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Good things about having diabetes

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Sorry, I can't think of anything better about the 21 years with type 1 diabetes, compared to 30 years before.
 
Steff said:
Ohhh it's she a member of the forum Andy 🙂
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No, I'm afraid not. We met via an internet dating site. Something I never would have considered doing before either!

Mind you, being the tight-fisted sort, I refused to pay the subscription fee and was only able to share my details with her because the site happened to have a free weekend!! Destiny or what????!! :D
 
Andy HB said:
No, I'm afraid not. We met via an internet dating site. Something I never would have considered doing before either!

Mind you, being the tight-fisted sort, I refused to pay the subscription fee and was only able to share my details with her because the site happened to have a free weekend!! Destiny or what????!! :D
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LOL Andy well no matter how it came about you oviously clicked and she didn't mind your tight fistedness :D
 
Andy HB said:
If I hadn't been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I wouldn't have got better.

I wouldn't have joined this forum.

I wouldn't have realised there was a new life out there for me.

I wouldn't have met my fiancee.

I wouldn't have married her.

I wouldn't have had my new life!!

Andy 🙂
Lovely story Andy x
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I am genuinely struggling a bit with this one - even the free scrips - since I was and have been so rarely ill - and obviously I wouldn't need most of the things I take were it not for being diabetic. Had thrush lots of times over the years - would I have had it were not my BG so iffy at the time? Had a few other UTIs, ditto. Am Hypothyroid - goes almost hand in hand with D.

BP - difficult to tell how high it would be without drugs however were I not D, of course it wouldn't need to be quite as low as they like it to be with D - so maybe I'd only need one of the tablets?

Salbutamol inhaler - self inflicted emphysema (probably, although of course I grew up in an area with either a foundry or a drop forgers on every other corner, steam trains etc and a coal fire at home, before the Clean Air Act - so who knows? Daren't leave washing out if it started to rain - else you'd have to wash it all again, Midland Tar Distillers just down the road, there was a HUGE fire there that burned for several days and nights when we were kids, quarry not too far away, they blasted every Friday - coal pits and pit banks not far away either - and odd little things like that punctuated my childhood)

My life hasn't changed, I stayed married to the same bloke, I still have the same friends, I did the same job (or similar ones in the same industry) went on holiday to places I'd have gone to were I not D. It always has to fit in with me - except when I have to fit in with it and go and have blood tests, attend hospital and doctor's appts of course.

I eat much the same as I ever did - carbs still make me fat just as they did before D, so I try (as I always tried pre-D anyway) not to eat too many.

I HAVE met some lovely people, and found myself doing things - sitting on a Uni Medical School advisory group for D, taking part in D research, attending and addressing meetings about D etc - that I wouldn't have otherwise done.

However - if it hadn't been interesting - then I wouldn't have done these things!
 
Free prescriptions doesn't help me because I already have an exemption certificate, but the free sight tests will be useful.

I've learned a lot of stuff about the illness and about diet/carbs etc, and I have a better diet now than I have had for a long time.

It's been a much-needed kick up the bum.
 
Ralph-YK said:
There are no good things about having diabetes.
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I agree. Diabetes itself is no walk in the park.

But threads like this, in case anyone thinks it is frivolous and silly (I am not saying this is what you think, by the way), it does highlight that diabetes is not necessarily a downward spiral.

In addition to my life change, I can also honestly say that I am still fitter and healthier than at any time 10 years prior to my diagnosis in October 2009.

Andy 🙂
 
Being diagnosed was a huge wake up call for me and made me realise I had to sort myself out, Over eating, Over weight and lack of exercise meant I was on a downward spiral, Hopefully now my ass has been well and truly kicked I can get back on track, If it wasnt for being diagnosed my lifestyle would never have changed.
 
For me when I was first dx. Diabetes seemed daunting especially as it had been working away silently in me for at least 10 years. so I was told and had already done some damage.
Now 22 years later it's a natural part of my life, we are mostly comfy together. I know if I don't look after it, keep it happy and smiling then it will give me a kick up the proverbial and bring me back into line so it can start smiling again.
Don't get me wrong I don't want to have diabetes but strange as this may sound , I would miss it for quite a while if it should suddenly disappear.

I hope that one day very soon, everyone who is now struggling with the new dx of diabetes, still trying to grab it by it neck and beat it into submission will feel the same as me.
It sure is life changing isn't it.
 
For me there is absolutely nothing that could be considered a good thing.
You have an incurable condition, that needs to be controlled a lot, and worst of all other people blames you for the condition because you have eaten to much.
For a more healthy lifestyle, yeah, this was a wake up call for me, but if my GP warned me before, when I was prediabetic or when i has only high levels of blood lipids, and sent me to a specialist AND a dietican...
 
I imagine much depends on when and under what circumstances you were diagnosed. I'm fortunate that it happened to me aged 49, so I didn't have to cope with its inconveniences growing up, and it certainly made me more aware of my health, and how to keep it, at a point where I was taking an awful lot for granted. I haven't had to change much in order to deal with it (fortunate again, I know), and personally find it manageable - as there are so many of us planet-wide there is a lot known about it, lots of research and treatments readily available to try and deal with the multitudinous variations in the way it manifests itself, and if I'd been born 100 years ago I wouldn't have lasted much more than a year or two (thank you Fred Banting 🙂)
 
I’m a scuba diver because of my diagnosis! I remember when I was first diagnosed, I needed something to work towards; a goal. It had to be something exciting that would prove that diabetes didn’t spell the end of the spirit of adventure. It took a long time to get really confident in my control, but I got there, and I am very grateful to the diabetes devil for that!
 
This is a good thread. I think if you were diagnosed young like me it is more difficult to see the positives - I wouldn't have even thought about free prescriptions because it's always been that way for me! I struggle mentally with the whole 'incurable illness' thing and this has been a good read.
I think for me personally, probably the best thing about it is the extra level of self awareness it has given me in terms of what is going on with my body, particularly the lesson of 'don't ignore any symptom - no matter how small' - they quickly add up!
 
Sprogladite said:
This is a good thread. I think if you were diagnosed young like me it is more difficult to see the positives - I wouldn't have even thought about free prescriptions because it's always been that way for me! I struggle mentally with the whole 'incurable illness' thing and this has been a good read.
I think for me personally, probably the best thing about it is the extra level of self awareness it has given me in terms of what is going on with my body, particularly the lesson of 'don't ignore any symptom - no matter how small' - they quickly add up!
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Thanks Sprogladite. I was interested to see what positives people can find in managing this condition.
Some interesting responses.
 
I was diagniosed Pre-diabetes 6yrs ago but was given little advice about this but to go back 12 months later for bloods & every year thereafter. I really didn't know the meaning of pre.D. or the consequences should I go overboard with diet or lack of exercise. In hindsight i was let down - I wasn't overweight - I enjoyed a healthy diet (an occasional sweet dessert or biscuit) - I swam 3 times a week - 64 lengths at a time - because I can't walk without causing pain to my back & hips. It came as a huge shock when I was dx. Now I have addressed D I'm doing my best to keep my Diabetes as healthy as possible & not feeling sorry for myself.
 
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