Hi Edward
Welcome and well done for reaching out, its not easy if this isnt your usual kinda thing (like me) I tend not to post much, especially if im likely to hear what I dont want to hear hehe
I am not sure what support you would like so I will ramble on for a bit, making assumptions and doing an egg sucking lecture.
My story high(low) lights:
Diagnosed 7ish years ago although I was sure it was ten years, my wife recently corrected me and as she knows everything, its 7ish years, I went low carb high fat immediately, my hba1c went from 126 to 36(?) in a year, came off tablets and became an expert of food, exercised like crazy, I was health obsessed and that cured me yay! But not yay
after several years the low carbing stopped working and the tablets started again boooooo! Then more recently it mattered not what I ate or did, my blood numbers wouldnt come down so my DN suggested insulin eek! I was determined to avoid it so went crazy again and gained 10 points on my hba1c lol so we are where we are.
The injections:
I started taking insulin in September last year (ish) I was very afraid of it before starting it, mainly the thought of injecting, for me this quickly became the last thing to worry about, I find if I dont put slight pressure on the pen once its in and im counting it can be sore so I make sure I do that, I can also get soreness if I start making a cup of tea or something and walking around during the process (very impatient).
Hypos:
Yes they suck, I am terrified of going hypo so tend to run high during the day, I use Humalin I at night which apparently lasts for 24-27 hours and novorapid before meals (15-30 minutes) my advice is to not do what I did when I first started and inject (6 units of novo) without food to see what will happen, what happened was my first real hypo, not very nice especially as I was at work and “talking” to a client unable to make words, for me I work very hard to avoid them, as I said this means I run high and even avoid injecting altogether during the day, this isnt very good so dont follow my path.
Dose:
This is easy in my opinion, this methodis only neccersary if you are struggling with doses and completely made up by me without any medical advice, I eat or ate 7 different meals a week, the same meals each day for as long as it takes to get those 7 meals correct, you could eat the same meal every night until you get the right etc etc. But the point is to practice, if 2 units didnt work this time, next time 3 or 4, if 2 made zero difference then go in jumps of 2 units, you see what im saying, I will probly get told off for mentioning doses on here but its not meant as advice on dosing, more a technique on adjusting.
Emotional:
I feel like a failure because I take insulin, I dont care what anyone says here, I just do, people talk constantly about it being the final straw, the end game, how they are trying to avoid it, how bad for us it is etc etc. So I feel like a failure, this will incentivise the amazingly kind people here to say things like “your not a failure” but it bounces off me, I hope you dont feel the same way because “your not a failure” lol, no seriously! Your not! And nor am I but cant help feeling like it.
Low carb:
Do you? Because you should!, it lowers the dose you willneed and therefore lowers your spikes and hypo chances, this site or its regular posters and incredibly motivated and strong like I once was, not many people like me posting who generally eat low carb but if I fancy a bag of chips or a packet of four hot cross buns then I have it! I feel no guilt, I accept the consequences, so I am a really bad role model, I read threads about how healthy it is starving yourself for a week, well no, just no, I aint doing that, I would be miserable and staying alive until I am 120 aint too important to me
Ok ill shut up now but if I think of anything else useful ill edit, please dont give me advice guys, I am rambling to try and help, not look for any support, advice or abuse hehe.
If you have any specific questions, please go right ahead and ask, although as I mentioned I am a bad role model and completely untrained medically.
Best of luck!
