Any positive aspects to having diabetes ?

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None.

Would like to say never been as healthy, can walk all day & dance all night blah blah blah, truth is its pain in butt some times, lot of planning goes into days weeks away & can do without that burden after 40 years.

All that said cope quite well with condition mostly, just rather not have it.
 
Feeling Fit said:
Most people with diabetes are fitter than those without the condition!
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Not very sure about that (is there data?) but I'm sure we're all told (individually) that exercise is important so it doesn't feel unlikely.

We all get regular contact with health professionals, so routine things like blood pressure, cholesterol (and other CVD risks) get regularly tested and (I assume) are more likely to be treated. (And almost all of us take medication regularly and are exempt from prescription charges so we're likely actually to take whatever the pills are.)

And since we get that contact we're more likely to present for other conditions (probably more significant for men).

(I'm sure I was once told that doctors with diabetes actually had a longer life expectancy than doctors who didn't have it, partly because those with diabetes were less likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs, and partly because those with diabetes were more likely to seek help with sickness (whether diabetes-related or not). No idea whether it is or was true but it doesn't feel impossible.)
 
Looking back....I have spent all my life worrying and fretting about what 'might be', I forgot to enjoy the pleasure of 'what is right now'

Diabetes has reset me to enjoying 'now'
 
SB2015 said:
However I did succumb to cakes covered in smarties, when they brought them in. I always based the lesson on their cakes. It is amazing how much Maths can be included in cutting/tasting a cake, including working out my carbs, and how much insulin I needed for it, making sensible estimates as a safety check, …
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LOL! Jane always had a plan to put together an illustrated ‘introduction to maths’ book for young children based around cake entitled

MATHS

in big letters, but then crossed out. And then

CAKE (and maths)

Written underneath 😛
 
Yup I can second that
 
I’m in the ‘No’ camp, I’m afraid. Apart from the worry of highs and lows and complications, the sheer mental burden of Type 1 can be exhausting. I despise the fact it takes up so much space in my brain and so much of my day. I despise the fact I look at a menu of delicious meals and all I can think is “Carbs…carbs…how many carbs…”. I hate having to think before I eat and I hate having it in my head whatever I do and wherever I am.
 
EmmaL76 said:
Well I have one.. son comes home from his first cooking lesson at big school with what can only be described as an abomination with a sticker on it that says pear pudding. Now I love him dearly, his little face beaming with pride although it looked as if it had been at the bottom of his bag all day or maybe sat on. I say sorry son, remember mums diabetes I can only have a nibble but dad will have a really big piece when he gets home :D
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I think the answer to "is there any positive aspects to having diabetes" is more profound and deeper than what it first appears.

I believe (know) that in life, everything happens for a reason, be it so called "good" or "bad". The smallest and most apparently insignificant of events can have profound impacts on our life and can fundamentally change the direction our life takes. If one thinks about the number of changes one needs to make when having to live with diabetes, how many things will change as a result of those changes? Which places will you have gone which you may not of otherwise, which people might you meet which you may not of otherwise, how many times will you have had to go back to get something you forgot (insulin pen, glucose, test strips), only to have bumped into someone you wouldn't have had you been on time?

Everything we experience is a lesson in life, whether we learn from that lesson or not is up to us, life is a lesson.

So for me having diabetes isn't really about having any positives or negatives, it's all part of the experiences of life.
 
Well people have said I’m am deeply profound lol. I love your summary of what it means to you Amity. I’m usually residing with inka in the no positives camp. Unless pear pudding is involved (next week apple pie!!!) so lovely to hear your thoughts x
 
Hmm a tricky one Emma...I get what you’re saying and probably have done this at some point. (School made soggy slightly warm pizza that’s been in a tin all day, blue and green scones from a cookery lesson mixed with science 😳) I think as it’s just been part of my life for so long it’s just what I do. I would give up all the faffing, planning and thinking in a second.

I can’t think of any positives and I’m generally an annoyingly upbeat person who can see a positive in most things, but you’ve got me stumped here...so nope...however take the wins where you can I say🙂
 
I'm mainly in the 'No' camp. Having diabetes has changed my life significantly and it scares me 24/7- the ongoing complications I have scare me a lot more than doing the general diabetes stuff.

The huge plus is meeting so many lovely people from the forum virtually and in reality 🙂
 
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Amity Island said:
I think the answer to "is there any positive aspects to having diabetes" is more profound and deeper than what it first appears.

I believe (know) that in life, everything happens for a reason, be it so called "good" or "bad". The smallest and most apparently insignificant of events can have profound impacts on our life and can fundamentally change the direction our life takes. If one thinks about the number of changes one needs to make when having to live with diabetes, how many things will change as a result of those changes? Which places will you have gone which you may not of otherwise, which people might you meet which you may not of otherwise, how many times will you have had to go back to get something you forgot (insulin pen, glucose, test strips), only to have bumped into someone you wouldn't have had you been on time?

Everything we experience is a lesson in life, whether we learn from that lesson or not is up to us, life is a lesson.

So for me having diabetes isn't really about having any positives or negatives, it's all part of the experiences of life.
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Very deep man but get what your saying, it is what it is so live with it.
 
I have always considered myself lucky because I have a condition that means I look after myself an awful lot better than most people.

And I have regular check ups with a highly qualified team, well perhaps not that regular at the moment
 
Bruce Stephens said:
We all get regular contact with health professionals, so routine things like blood pressure, cholesterol (and other CVD risks) get regularly tested and (I assume) are more likely to be treated. (And almost all of us take medication regularly and are exempt from prescription charges so we're likely actually to take whatever the pills are.)

And since we get that contact we're more likely to present for other conditions (probably more significant for men).
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I don't receive that.
Maybe it is because I stopped the tablets and achieved normal numbers, but I only know that my blood pressure is normal because I have a tester of my own.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
LOL! Jane always had a plan to put together an illustrated ‘introduction to maths’ book for young children based around cake entitled

MATHS

in big letters, but then crossed out. And then

CAKE (and maths)

Written underneath 😛
Click to expand...
I love that idea.
I am not sure how it would have fitted with the school policies, but it would have been fun, and think of all the sampling necessary in the editing process!!,
 
Gwynn said:
Looking back....I have spent all my life worrying and fretting about what 'might be', I forgot to enjoy the pleasure of 'what is right now'

Diabetes has reset me to enjoying 'now'
Click to expand...
Same as much fitter and slimmer than I was 10 yrs ago.
 
Just got to say it but now that I not carrying five and a half stone of useless fat everywhere I can actually walk, exercise, etc, tons of energy and no joint pain !!! Now that alone has to be worth the effort of going low carb, which I only did because I was diagnosed as a T2 diabetic (eventually)
 
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