Ignorance
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T1DCarnivoreRunner
Posts: 11,502 Member
I get so mad sometimes at the ignorance out there, particularly in diabetes groups that have both type 1 and type 2 members. In a group on Facebook, there is a guy who just argued with me saying that he is an EMT (as though that is relevant...) and that type 1 diabetes and type 2 dibetes are the same thing. Ugh. Whenever something like this comes up, I tell myself I'm going to leave these mixed groups. I gain so little and have so much frustration at idiots... it just isn't worth it. And yet I never do leave. I'm seriously thinking this will make my life easier... in the next couple days, I'll consider it and perhaps do leave those groups (not leaving this one... everyone here is great, but when you mix type 1's and type 2's, apparently the idiots come out).
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that is very concerning that someone who is trained to keep people alive until they get to a hospital does not know the difference. If they were the same thing why would they be called 2 different things.
I ran into an acquaintance at the gym a few days ago and she was asking me if I noticed a difference in my diabetes since starting there. I told her that I really reduced the amount of insulin that I take and how much better my numbers were. She mentioned that her mom got off her medicine completely and maybe I could too if I kept up the good work. I then had to try to explain that I would be on medicine for the rest of my life and had to try to explain the difference. The general population is not aware that there is a difference. Yes, i am overweight. No, that is not why I have diabetes........
Just keep plugging away and doing what you are doing!0 -
I used to get really frustrated by people's ignorance about the difference between type 1 and 2 diabetes, so I left groups with a mix of type 1, type 2, and family members of either. Sometimes people inquire about my pump or what I'm doing when I'm testing my blood sugar and then comment about how I don't look like a diabetic because I look healthy or ask me what the difference is between type 1 or type 2 then ignore the explanation ... I usually try to leave the conversation pretty quick. It's better for my health to stay out of those groups and conversations, especially when some people are so stuck in what they think is the truth. Why ask me if you [think you] already know?0
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To be fair, as an EMT, he probably doesn't need to know the difference. He is treating the symptoms or complications, not the disease. If someone's blood sugar is low, the response doesn't change whether they are type 1 or type 2. So I understand that part. What I don't understand is how so many other diabetics - particularly type 2's (such as this guy) don't understand the difference between type 1 and type 2. How do they expect to care for themselves if they don't even understand the bare basics?!0
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Can we simply say that society is stupid? I'm still facepalming over one classmate telling me "her mom makes her watch how much sugar she eats so she doesn't get diabetes" the first day I returned to school after being diagnosed... and this was a girl who wanted to get into the healthcare field My nutrition professor said she worked with type 1 diabetics also, and she very rarely identified which diabetes she was talking about when she was discussing how "obesity and poor diet choices cause diabetes." *facepalm*0
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@abatofan That reminds me of this speaker who came to our school when I was in 7th grade to talk about alcohol. She explained that "alcoholism" is a "lifestyle disease" caused by poor choices, much like diabetes. I explained in front of the whole class that she was wrong and that it might be true for type 2 diabetics, but not type 1 diabetics. We do not get type 1 because we are overweight. I'm sure she just thought, "Oh, he is just a kid and knows nothing" like everyone else I tried to educate at that age. It really bothered me, though.0
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I know exactly what you are saying. I still get random comments from family members and coworkers.
Comments usually range along the lines of:
"Oh you must be new to diabetes it's not that hard to count points. My <insert name> has been doing it for years and he/she no longer takes any meds. Once you figure it out you'll be off your meds too. It just takes time."
"Why do you even bother to count carbs? You should just keep track of points like <insert name>."
"Oh that granola bar has chocolate in it. Do you really think you should be eating that since it has sugar?"
"Can you eat this <insert desert or sugary food>?"
"You should stop eating snacks between meals. That will control your diabetes better."
"You know if you workout, control your diet more, take herbal supplements then you could get your diabetes under control and get off your meds just like <insert random family member>."
"You should stop working out. You workout too much. You're too lean, if you put on more weight like <random person> you could get off your meds like them."
Sometimes I just agree and go along with it. Other times I'll educate or once in a while I'll lose my mind and just lay out a snarky comment back that pisses the person off enough they leave me alone.
We basically get hit up with a double whammy. Not only do we have to put up with haters about us trying to get fit or keep in shape, but we have to deal with the stereotype of diabetes also.1 -
How odd that this would come up now....I had a situation the other day that through me off. I had an insulin reaction at work, and while treating it one of my regular customers, WHO IS A NURSE, asked me what was wrong. When I replied, she said her parents were both diabetic. Upon a moment of discussion, she informed me that her parents used to be type two, but were now type one. I tried for a minute to explain, but she just kept cutting me off and telling me that they now take insulin shots, which makes them type ones. I gave up quickly because I was already having my own issues lol.
On a side note, I am a very heavy person, so people always assume I am a type two, so it has become second nature now to say 'type one diabetic' instead of just diabetic when telling someone......0 -
Italian_Buju wrote: »How odd that this would come up now....I had a situation the other day that through me off. I had an insulin reaction at work, and while treating it one of my regular customers, WHO IS A NURSE, asked me what was wrong. When I replied, she said her parents were both diabetic. Upon a moment of discussion, she informed me that her parents used to be type two, but were now type one. I tried for a minute to explain, but she just kept cutting me off and telling me that they now take insulin shots, which makes them type ones. I gave up quickly because I was already having my own issues lol.
On a side note, I am a very heavy person, so people always assume I am a type two, so it has become second nature now to say 'type one diabetic' instead of just diabetic when telling someone......
There is one nice thing about having T2 family though. My father is a lazy T2 (only tests once every 2-3 months), and he knows how I deal with insulin. I'm not afraid to tell him that he better start putting some effort into his diabetes management (other than popping a metformin, but he doesn't listen) and make sure his A1C is below 7%, or the endo will gladly put him on a sulfonylurea or insulin. I would be more than happy to help him with his diet, exercise, and BG control if he were to ask, but I am not going to go out of my way to help if he doesn't want it. I also admit to being a hypocrite and will tease him for eating cookies straight out of the bag (O_O DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY CARBS ARE IN THAT!??!?!? -Nope.
) when the frozen blueberries I had a few minutes later were probably higher in carbs.
I know of a few people who were initially diagnosed as T2 who were really T1 or LADA though. A big issue with current diagnosis standards is that they fall on the "T1 occurs in younger people and T2 occurs in older people" myth (T2 is rising rapidly in children, and the rate of T1 in adults is also rising).0 -
^^Yes, there are quite a few Type 1's that are misdiagnosed as type 2. I believe this is the same reason I get PO'd at GP's on a regular basis... GP's have so little training about diabetes, they may as well have had none.
Still, I would bet that a majority (70% - I could explain where I came up with that, but I don't have time) of those diagnosed with type 2 really are type 2.
As far as type 2's thinking that they "become" type 1 when they start taking insulin, it is another thing that annoys me. I got into this argument with a guy once. He told me he was type 1 and had lost a lot of weight so he was "cured" of type 1. He says he hadn't taken insulin for 2 years. I explained why he would be dead if he were really type 1 and hadn't taken insulin for 2 years. I went into pain-staking detail to help him understand. His resposne at the end: "We are going to have to agree to disagree." Ugh.0 -
I like to mess people up by saying I have, "auto-immune diabetes." That stops 'em in their tracks.1
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I actually had a woman last week tell me if I lost weight my type one would go away..... I'm 5'9" and about 125.... I just looked at her. Like thanks broad0
