Tickley93
Member
Hi.
Apologies, I totally forgot this forum was around, and then time just went on and on.
But I guess, 8yrs later, I'll provide an update on me.
2016 is when I finished uni in Bournemouth, moved to London and got a "career". Honestly it got easier, because I found myself in routine. I was able to align testing and medicating around the part of my working day, and as such things got better. HBA1C dropped a bit, and I finally registered a Dr where I lived. I came off the pump (I now that's blasphemous to many, but I couldn't get on with it after 5yrs of trying), it was the correct decision for me. I found injection life much easier.
The first thing I noticed about my diabetes when I was giving it more thought and effort, was that I had suddenly become SUPER sensitive to being out of 'good range'. I'd know I was low, or high, immediately because it effected me significantly. This never happened before, I could get my levels up to the 30's before I'd feel discomfort. Now I was f*cked at like 13+. I saw this as a good thing, as it made it easier to be reactive to issues. But that was probably the only good thing..
Sadly, getting better with my control, seemed to be like a flood gate for my body to release all the bad things I'd done to myself in the previous years. Almost like when my control was terrible, my body was fighting to survive, so when I put less pressure on it, I got ill.
First it was non-diabetic things, like suddenly I got hay fever horrifically every year. I got many many colds. Flu a couple times. Developed migraines..
Late in 2018 my eye tests showed I was developing capillaries near my retina in both eyes, and I was immediately put in for a few rounds of laser.
As many of you know, that's horrific, it smells like cooked chicken and your sight feels like tv static for a few hours.
Nonetheless, I had around 4000 laser in each eye, over the course of a year. Burnt all the breathing holes into the back of my eyes, and killed off the capillaries. Unfortunately (I'm sure anyone who's been through this knows what I'm going to say) my body freaked out at the attacks to my eyes, and dumped a bunch of liquid over my retinas. So I needed injections.
So from about Feb 2020 > mid-2021, when everyone was being told to hide at home and stay safe, I was taking monthly trips to Westminster hospital to have needles shoved in both my eyes. Cant fault the team there, amazing people, but it was super surreal and a horrible experience. I can now comfortably say that during this time I had a bit of a wobble mentally, and tried to drown myself in hard liquor. 10 sessions with a counsellor later, and steps were in place to manage what had turned out to be some pretty deep-rooted depression and self-loathing. But that's a different topic and I can say for sure I have a great hold on it nowadays.
Back to the eyes, after 14 months of injections, I was discharged from the hospital and back to screening check-up's. I also moved back to my hometown (Nov 2021), working remotely as many do post-lockdown. My sight has been altered somewhat, and I've found that my vision is super sensitive to my levels now. I try to see that as a positive thing for managing my control better, more noticeable changes to pick up on. They are also very sensitive to light, which is a small issue I guess.
Since being back in the countryside, I have bought a home, met a lovely lady, and continued to sort my control. My HBA1C is much much better, and my last Dr's visit lasted 5mins as I was told "you're doing really well, keep it up".
I'm not out of the woods though. I get crazy numbness in my hands when I wake up now. It tends to ease off pretty quickly, so I'm not massively concerned about it yet. I also now have trigger finger in both of my index fingers. Early doors on those, so massaging and keeping them moving is the key (Dr is aware though, so I have paperwork in the system). I can 'unlock' them pretty easily right now, so not the biggest concern. I suspect these are just things that I would have developed as I got older, but have brought on myself early, due to my reckless teens and early 20's.
I'm soon to be 32, and I guess I've learnt a lot.
So, Tl;Dr, it got better, which meant it got a lot worse, now I'm on the back end of recovering..
Life's a b*tch eh.
Apologies, I totally forgot this forum was around, and then time just went on and on.
But I guess, 8yrs later, I'll provide an update on me.
2016 is when I finished uni in Bournemouth, moved to London and got a "career". Honestly it got easier, because I found myself in routine. I was able to align testing and medicating around the part of my working day, and as such things got better. HBA1C dropped a bit, and I finally registered a Dr where I lived. I came off the pump (I now that's blasphemous to many, but I couldn't get on with it after 5yrs of trying), it was the correct decision for me. I found injection life much easier.
The first thing I noticed about my diabetes when I was giving it more thought and effort, was that I had suddenly become SUPER sensitive to being out of 'good range'. I'd know I was low, or high, immediately because it effected me significantly. This never happened before, I could get my levels up to the 30's before I'd feel discomfort. Now I was f*cked at like 13+. I saw this as a good thing, as it made it easier to be reactive to issues. But that was probably the only good thing..
Sadly, getting better with my control, seemed to be like a flood gate for my body to release all the bad things I'd done to myself in the previous years. Almost like when my control was terrible, my body was fighting to survive, so when I put less pressure on it, I got ill.
First it was non-diabetic things, like suddenly I got hay fever horrifically every year. I got many many colds. Flu a couple times. Developed migraines..
Late in 2018 my eye tests showed I was developing capillaries near my retina in both eyes, and I was immediately put in for a few rounds of laser.
As many of you know, that's horrific, it smells like cooked chicken and your sight feels like tv static for a few hours.
Nonetheless, I had around 4000 laser in each eye, over the course of a year. Burnt all the breathing holes into the back of my eyes, and killed off the capillaries. Unfortunately (I'm sure anyone who's been through this knows what I'm going to say) my body freaked out at the attacks to my eyes, and dumped a bunch of liquid over my retinas. So I needed injections.
So from about Feb 2020 > mid-2021, when everyone was being told to hide at home and stay safe, I was taking monthly trips to Westminster hospital to have needles shoved in both my eyes. Cant fault the team there, amazing people, but it was super surreal and a horrible experience. I can now comfortably say that during this time I had a bit of a wobble mentally, and tried to drown myself in hard liquor. 10 sessions with a counsellor later, and steps were in place to manage what had turned out to be some pretty deep-rooted depression and self-loathing. But that's a different topic and I can say for sure I have a great hold on it nowadays.
Back to the eyes, after 14 months of injections, I was discharged from the hospital and back to screening check-up's. I also moved back to my hometown (Nov 2021), working remotely as many do post-lockdown. My sight has been altered somewhat, and I've found that my vision is super sensitive to my levels now. I try to see that as a positive thing for managing my control better, more noticeable changes to pick up on. They are also very sensitive to light, which is a small issue I guess.
Since being back in the countryside, I have bought a home, met a lovely lady, and continued to sort my control. My HBA1C is much much better, and my last Dr's visit lasted 5mins as I was told "you're doing really well, keep it up".
I'm not out of the woods though. I get crazy numbness in my hands when I wake up now. It tends to ease off pretty quickly, so I'm not massively concerned about it yet. I also now have trigger finger in both of my index fingers. Early doors on those, so massaging and keeping them moving is the key (Dr is aware though, so I have paperwork in the system). I can 'unlock' them pretty easily right now, so not the biggest concern. I suspect these are just things that I would have developed as I got older, but have brought on myself early, due to my reckless teens and early 20's.
I'm soon to be 32, and I guess I've learnt a lot.
So, Tl;Dr, it got better, which meant it got a lot worse, now I'm on the back end of recovering..
Life's a b*tch eh.
. I can relate to the eye thing. I have Fuchs disease. Without corneal transplants I will go blind. Currently I have no night vision and I am super sensitive to light, it hurts and I get halos and rainbows. Nothing to do with my diabetes, but just to say to you that I can relate to the fear of losing one’s sight. All the awful procedures one has to go through, and it’s your eyes. It’s a biggy, so I gave you a winner emoji because you are doing so well with it.
