my parents and doctors guided me throughout adolescence. In my experience, being on an insulin pump since I was 13 (sort of like an artificial pancreas) has made life with diabetes a little easier as it eliminates the daily need for syringes and embarrassing trips to public restrooms to draw up and inject insulin.
For most people who are [unaware] to what exactly Type 1 diabetes is and how it works, a guy shooting up with a clear liquid in a syringe inside of a restroom may raise questions (and it always does)
VG: Have you ever experienced any bouts of depression, anxiety (related to hyperglycemia), and/or stress related to managing diabetes (that you mind sharing)? If so, provide a narrative to help the general public understand things that they may not be aware of.
Antoine: I try not to purposely allow my diabetes to affect my mental. However, when blood sugars are not on-target, they affect you. I’m normally a pretty mellow guy, but when blood sugars are elevated, irritableness, stress, and anxiety increase ten-fold. Hyperglycemia is such a terrible feeling, you become very anxious to feel better and that takes time – anywhere from 30 minutes to a few days in extreme cases.
The general public can’t differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. I guess that makes sense; I can’t tell you the difference between hepatitis A, B, & C, either. Lack of knowledge is ok, but not when people insensitively say “You have diabetes? You don’t look like you have diabetes. Were you not eating right? You should change your diet. etc.” People look at me (5”8’ and 160), don’t see an overweight, unhealthy looking fellow and get confused. It’s more annoying than anything, but if you’re an unsure type 1 diabetic who isn’t content with having a chronic illness that you basically wake up one random day with for no reason, it may be a little hurtful to ask those questions and to make those assumptions.
VG: Is there anything else that the general public may be completely unaware of?
Antoine: Another stress comes from