[owlyn]

If you could choose....(sorry T1.5's, it gets too complicated. Consider yourself a T1 for voting purposes.)

[grace girl]

You left out a choice: I don't want to be either one.

It seems to me that 1 is somewhat easier to manage, I don't have to deal with insulin resistance.

My dad is type 2, takes the same insulins I do, and he uses 3x as much insulin as I do for the same foods.

[parrotletzoo]

Hrm,. I didn't vote. let me tell you why.

I am type 1, was on insuiln for 26yrs. had an islet transplant and now by standard testing i wouldn't be considered diabetic anymore. That being said, I do have some impaired glucose tolerance which is controled by diet/exercise. Taking the presribed dose of insulin for my carb intake sure made eating easier, but I feel better on diet/exercise. I don't like that some days my bloodsugar goes up to 200 post prandial. but it also comes down easier then it did on insulin. i get more exercise now because i'm not using insulin to lower my b.s so I'm overall in better shape. however, I'm at heart a couch potato (or an internet potato) and I'd rather skip the execise. So its six and a half dozen of the other.

some days I miss my pump. most days I'm glad i had the transplant. Some days I wish i hadn't becuase I'd like to stuff myface with carbs and bolus bolus bolus. I really really want a frozen coke! but ****it I haven't had one since the transplant because I know if i do I'll spike high and hen go low later or just spike high and stay up there.

But I think about it this way, I traded insulin for diet/exercise and i'm better off for it in the long run. I'm not saying that people with type 2 are better off. because impaired glucose tolerance is by no way the same thing as type 2.

I'll take my impaired glucose tolerance, I like it way better then type 1. but If I had to choose type 1 or type 2, I'd stick with type 1.

so to rank them i choose
1. impaired glucose tolerance
2. type 1
3. type 2.

isthat clear as mud?? lol yep

[nneighbour]

I would rather be type 1 because I feel so guilty being a type 2.

[Diana]

I also prefer to be type 1 because I dont have to feel any guilt about it. Right or wrong, just about everything your hear about T2 relates it to obesity. Its unfair for those T2s who have many other factors going against them, but its just the way it is. So if I had to have one or the other, I would choose T1.

[Funnygrl]

I honestly get the impression that type 2 is easier to control. They seem to have further extreme excursions. Even type 2s that pump get that opportunity to have a flexible diet, and still have better control than type 1s I know.

Also, many type 2s are diagnosed after 40 years old, while almost all type 1s I know were diagnosed before that, giving the type 2s on average less time of living with diabetes.

However, type 1 doesn't have nearly the guilt associated with type 2.

[MJB]

Why feel guilty about genetics?

None of us pick our parents.

Everybody is different, I think we all know people who eat like there's no tomorrow and they are as skinny as a rail!

Chicken or the egg?

[kgm0612]

I'd rather be cured, but for now I'll stick with type 1. It's all I know!

Karen

[GhostRydr]

I'm Type 2 and so far can control things with dietary changes and excercise. To bring a bright spot to this for me, I'm making healthier choices in what I eat which in the long run will be a good thing for me overall.

I'd rather not have this at all, but I can't change genetics *yet* so I'll attack this any way I can.

[notme]

I didn't vote either because I would rather not have diabetes at all. I think both types come with their own baggage.

[Gary_W]

Again, the obvious answer is none of the above but I'll stick with the type 1. Today I've eaten toast, bagels and fruit. I'm about to eat pasta (amongst other things) and I know that the insulin will do what it says on the tin. For this reason alone I'll stick with the type 1.

As far as the guilt thing goes, the media now paints a terrible picture of diabetes and rarely bothers to distinguish between type 1 and type 2. It matters not a jot if you got this thing via years of abuse or through bad luck with genetics, I still feel that people are told that diabetics are a drain on health resources and it's all there fault.

My brother was diagnosed as type 1 when he was 3, 45 years ago now. Back then everyone was convinced that he got it through eating too many sweets. By the time my type 1 turned up aged 26 (12 years back) the ignorance had largely vanished. I feel now that it is coming back...

Gary

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by grace girl

You left out a choice: I don't want to be either one.

It seems to me that 1 is somewhat easier to manage, I don't have to deal with insulin resistance.

My dad is type 2, takes the same insulins I do, and he uses 3x as much insulin as I do for the same foods.

I don't believe insulin resistance correlates to which type you have.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by Gary_W

I still feel that people are told that diabetics are a drain on health resources and it's all there fault.

Well we are Gary. And the world would be much better off in the long run if it let all the chronically sick people die before we could reproduce and dirty the gene pool. Survival of the fittest and all that rot. I'm not about to lead the charge, but it would be interesting to peek into the future a few hundred generations. I almost think the first thing they'll do to new fetuses is inject them with a stem cell gene therapy soup to counter the accumulated weaknesses. *sigh*

[nneighbour]

When I was diagnosed, my nurse educator asked me how I felt about it. I said that I was ashamed and felt guilty. She told me there's no reason to feel that way, it's all about genetics. I know what she said is somewhat true, but I am still ashamed. Every time I look/listen to the media, they are always talking about what a burden fat people are because of the diabetes and all. I just feel like a burden.

[JessicaD]

This is a really hard and complicated question. I voted to stay type 1, but I have a feeling that if I were type 2 I would vote to stay type 2. Both have good things and bad things. I like being type 1 (comparatively) because if I really want something like a piece of cake I can eat it and just do insulin, but I'm no expert, can type 2's who have good control do that too? Just maybe exercise more or take insulin?

I'm not really educated enough to say, I guess, but I find definite comfort in the familiar, so I'll stick with the disease that I know.

In the end, I'm not sure it really matters. hmm..I just don't know.