Just diagnosed type 1

Hi Becky and welcome to the forum. We are a pretty friendly bunch on here, and I'm sure some other more experienced type 1 s will be on soon!!
I'm new diagnosed 4 months ago, and yes at the start it's TOUGH!! It must be even tougher being pregnant. Have they suggested it might be pregestinal diabetes, while your pregnant, or do they say you are a full blown type 1 forever?
I get hungry too, but I tend to eat celery and organic humous, or have some low carb crackers and cheese. I do like Asdas own extra special 72% dark chocolate with hint of pineapple, that pretty low carb as far as real chocolate goes and tasty. I have 2 squares a night, and cause it's rich, it's enough for me

Hi. Try Green & Blacks 85% Dark Chocolate. Very smooth and very low carb.

It will be an experimental phase at the moment I'm afraid..if you are really low, perhaps 1 unit less, but it all depends on what ur eating and carb counting etc..

Having Type 1 and being pregnant is hard work. I'm a Type 1 and 35 weeks pregnant.

Yes, the target range for blood sugar is very strict when you're pregnant, but it's for a good reason, as you said.

I still eat a little chocolate because I'm a bit of a chocoholic! Sometimes I'll have a square or two of normal milk chocolate when I'm low and after a glucose tablet or two (chocolate is too slow to treat a hypo by itself). I'll also bolus and have it as part of my dessert eg I might have a satsuma and a few squares of chocolate.

Watch out for hypos in the first trimester. I kept Lucozade by my bed as I found I had some hypos at night. This is normal at that stage of pregnancy, although later it's high sugars you'll be fighting.

If I'm low before a meal, I correct that low then have my nirmal insulin and meal. However, if I was very low, I'd delay my fast-acting insulin injection a bit so it doesn't start working while my blood sugar is coming up.

When I'm hungry, I either bolus and have a snack which includes carbs, or if that's not appropriate, I'll have something like cheese or nuts. I tend to eat three meals a day and two snacks (morning and afternoon) so I don't get too hungry.

Things will get easier. It takes a while to get the hang of it all. Just test your sugars often and you'll learn what suits your body. It's doubly hard being diagnosed when you're pregnant.

Just wanted to wish you good luck Becky. And add some reassurance too. I've been type 1 for 43 years, and produced three healthy children, ages now 35, 33 and 27. "Back in the day" it was less "regimented" when being pregnant mainly due to the lack of knowledge back then. Basically for my first pregnancy I was just left to get on with it, one admittances to hospital for 24 hr blood monitoring (no personal blood test kits in those far off days). I can't believe looking back how cavalier the medical attitude was towards an insulin dependent diabetic, but I came through it all with a healthy 8lb 12oz baby girl. And two other healthy babies followed. The care I had with my last baby in 1988, was much improved but still nothing like the care you are getting today. I hope all goes well for you!

No worries Becky, this forum can be very helpful indeed and it's nice to share stories too and experiences. Bolus is your quick acting insulin, for example I am on Novorapid insulin which is the bolus to be used whenever I eat a meal. And Basal is the long acting insulin, I am on Levemir split dose basal twice per day. I haven't been a member on here very long and have found most people to be very friendly and helpful, but I tend to avoid the "few scaremongers" as they kinda depress me and make me worried I'm doing it all wrong. I really feel for you as being just diagnosed type 1 and pregnant - but please be assured if I came through it all way back then without much help, you will be okay. It is important when pregnant to keep your control very tight, but stress of any sort isn't helpful so best not to worry overly, as that can make things much worse. I would have thought your diabetes team would have explained all the Bolus/basal stuff so if I were you I would insist on more diabetes information to help you negotiate this "rocky" road. It would be helpful too if you could get enlisted on a DAFNE course (dose adjustment for normal eating ?? -( sorry not sure if that's the correct meaning of DAFNE ) I live in Scotland and it's called New Deal up here. The course usually runs for a week, and I found it to be the most educational experience re diabetes and eating and carb counting despite being diabetic for so so long. For example, I always used to treat hypos with a small bottle of lucozade, which resulted in my sugars going sky high.....I was taught not to use lucozade but 150 ml can of full non diet coke which doesn't raise levels so high. And it works! I learned so much on the course and it helps me every day. Also buy the Carbs and Cals book, that has also become my "bible". And don't worry too much .....there is always someone here to help and advise

I woke up with a 4.8 blood sugar this am, didn't feel like my little can of coke at that time of a morning so I had three glucose tablets, (another recommended treatment from New Deal course) and when I tested half an hour later it had risen to a respectable 7.8. My blood test meter is set to a blood sugar target of 7 by my diabetes team. So it had risen not too high instead of in the old days when I would pig out on not only lucozade but choc biscuits.....,and then fight a battle all day to get the high down!! I've recently been away to a hotel to celebrate my birthday and my blood sugars were all over the place for a few days, due to mis calculating my Novorapid at meal times, so even after all these years I am still not getting it right but show me a diabetic who is always getting it right, pregnant or not, and I will eat my hat......well as long as my hat is low carb ha ha!!

Becky, don't worry. I too was diagnosed in a previous pregnancy and it was a lot to get my head round. As with all things, the medical people tend to assume you may be stupid or reckless so stress the bad things that can happen in order to get across the message that you must control your blood sugars strictly.

You should have been given some blood sugar targets by your team. I'd hope you'd also have the number of a Diabetes Specialist Nurse who deals with diabetes in pregnancy. Mine was very useful early on when my blood sugars were all over the place.

When I went to my first hospital appointment, there were a lot of people there to see me! I found it reassuring though as it meant I was getting the best care. My usual diabetes consultant was there, as well as a consultant obstetrician. I've had excellent care from my team. My tip is to phone the DSN whenever you need to and, before you go to your hospital appointments, write down any questions you have, no matter how small.

Have you been prescribed a 5mg tablet of folic acid? You should have been, so chase that up if you haven't. This helps prevent birth defects in baby's spine and neural system. Every pregnant lady is at risk of those but if you have diabetes that risk is increased, hence the higher dose.

At the hospital clinic, see if you can speak to a dietician maybe. Has carb counting been explained to you?

It's a lit to take in, but the basic thing is simply to try to keep your blood sugars within range. You won't manage that all the time, but that's what you should aim for.

*after a low, your blood sugars may 'rebound' and go high, but the usual reason for a high after a low is over treating the low - that is, eating too much! I was told to correct a low with two or three glucose tablets, wait 5 minutes, test again, take another tablet if necessary, then have a SMAlLL amount of longer acting carbs, depending on when your next meal is. If you're about to eat, then just have the glucose tablets. You'll learn what your body needs in pregnancy.

Please ask as many questions as you like and people here will be happy to answer. Also, check out the Pregnancy section of this forum with the Search facility, or just have a read through of the threads whose titles seem relevant to you.

Becky 123 said:

Haha that made me chuckle.

I know I have my 24hr jab at night which is Lantus and I have my meal one which is apidra but I didn't know the generic word for all of them. My consultant, nurse and dietitian are really helpful but I find because they don't have it they don't quite get where I'm coming from, if that makes sense? Plus they work Monday to Friday and weekends your on your own....

I have the carbs to cals book and I am trying to only have 50grams of carbs per meal, but I have no idea how to carb count, so I'm trying to eat lots more low GI foods and then guess my insulin along with it......

I'm just always blinking hungry so save me a bite on that hat please.....

Click to expand...

Carb counting is crucial. When I was first diagnosed, I was told to aim for 50g of carbs per meal too. The only way you can do that is by counting the carbs beforehand -that is, planning. Luckily, when I was diagnosed, my dietician gave me a basic booklet with carbs of everyday items in, and that made it a hell of a lot easier.

I weigh things like cereal, pasta and potatoes (to bake) and do other things like rice by tablespoons.

For recipes eg if I'm having a 1/4 of a Cottage Pie recipe, I add up the whole recipe (just the things with carbs in) then divide that by four. Luckily, over the years I've got lots of recipes that I've gone through and scribbled a 'per serving' carb amount for. Obviously, if you buy items, you can just look on the packaging, eg for a slice of bread.