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    • 13 hours, 10 minutes ago
      Greg Felton likes your comment at
      If you have T1D, have you ever dated or married someone who also has T1D?
      I fell in love with an insulin-dependent Type 2 20 years ago. There’s something terribly romantic about taking Lantus together at the end of the day.
    • 13 hours, 41 minutes ago
      ConnieT1D62 likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      One time I was explaining that a new pump would be too expensive at the time because my deductible had just started over.. and she asked if I had insurance and I said yes….. then she said “then it should be free with insurance.” 🤦‍♀️ She may know a little about the challenges of living with diabetes, but she knows nothing about how insurance works or how costly T1D supplies are.
    • 14 hours ago
      Steve Rumble likes your comment at
      If you have T1D, have you ever dated or married someone who also has T1D?
      I fell in love with an insulin-dependent Type 2 20 years ago. There’s something terribly romantic about taking Lantus together at the end of the day.
    • 14 hours, 31 minutes ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      I am an RN. Been going to same doctor for about ten years. Took me six years to train him. I am very well read when it comes to my LADA. He trusts my judgement and gives me excellent parameters to make decisions. Recently had a bad case of Covid. Insulin needs changed dramatically. Getting back to normal but he made sure I had scripts to cover my ups and downs with insulin needs.
    • 14 hours, 31 minutes ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      Mine acknowledges the struggles and challenges that go along with managing T1D in my daily life. She gives suggestions as to what may or may not help and has often asked me I how I handle situations so she can give suggestions to other T1D patient's.
    • 14 hours, 32 minutes ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      None of my endocrinologists or NPs have had T1D but I always discuss my challenges and they are incredibly helpful. What I always find astonishing is they are constantly amazed at how well I’m doing even when i don’t think I’m doing that well because most of their patients have nowhere near the A1c’s I’m able to achieve. And just hovers in the 6’s!
    • 14 hours, 57 minutes ago
      Jubin Veera likes your comment at
      Have you developed lipohypertrophy due to repeated injections/infusions of insulin? Lipohypertrophy is a term to describe hardened lumps of body fat just under the skin that resulted from repeated insulin injections/infusion sites. If so, share how you’ve handled lipohypertrophy in the comments!
      The hard spots are fairly frequent with the pump infusion sets. Especially if I go past 3 days which I try to avoid! I don’t think I ever got one from injections. I try heat and massaging to treat them and they normally go away after a day or so. Once I had a large area that I had to treat with antibiotics.
    • 15 hours ago
      Magnus Hiis likes your comment at
      Have you experienced any symptoms of physical sexual dysfunction as a result of having diabetes, or having diabetes-related complications?
      I’m 79. My last orgasm was springtime about 3 or 4 years ago. When I complained of ED, my PCP Rxd 3 to 5 (60-100 mg) sildenafil tablets by mouth about one hour prior to sexual activity. This alone hasn’t worked to bring me up to former sexual capacity that I had 10 years years ago. I’m still considering consulting finding a doctor who’ll prescribe a safe but effective way of administering testosterone or an anabolic steroid in a dose low enough to avoid causing cardiovascular problems but high enough to restore normal ability that I had up to my sixties. My present doctors say it can’t be done, but there are doctors who advertise otherwise. Analogs of the hormone insulin can be delivered in small safe doses, why not testosterone?
    • 1 day, 6 hours ago
      Becky Hertz likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      We are all so very different, and trying to say that all of us with T1 understand what it's like for another who has the same hill to climb is unproductive. Having a health care provider with T1 may often be helpful just because there's apt to be more knowledge about the specifics. How we respond to the disease is such a personal matter, that I really don't think there are any guaranteed benefits beyond the grasp of the factual. Finding a doc with the same general attitude about the disease does feel good, and sometimes that's all I hope for after working hard to make peace with the disease for 70 years. Asking my doc to "get it" used to be almost my mantra, but I've come to realize that the ones who don't just see us as unruly childrenchildren
    • 1 day, 7 hours ago
      Becky Hertz likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      Both my endocrinologist and my nurse practitioner are great. They compliment me on the way I take care of my life and health and make aure I get all the supplies I need managing all the paperwork Medicare and insurance requires. My nurse practitioner who works with me on managing the pump has her own opinion about the pump settings based on her technical knowledge which is different than what I do with my settings based on living with them. She has thru the years learned to respect what I do and is surprised with how my settings work. So we are now at peace. Both very supportive.
    • 1 day, 9 hours ago
      pru barry likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      Yes. However, for those of you who assert, "It takes one to know one," the same might be said of age. Geriatrics is a marvelous array of marvels.
    • 1 day, 9 hours ago
      mojoseje likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      I said yes but that refers to my nurse practitioner who sees me every other visit, if not more often. The doctor may know how hard I try but perhaps takes my efforts for granted.
    • 1 day, 12 hours ago
      Anneyun likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      How can someone without the disease really understand what it is to live with it? I have never had a doctor with T1D in 60 years.
    • 1 day, 12 hours ago
      Bruce Schnitzler likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      Yes. However, for those of you who assert, "It takes one to know one," the same might be said of age. Geriatrics is a marvelous array of marvels.
    • 1 day, 13 hours ago
      Kristine Warmecke likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      My endo is young, very empathetic, thorough, always asks for my input, and does research. I am blessed too. have him, and the one before for over 25 yrs.
    • 1 day, 13 hours ago
      Kristine Warmecke likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      Yes. However, for those of you who assert, "It takes one to know one," the same might be said of age. Geriatrics is a marvelous array of marvels.
    • 1 day, 13 hours ago
      lis be likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      None of my endocrinologists or NPs have had T1D but I always discuss my challenges and they are incredibly helpful. What I always find astonishing is they are constantly amazed at how well I’m doing even when i don’t think I’m doing that well because most of their patients have nowhere near the A1c’s I’m able to achieve. And just hovers in the 6’s!
    • 1 day, 13 hours ago
      Daniel Bestvater likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      My provider does not have T1. Only someone with it can truly understand the various daily challenges and worth it takes to manage this.
    • 1 day, 14 hours ago
      TEH likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      My provider does not have T1. Only someone with it can truly understand the various daily challenges and worth it takes to manage this.
    • 1 day, 14 hours ago
      Lawrence S. likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      I have no clue what my T1D health care provider understands about my daily challenges and I don’t know about his daily challenges either. Not sure why I should care as long as I have access to information how to best take care of myself.
    • 1 day, 14 hours ago
      Jeff Marvel likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      My provider does not have T1. Only someone with it can truly understand the various daily challenges and worth it takes to manage this.
    • 1 day, 15 hours ago
      Richard Wiener likes your comment at
      Do you feel that your T1D healthcare provider understands the daily challenges and work that goes into living with T1D?
      My provider does not have T1. Only someone with it can truly understand the various daily challenges and worth it takes to manage this.
    • 2 days, 6 hours ago
      sweetcharlie likes your comment at
      Have you developed lipohypertrophy due to repeated injections/infusions of insulin? Lipohypertrophy is a term to describe hardened lumps of body fat just under the skin that resulted from repeated insulin injections/infusion sites. If so, share how you’ve handled lipohypertrophy in the comments!
      Hi Connie, I still have my glass syringe and show it off occasionally. We boiled the needle and syringe every morning and sharpened the needle with a file. I was diagnosed at age 6 in 1963. Life is so different now! Then, my diet was extremely limited as was my exercise. Now, I am very active and eat pretty much as I please. I maintain an A1C in the low 6s (6.2 was my last).
    • 2 days, 6 hours ago
      sweetcharlie likes your comment at
      Have you developed lipohypertrophy due to repeated injections/infusions of insulin? Lipohypertrophy is a term to describe hardened lumps of body fat just under the skin that resulted from repeated insulin injections/infusion sites. If so, share how you’ve handled lipohypertrophy in the comments!
      Connie and Beth, I was diagnosed in Nov 1962, age 10. During the early years I developed lumps and indentations on my upper thighs from my injections. In fact, I was able t o spot other t1 kids in my junior high school based upon the lumps in their upper arms.. (I eventually met up with them and learned that I was correct.) By the time I reached my twenties, these indentations had more or less disappeared, but I still have remnants of the lumps. I wish I could say that the layers of tissue now deposited on my legs disguises them, but they don't. I think the changes in insulin have been responsible for this improvement: the isolation and purification of animal insulins were refined, and then the various human clones were game changers in many ways.
    • 2 days, 6 hours ago
      sweetcharlie likes your comment at
      Have you developed lipohypertrophy due to repeated injections/infusions of insulin? Lipohypertrophy is a term to describe hardened lumps of body fat just under the skin that resulted from repeated insulin injections/infusion sites. If so, share how you’ve handled lipohypertrophy in the comments!
      Yes in my upper arms when I was a petite and skinny child in the 1960s with T1D. In those days we used glass syringes with stainless steel 1/2 inch long heavy gauge needles. My mother would jab me in the upper arms, it hurt like the dickens, and I developed several hard nodules. I was diagnosed at age 8 in December 1962 and after the initial two months of her jabbing me in the upper arms, I took over giving my own "shots" and started self injecting via site rotation in my thighs for several years. Eventually the lipohypertrophy in my upper arms resolved and I never injected there again until many years later as an adult on MDI using disposable syringes with very short and fine gauge needle tips. Periodically I would give my tired pin cushion thighs a rest and take a break for a few months or a couple of years and rotate injections in my abdomen or upper arms. Have been using a pump for over 20 years now and rarely use MDI unless I am taking a pump break for a short period of time. Happily, I no longer have lumpy sites.
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    If you had T1D while in school (excluding college), were you ever picked on or bullied because of having T1D? If so, did it bother you?

    Home > LC Polls > If you had T1D while in school (excluding college), were you ever picked on or bullied because of having T1D? If so, did it bother you?
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    Have you ever used expired insulin? If so, tell us in the comments about your experience.

    Sarah Howard

    Sarah Howard (nee Tackett) has dedicated her career to supporting the T1D community 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. Sarah and her husband live in NYC with their cat Gracie. In her spare time, she enjoys doing comedy, taking dance classes, visiting art museums, and exploring different neighborhoods in NYC.

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    23 Comments

    1. Janis Senungetuk

      I was dx. at the age of 8 in the 3rd grade. This was 1955, time of strict adherence to the Exchange Diet and very little general knowledge about diabetes. From the 3rd grade thru 6th grade I was’t allowed to sit with my classmates when they celebrated their birthdays with special treats. In 3rd grade I had to stay at my desk and was given a single graham cracker segment in place of the cake and ice cream. The lack of trust in my behavior along with comments on my “special” treat was very humiliating. In 5th and 6th grades I was sent to the library when there were treats. Some kids made fun of me, others saying they didn’t want to be around me because they didn’t want to “catch my sickness”. As much as I tried to ignore it, it did hurt.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    2. Britni Steingard

      I was 6 years old and terrified of needles when I was diagnosed. I used to insist on have a bandaid for every injection _and_ finger stick. So I got made fun of for coming to school with a bandaid on every finger.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    3. Ahh Life

      ≧◠‿●‿◠≦ I was 4. No, but I did have one cousin in my class that was somewhat jealous of me seemingly getting special favors. (ㆆ_ㆆ)

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    4. Claire Schneider

      Wasn’t really teased for being diabetic, but I reckon that’s because no one knew I had it.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    5. Becky Buchanan

      I was diagnosed in 1970. I really didn’t tell other kids about it. By high school my close friends knew. I just took my 1 shot a day back then and there was no BG monitoring. It was an easily hidden and ignored disease sadly.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    6. connie ker

      I was diagnosed with LADA at the age of 49, so luckily I was out of school. But 4 years later, our 13 year old son was diagnosed with juvenile T1D. One of the scariest moments was when he took his pump off for gym class and left it on the back of a toliet in the restroom. He didn’t miss it until he went to the nurses station before lunch, ran back to the gym restroom, and by the Grace of God it was still on the back of the toliet. I think this diagnosis bothered him more than his classmates, his security and normalcy was threatened. Plus he felt doomed since both of his parents were T1Ds and gave this gene to him. I felt sadness and the 911 incident had just happened at the same time; 20 years ago.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    7. Paul GILLINGHAM

      I was 9 when diagnosed. I was immediately treated as different by the other kids. Nickname was sugarlump. Constant teasing and mickey taking. Not a great time but I got through.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    8. Ken Raiche

      I was never ever teased or bullied for being a diabetic. All of my friends knew I had it and fortunately it really didn’t make it’s presents known back in those days. I would take my usual one needle per day in the morning a mixture of NPH and Toronto insulin and go on my way. For some reason it seemed much easier back then I relied on how I was feeling no testing well the odd urine test which was never performed while in school. I found that my life back then with T1D was much simpler and less complicated then today and as mentioned no bullying well maybe from my doctor😉😠

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    9. George Lovelace

      I was 15 at Dx and teasing was minor and mostly ended when my close friends saw me going through a severe hypo,

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    10. Kristine Warmecke

      My brother, who was diagnosed at 7 months old in 1972, had more than I did. I wasn’t diagnosed until January 1982 at age 11. It wasn’t until I was in high school that some people in my group of people tried to pick on me. Looking back on this, those people haven’t changed.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    11. Elif DeSimone

      I was bullied for other things, but never for my Diabetes

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    12. Nevin Bowman

      If I anything, I was cool for having something that no one else understood. I got to eat whenever I wanted to, while everyone else had to wait til snack time.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    13. Tod Herman

      I was just starting my senior year of high school, and about a month after my 17th birthday. I had to constantly run to the bathroom to take a leak between each class and I was losing a lot of weight (about 35 lbs). I had no idea what was going on (as nobody in my family, including cousins had ever had diabetes). My vision was getting bad (eyes were now dehydrated) and I was always tired. My friends at school said I didn’t look right, I was getting very skinny. Finally, I left school and drove by my mom’s office to tell her I was going home but she called the doctor. After explaining my symptoms he said to go to his office immediately. I never made it home and ended up in the hospital for several days… This was a shock to all of us. Back at school, nobody bothered me about my diabetes (few in my school probably had it). But my life drastically changed after that.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    14. Ginger Vieira

      Just once, by a dummy who teased me for wearing a pager when it was actually my insulin pump. I felt more sorry for him than I did for myself!

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    15. Mary Ann Sayers

      I was picked on like any other kid– nobody knew anything about diabetes! I WAS THE ONLY KID IN THE ENTIRE SCHOOL THAT HAD DIABETES!!! That was 1954! Today, type 2 is rampant in schools! And covid-19 compounds the seriousness of treatment!

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    16. Richard Vaughn

      I was diagnosed in 1945, when I was 6. Teachers and students had not heard of diabetes. The students knew I was different. I was not allowed to participate in gym, to avoid insulin reactions. I was ignored, but not teased. I did not make friends in Elementary School.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    17. Stephen Woodward

      I was not bullied, however the naive or joking comments that I did encounter were often hurtful.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    18. cynthia jaworski

      I would occasionally be teased about my thick sandwiches (2 meat exchanges as opposed to the pb and j eaten by other kids) but it was never mean.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    19. Germaine Sarda

      Dx 1974 at age 8. My teacher gave out candy bars to the kids as rewards and she always had something else for me (colorful pencils, stickers, etc.). The other kids were envious and would ask if I’d trade so I really appreciated what she did. I only talked about diabetes with my best friend who was like a sister to me. I don’t ever remember being teased for it, but I also never knew of any other students who had Type 1. It was still unknown to many.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    20. Sally Numrich

      Never. Diagnosed in 1970 at the age of 8. Everyone knew because I was in the hospital for almost 2 weeks. I shared everything, everyone knew and nothing really changed except for school parties. My Mom would send some kind of treat, usually some fruit cup with vanilla wafer cookies instead of the cupcakes everyone else got. Oh well, as had as it was, I survived! And vanilla wafer cookies are still to this day one of my favorites!

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    21. Dennis Dacey

      Never teased, because no one at the school knew I had diabetes. I was diagnosed, and spent two weeks in hospital, during summer break while in high-school. I lived in a suburb and commuted alone to a preparatory school in Boston, so I was able to shield my personal life from my educational experience. My experience remained the same as I matriculated into college.

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    22. KarenM6

      Like others, I was not teased because no one knew… there were no blood sugar meters… no CGMs… no pumps… nothing to outwardly say, “I am diabetic.” So, the only people who knew were the people I told (and I didn’t tell anyone but the closest of friends). In my entire school career, I only went to the nurse once (because I got to school and remembered I had not taken my shot that morning.) I don’t think even the PE teachers knew. So, basically, hiding in plain sight. ;p

      2 years ago Log in to Reply
    23. Leona Hanson

      In School I was pre diabetic I was only picked on when I would pass out for no reason or and picked on because I was a straight A student

      2 years ago Log in to Reply

    If you had T1D while in school (excluding college), were you ever picked on or bullied because of having T1D? If so, did it bother you? Cancel reply

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