scared

[tinajay2013]

Hi I am new here and want to introduce myself. I am a 37 year old female with type 1 insulin controlled diabetes on novorapid and glargine. I am so worried and scared. I have been uncontrollable from the age of 13 eating more sugar than the average person. I just cant stop. I am overweight and hate myself for this. My sugars run between 13 and 20. I have 3 children one disabled and hate myself even more for not controlling myself. i am so scared of killing myself and knowing my children will be without there mother. I constantly feel ill and tired. My muscles ache. i have never really told anyone this but ive had enough x
tinajay2013

Posts: 1
Joined: 14 minutes ago

 

[Riri]

Well done for taking the first step and joining the forum to talk to others who have similar issues and problems. That's the first step so take things day by day from here and take baby steps to improve things slowly. Maybe tomorrow you could start a food diary and have a go at looking at the carbohydrate value of your food to try and work out how much insulin you should be taking to cover each meal. All meals may take different ratios of insulin. Do you have a diabetes nurse to contact? Maybe try getting hold of a number and make an appointment with them and see if they can help you get back on track. Once you start seeing better blood sugar results you may start feeling better both physically and mentally. Most of all keep talking on here and don't despair - you will find a lot of people in similar circumstances and a lot of help and support available. You have been very brave in writing these feelings down so honestly so that's a big first positive step in getting control of your life back. It won't be easy and there will be good and bad days but your amongst friends here :thumbup: all the best

 

[Patch13]

Hi. Sorry to hear that you are feeling so rubbish about everything. I'm a type 1 too and know how scary it is when your sugar levels are high and you feel out of control.

I've recently (over the past year) managed to get good results and prior to this (I've been diabetic for about 15years) I felt like you - very fearful for the future and with a lot of self-loathing.

I would suggest the first step is to cut out any added sugar & sugary foods. I know this will be extremely hard, especially if you feel tired as sugar will probably make you feel more energised, but in the long run you will feel a lot better. Try cutting out sugary stuff for at least a week (I found the third day to be the worst, but after that cravings started to get better).

Have you read dr Bersteins diabetes solution? Even after having diabetes for ages I found it had a lot of good info in it . This suggests low a low carb diet (less than 30g a day) which I now follow, but some people find that even lowering carbs a bit can help them with their sugar levels.


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[Patch13]

Also asking to go on a carb counting course such as DAFNE course could be helpful to you.


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[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Having reached this forum now I hope you will realise there are lots of others sharing every variety of diabetes and many struggling with weight and diet. I would take things in steps as I did when first diagnosed as a T2 (now on insulin). I started using sweeteners instead of sugar wherever I could and still have them in hot drinks. I reduced carb portion sizes and ate more meat, fruit and veg although I don't like most veg. I avoided fruit juices and started choosing fruit more carefully avoiding too many bananas etc. I have nuts around as a snack. My wife makes fruit crumble with Canderel although the oats remain. There are cake recipes such as Molly Cake (Google it) that have no added sugar and so on. The good news is that fat is not really a problem despite the 'experts' saying it is which means you can have flavoursome food without sugar added to it. Anyway good luck and keep posting how things are going.

 

[carraway]

Hi

Welcome. Please stick around, ask some questions and make some changes.

It will be worth it. You dont have to be perfect just better a bit at a time

Cara

 

[tinajay2013]

thank you so much. i am so scared ive damaged myself and now im doomed. I have terrible cravings for sugar and its uncontrolable that i eat more of it than anyone i know. it feels like i am infactuated x

 

[DonnaC-T]

Welcome, this is such a friendly place with lots of people who know exactly what you're going through. I was exactly the same as you. I ate 3-4 bags of crisps, chocolate anything and everything.
About three months ago I realised things needed to change. It's not been easy, far from it, but I'm getting there. I did a carb counting course and that's helped too. Please keep talking to us. And remember any lowering of your HBa1C will impact your health so it's not too late. You've taken that first step. Well done x

 

[Sabantha]

I bet after only a few weeks of tough regime with meals, tests and a bit of 'diabetes focus time' you'll see the difference in your sugars! Baby steps at first and the food diary sound a fab idea. Is your insulin requirement high?! Insulin makes yo hungry, I bet with lowering carb intake your requirements lower and cravings subside.




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[tinajay2013]

hi yes my requirments are 40 units of rapid 2-3 times a day and 64 lantus. And yes i do realise now that i never get chance to sit and think of my own health. i barely have time to think of taking my own tablets. where can i look to help with lowering carbs? thank u so much x

 

[Patch13]

hi yes my requirments are 40 units of rapid 2-3 times a day and 64 lantus. And yes i do realise now that i never get chance to sit and think of my own health. i barely have time to think of taking my own tablets. where can i look to help with lowering carbs? thank u so much x

You can ask questions on here as quite a lot of people low carb and to help with recipes or understanding low carb you could look at The Diet Doctor low carb, high fat website and http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/recipes.html
Has lots of ideas.

Alternatively just type in low carb recipes into google.

 

[catsbd]

I spent many years not looking after my diabetes. Eating lots of sweet things, thirsty a lot, mussing the odd injection cos I couldn't be bothered. I never tested my blood sugar, always meant to but never did. I knew i wasn't looking after myself properly and was scared about the future but somehow felt powerless to do anything about it. I felt a failure. Most of the time I pretended everything was ok, I was ok. I ate a lot of sweets. Even now that is the part I struggle with, I binge on stuff. But what changed me was doing the DAFNE course. I really got into it. Started testing my blood sugar, trying to eat better, carb counting. My HBA1c was always over 13, then it dropped to 7.3 with Dafne. For many years it's now been at 8, which is good fir me. I still struggle. Cant help worrying about the dsmage I have done, or doing. My hba1c is 9.4 at moment but I am determined to lower it no matter how long it takes. Been type 1 since age 9 and am now 50. Been v v lucky. Small amount diabetic background retinophy. I work full time, 2 great kids.
You can change things. Try not to think if it all as a huge mountain. Little changes are great. I still over eat on the sugary stuff, I comfort eat. But little by little I try to think twice about it and often turn away and say 'no I dont want to eat that today/right now'. You can do it. You're great. Xx cathy


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[Dazza1984]

(Tina you made 2 of the same posts and I replied to the other one. Thought I would also paste it here)

Hi Tina,

Well I am new to this Diabetes lark (diagnosed T1 in May), but have had to fight with a diagnosis of epilepsy since 2006. I know how scared you can get. You constantly ask yourself "why me?" No easy answer.
From what you have written you have already given yourself a reason to help things; your children. Maybe you expected me to say your health; but your driving force are your kids. I know easy for me to say but if you do care then loose the wt, eat better, lease with your diabetes team to alter your insulin (or even investigate a pump).

It helps to have a goal; just one to start with. I was diagnosed with epilepsy just as I managed to get a place at vet school. My aim was to pass. Yeah the epilepsy was always there and had a fair few rough patches but was determined to finish.

I you were a patient of mine I would recommend swimming (hydrotherapy). You are in a weightless environment yet still use a lot of your muscles. You'll become fitter and not only that but more comfortable. As for eating, carb count. Yeah the odd treat is ok and 1 or 2 highs don't create too much harm. Have you been on a DAFNE course?

There are ways around most problems, you just gotta find it; and I think you've made a start.

D

 

[Sabantha]

40 units of novo rapid 2/3 times a day is a lot, I'm not surprised your over eating, you covering the insulin with food rather than food with insulin. Dafne would be great for you but if your able give your DN nurse a phone and ask for help! We've all done it!! He/she should be able to get you started on basic carb counting. Bringing your hba1c down by 1% (when in higher ranges) can reduce risk if complication by 25%. How are you feeling this morning?


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[Daibell]

BTW, note the obvious that as you reduce your carbs your insulin needs will reduce and must be done to avoid hypos.

 

[noblehead]

Hi Tina and welcome to the forum!

The advice that Riri gives that you should keep a food and insulin diary and ask for help from your diabetes team is spot-on, it's hard to struggle along all alone and if you're wanting to lose weight you need advice on adjusting your insulin doses.

As part of your diabetes care you are entitled to be seen by a dietitian, they will look at your daily food intake with a few to cutting back on the calories consumed which should get your weight loss started, once you begin to lose weight and become more active your insulin sensitivity will increase and your insulin requirements will reduce.

To get you started there's an on-line carb counting course similar to what other posters have mentioned(DAFNE) which should get you started with carb counting and adjusting insulin doses:

http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/

There's also an excellent book you can buy called Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner, this book discusses just about every aspect of type 1 diabetes and comes highly recommended on the forum.

Good luck and hope all works out well!