# Can stress/traumatic events be a cause of type 1?



## Dale walker (Oct 6, 2016)

I just wanted to put out there to the followers of this page a question. My question is, did anyone who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, get their diagnosis after a traumatic event, or did a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder happen before the onset of type 1 diabetes???? 

I ask because myself who was diagnosed with PTSD at the age of 26 after tours of Afghanistan then was diagnosed with type 1 shortly after. I'm trying to see if there is a connection.

Any experience or advice would be greatfull


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## grovesy (Oct 6, 2016)

Welcome!


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## Owen (Oct 6, 2016)

Dale walker said:


> I just wanted to put out there to the followers of this page a question. My question is, did anyone who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, get their diagnosis after a traumatic event, or did a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder happen before the onset of type 1 diabetes????
> 
> I ask because myself who was diagnosed with PTSD at the age of 26 after tours of Afghanistan then was diagnosed with type 1 shortly after. I'm trying to see if there is a connection.
> 
> Any experience or advice would be greatfull


Very huge welcome from me ex RA, and RGBW, it is possible that an event triggered your immune system.


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## mikeyB (Oct 6, 2016)

No, there is no established connection between stressful life events and the onset of Type 1 diabetes

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15190162

I have to admit I used to work in War Pensions (not for a while, mind), but I think a "consequential" claim would fail. when did you finish service?


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## Owen (Oct 6, 2016)

mikeyB said:


> No, there is no established connection between stressful life events and the onset of Type 1 diabetes
> 
> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15190162
> 
> I have to admit I used to work in War Pensions (not for a while, mind), but I think a "consequential" claim would fail.


Agree with mike regarding claims, even if you could tie in the onset to stress, proof would be impossible. It is more likely an infection it illness that may be the trigger


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## AlisonM (Oct 6, 2016)

Hello Dale, welcome. 

It's very unlikely that stress or trauma could trigger diabetes, though that could have an effect on your blood sugar levels. As has been said, it was probably an infection of some kind that set it off.


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## mikeyB (Oct 6, 2016)

I agree with all the above regarding infection. That's why under the Service Pensions Order (which no longer applies) T1 arising in service was always attributable to service.


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## trophywench (Oct 6, 2016)

Much more likely you were just simply headed for it anyway - then with the extra strain on your pancreas caused by all the cortisol from the trauma and then the stress ditto and finally the PTSD ditto (cos all these things shoot everyone's (not just diabetics, but only we 'see' it cos we are testing and non-Ds of course, don't) BG up so your body's need for insulin automatically becomes greater) and after having to struggle to help you through all these events - Mr Pancreas just couldn't cope any more.

My husband worked with a chap who fell out of a tree and broke his arm when he was 11 and Bingo! - he became T1.  Exactly the same as what happened to you - he was on the brink, then the trauma happened and it was too much for his failing Beta cells to cope with.

The only trauma I'd had was getting married 12 months previously ! LOL


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## mikeyB (Oct 6, 2016)

What you are talking about, Jenny, is predestination, not causation. Mental stress does not bring about T1 Diabetes. A physical injury might because of the heightened activity of the immune system in someone predestined to develop diabetes. The onset is nothing to do with cortisol.

Did you read the paper summary on the link I posted?


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## KookyCat (Oct 7, 2016)

I can only talk from own experience, my diagnosis came after a 12 month period of considerable traumatic events, my Dad died very suddenly, my friend and uncle were both diagnosed with terminal cancer, and my coma happened the day after the funeral of a close family member who committed suicide.  The first symptoms appeared shortly after my Dad died which is why the numpty GP decided my questions about whether I could have diabetes was neurosis (my Dad's death was diabetes related).  We have a whole pack of autoimmune conditions in my family so clearly we're genetically predisposed to such delights.  Given the fact that I'm one of those late blooming flowers who developed type 1 just at the wire (I was 39 but diagnosed at 40) I'd be interested to see more discrete research on the impact of trauma on autoimmune development.  By that I mean it's unlikely those diagnosed in childhood have autoimmune reactions triggered by trauma, I would have thought it much more likely the trigger would be viral or bacterial.  Those diagnosed later potentially have other triggers.  Incidentally my uncle also diagnosed with type 1 at 40 was diagnosed some months after a car accident that killed his wife and my Dad developed Psoriasis after a very traumatic accident involving the death of the other driver (it wasn't Dad's fault but he nevertheless felt considerable guilt).


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## Greyhound Gal (Oct 7, 2016)

Psoriasis is my other autoimmune condition. Manifested when I was 10 following an ear infection. Since then, it flares up with any stress or trauma (which causes stress), and has always taken hospital intervention to get it back under control. It also flares up (to a lesser degree) a couple of days before I'm aware I'vegot an infection. So between that and my BG I should be well aware when I have an infection on its way. In this respect i.e both flaring with stress they are similar, but there was no major stressful event in the weeks before DX. Assuming I didn't have it undiagnosed before that when my life was very stressful 2014/2015 and looking back Idid have symptoms.


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## Owen (Oct 7, 2016)

The reason I started it out with the word it is possible, like GG, I have more than one autoimmune issues, although technically diabetes is not one of them. They all started at the same time and I was a little stressed. I had a bacterial infection. 
I think that the infection I did not take seriously enough due to stress, it's tentative,


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## Robin (Oct 7, 2016)

My consultant told me they suspect that Type 1 is triggered off by a viral infection. But here's my theory about stress. If you're stressed, your immune system struggles to cope, you get more coughs and colds, minor infections and the like.So maybe when your immune system isn't coping because of stress, the infection that triggers Type 1 is more likely to get a foothold in your body.


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## Copepod (Oct 7, 2016)

There seems to be a link among the population of people with type 1 diabtes and previous stressful events. However, in my case, the 10 months before my diagnosis were probably the best of my life, travelling & field assisting in Australia, then travelling, volunteering and  working on seal and dolphin swimming tours in New Zealand, DIagnosis limited my options considerably, to put it mildly.


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## Owen (Oct 7, 2016)

Copepod said:


> There seems to be a link among the population of people with type 1 diabtes and previous stressful events. However, in my case, the 10 months before my diagnosis were probably the best of my life, travelling & field assisting in Australia, then travelling, volunteering and  working on seal and dolphin swimming tours in New Zealand, DIagnosis limited my options considerably, to put it mildly.


How do you feel now, I am still coming to terms, going through a really low period of I am really honest with myself. It's having to keep changing things and hiding from manipulative people who look for any weakness.


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## Copepod (Oct 7, 2016)

Owen said:


> How do you feel now, I am still coming to terms, going through a really low period of I am really honest with myself. It's having to keep changing things and hiding from manipulative people who look for any weakness.


Not wanting to derail this thread. My diagnosis was over 20 years ago, and I have managed to do some things that I thought impossible eg went as volunteer leader on expedition to Falklands and South Georgia and worked in British Antarctic Survey HQ in Cambridge, but paid work in Antarctica remained banned. I wasn't expecting that within months of getting driving licence, I'd be back in UK and loses right to drive vans and minibuses, which meant I couldn't persue career in ecotourism. However, have worked as country park ranger, activity birthday party organiser, orienteering coach etc.The worse period was staying with with parents, with no friends within 100 miles, and working in a boring job in a travel agency soon after returning to UK, but things improved when I did my MSc in London and Northern Ireland.

You're right that constant adjusting treatment and hiding injections and tests from people can be tiring, but overall, I think it's worth it, and only tell people about having diabetes when they have seen you deal with normal life and out of the ordinary situations for at least a few months.


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## Sally71 (Oct 7, 2016)

My mum thinks that her T1 was triggered by the shock of my dad having a motorbike accident which nearly killed him (she was 22 at diagnosis, they had only been married a year). My daughter's was definitely triggered by a viral infection.  My mum always used to say that T1 is caused by a combination of genes and some form of external trigger (could be trauma, or virus, or perhaps even other things).  I think the official line these days is slightly different, but I think that my mum's theory still fits in most cases!


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## Barb (Oct 7, 2016)

In fairness, I don't think anyone knows what definitely causes Type 1 diabetes. It's still an unknown.

Mine began shortly after an extremely traumatic event but I remain open to all suggestions. There was no history of diabetes in my family.

Recent studies carried out in Sweden suggest a link between psychological stress in youngsters and changes in the immune system and  effects on beta cells.

This study provides some food for thought:

https://www.theguardian.com/society...tes-type-1-can-be-tripled-by-childhood-stress


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## mikeyB (Oct 7, 2016)

Yes indeed. I've seen that study before. What it is saying is that stress in childhood increases the risk of developing T1 later in life, but the main factor is genetic. It adds nothing about stress in adult life. In the western world we are fond of studying childhood stress, but in the developing world in countries where children are subject to the stress of starvation, dislocation and other severe life stressors, there doesn't appear to be an increase in T1. T2, of course, is increasing worldwide as populations adopt a more western diet.

And there are millions of folk who live very stressful lives who don't develop TI, so if stress really does affect beta cells, how is this the case? Just a thought.


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## Owen (Oct 7, 2016)

This is quite thought provoking, is possible for someone to switch types, ie they are awaiting a trigger for type 1, but through lifestyle end up as type 2?


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## mikeyB (Oct 7, 2016)

Flipping heck, Owen, you don't half think up some awkward questions. 

To which I have an answer - don't know


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## Owen (Oct 7, 2016)

Sorry, theoretically it could happen but i think I might ask at my next endocrinologist meeting.


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## stephknits (Oct 7, 2016)

For me, like Codepod, there were no stress triggers, illness or anything


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## trophywench (Oct 7, 2016)

mikeyB said:


> What you are talking about, Jenny, is predestination, not causation. Mental stress does not bring about T1 Diabetes. A physical injury might because of the heightened activity of the immune system in someone predestined to develop diabetes. The onset is nothing to do with cortisol.
> 
> Did you read the paper summary on the link I posted?



 Well I was actually saying the same as how you've described it wasn't I?  ie predestination not causation.

If your Beta cells are already near enough dead (and of course many of us still actually retain a minute amount of our own insulin production even after 70 years in some cases - but not anything near the amount needed to keep us alive) and then you ask em to work harder still by experiencing events which cause the BG to soar - they fail !


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## trophywench (Oct 7, 2016)

One of the theories put forward in 1972 (not specifically for me but generally) was that certain types of gastric upset might be the reason or 'a' reason.  I'd had one of the same in the February of that year so I have always wondered - and again in 2016 I have seen various references to research involving gut bacteria.

Makes me chuckle - so, Messrs Medical Profession, have we really not learned anything in the last 44 years?  LOL


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## AlisonM (Oct 7, 2016)

stephknits said:


> For me, like Codepod, there were no stress triggers, illness or anything


Same here. Although I did have the stressful childhood part and plenty of autoimmune troubles, all was relatively quiet when I started down the slippery slope to Diabetes.


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## Owen (Oct 7, 2016)

trophywench said:


> One of the theories put forward in 1972 (not specifically for me but generally) was that certain types of gastric upset might be the reason or 'a' reason.  I'd had one of the same in the February of that year so I have always wondered - and again in 2016 I have seen various references to research involving gut bacteria.
> 
> Makes me chuckle - so, Messrs Medical Profession, have we really not learned anything in the last 44 years?  LOL


Interesting it was campylobacter with me, before that day I did not even have a GP


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## LorraineP (Oct 7, 2016)

When my boyfriend at the time developed glandular fever everyone told me to expect to get it too as it's known as the "kissing disease". I didn't get glandular fever, I didn't even feel remotely ill. Then a few weeks later I noticed I was losing weight, always thirsty and going to the loo a lot during the night.  Of course I now know I had become a Type 1 diabetic so I believe that my over efficient immune system must have attacked the virus, saved me from glandular fever but triggered Type 1 diabetes in the process.   That doesn't mean to say that stress doesn't cause Type 1, some interesting theories have been forward here, but in my case anyway I see a very clear link between exposure to a virus and the onset of the condition.


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## AaronH83 (Oct 9, 2016)

I was diagnosed with Type 1 5 months after I almost died from sepsis and a heart attack, I was suffering from PTSD and depression for many years before that and I've also been diagnosed with post sepsis syndrome too. Also currently awaiting a definite diagnosis on my thyroid which seems to not be working. My endos opinion is the sepsis basically killed my pancreas


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## sam1983 (Sep 14, 2018)

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the essay, I hope it doesn't put you off reading. I know this is a bit of an old thread, but I am trying to find some information/answers.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 after a motorbike accident 4 years ago. There is no history of any kind of diabetes in my family nor have I ever had any symptoms before that day. 

I was riding home one evening when a car drove straight into the side of me at a roundabout. I waited in the road with paramedics for around 3 and a half hours for an ambulance to become available to take me to the hospital (it was a busy Friday night for them). After arriving at the hospital, while waiting to be seen by a Dr, I got the severe shakes and sweats (what I now know as the symptoms of being hypo), the nurse casually mentioned that my BG was probably a bit low having not eaten for a long time and bought me a sandwich (there was no mention or question of diabetes).

Two or three weeks after the accident, while fairly incapacitated recovering from a broken heel and a couple of fractures in my ankle, I rather quickly developed symptoms of Diabetes - I couldn't stop going to the toilet, I couldn't drink enough water, my skin was cracking etc. I had also lost nearly three stone over the course of a few weeks. At first, I assumed that this was all related to the accident, perhaps the medication was having an effect and muscle wastage from being off my feet was causing the weight loss?

After a few days of suffering, I went to my GP, he took a blood test and the next day called to say that I had developed diabetes. At this stage, my GP wasn't sure which type of Diabetes I had - I was overweight and 31 at the times, so all indications pointed to type 2, but due to the presence of Keytones in the blood test he was unsure. He referred me to the specialists at my local hospital who confirmed Type 1 and started me in insulin straight away.

Given that I was not at the typical age of T1 diagnoses (from what I gather, its typically diagnosed at a young age), I developed symptoms almost instantly following the accident, and that there is no family history of Diabetes I feel that there has to be a link between my diagnoses and the accident.

My specialists tell me that it is likely that the diabetes was underlying and that it was always going to happen regardless of the accident. I can accept that this may be the case. However, when, and more importantly _if,_ it was going to present is always unknown - it may have never surfaced or it may have developed in a few years time. Either way, for me, it is too much of a coincidence that it decided to show shortly after the accident. 

So my question here is, does anyone here know of any similar cases or have any experience with this type of diagnoses?  Are there any links to physical trauma and T1 at all? I would be grateful if anyone has an opinion to offer or can point me in the direction of any studies or literature that might help.

On a side note, and perhaps more relevant to this thread; a month or two after my T1 diagnosis, I was diagnosed with PTSD. This was believed to be caused by the accident - maybe it shows that there was psychological trauma and _that _was the trigger and not the physical trauma? or maybe this was a result of my T1 diagnoses and a collection of events leading up to it? or maybe it is not related to my diabetes at all.

Thanks for reading, Sam.


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## stephknits (Sep 14, 2018)

Hi Sam, I'm afraid to say that as far as I understand it at present, you cannot know what caused you to develop Type 1, or which particular events, if any, contributed.  No one knows what causes it.  Making a link because of coincidence could be just that - coincidence.  I guess what would be more useful is to really think about why you need to find answers?  How will this improve, for you, your feelings towards living with Type 1 diabetes?  Is there anything else you could do to help instead?  
As I mentioned earlier - my life was just bumbling along when I was diagnosed - no stress, no trauma, no other health issues.  I think we naturally want to understand and find causes for things but sometimes things just are.  Good luck with the research - it is certainly very interesting and would be good to read about any papers / research done that explores this.


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## mikeyB (Sep 14, 2018)

Hi Sam, welcome to the forum.

I agree with your consultants. Nobody really knows what triggers T1 diabetes, though it sometimes occurs following a virus infection. Even then, there’s an inevitability.  And T1 is not confined to youngsters - I am one of many on the forum where T1 was diagnosed mid life. 

You can look at this empirically. If trauma, or psychological trauma were a trigger for T1 the country would be awash with T1 diabetes. It isn’t. And there would have been a surge in diagnoses in WW II, and there wasn’t.

So sorry, it is, like your accident, an inevitable life event. 

Still, you’ve come to the right place for help and advice - there’s hundreds of years of experience on the forum to help you along. Keep us informed


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## HOBIE (Sep 15, 2018)

I think T1 comes on when your body is under stress, an illness or similar. If we knew it would be easier. I was 3 & cant remember


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## Shiv Gaffney (Sep 15, 2018)

In 1973 when I was diagnosed at 8, after they looked at family history, past illnesses, etc. the only reason they could give my parents was "trauma" I had suffered 6 months previously; I put my hand against an oil tank in back garden which was powered by electricity (and was obv. live) and was flung quite a distance with some physical injuries resulting. What saved me that day was the fact I was putting my wellies on and leaning against the tank for support!  

Somebody also asked a question here about type changing and while I don't have an answer this question interests me as 10 years ago I was told I possibly was misdiagnosed as T1 and could possibly be MODY as I never had DKA (followed with all tests which were "inconclusive"); then a couple of years ago told perhaps T3!!  Have been told to wear T1D identification always and if admitted to state I am T1; at last appt when I asked endo he said they are still not sure!

Anyway I am not a fan of labels so just get up with treating as T1...


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## HOBIE (Sep 15, 2018)

Shiv Gaffney said:


> In 1973 when I was diagnosed at 8, after they looked at family history, past illnesses, etc. the only reason they could give my parents was "trauma" I had suffered 6 months previously; I put my hand against an oil tank in back garden which was powered by electricity (and was obv. live) and was flung quite a distance with some physical injuries resulting. What saved me that day was the fact I was putting my wellies on and leaning against the tank for support!
> 
> Somebody also asked a question here about type changing and while I don't have an answer this question interests me as 10 years ago I was told I possibly was misdiagnosed as T1 and could possibly be MODY as I never had DKA (followed with all tests which were "inconclusive"); then a couple of years ago told perhaps T3!!  Have been told to wear T1D identification always and if admitted to state I am T1; at last appt when I asked endo he said they are still not sure!
> 
> Anyway I am not a fan of labels so just get up with treating as T1...


Belts are a common thing in my life but if you where in the garden it would be bad . A big shock  Shiv


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