Cant control my diabetes!!!!! Help

hey Mel, you have come to the right place. there is lots of support to get you through this. from my time here, the teen years are never easy. it's common to read something like....it's hard to stay motivated when you try your best and your bloods are *****. what's the point and when you do get your bloods close, your weight goes up, like you need that like a hole in the head?

hang in there, whatever you are having trouble with, one of the members here has been there and can share their stuff with you and give you ideas

Motivation comes from within, you should try and focus on your life ahead and what may be, diabetes is a condition where you can live a full and active life if you take good care of yourself and control your diabetes.

As your now 19 I would suggest you ask to go on a DAFNE course, there you will learn to control your diabetes better and get to meet other type 1's in a similar situation to yourself, to get an idea what a carb counting course is take a look at the following, it will familiarise you with the basics until you enrol:

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

Hi and welcome. Do tell us what insulins you are on and how often you inject etc. Let us know your typical diet and some typical meter readings. I'm sure some of us on the forum can offer some advice so do ask more. You might find the Type 1 forum the most useful area. We're all in the same boat so hopefully you won't feel alone any more!

melissakershaw590 said:

thanks for the advice,

i just feel like i cant see a way out at the moment and it scares me sometimes. to be fair my family think im suffering with bad depression but im not sure

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of course your depressed about it, why wouldn't it get you down... it wouldn't be normal if you were skipping about without giving it a thought, Are you able to start getting your bloods right and let you head follow for now?
there is an anonymous care line you can ring and have a ***** to and get some advice too
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/careline

.as @noblehead said, enrol in the DAFNE through your nurse
as well as the online like one course. there are also workbooks
most here would suggest you start with your basal and do some 'miss a meal' tests
http://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120






have a glimpse through these as a refresher, when you have the time, give yourself a week to go through it
Workbook 1http://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications/9225 Carbohydrate Counting.pdf
Workbook 2http://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications/9226 Carbohydrate Counting the Next Steps.pdf

Carb listhttp://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications/9227 Carbohydrate Tables A6.pdf

Diaryhttp://www.diabetesinscotland.org.uk/Publications/9228 Free Diary Portrait A4.pdf

Basal testinghttp://www.diabetes-support.org.uk/info/?page_id=120

Sick day ruleshttp://www.diabetes-healthnet.ac.uk...flet_-_Sick_Day_Rules_for_Type_1_-_Nov_13.pdf
Sick day rules flowcharthttp://www.leicestershirediabetes.org.uk/uploads//documents/Type1 Sick_day_rules_InsulinV3.pdf

about your liver
here is a lass that had an enlarged fatty liver that fixed it in a few months with low carb moderate fats, normal protein, so once your BG is sorted, there is a wealth of info to help you with any stuff, if you read her old posts, from memory, she also had trouble in her teen years
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/lower-carb-diet-and-fatty-liver-gone.64213/

Yeah low carbing is amazing for blood sugar control, and can actually make food more enjoyable if you give it a chance. Check out this video for more info. Best of luck, and keep posting.

melissakershaw590 said:

I am a type 1 diabetic, i was diagnosed aged 8 (now 19) and have always done it all myself and never known anybody else personally with diabetes, none of my family or friends have it and im struggling.

I cant seem to get the motivation to do what im supposed to be doing for long enough to make a change to how i feel. i have no support at home and cant see a way out.

i have been in hospital 6-8 times this year with ketoacidosis, i now have an enlarged liver despite not drinking alcohol at all and possibly a heart problem. and cant seem to concieve either

any support or advice would be appreciated greatly!!!

Mel xx

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Hi Mel,

welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you're struggling and feel that you're on your own. I only know family members with diabetes and they're all miles away, none of them would make the changes to their lives that I and a lot of members of this forum have made. The great thing is that you recognise there is a problem, medics will want to throw more drugs at you, there's other things to try.
Lowering carbs is a great way of helping to control your BG levels, I just cut bread/potato/rice/pasta, which I found very easy because I was following a calorie restricted diet anyway. I'm not a doctor but I'd like to think that in your case lowering carbs would help you control your BG and in turn help diminish the incidence of ketoacidosis.
As for the enlarged liver, you'd have to do a lot of alcohol to damage the liver, it's very resilient, not drinking alcohol is a great way of keeping carbs/sugars down. I think it's the BG levels that creating havoc with the liver. My liver was knackered after taking Rosiglitazone, sadly never really recovered, send any new GP into a spin when she sees the numbers from my annual liver function tests.
As for not being able to conceive, it's not my place to comment on you personal life but you have made the comment on an open forum. I don't want to offend, so I'll apologise now. You're 19, have been admitted into hospital 8 times for ketoacidosis (pretty serious stuff), you have an enlarged liver and a possible heart problem. May I respectfully suggest that now may not be the best time to have children and healthy children at that. At 19, you have time on your side and my experience (I'm 62 so been knocking around a while) would suggest that you can't have everything at once, sort out the insulin/BG battle that's going on (low carb really is the best option, despite what the medics advise), the liver thing is reversible and I wouldn't be at all surprised that as a result of sorting out the BG a healthy liver would follow.
I can't comment on the heart thing, the heart echo cardiogram that I had 4 weeks ago is still sitting in the cardiologist's office and all I get is "There's nothing to worry about". So, I'm not worried, where's the next Triathlon for me to compete in (in my dreams LOL).
You've come to the right place and I hope that you will find the advise helpful, at least you have the opinions of others, you can go with the ones that you can achieve and like the best.
All the best. I hope we hear from you soon, there's a lot to take in really.

melissakershaw590 said:

I rarely eat carbs at all, that's if i even do that, any advice?

thanks for your message really put things into perspective

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I note that you're type I so will be very familiar with counting carbs, I only mentioned cutting carbs because it worked so well for me. But hey, we're all totally different. The good thing is that you've come to this forum, you'll see that you're not alone, there will be people with very similar experiences.
Is there a possibility that there are carbs in what you're eating without you realising it? Sounds like a daft question but I've noticed that even cutting out the obvious carbs I can still consume as much as 100gms a day. I use a piece of software to record everything so I get a breakdown including carbs.
Do you have any test strips to test ketones in your urine, I think some surgeries will even have a machine to lend.
As with everything on this forum my comments are not to be taken as advice, but something to think about and probably best of all, discuss with your GP or Diabetes Consultant. I should think they're quite concerned with a patient whose had 6-8 admission this year, they must want to get to the bottom of it.
Anyway, I'm sure you've got lots to think about, you know where to come.
Best Regards
Graham
(sorry, gone into eMail mode)

DAFNE or if there's something similar at your local hospital will be ideal for you.........

will teach you how to adjust your insulin, with emphasis on your background dose and will give you the opportunity to meet other diabetics in the same boat as you......

do you think you could be a bit depressed.........?

getting assistance with that might help with the motivation to get back into the testing your blood sugars, writing your readings down etc.......

lisacolnett said:

Add the following foods in your regular diet....

1) Whole-grain flours, such as whole wheat flour
2) Whole grains, such as brown rice
3) Cereals containing whole-grain ingredients and little added sugar
4) Whole-grain bread
5) Baked potato or baked steak fries
6) Whole-grain flour or corn tortillas

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Windup?

Yeah, quite possibly a windup.

@lisacolnett
If you are going to recommend that an out-of-control type 1 stuffs their face with carbs, then the least you could do is make sure that they are fully able to control their blood glucose and adjust their insulin accordingly.

Anyone else smell SPAM?

@melissakershaw590

Welcome to the forum. I'm type 2, so can't give you much more than a welcome, but hopefully @jack412 will be alone soon with his fab Burnout link, and maybe a few more type 1s to offer some experienced advice.

Believe me, you have come to the right place!

I've not been on this forum for very long but I have noticed some messages that immediately stand out a mile because the opinion expressed is so opposite to most of the views currently being expressed. That's no bad thing, that's what democracy is all about, but unless a radical view has some supporting empirical evidence. As you say those re3commendations which I'm sure are fine for most people, just not so clever for diabetics especially those trying to get their numbers right. Anyway, I had to remind myself of the following term by having a google.

A troll, in internet parlance, is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Hi melissa,

Burnout is very common in diabetics and there is no set time for it to manifest itself. Some people never experience it and they are the lucky ones. I am sending you a link to an article that has helped a lot of people that I have posted before. I hope it helps you too..



The man who originally came up with the term 'burnout' was a New York psychologist, Herbert J. Freudenberger, PhD, and if you look at his definition you will understand why this concept impressed me so much.

He said burnout was "A state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause, way of life, or relationship that failed to produce the expected reward."

How many of you reading this are yourselves, or know someone who is, fatigued and frustrated by the endless daily devotion to the diabetic way of life which gives you so little in the way of reward? Makes you think doesn't it?

There is yet another definition, just as thought provoking, that one finds if you read a book 'Career Burnout: Causes and Cures by Ayala Malakh-Pines & Elliott Aronson.

They claim burnout is "A state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion caused by long term involvement in emotionally demanding situations."

If you are thinking "Yes, yes, yes" or "But they are describing me to a T" then you are very probably suffering from diabetic burnout. Welcome to the club.

http://www.diabetesexplained.com/diabetic-burnout.html

catherinecherub said:

Hi melissa,

Burnout is very common in diabetics and there is no set time for it to manifest itself. Some people never experience it and they are the lucky ones. I am sending you a link to an article that has helped a lot of people that I have posted before. I hope it helps you too..

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, explains a lot for me at the moment. Very interesting.

lisacolnett said:

Add the following foods in your regular diet....

1) Whole-grain flours, such as whole wheat flour
2) Whole grains, such as brown rice
3) Cereals containing whole-grain ingredients and little added sugar
4) Whole-grain bread
5) Baked potato or baked steak fries
6) Whole-grain flour or corn tortillas

Click to expand...

This may be windup but for Newbies it may not be obvious and they may even go ahead with this madness.

Hey Mel, just wanted to say your not alone i was diagnosed with diabetes aged 10 and im currently 18. If im honest with you my levels are not really in control as well. In the past it was as if i didnt really care and i just wanted to be normal but over the years i realised that if i didnt take care of myself it was only going to have a bad effect on me. You should try get in touch with people that can help you such as your GP or consultant, its really important that you take care of yourself