i have diabetes but people keep asking me if i have had it since birth and i am not sure?

Question

i have no family and my doctor doesn;t know so is it possible to have diabetes from birth or is it just something i developed in early childhood and don't remember

Answer 1

Hi,

sorry to hear you have diabetes. I, too, have diabetes and have had it for 42 years (I KNOW when I got mine.

You say you don't know whether you have had it since birth? There are a few indicators that may help you, at least partly, with this 'unknown'.

You don't say how old you are now, nor the type, or severity, of your condition. If you need to take insulin now it should be fairly easy to remember the (now) familiar feelings of a high blood sugar level. If you are a non-insulin dependent diabetic the memories may not be so vivid.

If you now control your diabetes either by diet alone or with the help of tablets, then the debilatating effects of high blood sugar levels may not be as firmly fixed in your memory. However, if you can remember your early school days...were you often really, really tired (for no obvious reason?) If so you may have suffred from an early age.

If you had a 'normal' (whatever that means!) childhood and was able to run around with your friends without excessive tiredness and without days of feeling weak and listless, then I would suspect you have developed it later.

One avenue of approach I feel (it may help) is to talk to your teachers from your early schools. Even if they didn't (don't?) know about any diabetes they may easily remember periods of unexplained physical shortcomings that may have affected you...I'm sure they'd be pleased to talk to you.

Hope everything works out well for you in the future...diabetes does NOT mean the end of the world. I have had a very full and productive life and I have not allowed my diabetes to prevent me doing anything a 'normal' person could do.

Cheers,

BobSpain

Answer 2

I think that the fact your family dr doesn't know indicates you have type 2 diabetes (as this is now often treated without referal to a specialist) - type 2 is a kind that you do develop slowly and you could even have had for years before being diagnosed, but definitely not since birth. Genetics affect your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but it develops over time as a result of your body becoming resistant to insulin. Type 1 diabetes is the kind that's commonly developed during childhood - it develops v quickly (over a few weeks or months) as a result of your pancreas stopping producing insulin (nothing to do with lifestyle - some people think it could actually be caused by a reaction to a virus or an auto-immune disease). Some people are born with this but it is more commonly developed during childhood.

Hope that helps xx

Answer 3

The general public is very confused on this issue of diabetes in general, even more so when it comes to Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is the rarer form that is not lifestyle related and not preventable. It is usually diagnosed in childhood, but infants and adults can develop it as well. It used to be called "Juvenile" diabetes. Type 1 diabetics always need insulin injections to live.

In Type 1 diabetes, yes you are born with the GENETICS for it, but something in the environment sets those genetics off, and you develop the disease. We do not know how or if we can prevent this type yet, since we don't know the triggers. Type 1 diabetes CAN develop in infants, but not often. It would be very rare to be born with autoimmune Type 1 diabetes. This is very different from the common Type 2 diabetes, which usually develops in adults and is linked to obesity and poor diet in most cases. This is the kind most people hear and know about.

There are also other types of diabetes that can appear in children. The KIR 6 mutation is a rare genetic form of infant diabetes that first develops from birth to 6 months of age. There is also MODY, another rare genetic form of diabetes. Both of these forms are considered to be "strictly" genetic forms of diabetes.

I assume you have Type 1 diabetes. Most people who actually even know there are 2 major forms of diabetes assume this to be "genetic" diabetes since it usually appears in childhood and is not preventable. You could tell the people who ask you this that you were born with the genes for it, and that something in the environment like a virus caused you to get the disease.

If you think they won't "get it", you are sick of them asking questions and being confused with obesity related diabetes (Type 2), then yes, tell them you were "born with it" and leave it at that! ;)

If you have Type 2 diabetes, then yes, you may have had it for awhile and not known it. Usually Type 2 diabetes appears only in children who are obese, unless they have MODY, a rare genetic form. It would be very unlikely to have Type 2 diabetes from birth.

Answer 4

are you type 1? If so then you were probably young but not necessarily from birth on. A type 1 can develop it at any age even as an adult, but most cases it happens as a young child. That may be why you can't recall a time when you were not diabetic.
just simple say you belive you were a young child, or say something like I don't recall not being diabetic it is just a part of who I am. That will satisfy them and (this sounds bad) shut them up

Answer 5

You might have acquired early in childhood. Type 1 DM generally develops in childhood or adolescence and until recently was the most common form diagnosed before age 30; however, it can also develop in adults (latent autoimmune diabetes of adulthood). Type 1 accounts for < 10% of all cases of diabetes.
Please see the web pages for more details on Type 1 Diabetes.

Answer 6

Yes it is possible to have been born with diabetes. You have to look at your family history to find that one out. But you can also develop diabetes by being over weight and eating the incorrect foods and not doing any exercise. You need to monitor the amount of sugary things you eat as this will only make the problem worse, and of course, go see a doctor and have your blood tested.

Answer 7

My partner was diagnosed at 5 with type 1 diabetes but she says it was a minimum of 2 years with it before that. She has spoken to her mum and oldest brother about symptoms before the diagnosis. So I guess it could be possible to have it from birth. Maybe they should add a test of some sort for new Born's.

Answer 8

Hi Keri. Diabetes usually starts either at birth, or in elderly people, although it is possible for it to just 'randomly' occur at any age - though that type of onset is very rare. It is hereditary too, but usually seems to skip a generation. Some medical specialists believe it is conected with bad health in overweight people too. Babies with diabetes has become a much more common occurence over the past 25 years, but as with many diseases, this is most likely due to more diabetes-gene-carrying parents having children, than an 'actual' increase in the disease by natural causes.

If started at birth/young age, the person will require Insulin Injections for the rest of their lives, but in older people it is normally controlled by special tablets & a carbohydrate based diet, or possibly just by the diet alone.

My diabetes began at the age of 9, totally random, with no history of it on our family ever, it just appeared in me :(
If you take insulin injections now, it's most likely you have had it since birth.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I have type 1, which came about when I was 15, no other family members have it, nor grandparents!

I was badly beaten up during the school summer holidays which the doctors said could have been the cause, I was kicked a lot around my stomach and back area.

They can't put mine down to being hereditory apparently, my kids were tested at birth and were fine, and all see ok so far.