Newly Diagnosed Type 1 At 51 !

[UTB2016]

hi guys....im bill...and i was newly diagnosed with type 1 2 weeks ago at the age of 51...this is old for a type 1 so im told as normally its people under 35 that found to be type 1 and my age group are normally type 2?....anyway im injecting 4 times a day with novorapid x3 and 1x lantis at night. it all started in may 2016. we went on holiday to menorca (sonbou) ..we have been there twice before with the children but this was our 1st holiday abroad without kids..youngest is 19 and off to uni ...so its not cool to hang out with parents now..lol....anyway...normally its beer...food...more beer and more food...but i just didnt have the appetite. i generally felt not unwell just not right. by the start of june i just lost my appetie completley, i was so thirsty ..peein for england day and night and no matter what i drank 2 mins later my mouth was sooo dry again. i had been to see 2 consultants with imflamatory bowel disease and my own doctor too...i mentioned these conditions/symptoms to all of them but they just poo pooed it and said your dehydrated due to the bowels. anyway...8 weeks later and i have not eaten a meal , i had lost 3 stones in weight i was living on apples and cherries...i only wanted wet food to hydrate my mouth. i had no energy...and was so tired too...i went to see my own gp on the 3rd of august explained i felt so rotten so weak and all of the above releated symptoms at which point he asked if anyone had done a blood sugar test...no one had so i was tested that morn and taken straight to hospital as the test was off the scale for sugar in my urine. once in hospital i was eventually told i had diabetes type 2..next day i was type 1...and later that day type2 again. my head was spinning and i was started on insulin..i asked why as i was type 2 . the next day a diabetes nurse came to see me...told me i was deffo type 1 and will be injecting for the rest of my life. well..shocked to say ythe least but also relieved that it wasnt more sinister the loss of so much weight in a short time !. 3 weeks ish later and im pretty uch left to my own devices...diabetes nurse said on my last appointment with her...ok...self regulate your insulin..learn to live with it and adjust what you need with blood glucose tests and get on with it...if you need us just ring for advice !....now that is quite a scary thing to be told when your new to all this !...but im getting to grips with it...bloods are coming down from average of 27.7 - 31.9 to more near normal levels of 8 - 11. my main issue now is te blurry vision...it was long vision that was mainly blury but now its short vison...i have ot put glasses on to rean and to use laptop...previously i did have reading glasses buy i never really needed them and deffo didnt need glasses to use a laptop. i had my eyes tested at the diabetic retinal clinic on thursday but have to wait 2 - 3 weeks for results. so for now...im cracking on with life and doing what i ca to get by...this is why ive joined this forum to get an insight to how you good folk cope and get on with this disease. so any helpful advice or tips would be greatly appreciated !...

 

[catapillar]

Morning @UTB2016 , welcome to the club.

I read in an article about Theresa May (who I think was 53 ish when she was diagnosed with type 1) that 20% of people with type 1 are over 40 when they are diagnosed. There are a fair few others on the forum who were over 50 when diagnosed - hopefully they will say hello. It's an autimmune disease and can hit at any age.

Oo, found the article - https://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Balance-interview-with-Theresa-May/

Your clinical presentation on diagnosis (weight loss, sugars 30+) absolutely sounds like type 1. But if you have queries over type you can ask for a GAD test (to see if you have the antibodies) and a cpeptide test (to see if you are making any insulin).

Yep, we are expected to self regulate. But, when your DSN says ring, she actually really means it! If you have any queries, you should definitely be able to ring and ask your DSN, it's what they are there for and what they will be expecting - they know it's daunting and you will need support, so don't hesitate to ask for it.

In order to self regulate, we do need a bit of education - ask them about carb counting courses. In the meantime, get a copy of the book "think like a pancreas", which is a great introduction on the things to understand living with type 1.

Don't worry too much about your vision. If the retinopathy screening appointment had shown anything enough to be giving you symptoms they probably would have seen it at the appointment and told you. It's much more likely that your vision issues are temporary as your blood sugar comes back down to normal - it's very, very common immediately after diagnosis. It happened to me and I made an appointment with a local independent optician who was very good in explaining it all to me and very reassuring. And my eyesight did normalise (well, I went back to being just as short sighted as before, so my glasses worked again) within a few weeks as my blood sugar normalised.

 

[himtoo]

morning @UTB2016
welcome to the forum !!
I would get hold of the book Think Like a Pancreas .

I would do your very best to live each day as it happens -- there are bound to be some good and some not so good blood sugar readings as you get used to living with D.
remember -- you can only learn and gain the experience in real time -- so be kind to yourself.

lots of great supportive people here -- so do ask any question and somebody will be along .

all the Best !!

 

[billywhiz2]

What's in a name, 47 and now treated like a type 1, was treated as a type 2 for three years. You will have the lchf supporters shouting to lose carb, I am still researching this buy have had to do so just to stay well, if you decide to go that route I recommend doing out gradually as it does make you feel unwell changing everything at once.

I heard a doctor suggest eating things that either walk, run, swim, fly or grow. I kind of follow this and it is working okay for me.

Good luck

 

[Robinredbreast]

Hello and welcome, it can be a big shock and a lot to get your head around, but honestly it does get more manageable and a little easier in time. I was diagnosed at 31 in 1989.
Take care and all the best RRB

 

[urbanracer]

hi guys....im bill...and i was newly diagnosed with type 1 2 weeks ago at the age of 51...this is old for a type 1 so im told as normally its people under 35 that found to be type 1 and my age group are normally type 2?....anyway im injecting 4 times a day with novorapid x3 and 1x lantis at night. it all started in may 2016. we went on holiday to menorca (sonbou) ..we have been there twice before with the children but this was our 1st holiday abroad without kids..youngest is 19 and off to uni ...so its not cool to hang out with parents now..lol....anyway...normally its beer...food...more beer and more food...but i just didnt have the appetite. i generally felt not unwell just not right. by the start of june i just lost my appetie completley, i was so thirsty ..peein for england day and night and no matter what i drank 2 mins later my mouth was sooo dry again. i had been to see 2 consultants with imflamatory bowel disease and my own doctor too...i mentioned these conditions/symptoms to all of them but they just poo pooed it and said your dehydrated due to the bowels. anyway...8 weeks later and i have not eaten a meal , i had lost 3 stones in weight i was living on apples and cherries...i only wanted wet food to hydrate my mouth. i had no energy...and was so tired too...i went to see my own gp on the 3rd of august explained i felt so rotten so weak and all of the above releated symptoms at which point he asked if anyone had done a blood sugar test...no one had so i was tested that morn and taken straight to hospital as the test was off the scale for sugar in my urine. once in hospital i was eventually told i had diabetes type 2..next day i was type 1...and later that day type2 again. my head was spinning and i was started on insulin..i asked why as i was type 2 . the next day a diabetes nurse came to see me...told me i was deffo type 1 and will be injecting for the rest of my life. well..shocked to say ythe least but also relieved that it wasnt more sinister the loss of so much weight in a short time !. 3 weeks ish later and im pretty uch left to my own devices...diabetes nurse said on my last appointment with her...ok...self regulate your insulin..learn to live with it and adjust what you need with blood glucose tests and get on with it...if you need us just ring for advice !....now that is quite a scary thing to be told when your new to all this !...but im getting to grips with it...bloods are coming down from average of 27.7 - 31.9 to more near normal levels of 8 - 11. my main issue now is te blurry vision...it was long vision that was mainly blury but now its short vison...i have ot put glasses on to rean and to use laptop...previously i did have reading glasses buy i never really needed them and deffo didnt need glasses to use a laptop. i had my eyes tested at the diabetic retinal clinic on thursday but have to wait 2 - 3 weeks for results. so for now...im cracking on with life and doing what i ca to get by...this is why ive joined this forum to get an insight to how you good folk cope and get on with this disease. so any helpful advice or tips would be greatly appreciated !...

Hi and welcome to the forums @UTB2016 ,

At the point of diagnosis, I only had 10 days to go until my 54th birthday. I now know that my blood sugars were high for years beforehand and my GP ignored it. Statistically we are unusual, but you'll learn that in reality there is not really much about diabetes that is 'normal' because we all react differently to the various aspects of it.

I had a hotline to the hospital and used it several times, so do stay in touch with your medical advisors as you don't know when you might need them and we cannot hand out advice about medication dosage.

Good luck, and please ask about anything that you think we can help with.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Confusing isn't it. There is a big problem with diabetes diagnosis in your later years as many medics still assume T1 is a condition of childhood which isn't true. The two test mentioned by others can help a lot if they are carried out but even GAD for antibodies isn't conclusive if negative. The c-peptide test is useful as it determines how much insulin you produce. Being slim at diagnosis is a strong clue towards T1 but some people can be both T1 & T2 i.e. have low insulin and also be overweight and have insulin resistance! If c-peptide says your insulin is low then insulin is needed regardless. I was diagnosed at age 60 and labelled T2 and still am but I was very slim and had all the pointers to T1 but I gave up arguing with the expert GPs. As I'm finally on insulin all is well. Any blurred vision you have will fade when your blood sugar comes right down and so will any other symptoms. Although insulin is a nuisance it does the job so you are on the right course now.

 

[UTB2016]

thanks so much for all the replies....i do feel much better just reading them and not feeling alone !...i just had a nightmare...i took 20units of novo rapid before bed rather than lantis....iveeaten amd drank sweet tea so counteract it and i will keep eye on blood counts over next 2 hours testing every 20 mins or so....i was up at 3am...couldnt sleep and not slept today...i guess tiredness got the better of me and i made big mistake...if i feel ill i will call 111 but so far im ok...rookie mistake i know

 

[CapnGrumpy]

...i just had a nightmare...i took 20units of novo rapid before bed rather than lantis....

You're not alone in that, either. I once managed something similar two days in a row before I figured out that I'd put the wrong cartridge in my night time pen.

I bet we're not the only ones!

 

[Alberti]

I was working as a Scuba Diver Instructor in the Phillipines in 2015 . Returning home I noticed I lost 14 kilo and was thirsty all the time. I was 54 !!! and then diagnosed Type 1. World collapsed. Now I am 1 year further and I just returned from a specialist Diving Doctor and received medical clearance to Dive again , despite T1. Had good papers from my Diabetes Doctor, about my control and no complications A year of learning to live with condition , paid off. Packing my diving gear and this November off to Asia and a road trip through Aussie. Pre Diabetes, I travelled the world. I just had a year break. So back to my pre diabetes life, only of course with some extra precautions.

 

[Pete_FMT]

Hi all, I'm a newbie aged 46 and type 1 diagnosed yesterday. I guess I'm lucky that I had 46 years of my body regulating sugar well but you really see what a great job it did when it stops! Going from 25+ to 3.8 (just had my first sweaty hypo) and back again. I get the impression that it's all a bit trial and error at this stage? Good to find the forum. Just need to work out how to post a question myself on this app.

 

[Kirktown]

I'm 53 and have just recently been diagnosed with type 3C (insulin dependant). Initially I had to ask my Doctor to test me as I also have Fybromyalgia and the symptoms can be similar. Makes you wonder just how many people are out there with this disease and don't know it.