Diagnosed this week

[SugarDaddy91]

Hello, everyone. I am a 26 year old male with a hba1c of 11.1. I work as a nurse and monday this week, I was simply going to hide from a doctor I did not like and decided to hide in the nurse of diabetes' office. While I was there I thought of the fungal infections I have had lately, so decided to ask her to do a test on me.
She walked over to the cabinet to get the equipment with a stride that said sl much. "Another one who thinks his blood sugar is too low or high. I get at least 10 of these every day.". She then pricked me in the finger and I will never forget her face when she saw the result. A swirling 22!

Now, me and this nurse are friends who drive to work together and hang out. Therefore I think it became more of a shock for her than me. Apparently it takes a lot of subconcious concentration to form an expression. She lost all of that. Her gape as she showed me the numbers. We sat for a moment and stared at eachother before I started whispering: "Holy ****, I've got diabetes! What do we do!?" To which she replied, still in shock: "I don't know!". She ordered the tests and we're still waiting for the definitive answers for antibodies. The temproary diagnosis is LADA, but I am of course hoping for a two.

The day went on and I was still digesting the shock. At that moment all I could think of was what I had done to myself. I am quite overweight, you see, and my nutrition has consisted of fast carbs andcandy every evening. I've been sad, shocked and I am just now starting to look on the positives.

After I got home, I found my partner throwibg every sugary food out of the house. In a matter of hours I had changed my way of living and I think I will have to (and want to) keep going with this lifestyle. Currently, I am living carb-reduced to get a baseline of insulin.

On the positive side, it has given me the motivation I needed to start excercising, eating right and brush my teeth well. I just wish I had done this sooner.
I realized tuesday that I have probably been to low on insuline, because as soon as I started, I could feel smells, my sight has improved and I can taste much more. I miss sugar, but I am terrified of the consequences.

I had to call an interest organization today because I experienced such an intense anxiety for the retinopathy. The thirst started this winter and I've had a massive blood sugar. I got an appointment to see an ophtolmogist coming up, but I could not think straight or sleep. They told me not to worry as the timing was good and hopefully they are right. My sight has been a bit blurry, but apparently it most likely comes from a swollen lense. No neuropathy or apparent kidney damage. I am just so glad it was discovered in time. I can prevent the damage, and according to the diabetes nurse, we've got good chances of being much healthier than people without diabetes.

Currently working on establishing a baseline dose of insulatard, and I am proud to say that I have come under 10 in morning and evening! Yesterday I was even at 7! I am trying to see the positives in it all, and it may sound disrespectful to some, but in my mind, the diabetes may have been one of the best things that happened to me. With the tools and careful watch of my blood sugar, I can be much healthier than I would have been had it not happened. A very long post, but wanted to share with someone.
Any tips to what I can expect going forward?

 

[Liverlad]

excellent read , and great positivity too . and yes it should make you far aware of looking after yourself when others around don't need to. But it will never be easy , type 1 is 24 / 7 it will never ever go away . the support and understanding of your family and friends will help you live and fit and prosperous life , good luck

 

[Prem51]

Hi @SugarDaddy91 and welcome to the forum. It is a shock whwn you get that diagnosis and does take a bit of time to get your head around it all. But you obviously know what you have to do, well done on getting a meter and cutting out the sugar and cutting down on the carbohydrates.
A lot of us on here have adopted a Low Carbohydrate High Fat (LCHF) approach to eating, which we find has reduced our blood sugar levels, and often weight too.
Have a read round the threads to see how this works and ask any questions you want to. The people on here are friendly and supportive.

 

[SugarDaddy91]

Thank you both! I have started reading up on this forum and it is very interesting to see the enthusiasm that certain members have, solely to help another. I am learning a lot and I have a lot more to learn. The shock can not truly be explained. It is like everyone says it is, but this time I experienced it myself. Nausea, shock, almost involuntary bowel movement. I am going to attempt to lose weight and excercise more as I hear it can be easier to avoid complications and also makes the blood sugar easier to handle. I must read up on LCHF as it seems that is what I will be trying to go for.
I've identified a few challenges so far that I will find a solution to:
- Eating at a restaurant. With LHCF (I guess) it is a bit harder to find foods. I always loved hamburgers and fries. But there will be no more fries and no more white breads.
- Blood sugar, of course. My nurse of diabetes says we should aim for below 10 2 hours after meals, but the NICE guidelines state a more rigid control of a lower blood sugar, and I can agree with that one more. One can never be too careful. . At times I live alone when my partner is abroad for school, so I am taking the blood sugar down slowly as I do not want to get hypoglycemia in my sleep (very heavy sleeper). Taking the blood sugar down from 22 is quite noticable but not just with positive symptoms. Going to be nice when it stabilizes.
Other than that, thank you for taking the time to read my posts! I am typically a lurker on forums and don't post much, but I will be present, watching you all.

 

[Rachox]

I've identified a few challenges so far that I will find a solution to:
- Eating at a restaurant. With LHCF (I guess) it is a bit harder to find foods. I always loved hamburgers and fries. But there will be no more fries and no more white breads.

I was diagnosed Type 2 five weeks ago and love eating out. I have tended to pick things like a mixed grill, gammon and eggs, steak and (chips). I ask for a side salad instead of chips and haven't been refused or charged extra yet. In Patisserie Valerie I had their Eggs Benedict with salmon and asked for mushrooms instead of the brioche. I've heard that in Burger King you can ask for a bunless burger, the contents of your chosen burger served between two lettuce leaves! I haven't tried asking for one of those yet! Btw Costa is hopeless, despite having salads on their website, they don't have them in store.

 

[Scott-C]

At times I live alone when my partner is abroad for school, so I am taking the blood sugar down slowly as I do not want to get hypoglycemia in my sleep (very heavy sleeper)

It's all provisional at this stage seeing as you're waiting on tests, but if you do end up on insulin for keeps, or glucose lowering meds, just some random thoughts on hypos. (sorry, just noticed you're on insulatard which is basal long acting, not sure if you've got a bolus short acting insulin too - if not some of the following might not apply)

Night hypos are never pleasant, but, if it's any small comfort, unless a ridiculously high amount of insulin has been taken, the worst that is likely to happen in the vast majority of cases if you're on your own is that the insulin wears off after about five hours max, and you'll come back up as the liver will be releasing glucose as a response to the low. You'll feel like trash but you'll still be here!

Might sound too obvious to say it, but don't think, ok, I've got plenty of sugar in the kitchen. Getting to the kitchen from your bedroom when hypo can be a challenge, so keep stuff right beside your bed. I made that mistake a few times shortly after dx - never again!

Remember that insulin generally lasts for 3 to 5 hours (if bolus, not basal, that's longer), so when you're new to this, you'll be reducing the chances of night hypos a lot by making sure your last shot is well before you go to sleep, so you don't end up having taken a shot and then it peaking about 2 hours later while you're sleeping. Not saying you'll have to avoid a late night snack or takeaway or supper forever, just that when you do, you'll have to make judgment calls about the amount of insulin for that, when it'll be peaking, the type of food, and how that all fits together with what you were doing in the 5 or 6 hours before going to sleep. It sounds a lot but it becomes second nature after a while.

Finally, have a look at www.hypoband.co.uk Cold sweats are a typical symptom in night hypos, caused by the adrenaline rush in response to the low. Hypoband is a wrist watch which alerts if temperature and humidity go, respectively, too low and high. Will obviously only do that once you're hypoing, but the thinking is that it will do so relatively early on, so you're getting woken up before it gets too deep.I got one a while back, but, typically enough, haven't had any cold sweat hypos since then, so can't actually say if it works or not! Maybe it's got a weird placebo effect which stops them! I'm pretty sure I've seen a couple of posts on here from people saying it worked for them, so maybe do a search.

Best of luck!

 

[SugarDaddy91]

Thank you for your replies! I will definitely note it down, Rachox as I am going out to eat next week.
And thank you so much for the info, Sott-C. At current, we are finding a baseline while I do low carb. But I feel so fantastic, I will keep going on the low carb, and probably going to go LCHF as suggested above. If my bg stays this stable and predictable, my educator says I can avoid using rapid. Although it never hurts to know how to use it!
I actually had my first hypo shortly after I wrote the post. I was walking my dogs along the standard route and suddenly it was as if all the power in my body left me and my legs and hands shook like never before. It was an... interesting... experience... Then again, this was at 5.5, but as we have lowered me from 22 on monday, I am assuming it could be a reaction to the rapid lowering.
I have already adopted your suggestion of taking the insulin earlier in the evening. I take my insulin twice per day at 6 and 1800 now. I- and my partner - feel much safer at night when I sit up for a few hours first.

 

[Scott-C]

It was an... interesting... experience...

That's one way of putting it!

my legs and hands shook like never before.

That's caused not by the low itself but by the adrenalin which your body pushes out in response to the low to make the liver drop some of its stored glucose into your blood. It's the same sort of thing which you see when people have had a car crash or bad fright: big fight or flight adrenalin rush. It's why I said earlier that you can't assume you'll be able to walk to the kitchen to get some food. Too much shaking and you'll not be able to.

Hypos can be pretty scary to start with, but just make sure you carry lots of fast acting sugar around with you, and you'll be fine. I usually have a packet or two of 50g Jelly Belly beans on me - might as well make it tasty, the coconut ones are my favourite - and a small bottle of Gluco Juice.

A common mistake which lots of newbies make with hypos is to fill their face with sugar until they feel fine, but the mistake they're making is that when you take a hypo treatment, it takes about ten/fifteen minutes for it to show up in blood, so it's generally best to take about 10/15 grams, wait 10 minutes, then test again, and rinse and repeat if that hasn't worked. If you carry on feeding till you feel better, the chances are you'll end up too high. I know it's difficult in a hypo panic to say, ok, I've had 10g, let's wait and see, but next time you're having a mild drop, take 10g (that's why Jelly Belly beans are good - each weighs 1g, 90% carb, 60% sugar, so easy to measure) and then take a deep breath, wait ten minutes. That way, you can deal with the hypo and not end up overshooting too high. It's extraordinary how little sugar is in blood to keep it right, only about 1g per litre. Of course, judgment calls still need to be made: 10g for a mild hypo is usually fine, but now and then if I get a hard, fast drop and I know there's still insulin on board and peaking, I'll take way more. After a while, you just kind of develop a sense of how much sugar is needed.

I am assuming it could be a reaction to the rapid lowering.

That's right. You're body will have kind of got used to higher levels, so panics a bit at 5.5 and kicks out adrenalin as if it were hypo even though you're not technically hypo till 4. After a while, it'll get used to lower levels and you'll be back on song and comfortable at 5.5.