[bojackstorkman]

By happenstance I have spent about half of my life living with people with T1D and this post echos pretty much exactly what I have heard over the past decade or two.

A lot of non-t1d folks seem to fixate on the needle/lancet parts of management because it is visceral, but have difficulty grasping the huge amount of stress and responsibility around managing time, activity, boluses, diet etc.

For example, managing stress can itself be stressful. Some people with t1d have sever anxiety, and a panic attack can trigger a cortisol dump into their bloodstream, which in turn causes a significant spike in blood sugar. I once saw a panic attack spike a person from 80mg/dl to over 400 mg/dl with no eating, no pump/infusion site failure, or incorrect basal rate.

Also, concerns about your ability to engage in sexual activity with regard to blood glucose is the furthest thing from a humble brag. It is an issue for many, many diabetics and is often a point of embarassment. Kudos for mentioning it!

Recently my partner (23yrs with t1d) and I made accounts on the twitter-like site called Beyond Type 1 which has actually been a really great community of diabetics (and diabetic-adjacent people like me) sharing their concerns and advice and we have both loved it.