In need of a nudge in the right direction!

[Nomi]

Hi guys,

I was diagnosed at type 1 nearly 2 years ago. At first my control was really good HbA1c around 6 and most of the time sugar levels between 6-8 ish. However since I got over the honeymoon period everything has gone crazy. Its rare to get my sugar levels in the single figures even when i do take what i think is the right amount of insulin, from carb counting. I've tried to adjust things but nothing really seems to make much difference. I just feel so lost.

My diet has just got worse and worse with me now buying penny sweets on a daily basis. (I know its bad but I don't know what to eat). Before I was diagnosed I was a sugar lover. I ate chocolate and drank full fat coke all day long. I have switched to diet coke now or cola zero but am still prone to buying chocolate, and i really don't like dark chocolate!

I'm a uni student and am not very organised. I think the main problem I have is not knowing what i can eat. When i'm hungry i do reach for the chocolate, and so have now stopped keeping any at home. But at uni there are vending machines everywhere! I tried eating fruit instead but find it doesn't fill me up, so any suggestions as to what i can snack on safely would be great.

I think i've suddenly become a bit overwhelmed by everything and really just want to stick my head n the sand and hide. I know that doing so is a bad thing, so I want to take the bull by its horns and get this fixed.
I want to start exercising properly too, i did use to be quite active, but now any thought of ctivity that might be in the least bit strenuous makes alarm bells ring, with thoughts like, what about my sugar levels. I want to banish these thoughts and enjoy myself again!

I'm not just diabetic, i'm 22 and have arthritis in my knees, which rules out running at the gym; and i have psoriasis which is doing my head in at the moment! I know i just need to get on top of it but i just don't know where to start!

I haven't seen the diabetic nurse for ages, cos they keep rearranging my appointments and when i do they don't really do anything useful anyway.I just need to know what I should be aiming for and how to do it.
I do play squash at the moment and i usually hold up ok, but i'm plain scared to try anything else.

My blood sugar levels seem to get higher over night so even if they're at 9 when i go to bed i can wake up and they're at 14! I don't think its lack of insulin? i have read about that dawn effect? but don't really know much about it.

Just so you know i'm on novorapid and levemir. I take the levemir twice a day normally 5 in am and 6 in pm. This is more than i started on and the nurses seem surprised cos i'm only small. I'm 5'4 and quite slim, so i don't know if thats a good thing or a bad thing.

In a way i want to wipe the board clean and start again with workin gout my doese and ratios but i'm worried that i'll do myself damage! That said i'm already suffereing with blurred vision when i get really high sugar levels!

Any help and pointers would be great!!!

Cheers

Nomi x

 

[stickem]

Hi nomi - I've been type 1 for 10 years now, and I have my good times and bad, so don't think you'll never get back on track, you will! And then maybe off track and then back again and so on...it's all about balance.

With the high morning levels, I am on levermir and novorapid too, I would suggest leaving your evening injection until later, about 9 o'clock? That way it won't have worn off by the time you wake up.

Re the snacking, I know it's easy to just pretend it's ok and eat rubbish, and once you've had some, you think, what the hell, may as well have more...that's an easy trap to fall into.

Try and look for things that take longer to eat, sweets are pure evil! :evil:

Don't snack to fill up - eat a good filling meal and then have fruit or a bowl of cereal or a sandwich? I like peanut butter, or banana on toast, slices of apple with peanut butter are really nice, cream cheese on toast - anything thats not sweets! Yogurt and banana or any fresh sliced fruit is good too.

Do you inject for snacks as well as meals? If I'm going to have a between meals snack I'll do a few units of Novorapid, keep things under control.

If you are worried about hypos during exercise, the best thing I can say is have a bottle of Lucozade handy, it is the best thing for hypos - just have about a third, wait until you feel better, don't drink it all at once, there's about 60 carbs in a small bottle!

Good luck, don't stress!

 

[stickem]

I just re read your question - do you mean 6 units of levermir rather than 6 o clock? Where do you live, in Britain? Are units the same in any country?

I do 30 a night, just for comparison, I am 5ft 8 inches and nearly 11 stone, so bigger than you, but 6 units seems a bit sparse....but maybe your units are different?

 

[phoenix]

Hi,
I just wrote a reply but lost it in the ether.!
Rather than rewrite it I'll just say that you really need to get your basal right before you can do anything.(incidently I take about the same amount of basal (though I'm on a pump) as you do and am the same height , but I exercise a lot . I understand that it is quite a low dosage

see http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/articles/Insulin/Getting_Down_to_Basals/3

 

[jessie]

Hi Nomi,

When I fall off the wagon (at least once a month!) I try and remind myself how much better I feel when I'm looking after myself, and compare it to the guilt and sluggishness I get from running my BS too high. Take this opportunity to make a fresh start and look forward to feeling better about yourself. You'll get so much support on this forum, it's also worth creating yourself a spreadsheet and recording your meals, dosage and blood sugars so you can track your progress and see where you go wrong.

Reference snacking, if I'm feeling indulgent it will be toast, crumpet, yogurt or the odd bag of peanut M&Ms - for which I take a little Novo Rapid - otherwise some cheese, cold meat, olives etc which don't need to be covered by insulin. I do have a sweet tooth and love Nairns ginger oatcakes - a healthy version of a biscuit!

You will find the less sweet or high carb stuff you eat (like pasta, rice, bread) the less hungry and likely to snack you'll be. Just takes a bit of getting used to!

All the best and let us know how you're getting on.

Jessie. x

 

[Nomi]

Thanks for your replies guys its nice to know that it happens to other people to! i'm having a better time since i posted so think i'm gonna experiment again with my base isulin!!

thanks again!