Smoking, drinking, love and more
As we grow up we all want to try new things, as well as having to deal with changes that are happening to our bodies. You can do the same stuff as people who don’t have diabetes; you just need to look after your diabetes as well. Remember to let your friends know you have diabetes and when you’re out and about wear some form of personal and diabetes ID; just in case something unexpected happens. We do not recommend or advocate drinking, smoking or taking illegal drugs. Remember that smoking, alcohol and illegal drugs are harmful for anyone (and taking drugs is breaking the law) so you should not feel pressured to do these things just because the people around you are.
Girls and Boys sections
From a physical point of view, girls growing up in puberty are occasionally a bit more difficult than for boys. So here are a few ideas which might help:
Marie video: The future
Top Tips : Girls
- Girls usually start their growth spurt a year or so before boys and therefore the increases in insulin doses to help growth and keep the blood glucose levels down (mentioned above) will be needed soon after the start of puberty
- The problem of weight gain during adolescence (also mentioned above) is especially true for girls. It’s important to have a balanced food intake, trying not to overeat unhealthy foods nor to under eat
- If you’re worried about your weight ask to talk to the dietitian in the diabetes team
- When menstruation begins, it’s normal for teenage girls’ periods to be irregular, infrequent and unpredictable for 6-12 months
- Most girls don’t notice any effect of periods on the blood glucose control. A few girls notice that for 2-3 days before the start of a period their glucose levels are higher so slightly more insulin is needed, but when the period starts the glucose level is lowered with a possibility of a hypo
- Sexual relationships should be no different from your friends without diabetes but it’s very important to have planned pregnancies with good control of diabetes before and during pregnancy
- With good diabetes control there’s no reason why women with diabetes should not have healthy normal babies and children
- There’s a small risk of mothers with type 1 diabetes having a child who develops diabetes later on (about 2% risk)
Top Tips : Boys
- Your growth and development in puberty will be no different from other boys
- Sexual relationships should be no different from your friends without diabetes
- You’ll have heard that diabetes can cause impotence. The commonest cause for this is psychological (worry). However, long-term poor control of diabetes can damage the nerves and blood vessels causing impotence, so this is another good reason for looking after the diabetes as well as possible
- There’s a small risk of fathers with type 1 diabetes having a child who develops diabetes later on (about 7% risk) and this is slightly higher than in mothers