
Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as an Adult? You Are Not Alone
What happens when you're diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as an adult? LADA - latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, also sometimes called diabetes 1.5, can strike later in life than typical type 1 diabetes.
Imagine that you are in your twenties, thirties, or even your forties or fifties. You are progressing down your chosen path in life, whether it's an established career, a relationship, marriage, children or all of the above.
All of a sudden, you're losing weight, thirsty and in the bathroom all the time, and you feel like you have no energy. You just plain don't feel good.
You find out that you have type 1 diabetes, and your world is turned upside down, at least until you get the hang of managing diabetes in the middle of everything else you have to do in life.
There aren't many resources for adults diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Most of the literature and support is geared toward kids because typically type 1 strikes children and teens. Not so long ago, type 1 diabetes was known as "juvenile diabetes."
How does it feel to be hit with a disease that is usually diagnosed in children? E-mails and comments from readers talk about some of the issues of dealing with a new diagnosis of type 1 as an adult.
Mary, on feelings of isolation with adult onset type 1 diabetes
I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 42.
My doctor had never met a type 1 adult before and absolutely freaked. She rang the specialist and talked to him in front of me before even telling me of her diagnosis. Since then I have self-managed my diabetes control and go through periods of frustration and
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