Scared 21 Year Old Type 1

[SBChxnk182]

Hi!

I'm a 21 year old student who went into hospital with really bad abdomen pain - turns out I had pancreatitis and now I have Type 1 Diabetes as a result and I'm lying in my hospital bed too nervous to sleep.

I'm not someone who follows routines and I'll be honest I didn't look after my health too much. I lived a relaxed lifestyle and did what I wanted.

Now I've been told I have Type 1 Diabetes and it's made me very nervous - and I had a pre-existing anxiety disorder.

Would people mind telling me what it's like living day to day and any problems I should watch out for and any practical tips I can take so I don't make any mistakes?

I really don't want to end up back in hospital dosed up on morphine all day because I made a silly mistake which is preventable.

I'm also very afraid of needles but obviously feel no pain from the insulin injections I've had so far, but is there a mind trick that I could tell myself to make it easier? I tried injecting myself today with my nurse and I couldn't do it and I started shaking.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am struggling at this time.

Thank you!

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Injecting may occasionally be painful but over time the skin becomes less sensitive and now I can inject in my stomach with very little feeling. Make sure you have the short 4mm needles which I suspect you will have. You may not have been taught to carb-count yet but will do shortly or come back here. This is where you adjust your meal-time (Bolus) insulin to match the carbs in the meal. This gives the best meal plan flexibility and reduces the risk of hypos (low blood sugar). Initially you should use your glucose meter a lot so you learn how your body reacts to foods and the insulin but as time goes by you will understand how your blood sugar reacts. You much use the meter before and every 2 hours during driving. You must inform the DVLA and your car insurer that you are a diabetic on insulin. Do ask more questions and look around the forum.

 

[Jaylee]

Hi @SBChxnk182 ,

Welcome to the forum.

Even a "a relaxed lifestyle" has some sort of personal "routine" to it..

So..? Step one. The injecting. You have learned the theory from your HCP.
Can you think of any accomplishments you have achieved. Then associate it with your first "solo" jab..?
Possibly, play your favourite tune or use a picture to evoke good memories?

I was a kid when diagnosed. My incentive after the first week of it, was just the fact i was sick of mum standing over me & being at the "beck & call" of the family routine.. (I've always had an "indie" approach.)

 

[SBChxnk182]

Hi, just to clarify why I made this post rather than just going through the forums, I actually encountered some posts of people expressing their frustrations at having diabetes, which can be a bit disheartening, especially as I haven't fully recovered from my first hospital visit and I've only just tried doing my first own insulin injections in the hospital.

Thank you for the tips so far they're making me feel better and I do appreciate it a lot!

Faith in humanity restored!

 

[Jaylee]

Hi, just to clarify why I made this post rather than just going through the forums, I actually encountered some posts of people expressing their frustrations at having diabetes, which can be a bit disheartening, especially as I haven't fully recovered from my first hospital visit and I've only just tried doing my first own insulin injections in the hospital.

Thank you for the tips so far they're making me feel better and I do appreciate it a lot!

Faith in humanity restored!

On that note. i can tag in a whole mix of guys that have their own take on it with a positive spin. This is a forum & we may all at times read eachother & think, "i wouldn't do it like that." But there is a respect for individual accomplishment.

@therower @EllieM @Scott-C @urbanracer @himtoo @Juicyj @Diakat @Mel dCP @Grant_Vicat
When online will say hello.

One last piece of advice. Diet. (The whole carb thang.) Follow your HCP's advice until you get to grips with your insulin & how it works. . Then, if you feel it's time to "experiment?" Then's the time to find out.

It's a lot to take in in one go.

 

[Brendon.Dean]

The best advice I can give you is if you are working full time or in school full time, I would put that on pause that for a few weeks and really learn what type 1 diabetes is, what you can expect, how to deal with it, all the necessary tools you will need etc because it is extremely hard to juggle your life, work/school and your new diabetes friend at the same time and be successful.

 

[phdiabetic]

Hi! I'm also a T1 student, a bit younger than you. I've had t1 for nearly 3 years now. I tend to panic about everything, often because there is a good reason to panic, but you can find a source of comfort in the forums here. No matter what is happening to you, there is almost always someone else on the forums who's had the same thing. You can talk to them about it, and it helps you be optimistic - if other people can live for many years with diabetes, or survive a bad low, or recover from complications, then so can you! Keep on posting and let us know what's going on.

I've never been afraid of needles, but at first I was very worried about hurting myself. Although you can do some damage with bad injection technique, it is very difficult to badly damage yourself with insulin shots. You aren't going to, like, poke your stomach out or burst your appendix or bleed to death or anything. There's nothing super important in that part of the body, and the needles are very short, and even if you make a slight mistake the area will usually recover on its own if you just leave it alone for a few days.

Since you are a student: talk to disability services at your uni! You need special accommodations to take your supplies into exams with you. Also, tell your friends you are diabetic - it may seem embarrassing or awkward, but it can save your life if they are able to help in an emergency, and if they are good people they aren't going to think worse of you for it.

 

[Circuspony]

Plus remember people come to forums to vent. On here are people who've shared out problems and can understand in a way no non diabetic can do.

On the days we're not frustrated and having a vent then we're out living normal lives - & so will you.

 

[himtoo]

hi there @SBChxnk182
welcome to the forum !!

the most important thing i can think of right now is to be kind to yourself cuz you gotta live with this for a very long time. how do you be kind to yourself ?? By remembering that you are human like everybody else and as humans everything does not always go perfectly 24 hours a day 365 days a year.....for anybody. So the D will be no different -- all of us have our moments with D , but understanding this and just dealing with it and moving on should help your emotional well being.

 

[kitedoc]

51 years on insulin.
Developing diabetes is often an emotionally corrective situation.
Your life gets turned upside down, your habits and past behaviours come under fire if they are not as effective with your new companion, diabetes, on board.
Routines will become second nature. Slipping out of them becomes too uncomfortable and painful to repeat the misadventure too often.
You mention the hospitality industry and pancreatitis so I am sure you have been advised about alcohol intake. Alcohol and insulin-requiring diabetes are not a good combo either. Please see some of the posts about it.
As has been said diabetes can be a drag, nuisance and bl**dy inconvenience and I am certain that you, like everyone else, will have your moments where you may call diabetes every swear word under the sun, and then some. Whether you vent on site, or to a friend, the dog, cows or the sea is up to you. Just try to avoid turning frustration inwards. Blame the North Pole, Santa Claus or the weather or something else, instead.
Cultivate friends who will not try to entice you to over-do things, to party and to shirk responsibility. With the wrong friends you will suffer, them not as much.
In effect you are starting a different life. One where you will be healthier, more responsible and better focussed than your old self. And you will come to admit that your old lifestyle was not sustainable. And with these improvements your training and work can improve too. I figure organisation and timing are key to the hospitality industry. You have just hit the jackpot in training methods, Managing diabetes has those things in spades.
Embrace the reality, as daunting as it seems. You will see those on site who have weathered similar storms and are still going strong. Learn from your experience, learn from things that go right for you and from when some mistake happens. We all make mistakes, trying to prevent or minimise a recurrence is part of the aim.
Ask questions, share thoughts and experiences.

 

[SBChxnk182]

Thank you all for your replies, I've been reading through them and each of them has helped massively to boost my mood. I understand venting is part of having an illness so I can appreciate it.

I just did my first solo injection after shaking and hopefully this is my first step into confidently injecting!

Another question I have is what kinds of things do you guys like to keep on you to prevent hypo? I was told by the doctor that biscuits are a good thing to keep on you, but I can't imagine myself carrying round some custard creams in my bag without them being turned into crumbs.

 

[urbanracer]

Hi @SBChxnk182

I don't think I can add too much to what's already been written. But I can answer your latest question.

Fluids are absorbed more quickly than solids so to correct a hypo, try orange juice, normal cola, Lucozade or Glucojuice.
The latter comes in handy little bottles that fit in your pocket and will give you exactly 15g of carbohydrates. Some people use dextrose tablets but to me it's like eating chalk! With drinks like Cola, it's easy to take in too much and go hyper afterwards.

I usually have a cereal bar of some description not too far away so that I can get some longer acting carbs easily if I need to.

Regards
Urb'

 

[kitedoc]

Glucose tablets, glucose jelly beans, glucose gel. I avoid sucrose except if I have nothing else, sucrose rots teeth. Fructose in lollies is not good for liver, but that in fruit is OK in moderation.
When playing football I would have sugary jubes in my inner pockets where my hip pads were. The jubes squished and were more comfortable than hard lollies.
Glucose gels unopened are preferable if you might need to take/eat something in the wet.
Sometimes a less quick food is added to the quick-acting ones above in case the hypo reappears later. A muesli bar and similar. Try to test bsl near the time of a hypo. Your liver may already have kicked in with release of some stored glucose. But ask you doctor if this applies to you or not.

 

[Diakat]

Jelly babies.

 

[therower]

Hi @SBChxnk182 . Welcome to type 1 diabetes ( it's the best one )
As is to be expected from all the above posters, great advice and brilliant information regarding diabetes.
First up, needles!!!!!!! When I was diagnosed I was petrified of the bloody things. Spent many a time, syringe in hand but totally unable to stick it in. Would often take a good 15 mins to do a simple injection. Nowadays.......well some times I can't even remember if I've injected although I'm standing there with insulin pen in hand. It really does become second nature. A bit of a party piece as well if you want it to be.
There are many ways to live with diabetes, but live with it you must do. No use ignoring it or pretending it's not there.
Acceptance is the biggest emotional hurdle to overcome at first.
Once you have accepted that you're T1 then you have to incorporate it into your life. For me that is making it my closest ally. I don't see the point in fighting it. It's not going away and even if I go to war with it today and win the battle it'll still be there again tomorrow. You can only waste so many days fighting an enemy you can't destroy.
So instead of fighting it I've laid down certain ground rules for me and my diabetic buddy. Rule 1. I am the boss and we will do it my way. After that everything else is up for discussion and compromise.
Positivity is the greatest tool you'll ever have to control diabetes. Even when it all goes a bit AWOL and the diabetes gets the better of you ( it invariably will ) , be positive and tell yourself that this is just a tiny little pancreas that can't cut the mustard in the grand scheme of things. You the person are so much more than a dodgy body part.
There is so much more you will learn and there are some great posters here who will be only to willing to help you.
Everything above is my take on it. Right or wrong it's only my opinion.
Good luck.

 

[porl69]

Thank you all for your replies, I've been reading through them and each of them has helped massively to boost my mood. I understand venting is part of having an illness so I can appreciate it.

I just did my first solo injection after shaking and hopefully this is my first step into confidently injecting!

Another question I have is what kinds of things do you guys like to keep on you to prevent hypo? I was told by the doctor that biscuits are a good thing to keep on you, but I can't imagine myself carrying round some custard creams in my bag without them being turned into crumbs.

Jelly babies. 4 or 5 jelly babies = around 20g of carbs, does it for me

 

[Deleted Account]

Welcome to the team. We may not have chosen to join but we are not the snotty-nosed kids who are last to be selected: we are strong and we can achieve what we desire.
Whenever I am having a downer about diabetes, I try to concentrate on that bit about achieving what we desire and look at people in the public eye with Type 1 who have done just that: Henry Slade plays rugby for Exeter Chiefs, Halle Berry is an Oscar winning actor, Este Haim is a successful musician, Theresa May ... a politician. None of these people live the usual nine-to-five lives with regularity. Sure, they have discipline to get where they are but not normality.
My achievements are small fry is comparison but I think rock climbing in the Dolomites, hiking in the Himalayas, Canoeing down the Wye, Sky-diving over Buckinghamshire, gorilla-tracking in Uganda, flying trapeze in Bristol shows that diabetes has not held me back and not restricted my lifestyle.
And yes, I do enjoy a drink and lot of food of different types - even that can be achieved without putting your life at serious risk.

 

[AFoxy74]

The best advice I can give you is if you are working full time or in school full time, I would put that on pause that for a few weeks and really learn what type 1 diabetes is, what you can expect, how to deal with it, all the necessary tools you will need etc because it is extremely hard to juggle your life, work/school and your new diabetes friend at the same time and be successful.

I am in full agreement with this sentiment , I was diagnosed almost 30 years ago and didn't take any time to learn about this life changing illness. Subsequently I am still learning!

 

[Alison54321]

I carry around a bag of Tesco's wine gums, in case of hypos. I did try taking out a banana once, and put it in my guitar case, but that was a bit of a disaster, especially as I forgot about it for a couple of days. I tried some grapes the other day too, that was more successful, but sweets are the easiest to carry around.

I try to avoid sweets I like a lot, because I'd eat them all, I did try fruit pastels for a while, because they were the most boring sweets I could think of, but I got too bored with them. But of course if you are better at controlling yourself, it might be fun to take sweets you like out with you, in case of hypos.

My policy on hypos at home, is if it's just a small dip, I'll correct with a banana, or some other fruit, if it's a serious drop, I use the sweets, to get it back up faster.

At first it's all trial and error, but eventually you'll see patterns, and know roughly what will happen at what time of day, but there are always surprises. So you'll become a complete expert at dealing with the unexpected.

I don't know if that is something that can put on a cv, though.

 

[h884]

Take one day at a time. Today you have done your first injection this is an achievement. You will find a lot of practical help here on the forum.

Jelly babies are probably one of the easier hypo cures to carry around. Asda do individual bags which are very handy