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Autism and diabetes. Are you autistic and have diabetes?

NAS51275
over 5 years ago

I am interested in finding out what our experiences are, as autistic people who have to navigate the health service.

I am high functioning asd and have kidney disease.

I struggle with remembering my medication.

I struggle with remembering to eat at regular times.

I also have a fantastic family network that helps me.

I know about kidney disease.My question is about diabetes.

I am looking at the research into ageing and physical health.

How is this affected by diabetes, if you are autistic?

My question is - do you have autism and diabetes or support somebody with autism and diabetes and is it easy to get health support?

Would love to hear from anybody who is autistic and has diabetes. The health news tells us there is a link between our autism and diabetes. I am not sure.

Parents
  • over 5 years ago

    Cortisol, present when someone is stressed, can raise sugar levels. It is possible that being autistic may make you more prone to being anxious or stressed, therefore affecting sugar levels control, regardless of diabetes type. Exercise can help with counteracting this since it allows your body to use insulin more effectively, regardless of diabetes type (obviously, if you're taking insulin manually, you'll have to adjust your dose accordingly), so exercise can help your body cope with the effects of things like stress hormones.

    As for affects of diabetes on autism, low sugar levels and high sugar levels can have various symptoms that may help things like a melt down develop because of the discomfort that can be felt (if you're diabetic, you'll know what symptoms I'm talking about - the shakes, the mood shifts, etc). This is possibly no different to if you have an illness in general that isn't diabetes related, but I don't know for sure.

    As for the question about support - no, it's not easy to get support. Support for many health problems can be very poor in many places. It is common for the person with the conditions to get on with things on their own. Hopefully your local team will be better than that though if you feel you are struggling.

    Best wishes.

Reply
  • over 5 years ago

    Cortisol, present when someone is stressed, can raise sugar levels. It is possible that being autistic may make you more prone to being anxious or stressed, therefore affecting sugar levels control, regardless of diabetes type. Exercise can help with counteracting this since it allows your body to use insulin more effectively, regardless of diabetes type (obviously, if you're taking insulin manually, you'll have to adjust your dose accordingly), so exercise can help your body cope with the effects of things like stress hormones.

    As for affects of diabetes on autism, low sugar levels and high sugar levels can have various symptoms that may help things like a melt down develop because of the discomfort that can be felt (if you're diabetic, you'll know what symptoms I'm talking about - the shakes, the mood shifts, etc). This is possibly no different to if you have an illness in general that isn't diabetes related, but I don't know for sure.

    As for the question about support - no, it's not easy to get support. Support for many health problems can be very poor in many places. It is common for the person with the conditions to get on with things on their own. Hopefully your local team will be better than that though if you feel you are struggling.

    Best wishes.

Children
  • over 5 years ago in reply to Otenba

    Hello, I'm new on here but I have been Type 1 Diabetic for over 30 years. I believe I also have Adult Aspergers but am waiting for a diagnosis. However, as a diabetic who has highs and lows I do feel that these instances do affect my aspergers quite dramatically. It isn't just a change of mood from happy to sad but quite an unhealthy great big tumble into a very dark place especially when I am stressed. At the moment I am receiving support from the NHS for my diabetes and I do hope that the NHS can help with the Aspergers but I will have to wait and see. Has anyone had a combination of ASD and Diabetes suppport anywhere in the UK?