Hello to all

[Sarah128]

Hello, I am Sarah & new to the forum .
I came across the site earlier in the day & decided I would try the forum as there seems to be useful tips & information shared with everyone.
I'm 19 & was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 8 years ago, just after starting secondary school. I feel over the years I have been fairly lucky with my diabetes & controlling it. Until a blip about a month ago where I had a bad hypo/blackout when I was home alone. I ended up breaking my nose & a 'fun' few days staying in hospital.
The diabetic nurse said she thought this was down to me using my stomach as my main injection site, which build up into lipo. Causing my sugars to suddenly drop. Anyway...since then my sugars have been all over the place & I feel I've lost quite a bit of confidence in myself & my diabetes. Having met with the diabetic nurse I usually see at the clinic, I'm hoping I will get back to controlling my sugars soon enough.
After the whole hospital fiasco, I felt quite angered that no one has mentioned lipodystrophy to me before this, or stressed the importance of why we need to rotate our injection sites. In a way I feel the whole situation could have been avoided if I had known the facts all along.
Has anyone has similar experiences/issues as I have with this?
I hope this forum will help me with my diabetes & make some friends that share the conditon...let's see!

 

[azza123]

hi, i got a really bad hypo as well, and i just noticed thats when my diabetes started overwhelming me. Last year i had a physics exam and i didnt wake up on time, luckily my mom came up to check on me and it turned out that i had a terrible hypo and she had to call the ambulance it took me a good 2 hours to be fully aware again. ever since my blood sugar has been out of control, like i cant believe its happening now after 14 years, im seeing a nurse as well and she's helping me but i dont think its working and im quite concerned! i wish you luck and the second i find out whats happening ill let you know!

 

[daisy1]

Hi Sarah and welcome to the forum I hope you get the answers you need about your control problems and injection sites.

Here is some general information we give to new members to the forum. I hope you find something in here to be interesting and helpful although I know you are not newly diagnosed.

Ask as many questions as you like as someone will usually have an answer for you.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

• Reduce your carbohydrate intake
• Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)

• Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l

Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)

• Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
• 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l

However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

• structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
• self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.