Type 1 and confused

[Alistatir_]

Hi everyone this is the first time I have ever used a forum and I'm not normally the type of person to bother other people but I am feeling really confused and not sure how I should be feeling.

I was diagnosed only 6 weeks ago and was quite ill leading up to been admitted to hospital with all the symptoms and very rapid weight loss and i had ketones etc however I had no clue that I had diabetic symptoms. Since leaving hospital it took around 2 weeks of adjustments to reduce my bloods down from 20s to 11-12 and then I went back to work and spent the week just keeping my bloods down. The following week it all changed it was the battle of keeping them up then down and made me feel a little depressed the following 2 weeks I kept a stricked diet and routine and my bloods seem to be quite good and now this week iv had 2 hypos and seem to be running low more often than high.

Sorry for rambling on a bit but to cut a long story short I keep thinking that I've maybe been miss diagnosed and have the urge to not take insulin to see what happens but worried something might go wrong it's been a bit overwhelming the constant monitoring every 2 hours carb counting food diarys diet change I just feel that I'm OK then my bloods are low and then feel depressed I also caught the cold on my 1st week back to work and have had a very stressful bereavement in the family 2 weeks ago and trying to learn everything about diabetes at the same time while balancing work and family life too I'm just not sure if this is normal to feel this way at first or am I somehow going crazy cause some days I feel normal and then my bgs are low or slightly higher and also everything thing I do now is a new experience for the first time again not knowing my abilities and losing confidence in the things I did on a daily basis before been diagnosed and feel I'm not performing at work the way I did and just generally feeling lost. All the people around me just keep telling me I will be fine it will be normal so many opinions from people that don't have diabetes telling me it's nothing then I feel like I'm over reacting.

 

[Books1]

Welcome to the forum. You're absolutely not overreacting - 6 weeks is still very new to everything that's involved with T1d and illness and stress are extra complications so you should be congratulating yourself on managing this new diagnosis. It does get easier with more knowledge. There are lots of friendly people on here with brilliant support/help so well done on joining us!

 

[Grumpy ole thing]

Hi @Alistatir_ welcome to the forum. I don't believe you're overreacting, that's a huge amount to contend with. Take it slowly and you will soon learn. Ill leave all the clever stuff to the others, but you will soon find there is loads of moral support on here, good luck x

 

[Daibell]

Hi. It sounds like you are a T1 and need to tweak the balance of your insulin. I assume you have been given two insulins i.e. a Basal and Bolus. You may need to check that your Basal balance is correct and your diabetics nurse should help you with this. If not do come back to the T1 forum. Have you been told about carb-counting and adjusting your Bolus for each meal. If not this is a vital part of using Bolus insulin. Do ask the nurse or come back here if you can't get any help from the surgery or clinic. Normally once your Basal is balanced and you are carb-counting at meals, things should settle. Let us know more about your insulins and what you have been taught.

 

[Alistatir_]

Hi thanks for the replys I am learning to carb count and currently using novorapid at meal times and I'm on 18 units down from 22 of levemir at nights

 

[Grumpy ole thing]

I use Levemir, (since last May), and am really happy with it. I split mine, and take them 12 hours apart but that's just how it works for me and everyone is different. If you are offered a DAFNE course I can really recommend it, it will all become second nature, but is a lot to take in to start with x

 

[BeccyB]

I'm not normally the type of person to bother other people but I am feeling really confused and not sure how I should be feeling.

Hi @Alistatir_ welcome to the forum,

Please do 'bother' us! You are not overreacting at all - there is so much to take in and sadly even the experts (and by that I mean the most knowledgeable of us patients, not the medical profession!) will have times when their blood sugar just does something they can't explain so please try not to get too disheartened.

I am going to tag @daisy1 who will be able to give you the beginners guide. There is a wealth of information on here and loads of people who understand how you're feeling and what you're going through - read/absorb/ask/scream when you need us x

 

[Alistatir_]

Thanks everyone for the advice and making me feel welcome. What's a DAFNE course

 

[daisy1]

@Alistatir_

Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 147,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a free 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. They're all free.

• Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why
• Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.

 

[catapillar]

Thanks everyone for the advice and making me feel welcome. What's a DAFNE course

A DAFNE course is a carb counting course, it's Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating. They normally won't put you on a course until you've been diagnosed 12 months because a newly diagnosed type 1 is likeLy to be "honeymooning". That is, they are likely to still have some residual insulin production. This can mean doses required are a little more unpredictable because a honeymooning pancreas can produce insulin on a rather erratic basis.

The honeymoon also probably explains why your hypoing and needing to reduce insulin. It's natural wishful thinking to grab at misdiagnosis, but in reality if you've had high blood sugar, dka and you using pretty decent insulin doses misdiagnosis is unlikely. Your immune system is killing off the beta cells in your pancreas that make insulin, the surviving beta cells have been working like the clappers to keep producing to keep you alive until diagnosis, now you've been given insulin those remaining beta cells have had a bit of a breather and are able to produce insulin themselves a bit better. But those remaining beta cells won't last long, your immune system has decided they have to die and is in the process of killing them.

Get a copy of "think like a pancreas" for a decent guide on what you need to know to manage type 1.