Diabetes fears.. again.

[Grace360]

This fear is coming up again. Comes up whenever I think about how much sugar I ate in a day. Like what if I secretly have diabetes and then eat all this sugar and literally slip into a diabetic coma and die. It gets that intense, my fears.
It's not like its too irrational. My grandma has diabetes, my aunt does too. I went to the doctor once and all the lady said was "don't have too much fried chicken and sweet tea." Mind you that was when I was 12. I mean I don't think I've explicitly gotten tested for that except once. But since then I've had my blood drawn more than I can count. I mean, could they see if I had diabetes then? I don't know. A bunch of things I don't know. I mean, I don't think its normal. The amount of sugar I eat sometimes. Like, most of a sugar drink. Most of a bag of candy. Pastry. It just worries me. I don't know what's normal, just having a sweet tooth, putting me in danger.

 

[TruthHurts]

 

[Cuchculan]

When I see a heading on a post like this, the word ' Again ' stands out. Which tells us you have had this same fear before. I would ask did you have it last time? i would answer ' probably not ' and would guess you won't have it this time either. Just try and think back back to the last time you had the same fear and what the end result was. Chances are it will be the exact same this time around too.

 

[mollyfin]

Adult-onset diabetes is usually type 2, which has a gradual onset with plenty of warning signs and time to take control of it. And if you're the rare person who develops type 1 in adulthood, again, you'll have plenty of symptoms before you get to "coma" levels. Ketoacidosis isn't especially sneaky. When you regularly have unhealthily high blood sugar levels, you feel like crap. You don't tend to go to sleep feeling fine and oops, coma.

Disclaimer: not a doctor, just somehow I've known four type 1 diabetics despite it being a fairly rare condition, and my SO is type 2 as the result of a previous medical condition. I also may be prediabetic myself although the numbers aren't technically high enough yet (cutoff is 100, my last tested level was 96) thanks to taking crap care of myself during quarantine, but if that's the case, I'll deal with it. Which is exactly what you'll do if you're diagnosed at some point. Diabetes isn't something anyone especially wants, but it's something people almost always live with, not die from.

I mean I also doubt you're diabetic, but my saying that probably won't help. I'm hoping some diabetes facts will.

 

[bin_tenn]

Adult-onset diabetes is usually type 2, which has a gradual onset with plenty of warning signs and time to take control of it. And if you're the rare person who develops type 1 in adulthood, again, you'll have plenty of symptoms before you get to "coma" levels. Ketoacidosis isn't especially sneaky. When you regularly have unhealthily high blood sugar levels, you feel like crap. You don't tend to go to sleep feeling fine and oops, coma.

This is much more true today than it was 15-20 years ago. A good friend of mine was diagnosed type 1 when she was 18, but she had experienced severe symptoms (e.g. ketoacidosis) several times in the year or two before the diagnosis. I guess that's because, back then, doctors didn't think a teen / young adult could really have type 1. It took them way longer than it should've to figure it out.

With that said, I also agree that one would experience more telling signs, and it doesn't "just happen." Like I said, my friend was in very ill health on a regular basis prior to the diagnosis.