What caused your Diabetes?

[sandyhandz]

I know no one really knows for sure, but what do you think was the main contributor to your development of diabetes? Family history? Stress? Steroid-induced? Virus? Overweight?

We know now that I have some autoimmune issues that contributed, as well as my current pregnancy. But I really feel it had a lot to do with steroids (starting with BC pills and dexamethasone) that pushed me over the limit. It happend when I was first diagnosed a few years ago. I had been taking a steroid for about a year or so and then boom! My sugars skyrocketed. Luckily a few months after discontinuing the steroids, my sugars went back to near normal. But this time, I'm still on insulin.

What do you think were your contributing factors?

[Funnygrl]

No one knows what causes type 1. Steriods and being overweight are known contributors to type 2, or steriod-induced diabetes, but not type 1.

[sofaraway]

for me, a single defective gene (HNF1a) meant i was always going to get diabetes. what I'd be interested to learn in the future is why i developed it when I did.

[gettingby]

The moons of Saturn were completely out of whack when I was diagnosed. LOL. :rofl:
Ok, sorry about that. I really don't know what caused my type 1. The only family history we had was a great aunt of mine and her daughter had/have it but that's all we could find. :dontknow:

[Lex4153]

I'm fairly certainly I'm a MODY. I was 13 when diagnosed and I'm type 2. I wasn't overweight, didn't have any symtoms that most kids get when diagnosed as type 2. My mom was diagnosed in her early 20's and my aunt was diagnosed at 14 with type 2. I have a loooong family history.

[DeusXM]

No idea. I'm the first in my family to have T1 so I'm assuming that there were probably genes from both my parents that would normally be fine but in the combination they came in resulted in a defective genotype.

Since I developed the condition at 14, puberty seems like a likely candidate for the trigger. Another thing that's been interesting to think about are ear infections. I had a very bad ear infection when I was 9, and I think quite a few of the T1s on the board also had bad ear infections a few years prior to their diagnosis, but whether there's any correlation between the two is a bit dubious.

With T1 there's not really a lot of point working out why you got the condition - there's nothing you could have done to have prevented it, and although prevention might be better than cure, I know which one I'm more interested in.

[am1977]

Right... no one really knows, but I think b/c mine was due to stress and some kind of illness/infection/virus.

I'm hoping that they discover what causes it, b/c the sooner they do, the sooner we'll be able to find ways to prevent it from happening and possibly a cure...

[kgm0612]

I have a strong family history of insulin dependent diabetics on my father's side. Out of 6 kids in my family, my younger brother was dx'd nineteen years ago at the age of 21. I was dx'd 3-1/2 years at the age of 40. We are both type 1 pump users. I am now certain that I had diabetes at least 5 years prior to being dx'd and that stress brought it to a head. I had some family problems going on at the time and then lost a sister a few months after that.

Karen

[Tatermom]

I am convinced that the barrage of antibiotics used to treat Taylor's ear infections pushed her over the edge. Bad combo of genes predisposed her, but the antibiotics tipped it off. My own personal conspiracy theory of course.

[trpack]

I have to agree with Cin, it had to do with the moons of Saturn... Or...The fact that I fit perfectly into the mold of what a type 2 candidate looks like. 50yrs old, overweight, sedentary life style...etc.

[notme]

I am uncertain what caused my type one diabetes. I was 32 years old and had given birth to five healthy (large) babies. There are no type one's that we know of in our family. Both of my grandfathers died at an early age, so who knows if they would have had it. Doctors suggest that virus was the cause. Just don't know. Lucky I guess.

[grace girl]

I was diagnosed at 32, no family history on either side of diabetes. I could go with the virus theory, but I'm also curious about the whole vaccination theory, as I received a second MMR at the age of 17 that caused me to give birth to a son 6 years later with enormously high measles antibodies. My first doctor felt that I began showing early warning signs of diabetes within the same year of that vaccine.
From my understanding there were large numbers of us born within the year range that I was who were given that second MMR at 17 because they found that the one we all received in childhood was ineffective. I would love to see someone do some research and find out how many of us developed diabetes.

[Cyborg]

I refused to eat my Lima Beans :bawling:

[valc3]

I refused to eat my Lima Beans :bawling:


I did eat the lima beans.

[Cyborg]

Gotta be something else then...

[dgrilli]

I just don't know? We have a Family history of it Type 1's and some 2's. I did catch the German Measles as a child in Ipswich England in the 60's. They are nasty little bast_rds to say the least, they get into your eyes, mouth throat,ears they rewarded my family by giving us a free Quarantine Sign posted in front of the house. Oh being put into total darkness for 7 days was the really fun.

Maybe who knows what it was. How did I obtain those Antibodies to destroy my Beta Cells, I don't remember paying for any of those? Some say all those Vaccinations they give you are nothing more than Population control and the Mercury they used to preserve those shots for all those youngsters.

Genetic or Virus or induced by Vaccinations?

I do not believe that Type 2's obtain their disease from unhealthy lifestyle. I believe that is a misnomer. That's like saying that you ate to many sweets and got it. Something to tell someone they are overeating and not getting enough exercise and eating to many sweets? They can give a better explantion than that.

[DeusXM]

I do not believe that Type 2's obtain their disease from unhealthy lifestyle. I believe that is a misnomer. That's like saying that you ate to many sweets and got it. Something to tell someone they are overeating and not getting enough exercise and eating to many sweets? They can give a better explantion than that.

Some do, some don't. If you don't take responsibilty for yourself and look after your body, it stands to reason that bits of it are going to break down. It's not a case of 'you ate too many sweets' at all - it's a case of 'you just put on pounds of fat and you couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.'

Yes, there are certainly cases of people with T2 who've looked after themselves, and there are probably people who are genetically predisposed to T2 and so are more susceptible to developing the condition with a lifestyle that isn't 'heathy' but also isn't irreponsible. But there are also those out there who simply don't get that they have to look after their body, and those are the people who have no right to be surprised when their body turns on them.

[RUFC_MD]

I have no idea why I got type one diabetes.

No family history on any side of my family.

No ill health.

Nothing in the past that springs to mind that could have caused it.

The only slight thing was at the time I was pretty stressed out with woman trouble and losing a bit of sleep, although I really don't think this was the cause.

It was just one of those things for me, I guess :dontknow:

[trailrunner]

Who knows . I had gestational dm with my second child. But my sugers went back to normal post birth. Then at the beginning of december I caught a stomach bug for three days. Then in february was diagnosed with type1.5 .. So who knows if it was the virus that tured on a dormant gene or what or maybe it was the magic beans.:stupid:

[dgrilli]

I believe that Deus has hit on something

"Since I developed the condition at 14, puberty seems like a likely candidate for the trigger. Another thing that's been interesting to think about are ear infections. I had a very bad ear infection when I was 9, and I think quite a few of the T1s on the board also had bad ear infections a few years prior to their diagnosis, but whether there's any correlation between the two is a bit dubious."

As a child frequent Ear Infections one night I was taken to the Hospital, both of my Ears were infected and I had tremendous pressure and fever from this and the Doctors and Nurses held me down while the Doctor took a chrome gun with a hose attached to it and inserted in each ear and I believe they punctured my eardrums with this gadget. I remember this as one of the most painful things I endured. I now wear hearing aides in each ear.

Also very frequent sore throats and the those things in the back of the throat would swell up and pieces of white popcorn material would come out on each side. They were swelled up.

So maybe the frequent ears and sore throat thing there is something to this.

Also German measles as a kid.

Who knows?:egg:

[trpack]

Deus, you be hard on us T2s man.

The problem is that I tend to agree. I knew that I was overweight for years, but I was always going to do something about it tomorrow. I knew that I should exercise more when I was huffin and a puffin climbing those steps, but I was going to do something about it tomorrow. Unlike some of you I put my body in a position where it was a perfect candidate for T2 and then oops there it was. I do believe that I was the one that brought this on and therefore it is my burden to bear...but I also believe that I am far healthier now than I was a year ago.

[welsh_dragon]

Mabye it's caused by some kind of compromise on the immune system? My Grandfather was diagnosed after he fell off of his bike and I was diagnosed after having german measles (at least I managed to give it to my Dad!! german measles not diabetes). My Mum is looking into the family tree and it looks like my Grandfathers Grandmother was a diabetic as well but unfortunately before insulin was invented.

Jules

[DeusXM]

Deus, you be hard on us T2s man.

No, I'm honest. Like I said, I believe the majority of people with T2 have 'mitigating factors' and cannot be blamed entirely for their condition. Unfortunately there's also a proportion of people with T2 who probably can be blamed entirely for their condition.

I have the same level of sympathy for those individuals as I do for those who smoke and then develop lung cancer. However, I will always try to help people with diabetes make the most of their life and control their condition, regardless of the level of their personal responsibility.

[dbc]

WHo knows.... I was diagnosed T1.5 at age 52. No family history of either T1/2, within "normal" BMI, reasonably active etc etc. Only connection I have is a prolonged stressful period - like 5 years or so - due to various factors happening in my life before diagnosis. But as far as I know there's no research showing a definitive cause/effect link between stress and diabetes. (but I do know a few people with anecdotal "evidence" to show that maybe there is something real in this)

In a sense, it doesn't really matter how/why it happened, does it? We've got this thing, we learn how to deal with it, or it deals with us.....

[Stuboy]

i've never really been unhealthy, rarely get ill in fact. In the last 2 - 3 years i've been active in the gym, swimming, badminton etc. and eating healthily as well.. then for some reason i developed Type 1. However i do have a family history, i know that my grandad (who died 15 years ago) was type 1 diabetic... He also had both his legs, from the knees down amputated... so im kinda hoping my legs dont reach the same destiny as his... but i dont actually know if it was related to his diabetes.

[liz32]

I think there are mitigatinng factors. I was healthy as all get out until I started having kids. Now thanks to 2 kids and 4 pregnancy's I am at high risk for high blood pressure, heart disease (and that was before diabetes dx'd) and since having 2 gestational pregnancies I have T2 and am insulin dependant. Now, I have looked into family history (am adopted) and found out that my birth mom had gestational and later T2 diabetes and either her father or my birth father had diabetes all throuhg his family. I think I would eventually have gotten it due to genetics but I think my pregnancies are what got me there quicker.....but who know's I could be wrong.
Liz

[nonnymouse]

No one in my family tree that I or my parents know of every had diabetes. I was DX'd with T2 when I was 47. I think it developed because of being overweight and not active enough, having to work hard to run my husband's and my business.

[blue_eyed_devil]

well at the time of my dx i was told by the dr it was due to extreme stress/trauma... (due to previous life events) interesting isn't it? however since then and all the research i'm thinking it was the milk!!! we all know that somthing triggers the antibody to destroy our beta cells, and there is some interesting research out about that... anyway, i drank a heck of a lot of milk!!! and they say that can be a trigger for the antibodies, go figure! :)

[nelly2605]

No family history,but factors could have been the deaths of my dear grandparents months earlier or being bullied in school.I'd go for the former if any.

[MamaCat]

Really don't know what brought my Type 1 on, but I strongly suspect I may have had pancreatitis. Had pain the last half of my senior year in high school -- like being kicked in the abdomen. Doctor did no blood work, but thought it was stomach spasms and gave me a prescription for Vasospan, which didn't help at all. I had an "abnormal" urinalysis for a college physical; no more was said after the second test. But within a few months, I started developing headaches then excessive thirst, etc. My grandmother had been Type 2, so, by that time, I knew what was wrong.

My neighbor's daughter (now 11) developed Type 1 at age 3. She was diagnosed in May after suffering with a chronic upper respiratory infection most of the previous winter.

So, for us, Type 1 may have resulted from a viral attack.

[Angelique]

I'm pretty sure it was me at age 13 having the flu over and over and being a totatlly stressed teenager is what triggered mine and of course the weak gene that runs in my family.

[Starlight]

Im one to believe that type 1 is caused by suppression of the immune system, either by a virus or factors of stress and the likes. Theres alot of theories claiming that type 1 diabetics carry some defective gene which guarantees diabetes. For some maybe thats the case, for the most part I dont believe thats the cause. I remember reading this page on psychoneuroimmunology and it displays stress and its effects on the immune system. Really interesting. http://www.mnwelldir.org/docs/immune/psychon.htm

[Cyborg]

Isn't it generally believed that the immune system destroys the beta cells on the pancreas? A hyper-active immune system gone array rather than a suppressed immune system?

[jrcskb]

An interesting and timely article posted by JDRF (the subject of this "rebuttal" was subject of some threads at this site):

http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?page_id=105921

[Mick]

Karma.

Michael
T1 since 1966

[Jan2306]

My dentist told me there's mounting research that there's a strong link between gum disease and diabetes. We know you get bad gums from diabetes but he said there's now evidence that points to bad gums as the cause of diabetes - I think if you're already pre-disposed.

I on the other hand can't help but think there's some weird link to low carb diets. I was on a strict no to low carb diet for four years. As soon as I went off of it, I was diagnosed with an A1c of 16.3. Maybe the diet was just masking or minimizing the symptoms, but sure makes you wonder.

[Eri's mom]

Eri had constant ear infections, as did my son, though...
She had surgery about 7 months b/f being dx'd w/ diabetes and her labs were all normal then.
Not sure. There's my dad who is a T2(due to weight gain and lousy eating habits)...and they say my great aunt had it(dx'd in her late 70's) but that's it on my side. My mil said nobody in her family and Eri's dad's aunt said noone in their mom's side.

Probably the ear infections, plus the fact she was 6 weeks early(I was given some info that babies who gain a significant amount of weight all at once are prone to develop diabetes...Eri was 7.4lbs at birth 6 wks early and after she could suckle and keep food down(5.5 weeks later) she gained something like 10 lbs.

I'm still leaning towards the chronic ear infections as helping to trigger something in her system.

[Cyborg]

Karma.

Michael
T1 since 1966

Were you a bad bad person in a previous life? :dontknow:

[pumpracer]

I was 18 months old, went to the doctor to get a MMR shot, slipped in a coma, and woke up as a diabetic:evil:

[E-NICE]

I have diabetes on both sides of my family. Dad's side mostly type 2 and mom's side mostly type1. So at least in my case genetics seems to be a big factor.:nurse:

[dkev]

Not entirely sure what caused mine. Both parents are type 2. I had the measles when I was 21 and I have not gotten sick since. No flu, no cold, nothing. They don't believe it was hereditary so it was probably a virus. I also ended up with Hashimoto's disease at some point before I got it though.

[sandyhandz]

I was also just recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's, even though I'm currently euthyroid. I think I was tested for it about 8 years ago when they diagnosed me as hypothyroid, but I was negative then. Seems it usually starts to get detected in the 3rd decade of life. How old are you?

You DM is probably related to the same autoimmune factors.

I was hypothyroid x5years, took synthroid. Then, my sugars skyrocketed and so did my thyroid. I had to take Tapazole for about 8mos or so. A pregnancy stabilized my thyroid. Funny, back then, when my thyroid went back to normal, my sugars essentially did too.

There's something weird going on with me!

[Shocked]

Cosmic Ray-Zot. Got it 1998 at the age of 33. not over weight, not family history. Dr.'s and Homeopaths both believe it was some sort of short lived virus.

[Mister Q]

Family history of the disease, both my Father and Grandfather were diabetic, although my Grandfather was undiagnosed till he went into hospital a few months before he died, he recorded a reading of 45 mmol/l when they first dx'd him!!

I may well have a genetic disposition to the disease but I am certain a huge bout of stress triggered it for me.

[Mscaleb]

My father, his mother, and his sister had diabetes. I probably have had it a while but was just diagnosed with it in August, so I'm still adjusting. My diet, not enough fruits and veggies, and sedentary life put me into the diagnosis, I think. I'm just working on diet and exercise to get bg numbers down, but so far it's a meal-by-meal 'battle.' I've lost a few pounds and dropped my average bg numbers some. With 6 weeks to go to my next A1C, I hope to see more weight loss and the bg numbers come down further.

[dkev]

I was also just recently diagnosed with Hashimoto's, even though I'm currently euthyroid. I think I was tested for it about 8 years ago when they diagnosed me as hypothyroid, but I was negative then. Seems it usually starts to get detected in the 3rd decade of life. How old are you?

You DM is probably related to the same autoimmune factors.

I was hypothyroid x5years, took synthroid. Then, my sugars skyrocketed and so did my thyroid. I had to take Tapazole for about 8mos or so. A pregnancy stabilized my thyroid. Funny, back then, when my thyroid went back to normal, my sugars essentially did too.

There's something weird going on with me!
I am 37. I was on Synthroid for a year before I was diagnosed. My endo immediatley switched me to Levoxyl.

[barbarac]

I was diagnosed at age 48--Type I right off the bat. Dr. didn't think it was because of my age, but has been proven by others later. Their guess is probably viral. No one on either side ever had any diabetes--Type I or II. My original educator asked me to think back to about 6 months before I got it, and yes I had a bad case of the flu which stretched way out around April and official diagnosis was in October. I do believe it was a virus.

[fran76]

My husband was daignosed 4 years ago.....he had his HEP B shot the year before...I have a feeling that played a role in it. His mom was diagnoesed with Lupus so I know hes got some kind of autoimmunie gene.

[momof6]

My son came in contact with some plant, got an allergic reaction, was treated with prednisone, about 6mo later he was dx. Don't have a clue if it was a contributing factor, but my mind always goes back to that.

[CaptDave4499]

I believe the main contributor at this point in my life is because of a doctor/surgeon F'n up and causing me to live a sedentary life as a quadriplegic. I was generally healthy prior to this.:frown: