[IrishJoe]

Tbh I don't like been mistaken for a T2, not because I think its 'their own fault' but because people think that they are all the same.

Additionally there is aprogram on right now 'tonight with trevor mc donald' and they are showing sugar addicts. Now one these people eat about 180 teaspoons of sugar per day..

since being diabetic people abusing their bodies - smoking, excessive alcohol etc annoys me more as I got this disease for no reason (no family history etc) and yet there are people abusing their bodies with no consequences.

Today I had a bar of chocolate, I feel bad for eating it and I'm afraid that my hba1c will be up as my sugars have been higher this last while. Whereas theres some muppet who eats 75g of sugar per day with no ill effects.

I dont like people linking me to type 2 but I've found it rarely happens, they just think its all the same. I hate having to explain how its totally different.

we really should go for these new names

T1 should become 'Completely Retired, Abnormal Pancreas', or C.R.A.P for short.

T2 should become 'Severerly Hindered Insulin Takeup', or S.H.I.T for short

T1.5 should become 'Decidedly Unhelpful Multipersonalitied Pancreas', or D.U.M.P for short.

[hodgsonsurvivor]

I went to lunch yesterday and was testing my bloodsugar...this old guy says "Oh...you got that sugar diabetes, huh?" I replied, "I have diabetes." The waitress then says, "Yeah...it's from all that sugar. I've been telling my mom that for years." Mind you, I have yet to place my order and am drinking a diet coke... I didn't even get a chance to correct her. But, it hurt a little being accused of doing something to invoke this condition.

[ant hill]

Sometimes I wish that I hadn't tested in people's view as people's minds are so thought provoking that makes other's think the same and makes you look bad. Have anyone have a saying that think before you jump? Today people do have an opinion and have no sympathy. I sometimes think that to pull their heads in or in a place ware the sun don't shine.

[SCC]

I was thinking that ONE one us (T1 or T2) should be named something other than diabetes. I want my own disease ) And I do resent being lumped in with all the T2s who could clean up lifestyles. Oh well....

[steamfan261]

For sixteen years there was no doubt that I was a T2, at first with normal c-peptide, no antibodies and considerable insulin resistance. I learned to mostly ignore the endless contempt of the T1's I knew who blathered endlessly about lifestyle change and how I brought this on myself.

At diagnosis, I weighed 185 lbs (I'm 6'2") and was running 10 to fifteen miles a week. I did NOT bring this on myself, and I seriously doubt that a majority of T2's do either.

Then things changed somewhat. After about 5 years (and having start on insulin (first R and NPH, yuck, then R and U/L, then Lantus and Humalog) my c-peptide dropped to 0.0 and I no longer produced endogenous insulin. So I could get in trouible just as fast as a T1, and did. But, T1 acquaintances always said, "Oh well, you're only a T2, that shouldn't happen, maybe if you changed your lifestyle...) I found that pretty bloody annoying.

So...about 3 weeks ago, I ended up in DKA, high ketones, bloody high BG (450 or so) when at breakfast I'd been around 90 and by mid afternoon I was at 450. Bad infusion set. So the nice folks at the hospital ran some tests and lo and behold, my GAD65 antibodies were 10.7. With a c-peptide of 0.0 and the antibodies, I now fit the classic definition of a T1, or LADA, or T1.5 or whatever.

And you know what? I don't care. I was a diabetic and I'm still a diabetic, and if the truth were known, I think I'd rather be called a Type 2 with antibodies than a Type 1, because I really don't want people to think that I have the same attitudes I've seen in this thread.

Have a good day.

[nessabear2002]

Originally Posted by beanlynch

Seriously, would they change the name of one of these diseases. I am so sick of people thinking I have the disease their over weight grandfather had. They are not the same disease. It seems to me that the only relationship they have to each other is that they have similar symptoms. So what happens from sharing one name, more than anything else, is just a general ignorance.

In my mom's family, I have an uncle with Type 1. Both of his kids have Type 1 and his only grandson has Type 1. I also have another cousin in the family besides myself whom has Type 1. My dad, however, has Type 2. He had an emergency surgery for something unrelated and lost a lot of weight. Suddenly, no Diabetes. And then he regained the weight and he was back on the pills. Frankly, that's not an option for us with Type 1. It's not because we're old or because we don't get enough exercise or because we drink too much or are obese. It's because we have bad genes. And maybe there was a trigger as well, such as the stress of my parents difficult divorce. But it's our immune system, so radically different than not getting enough oil changes and revving the engine up too fast.

Seriously, I don't assume that all Type 2 Diabetics could have avoided their disease. But our diet and our health had nothing to do with it.

I agree, a girl at work was recently diagnosed type 2 and came to me knowing I have diabetes. She started asking about her meds and what she can eat and I'm like, I have no clue about your meds and what you can and can't have, ask your doctor! I've taken insulin since day 1 but of course since I have diabetes, it was assumed I'd know the answer to all of her questions. I did tell her to cut back on all the carbs though, since she obviously hadn't listened to her doctor and was double fisting donuts. I really do feel for her though, either type sucks especially if you don't control it. I think the general population should become more educated before they start assuming...

[nessabear2002]

Originally Posted by fairyblood

I have to say that I think of them as completely different disease. Let me preface this by saying that I understand that type II diabetes is a very difficult disease and takes a lot of work and determination.

However with that said I have seen that people with type II diabetes can get numbers that are almost perfect a lot of the time. When I see the log books of many type II diabetic and I see almost all good numbers and then they start complaining about a blood sugar of 130 I tend to get angry. I can see with my own eyes that many type II diabetics are able to get blood sugars that I can only dream of. This is the reality. I can have great control for a type I diabetic but I am always going to go high and sometimes very high no mater how hard I work at it.

This isn't to say that type II diabetes is easier per say but it is a different disease. Much of the time when I see a type II diabetic write a reply to a type I their expectation of what is possible is unreasonable. I am really trying to not offend anybody and if I have I apologize. I wouldn't wish type II diabetes on my worst enemy however the struggles for the different types are different struggles even if they both have to do with metabolism and blood sugars.

I have great respect for people with type II but we have very different diseases and different ways of treating similar problems that are not the same.

Also as has been mentioned type I diabetics are only about 10% of the diabetic population. So it is only natural that people will assume that most diabetics are type II. I try to not take offense but it can be frustrating that the status quo is something so different then what I experience. People assume that my disease can be treated the same as 90% of diabetic and that is just not true.

I am sure that the assumptions are frustrating for both "sides of the fence" so to speak.

I completely agree! 180 is SO high for type 2 but that's a fairly good blood sugar for most type 1s. I just started posting on this forum and it's comforting to find out I'm not alone in feeling like I'm working so hard to take control of my diabetes, and always feeling like IT is in control of me.

[owlyn]

Some really good points from everyone, especially Gary.

I agree with the OP, in that the idea of renaming is a good one. It has nothing to do with the cause of the disease. For me, it's a lot about the points Gary made, but primarily due to the treatment and the foods one can eat. I am so tired of, "I can't believe you are eating that..." I do get even when someone says that, though- I go off on a mini lecture explaining how I just takes some insulin...still have to watch it else gain weight...eat anything I want...etc etc etc....

T1 and T2 are two different diseases united by a sometimes common treatment- and that is even tenuous.

Let's have some "fun" and think of new (serious or funny) names for T1 and T2.

I am opting for serious and simple:

T1: NEIP - Non Existant Insulin Production
T2: SIR - Severe Insulin Resistance

Okay, they're not great or severe-enough sounding, so you try...

[beast775]

well ive heard it all in my life,just getting coffee in the morning with a fellow worker he says,why dont you quit eating sugar,i was putting 2 packs of natural cane sugar in my coffee,you know thats why diabetics never fix themselves?i really started laughing.he said if you guys took this serious then there would be no diabetes!jeepers creepers comin from a 50 year old man eating 2 breakfast sausage cheese donut looking things.that is good enough for me right there.ignorance perhaps. .but it doesnt bother me one bit,type1 type2 tpe3 type4,its all the same to unknowledgeable humans.i actually tell humans ,i have an auto immune problem since i was 10 yrs old, and i dont make insulin,if i dont take insulin i will die.

[foxl]

Hah, hah ... I am sick of MY ENDO confusing me with a T2 ... maybe that will help you feel better?

[starlittbobo]

Here is a real delima for u I am a type 1 that has 2 type 1 children. Stay with me here, the thing is I also happen to be overweight ah. I have suffered through changes with medication and the mysery of symptoms that would not not go away. I had to be hospitalized b4 some1 had enough sense to run the proper test only to find out medication would never help. I was actually a type 1. Y did i almost hav 2 die b4 a doc could c past my weight now thats something to think about.

[foxl]

Originally Posted by starlittbobo

Here is a real delima for u I am a type 1 that has 2 type 1 children. Stay with me here, the thing is I also happen to be overweight ah. I have suffered through changes with medication and the mysery of symptoms that would not not go away. I had to be hospitalized b4 some1 had enough sense to run the proper test only to find out medication would never help. I was actually a type 1. Y did i almost hav 2 die b4 a doc could c past my weight now thats something to think about.

Well it appears our problems are similar -- I felt stereotyped as a "fat middle-aged lady," too! And yes, I was DKA at DX, even! And STILL had to push for antibody testing ...

I do think perhaps IR precipitated my onset. There are papers on LADA that state it happens, at somewhat lower weight at diagnosis than "pure" IR pts.

[poodlebone]

Originally Posted by starlittbobo

Here is a real delima for u I am a type 1 that has 2 type 1 children. Stay with me here, the thing is I also happen to be overweight ah. I have suffered through changes with medication and the mysery of symptoms that would not not go away. I had to be hospitalized b4 some1 had enough sense to run the proper test only to find out medication would never help. I was actually a type 1. Y did i almost hav 2 die b4 a doc could c past my weight now thats something to think about.

I was 19 years old when I was diagnosed and I was overweight. Slightly less overweight when I finally got to the hospital thanks to DKA, but still overweight! I guess I'm lucky that the general doctor I went to first recognized how sick I was and told me to get to the ER. I spent a very short time in the ER before being admitted and put in a room. The endo told me that I had diabetes, that I would have to take insulin injections for the rest of my life, there were no pills I could take and I could not have done anything to prevent getting diabetes. This was 22+ years ago and I don't even know if the terms Type 1 and Type 2 were used yet. I had heard of diabetes but thought there was just one kind - the kind where you need to take shots. Looking back now I realize that the endo was basically saying that even though I was overweight, I was T1 and not T2 and would definitely need insulin injections forever.

After years of MDI and trying to get control I ended up gaining a lot of weight. A lot, way more than I weighed at diagnosis. When I finally went to see an endo in 2005 she then sent me to talk to the nurse practitioner/CDE. The CDE kept questioning my diagnosis, asking me if I was sure that I was Type 1 and wanting to know who told me that. I know she only saw my weight. If she had actually looked at my records and saw my insulin doses, she would have seen that even at such a heavy weight I was still very sensitive to insulin. No resistance. She ordered the antibody & c-peptide tests and I think she was disappointed when they came back showing no c-peptide and "millions" of antibodies - her description. I still have no idea what the results really meant. She pushed me to go on a pump and I was able to lose a lot of weight. Gained some back, unfortunately, but I'm still below my diagnosis weight.

[foxl]

Liz ... that was before "they" decided that T2s could be DKA ... which in my case was a red herring.

CDE sounds like a gem, though .... but, at least you got the tests.

[fgummett]

Originally Posted by poodlebone

This was 22+ years ago and I don't even know if the terms Type 1 and Type 2 were used yet.

I think you are absolutely right... it used to be either IDDM/Juvenile Diabetes or Adult Onset Diabetes... I believe that Type 1 and 2 are relatively recent conventions.