My pancreas broke!

[Midlana]

Hi all,

Im 27 & was diagnosed with type-1 two weeks ago after suffering all the symptoms since Nobember and mistaking them for shift fatigue (I work crazy hours!) Things got gradually worse without me realising until one morning I almost collapsed in sheer exhaustion after taking out the bins.

Having recently moved to a new County I wasn't registered with a local practice, after ringing three different surgeries & being told they could see me as a temporary patient "within a few days" I became desperate & went to one of the practices in person.

The receptionist (who was quite short with me over the phone) soon had a change of heart after seeing my gaunt face, pale skin & obvious lack of focus! Ten minutes later I was seen by a doctor & then admitted to hospital with ketoacidosis. My blood glucose was in the mid-20s & urine almost disolved the Ketostix

I spent two nights in hospital hooked up to several bags of clear liquid & was discharged with a happy bag full of Novorapid, Lantus, needles, test strips & a shed load of paperwork about diabetes.

There's no history of diabetes in my family & literally knew nothing about it until a couple of weeks ago! Ive been reading this forum in my spare time & have found it a great source of information so decided to join!

Im very upbeat about the whole thing & look upon my new condition with an element of humour - what other condition allows one to justify loading up the car glove box with jelly babies on doctors orders!

Regards
Dave

 

[daisy1]

@Midlana

Hello Dave and welcome to the forum

Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask all the questions you want and someone will be able to help.


BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 130,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear of your diagnosis, but your attitude is very good and I'm sure it will help you through it. I didn't freak out when told, I did said oh s*** when told ( a very bad,stressful and upsetting time before that ).

This is a great forum for advice and helpful support

Take care and best wishes RRB

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Do ask any questions on the T1 or other relevant forum

 

[Bluetit1802]

Hello and welcome,

Good to see you are upbeat about it.

 

[kocall]

Hi dave i was much the same as yourself diagnosed at 28 type 1 with no diabetes in the family struggled to keep my suger levels low seemed in a loop of inject eat more inject more etc put weight on i turned my back on the injections thinking they wasn't really doing anything felt much better i must say two years down tge line i lost my eye sight have many complications also had a stroke i have now changed my life yet again turned it around my hbc1a is 40 and now i am being told it is to low the moral of this story is this is a serious illness if not controlled xx

 

[Beckie2014]

Hi Dave

Reading your story is like reading my own, I'd had symptons since June and was finally diagnosed in November, also in hospital looking like a cast member of the walking dead! Ha!

Glad to see you are using humour as that's my weapon of choice too!!

I'm no expert compared to lots on this site but our experiences are very similar so if I can help with anything just let me know

 

[Grkify]

Identical story to mine except mine had some throwing up included for good measure and 5 or 6 days in hospital. Back to work now,other than stabbing myself with a little needle 4 to 5 times a day everything is back to normal. Hated the saline in hospital used to be ridiculously cold give me the chills. Seems like your doing great. Only thing you cant do now that you used to be able to do is join the armed services for everything else there is just a little more paper work.

 

[neverforever]

welcome and good luck

 

[brottonmoores]

welcome and good luck

Just reading your post I was also diagnosed as type2 in October last year my blood sugar was 28 and was given metaformin and Gliclazide but have not lost weight unfortunately well done to losing 21/2 stone that's brilliant
It's bizarre it was like reading my own happenings reading yours good luck with your weight loss
Jan

 

[Missy Cat]

Hiya... My pancreas broke too! Still trying to find out why... It can't be alcohol as I am not a big drinker and no, before anyone thinks it... I am not in denial!

Dave, love the humor and upbeat attitude. My take on my diagnosis... You've got it...deal with it. It's not going to go away, others have it worse and I am not the only one! just keep smiling!

Lea

 

[Soplewis12]

Hi all,

Im 27 & was diagnosed with type-1 two weeks ago after suffering all the symptoms since Nobember and mistaking them for shift fatigue (I work crazy hours!) Things got gradually worse without me realising until one morning I almost collapsed in sheer exhaustion after taking out the bins.

Having recently moved to a new County I wasn't registered with a local practice, after ringing three different surgeries & being told they could see me as a temporary patient "within a few days" I became desperate & went to one of the practices in person.

The receptionist (who was quite short with me over the phone) soon had a change of heart after seeing my gaunt face, pale skin & obvious lack of focus! Ten minutes later I was seen by a doctor & then admitted to hospital with ketoacidosis. My blood glucose was in the mid-20s & urine almost disolved the Ketostix

I spent two nights in hospital hooked up to several bags of clear liquid & was discharged with a happy bag full of Novorapid, Lantus, needles, test strips & a shed load of paperwork about diabetes.

There's no history of diabetes in my family & literally knew nothing about it until a couple of weeks ago! Ive been reading this forum in my spare time & have found it a great source of information so decided to join!

Im very upbeat about the whole thing & look upon my new condition with an element of humour - what other condition allows one to justify loading up the car glove box with jelly babies on doctors orders!

Regards
Dave

 

[bellabella]

Welcome to the forum! Your humour shines through and will undoubtedly help you along the way. I was diagnosed just seven months ago, having been fatigued for months, which I attributed to the stress of studying for finals- I spent my whole graduation bursting for the loo , and bordered on dka later that night!
I've gotten used to it since, and so will you. It's not easy, but it's manageable, and this forum is a great source of advice, information and support so ask plenty of questions

 

[Kat100]

Hello and welcome Dave , hope you enjoy the forum as so msny of us do ...great support here ...kat