Feeling stressed

[davidM1996]

Hi all I was diagnosed with T1 on the 2nd of December 2017 so just over 2 months ago and the past few weeks I felt as if I had good control over everything and now all of sudden the past week I feel I have no control bloods are high one minute, I take a correction dose and next thing I’m hypo, I feel as if it’s all stressing me out and leaving me very frustrated and confused! How long did it take all of you to completely get to grips of it all and take good control, thank you David

 

[Deleted Account]

Sorry to read you are struggling at the moment.
Unfortunately, our bodies are anything but predictable ... makes you realise how amazing they are when they work correctly.
I recently read an article which said we should never get castigated by ourselves or a consultant for not being 100% in control of our diabetes. We can manage it within limits but unless we want to wrap ourselves in cotton wool, eat the same thing every day, avoid anything stressful and live a very dull life, it will go wrong every so often.

If you are going high, correcting and going low, that suggests you may be over correcting. Bear in mind that most fast acting insulin will remain active for about 4 hours. If you correct during this period (when you have "insulin on board, IOB), you are doubling up your insulin.
When I was diagnosed, I was advised to test before meals and before going to bed. I had nothing like a Libre to spot my BG between meals so I only corrected at meal times which were, usually, at least four hours apart (unless I snacked). There is now more emphasis on testing which is great in most ways but not if it results in over correcting.
If you are seeing highs less than four hours after injecting, you may want to avoid correcting but don't ignore this: it is an indication the carbs you last ate are still in your system. So next time you eat the same meal, you could try injecting earlier relative to your meal.

Over the years, I have learnt more and more about how to manage my diabetes but I am still learning. So don't beat yourself up and try not to get too stress (yes, I know that's easier said than done) if you get it wrong.

 

[urbanracer]

Hi all I was diagnosed with T1 on the 2nd of December 2017 so just over 2 months ago and the past few weeks I felt as if I had good control over everything and now all of sudden the past week I feel I have no control bloods are high one minute, I take a correction dose and next thing I’m hypo, I feel as if it’s all stressing me out and leaving me very frustrated and confused! How long did it take all of you to completely get to grips of it all and take good control, thank you David

Hi David,

You are not alone in your experiences. I think it took about 12 weeks for my blood sugars to settle down, but I still go through erratic periods for unidentified reasons. I've read posts from forum members claiming to still be in the honeymoon period a year on from diagnosis.

Just over a week ago I made a switch from mixed insulin to a basal/bolus regime and was initially surprised by how smooth the transition was. Then yesterday afternoon, my glucose levels started to climb (up to 15 at one point) and I didn't react to (3) correction doses given through the afternoon and evening. In desperation I even threw away what was left of my insulin pen and started a new one as I wasn't sure when I'd first taken it out of the fridge.

I was above 12mmol when I went to bed and still above 10mmol when I woke up this morning. As I write this, it's now lunchtime, I bolused more than I have been doing for my standard 40gram lunch and my levels seem to be falling (thankfully).

I have no idea why I went high, it just seems to be part of the fun and games (for me anyways)! Hoping I can stay at normal levels for a while now.

I don't think you'll ever completely stop learning but like most things in life, it gets easier with practice.

Take it easy.

 

[davidM1996]

Hi David,

You are not alone in your experiences. I think it took about 12 weeks for my blood sugars to settle down, but I still go through erratic periods for unidentified reasons. I've read posts from forum members claiming to still be in the honeymoon period a year on from diagnosis.

Just over a week ago I made a switch from mixed insulin to a basal/bolus regime and was initially surprised by how smooth the transition was. Then yesterday afternoon, my glucose levels started to climb (up to 15 at one point) and I didn't react to (3) correction doses given through the afternoon and evening. In desperation I even threw away what was left of my insulin pen and started a new one as I wasn't sure when I'd first taken it out of the fridge.

I was above 12mmol when I went to bed and still above 10mmol when I woke up this morning. As I write this, it's now lunchtime, I bolused more than I have been doing for my standard 40gram lunch and my levels seem to be falling (thankfully).

I have no idea why I went high, it just seems to be part of the fun and games (for me anyways)! Hoping I can stay at normal levels for a while now.

I don't think you'll ever completely stop learning but like most things in life, it gets easier with practice.

Take it easy.

Thank you, least I’m not the only one struggling

 

[Juicyj]

Hi David, sound advice from Helen about over-correcting, just be careful as it's easy to do.

As you're newly diagnosed you may just be seeing the effect of your pancreas still secreting some insulin which will throw your bg levels out, as frustrating as it is, try not to get frustrated, simply because any additional stress will also impact your BG levels ( I know everything seems to have an impact ).

I would recommend that you put in a call to your Diabetic Nurse to run through your hypo events with them, it would be worthwhile to review your insulin doses and bg levels with them in case you need to make some adjustments.

I also have my struggles too - Saturday night I hit 15.9 at about 10pm and for me that means sitting tight whilst correcting until I can see my levels come down to a safe range before bed, I think I finally got to sleep around 1am whilst waiting, we all have our moments..