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Diabetic for 12 years and only just discovered this!

F

Fazz

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11
Hi all!

I was diagnosed with Diabetes 12 years ago on my 12th birthday (now 24 years old) after having usual symptoms of Diabetes straight after coming back from my first ever holiday from France.

I still remember that night when I was having dinner with my family and my mother made some lushious food, only to have vomitted it out few minutes after digesting it!

It was 2 days before Christmas, on my birthday. My family got me a little cake to cut, when a nurse came over and took the knife out of my hand and said 'I'm sorry love, you can't have that. You're Diabetic'...like any 12 year old, I was confused about what Diabetes was, upset I couldnt celebrate my birthday and may be dieing and at the same time excited that something was unusual about me :-D

I spent good 2 years getting to grips with injections and blood tests and regular hospital runs for appointments when one evening I had a sudden emotion come over me whilst holding the injection to my leg. I started crying and got my mother to inject me instead. I ended up with a psychologist for a year because it turned out I had a fear for needles (which made no sense if I was fine for 2 years!). Anyways, it was fun drawing mind maps and pictures of myself and my family etc. Turned out other issues had surfaced too.

Its been 12 years now and I am fine with injections and hospital blood tests. However, I can't seem to get my self to do regular blood tests at home and dont understand if it's fear or just pure laziness. My blood sugars have also never been stable regardless of whether I eat right, exercise etc. As a result I am now on a lot of oral medication such as 2x Metformin, Atorvastatin, Lozartin, Indepamide as well as 2x 70 units of Levemir. Anyone could see I am really bad with my Diabetes, but it's hard to explain that I am following what I can but nothing seems to work for me. And when things do work for me, it doesn't last long enough.

I recently managed to go Slovakia for volunteer work, after 12 years of no holidays abroad. I plan to go out of UK in the future, but scared at what would happen.

I don't know why am on here or even why am telling you all this. May be cuz your all strangers it's easier, and may be one person out of the many who are on this forum site may have had similar issues and are now able to deal with it?? x
 
Hi Fazz I have been a tyoe 1 diabetic for 38 yrs and know the feeling all to well. Things have changed alot for the better in those years over here in New Zealand. Testing blood instead of urine injecting 4 times a day instead of mixing insulin and injecting once. Desposible syringes instead of glass that you sharpened the needle on a match box striker when it got blunt. I didn't look after myself when I felt that way I now have problems with my eyes heart kidneys and nerves. remember everyone has there inconviences celebbities have cameras overweight people have diets we have balancing our bloodsugars. It may seem a pain but believe it or not even with the prolens I have I still feel healthier now that I doing the bloodtests than I ever have in the past. So imagine how much better I would have felt if I had never let myself get that sick by spending a little me time for my health. We got it easier now than in the past so it isn't that much of a pain reaily. Remember when your going through difficuilt times you are going through them and you will come out the other side. Took me a long time to realise that if you are trying & not getting it 100% people will help and support you long before someone who doesn't want to try. You are in control here and looking on the net show that in there somewhere you have the power to do this. As my Doctor said to me Diabeties is an ageing desiese up to you how fast you want to age. All the best Chickie honestly it doesn't take much to improve your life a vast amount and you will feel the rewards quickley. Kind regards Vaughan
 
Hi Fazz and welcome to the forum :) Thank you for telling us your story. We may all be strangers but we can also be your friends in time, just different from your friends at home. Maybe, with the encouragement of everyone here, you will be able to start controlling your diabetes better.

When we have a new member, we give them some information on how to look after their diabetes. I know you know already what to do but you might still be interested to see this information to see if any of this can help you. Ask as many questions as you like as there is always someone here who will know the answer.

Here is the advice that Ken and I, as Forum Monitors, usually give to newly diagnosed Diabetics. We hope that these few ideas gained through experience help you to gain control and give you some understanding of Diabetes. This forum doesn't always follow the recommended dietary advice, you have to work out what works for you as we are all different.

It's not just 'sugars' you need to avoid, diabetes is an inability to process glucose properly. Carbohydrate converts, in the body, to glucose. So it makes sense to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that you eat which includes sugars.

For more information on CARBOHYDRATE see here:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20306

This is NOT a low carb diet suggestion, just a reduction in your intake of carbohydrate. You have to decide yourself how much of a reduction will keep your blood glucose levels in control.

The main carbs to avoid OR reduce are the complex or starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, starchy root veg and also any flour based products. The starchy carbs all convert 100% to glucose in the body and raise the blood sugar levels significantly.

If you are on Insulin you may find that reducing the carb intake also means that you can reduce your dose of insulin. This can help you to keep weight gain down as Insulin tends to make you put on weight and eventually cause insulin resistance. This should be done slowly so as not to cause hypos.

The way to find out how different foods affect you is to do regular daily testing and keep a food diary for a couple of weeks. If you test just before eating, then two hours after eating, you will see the effect of certain foods on your blood glucose levels. Some foods, which are slow acting carbohydrates, are absorbed more slowly so you may need to test three or even four hours later to see the effect that these have on your blood glucose levels.

Buy yourself a carb counter book (you can get these on-line) and you will be able to work out how much carbs you are eating, when you test, the reading two hours after should be roughly the same as the before eating reading, if it is then that meal was fine, if it isn’t then you need to check what you have eaten and think about reducing the portion size of carbs.

When you are buying products check the total carbohydrate content, this includes the sugar content. Do not just go by the amount of sugar on the packaging as this is misleading to a diabetic.


As for a tester, try asking the nurse/doctor and explain that you want to be proactive in managing your own diabetes and therefore need to test so that you can see just how foods affect your blood sugar levels. Hopefully this will work ! Sometimes they are not keen to give Type 2’s the strips on prescription, (in the UK) but you can but try!!

For TIPS FOR STRIPS see here:

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19002#p173253

If you are an Insulin user in theory you should have no problem getting test strips.

The latest 2011 NICE guidelines for Bg levels are as follows:
Fasting (waking and before meals).......between 4 - 7 mmol/l...(Type 1 & 2)
2 hrs after meals........................no more than 8.5 mmol/l.....( Type 2)

2hrs after meals......................... no more than 9 mmol/l ......(Type 1)

If you are able to keep the post meal numbers lower, so much the better.

It also helps if you can do at least 30 minutes moderate exercise a day, it can be split into 10 min sessions to start with. It doesn't have to be strenuous.

The above is just general advice and it is recommended that you discuss with your HCP before making any changes. You can also ask questions on the forum on anything that is not clear.

Finally a few QUESTIONS TO ASK AT DIABETES CLINIC.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=17091



Sue/Ken.
Click to expand...
 
Welcome to you too Vaughan :) Have a read of the information I just posted for Fazz if you're interested - like Fazz I know you already know how to look after your diabetes. Some of this information is only applicable in the UK. Ask us as many questions as you like as there is always someone who will help.
 
Thank you for the information and the encouragement :-)
One question...I wanted to try out the DAFNE sessions which I think is about carb counting. However, my doc says I need to improve my BG results quite a bit before I can go on it. I thought the whole point of the DAFNE course was to improve your BG results int he first place. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick here? :-s
I need some kind of group to attend where people can help each other in managing diabetes. Is there anything I can go to?
Fazz x
 
Vaughan,

Thank you for your story. It helps to know that things can be changed if actions are taken sooner.
When you do your blood tests, do you ever worry before hand what your results may be? I tend to find I predict my results before doing my test and therefore, I end up not doing the test cuz I feel I already know what it is! I aint no mystic meg though! :-) x
 
Hi Fazz, I often find myself guessing what my test might tell me and yes I do worry what they might be at times. The problem with that is exactly that worrying what they might be if you do the test you may find as I have many times that you worried for nothing. If you find yourself thinking about what your blood sugars may be doing that may be telling you it's good time to check. If you test the answer is there for you to see. No one I know can be 100% all the time unfortunately it's a lot of anticipation and reaction. The more information you have the easier the call is for you to make. Myself I could have eaten at the wrong time or vice versa. It's not like a pet your tired of, if you ignore it long enough it will go away. Unfortunately the longer you leave it the more it may bite you. I have been on a carb counting plan and for me it has been really helpful as there are times I just don't want to eat so much. You and I both will find times ahead challenging for one reason or another and we have things that can help us to be able to make informed decisions. You don't sound like someone who gives up because it looks like it's not going right. It's only human to question ourselves on our actions, and to these questions we will find the answers. The thing I found helpful was the better balanced I am the better my thoughts are for life in general. Like a spring day verses wet winter day. Regards and happy thoughts Vaughan.
 
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