I always know when it’s November 13. November 13, 1987, at the itty bitty age of four, I was diagnosed with type I diabetes. Of course, I had no idea the consequences of this diagnoses when I was in pre-school, however, over the past 22 years I’ve learned a lot. November is National Diabetes Awareness Month (bet you didn’t know the ‘betes was lurking in the shadow of breast cancer), and I’m here to debunk a few myths that I’ve heard about type I diabetes.

I’ve been accused of being a “diabetes elitist” and rightfully so. I get frustrated with the attention type 2 diabetes receives in comparison to the next to no attention type I receives and the assumptions from the general public that all diabetes is treatable by not eating sugar and is onset by being overweight. Granted, only about 10% of the diabetic population has type I, but someone needs to stand up for us and that someone, at least right now, will be me…

The basic difference between type I and type II diabetes is that type I diabetes is diagnosed because the pancreas no longer makes insulin, therefore causing high blood sugar. Type II diabetes is diagnosed because the pancreas, while making insulin, may not be making enough insulin for the demand or the body cannot absorb the insulin correctly, therefore causing high blood sugar. Type II diabetes, stereotypically, is diagnosed in people who are overweight and less active because their body is putting more stress on the pancreas than it can handle. It’s like asking one cook to make a meal for 100 kids instead of the 10 the cook is used to providing a meal for. Type I and Type II have the same effects on people, but the causes are different. While type II can come in stages (pre-diabetes is a type II stage) and can sometimes be cured by going on a diet and exercising more, type I diabetes is an all or nothing situation and, to this date, there is no cure.

Myth One: Type I diabetes, previously known as juvenile diabetes, goes away once you’re not a kid any more.

Ha! If this were true, I’d have wanted to outgrow adolescence faster than any of my peers. Unfortunately, type I diabetes was previously called juvenile diabetes because type I is generally diagnosed when a person is a juvenile. The most common age for a person to be diagnosed with type I diabetes is around puberty, but they can be diagnosed at any time in their life. I was diagnosed at age four (very young) and have friends who were diagnosed in their mid-twenties.

Myth Two: Since you’re diabetic, you can’t eat sugar.

Type I diabetics must keep track of their carbohydrate consumption (sugar is a type of carb). Insulin is used to break down carbohydrates in the bloodstream so they can be used for energy. Without insulin there is too much sugar in the blood and people become lethargic. Over time high blood sugar can lead to a plethora of seriously scary complications. However, if a person counts their carbohydrate and sugar consumption, and is in a treatment plan where sugars are allowed in their diet, they can compensate for the sugar with their insulin. I eat sugar and I supplement with extra insulin.

Myth Three: ”But… you’re not fat?”

Thank you! When people find out I’m diabetic, I often find people are relatively perplexed. The stereotype of diabetics is that they are overweight. However, weight has nothing to do with a type I diabetes diagnosis, whereas with a type II diagnosis it may play a very large role. Recently, children have been diagnosed with type II diabetes almost as often as type I. Back when I was diagnosed it was extremely rare for a child to be diagnosed with type II diabetes. The rise in type II diabetes diagnoses in children is very likely due to the childhood obesity epidemic.

Myth Four: Since you have to keep a close eye on your sugar levels you can’t play sports.

Foiled AGAIN! When I was a kid, I went to diabetes camp. Totally true. The camp was called “EDI” which stands for “Exercise, Diet and Insulin”; these are the three ways for a type I diabetic to best manage their diabetes. I started playing soccer at the age of four, and still play in volleyball leagues and work out regularly. Exercise is a vital part of my treatment as it helps keep parts of my body that may eventually experience stress from diabetes healthy. This includes having good circulation and lower blood pressure and cholesterol. It also acts as a stress relief when I find myself frustrated. I have to plan a lot around my activities, but the extra work is very much worth it.

Myth Five: So, you must have gotten diabetes from one of your parents?

Thankfully, I’m the only type I diabetic in our family. Knock on wood, I hope it stays that way. Neither of my parents are diabetic, neither of my grandparents were afflicted with type I (my grandfather had type II for a brief period in time, but started daily walks and knocked out excessive sugar and it went away), and none of my aunts and uncles or cousins have the disease. And my brother has a fully functioning pancreas, too. I got the lazy organ! No one is absolutely sure how a person gets type I diabetes and there are varying theories that pass the blame across a wide variety of things. However, hereditary links are questionable as there have been cases of one identical twin having type I diabetes and the other having no auto-immune disorders (this includes type I diabetes, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, among others). Genes play some role, but their role has yet to be determined.

Myth Six: You make it sound so easy, so it must be?

People say this to me a lot and I usually take it as a compliment, however, it’s completely untrue. When things go well I have days where I forget I’m diabetic. Everything goes as planned, my blood sugar is normal and I feel great. However, when things go haywire (which can be attributed to any number of things including being sick, being upset, getting excited, miscalculating carb consumption, having a visit from aunt flo, the temperature… seriously, the list goes on and on), I can get frustrated, down on myself and, let’s not kid ourselves, sometimes I find myself wallowing in a bath of self pity. I went through periods of complete denial when I was younger. They were not proud periods of time, but I learned that the hard work of diligently taking care of myself is worth far more than going for a few days pretending I’m not diabetic.

The truth of the matter is that I work 24 hours a day for something that virtually all of my peers get for free. I do not get a break. Sleep is not a break, as there are times when I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, panicked, with very low blood sugar. However, over the past 22 years I’ve learned there is very little I can’t do because of my diabetes, and it’s empowering to take good care of myself. And it’s much, much more rewarding to be healthy than it is to be lazy and sick.

If you’re interested in learning more about diabetes, please visit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or the American Diabetes Association for more information.

Annie is the Sports and Fitness Editor for Girls Guide. She writes about all kinds of sports related topics and then really goes out and plays sports almost every evening. You can contact Annie by emailing her at annie [at] girlsguidetothegalaxy [dot] com, and we are still trying to talk her into getting a Twitter account – no success yet.