to try to meet other Type 1s on campus. I met two type 1s and tons of Type 2s. We walked in a few ADA walks together. It was nice to know someone else on campus who I could go to to sound off or for tip sharing - even if we didn’t travel in the same social circles.
As far as the university programs or officials, I was approached once my freshman year by a Type 1 RA (resident assistant) who told me that the staff wanted to know if I was using proper Sharps disposal methods in the dorms. I was. So it wasn’t an issue. My profs were generally very accommodating if I needed it and the health center on campus had my health records in case something happened. I knew the pharmacist at the closest drugstore to campus and made sure I kept after my own supplies.
I was never “messed with,” but like many have said, it’s important to know you have friends you can trust who will help you in your more vulnerable moments - diabetic or NOT! I was passing a kidney stone once and was thankful I had a friend who would take care of me. I lived alone my junior year of college and that was the year I found to be the hardest. I think it’s important to have roommates or housemates just so someone can keep tabs on you if you were to not come home one night or something. The year I lived alone, I just made sure I took a lot of extra precautions, like having lots of juice and strips on hand and giving someone a key to my place in case I needed supplies I couldn’t get to on my own.