Hi all!
I’ve been trying my best to find diabetic forums that are Australia based, but this appears to be the only one! So I’d like to introduce myself..
I’ve been a T1 diabetic as of a young age, now going on 17 years with diabetes! I was diagnosed several months after I was severely ill. I had lost 30 kilos in 2 months, everyone thought I had an eating disorder. Turns out, I was a T1 diabetic with ketones that were causing weight loss.
Living in Australia, we’re lucky as we have NDSS that assist with affordable medications to control diabetes, even luckier if you don’t work - though not in my case! We’re fighting for CGM sensors to be part of the NDSS scheme. Currently, the cheapest CGM is only available to those who have a health care card or concession card, or are of a certain age. For myself and others, we can pay anywhere between $90 - $130.
I’m sure we can all relate to how we have our highs and lows in regards to how we feel about being a diabetic and in all my life, I’ve only ever met 3 other diabetics. I was never lucky enough to meet others at a young age. Growing up in a poverty stricken environment, I could never attend camps that allowed me to meet like minded people.
I’ve always been in some sort of denial about my diabetes, I’ve never really spoken to anyone besides my endocrinologist and my educators, because there’s always so much pity that triggers an annoyance factor in me. I don’t need pity, I’m still human as is everyone else! I just need to take a few extra steps to ensure I can live day to day.
I’ve gone through ketoacidosis and hypoglycaemia, both which have been threatening to my life but I’ve pulled through.
Ive only ever had 3 ketoacidosis episodes, two were caused from an infection I didn’t know I had, and one was from when I was young and thought “They had the diagnosis wrong! I don’t have diabetes! I can live without injecting myself!”
Boy, was I wrong.. If you are newly diagnosed, please ensure you are counting carb exchanges, monitoring your bloods and ketones and injecting or taking insulin as required.. my last experience with ketoacidosis was so severe that it was like threatening. This was all put down to a blood infection. And it all happened overnight.
Have you ever felt like you are unable to breathe? You can’t catch your breath because your chest is so tight and you can feel no air going to your lungs?
Have you ever had your muscles constrict, to the point you can’t move and have to be put under because the pain is so unbearable?
Have you ever thrown up so much to the point, all you’re throwing up is a large amount of green stomach bile?
Have you ever had such a horribly dry mouth that your tongue actually sticks to the roof, and once you’re rehydrated, there’s nothing but severe pain in your mouth for weeks on end?
Have you ever woken up in ICU, with no idea of what is happening, still unable to breathe?
I can say, I have. All of these symptoms happen all at once! Ketoacidosis is such a serious, life threatening condition that can be prevented if you treat yourself correctly and manage your sick days. Trust me when I say this, you don’t want to experience ketoacidosis and if you have ketones that you can’t properly manage, take yourself directly to the hospital.
I noticed my blood sugars were increasingly getting high for a couple of days, but I managed them by increasing my insulin. This one morning I woke up, I wasn’t feeling very well. Very lethargic, nauseas, seeing double. At this point I tested my BGL, which was 12.3 - I then tested my ketones which were at 0.3. I called my educators who told me to inject a certain amount of insulin and retest every hour. It worked..
Then later that day I was feeling unwell again. My ketones this time, 4.7. exceptionally high. I called an ambulance because I was throwing up at this point. My breathing started to become erratic. Ambulance arrived at the right time, because this was when my body started to shut down.
The whole ride in the ambulance, I remember apologising for being an inconvenience.
It’s embarrassing, you know?
Everything after that, I can’t remember. Besides waking up in a panic, trying to breathe and then going in and out again. A few days later, I was told what had happened and had I not of came in when I did, I could have done some serious damage to my organs or worst of all, died.
Every part of me doesn’t want to go through injecting every single day. I inject 4 times a day. I’m luckily enough to be able to afford my CGM, but maybe not for much longer.
Even 17 years into having diabetes, I still don’t feel normal, but I’ve come to accept that this is how it has to be for the rest of my life and I’m thankful that I’m alive every single day.
I think we all have a different outlook on how we are as diabetics but I am so grateful to be able to be in a community where there’s others, like me!
Some wise words of advice that I would like to share with others is, if you are new to being a diabetic, take everything your endocrinologists and educators say to heart. At the end of the day, your life is quite literally in your own hands. Be open, honest and communicate as best as you possibly can. Take on the challenge of using the new technology to help you control your diabetes, it’s there to make your life easier.
Thanks for allowing me to voice my story! Happy to hear from other like-minded souls.
I’ve been trying my best to find diabetic forums that are Australia based, but this appears to be the only one! So I’d like to introduce myself..
I’ve been a T1 diabetic as of a young age, now going on 17 years with diabetes! I was diagnosed several months after I was severely ill. I had lost 30 kilos in 2 months, everyone thought I had an eating disorder. Turns out, I was a T1 diabetic with ketones that were causing weight loss.
Living in Australia, we’re lucky as we have NDSS that assist with affordable medications to control diabetes, even luckier if you don’t work - though not in my case! We’re fighting for CGM sensors to be part of the NDSS scheme. Currently, the cheapest CGM is only available to those who have a health care card or concession card, or are of a certain age. For myself and others, we can pay anywhere between $90 - $130.
I’m sure we can all relate to how we have our highs and lows in regards to how we feel about being a diabetic and in all my life, I’ve only ever met 3 other diabetics. I was never lucky enough to meet others at a young age. Growing up in a poverty stricken environment, I could never attend camps that allowed me to meet like minded people.
I’ve always been in some sort of denial about my diabetes, I’ve never really spoken to anyone besides my endocrinologist and my educators, because there’s always so much pity that triggers an annoyance factor in me. I don’t need pity, I’m still human as is everyone else! I just need to take a few extra steps to ensure I can live day to day.
I’ve gone through ketoacidosis and hypoglycaemia, both which have been threatening to my life but I’ve pulled through.
Ive only ever had 3 ketoacidosis episodes, two were caused from an infection I didn’t know I had, and one was from when I was young and thought “They had the diagnosis wrong! I don’t have diabetes! I can live without injecting myself!”
Boy, was I wrong.. If you are newly diagnosed, please ensure you are counting carb exchanges, monitoring your bloods and ketones and injecting or taking insulin as required.. my last experience with ketoacidosis was so severe that it was like threatening. This was all put down to a blood infection. And it all happened overnight.
Have you ever felt like you are unable to breathe? You can’t catch your breath because your chest is so tight and you can feel no air going to your lungs?
Have you ever had your muscles constrict, to the point you can’t move and have to be put under because the pain is so unbearable?
Have you ever thrown up so much to the point, all you’re throwing up is a large amount of green stomach bile?
Have you ever had such a horribly dry mouth that your tongue actually sticks to the roof, and once you’re rehydrated, there’s nothing but severe pain in your mouth for weeks on end?
Have you ever woken up in ICU, with no idea of what is happening, still unable to breathe?
I can say, I have. All of these symptoms happen all at once! Ketoacidosis is such a serious, life threatening condition that can be prevented if you treat yourself correctly and manage your sick days. Trust me when I say this, you don’t want to experience ketoacidosis and if you have ketones that you can’t properly manage, take yourself directly to the hospital.
I noticed my blood sugars were increasingly getting high for a couple of days, but I managed them by increasing my insulin. This one morning I woke up, I wasn’t feeling very well. Very lethargic, nauseas, seeing double. At this point I tested my BGL, which was 12.3 - I then tested my ketones which were at 0.3. I called my educators who told me to inject a certain amount of insulin and retest every hour. It worked..
Then later that day I was feeling unwell again. My ketones this time, 4.7. exceptionally high. I called an ambulance because I was throwing up at this point. My breathing started to become erratic. Ambulance arrived at the right time, because this was when my body started to shut down.
The whole ride in the ambulance, I remember apologising for being an inconvenience.
It’s embarrassing, you know?
Everything after that, I can’t remember. Besides waking up in a panic, trying to breathe and then going in and out again. A few days later, I was told what had happened and had I not of came in when I did, I could have done some serious damage to my organs or worst of all, died.
Every part of me doesn’t want to go through injecting every single day. I inject 4 times a day. I’m luckily enough to be able to afford my CGM, but maybe not for much longer.
Even 17 years into having diabetes, I still don’t feel normal, but I’ve come to accept that this is how it has to be for the rest of my life and I’m thankful that I’m alive every single day.
I think we all have a different outlook on how we are as diabetics but I am so grateful to be able to be in a community where there’s others, like me!
Some wise words of advice that I would like to share with others is, if you are new to being a diabetic, take everything your endocrinologists and educators say to heart. At the end of the day, your life is quite literally in your own hands. Be open, honest and communicate as best as you possibly can. Take on the challenge of using the new technology to help you control your diabetes, it’s there to make your life easier.
Thanks for allowing me to voice my story! Happy to hear from other like-minded souls.
