Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
Related Stories
52 Comments
After your diabetes diagnosis, did you go through a “Honeymoon” phase? If so, for how long did it last? Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
If by “Honeymoon” you mean being able to actually stop injecting insulin: no. If you mean did I feel a hell of lot better after injecting insulin and going on diet and taking up weight lifting, then the answer is YES. If you mean going the first 3 years (1959-1962) after 1959 onset without having a a severe hypoglycemic episode (seizures and/or losing consciousness), then again the answer is YES.
No honeymoon for me. I needed more insulin after diagnosis than I do today.
IT was in 1965-who knew????
Diagnosed in 1974 not sure if I had a honeymoon over or if that term was even around them.
I was 12years old, I am 76 now, I don’t
Remember
With LADA the answer is complicated. It takes so long to be correctly diagnosed and to be prescribed insulin, mainly because doctors refuse to believe that adults can be anything but T2 controlled with diet and exercise.
It was in 1964 but I do remember a period within the first year or so where I did go Hypo more frequently. Of course with only Urine Testing there was No Accuracy about anything.
No honeymoon for me because at 12 in 1973 we had no internet or social media so people could not come up with these lame ideas. We had real life, not made up crises.
I was diagnosed in October 1966 but was not put on insulin before the fall of 1967. I did have to take Tolbutemide, which I know has been withdrawn. I am sure I was in need of insulin earlier but we were moving country and we parents were very busy.
Diagnosed in the early 80’s. Can’t remember how many times i accidentally ended up in the hospital in the 1st 7 to 10 years. Therapies, insulins and i changed. Those 1st 7 years were a hell of a honeymoon.
I was diagnosed in 1976 at age 18. I started using insulin and feeling better. Then I started having frequent low BG, which I called at the time “insulin reactions”. I dialed down the doses until I was no longer using any. It lasted for several weeks. I continued to check my urine for glucose during that time (pre glucometers) and when I resumed spilling glucose, I resumed the insulin.
It has been more than 2 decades but I remember a honeymoon phase where any insulin was too much at times.
I was diagnosed at age 4 and my honeymoon lasted until age 7. 45 years later, I’m still here 🙂
I had no symptoms when diagnosed. My fasting blood sugar was in the 130’s. Diagnosed with type 2 due to my age. No metabolic syndrome. Low weight. I knew something was not right with diagnosis. Tried to find answer for two frustrating years. Started on avandia which did nothing. Endo started me on minute does of Lantus. Did nothing. I was a travel nurse in California. After much research went to Mexico and bought humalog. Numbers back in range. Finally found article on LADA in a nursing magazine. Finally diagnosed correctly by new Endo. So May have had a honeymoon phase that I was not aware of prior to first diagnosis
~2 years, likely because I was dx very early (A1c 7.2%, no dka) and started insulin right away.
How/what would be considered a “honeymoon” phase when you get diagnosed with an incurable disease? Wouldn’t it be more accurate as a period after being forcibly “divorced” from so much of “normal” life?
Honeymoons are celebratory and fun. In no way could a diagnosis of life with t1d be celebrated by a 12 year old in 1970. Who ever thought to associate “honeymoon phase” with a diabetes diagnosis doesn’t live with diabetes.
I’ll I can recall was that I did indeed go through a phase back in 1973. How long it lasted I’m not 100% sure but I know for sure I did. My brother was diagnosed with T1D 7 years before me and I was always intrigued by his condition, so amazingly enough I was extremely happy with becoming T1D. Am I happy today after almost 60 years of being a diabetic it definitely has its moments and without a doubt I would love to be free of this dreaded disease. Fingers crossed that that day may be approaching some day soon.🤞🤞🙏🙏
I chose other because I was diagnosed a year ago and still honeymooning per my doctor.
No. Diagnosed at age 42 and I didn’t know the difference between 1 and 2. Pills did nothing. Started going my own research and determined I needed insulin. Then took me numerous phone calls being turned down by doctors too busy to give me insulin. Then a friend called a doc and he had a cancellation. He told me in 2000 they were looking into a new category for type 1s as adult onset type 1. That’s me. No honeymoon phase but my dosage is pretty small, under about 25 units per day. Not much change in 22 years. So my body must still be producing some. Some days I constantly go low and some I constantly go high and some I am jussssttt right. Yup. Goldilocks.
Don’t think the term “honeymoon” was used in 1967 when I was diagnosed at 10. I only remember always using the same amount of insulin back then – a mix of a long acting and short acting insulin every morning.
I wasn’t old enough to understand anything, but darn sure it was an unheard of aspect 70 yrs ago.
I don’t understand the question. What is a honeymoon phase? When I was diagnosed, I had Diabetes Mellitus … period.
Over 50 years now so I seriously doubt the term was even in existence!
How could you tell? There was no way to check average or current blood glucose in 1968. You flew blind mostly, with urine glucose, which was like driving through a review mirror covered in gauze.
I agree with what Dr Nick said: “You flew blind mostly, with urine glucose, which was like driving through a review mirror covered in gauze” … and will add to that statement “in a pounding rain rainstorm”.
The term “Honeymoon” was definitely not used when I was dx. in 1955. I was immediately started on Regular beef/pork insulin, 1 injection each morning. The amount of insulin was adjusted frequently over the next decade because of too frequent seizures from hypos, but never stopped.
I think I am still in it. I am only 5 months into this diagnosis.
Treatment was very different back then (1975) — one shot of NPH each day — but I don’t remember a honeymoon phase.
For the first year after my diagnosis, my blood sugars were controlled by morning and evening shots of 2u of “regular” insulin. Even that low dose was too much at times. After about a year, I needed 10 times as much insulin and got my first insulin pump. Being able to modulate the amount of insulin throughout the day saved me from the threat of low BGs that terrorized me during my “honeymoon”.
Meant NPH, not Regular
60 years ago. Honeymoon phase? No clue.
I was only 4. I do remember taking a 70/30 mix at first dx so maybe my doc used that to cover my honeymoon phase until I needed enough to go on R and NPH.
I was Mis-dx’d for 8 years as T2, on oral meds that finally quit having any impact. C-peptide test at that point showed definitely T1. Not sure what that means…an 8 year honeymoon?
Not sure. I had symptoms for a while, noticed by my mother, but they went away. About a year later, at the age of ten, the thirst and frequent urination hit me like a sudden tornado. no honeymoon accompanied that.
For more than a year, I started on oral meds, and gradually moved to insulin. Finally, a doc ordered a C-peptide and it showed that I was making no insulin. I was 48, so it was LADA, but it’s so much easier to call it Type 1, which people understand. Most new docs since then order a C-peptide to prove to themseves the truth that I tell them.
I was diagnosed 52 years ago!
I was 11 years old, and that was 61 years ago. I can’t remember what I did yesterday let alone back then.
I said I never had a honeymoon phase, but some call what I still sometimes go through a honeymoon phase.
I have had several times even within the past couple years where my BG would go low and remain low even with my Insulin Pumps having been disconnected from me for as long as 24 – 48 hours.
None of my doctors in Minnesota have said anything about it, but when I lived in Alabama, my PCP and Endocrinologist said that some people with Type 1 Diabetes sometimes experience growth of new Insulin producing cells that start regulating the blood glucose for a while, but since there’s still no way to destroy the cells that attack and destroy the Insulin producing cells, when the body starts producing Insulin again, it rarely maintains Insulin production for longer than sometimes up to a couple days before the person has to resume the Insulin pump or injections to maintain blood sugar control.
My type 1 Diabetes was diagnosed first week of September, 1991.
What is a honeymoon phase?
Upon the diagnosis of TYPE 1 the pancreas is still functioning and there’s no need or little need for insulin. I describe it to family as the “shock” of doing everything correctly the pancreas is celebrating until it finally goes on strike. It seems to vary for everyone.
Diagnosed as the perfect TYPE 2 (ate and drank everything weighing 250lbs) over 3 years later at 150lbs levels went crazy and started insulin.
I wouldn’t call what I went through a honeymoon. I was just 19 and going through a freshman year at college. My diabetes was a Christmas present over a break from College After returning to college I went through the text book symptoms of T1D. I was in a small city in Utah ( I mean small, 15 minutes wide and 20 minutes long walking ) In the hospital they started me on U40 NPH insulin and after a couple of days they sent me back to school. About 1 week later I went blind. Not totally expect at night. I could only see shadow like figures during the day. They told me I controlled too fast and my sight would return I was like that for a little over a month. That was in the year 1966. They gave me a book ” Diabetes in Pictures”. That is the extent to which they had knowledge of the disease. They haven’t really learned a whole lot more. They have learned only to make money off it like everything else.
It was about 50 years ago, but somehow the doctor figured out I was in the “Honeymoon Phase”… they must have taken special doctor blood tests because we certainly didn’t have BG meters back then.
But, my Mom was clear with me about what to do because I was responsible for preparing syringes and my injections. My Mom was told to continue injecting some insulin (not to stop altogether), but only 1/2 unit… maybe a unit… so that I would not become allergic to the insulin. I don’t recall when I came out of this phase. I was young and it was a long time ago! I can barely remember my name some days. lol! ;p
It took me several years after diagnosis to ramp up to my current stable level of insulin requirement. The long honeymoon was undoubtedly because my onset was at age 56. I’m amazed how stable my insulin requirement became (on a monthly basis — it does fluctuate from day to day) once it plateaued. Of course my diet has also been quite stable since diagnosis.
That was 56 years ago at age 6, so I don’t remember. Hospitalized for 2 weeks just prior to Christmas. Seems like I came home and went back to being a kid. Except for the morning shot and frequent urine tests of course.
I have no idea. I was diagnosed nearly 60 years ago in December 1962 when the concept of a “honeymoon phase” wasn’t discussed or perhaps even conceived of yet. Or if it was suspected and being researched by diabetes science experts, it was kept quiet until proven because it wasn’t generally known and recognized as a possibility on their radar screens. I didn’t hear about it until the early 1980s.
I was only 2 1/2 years old, so I really don’t know if I had a “Honeymoon” phase or not!
I was diagnosed with LADA at age 66. I kept to a low-carb diet and did not start insulin for 2 1/2 years.
After starting my medication program in 1968, I was put on a pill called Diabenese (Probably spelled incorrectly) after a few days the Doctor had me stop, this lasted for three weeks and after that my world was never the same after. I started using PZI U100 insulin, which is now used for pets!!
No one mentioned this to me when I was diagnosed and I didn’t learn anything about it at all until much later. They also messed up my treatment to start, so it’s impossible for me to tell if I ever went through this.
Who would know? No home-BG-monitoring at that time, in 1965.