How is this possible? Being Diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes at 20

Nowadays you can be diagnosed with type I diabetes up until approx age 30! Please take care of yourself...

I too was drinking a lot (but it was a hot Texas summer, so I justified it), voiding a lot (but I was drinking water all the time) and eating a lot (normal routine for me at that time). My parents and most siblings are diabetic. And I am a nurse. At the time I worked on an endocrine floor of a pedi hospital. SURPRISE. I did a random finger stick and my BS was 520. What a wake up call. Four years later I am 20 lbs lighter and on oral meds. I felt stupid for not realizing the signs sooner.

It's not unheard of. My brother was diagnosed at age 24 with Type 1 while serving in the military.

I was dx'd with Type 1 at age 29. Nothing makes you feel young like being dx'd with Juvenile Diabetes at that age!! LOL (I know they don't call it that anymore though )

Truly, it can happen at any age. It's an auto-immune disorder. While it generally happens in childhood, it can happen at any age due to a bad case of the flu or extreme illness, or any other extreme stress on the body. I'm not sure what caused mine, but I believe it's because I was a "late" DES baby (my mother took DES, which went "out" in the early 60's, but unfortunately not with her doc, and she took it in the late 60's). DES has been found to cause many problems, with girls as well as boys of the moms that took it (although it is generally thought of to affect mostly the girls), one of which was auto-immune disorders in the children. Many have come down with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as Type 1 diabetes.

Anyway, I'm sorry you're going through this now. It sucks, no matter what age you get it at. Please find a great endocrinologist/dietican and CDE - it's a "team" disease, with YOU as the leader. I had to learn that early on. My dietician was fantastic - if you like tomatoes and melon and stuff like that. I don't, so I had to be assertive and let her know what I would eat, so she could help me plan meals around my favorite foods. Same with the CDE - if you let them know what YOUR schedule is, then they can help you plan when to eat/take your insulin/how much to take, etc.

It's hard at clinicals. I'm on an insulin pump now, which I love, and that has made it easier to control my B.S.'s. You know how crazy it is with meal times, and with the pump, there is a lot of flexibility in eating. It may be something to look into further down the road.

Please take care!

Sorry for the major Delay in the message but I had to respond to this. You can get Type 1 diabetes at ANY age. you can be 2 weeks old or you can be 62 years old. There are no age cut offs.


Brian

Hi, Don't be too hard on yourself. We've all been diagnosed with various problems & when the doc says what we have we slap ourselves in the forehead & wonder why we didn't think of that! We don't want people to think of us as hypochondriacs & c/o every little thing so sometimes things sneak up on us when we are under stress. Good luck to you & I'm glad that you are getting treatment.

I work with geriatric patients who are constantly dx with diabetes type one at their late age...guess it was always missed before?

Age 30 is generally where the usual cut off for type I is.
Oh and yes you really should think about getting a pump!
They are ggggrrrreat!!!
The other thing I wanted to say is that type I diabetes is not that bad...maybe I feel that way because I've had it for so long...but if I had to pick a disease it would be type I diabetes. Good Management and tight control will keep you well.
You know there's this lady in my class that did a finger stick on herself (the day we were in lab). Her blood sugar was really high. So she went across the street to the hospital after the instructor urged her to and she was diagnosed with Type II. It seems like nursing school is the place for finding out our own problems and issues.