Started insulin this week

[KK123]

I know what you mean about the carb thing! Don't get me wrong, the diabetes nurse was great and after zero support for months, I'm very grateful for the time she gave me. However they do seem to have a very set way of thinking and nothing can deviate from that.
Nothing bad is going to happen to me if I don't quite manage my 150g of carbs but to hear them talk, I will waste away.

If i had followed their advice entirely I would have had huge spikes and massive lows. As they merely said " count carbs and take the full dose as you eat". I am very quickly learning that the timing of insulin is just as important as the dose and that this varies very much depending on the meal and getting it right can prevent massive spikes or sudden crashes.

Luckily I have the libre and have now set that up with miao miao to my phone and fitbit so I can use a bit of trial and error to see what works for me and take action if I have got it wrong.

I think every day is a new learning experience at the moment but I do feel like i am making progress.

My biggest thing at the moment is fear of hypos. I haven't got the confidence yet that taking fast acting glucose will resolve it quick enough so the minute i see I'm heading for 4, I panic to treat it and spend the next 10/15 minutes as a nervous wreck worrying that im going to pass out and be rushed to hospital.
The lowest I've seen it go so far was 3.4 (blood glucose, not libre), that was after treating it at 3.8 and I was an emotional wreck waiting for glucose to take effect. If anyone has any calming/reassuring words re hypos, that would be great. I'm sure its something that in time I will relax more about....still very early days.

Hi SareN, I'm smiling here and that is because I was exactly the same at the start, worrying excessively about hypos. I didn't go to work for a month because I thought I would fall over at any opportunity! I'm embarrassed about that now (3 years on) because as you become more experienced and confident you will realise that yes, a really bad hypo COULD happen but when you manage, control and respect your diabetes in the manner you are doing, it is rare. Don't let the thought of a hypo rule your life, your body is very good at adjusting when you are going low (not for all I know) but usually there is time enough to correct lowering glucose levels. As you go along you will observe patterns too, for example no matter how much I manage my diabetes, every day around 4pm my levels drop into the high 3s, I have spent months & months adjusting bolus/basal/carb ratios to prevent me having to take a snack at that time which I don't want but it still drops. If a 10 carb biccie stops that isolated low, then that's what I do BEFORE I get to hypo stage. A minor (tasty) adjustment in advance of what I know is going to happen. You are doing great actually, but remember it is not a 'take this medicine' and 'this' will happen, it is far more complicated than that as so many factors come into it, exercise, work, ironing, stress and the honeymoon period where your own body drips out insulin at any old time thus meeting up with whatever you have oh so carefully, worked out and injected...resulting in an overload...sigh. x

Edited to add; I find (and many others) that the libre is not that accurate when the glucose levels are in the 4s and lower - I have tested this with finger prick tests and the libre will say '3' when the prick says well above 4 even allowing for the time lapse). x

 

[Marie 2]

When I set my alarms I have them set in plenty of time to respond, so my alarm goes off at 4.4 so I hopefully don’t hit 3.6. I can just eat 2 or 4 carbs to stop it at that point. For me my favorite at home is small chunks of fresh pineapple. I actually feel fine under that level, but I just prefer not to hit those numbers because I like to stay time in range. There was a time I would be a mess at those numbers.

Hypos happen, and what levels bother people vary. Is it hypo to be 4.2? Not for me, but for someone else it might be. At the beginning I aimed for higher numbers than I do now and so was not used to even being under 5.6. I used to not even be able to go to sleep or back to sleep if I was under 5.6.

But normal people drop sometimes to 3.3 so it will happen to us too. You have to mostly learn not to eat everything in the kitchen at once!

 

[Marie 2]

@KK123 Is right, You will get more confidant in handling hypos as you realize you can.

 

[JMoli]

Hi, I share the fear of hypos so totally relate! It’s what’s putting me off trying pasta again (both times had a hypo before the food hit) but I need to get over this or its potatoes forever haha. I also set an alarm on my bubble (similar to Miao Miao) to alert me to a higher than hypo number so I can have a jelly baby or if I’m sitting higher a biscuit. My worst hypo was a 2.4 and I survived!- it was before I had the Libre so can’t imagine it getting that low again x

 

[Japes]

In an odd way, I was relieved to have a few hypos in the early stages on insulin, so I knew what they felt like. But I remember the strong early fear of them well.

Now I've got a good idea of what is likely to happen with food/physical activity /insulin, I rarely worry about the possibility anymore and just accept it as part of life with this condition. As long as I have my usual hypo fixes near at hand,

 

[SareN]

Thanks for the comments, i agree I'm sure its something that I will fear less and less the more I get used to all this. Having blood sugar displayed on my phone and watch has eased alot of the anxiety.
If ever I show low on the libre I always do a finger prick test because half the time I'm not actually that low.

 

[kandj]

This has been a brilliant thread. I have been on insulin nearly a year now, and still tweaking g things, the hot weather was a nightmare....like thr lady with the hypo fear I am as bad, so I tend to over compensate just incase. We ...the diabetic nurse, who is a star, she really is great, and I have decided to split my background into two doses, which has made a difference in levelling my readings out, and the fast acting, I am using at the higher carb meal. I feel that one might need altering dosage wise, increasing a little and maybe split as well to help. X

 

[SareN]

Just to follow up on this thread, I had the results of my first HBA1c yesterday since starting insulin and it was 39 (5.7%). I am really pleased.

It was 6% in May 2018 but dismissed at nothing to worry about.
It was 11.7% in February 2020 at diagnosis.
6.8% in June after going below 20g carbs a day during lockdown whilst I waited to get antibody testing.
I started basal and bolus insulin in June and starting eating between 80 and 150g of carbs a day. I have a libre with miao miao attached and it sends blood sugar reading to my phone and fitbit.
I just wanted to share because I know a lot of newly diagnosed really fear going on insulin...I did!!!...but it has turned my life around....I am happier, healthier and more chilled than I have been in years.
Yes I have days where I seem to get everything wrong, my bag/car/desk are filled with lucozade, biscuits and haribo, I bore people with carb counting, yes I am most likely still honeymooning and accept that doses etc will change and yes I would rather not be diabetic but if anyone newly diagnosed reads this now or in the future, I just wanted to provide some reassurance that things can get better after a diagnosis and life is most definitely not over.

A big thank you to the LADA's and type 1's that have provided support and responses in my threads.....sometimes you just need to talk with other diabetics and this forum has been invaluable.

My diabetic consultant thinks I'm doing great but my diabetic nurse thinks I need to relax my control as its too tight.....not sure what others think but I have a CGM and so can react quickly to highs and lows....I rarely go hypo now because I catch it before it happens.....I think she thinks I'm going hypo all the time but I'm honestly not!

 

[Marie 2]

@SareN Glad to hear it! I remember feeling like I thrived when I started insulin. I felt so much better.