Nick Jonas has recently shared his experience of being diagnosed with diabetes. He said having diabetes is a life challenge but one that he can manage. Jonas’ diagnosis came when he was 13 years old after one of his older brothers noticed his symptoms. The singer was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Nick Jonas also acknowledges “everyone’s journey with diabetes is different,” but staying on top of it and remaining open-minded with new information can help with “living your happiest and healthiest life.” The 29-year-old singer recently spoke to People about his health and the kind of change he hopes to make as National Diabetes Awareness Month kicks off.
“I had this kind of wrench thrown into things when I was diagnosed and it took a while to figure out how to count carbs to properly dose for insulin and what things would affect me in different ways,” Jonas tells the outlet. Jonas also acknowledges that managing diabetes has been an ongoing learning experience for him and he now has a “fairly good grip on it” after 16 years.
Although he confesses he wishes he had someone to look up to when he was diagnosed at such a young age. He recalls, “When I was first diagnosed, I was sitting in the hospital and was scared to death, honestly, while I was learning about how to manage this new thing I was dealing with.” Jonas continues, “It would have been amazing to have someone to look at that time to say, oh, this is a person living with it and they’re following their dreams. They’re doing what they want to do with their lives and not letting it slow them down.”
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Jonas further said that growing up, he didn’t realize how unpredictable diabetes could be and how much of an invasive disease it is, adding that he’s had to learn to not put too much pressure on himself. “But also, I understand that a lot of things are out of my control and keep me on my toes all the time.” Jonas continues, “I knew that there will be good days and bad days but I didn’t know that sometimes, especially as you get older, there are ways to take the pressure off.”