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I need to rant.

F

Fat max

Active Member
Messages
39
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I had my 68th birthday 2 weeks ago. In November I will have had Type 1 diabetes for 63 years.
I had diabetic eye appointment last week and was told I have macular odema and that it is really very important I keep my blood glucose tightly controlled.
I have been told this so many times over the past 63 years.
Last December I was given the Hybrid Closed Loop System and my A1c has risen from 64 to 70.
I joined Slimming World in March 2024. In the first 18 months I lost 18lbs but in the last 9 months I have not been able to shift anymore weight.
My blood pressure has gone up to 146/63 so new medication needed.
I have been in menopause for 18 years but the hot flushes continue to disrupt my sleep or steal my energy and composure during the day. They arrive without warning and cause spikes in bg that the clsd loop system cannot cope with.
GP, diabetes team at the hospital and Ophthalmolgy dept all write letters to each other but dont really communicate. They are consistent though, they all agree I need to do better.
I feel nothing works no matter how hard I try.
Rant over
Thanks for reading.
 
Fat max said:
I feel nothing works no matter how hard I try
Click to expand...
I hear your frustration.
My other half gets high-ish blood pressure. He's not diabetic and doesn't do any of the other factors they state eg drinking smoking weight etc so he was a loss as to how to lower it.
One small change he's made that seems to be keeping it more stable is simply to drink extra water. He never used to drink water, only tea or coffee. Now he has 2 glasses of water each day, one first thing and one early evening , and his usual teas and coffees.
I only pass this on as something easy and cheap to try. Maybe it might at least give you something to try.
 
Fat max said:
I have been in menopause for 18 years but the hot flushes continue to disrupt my sleep or steal my energy and composure during the day. They arrive without warning and cause spikes in bg that the clsd loop system cannot cope with.
Click to expand...
Sending you virtual hugs. Can the GP not do anything, or refer you to someone, to help with this?

What closed loop system are you using?

(edited to make csl closed loop)
 
Last edited:
Hi @Fat max
You have my sympathy.
Things happening to us that are out of our control are very frustrating....
I'm 52 years a type 1 with very good control and i am MDI and have never been offered or wanted a pump.
The big game changer for me was the libre which i got around 10 years ago.
I had to fight to get one which irritated me then and even more so now but thats another story....

I am fortunate to live right next to the pennines and what i did was go walking regularly and analised the data on my libre.

I came to the conclusion that overloading my back ground insulin and regular walking improved my control.
A low reading on Levimir is far less severe that a low on novorapid and easier to deal with.

My last hba1c was 39 or 5.7 and my latest 90 day libre prediction is 38 or 5.6 and i point this out not to be smug just to back up what i'm doing but understand it works for me and might only be right for me.
I average 18000 steps monday to friday.

I wish you well.

Tony
 
Thank you all for your hugs and support. I am using Omnipod 5 with Libre 2 plus. I did much better with Dexcom 1 plus and Onnipod Dash.
For the Hot Flushes I have tried Red Clover Leaf, Black kohash, sage leaf and citalopram.
Gp has sent a list of non hrt prescription only drugs which I need to read and make a decision which to try, thanks again x
 
Fat max said:
Gp has sent a list of non hrt prescription only drugs which I need to read and make a decision which to try
Click to expand...
Is there a reason why you can’t take HRT? I use HRT patches and they got rid of my hot flushes.
 
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