Diabetes Help

emily deacon

Well-Known Member
Messages
142
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hey Guys,

I’m type 1 diabetic, have been for 8 years now and i’m soon going to be moving out into my first home. I’ve always lived with my mum and brother who are always in but will now be living with my partner who works a lot and isn’t in till late some nights. I struggle with anxiety a lot surrounding diabetes and wondered is there any thing i can do in the house that will help me if i was to go low or high at home on my own if i was too bad that i wouldn’t be able to walk kind of thing. This may be a long shot but i do get very nervous about being home alone and something bad happening. I also wondered what everyone else has to show they are diabetic for example medical jewellery ect. I’m not a big jewellery person but i would like to have something on me incase of emergencies and for people to know i am diabetic.

Thanks guys!
 

HSSS

Expert
Messages
7,465
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Do you use a cgm system that has alarms? Maybe you could consider that? I think some can be remotely monitored too.

I’m sure some t1 will be along with practical examples of how they cope
 

kitedoc

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,783
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
black jelly beans
Hi @emily deacon, It is scary !!
Thoughts:
1) look maybe at Medic Alert which is a system where you wear a bracelet or necklace with basic details on it and a phone number which connects 24/7 to a service which has a more detailed listing of your health conditions.
Ambulance personnel, police etc are trained to look for them. There are other such systems also.
2) In Australia we also have a system where you can have a special key safe bolted to the wall outside your front door with a keyed pad for unlocking with the combination only known to police, fire and ambulance plus yourself and partner so that those persons can gain access to you if needed.
3) We also place a medical history summary of each occupant of the house in a folder on the top of the fridge and the ambulance personnel know to look for that also.
4) Some people wear a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) with an alarm for if BSLs get below a certain level. An example as the Libre, and there are others used separately or with an insulin pump.
5) Read book or e-book Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution' and see if that is something that appeals. Less carbs = less insulin = (usually) less risk of hypos.
6) Think about getting a pet dog
Best Wishes:):):)
 
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emily deacon

Well-Known Member
Messages
142
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello that’s great thank you, i have seen that book before so i think i might order that one! And regards to the dog, we wanted a dog anyway but i’m assuming you mean they will just help with the company?
 

Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi, @emily deacon , maybe worth asking your doc to prescribe you Freestyle Libre.

There's some new prescription rules coming in in April:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publicat...ts-for-funding-of-relevant-diabetes-patients/

On page 3 of the pdf, item 1 says you'll get it if you can show you test more tgan 8 times a day for 3 months.

But item 4 also mentions a "psychosocial" need for it, so if you have a history of anxiety over hypos it might be worth asking for it on that basis.

Libre monitors your levels continuously so it is easy to pick up on possible drops just by scanning the reader past your arm every so often.

There's a version 2 coming out over the next year which will alert for hypos.

In the meantime, there's a small transmitter, one off cost of about £160 called MiaoMiao.

https://miaomiao.cool

Put it on top of the libre sensor, it'll read it every 5 mins and send to an android app xDrip+ or the ios Spike. Those apps can be set to ring the phone at set levels which you choose, so you could, fot example, set it to 4.7 or whatever so you get plenty of advance warning of dropping levels and treat it with a biscuit or two long before it gets anywhere near hypo.

It can also be set up so that your partner can follow your levels on his phone provided you're both on wi-fi. It'll even send a text message if you don't switch off the alarm.

Put it this way, I've been using libre for almost three years now and bad hypos are a thing of the past for me, purely because I can see when I'm starting to drop and tail it off before it gets nasty.
 
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kitedoc

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,783
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
black jelly beans
Generally fa dog or company and protection. If someone is having lots of troubles with lack of recognising hypos (hypo unawareness) then sometimes a specially trained dog can help them.
 

emily deacon

Well-Known Member
Messages
142
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
that’s great thank you! i will definitely look into this, when is the version 2 coming out or do they not have dates yet?
 

Antje77

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
19,284
Type of diabetes
LADA
Treatment type
Insulin
Keep hypo treatment in your pocket so you won't have to walk should a nasty hypo hit.
 
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