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Evening all

Rickmac1988

Rickmac1988

Active Member
Messages
43
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Hi everyone, good to meet you!

This is a bit of a first for me, I've had type 1 diabetes since I was 11, so 16 years now, and I barely speak openly about it. Only those closest to me know I have it and I've never been one for testing etc. in front of other people. Recently I spoke with another guy who suffers from the condition and it was a relief to speak to someone else about it (rather than a doctor at the clinic).

I've never really had 'good control', I try as best as I can, but it's not easy (as I'm sure you all know). I've got a pretty busy life, moved to London from Leeds two years ago and I'm a social guy - so I enjoy drinking and eating a burger or two! I also have a rather sweet tooth, which doesn't help.

I've had an insulin pump since I was about 15 and it's a great piece of kit, but I'm still finding it difficult to get things under control. Hypos are a common theme, specially on a morning (even though I go to bed with a blood glucose of 11, it'll still drop to 3 by 8am), the frustrating thing is when you go to the hospital and they tell you to drink a few sips of lucozade to treat them, but in reality I down a bottle and then reach for the chocolates. I think people who don't have the condition realise how bad hypos are.

I always wonder how other people get on with their type 1? Do you have any tips for getting things under control?

Thanks!
 
I used to drink a;ot of lucozade when i was hypo and ended up hyper, I have found that if I take 2 good mouthfuls this is enough to get me back so I can adjust to having more stable carbs to control the hyper effect
 
I completely agree, it's so hard for doctors and DSNs to understand to panic that sets in when BS is low. I used to badly over treat lows, by continuously treating until I felt better. Now I make sure that the hypo treatments I have in the house or my bag are no more that 20g per serving, like a 200ml carton of juice or a small packet of sweets. I treat my hypo with one serving and don't have a second serving until I've retested 10 minutes later. After 10 minutes, if it's gone up I will have one slice of toast or start looking for my next meal. If BS has not increased after 10 minutes I will have one more 20g portion.

If you are going to bed at 11 and waking up at 3 you should consider discussing the pump settings with you DSN. You may need a lower basal rate at night, or you may need to adjust your correction ratio (at that time of day or overall). DSN will probably suggest basal testing which is super annoying.

I hope this helps! Good luck!
 
This morning i was 4.1 when I tested to low to drive so 1 mouthful of Locozade and 20 mins later it was 8.2 so was fine to drive to work, it kinda comes to you after a few goes at treating a low BS
 
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