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Hit a real low.

philly1991 said:
No not currently because of the issues I'm having. Not taking doses etc.
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would likely be beneficial to mark the carbs consumed within the app regardless if dosing or not, so that the dsn / endo could given some recremmendations and perhaps it would at least help pave a way forward to your desired outcome of a pump. It would show you are capable of inputting doses for prebolus of meals into your potential pump app. imo very much well worth doing. I would go slightly further based on your prior dafne course. mark down meal had the total carbs count for that meal then have the ratio calculation beside it with the units you would of set the insulin pump to give you.

I have another suggestion which only thought about just now. I recall DSN at a prior appt i had mention that there was a diabetic group that met up every so often, maybe your area has a simular group that you could attend could always ask your dsn at next appt if they are aware of any?
 
grantg said:
would likely be beneficial to mark the carbs consumed within the app regardless if dosing or not, so that the dsn / endo could given some recremmendations and perhaps it would at least help pave a way forward to your desired outcome of a pump. It would show you are capable of inputting doses for prebolus of meals into your potential pump app. imo very much well worth doing. I would go slightly further based on your prior dafne course. mark down meal had the total carbs count for that meal then have the ratio calculation beside it with the units you would of set the insulin pump to give you.

I have another suggestion which only thought about just now. I recall DSN at a prior appt i had mention that there was a diabetic group that met up every so often, maybe your area has a simular group that you could attend could always ask your dsn at next appt if they are aware of any?
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That's really helpful thank you. I do get overwhelmed very easily though and counting carbs is very time consuming which is part of the problem.

I do want to share a very small win. I had my evening meal at work and correctly input carbs and gave myself the required insulin. I took my basal at 9pm as normal and then checked my CGM before bed. I did require a small correction which I also injected. This morning I woke up BG 7.7 but rose soon after waking. I had breakfast, again input carbs and gave myself the required insulin plus a correction.

Feeling pleased with myself. I know to many this isn't a big thing but for me it is. Just need some support to get through the rest of the day.
 
philly1991 said:
That's really helpful thank you. I do get overwhelmed very easily though and counting carbs is very time consuming which is part of the problem.

I do want to share a very small win. I had my evening meal at work and correctly input carbs and gave myself the required insulin. I took my basal at 9pm as normal and then checked my CGM before bed. I did require a small correction which I also injected. This morning I woke up BG 7.7 but rose soon after waking. I had breakfast, again input carbs and gave myself the required insulin plus a correction.

Feeling pleased with myself. I know to many this isn't a big thing but for me it is. Just need some support to get through the rest of the day.
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well done thats awesome to hear.

there are apps out there that can help you to carb count and work out your dosages for you which you may find a little less overwhelming doing the maths side of things for you. I'll try look out relevant threads for you in a wee bit.
 
philly1991 said:
That's really helpful thank you. I do get overwhelmed very easily though and counting carbs is very time consuming which is part of the problem.

I do want to share a very small win. I had my evening meal at work and correctly input carbs and gave myself the required insulin. I took my basal at 9pm as normal and then checked my CGM before bed. I did require a small correction which I also injected. This morning I woke up BG 7.7 but rose soon after waking. I had breakfast, again input carbs and gave myself the required insulin plus a correction.

Feeling pleased with myself. I know to many this isn't a big thing but for me it is. Just need some support to get through the rest of the day.
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Good morning,

Are you just scanning your sensor or do you use it like a CGM with a smartphone?

There are 2 things for me that quicken up the routine..
1. My reusable Novopen 6 can transfer the Novorapid dosage & time by NFC logging it on the app.
2. With a free 3rd party app I can also get my BGs sent to a smart watch from my phone. It’s as easy as lifting my wrist to tell the time.
I’m not spending big bucks on the latest tech. I use a 4 year old model succeeded by 3 other incarnations.
The phone is a year or two older…

Hope this helps.
I can appreciate how how busy a working day can be.. ;)
 
Jaylee said:
Good morning,

Are you just scanning your sensor or do you use it like a CGM with a smartphone?

There are 2 things for me that quicken up the routine..
1. My reusable Novopen 6 can transfer the Novorapid dosage & time by NFC logging it on the app.
2. With a free 3rd party app I can also get my BGs sent to a smart watch from my phone. It’s as easy as lifting my wrist to tell the time.
I’m not spending big bucks on the latest tech. I use a 4 year old model succeeded by 3 other incarnations.
The phone is a year or two older…

Hope this helps.
I can appreciate how how busy a working day can be.. ;)
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I have the Libre 2 Plus and it works with an app on my phone? I don't know if that answers your question. I also have a NovoPen Echo Plus which I can scan with my smartphone to transfer times and doses.

So overall they've set me up with the tech. I'm just not using it.
 
If using the NFC feature of the pen ensure to mark the air shots. I found it a lot quicker just inserting manually. If I forgot to do at the time, would check the last dosage and time on the pen. Really disliked mostly double inputs 2unit prime the the dosage occasionally 2 primes needed.. so that would be 3 entries. The more entries on the libre app the slower accessing the log file was (for me). Was really quick if hit the note symbol. Editing took longer when forgot to do and the time already passed where could simply tap on the relevant note area
 
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/sensor-readings-all-over-the-place.209877/post-2771984 thats the most recently that i posted to on the app side of things. i'll still try to find relevant posts probably shortly after lunch if need further info :)

doing things one step at a time will be a lot less daunting and overwhelming break things down into smaller steps that you feel more comfortable with. It could prove very useful if you mark down meals where amounts are the same to if worked well for you to build up a list of meals with the doses etc already written down, rather than having to work out from scratch in time for familur meals it will become second nature and wont need to worry about the maths as you'll be able to remember.
 
grantg said:
https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/sensor-readings-all-over-the-place.209877/post-2771984 thats the most recently that i posted to on the app side of things. i'll still try to find relevant posts probably shortly after lunch if need further info :)

doing things one step at a time will be a lot less daunting and overwhelming break things down into smaller steps that you feel more comfortable with. It could prove very useful if you mark down meals where amounts are the same to if worked well for you to build up a list of meals with the doses etc already written down, rather than having to work out from scratch in time for familur meals it will become second nature and wont need to worry about the maths as you'll be able to remember.
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You refer to NFC in a couple of your posts, can I ask what this means? Sorry I am not familiar with the term.

With regards to apps I do have the carbs and cals app and book which I have found very useful previously so I will revisit this. I had somebody suggest before that I purchase an index book to list foods/meals and the carb value to make things a little easier. Does anybody have anything similar?
 
philly1991 said:
You refer to NFC in a couple of your posts, can I ask what this means? Sorry I am not familiar with the term.

With regards to apps I do have the carbs and cals app and book which I have found very useful previously so I will revisit this. I had somebody suggest before that I purchase an index book to list foods/meals and the carb value to make things a little easier. Does anybody have anything similar?
Click to expand...

NFC stands for Near Field Communication. it gives your phone the ability for holding up your pen to automatically insert the doses for you. you have to be careful to mark the 'airshot' / 'prime' so that it doesnt show up in the log book as injected.

if your wanting to make as easy as possible, some premade meals have all the carbs listed directly on the packaging. a lot of chain restraunts have carbs marked for each meal usually can find online. depending on the ingrediant ratios and indeed the quantity would depend so they are 'rough guides'.

Something i've done to make easier is to batch cook. count the total carbs once. then devide up into however many portions. it would then be carbs/portions to give carbs per meal. I would not have to then work out the carbs each time ate that dish as the maths was only needed to do inititally. Using a food label, for when fridge/freeze the portions mark the down the carbs per portion, you could also mark down the units needed for that portion which would reduce the need to work out each time if just had the carbs marked down.
 
grantg said:
NFC stands for Near Field Communication. it gives your phone the ability for holding up your pen to automatically insert the doses for you. you have to be careful to mark the 'airshot' / 'prime' so that it doesnt show up in the log book as injected.

if your wanting to make as easy as possible, some premade meals have all the carbs listed directly on the packaging. a lot of chain restraunts have carbs marked for each meal usually can find online. depending on the ingrediant ratios and indeed the quantity would depend so they are 'rough guides'.

Something i've done to make easier is to batch cook. count the total carbs once. then devide up into however many portions. it would then be carbs/portions to give carbs per meal. I would not have to then work out the carbs each time ate that dish as the maths was only needed to do inititally. Using a food label, for when fridge/freeze the portions mark the down the carbs per portion, you could also mark down the units needed for that portion which would reduce the need to work out each time if just had the carbs marked down.
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These are all things I've tried in the past and have been useful to me. However the biggest issue at the minute is actually doing these things. I just have so little motivation to do anything. I know this needs to change but I'm struggling with how I get myself to engage.
 
philly1991 said:
I'm really embarrassed to write this as I've reached out on here for help many times before but I just can't seem to help myself.

My levels are so high, constantly. This is because I either don't take my insulin or because I eat whatever I want and will either take a guess at the amount of insulin I need or take none and spend hours correcting at a later time.

I see my DSN fortnightly and she is great. She gives me simple instructions to follow and simple tasks but at the minute I can't even get through a day. It's literally three meals, three doses of insulin, and I can't even do that!

I'm really starting to lose hope and can't see a positive outcome. I feel so ashamed of myself. Has anybody else been here? If anybody has any advice it would be massively appreciated. Where do I start?

Thanks for reading. Hope everyone is well.
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I am wondering if you have had mental health issues before you were even diagnosed? If you do not mind my asking, how old are you? Managing Type 1 must be really challenging for a young person. I am an ancient 73 years old, and was only diagnosed in 2019. Because I am retired, I am not required to go out to work, and that makes the management of my bg easier than if I had to work, I am sure. I had (before diagnosis) and still have, quite severe mental health issues, and certainly developing type 1 has made life's struggles much more difficult. I would like to understand more why it is that you keep forgetting to inject before you eat? It sounds like you are in a bit of denial about this illness? In the long run it really does make good sense to pay attention to what is going on in your body - it might well save you a lot of distress in the future.... It really is important that your main focus becomes a reasonable management of your type 1 diabetes bg. If people on here are able to support you, I hope that will help you do that as well as the support and advice you get from the diabetes team.

If a pump is going to help, I hope they will give you one.

However, you know, you really are the only one who is able to manage this condition. That is the thing that I have realised. It can feel very lonely, and sometimes I get quite scared, and overwhelmed, but I know that at the end of the day, I am the only one who can work to ensure that serious complications do not develop later. No one else can do that for me. It would be far better for you to take this on board now than remain in denial and suffer badly later on through not taking sufficient care of your health, now.

Please take this on board.
 
LionChild said:
I am wondering if you have had mental health issues before you were even diagnosed? If you do not mind my asking, how old are you? Managing Type 1 must be really challenging for a young person. I am an ancient 73 years old, and was only diagnosed in 2019. Because I am retired, I am not required to go out to work, and that makes the management of my bg easier than if I had to work, I am sure. I had (before diagnosis) and still have, quite severe mental health issues, and certainly developing type 1 has made life's struggles much more difficult. I would like to understand more why it is that you keep forgetting to inject before you eat? It sounds like you are in a bit of denial about this illness? In the long run it really does make good sense to pay attention to what is going on in your body - it might well save you a lot of distress in the future.... It really is important that your main focus becomes a reasonable management of your type 1 diabetes bg. If people on here are able to support you, I hope that will help you do that as well as the support and advice you get from the diabetes team.

If a pump is going to help, I hope they will give you one.

However, you know, you really are the only one who is able to manage this condition. That is the thing that I have realised. It can feel very lonely, and sometimes I get quite scared, and overwhelmed, but I know that at the end of the day, I am the only one who can work to ensure that serious complications do not develop later. No one else can do that for me. It would be far better for you to take this on board now than remain in denial and suffer badly later on through not taking sufficient care of your health, now.

Please take this on board.
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Hello, and thankyou for your input.

I am currently 33 years old, I was diagnosed in 2012 at the age of 20. I was initially diagnosed Type 2 however after commencing metformin and having little success I was hospitalized with DKA before being diagnosed Type 1. I had a very poor experience with my DSN at the time who was very presumptuous that I must be Type 2 due to being overweight and older than those who are typically diagnosed Type 1.

Prior to this I had struggled with my mental health. I was bullied through secondary school, had very low self esteem and low mood. I have a diagnosis of anxiety and depression for which I do take daily medication.

I frequently have days where this affects me and I do comfort eat to 'cope' with these feelings. I also spend a lot of time in bed when the anxiety and depression become too much. I often get to a point where I am too hungry and at that point I just put whatever I want in my mouth and disregard the diabetes/insulin because it feels like too much to deal with.

Ultimately I know I am the only one who can make the changes necessary to fix this. But I also feel very lonely at times and I have found in the past this community has really helped with these feelings. Sometimes it's also very useful to have somebody look at this with a fresh pair of eyes.
 
Hi thanks for responding to me. Funnily enough, I have had a similar experience to you although I am a lot older. I too was told I was a type 2 and for two years I tried to work with that, then my BG went up suddenly to 120, and I could hardly lift my feet. I went to the GP, who was about to give me a script for Metformin. She also took the urine sample I had brought (my idea not hers!), and she found my ketone level was too high, and I was rushed into hospital from the doctors! I had keto-acidosis too. I was put on drips of potassium, magnesium, and insulin, and was in hospital for four days. I came out with a diagnosis of Type 1.

I am so glad this forum helps you.

I think it would help if there were professionals who were experts re. type 1, and who also had qualifications as well as insight into how to manage our mental health condition. The problem is, the way the world is run, we have diabetes specialists here, and mental health specialists there, and never the two will meet. Unless you are very, very lucky!

From my own experience however, unless a person has experience and real understanding of either health area, they can be only relatively helpful. At the end of the day, on both counts, I have discovered that (arrogantly maybe ), I know best!!

So I hope you can draw support as well as compassion from this site, and that you can find someone who can really make a difference to you, and your challenges in life... xxx
 
LionChild said:
I think it would help if there were professionals who were experts re. type 1, and who also had qualifications as well as insight into how to manage our condition. The problem is, the way the world is run, we have diabetes specialists here, and mental health specialists there, and never the two will meet. Unless you are very, very lucky!

From my own experience however, unless a person has experience and real understanding of either health area, they can be only relatively helpful.
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some hospistals have diabetic specialists in particular fields, eg the queen elizabeth university hospistal in glasgow had a diabetic physcologist which i saw (twice) during stay at the hospistal with DKA hba1c was 162... i was then given a diabetic dietician for info on carb counting.

even if the team do not have direct diabetic specialists in a particular field that is required they can usually speed up appointments somewhat getting the care and attention require before the likes of a gp could.

philly1991 said:
I also feel very lonely at times and I have found in the past this community has really helped with these feelings.
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i'm glad the forum has helped with feelings. regarding feeling lonely at times, there will be many in the same boat as yourself you are not alone. maybe joining a couple of the local clubs will help you feel less isolated and alone? have suggested in a post prior that a few places have group of diabetic patients meetups your dsn should be able to further assist with that. A lot of area's also have 'befrienders' where someone will take a group out somewhere for a few hours every couple of weeks, worth looking into? Personal choice for me as felt isolated at times, was joined the local pool, have over the months made many friends with the regulars. i spend around an hour swimming but a couple of hours poolside occassionally grab coffee afterwards in the cafe with them.
 
grantg said:
some hospistals have diabetic specialists in particular fields, eg the queen elizabeth university hospistal in glasgow had a diabetic physcologist which i saw (twice) during stay at the hospistal with DKA hba1c was 162... i was then given a diabetic dietician for info on carb counting.

even if the team do not have direct diabetic specialists in a particular field that is required they can usually speed up appointments somewhat getting the care and attention require before the likes of a gp could.



i'm glad the forum has helped with feelings. regarding feeling lonely at times, there will be many in the same boat as yourself you are not alone. maybe joining a couple of the local clubs will help you feel less isolated and alone? have suggested in a post prior that a few places have group of diabetic patients meetups your dsn should be able to further assist with that. A lot of area's also have 'befrienders' where someone will take a group out somewhere for a few hours every couple of weeks, worth looking into? Personal choice for me as felt isolated at times, was joined the local pool, have over the months made many friends with the regulars. i spend around an hour swimming but a couple of hours poolside occassionally grab coffee afterwards in the cafe with them.
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Unfortunately where I live I have yet to find any groups for diabetes support. My DSN isn't aware of any in the area. We also don't have the best hospital so the specialists aren't the best. We definitely don't have a diabetic psychologist which I would find very useful.
 
@philly1991 looking at frequency of postings, I think you have made a truly significant start on trying to improve your situation. I have first hand experience of people who are so overwhelmed by anxiety and depession that they won't discuss it with anyone. Your post #23 this morning is remarkable because there are signs of pleasure in achievement as well as discussing difficult issues. As @grantg says in #28, one step at a time is the way to deal with it. The mountain gradually vanishes.
 
philly1991 said:
That's really helpful thank you. I do get overwhelmed very easily though and counting carbs is very time consuming which is part of the problem.

I do want to share a very small win. I had my evening meal at work and correctly input carbs and gave myself the required insulin. I took my basal at 9pm as normal and then checked my CGM before bed. I did require a small correction which I also injected. This morning I woke up BG 7.7 but rose soon after waking. I had breakfast, again input carbs and gave myself the required insulin plus a correction.

Feeling pleased with myself. I know to many this isn't a big thing but for me it is. Just need some support to get through the rest of the day.
Click to expand...
I count that as a big win, not a very small win. That’s three times you have done exactly what’s needed.

Try not to think too far ahead. Right now just take it one meal at a time and see how you get on.
 
Lakeslover said:
I count that as a big win, not a very small win. That’s three times you have done exactly what’s needed.

Try not to think too far ahead. Right now just take it one meal at a time and see how you get on.
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Thankyou for your encouragement. I've been trying to get into this mentality today, small steps, a meal at a time.

I'm struggling tonight because I'm hungry and don't have anything in the house that's not going to spike my BG before bed and I don't want to spoil the progress I have made.
 
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