Just saying hello as I am new to the forum. I have just been diagnosed with type one diabetes after I sustained injury to my pancreas and feel overwhelmed by everything at the moment as I am still finding my feet with it all.
Newbie here.
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Hello @Cathy Cally
Welcome to the forum, yes can sympathise completely, it was over whelming for me too when I got diagnosed, takes time to learn about your t1d, but many of us are here and about so more than happy to lend an ear to help you find your feet. It will happen in time but best to just take things on a day by day basis and use your Diabetic team as much as you can. Personally I found learning as much as I could helped me, but also to know I wasn't alone, best wishes, any help/support just shout x
Welcome to the forum, yes can sympathise completely, it was over whelming for me too when I got diagnosed, takes time to learn about your t1d, but many of us are here and about so more than happy to lend an ear to help you find your feet. It will happen in time but best to just take things on a day by day basis and use your Diabetic team as much as you can. Personally I found learning as much as I could helped me, but also to know I wasn't alone, best wishes, any help/support just shout x
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Tony337
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A thousand welcomes to you and we wish you well....
Tony
Tony
Thanks for the replies they are appreciated. Please be ready for my questions which are quite a few in number, sorry.
Hello @Cathy Cally Welcome to the forum. We're always happy to try to help with any questions, or just support when it feels overwhelming. It's a lot to take on board at first, so fire away with your questions, and once more welcome.
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Hi and welcome to the forum, lots of very knowledgeable people here who have gone through that completely overwhelmed feeling, just like you are going through now ,but they came through, gained an insight into their type 1 diagnosis, manage it and live normal lives. You will too. 
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Ask away, and never apologise for asking questions, it's what this forum is for!
JAT1
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Welcome to the forums. Ask any questions you have. I am Type 1 and this website helped me greatly.
Hi. I am very new to diabetes type one and at the moment I am on 3 units of rapid acting insulin before meals and 16 units of slow acting insulin at night. What I don’t understand is that during the night my glucose levels become so high the Libre 2 cannot register it and the alarm continuously goes off, so I do a finger prick test shows my glucose to be in the late 20’s going up into the 30’s. During the day it ranges from 18 to 20’s. The Diabetic nurse specialist is slowly increasing my night time dose, tonight I go up to 18 units. But why do my levels become so high during the night.? It’s really worrying me and I am so worried about it that once my alarm goes off I cannot go back to sleep,so am becoming exhausted. Does anyone else have or have had the same problem? I am watching my carb intake very closely and only drink water. Also forgot my A1C is around 13.1 but forgot to ask the nurse what are normal ranges? Thanks Cathy.
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Hi @Cathy Cally,
Hopefully a couple of bits that might help.
Libre 2s are not always accurate above and below normal range - I find 'high' BG and they give you a big number (so you know you're up with the light fittings), but your blood BG is the accurate one.
At night your body isn't using as much energy so if your slow acting is too low, it will rise, then keep rising as time passes, till some more insulin kicks in (or your start moving around in the morning and inject a bit of insulin to knock it down again).
The higher you are, the less effective insulin is, so you often need more to get BG back down.
There is also something called 'Dawn Phenomenon' where your body is getting ready for you to wake up - and gives you a boost of stored energy (BG goes up) an hour or so before you normally get up in the morning. Not all of us have problems with this, but lots do - so worth being aware if that impacting you - check your Libre graph and see at what point you're climbing, and if its a steady climb
Sounds like you need to talk with your DSN to get your Basal set right - its really difficult to get initial levels right when you start, give it time and you'll get there. Been doing this 50 years (you will survive it ), you'll be ok once you level it all out and can feel more confident about changing things to suit your own body
Hopefully a couple of bits that might help.
Libre 2s are not always accurate above and below normal range - I find 'high' BG and they give you a big number (so you know you're up with the light fittings), but your blood BG is the accurate one.
At night your body isn't using as much energy so if your slow acting is too low, it will rise, then keep rising as time passes, till some more insulin kicks in (or your start moving around in the morning and inject a bit of insulin to knock it down again).
The higher you are, the less effective insulin is, so you often need more to get BG back down.
There is also something called 'Dawn Phenomenon' where your body is getting ready for you to wake up - and gives you a boost of stored energy (BG goes up) an hour or so before you normally get up in the morning. Not all of us have problems with this, but lots do - so worth being aware if that impacting you - check your Libre graph and see at what point you're climbing, and if its a steady climb
Sounds like you need to talk with your DSN to get your Basal set right - its really difficult to get initial levels right when you start, give it time and you'll get there. Been doing this 50 years (you will survive it
), you'll be ok once you level it all out and can feel more confident about changing things to suit your own body
becca59
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Welcome @Cathy Cally yes your numbers are high, but you are recently diagnosed and your DN will want to increase insulin in a slow measured way til you hit a lower level. The reason for this is twofold, the first so you don’t end up going hypo overnight, and the second important one is slow reduction in levels is better for the eyes. A quick drop could affect eye sight. You will get there.
Personally whilst this period of adjustment is happening I would switch high alarms off. There is nothing you could do at the moment to address it so it’s just an upsetting irritant. The graph will still show what’s happening. Leave the low one on.
Personally whilst this period of adjustment is happening I would switch high alarms off. There is nothing you could do at the moment to address it so it’s just an upsetting irritant. The graph will still show what’s happening. Leave the low one on.
Thanks for the information and I am so glad I have found this site and of course the members. I imagine lots of people who are at the beginning of their journey have lots of questions. Some of mine may seem stupid (I have a head full of them) but it’s good to have others who have been through similar experiences, I am just grateful. One thing I didn’t ask, I have lost just under three stones from December, so am a bit bony at the moment but can I inject insulin in any other site rather than my tummy?.
Ask the questions - they may seem a bit daft in your head - the only way to learn is to ask them - T1 does some strange stuff you simply will never work out without asking whats going on.
You can inject into anything with a bit of fat - arms, legs, sides of waist, bum etc - worth remembering to rotate your injection sites round different areas - overuse of the same bits can eventually make the fat break down and cause resistance to the insulin (takes a long time, but it happens - the sides of my legs are no use for insulin any more)
You can inject into anything with a bit of fat - arms, legs, sides of waist, bum etc - worth remembering to rotate your injection sites round different areas - overuse of the same bits can eventually make the fat break down and cause resistance to the insulin (takes a long time, but it happens - the sides of my legs are no use for insulin any more)
becca59
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Hello newbie here. I had a really scary experience yesterday which has left me really anxious. I had been exercising 3 of my German shepherd’s for a display this weekend in protection work all day. I had eaten but prior to that my glucose level was 26.7 so had my 3 units of rapid acting insulin. Then about 20 mins later started to feel very weird, checked my glucose levels again and the alarm on my sensor showed that I had dropped to 2.3. I used the glucose tablets I had bought which started to bring it up. I just don’t understand why it dropped so quickly and I am so worried that this could happen again. Anyone any advice please.
Hi @Cathy Cally - glad you made it through ok, can be quite scary when BG drops like that.
Wondering why you got such a quick drop:
Did you test your BG with a blood machine or using a CGM (libre or dexcom or something)?
Did you potentially have any sugary substance on your fingers if you tested BG? (eating sweets etc)
Wondering why you got such a quick drop:
Did you test your BG with a blood machine or using a CGM (libre or dexcom or something)?
Did you potentially have any sugary substance on your fingers if you tested BG? (eating sweets etc)
Sorry you had such a scary experience @Cathy Cally
If the 26.7 was a blood test, it could have been a 'bad' test strip or something on your fingers. It's always best to wash your hands and do another test if you get a number you're not expecting or your symptoms don't match the results. If it was from a cgm, they're only reliable between 3.9 and 10. When your bloods go higher or lower than that, the cgm will often read higher or lower than your actual level, so need to be checked with a blood test.
The exercise will have affected your blood sugar - this can happen for about 24 hours for some people, but we're all different.
Was the 26.7 before you ate, or some time later? Just wondering about insulin that was still working??
Were the 3 units of Novorapid a correction dose or for your meal?
As you're newly diagnosed your pancreas will still be producing some insulin, so could have given you some.
Sorry for all the questions!
If the 26.7 was a blood test, it could have been a 'bad' test strip or something on your fingers. It's always best to wash your hands and do another test if you get a number you're not expecting or your symptoms don't match the results. If it was from a cgm, they're only reliable between 3.9 and 10. When your bloods go higher or lower than that, the cgm will often read higher or lower than your actual level, so need to be checked with a blood test.
The exercise will have affected your blood sugar - this can happen for about 24 hours for some people, but we're all different.
Was the 26.7 before you ate, or some time later? Just wondering about insulin that was still working??
Were the 3 units of Novorapid a correction dose or for your meal?
As you're newly diagnosed your pancreas will still be producing some insulin, so could have given you some.
Sorry for all the questions!
Thanks for your response. I took the 3 units as directed of my insulin 10 minutes before eating had been working my dogs for quite a long time though. But a very good point about touching food. Each time my dogs protect me from or pin the “baddie” down, they get a chicken treat reward, could this have been the reason?? But the experience really has set an anxiety off for me. What should I carry with me in future or are the glucose sweets I bought adequate? Do you get warnings from your body that this is happening? If so what do I look for? Many thanks. Cathy
If your background insulin is Levemir, many of us split it into two for morning and evening injection. It provides more flexibility and trial and error will guide you on the split. It seems like your nurse is being too careful. I suggest being a tad more assertive and saying you really don't want to ever go above 25 for example.
