Living on own with Diabetes

I would say go for it. I live on my own and night hypos can be scary but I refuse to let the diabetes win. Good luck x


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I wonder if you might find someone to share with.

Do you not have warning symptoms when your blood sugar is dropping? Or do you not wake up if you have a hypo in the night?

I've lived on my own for 8 years now and it's definitely a steep learning curve at the start but you get used to it.

Try not to let your condition hold you back. It can be scary but it might be the best thing ever!

I have lived on my own for 8 years inbetween relationships but mostly on my own! Only diagnosed 9 months! My sis wanted me to stay with her for a few weeks when i got diagnosed! I stayed one night n wanted home as so used to my own house! Had no severe hypos n no probs! Ye need to live yer life its an illness not a disability! Stop lettin it hold u bAck! If ye dont mind me asking whT age are you?


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Go for it,
i lived as a single mum for 5 yrs,just make sure u have some kind of hypo remedy in each room

I lived on my own for years and managed fine. Wouldn't have occurred to me that diabetes would ever stop me doing that.

Even when I have not lived on my own, I never for a moment expected anyone else to help me manage hypos. I have glucotab stashes all round the house, make sure I have replenished them. Very early on in my diabetic life I trained myself into this reflex: if I'm confused, don't know what to do, don't know what's going on, eat glucose and then figure it out after.

When you walk down the street or go to work, you don't have someone to look after you in the event of a hypo, so I don't see being at home as different. Yes when you are sleeping the warning signs are less effective (for everyone). But still it's a matter of having some glucose right by the bed and the instinct to take it if you are confused. Meter check first if you can, but better to be safe than sorry.

If you have hypo unawareness I could see that would be a concern, though no partner has ever (in 20 years) woken me up to say you are having a hypo. I've always self treated. If you do have hypo awareness then possibly look at a CGM. The NHS may fund you in cases of severe hypo unawareness. However note that by reporting that to the NHS you are basically disqualifying yourself from driving...

Short answer - go for it. You will be fine!

My advice would be get up in the night and test bg levels and make sure that they are controlled between 5-7mmol and no lower. Better still, use a cgm. If I had to live on my own, I would definstely get a cgm as night hypos are not nice hence why many type 1s get a pump. We are able to alter the basal flow hour by hour so that bg can be controlled a bit better esp overnight when we are fast asleep but cgm is a very good safeguard so take care

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I live alone. Just take a few precautions. I don't go to bed if I'm lower than 6 without putting a few carbs in me. Have sweets in every room at floor level, lucozade by the bed, and told my neighbour if the curtains are still shut after 9am, start to worry.

Tom

chalky said:

Good Evening, just after some thoughts from people really, been having some problems with blood sugars (mostly lows) and I have agreed to rent a flat starting 1 june, now after recent events with lows im not sure if its a good idea... unfortuantly ive signed over the deposit n all that fun stuff but I will be living on my own so if I have any problems im screwed pretty much... so I really don't no what to do whether to contact the landlord n see if I can pull out before I start :S or whether to go ahead with it as it might be ok

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Start excercising buy some weights amd fix ya diet see my previous post... You will gain control over 'it' and not it over you...

tomvonc said:

I live alone. Just take a few precautions. I don't go to bed if I'm lower than 6 without putting a few carbs in me. Have sweets in every room at floor level, lucozade by the bed, and told my neighbour if the curtains are still shut after 9am, start to worry.

Tom

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A good idea to have a back up plan....re the curtains and neighbour .....

if you are worried about being alone and for some this is really hard and not an option , think about some plans and find out some alternatives, lots of talk in the media .......about dogs who can spot a hypo .....just one thought , sure there are more...
Not everyone likes being alone...

I have lived on my own for 23 years but only 3 with Type 1. My main worry when I was first diagnosed was having a hypo in the night and not waking up. I solve this by having something to eat before I go to bed. I would sooner run slightly high and not have a hypo. My morning readings are usually between 7 and 8 but come down after breakfast. Don't let your diabetes alter your life !!


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I don't live alone, but I hate the idea of my wife dealing with a hypo I can't control. Therefore I get up about 2-3 hours after going to bed to test my blood sugars. I would suggest you do the same thing. If you are particularly worried about hypos, you could get someone to ring you each morning to make sure everything is ok.

I've lived on my own for quite some time, well only 2 years (excluding summer holidays) and I like to think i'm in control, my blood glucose may not be perfect but I never got admitted to hospital since I was diagnosed, trouble is when you are on your own you won't have anyone to contact close-by, as in my case had to call an ambulance because I had some pain and had no first aid in hand or any pain killers to take, it felt really bad, like a heart attack or something but it only turned out to be dehydration and hyperventilation. I thought it was something related to diabetes, which advised me to take that course of action. But that is something to learn from in the future, no one will be around to help you, unless you inform your neighbours of your condition or get a member of security informed or family.

Personally I keep my family out of the loop because I don't get on with most of them, so anything bad that happens or remotely bad, I generally keep it to myself.