Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marie B on February 28, 2012 at 12:29pm

I got it a year before my dx so I was 12, it was hard to deal with as a young teen. now I barely ever think about it, even though my hands are really affected. I decided to wear nice jewelry and that makes me feel good when I look at my hands!

Permalink Reply by Turtle Dove on April 10, 2012 at 3:59pm

Hi Marie B, you started this group thread on vitiligo and type 1 diabetes? Thank you. Vitiligo appeared for you one year before Dx of diabetes? It is on your hands, legs, hips. Any on your face? Nothing on your abdomen? Where do you place your insertion site? I only use my abdomen, have never been able to use thigh, hip or buttock. Does anyone else in your family have this condition? I am only told that my father also had vitiligo, I do not know this for sure. I do know that I am the only type 1 diabetic in my family.

Permalink Reply by Turtle Dove on April 10, 2012 at 4:08pm

So, we know, or we are told, Vitiligo is autoimmune disease, like type 1 diabetes. We are told, there is hereditary link to both vitiligo and type 1 diabetes. But, what does that really mean in terms of treatment? Was it you also that said you like to wear some pretty jewellery on your hands? I like that. Anyway, I don't so much mind these white patches, I think it is sorta cool. Also, I hear of legend of certain medicine people/ healers that are marked with such white patches, from Heyoka ~ Lakota legends. I enjoyed these stories and legends.

Permalink Reply by Turtle Dove on April 14, 2012 at 5:09pm

Oh sorry Marie B, it was Sue that started this thread, forgive me, when I was replying my server would not let me go back to original post. Plus, I do not use forums so much. :)

Yesterday a very beautiful healing angel gave me a book, the author is unknown, it lists all sorts of conditions and gives insight as to the emotional cause of each. For what it is worth, and I think it is worth a lot, I share it with you,,,

VITILIGO -

"Stranger in a strange land" They are feeling completely outside of things, like they just don't belong anywhere. They distinctly feel not one of the group, and that they are on the fringes of life.

It came about through the process of their being held accountable and responsible for everything that happened in their dysfunctional family, with the result that they ended up in the "family hoist" and the "family scapegoat" at the same time. That in turn led to their being apart from the family and everyone else.

Being vulnerable, involved and intimate was and is both too painful and too destructive to them, so they have operated like a "Martian anthropologist" - "urban hermit" on the sidelines of society from the very beginning.

(see affected area(s) for more information)

Permalink Reply by Marie B on April 15, 2012 at 6:37am

no one else in my family has it, or type1 diabetes either. I use my abdomen and backside for my infusion sites. I have vitiligo on my face, arms, chest, legs, hands. when I was younger, I was really self-conscious about it, but I hardly ever think about it now, except to keep up with the sunscreen.

Permalink Reply by Turtle Dove on April 15, 2012 at 11:21am

Thank you. I am only type 1 diabetic in my family too, my twin sister does not have T1. Rumour that my dad had vitiligo, but idk. For me, not really a cosmetic concern, except when it is. I hardly ever think about it, except when I do. Vitiligo in my arm pits, around my eyes, between my legs, backs of hands, and I don't put my infusion site there. Also on my abdomen, near infusion sites, I avoid this area now for my infusion sites. Who cares?!? I am more concerned with paying the light bill, in the dark nobody sees the color of skin, or lack of skin color. Sure enough, someday the sun will burn out... that is about as important as vitiligo. Keeping up with sunscreen, now that is important! 5-10% of diabetics have T1, what 20-30% or so of that also have vitiligo or other said autoimmune diseases. Working on mysteries, paying attention to clues. We cannot solve a problem at the same level of consciousness that the problem occurred, said some smart somebody. Despite the low percent of this, the rarity of this condition, the thought or idea that it is simply and only a cosmetic concern... I feel it points to an underlining issue. Perhaps buried deep in the sub-conscious, way below the skin surface. Perhaps self-awareness and understanding why the body would attack itself in a sense of self-preservation and continuity will help in understanding. Perhaps not. Hello Wei Qi, I stand in defence of me - yet, I hardly know who 'I' am any more. Rise medicine rise... show me a new way to see; beyond, beneath, between, betwixt - the lies of exogenous insulin and infusion sites. It does not matter, yet what matters to the heart is important, it is everything under the sun. I know nothing. There will be no more outcry, no more pain, no more suffering, the former things have passed away. And, still here I am, wondering ... how to pay the light bill. I don't suffer T1D, or vitiligo,,, I suffer identity crisis! I am really self-conscious about it. This little heart of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine... ooppps, beep, beep, beep... Missed Bolus? This one gotz to go eat,,, check bg, reload insulin cartridge, change infusion site, do the dishes, wash some laundry,,, Enjoy Sunday!