living alone with type 1 - tips req,d.

[twedspeed]

Hi , I am a type 1 diabetic - on the pump - but this question affects all diabetics so Ive posted it on here, as opposed to the "PUMP" section.
I work out - go biking and do a few boxersize and circuit classes at bannatynes as well - I try to watch what I eat and test all the time, 10 times plus a day - this allows me to constantly change my bollas' and keep my levels under decentish ? control ( my last hba1c came back with a 7.2 average over 3 mnths ) HOWEVER....... After recently splitting up with my wife and moving out of the family home, I now live alone and dont have the backup and support that a partner and family provides.
I have set my phone to go off at 02.00 every night - and I get up and do a test. I have bottles of lucozade everywere but after reading "gerards" story I,m bricking it .
So does anyone out there in forum land have any other tips for people living on their own.

(alternatively does anyone know a single pretty nurse who owns her own yacht :wink: )

 

[noblehead]

(alternatively does anyone know a single pretty nurse who owns her own yacht :wink: )

I can't help you there mate!

However, I think you are doing the right things already, regular testing, lucozade and looking after yourself with plenty of exercise etc. It might be worth mentioning to your neighbours that you have diabetes and should they not here or see you give them a contact number to ask your friends to look in on you, and perhaps you could also ask your employer to follow up any unexplained absences from work via the same procedure.

Best wishes

Nigel

 

[copepod]

Hi Twedspeed, sorry to hear about your change of circumstances.
I'm different to you in several ways - female, MDI user - but similar in others - separated from my partner for the several months he works in Antarctica each year, keen on biking, running, orienteering, adventure racing etc (not gym, though).
A couple of things that help me that might help you
- share with a lodger - over the years, we have had several long term and many short term lodgers; a previous long term lodger was the person I phoned when I ended up in hospital with a gashed arm after a bike accident caused by a car door; although I had all necessary insulin (always carry a long activing cartridge, plus spare short acting, so OK for at least 72 hours), I needed a change of underwear, plus contact lens kit; meanwhile my partner was sailing in English Channel with friends & his dad; for past 3 years, we've had a lodger who separated from his wife, and his children come to visit; never had to ask him for any help, although have occasionally borrowed milk for tea / coffee and replaced it when next at shop.
- stashes of sweets - personally, I find small plastic bags of jelly babies / midget gems are ideal - cheaper than lucozade, less waste, as sweets don't "go flat".
- mobile phone - have friends etc on speed dial and keep it to hand at all times
- testing - do as much as you need; I'm lucky with my situation, MDI etc and don't need as much as you

 

[Giraffe]

When you lived with someoen did you used to test in the middle of the night? I was thinking about the whole night time thing recently when I was by myself for a couple of days.

When someone IS here, they wouldn't wake up if I went hypo anyway, so it doesn't really make a difference. That was my logic. There is no way I could bring myself to set my alarm for 2 am unless I was going on holiday somewhere amazing, I love my sleep too much!

 

[pinklady1980]

Giraffe, my partner has been T1 since the age of 3, and we moved in together over a year and a half ago.

I have found that actually, I do tend to wake up when he has a hypo during the night (throwing himself about, shaking/fitting or even just the cold sweats etc) and then can administer whatever I need to to bring him round. Every morning when I leave for work, I wake him up and he does a blood test (if he's on a later shift and will catch a bit more sleep after I'm gone). When he doesn't wake up, or sleeps through his own alarm, again then I know that he is low and need to force-feed something.

 

[Dustydazzler]

I'm a type one pump user who lives alone as my husband has been made redundant and hase been working in the middle east for 6 months. I'm really sorry to hear about your change in circumstances. It must be very upsetting and unsettling for you. I just wanted to add my thoughts to the 2am tests. Have you ever had a night hypo? They do in general wake you up if you have hypo awareness. You might get a pounding heartbeat or go all sweaty or feel weird. If you don't generally suffer from night hypos, test before you go to bed and make sure you are above 5. Keep the hypo treatment and testing kit as close to your bed as possible. And try and get a full nights sleep. Its good to do a few 2am tests but not every night. You need your uninterrupted rest.

 

[twedspeed]

Hi thanks for all the understanding replies, One or two very good ideas particularly the Employer follow up if I "no show ".
Like most of us Ive had a few night time hypos over the years and mostly its a hot sweaty wake up - quick glug of lucozade and back to sleep - So I am aware , but the real help is the 2 AM alarm call , I t gives a good indication of my drection I.E. up or down ( coz I test before bed ) and it reassures and relaxes me that I,m OK to go back to sleep.
Would love a good nights sleep without worry tho, ......One day......One day..... :wink:

 

[iHs]

Although I haven't had a night time hypo for about 14 months, when I did have them, I never woke up and always needed 3rd party help from my OH to get me out of them, so I understand your anxiety on not knowing whether you are going to be ok or not. Unfortunately until a really easy to use glucose sensor watch like device comes about, testing around 2am in the night is the best way forward. If Lantus is going to cause a hypo during the night it will nearly always be around the 2am to 3am time slot. Levemir is a bit different, that will do it around the 4am to 5am slot.

I would try if you can to get yourself onto using a pump on the grounds of anxiety which is listed as one of the criteria on the NICE guidelines.

A pump will not stop hypos but the ones that you do have will much easier to deal with and you have more control over the basal insulin and can adjust its action over hour by hour time slots.

 

[twedspeed]

Been on the pump for 5 years mate - keep up -

I would try if you can to get yourself onto using a pump on the grounds of anxiety which is listed as one of the criteria on the NICE guidelines.

 

[iHs]

Another thought is to buy a few large wall mirrors and put them around your house.

Often, the first signs of a hypo coming on is when the colour in your face starts to change. By looking in mirrors you'll be able to catch yourself early rather than wait until the nervous trembly feeling starts to manifest :wink:

 

[g-man]

I also currently live alone and am type 1 so I understand your concerns. As I know all my neighbours, they all know to check up on me as does my work colleagues.

Do you have hypo awareness? My first reaction is that you're testing too many times a day. It's good to know what your numbers are, but more information isn't always helpful to your daily management. You need to get into a routine and allow things to settle down, obviously not easy when you have had a massive change of circumstances.

The other thing is lucozade, bear in mind that this will give you a quick increase in glucose but you'll find it lasts no time at all and your numbers will start to fall again quite quickly, so ideally you should be eating a small portion of food with it (slow acting carbs ideally) otherwise you'll end up on a rollercoaster of readings which will just add to your worry. Get some glucose tabs and carry them with you which is infinitely easier and cheaper. I keep a pack of ten in my pocket at all times as well as at work and in the car.

If I were you, I'd try not to worry so much about it, remember, you are doing the testing, trying to keep the numbers at reasonable levels and your a1c isn't too bad considering.

My only other tip would be to try having the same food a couple (or more if you can stand it) days in a row and adjust your boluses until the 2hr after reading is in the 'normal' zone. Then you can work out what how much 1 unit will drop your BG's. In my case, I know that 1unit reduces it by 2.5mmol so if I have a high reading I can work out exactly how much to take.

Obviously if your daily routine changes (i.e. you start going to the gym or exercising more) be aware that the figure will change and you'll have to do the calculation all over again, but it's definitely worth doing.

Hope that helps.

 

[Simon4118]

Hi. I too am a type 1 diabetic and have been on a pump since 2005. Have been a diabetic now for 45 years. Also am now living alone. A few weeks ago I have a bad hypo at work. This needed help from a co worker and since then I have been very worried about what would happen if this had happenned at home, alone. Am not eating as well as I might either.....
I do test very often and have lucozade scattered round the house. I also have good neighbours who know about my diabetes as well as my employer. I have woken up in the night with low blood sugar and dealt with it, but am still worried in case this happens again and I get no warnings.
Have been told that if you drink alcohol this can affect your hypo response, so I do not now drink.
This has got me so worried that I am now suffering from anxiety and have had to be perscribed tablets that make me sleep better.....
Would also love to hear from anyone who has any ideas or suggestions.

 

[Erin]

I'm very sorry about your situation and everyone else in this boat. You deserve congratulations for your courage. Diabetes is not like other diseases in this respect. I was wondering about "diabetic dogs"? Another idea that came to mind is whether diabetic groups can share a place, and is there such a thing as a supervised hostel-- not necessarily seniors home, but apartment for disabled people.

 

[cleo82]

Hi, sorry to hear about your circumtances

not much to add i'm afraid - only, have you tried the hypo-detector? (link to shopping website removed. Google product for more information)

was pondering about getting one myself as I often have to stay away for a few couple of weeks at a time with work and worry about night time hypos when i'm alone

 

[donnellysdogs]

Hi

I had a friend that lived by himself. He was not diabetic, however....I would suggest that anybody who works and lives alone, has a back up in place for times when they are expected in to work..

My friend very, very rarely ever had a day off work due to sickness or absenteeism AND if he did he always phoned in before his shift started as were the rules of the Company.

He finished work on a Saturday morning. He was due back to work on Sunday night for a 10pm-6am shift. He did not turn up for work, and he did not phone.

On Monday afternoon after checking with personnel how they stood on legal terms for going round to an Employee's house (normally, they would have sent a letter after 5 days of no contact), they decided to go round to his home.

They could see his car out the front, and as he lived in a ground floor flat, they could walk around all the windows, which had curtains drawn.

They called the police. The police broke in.

He had died in his sleep from a non diabetic but heart related disease.


This is an extreme, but I personally think that in the case of diabetics living alone, if they are working then it is possible to ask to have a back up plan, if you did not phone in sick......
My friend and I had worked in the same place, unfortunately I had moved away, otherwise I would have gone around immediately, had I known he had not turned up at work, but in all probability, it would still have been too late...

However, when I did work, I also had a friend that worked for me in the same distribution centre, that worked my shifts, and I also had her knocking at my window one night when due to tiredness and exhaustion, I had not telephoned her. She could not get me to wake up by telephoning me, so had come round to my house, and woke me by shouting through the postbox and throwing stones up at the window. She and I and others that wanted to always had plans in place for contacting people.
Although I hadn't needed in this instance help, I was just literally exhausted, it was always a comfort to know that if I didn't turn up at work, that they would know that something was wrong.

The thing that Companies have to worry about nowadays officially is 'contacting people' without overstepping employment laws that stop them from legally doing so...this is why my friends Manager could NOT just call round to his home without checking from HR and Personnel that he could- without breaking Employment Laws, and technically the contracts that stated letters would be sent to Employee's after 5 days absence without contacting them...

 

[Welshboy82]

Hey twedspeed,

My advice? Don't panic! I've lived for over 10 years by myself with Type I diabetes, and you know, I've had no hospitalisations, falls, lost limbs, ketosis or any such thing. Sure, hypos and hypers happen, but as long as you're well-controlled and healthy, you'll maintain your blood sugar awareness and live a perfectly normal life. I play sports three or four times a week if possible, and have adjusted my insulin and eating accordingly, and there's no reason why you won't be the same.

Gerard's story is truly moving and tragic, but the KEY point was that he was in denial. You really don't sound like you are. Don't fear diabetes, I never have, and I've never let it stop me from doing anything I want (though it's sometimes come in handy as an excuse for not doing things I don't want to do :wink: )

Best of luck!

Luke

 

[Erin]

I don't think that diabetics or otherwise dangerously disabled people should live alone, unless they want to of course. The health care system should take it as their responsibility to provide assistance.

 

[Welshboy82]

I completely disagree Erin. Apart from the expense of my insulin and blood glucose strips, I have cost the NHS nothing in terms of hospitalisations and emergency interventions in 10 years of living alone.

 

[Erin]

Nor have I-- though it has only been a year for me, and here we have Medicare, btw.
But it seems that you think that is a good reason to live alone? In general, disabled people need assistance from the government if they are not financially well off, or able to take care of themselves. If you thing it is galant to face those obstacles for the good of the health care system, then I suppose we differ politically.

 

[Welshboy82]

I do apologise Erin, I completely misread your post, and didn't note that you said "...unless they want to of course." I completely agree that there should be state-funded care of the diabled.