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Type 1 Newly Diagnosed and few questions

J

JonD_44

Member
Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Hi all,

As the title says, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on Saturday and release from hospital on Sunday.

I have seen a diabetes special nurse and I'm awaiting for a call for another referal, maybe as dietician?

Anyway, I have a few questions and this forum keeps coming up when I do a bit of Googling so I was hoping some of you may be able to help.

1. If my BG levels are still above 9 2hrs after eating should I take more insulin to get it down?
2. I've been told to take 1 unit of insulin to 10g of carbs. If I have under 10g of carbs do I still take any insulin? For example having a very small bowl of fruit.
3. My eye sight seems to be a bit blurred, but only if I try and see/read something too close. I've read once BG levels come down they should return to normal. Is this true? As it's making me quite concerned.
4. I was told to take 8 units of Levemir before bed but I've been waking up and my BG is still around 13-14. I do weight lifting and take a slow releasing protein shake before bed (Milk casein), could this effect it? I was told with protein I wouldn't need to take Insulin.
5. Lastly, if there is anyone here who is into weight lifting/gym addicts :) I would really appreciate any advise you have. I've been twice since being diagnosed and the first time my BG went from 13.7 down to 8.3 and the 2nd time it went from 11.7 to 17.3 after the gym so it's left me a bit confused.

Thank you.
 
Hi welcome to the forum .
I am type 2 but I remember when I was 1st diagnosed in hospital and just how terrified I was .
I came home and given I knew no one else with diabetes I started to search the Internet and came across this site .

That was in May 2014 like yourself my numbers were high and all over the place and I no idea where or what to do. My vision was my biggest worry partly as I am also hearing impaired and I lip read and teach lip reading so my eyes are on the go shall we say all the time .

Anyway the moral to this story is within hours someone came along on here with amazing advice and then some guidelines to help me gain some perspective .

I have never looked back it took me a while to get my head round it but all I can tell you is you have come to the right place and so many will be along to advice you and though daunting now it will all fall into place .
Sharon Anne .
 
Hi @JonD_44, welcome to the forum. I've tagged @daisy1 to provide you some new joiners info, but here are a few answers for you.

1. If my BG levels are still above 9 2hrs after eating should I take more insulin to get it down?
If you have taken fast acting insulin before eating, you should not. The peak action of fast acting insulin is at about 90-120 mins, so this is the point at which your blood glucose level will begin to drop. you should check again at four hours to see where it has got to. That will indicate whether you have had enough insulin. If you want to reduce the peaks then move your fast acting insulin shot to earlier before the meal, so 15-30 mins. You will need to test to make sure you don't start going hypo before the meal.

2. I've been told to take 1 unit of insulin to 10g of carbs. If I have under 10g of carbs do I still take any insulin? For example having a very small bowl of fruit.
Do you have a 0.5u pen? The majority of us count all carbs and take appropriate insulin. While <10g wont' raise your bg level as much, if you have a 0.5u pen, I would take a 0.5u dose for 5g of carbs.

3. My eye sight seems to be a bit blurred, but only if I try and see/read something too close. I've read once BG levels come down they should return to normal. Is this true? As it's making me quite concerned.
This is completely normal.

4. I was told to take 8 units of Levemir before bed but I've been waking up and my BG is still around 13-14. I do weight lifting and take a slow releasing protein shake before bed (Milk casein), could this effect it? I was told with protein I wouldn't need to take Insulin.
Levemir is not used to lower blood glucose levels, but to maintain them against the production of glucose by your liver. Fast acting is used to lower them. What level were you going to bed at? Protein can increase glucose levels, but you'd need to confirm whether your bg level falls overnight without it to be sure of the effects of the shake.

5. Lastly, if there is anyone here who is into weight lifting/gym addicts :) I would really appreciate any advise you have. I've been twice since being diagnosed and the first time my BG went from 13.7 down to 8.3 and the 2nd time it went from 11.7 to 17.3 after the gym so it's left me a bit confused.
Dependent on work out, two things can occur in regard to training. If you remain below your aerobic threshold, you will burn glucose and your blood glucose level will fall. This typically requires a reduction in bolus for the previous meal, or the taking on board of additional carbs. If you undertake anaerobic exercise (HIIT or weights for example), the stress induced causes an adrenalin and cortisol reaction which causes a liver dump. Many of us have experienced this first hand and the only way to deal with it is trial and error about insulin doses.

Hope that helps!
 
@JonD_44

Hello Jon and welcome to the forum :) Here is the information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful, in addition to the replies you have already received. Ask more questions if you need to and someone will be able to help.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find over 150,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates

Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes-and-whole-grains.html

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes

LOW CARB PROGRAM:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/low carb program


Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to bloodglucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
Thanks for all your replies, it really is appreciated!

Well, I've just had my first hypo :( Not a nice feeling at all. One moment I was fine, the next I was extremely shaky. I managed to test my BG levels before having some orange juice and they were at 3.2 mmol/l. Not something I want happening again any time soon!

@tim2000s Thank you for all of your help.

1. I may try that next time as they always seem to be slightly above the 9 mark,
2. Unfortunately not. However my mother in law is Type 1 too and suggested the same thing so I will mention this on my next appointment.
3. That is reassuring to hear as this was really playing on my mind.
4. Well last night they were 9.4 just before bed. I had my protein shake and and woke up again at 3am to test them and they were 10.6. I woke up at 7:30am and they had gone up to 13.3. The night before was similar, 9.9 before bed, 12.4 at 3am and 11.7 when I woke up at around 8am.
5. I'm not sure if this is something you would know but I was told if my BG is under 14 then to go ahead and work out. Trying to take it all in I didn't even think to ask what if it is say 6 or 7? If it drops like it did the other day during my first work out then it will send me into a hypo. It seems so difficult to get right at the moment :(
 
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