New to T1D

Hi @Khaya
Nice to “meet” you.
In the UK the medics try to bring levels down slowly to avoid more damage to the body.
What treatment have you been given and what have they said about following up?
20 is high but it is early days yet.

20 does feel a bit high. Are you able to telephone your doctor for more advice?

As mentioned above, its best to talk to your consultants. As decreasing blood glucose levels very quickly can affect blood vessels, nerves and eyes etc. So they will most likely be trying to reduce it gradually.

Although 20 is quite high to run at on a daily basis, have you spoken to them to about the insulin? Also which insulin are you taking, I assume you are not on the basal/bolus routine yet seen as you are taking tablets.

Hello @Khaya Welcome

I agree with Diakat that your doctors would want to bring you down slowly to help your body adjust to lower glucose levels and prevent damage occuring - also you are only 7 days diagnosed, the danger early days with starting insulin and managing your levels is that your pancreas could start producing some insulin again which is the honeymoon phase, if and when this happens then you could find your levels erring on the low side and in a hypoglycemic state which is best avoided so early on, hypos when your newly diagnosed are hard to deal with so it's best to take things slowly and gently with getting used to insulin.

Please speak to your doctor for further support with your doses and please take things easy, it will take a while to get adjusted and settle in.

Muneeb said:

I assume you are not on the basal/bolus routine yet seen as you are taking tablets.

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My assumption is 4 times a day insulin is basal/bolus.
And the only tablets the OP mentioned are statins.

Hi @Khaya and welcome to the club no one really wants to be in.
As has already been said your doctors will try and get your blood levels down gradually so as not to do any damage to eyes etc....
Any questions you have, don't be worried to put them on here....there are many type 1s with a load of experience here who are more than willing to assist.....no question is a stupid question

Hello and welcome, none of us want to be here, but in time it will get a little easier with better knowledge and management.
Have a look around the forum, there is usually someone about to give support and helpful advice.
Take care

Khaya said:

Hello to all. I'm a 28 year old male living in South Africa. My name is Khaya. I'm a personal trainer by profession and am quite fit. I was diagnosed with T1D seven days ago and spent 4 days in hospital critical care. I'm home now and trying to manage it as best I can.

I'm discouraged by my blood sugar levels. They're usually at around 20mmol. Is it common for a new diagnosis? Does it take time to settle to the correct levels or should I see a doctor? Please assist. And thank you for this forum.

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Hi Khaya
I'm also recently diagnosed (two weeks ago) and a week ago I was asking the exact same question about the same problem. My levels have come down, and do spend some time in single figures. As other have said, the nurses will want to bring your levels down slowly, which is extremely frustrating, but understandable.
I'm trying to learn to be patient with it, because I have started seeing a difference.

Welcome Khaya. You will drop soon. You are the tortoise in this equation but it will turn up ok.

Welcome.
Your medical team will bring you down to normal levels over time. A sudden drop may make feel very sick, temporary eye sight problems. Many teenage boys are an example of how resilient the body is to very high glucose levels as they rebel against treatment and eat a lot things they shouldn’t and they manage to survive pretty much unscathed, so a few weeks being high under medical supervision is nothing to worry about.
Don’t worry in a few months life will be normal. At the moment D will be a big drama and time consuming, soon it will be just a minor inconvenience.