kidneys
 

Hello, I am very new to being a type one. I am into my second month dealing with it. What worries me is the long term effects I keep hearing and seeing on the web. I'm a very healthy person workout and run constantly, and eat right. But feel like no matter how hard I work at putting my self in the best health I can. My kidneys are going to fail or I'm going to be blind by 40 I'm 23 right now. Does anybody feel the same way I do or can anybody give me words of encouragement.

If you can keep your average blood sugar below 140 mg/dl, day in / day out, from now on you will be in good shape. Hopefully, you will be able to do much better than this. The info is on the web, google search it out. Good luck! :)

Ok thanks

Dano is the one to greet new ones to the forum, but I want to say hi as well. The long time effects and complications come with unattended diabetes. If you get into the routines and treatment and keep up the good work with healthy exercise your chances for NOT having any complications in the future is greatly reduced. Take your time, even if you think you’re on top of things now, there might come a moment when things change for the worse. The honeymoon period is over and your BG might spike some, but hang in there and drop a word in here. There are plenty of people here who have a lifetime experience to share with you. As for myself I’m new so I can't do more then to boost your spirit :D Good luck !

My Perspective
 

I was diagnosed with T1D 7 years ago this month. I was diagnosed a few months before my 21st birthday. Three major changes happened in my life shortly afterward; I moved out alone, I fell off of my parents insurance plan and I got my dream job as a backcountry ranger for the Forest Service.

All of these things upped the ante on adapting to the diabetes lifestyle. Insurance....I had to learn how to do without. Thanks to Community Health Centers, I am affording supplies and care.
Living alone...meant eating alone. I was learning to cook for myself for the first time anyway, so I did it right. Simple, healthy, hearty meals.
Becoming a Wilderness Ranger...meant being miles away from the nearest person, regularly without communication, always in a strenuous setting. I have had my close calls, 30mg/dL and miles out, but I always had my SYSTEMS in place and always have a backup for my backup.

Get your retinas examined occasionally. They can take pictures of them. I got the service free through a local community health clinic. Get your kidneys checked too. Too much sugar over time will wear those filters out and proteins will start to get through and show up in the urine. I have not always been good with managing my glucose but I have always been super active and my A1C does not reflect my poor management. EXERCISE. Try your best to keep your glucose in check. Don't eat right before bed.

Thanks Ranger, it definitely makes things a lot harder when you are miles from help. Me and brother just took over my dads oil and natural gas company in south Texas, Freer Texas to be exact. There is no hospital or endocrinologist within two and half hours of us. So making trips to San Antonio is really starting to get old. Do you get your supplies in bulk because of your distance from medical help. I ask this because I can only get my one touch strips in orders of one hundred It would be very beneficial if I could get a couple hundred more every time. This would really knock off some of my trips. Thanks again

I will try not to high-jack your thread, but I just wanted to mention, since both of you are located in remote areas, about a insulin cooler that I found several years ago. Do a tag search on insulin cooler if you are interested. Here is the Link. I ordered several different sizes, but I mostly use the two (2) and five (5) pen wallets. It was the best investment that I ever made. High-jack over. :)

cougar07;

Several years ago, I mentioned to my doctor that I wanted to tighten up my control. He wrote my prescription, for test strips, at six (6) per day. This effectively doubled my previous prescription number. It wasn't a mistruth, because sometimes I do test 6-7 times per day, although, most times it is more like 3 minimum. Just some information to consider. :)

I recently asked my Doctor about your issue with test strips. Here in Utah, I can buy test strips off of the shelf, no prescription, at Walgreens for about $1 per strip. I usually buy my strips from the pharmacy without a prescription but discovered that if I have a prescription through the clinic, I don't have to pay taxes on my strips. I am limited to 100 strips at a time with my prescription but there is no limit to how many strips I can buy without it. I save about $4 per 100 strips with the prescription. I use the WaveSense Presto meter. Were you to use the same meter, I could mail you supplies.

No I use one touch mini. I figured it out with my doctor. My insurance policy deductible is 15 dollars for strips wether I buy one box of strips or ten boxes. My doctor now writes me out prescription for 300 strips. It's very beneficial to have this surplus.

I've been a type 1 for 21, years (I'm 28). I have no complications at all. My eyes are great, my kidneys are great and I don't have any numbness or tingling in my extremities. As long as you test often, eat properly and carb count, take the correct doses of insulin at the right time and exercise regularly you will be fine! I know it can be overwhelming at first, but before you know it diabetes and treating it will just be a part of your lifestyle and managing it will feel very natural. Make sure you see your Endo at least once a year, get your A1c tested every 3 months and make sure to have regular eye appointments with a specialist (they can detect any early damage to your vessels). Make sure you get your regular doc or your Endo to do your kidney function blood tests (creatnin and microalbumin) because that will indicate how your kidneys are doing.

Take care of your body and you will have a long and healthy life with diabetes! It is possible!

Best of luck,
Andrea

Hi just want to encourage you i have had type 1 for over 20 years and have no complications - studied ,moved abroad ,lived alone - changed insulins a few times, now use a pump - it is hard not to worry but complications are not inevitable! Let yourself feel sad about it - it is a boring pain in the ....... Take care of yourself but not toooo much

I have had type 1 for 45 years and for the first 35 had no problems at all. In the last 10 I have had to have laser treatment and 2 vitrectomy operations on my eyes. These saved my sight. 6 years ago I had a kidney transplant (donated by my Brother..bless him). My control of my blood sugars has never been so good as it is now with the help of Glucose Buddy. So, my point is...I still have a good life but it would have been so much better had I controlled my sugar levels consistently over the years. Keep a close eye on them, John :)

Hi
You are exactly the same age as I was when I was diagnosed.

I am now 60 and have stage 4 kidney failure.
You are on the right track but never stop putting yourself and your health first.
Ask lots of questions and when in doubt get a second opinion.
Educate yourself and take control of your diabetes do not let it control you.
Good luck.

If your blood sugar is out of control that could be the case though if treated right you could avoid most complication.

Truth is that alot of these people that have all these problems were diagnosed 20-30+ years ago. At the time the technology wasn't good an difficult to keep track and stay on top of it. I was born in 1992 and got diabetes in 93. Even then tech was low and in the past almost 19 years I've had trouble adjusting to changes. Went from 2 shots a day to 6 shots, and then insulin pump. You've been diagnosed in the "golden age" where technology advances greatly every year and fine tuning is much easier.

Type 2 diabetic usually get it from inheritance or unhealthy lifestyles. High blood sugar damages vains which will also in turn damage
Eye sight
Organs
Blood flow
Nerve endings

Resources are available to control blood sugar and having a healthy lifestyle will help control diabetes.

All in all nothing is for sure and even having horrible control you might turn out fine(chances are slim)