[lilituc]

I had symptoms for a couple years before 2005, but since I live with a Type 1, I was able to test my blood sugar and it always looked fine - this was before I knew I should try testing at 1 hour or 2 hours after eating, though. That and my very low tolerance for elevated blood sugar are what allowed me to catch it so early. Otherwise, if I felt fine at 200 or 250 like a lot of people seem to, it's very possible that it wouldn't have been caught until I already had complications.

I was also lucky that I already have a few serious chronic health conditions (stay with me here) because I was already used to dealing with those and having to take medication every day and manage my health. Not only that, but once I got my blood sugar back into normal range (when they let me go on insulin), the chronic fatigue I've had for years and years went away. Dealing with diabetes is not easy, and in my case requires a lot of work, but it's less difficult for me because I had the applicable skills already. For me, life got better after diagnosis. Still, there are a lot of "ifs" there if you want them to be. "If" I didn't live with a diabetic, "if" I didn't start having symptoms at 120, "if" I didn't live in such a developed country, "if" I didn't have health insurance (and I have been there), "if" my doctor didn't listen to me (been there, too), "if" I couldn't have found a good, progressive endo to replace the first one, "if" I couldn't afford my prescriptions which are $482/mo *with* insurance (also been there). I could go on. I am very lucky.