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Message: <blockquote data-quote="micksmixxx" data-source="post: 2222532" data-attributes="member: 7463">{{{{{Hugs}}}}} to you, MissZButler.I may not know you personally, ma'am, but I'm truly sorry to 'hear' of your diagnosis.  As others have already stated, though, it's NOT the end of the World.  You WILL survive AND you will get used to the idea of dealing with your blood sugar (glucose) levels.  It does take time before your knowledge and experience builds up, ma'am, but being so young, you've got plenty time on your hands.I was diagnosed at the age of 21, shortly after I'd left the British Army.  I knew a little bit about biology, so was aware that some of the symptoms I was experiencing were NOT 'normal'.  (I lost almost 28 pounds in weight in the space of 4.5 days ... that was according to my doctor's scales.  I was peeing like it was an Olympic event and I was representing my country (I was going about every 20 minutes or so, through both the day and the night.  That got so bad that I was having 'accidents' in the bed, which I found extremely embarrassing.)  With the amount I was drinking, it started me thinking along the lines of bladder infection, kidney infection, prostate problem and the like.)I didn't mention to my doctor that I was peeing the bed so, initially, he was treating me for a urinary tract infection (UTI).  He did carry out the usual sorts of tests/questioning that you get when you go to see a GP.  (Blood pressure/weight/eyesight, etc.) (The test result came back indicating that I didn't actually have a UTI, which surprised me a little as I'd been treated for them repeatedly over previous years.)It was on my second visit to see him that he noticed there'd been an obvious weight loss, or change in appearance.  That's when he weighed me again to see how much I'd lost in just a few days.  He asked me to get a receptacle from the surgery staff and to produce a sample of urine ... there was no such thing as home blood glucose meters in those days.  On testing the urine with a dipstick it turned bright orange in appearance.  This indicated that there was a high concentration of sugar (glucose) present.  He started writing out a letter for me to take to the hospital, so I asked how urgent it was as I'd need to book time off work.  He stated that I needed to go right now to my local hospital, where they kept me in.  Blood tests were taken there and later that same afternoon I started on insulin injections.  (That was a bit of a bind for me as I'd had an experience during my Army service where, if you're serving abroad, you are given various injections to cover you against various diseases.  I had a needle break off in my arm due to lack of experience of the medic who was administering the injection.  It had to be removed using artery forceps, which left me reluctant to receive injections thereafter.)During my hospital stay, which was 6 or 7 days long, I was successfully able to inject myself, after being taught how, but I believe that was more down to bravado than me understanding the importance of taking injections.  When I was discharged home, it used to take me an hour or hour and a half to get the damned needle into me.  It was almost as though as I was pushing the syringe towards myself I was turning away from it.I appreciate the language difficulties you must have experienced, ma'am, but my experience over here, with English-speaking nursing staff, wasn't much different.  I had people, from all sorts of directions, trying to bombard me with so much information, I simply couldn't retain all that was being said.I must say, I also found it very difficult to come to terms with.  How could this be happening to me?  I was, at that time, a 'super-athlete' ... used to run marathons, representing my Regiment, etc. and even on discharge I used to run marathons wearing a rucksack full of housebricks (a way of showing people how 'hard' I was. lol.), raising money for charities and the like.  (It didn't help matters as my dad was continually trying to reassure me that I wasn't diabetic.  He put it down to all the innoculations I'd received during my Army service. ;-))Might I suggest that when you do get to see YOUR diabetes support team that you request your name to be put forward to attend a DAfNE course?  (DAfNE is an acronym for Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating.)  These are run by diabetes specialists ... doctors/endocrinologists/diabetes specialist nurses/certified diabetes educators/dietitians ... who will give you a fantastic range of knowledge in how to successfully deal with your diabetes, and what to do if things start to go awry.  (Many diabetes support teams will often provide you with contact details, such as telephone numbers, email addresses, etc. where you can contact someone urgently ... if the need arises.)I certainly appreciate that you feel that your world has "come to a sudden stop".  That, psychologically, is very common.  (In the days when I was diagnosed I was told by the diabetologist that I'd have to give up all that fitness lark.  Obviously, thinking has progressed since those days, and exercise is deemed good for maintaining good blood glucose control.  I, actually, didn't listen to his advice and ran the first Sandwell marathon (Sandwell is the area of the country where I live.  It's in the West Midlands.)  I need to 'prove to myself' that I could still do things.Having met up with other diabetics, at my local diabetes clinic, based at my local hospital, I learned just how damaging diabetes can be on the body.  I met a former work colleague, who had kept his diabetes hidden from our employer, who was sat in a wheelchair.  I didn't know why he was sat in a wheelchair, but the next time I saw him he'd had one of his lower legs amputated.  The time after that, when I saw him, he'd had all of his other leg amputated.  Of course, I needed to ask him what had happened, and he told me that it was because he hadn't been taking care of his diabetes.  That shocked me as I really had very little idea of the consequences of not taking care of it.  It made me sit up and take notice of just what I was doing to myself.I apologise to you, most profusely, if I've frightened you with the above.  That was NEVER my intent.  I was simply attempting to guide you to the importance of taking good care of yourself.You mentioned that prior to your diagnosis you used to be "always so busy and active".  Are you still busy and active?  I ask this as when you get busy and/or exercise, this stimulates your adrenal glands ... tiny glands that sit above each kidney ... to produce a hormone called epinephrine (adrenaline).  The production of this hormone pushes your blood sugar level up, primarily because your body is unsure of why there's a sudden change in your exercise pattern. i.e. you're in a 'fight or flight' situation.  You're either preparing to stand and fight against an aggressor or you're preparing to run away so that you can fight another day.  In someone that's not diabetic, these changes in blood sugar would stimulate the pancreas to either produce insulin, which allows glucose to pass from your bloodstream into your muscles, where it is used to create energy, or produce glucagon, which stimulates some of its stores of glycogen.  Glycogen is easily converted back into glucose, in order to replenish what's been used from your bloodstream.You are also likely to experience in blood glucose control if you're going through a period of anxiety/worry.  Many many years ago it used to be believed that this raising of blood glucose, in terms of anxiety, only occured in life-threatening situations, such as if you'd been involved in a car accident, your house was on fire, you were involved in a 'fire-fight', etc. but it's been recognised that many types of anxiety/worry and the like can have a similar effect.As others have stated, ma'am, you should mention to your diabetes support team of your intention to have a baby and they will advise, and support you, in maintaining good blood glucose control.  Obviously, raised blood glucose levels would NOT be good for you, but they'd be even more dangerous for an unborn child that you'd be carrying.Let me tell you, MissZButler, that compications do NOT appear overnight.  You'd need to go for quite lengthy periods of time with poorly controlled blood glucose levels before anything untoward would happen.You are so correct that you'll need to take things one step at a time, ma'am, but you'll find that there's an immense amount of knowledge AND support on here.  People will always offer their opinion on what you need to do differently, or what needs to change to get your control back to how it should be.I wish you well, MissZButler, and hope you'll let us all know when you become pregnant and how you're doing at any other time.  SOME of us have a genuine interest.Lots of Love and Light. Mickx x x x x x xP.S. Please don't be offended, or alarmed, at the 'x's'.  It's merely a logo, of sorts, that I've used for the past 40-odd years.</blockquote>

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