Need help

[briony1]

Hi everyone,

I’ve logged into here mainly to ask a question but also to just vent in general to the only people who I know will half have a clue what I’m on about!

I have had diabetes for 3.5 years now. Type 1 diagnosed 9 months after the birth of my son at 22 years old. I have since given birth to my daughter 9 weeks ago also and am wondering what this pregnancy will give me seeing as docs have said they think my first pregnancy unmasked diabetes!!!

I have always kept my hbA1c at a really good level and rarely above normal but this is only because my levels are so up and down. I have only ever managed to keep good control for short periods of time and never constant, I have always pretty much done guess work with my insulin which is bad I know but I don’t think it’s working anymore and I am starting to feel so down and ****** that I’ve got this horrible disease and I have to manage it every second until the day I die.

Since having my daughter I have really struggled with control and whilst pregnant I also developed an arrythmia which scared the hell out of me and am still medicated for it now so not sure if my heart has actually returned to normal or not. I am still experiencing palpitations and awareness of my heartbeat along with you guessed it - anxiety!! I am plagued with anxiety and it’s really hindering my ability to cope and manage the diabetes and it’s wreaking havoc with my sugar levels.

I’m at my wits end and feel like I’m never going to be able to manage. I’ve got an appointment at my GP on Wednesday will mention it then but just wondering if anyone else suffers with palps/arrythmia at all and is connected to diabetes or if it’s just my anxiety playing tricks? I want to think that it’s just my anxiety but with so many physical symptoms that I always feel it’s hard not to be convinced I’m dying a slow painful death!!! All I want to do is enjoy my 4 year old and 10 week old baby and this horrible disease is ruining it for me

Thanks!!
Briony x

 

[Fairygodmother]

Hi @ Briony1, and congratulations on the birth of your daughter.
Pregnancy with diabetes is hard work, especially if you’re also caring for a small child. It can be a roller coaster of emotion and anxiety that you’re getting everything right.
The first thing that struck me was that you’re using a bit of guesswork to calculate your insulin and that your levels are a bit up and down.
Have you been on a Dafne course? If you haven’t then you ought to be offered one!
Low blood sugars makes the heart beat faster and so can anxiety and exhaustion. It can be worrying when it happens. Did the docs use an ECG to diagnose arythmia?
Did you have a post-natal diabetes follow up? Maybe you need a bit of expert help in sorting out doses now. And where, oh where, are the team that help you manage T1 right now?
It’s 38 years since my younger daughter was born but I can remember very vividly the enormous changes in doses and the difficult adjustments once she was born.
Maybe you should tell your GP all your worries, ask for their help, and ask too for a swift referral to a Consultant Endocrinologist? You seem to be doing a good job on your own but you need more help. The tools are available to make life easier for you: a Dafne course, a good idea of your current basal requirements and your ratios, a follow up check of your arythmia, a good post-natal diabetes check-up.
Ask for them!
And hang in there, don’t worry about the housework, get as much help as you can with day to day life, and relax so you can enjoy your baby and your little boy!
I don’t know if you’ve come across this
https://www.bertieonline.org.uk/
It might help.

 

[Dearbhla]

briony1, do hunt out a dafne course, bear in mind in Ireland the courses go on for a week (Dafne-saved-my-sanity). Hormone levels have significant effects on how easily insulin works.
Do you have a carbs list booklet?
Do you eat similar food/amounts of these foods? Can you get similar length of walking or dancing in at similar times daily?
Regards balance, when I'm really off kilter after illness or Christmas, I do 2 'control' days where I eat x amount of breakfast cereal, milk and fruit only at exactly the same time each day, similar exercise if possible and the same insulin.
For me, my blood sugars settle to a pattern by day 3 and I can see more clearly where I need to cut back/increase background insulin or increase/reduce mealtime insulin.