Nearly finished myself off..

[Vplum]

I’m new to diabetes type one. I had pre diabetes back in March and now I’m officially diabetic My sister was also diabetic, sadly she died 2 years ago in her sleep.
BeCause of this coronavirus I haven’t had much help with learning how to look after myself. I was given my insulin and the consultant quickly ran through that I needed to start on a slow insulin release pen first at night using 10 units. He used a orange pen as an example how to remove air etc.
Anyhow I decided to start my insulin last night due to high reading in the morning of 8. I used the novorapid 10 units while I was 7.4 just as I went to bed as this was the orange pen. I woke up after an hour drenched in sweat, disorientated and bloods at 1.6. I managed to get back up after a worrying hour.
So it turns out I gave myself the rapid orange pen bY mistake and should have had the grey one my mum after loosing my sister is on my case and I wondered how long it took others to get proper diabetic training after diagnosis?

I've been a diabetic for 20 years and in the last 4 months, I have taken my rapid acting by mistake - it's not only new people that make this mistake! You are not alone. Make an appointment with your Diabetic Nurse as soon as you can and address your concerns with them. They'll probably suggest something like - put a sticker on it, but hopefully something more useful. I don't think I got any valuable help in my first 10 years as a diabetic. Good luck.

 

[MarkHaZ123]

Sounds like you were just told nothing at all
I was lucky I had the nurse go through things with me and show me what to do but 3 days later I was doing the Dafne course so I learnt what to do properly that week
Make sure you speak to someone if you aren't sure about things as this is your life you are playing with

As for the hypo make sure you have plenty of things in to treat them

I have about 5 bags of jelly babies, loads of small cans of Fanta and other bags of sweets in the cupboard. Don't worry if you over treat yourself on them. In time you will learn how much it takes you to get over a hypo.

 

[Goma5]

Wow scary! Don't know if it helps, but my Basal (long acting) is in prefilled pens and Novorapid (Bolus) is in a refillable cartridge pen. I can't imagine that i would ever get them the wrong way round like this because they are so distinctly different.

Good luck, hopefully you can get some dosing advice. I was initially under a local DSN here (who was absolutely fine) but I asked to be referred to a different hospital, as it's a centre of excellence, so if you don't think you're getting the right advice for you, don't be afraid to say.

 

[NicoleC1971]

Thank you. I wish I had taken this all more seriously and thought about it. It’s common sense now to have things next to me in my drawer and I wasn’t prepared at all. I sent my husband down the get me something sweet and he brought up a bag sugar. It did waste time when I sent him down again to get me something easier to eat lol... the. 111 said to get the honey and eat some tablespoons .

I don’t have a number for my consultant altho I work in the department next door at my local hospital. So should pop by. My bloods are usually 7-9 in the morning but generally 8, does this seem ok? The rest of the day I’m 6-10 with no insulin.

Sorry you all just get asked so often these simple questions.

Hope you pop in to see someone. I have also made the basal/bolus error and had to stay up all night eating chocolate!
The fact that your sister also had diabetes makes me think of MODY so perhaps you should check out this site too:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/other-types-of-diabetes/mody
to see if this fits you. The fact that you mentioned pre diabetes makes me a little confused too as this isn't a typical type 1 diagnosis though could fit LADA.
Sorry if this is more confusing but it is a Diabetes UK site and they also have a Careline if you wanted to speak to a person about general questions. Nothing you could think of to ask will be a stupid question to anyone on this forum or that Careline btw!

 

[Grant_Vicat]

Thank you I work at the hospital so will pop by and tell him. I’m a bit embarrassed, perhaps I should have read the label, the name gives it away, rapid

They have no right to assume you would take all this in. It is easy to feel "I am a burden on the NHS". Diabetes of any type is clearly serious and the more informed a patient is, the more chance they have of not relying on the NHS. Good luck!

 

[TypeZero.]

I’m new to diabetes type one. I had pre diabetes back in March and now I’m officially diabetic My sister was also diabetic, sadly she died 2 years ago in her sleep.
BeCause of this coronavirus I haven’t had much help with learning how to look after myself. I was given my insulin and the consultant quickly ran through that I needed to start on a slow insulin release pen first at night using 10 units. He used a orange pen as an example how to remove air etc.
Anyhow I decided to start my insulin last night due to high reading in the morning of 8. I used the novorapid 10 units while I was 7.4 just as I went to bed as this was the orange pen. I woke up after an hour drenched in sweat, disorientated and bloods at 1.6. I managed to get back up after a worrying hour.
So it turns out I gave myself the rapid orange pen bY mistake and should have had the grey one my mum after loosing my sister is on my case and I wondered how long it took others to get proper diabetic training after diagnosis?

I think you were just oblivious in the moment and that it isn’t down to training. I’ve never mixed my pens but I regularly forget how many units I injected and what time I injected in a matter of 10-20 minutes (I used to use a Libre and now I don’t so it’s a bit different).

What I can really recommended are:
-A document telling everything about diabetes https://www.diabetes.org.uk/resources-s3/2017-09/type-1-pack-parents-guide-english-0116.pdf

-BERTIE course (free online sign up)
https://www.bertieonline.org.uk

-DAFNE course (you have to be referred by your medical team)

 

[Grant_Vicat]

It's scary that that happens. Thrown in COVID and it's seriously scary. But there is this forum, finding this hopefully will help!

Curious though... Is it thought Of as it as disease not Condition? Sorry for hijacking!

Here is a definition of the word disease: a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury. The problem is that it carries a stigma which has been made worse by such things as STD's etc. In the real meaning of the word, it is much closer to condition.