Diabetes. It never stops.

Meghalton

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I just need to get my thoughts out there. I am struggling to sort my blood sugar levels out. They just seem to go up and down and I hate myself for it. I'm injecting 20 mins before meals and never snack. After food my levels go up really high, but then will come back down. How do I get them to stay more level?!
Me and my husband want to have our first child, but I feel we can never do it if I dont sort my levels out. I'm soon to be going onto a pump and I hope this will help. I've been on a couple before, but even then my levels aren't perfect. I want them to be better and I'm really beating myself up about it.
Feeling so low and down, I just hate having this condition and dont want it anymore!!
 

EllieM

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9,208
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Lots of virtual hugs. Remember that T1 women have been having babies since long before glucometers were invented, let alone cgms (continuous glucose monitors). Your idea of "really high" may not be that high at all.

I guess the first question is, what are you eating and how high are those "really high" levels? And if your readings are coming from a libre or dexcom, remember to take them with a large piece of salt.

Good luck, you can do this.
 
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Meghalton

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Lots of virtual hugs. Remember that T1 women have been having babies since long before glucometers were invented, let alone cgms (continuous glucose monitors). Your idea of "really high" may not be that high at all.

I guess the first question is, what are you eating and how high are those "really high" levels? And if your readings are coming from a libre or dexcom, remember to take them with a large piece of salt.

Good luck, you can do this.
I'm vegan. I mainly eat carbs, veg, soya etc. I count carbs to work out my insulin. It's so hard working out carbs in a meal though. I just want perfect results and cant achieve them!!
 

Rokaab

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,158
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
I just want perfect results and cant achieve them!!
Don't beat yourself up, very very few T1's will get perfect graphs, I've long since given up on that idea, I just have to do as well as I can, and accept that I will never get that perfect line :)
 

Meghalton

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Don't beat yourself up, very very few T1's will get perfect graphs, I've long since given up on that idea, I just have to do as well as I can, and accept that I will never get that perfect line :)

I just worry that if I'm not, the baby will have something wrong with it. It puts me off getting pregnant.
 

Jaylee

Oracle
Retired Moderator
Messages
18,213
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @Meghalton ,

Don't condemn yerself yet.. Sometimes it can get like nailing jelly to a wall.

I'll tag in @Diakat , who is vegitarian. She may have some ideas to soften the BG spike impact diet wise.
 
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Juicyj

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
9,016
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Pump
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Hypos, rude people, ignorance and grey days.
Hi @Meghalton

Are you sure your not putting yourself under a bit too much pressure here ? Obviously NICE has guidelines for women wishing to concieve however they are just guidelines, it's best to speak to your DSN to discuss your plans with them as they will help you if required. Also curious to ask what's your HbA1c like ?
 

sleepster

Well-Known Member
Messages
749
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Does your diabetes clinic have a clinic for women wanting to get pregnant? I have just moved hospitals but my old one had a 'pre-conception clinic' and my new one has a 'well women's clinic', it says on the website
Pre-conception advice from Consultant Diabetologist, Obstetrician, dietician and diabetes nurse specialist.
I'm sure most hospitals have something similar, it might be worth asking about.
 
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Marie 2

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Messages
2,394
Type of diabetes
LADA
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Pump
Hi @Meghalton I'm a vegan and type 1 and have very good control. But with each device I got, I got better control.

Before any devices I still had decent control, but I was a lot more haphazard about dosing. Not being that accurate always about what I was doing? But I hovered around 50. With the Libre and the ability to see my numbers I dropped. And then when I added a pump I dropped a little more. And then with a Dexcom I dropped a lot more because of the alerts.

So first I would say try to get a Libre so you can tell what is actually going on more. If you can't qualify, you might consider self funding like people do and adding a Miao Miao to it to change it to a complete CGM with alerts. People have described a meter to a snapshot and a CGM to a movie and I think that is a really good description.

But my control seems to be a matter of timing. I take half my dose a half hour before I eat for most things and the rest when I eat. But because I have a CGM I can also tell how I am responding. I have really tight controls on myself right now, so if I go outside my ranges I can respond before I am actually out of my range. I am retired now though so that helps a lot too. But what's beneficial is to see what I am going up to and easily because of a pump make any adjustments that are needed.

For me I eat what I want, although I'm not usually a huge eater. But if I want 75 carbs at a meal, I eat 75 carbs. I just had dumplings (veg/tofu pockets), green beans, fruit and a piece of chocolate for lunch. I started at a nice 4.8 level. 30 minutes before I ate I dosed for 50 carbs, 25 to be given now and 25 when I ate. Then I dosed for the chocolate (12 carbs) when I ate the chocolate because that in experience has always worked for my chocolate.

There are some quicker carbs I will dose for in a shorter period of time and some foods if high carbs I might spread out over 30 minute increments. Same with higher fat items.

But a Libre would be the best thing I could recommend and then starting to keep track of the time it takes for your common foods to hit so you can fine tune your dosing times. I do set a timer so I don't forget to eat if I am going to be busy with something else.
 
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Jollymon

Well-Known Member
Messages
431
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
Not having good chocolate, and not cycling
I'm vegan. I mainly eat carbs, veg, soya etc. I count carbs to work out my insulin. It's so hard working out carbs in a meal though. I just want perfect results and cant achieve them!!

You have to know that when your emotions swing over something that’s not going right, that your blood sugar will swing too. Keep it calm, and just do your best. Understand that’s the best we can do, and that we aren’t perfect.

One of the best things that we can do is learn from our mistakes. If we make enough of them, hopefully we can gain experience that we might get closer to perfect (I’m serious with this idea- I’ve been pretty good at making mistakes just so I can learn from them...)
 
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Diakat

Expert
Retired Moderator
Messages
5,591
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
The smell of cigars
Hi @Meghalton
Let’s think about this. Is your basal right? Because that’ll be the foundation for all the rest.
You say carb counting a meal is hard. I’m guessing you’ve done carb counting courses to have had pumps, so know about how to approach it?
You probably also know that Lentils and pulses can have odd effects on sugars so for me I only need half the insulin for lentils, or I crash later.
What was your last a1c? It may not be as bad as you think. Medics like a perfect number, no one is perfect.
 

slip

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,523
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I agree with Diakat, do some basal testing first to make sure your foundations are solid then reevaluate your bolus ratios. You don't specifically mention using a CGM type device so if you're not using one I urge you to do so. I'd also suggest you 'scientifically' (IE weigh all ingredients) work out the actually carbs in some of your most popular meals.

Also do you have any hypos at all?
 
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Meghalton

Well-Known Member
Messages
83
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Just to let everyone know, I'm on a libre already. My HBA1C is 64. I am trying to follow everything that my nurse has set me, but again they do try to make it out as if it's easy... its not easy. Everything changes in a day and your emotions override yourself a lot. I have occasional hypos. I also have dawn phenomenon.
Just feeling a bit overwhelmed. Have had diabetes for over 20 years, and still cant get it right.
Thank you everyone for your advice. X
 
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