His name is Alex Tolwinski, but everyone online knows him as Type1Alexx.
Tolwinski, a Lake Geneva native, was 10-years-old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).
“It was hard. I felt alone,” Tolwinski told WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News. “You feel different than every other kid.”
T1D is an auto-immune disease in which the pancreas can no longer create insulin in order to burn blood sugars. While often confused with Type 2 diabetes, the two illnesses are quite different.
For Tolwinski, it wasn’t until nearly a decade later at UW-Madison that he realized he wasn’t the only one living with T1D.
“I was at a party and bumped into another student wearing a Dexcom (continuous glucose monitor used for real time blood sugar monitoring)” he explained. “It was incredible, we took a picture together. Meeting her really was what got everything rolling (on social media).”
Tolwinski posted a TikTok video of himself throwing all of his T1D equipment in the dumpster and announcing he was quitting the disease. The video got more than 1-million likes and 7-million views. At that point, he realized there was a market for comedic, T1D content.
@type1alexx Don’t try this at home. 😖🩸#diabetes #insulinpump #justajoke ♬ original sound – type1alexx
People began to recognized Alex on the street and others would reach out to him.
“People were relating to what I was posting,” he explained. “Parents would DM me all the time asking questions. We’re not alone. It takes a community.”
Tolwinski continues to advocate for T1D awareness/research and is participating in the 2026 Breakthrough T1D Walk in Greenfield.
WTMJ’s Erik Bilstad also lives with T1D. Click here to learn his story and to donate to his T1D Walk page.
