is your teen self conscious with D?

Me too!

This is why I'm happy to do BG checks in front of friends, acquaintances and random people in the street, but I don't like to do them in front of my parents and family. I don't want them to worry, and I don't want to remind them that I have D.

The only time I try to hide D from acquaintances is when I'm having one of those days where I just want to pretend I don't have D. If nobody knows I have D, sometimes I can fool myself a bit that I don't. Generally that's not a particularly healthy attitude for me to take, though (tends to lead to some lax-ness in care).

 

For those of you who are more independent with your health...appear to be older..18 or more. What great role models for the younger teens. And we are getting to that crossing point where the our teen wants to be more independent, but then again....sometimes she want to be helped. Its a tough balance...

 

Brandi started to feel a bit self conscious when she was still MDI and we were in public, but around her friends she was not. She actually liked to take shots at lunch cuz it "freaked" a couple of her guy friends out to see her take the shots.

She loves to show off her pump and pump sites. She wears her bikini proudly at the pool or beach with her tummy sites.

 

Morgan is a bit more self-conscious now. She wears her pump in her bra, so no tubes show. She tests when she has to, however usually just looks at her Dex as long as the calibration is good. Wears her Dex on her hip, covered by clothes. Zoe...not so much...wears her pump and Dex hooked to her pants with tube hanging out. Dex is on the back of her arm...everything fully visible. Morgan used to be that way!

 

1st day at HS, I asked if she was testing openly? She replies, no I test discretely on my lap or in my purse. Why? I want people to see me not my disease. ( fair enough and makes perfect sense)

 

Allison is in high school and doesn't hide anything. She has every "beep" turned up to high volume!!!!! Checks and adjusts everywhere and anywhere.

 

1st few days at HS new school, new friends, I asked her if she was open about it or tried to be more discreet.

She decided to be more discreet, testing on her lap and not hiding it totally but trying to be less noticed for her d and more noticed as an average HS kid.

I support her in that decision. Today was a tough day for her...she is wearing her back brace for the first time at high school. I hardly notice it, but when she wears it it affects her gait.......praying today goes smoothly for her.
She is such a neat caring kid...

 

My son, just turned 15 years old, is very self-conscious about his diabetes. He wore the pump for almost a year, but took it off because of it being too obvious. He misses a lot of blood sugar checks and even misses injections if he's out with friends. He gets extremely angry with me when I remind him to check or to do injections. Do we need to get him into counseling, or is this a normal phase and will go away? I was dealing with it pretty well, but seems like it's gotten worse lately and now I'm really worried. Advice?

 

My daughter is 13 and is the same way. She hides her pump, will not check her sugar in front of people who are not her regular friends. If she wears shorts or goes swimming she would rather take injections than to wear her pump. I hope it is a phase she will out grow!

 

You might consider starting an entirely new thread to ask this question, I'm afraid no one is seeing it since it is buried within a different question that many aren't looking at.

 

i would also open a new post so you can get more input.

How are his a1c tests? I think its perfectly normal for teens to get angry with their parents...at times..remember when you were a teen...you are looking to be more independent. It looks like about 50% are open about their d and others try to hide it. So is your son back to MDI with Lantus? Then he may be getting some background insulin...I know that a few posters have had trouble with kids dosing and checking and the endo could prescribe a different insulin regimen...to cover him throughout the day..its better than nothing. If you feel like he needs counseling...I would say Yes..moms have that gut instinct. And as a mom, I would sit him down and have a serious talk with him...

 

If we were at some public place like say a restaurant Justin would go somewhere private to give himself an injection but I'm not sure if that was out of courtesy to strangers or self conscious or possibly both. He of course is on a pump now and though he wont start a conversation about his D with a new acquaintance, he will however answer any questions that person may have should that person start the topic first and his pump is almost always clearly visible. Justin's self esteem has always been high and his many friends have never had an issue with his D.

 

I noticed my dd hides her d more now than before. A teenager thing?

 

oh just so most of you know, but you probably figured it out Bigbluefrog is omo2three. I finally updated my internet and received a new email. I like that name better since I use it on other forums....simplify things

 

I'm going through the same thing with my son right now. He's 13 and in 8th grade. He doesn't get angry at me for asking, just annoyed. His new thing is bolusing but not checking his blood sugar. When I get on to him for it he says "well, atleast I took insulin". I'm considering going up to his school every day to make him test and bolus until he decides to be responsible and do it himself. We just changed endocrinologists this week and this dr told me to program his omnipod with 3 different basal rates, change his I/C ratio, increased his basal to help deal with these issues. His A1C was 9.9!!! It's never been over 6.8 before this. His grades are slipping. It's got to be his high blood sugars all the time. The dr also told me I need to discipline my son when he doesn't test and bolus at school. I'm so stressed over all of this. I feel like such a horrible parent right now. I've been in counseling but I just started my son with the same counselor. He likes it.