OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I've been type 1 since december 89. Nearly 30 years. My injection sites have had it. Back in the day we had big needles and the research was in its infancy. Now the care is much better to start with.
I get up in the morning with a blood sugar of 6, I have a cup of tea, it shoots up to 15, I have a jab of 8 units, I have another brew and it shoots up to 25, another jab of 10 units, test an hour later its 26, another 10 units, an hour later its still hovering around 22. Later in the day it starts to descend, sometimes it crashes and other times not. For the first 4-5 hours of every day I am ****. I only eat one meal a day now because of this. I sleep between 12-15 hours a day and have no energy. I'm off to see the specialist on the 17th of December so fingers crossed they can either sort out the injection sites or prescribe something to get me going.
It's been getting worse over a 10 year period and now suffering from a mental breakdown which i think is due to the sugars and not being able to do the things that I would like to do. The stupid thing is my HBA1c always comes back brilliant! Go figure??
 

Juicyj

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Heya @OdinsBeard (great beard by the way!) Where are you injecting ? Are you using bum, thighs, arms ? When you say your sites have had it do you have lumps (lipohypertrophy) ?
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Heya @OdinsBeard (great beard by the way!) Where are you injecting ? Are you using bum, thighs, arms ? When you say your sites have had it do you have lumps (lipohypertrophy) ?
Thanks and yes lioptrophy arms and stomach are very bad, thighs and backside I can't use, no fat there just goes straight into the muscle and burns like hell. The Arms gave up about 15 years ago and the stomach has been bad for about 10 years now.
 

slip

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,523
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
What about a pump? thinking it might give your sites some respite?
 

slip

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,523
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Ouch! What reasons have you been given for not getting one?
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Ouch! What reasons have you been given for not getting one?
Not been given any reasons, we don't have any diabetes specialist in this town, I've been waiting nearly 10 years to see one, because my hba1c always comes back good the doc didn't see the need to send me to the specialist
 

Juicyj

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Hi @OdinsBeard - sorry but disagree completely with the decision to not send you to a specialist - with lipohypertrophy you need to see a specialist to review your sites, what is your HbA1c ? Obviously it's great you are going to see someone in December, but you really need better support with working through usable sites, a pump could still take 6-12 months and it sounds like you need some support in this asap.

Out of interest how do you inject ? I follow the rule of thumb that 'pinch an inch' and inject, so back, thighs, arms, bum, I have skinny thighs but can still pull the skin together for an injection.
 

lizdeluz

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,306
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
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Injection site problems crept up on me: I had been over using 2 areas on my stomach and they had swollen and I hadn't noticed until a DSN explained that what I thought was fat was in fact lipohypertrophy (Have I got the right word?) and told me never to inject there again. Unlike me, it sounds as though you are using all available sites. I now inject long acting in both buttocks , alternating daily, and short acting in both hips, alternating daily. I still think it's really difficult to always inject in a new site. I can't remember EXACTLY where I last injected. Life's too short. However, I have to try because there is no point injecting insulin if the insulin isn't going to arrive when it's needed. I hope you can manage to get help with this problem as soon as possible, because it sounds like the high sugars are affecting your daily life. By the way, is your hbA1c really ok? You shouldn't have to restrict yourself to one meal per day to keep it ok.
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @OdinsBeard - sorry but disagree completely with the decision to not send you to a specialist - with lipohypertrophy you need to see a specialist to review your sites, what is your HbA1c ? Obviously it's great you are going to see someone in December, but you really need better support with working through usable sites, a pump could still take 6-12 months and it sounds like you need some support in this asap.

Out of interest how do you inject ? I follow the rule of thumb that 'pinch an inch' and inject, so back, thighs, arms, bum, I have skinny thighs but can still pull the skin together for an injection.
HbA1c is around 8 I think last time, I don't have any complications apart from a bit of retinopathy and possible links to mental illness (under investigation) I've been blundering on for years like this, always brushed it under the carpet and got on with it but age has finally caught up with me and being off work for so long hasn't helped, I think the shifts I was doing weren't helping at work, they wouldn't put me on a shift that agreed with me, I always found nights the best as I was up a few hours before work and it gave me time to get the sugars down. Getting up at half 4 in the morning was just putting me into a right state. I would fall asleep at work at my bench, I would go to bed at 6pm and still not get enough sleep to do that shift. Unfortunately I can't pinch an inch in those areas, still got good elasticity in the skin, there is nothing to grab, all the years of cycling. I'll just have to manage until I can get things sorted, Don't really have a choice, the healthcare in this area is diabolical, one of the doctors surgeries closed and now I have to wait nearly 2 months for a doctors appointment.
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Injection site problems crept up on me: I had been over using 2 areas on my stomach and they had swollen and I hadn't noticed until a DSN explained that what I thought was fat was in fact lipohypertrophy (Have I got the right word?) and told me never to inject there again. Unlike me, it sounds as though you are using all available sites. I now inject long acting in both buttocks , alternating daily, and short acting in both hips, alternating daily. I still think it's really difficult to always inject in a new site. I can't remember EXACTLY where I last injected. Life's too short. However, I have to try because there is no point injecting insulin if the insulin isn't going to arrive when it's needed. I hope you can manage to get help with this problem as soon as possible, because it sounds like the high sugars are affecting your daily life. By the way, is your hbA1c really ok? You shouldn't have to restrict yourself to one meal per day to keep it ok.
yep that's the right word I think, I've used all available sites now and they are all lumpy as hell. I keep trying to work around them, left and right a bit but nothing is working, I'll just have to wait and hope they can sort it out in December
 

Juicyj

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Sorry to hear about the lack of support there @OdinsBeard - every trust is different and it's working with the tools you've got to make the best of it. Regardless of the lipo issue, another reason why the pump would work for you is that it would improve the quality of your life - not being able to work is a big argument in your favour, so make sure you tell them this too.

Just another point - are you changing your needle with each injection too, as this can contribute to lipo too.
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Sorry to hear about the lack of support there @OdinsBeard - every trust is different and it's working with the tools you've got to make the best of it. Regardless of the lipo issue, another reason why the pump would work for you is that it would improve the quality of your life - not being able to work is a big argument in your favour, so make sure you tell them this too.

Just another point - are you changing your needle with each injection too, as this can contribute to lipo too.
yeah its been hard, and no I don't change the needle every time, I use same needle until the bottle is empty, always have done, when I got the pen they said that was fine. The pump means less jabs and less faffing about, I get through a bottle of test strips in 3 days checking my blood. Work have been a pain in the ass, they won;t give me the shifts I need and are using my bradford score to dodge giving me a grade rise. Unfortunately with my mental illness as well they have told me I can't come back until I am sorted and okayed by the specialists.
 

Juicyj

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Retired Moderator
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Hi @OdinsBeard If you can change your needle each time then this will help improve the lumps, it's difficult to say how long but it's a step in the right direction to change it with every injection going forward.

I see you've riden a bike in the past - are you still using it, getting out for a blast will help you cope better mentally too, releasing the endorphins is a great stress reliever, which i'm sure you know ;)
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi @OdinsBeard If you can change your needle each time then this will help improve the lumps, it's difficult to say how long but it's a step in the right direction to change it with every injection going forward.

I see you've riden a bike in the past - are you still using it, getting out for a blast will help you cope better mentally too, releasing the endorphins is a great stress reliever, which i'm sure you know ;)
yes I'll start doing that today, not using the bike now as my knees have had it, riding a BMX at 47 after years of bodily abuse have taken their toll, hopefully once i can get some energy I'll bet back out on it and hit the skatepark again
 
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karen8967

Master
Messages
10,330
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
Not been given any reasons, we don't have any diabetes specialist in this town, I've been waiting nearly 10 years to see one, because my hba1c always comes back good the doc didn't see the need to send me to the specialist
where do you live odinsbeard :)
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, its a wee bit backwater. The town that time forgot
 

TheBigNewt

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,167
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
If you are really taking 28 units of insulin (I assume bolus type) in the morning and only consume 1 cup of tea and your blood sugar is consistently running 20-26 as you state initially and you have not been able to see a diabetes specialist in 10 years IMO no one on a forum like this is going to be able to help you to any great extent. That plus you claim you A1C's always come back "brilliant". In addition you failed to mention what type of insulin you use. I'm not thinking the problem is with your injection sites.
 

OdinsBeard

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
If you are really taking 28 units of insulin (I assume bolus type) in the morning and only consume 1 cup of tea and your blood sugar is consistently running 20-26 as you state initially and you have not been able to see a diabetes specialist in 10 years IMO no one on a forum like this is going to be able to help you to any great extent. That plus you claim you A1C's always come back "brilliant". In addition you failed to mention what type of insulin you use. I'm not thinking the problem is with your injection sites.
I take Novorapid and Lantus. I've been through the same routine again this morning and bloods are around 9 now so starting to feel a little more human. I spoke to the endochrinologist who is also the diabetes specialist and it was him who suggested it was the injection sites. He was seeing me for an elevated prolactin problem. He seemed to think that I'm not insulin resistant and the problem lies with the injection sites. I was just asking in case anyone else had been through the same thing and if the pump was a better option. The fact that once the bloods come down I am spending more time within the parameters which is giving me a good average and not good control. No idea what the acronym IMO means by the way,