- Messages
- 12
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
Hi everyone, I've not posted on here before. I joined a few months back and have read the odd post to get advice here and there. But I thought I'd break the silence as today it's 6 months since I was first diagnosed with diabetes. I'm 36 years old.
Last year I asked my GP for a blood test as I was thirsty all the time, seriously dehydrated at night, constantly tired and lacked concentration at work. My blood sugar levels came back at 31 and I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, controlled by insulin.
Further testing found that I was actually negative for type 1 and type 2. They were still not quite sure what I had until my sister suggested I may have a rare condition called MIDD (maternally inherited deafness and diabetes) which affects about 1 in a million people - lucky me! I'd also progressively lost my hearing and suffer from terrible tinnitus for the last 8 years. So I've been referred to genetics researchers for further tests.
Anyway, my diabetes journey has been tough. Finding the right balance of insulin dosage is difficult as my body seems to fluctuate in terms of how much I need and it's led to a lot of hypos. It's gone from 1:1 to 1:2 and back again. I use Novo rapid and Levemir long lasting. Most of my hypos happen at night and wake me up. As I'm sure many already know, it's a horrible feeling.
The parts of my life this disease has affected is far reaching. My main passions, food, walking, football, gym, music all affected by MIDD. I've put on a fair bit of weight. I was quite slim and toned before and now for the first time I have a belly.
I use to love eating spontaneously but now have to have real discipline in what I eat. When the donuts are being passed around the office, it's a killer to pass them up.
I've got used to the injections even though some still really hurt. It's when I'm out and about that I hate having to inject. I was at a village food fayre at Christmas and had to inject on a bench next to a mother and child. I felt like a junkie and an outcast. It was horrible.
There have been real downers along the way, wondering how I'm going to carry on like this for the rest of my life and if it'll kill me off early. Even with my wife's support it's been very lonely. The NHS Diabetes Clinic often took weeks to respond to the questions I had in the early days. Others don't really understand how insulin controlled diabetes works. I mean what kind of disease is treated with jelly babies?!
I've accepted things in my head now and seem to have mastered my dosage and BSL. As long as I'm not having hypos I'm quite happy to inject and monitor bloods constantly before eating and driving.
Sorry for the long post. I'm probably saying what's been said a million times before. But I wanted to share. I hope others are coping well on their journey. And I'd be happy to help with advice for any newly diagnosed type 1 sufferers.
Martin x
Last year I asked my GP for a blood test as I was thirsty all the time, seriously dehydrated at night, constantly tired and lacked concentration at work. My blood sugar levels came back at 31 and I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, controlled by insulin.
Further testing found that I was actually negative for type 1 and type 2. They were still not quite sure what I had until my sister suggested I may have a rare condition called MIDD (maternally inherited deafness and diabetes) which affects about 1 in a million people - lucky me! I'd also progressively lost my hearing and suffer from terrible tinnitus for the last 8 years. So I've been referred to genetics researchers for further tests.
Anyway, my diabetes journey has been tough. Finding the right balance of insulin dosage is difficult as my body seems to fluctuate in terms of how much I need and it's led to a lot of hypos. It's gone from 1:1 to 1:2 and back again. I use Novo rapid and Levemir long lasting. Most of my hypos happen at night and wake me up. As I'm sure many already know, it's a horrible feeling.
The parts of my life this disease has affected is far reaching. My main passions, food, walking, football, gym, music all affected by MIDD. I've put on a fair bit of weight. I was quite slim and toned before and now for the first time I have a belly.
I use to love eating spontaneously but now have to have real discipline in what I eat. When the donuts are being passed around the office, it's a killer to pass them up.
I've got used to the injections even though some still really hurt. It's when I'm out and about that I hate having to inject. I was at a village food fayre at Christmas and had to inject on a bench next to a mother and child. I felt like a junkie and an outcast. It was horrible.
There have been real downers along the way, wondering how I'm going to carry on like this for the rest of my life and if it'll kill me off early. Even with my wife's support it's been very lonely. The NHS Diabetes Clinic often took weeks to respond to the questions I had in the early days. Others don't really understand how insulin controlled diabetes works. I mean what kind of disease is treated with jelly babies?!
I've accepted things in my head now and seem to have mastered my dosage and BSL. As long as I'm not having hypos I'm quite happy to inject and monitor bloods constantly before eating and driving.
Sorry for the long post. I'm probably saying what's been said a million times before. But I wanted to share. I hope others are coping well on their journey. And I'd be happy to help with advice for any newly diagnosed type 1 sufferers.
Martin x