What Diabetes Feels Like: Honest Thoughts from a T1D

Living with Diabetes: What It Really Feels Like

I don’t know how it feels for every diabetic.
But for me?

This is what diabetes feels like.

Most mornings, it’s like waking up with a weighted blanket pressing down on my chest—not the comforting kind. Just heavy. Like my body’s already tired before the day even begins.

On the days I’ve planned more, it’s almost like I’m punishing myself for not allowing rest. People might call that laziness. They might say, “You need to take better care of yourself.” But everyone else ate that pizza last night. I wanted some too. And I still showed up. I still worked my ass off.

Did I get as much done as everyone else? Maybe not. But I did it with muscles that felt like they were eating themselves. I did it while making more bathroom trips than a coffee addict at a music festival. I did it knowing that at any moment, I might have to stop everything—just to drink a juice box and stabilize. (Yes, juice boxes are a legitimate survival tool.)

Every day, the blood sugar rollercoaster is a little different. Some days it’s a loop. Some days it’s a crash. Sometimes it’s a full-blown derailment. You never know what kind of ride it’s going to be until you’re strapped in—and there’s no “exit ride” button.

And the thing is—this is just my version of diabetes. Yours might look different. Feel different. Flow differently. But the foundation of it—the constant balancing act, the invisible labor, the exhaustion that creeps in even when we’re “doing everything right”—that’s something only someone without working insulin (or someone insulin resistant) can fully understand.

Every day starts differently.
Some days? You feel perfect. For days in a row even. And then, just randomly, you sweat too much in your sleep, get dehydrated, and suddenly your insulin stops working. Boom—your blood sugar spikes overnight like it’s trying to escape Earth’s atmosphere.

Or, it’s the other end of the spectrum: a simple miscalculation, something you totally missed… and surprise—it’s the worse of the two evils. You wake up twitching. Paralyzed. The lights are on, your loved ones are hovering over you, there’s juice spilled everywhere, and you realize—you just had a seizure from low blood sugar.

Or maybe, you’re lucky enough to wake up before it gets that far.

You come to in the middle of the night—every muscle shaking, your mind foggy and panicked, your body screaming, “Hurry. Anything. Now.” You try to stand, but your legs feel like jelly. Like you just squatted the moon. So you basically throw yourself at the fridge and pray the juice isn’t hidden behind three tubs of leftovers.

If you’re a kid? Hopefully that juice is on the bottom shelf, easy to grab. No obstacle course required.

That’s just a snapshot of the rollercoaster I live on.
Like I said—it’s different for everybody.

So I’m asking you—what does your diabetes feel like?

Let’s make space to describe it. Not the textbook version—the real one. The one only someone living with it could explain.

This isn’t just a blog post—it’s a conversation.
Tell your story below (you’ll need to sign in to comment). We’re building something real here—together.

Whether it’s messy, funny, exhausting, triumphant, or something in between—I’d love to hear it.