Are some cases for type 1 worse then others?

[shoop99]

Is it possible that some peoples diabetes is worse then others? Is it harder to keep your sugars under control the longer you have it? jw.

[JediSkipdogg]

Some people do have harder control than others. This can be done from food reacting in their body differently at different times of day. I know I had different insulin to carb ratios each meal and a pretty wacky basal rate on my pump. I do also know people that have much worse than I do. There are even people out there that they eat certain items and the food can digest in a dual peak with highs and lows.

I for one also have the odd circumstance than when I work out I work out so hard I have to disconnect my pump 30 minutes before starting and leave it off for about 30 minutes after or I go hypo. And sometimes I even have to eat during that workout.

There's too many factors to consider in a control method, and for people first diagnosed, it's a total guessing game to what method will work for them.

[Cinnabon]

Everyone's Metabolism is different and have different reactions to it all. My BS has been great since the pump and have developed Retinopathy in the 23 years, I dont expect it to get any easier, but I hope not any worst.

[poodlebone]

Is it possible that some peoples diabetes is worse then others? Is it harder to keep your sugars under control the longer you have it? jw.

Some people do have a hard time controlling their diabetes. They'll often refer to themselves as being "brittle". I'm sure that some people's bodies just do wacky things, but in many cases I think it's just user error. If you swing from 30 to 500 in two hours (or 500 to 30) it's not just because you're "brittle". More likely than not it's because you don't have your personal insulin:carb ratios, correction/sensitivity factors etc calculated properly. If you go from 30 to 500, chances are you way overtreated that low. Going from 500 to 30, well you'd better rethink your correction factor.

Almost every time I've had numbers way out of range, I could think back and see where I went wrong (user error). It wasn't just my body playing tricks on me, although I have had some extremely high or low readings that I couldn't account for. Not on an everyday basis or even every month.

The types of insulin being used and the method of delivery can also make one person's diabetes seem worse or better than another's.

[Shotokan]

I believe that some people are more susceptible to complications than others. Analogous to smoking: some people smoke like a chimney most of their adult life and live to a ripe old age, while other smokers develop lung cancer in the prime of life. You want to take good care of yourself to give yourself the best chance for good health, but there's also a little luck involved IMO.

[archimeech]

Yes, on both accounts. I've been Diabetic for 22 years, and have very brittle control. Within the last 24 hours, due to no change in my diet exercise or stress level, my sugar has been everywhere from 46 all the way to 464. It's not much fun and so difficult to have Brittle control. Wether or not you have brittle control, you're just not controling it, or you're one of the lucky ones with good control, you still need to do all you can to enjoy life and stay healthy longer.

[kgm0612]

My younger brother was labeled a "brittle" diabetic years ago by the doctors at Joslin Clinic in Boston. His blood sugars either sky rocket or come crashing down within a very short period of time. He's been pumping since his car accident 7 years ago and has had better control. Over the last few years, he has developed many complications from this disease.

Karen

[christie]

i have always been labeled as a brittle diabetic,more on the low than high,but for me i can do the same thing everyday,eat the same breakfast etc and one day i'll be 150 and the next i'll be 40.and stress causes my sugars to drop through the floor(low).my endo said well most people stress causes highs,well i guess i'm not most people,i'm me.

[dws]

Naw, it is much easier the longer you have it. :whistling But after 66 yrs you keep a low profile so the 'big Guy ' won't remember he was suspose to do something about you a long time ago!!!::ahhhhh:

don

[Tim_Roy]

Some people do have a hard time controlling their diabetes. They'll often refer to themselves as being "brittle". I'm sure that some people's bodies just do wacky things, but in many cases I think it's just user error. If you swing from 30 to 500 in two hours (or 500 to 30) it's not just because you're "brittle".

I was on a CGMS for about five days. When my basal dosage went up 0.025 units per hour my sugar went from tending to slowly creep up, to tending to slowly creep down, and I determined that wasn't caused by a previous bolus by treating the lows just high enough to get it normal and then watched it slowly surely creep right back below 80 again.

When I lowered the basal it started creeping a bit higher during those hours. Sometimes it doesn't do that so badly, probably due to boluses interacting with food in my system.

I'm incredibly sensitive to insulin (particularly my basal). I have the insulin pump that makes the finest basal adjustments you can make with any currently available insulin pump.

Everyone's body is different. I will likely NEVER have a perfect A1C. My life requires me to constantly test my blood and adjust to whichever direction my sugar is heading in.

My NP has been around the block and is part of a rather well known diabetes center (yeah, "that one"). He was fairly surprised by just how touchy my control is, no matter how "right" we get things. And prior to him seeing me on a CGMS, we spent a LOT of time and effort tweaking and adjusting my doses.

Even WITH a CGMS my diabetes is tricky to control.

[Tim_Roy]

I'm not crazy about the use of "worse." I'm not upset with you for using it, it's just that it sounds what some ignorant people (even diabetics) often tell me. "You're on a pump? You must have it really bad.

And actually, how your diabetes manages CAN change over time. If you've been a diabetic for a long time your body may begin to slow down its digestion of food. My NP tells me that this isn't all that uncommon.

Because of this nearly every meal bolus I give is a combo/extended bolus.

Luckily this doesn't screw up my get-ready-for-work routine as my Animas 1250 is waterproof and I can clip it onto my medic alert dogtag necklace. I'm very anal about doing things in a particular order. I've decided this is a good thing to do as I live in the dusty Mohave desert and I don't want this pump to get as filthy as my old one(s) did.

[camjen1]

I have been referred to as being a "brittle diabetic" but one DR had told me it's just a nice term given to a person who can't control their diabetes. :eviltongu At times I have trouble controlling it but other times it can be flawless. SO in both situations I have been called brittle. I'm thinking it could really be from the dramatic fluctuations certain diabetics have.

[Funnygrl]

I'm not crazy about the use of "worse." I'm not upset with you for using it, it's just that it sounds what some ignorant people (even diabetics) often tell me. "You're on a pump? You must have it really bad.



I hate that. I have a pump. So automatically people, even educated people, "Oh, you couldn't control it on shots?" Yeah, I could. I just didn't like trying to.

I don't consider my diabetes bad at all. My pancreas still kicks out some insulin making it very easy to control for the most part. So pump not = bad. Gah, pet peeve. And one I deal with a lot lately.

[Tim_Roy]

Well, if they're diabetic (and even moreso if they're Type 1) you can turn that around on them.

"I wasn't willing to settle for the second best way to control my blood sugar."

I generally explain to them that it gives me better control than shots, and that it offers me much more flexibility and with less hassle (shooting up in public and carting around bottles of insulin) than MDI.

[trailrunner]

you know I can't complain. I do get frustrated because I have no predicatiblity.One day i am as normal as can be( 80-120) and others for no good reason I am high( 170-210).It's a **** shoot. But i know that for most diabetics 210 isn't TOO bad, not great, but not awful either. So as long as i keep running and keeping an eye on it I will be fine.:smile:

[Pitzi]

I am the best example of a worse case T1. No 2 people havbe it the same. mine caused a lot of pancreatic complications that are very rarely found in diabetics (but it's becoming more common from what i'm reading off the net)

I'm also one that one day needs 60 units to maintain it within reasonable levels, and the next day with exactly the same food intake/climatic conditions/exercise will go low on 40 units....

[Eri's mom]

They had Eri labeled as "brittle" from almost the beginning.

Her body reacts in such weird patterns. Age? I'm not sure. I know they have said that especially in the puberty years, things are harder, and they have been since she was 10. She's now almost 13 and her bg's still fluctuate like crazy, although lately it seems as though her bg's won't go below the mid 200's. She woke up w/ a reading of "HI" the other morning for no apparent reason. It's driving me crazy!

Now, her last A1c was 8.3%, but at the time, when she saw her endo, it wa 8.1%...and THIS endo in particular will NOT put her on the pump until she is BELOW 8.0%. I mean, COME ON!!! Eri wants it, she's asked for it and we HAVE one b/c she was going to start pumping in December of '04 b/f we knew for sure we were moving to the place(Buffalo) and her endo in FL didn't want to have her just getting used to the pump and switching endo's....which makes sense. (and this is also one of the endo's who told me it is very hard to get a pre-teen/teen to have an A1c below 8%, yet we saw a BUNCH of kids there WITH the pumps. We're both extremely frustrated with the whole thing.

They have kept all her carb counts the same since she was dx'd in '00. 60grams for b/l/d and then 45g for 2 snacks throughout the day. I know I'm not a doc or a nutrtionist, but shouldn't they change that? Especially w/ everything she has gone through since last year?

[Will]

Some people do have harder control than others. This can be done from food reacting in their body differently at different times of day. I know I had different insulin to carb ratios each meal and a pretty wacky basal rate on my pump. I do also know people that have much worse than I do. There are even people out there that they eat certain items and the food can digest in a dual peak with highs and lows.

I for one also have the odd circumstance than when I work out I work out so hard I have to disconnect my pump 30 minutes before starting and leave it off for about 30 minutes after or I go hypo. And sometimes I even have to eat during that workout.

There's too many factors to consider in a control method, and for people first diagnosed, it's a total guessing game to what method will work for them.

I couldnt agree more.

[Will]

I also produced my own insulin for a number of years after I was diagnosed, causing speratic and severe lows.

[KrisinNM]

And let's not forget what effects an over-helpful liver function can have on our bs. Sometimes mine "rescues" me with a shot of un-needed glucose and other times is asleep at the wheel when I really could use the help.