student needing help with coursework on type 1 diabetes

pheonixflame

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Researcher
hey i'm a student and i'm currently doing a piece of coursework on the care of diabetes type 1 patients after diagnosis and was wondering if anyone could help me with some questions i have?
 

EllsKBells

Well-Known Member
Messages
362
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @pheonixflame , I would be happy to answer any questions you might have :) Either fire away here, or drop me a PM if you'd prefer
 

EllsKBells

Well-Known Member
Messages
362
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
@pheonixflame are you able to be a bit more specific? That is quite a large topic. Are you asking about the care we get from Health Care Practitioners, or how we look after ourselves after being diagnosed?
 

EllsKBells

Well-Known Member
Messages
362
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
@pheonixflame well, for most Type 1s, the main point of professional contact will be the Diabetic Specialist Nurse, or DSN. This varies depending on the amount of support you need and how busy they are, but you might see him or her once a month. They will adjust doses of insulin, and answer any day to day queries you might have. Once a year, probably, you will see the consultant, who again might adjust insulin doses, but will also do thingns like checking your feet for signs of nerve damage, and generally assess how you are getting on, including looking at blood test results, especially Hba1c, which is a measure of how much glucose has been in your blood over the last 3 months (it might be 6, can't remember off the top of my head). Once a year you will also have an eye screening for retinopathy.

Honestly, most care for Type 1 diabetes is self administered. You have to manage your own injections, probably a minimum of four a day, and most diabetics not on a pump will take two different kinds of insulin, a short acting one with meals and a longer acting one at the beginning and/or end of the day. Knowing how much insulin to take means carbohydrate counting, so calculating the number of carbohydrates you are about to eat and then applying the ratio of how many units of insulin you need for every ten grams of carb - this ratio varies from person to person. If you are above the 4 - 7 mmol/L range, then you might need to add extra insulin to bring you back into range, which is calculated from a separate ratio on the basis of your insulin sensitivity.

A big thing for diabetics is testing blood sugar levels - as a minimum testing four times a day, perhaps as many as ten. Really, you need to at least test before meals and then 2 hours after, as well as before bed, also before driving, or if you are feeling unwell. Sometimes you might have hypos, where your blood sugar falls below 4 mmol/L, which you need to treat with some quick release sugars, like jelly babies or lucozade, followed by some longer acting carbohydrates once you are back in range.

Diabetes care is basically a constant balance of testing and correcting to try and stay within the 4 - 7 mmol/L range, and the vast majority of that is totally independent of Health Care Professionals, just because of the intense level of management required on a day to day basis. It never stops, you are always thinking about what doing this or eating that might do to your blood sugars.

Hope some of that helps :)
 

Cathn61may

Well-Known Member
Messages
68
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
people who think they know it all
What would you like to know Type 1 for 50 years with no complications.
 

365

Member
Messages
11
Type of diabetes
Parent
Treatment type
I do not have diabetes
1st to write is that post diagnosis care starts straight away. while in hospital the diabetes nurse and nutritionist come to see you. you are taught injection of insulin. you r taught the basic concepts of the fact that it is life long illness/disability. it will not go away. you have to manage it. insulin regime will be explained to you ie basal bolus and the need to inject every-time you eat.
depending on your ability, you may be taught carb counting whilst still in hospital.
when your feeling better or your b.s. are normal you'll get discharged. the diabetes nurse will come to see you and you'll have an appt made to see consultant.


i've probably missed quite a few things but this is the care that you receive on diagnosis
 

Jodieanne

Newbie
Messages
3
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi without knowing exactly what you need it's difficult as soo much goes on once being diagnosed I was only diagnosed June 2016 so it's still pretty fresh and my after care is still continued... at the hospital where I was diagnosed I seen a nurse who explained a lot of things regarding my insulin how I needed to use it what I needed to do to take care of myself I was diagnosed on a Thursday and as I managed to get my ketones down and already had a father with type 1 she allowed me to be discharged I had to ring on the Friday to let them know my sugar levels and so on so they could check I was okay and went back in for an appointment on the Monday (I was given out of hours emergency numbers for over the weekend incase I needed them) on the Monday again I seen the nurse and she pretty much went through everything again with me that she did on the Thursday just to help it stick a little more after that I had an appointment the following week then again 2 weeks after and they also booked one for me to see a consultant by the time I got to my consultant appointment I already knew about carb counting as was already doing it however was advised to be careful due to the honeymoon period - this didn't stop me though as the ratio they give you at the beginning is a complete estimate and wasn't working as I didn't always eat breakfast and definitely not as much to warrant the amount of insulin I was supposed to take vice versa tea time I was eating way more they arranged an appointment for me to see dietician, nurse and student nurse where they went through carb counting correctly with me tips on dieting good foods etc. After still really struggling with getting my sugar levels right I was allowed to attend a dafne course OCT/NOV this is a great course but had a mix of newly diagnosed and others that had been living with diabetes for years. After doing what feels like everything I possibly can I still see my nurse once a month and have just started on an insulin pump, also had a trial of cgm which has shown a huge amount of night time hypos which is possibly the reason for not being able to control my levels I have another appointment with my consultant this will be my 3rd in less than a year to speak about cgm and the results I had. My diabetic nurse is a great help and I can pretty much text her anytime I have a problem :) sorry for how long just wanted to give you an insight ... if you need anything else or have any specific questions etc let me know happy to help :) x
 

steve_p6

Well-Known Member
Messages
418
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin