Hey my name is Christina and probably about a year ago I was diagnosed with type 1 but for right now I don’t have to take insulin for it.. I am 28 and it is very hard for me to process everything that’s going on I struggling so bad and I talk to my friends about it but I don’t think they understand how deep down inside I am very sad about the whole situation. My mama just pushed it to the side when I tell her. My family just don’t understand in so many words I try to tell my doctor that I can’t do it but I don’t think they get what I’m saying when I say I literally can’t emotionally can’t. I don’t know what to do.
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Hi @chrissylove3535 welcome to Breakthrough T1D. Getting a diagnosis is a trauma so what you are saying makes perfect sense to me. Your friends don’t know how to make you feel better so they may choose to ignore it. Your parents likely are scared to death over your health and the impacts of diabetes so a typical strategy for some people is straight out denial. All very typical.
I am not going to try to make you feel better. It’s just smoke and it never works. I will tell you that with work the anxiety will settle down and with knowledge the daily extra effort you will experience will become routine. You do have to decide that you are worth it. Anyway you are talking in a forum where we all have type 1 diabetes. I know first hand what the diagnosis, the crushing trauma, and the eventual acceptance are all like. I started, 47 years ago with 1 shot a day that went to about 7 injections a day to an insulin pump to an automatic insulin delivery system. Just like everyone here. We all think it is difficult and no one here wants type 1. So one good thing is we get it.
Hi Christina. This is my first day on this website and on this forum. Not sure if this will help but I have known people with Type 1 diabetes for most of my life. I did not understand much about it other than what they would periodically share with me. So 50+ years later I transitioned to Type 1 diabetes. It is because of these people in my life that I have been able to maintain my calm. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without these people in my previous years. So if I can suggest - You will be fine - All will be okay. You will learn to manage this condition and after a year you will probably be giving all of us incredible advice on coping with and managing diabetes.
I will confess that you will need to use the Internet to start to learn. I recently moved from google to chatgpt.com. With chatgpt.com you can have a conversation. I use it like a doctor to tell me about my symptoms and what to expect. Obviously it is not a doctor so take any response with a grain of salt. They have disclaimers. I would NOT use it for emotional support.
For emotional support you need to find people and that may be difficult. I tried to find a support group in my community but I was unsuccessful. So I am trying to start a support group. So far even that is hard. My current approach is to schedule the library conference room and hang up some flyers. In any case, there is this forum which appears to be the best thing I have found so far.
As far as your case. If you are not taking insulin then you are probably Type 2. Type 1 diabetics require insulin. It is possible that you had a GAD test and you are starting to show movement into Type 1 Diabetes. There is also a C-Peptide test that shows the level of insulin production from your pancreas. Those 2 tests are used to determine if you are Type 1. Find out if you are Type 2 or Type 1. Also find out if they think you are moving into Type 1. Again Type 1 diabetics must take long and rapid acting insulin.
I just searched the Internet: is there a case where type 1 diabetics don’t have to take insulin
AI Overview
Yes, there are rare, experimental cases where Type 1 diabetics do not have to take insulin
Recent, ground-breaking stem cell therapy and pancreatic islet cell transplants have allowed some patients to produce their own insulin. While typically a lifelong requirement for survival, these new treatments can restore insulin independence.
Not sure if you had this treatment???
Enough of my rambling. Don’t worry, be happy everyday…
Hi Christina. Nobody wants to be a member of the Type1 club but hopefully in time you will learn to make the most of it. Getting the diagnosis is a shock, and doctors are trained to deal with the physical aspects of a condition, not the emotional ones: so finding an Endo who supports you in that adjustment is a challenge. For that reason lots of people seek out counselors, who are trained to help them adjust and find strategies to cope with the diagnosis and adjustments.
Diabetes does have a step learning curve, even if you are not on insulin yet. And not to over-simplify things, but like learning anything new, things will come more naturally with experience and practice. I’ve been on insulin for over 60 years, pumping for over 30 of those. I recently started a new pump and the first few times I filled a cartridge I had to read the instructions so by step and watch a YouTube video, but now I’m comfortable doing it on my own. Yes, your life has changed because of the diagnosis but you can still have a long and happy one thanks to the understanding we have, the tools and resources available, and support: professional if need be, and from friends - some online and remote - even if not from family, who may be in denial at first. Type1 is less common than Type2 but there are lots of us “in the wild” and you may have encountered some of us without noticing we were wearing a pump or knowing we take injections every day. We make it work and you can too. I encourage you to seek out counseling to help you manage the emotional aspects of living with a chronic condition - that is just as important the physical. I’m glad you found the forum and look forward to your input and questions. Take care and please keep us posted.
Hello there @walt-walt welcome to Breakthrough T1d. well there are a number of reasons why this simplification is not always true. For Autoimmune diabetes, especially in adults, the onset may be very slow (LADA = Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults), eventually destroying beta cells and ultimately requiring insulin. In the interim, and in my opinion, autoimmune diabetes is still the “typical” type 1 when you get to the part where you dont make insulin. In children the often-experienced “Honeymoon” is a period of time where you make your own insulin for a day-week-month or multiple months (my case) but eventually all of the beta cells get destroyed and you make none. Also, many type 2 diabetics require insulin as well. The goals of type 1 and type 2 diabetes are the same and there are many times where people get misdiagnosed by doctors because there are no definitive tests. cheers! 
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Hi Christina. I was diagnosed with T1d at age 29. I remember being afraid to eat anything and feeling so overwhelmed. I can say that I am now 62 years old and although it’s always on my mind, it’s become my new normal. You will have good and not so good days but always be good to yourself. We can’t do this perfectly but we can learn to live fairly normally. I find that even small amounts of exercise, like a walk, help keep my blood sugars in range. Forums like this one also help as you can get answers from those who have experience to draw from. Hang in there!
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Hi Joe. Thanks for the clarification.
In my case they diagnosed me as type 2. It was not until I kept asking the endo doc to check my pancreas that I found out I am LADA. It started with an MRI then went to blood tests of the C-Peptide and GAD levels. Not sure how long the GAD levels were present because they never checked. But my C-Peptide went from 1.9 2019 to 1.2 in 2024 to .5 in 2025. I do wish they had been taking GAD numbers starting in 2019 when my A1C suddenly jumped to 15.5 from 5.9 in 2017.
So yes emotional support is important and in my case sharing my stories with people in the same situation helps me.
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Hello @dnestore welcome to the forum!
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@walt-walt The diagnosis is a difficult one even GAD65 is inconclusive so in my non-medical opinion as a mechanic, you typically treat it as type 2 and then if it is LADA you end up on insulin. Anyway. glad you are here and joining in the discussion! Good job following up with your medical team and for being persistent with getting answers!
@dnestore Hi Donna, and welcome to the Breakthrough T1D Community Forum!
I really enjoyed reading your post and want to let you know that your thoughts are very similar to mine.
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@walt-walt Hi Walt, and welcome to the Breakthrough T1D Community Forum!
Yes, even some of the best doctors can get things wrong and with so many varieties [6 plus varieties of diabetes] of diabetes misdiagnosis happens too often. Your “good news” appears to be that you actually have autoimmune diabetes and can learn to manage this condition effectively.
Not also, from your post above, that none of the varieties of Type 2 will morph into Autoimmune Diabetes (T1D), not even the very similar monogenic diabetes. The TypeOne label only that form of diabetes brought on by the body misidentifying and destroying its own cells produced in the Iles of Langerhans area of the pancreas. Unfortunately, Generative AI has picked up the long-ago debunked myth the eventually people with diabetes developed from outside sources (surgical, environmental, action, medical-induced, etc.) can become auto-induced.
Hi, yeah this early detection stuff now is great and is also like getting pulled over and the cop taking forever to walk up to your car and you’re sitting there imagining…
Talking is great and this is a nice quiet corner of the internet where you can come, say what you’re feeling today and be heard. How are you doing today? Or PM someone and ask to talk. Write a Dear Diabetes letter like in Newly Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes? 3 Tips from a T1D Therapist Who Gets It! - Taking Control Of Your Diabetes®
What finally got me out the diabetes suck is knowledge. I know enough now that the unknowns are manageable. Also CGMs are awesome. If you haven’t tried one yet ask your doc to slap a free sample on your arm.
Speaking of your doc, you can say to them what you said to us and ask about the options to get help. Did they already talk to you about Tzeild to delay the onset of stage 3 T1D?