Newly diagnosed T1D

[Phil-86]

Evening all, I'm a newly diagnosed type 1 and just looking for any advice I can get really.

It all started end of October with what I thought was a flu. A week of working through the dreaded 'man flu' and my student nurse girlfriend said she thought I was diabetic. See, my flu had me up to the toilet at least 5 times a night and drinking at least 4x 2 litre bottles of water during the night and the same during the day, but still I was parched, tired, lacking motivation etc etc.

Roll on a week, I was seen at sort notice by my GP... BS at 26.7 (or thereabouts) and a ketone level of 6.8! Yes... 6.8, you read correctly :S

So I'd been attacked by T1 while I had the flu and had hit DKA too. A night in hospital and numerous drips later, my BS had returned to 'normal' levels and I'd been diagnosed.

The issues... I'm needle phobic ... I know, of all the things to be diagnosed with and be needle phobic? I'd have preferred the lottery but hey ho, we can't pick them all. So far, I'm just about coping and have had some autocovers prescribed for my phobia which is helping. I am however extremely concerned for my 8month pregnant girlfriend and subsequently our 4 year old daughter. My gf won't let me do anything at all, saying I need to get my head around the current situation first. More over, it is straining the relationship with my 4 year old too as I'm stressing out and mood swings have come out of nowhere, having never had them before.

My diabetes team and GP have fallen out as both have given different advice and says the other is wrong, so both pulling me away from the other and saying not to listen to the other. My diabetic nurse while great, has said she wants me to get my head round needles before carb counting, but I feel I need to count asap to get this under control.

My question is to you all, please suggest and provide any help or advice that you have for any aspect of diabetes at all, the more the merrier. Diet, sports, drinking (if love a pint), and anything further to add!

Ps - I'm 29, 11 stone 5 lbs (10 stone 2 months ago when diagnosed) and open minded so suggest away please

Thanks guys and girls

 

[Clivethedrive]

Hello phil-86, welcomeit's a shock when your told you have diabetes,but the good news is,we can control it , so first i will ask @ DAISY1 to give you the welcome pack of info,have a good read up,the most obvious things like what to eat and what not to eat are covered in the info pack,but please come back with your question,remember there's no such thing as a silly question ......only silly answersclive

 

[4ratbags]

Hi and welcome to the forum. You are in the right place to get all the information you need to get yourself on track. Have a good read when @daisy1 posts her information and if you have any questions just ask.

 

[Daibell]

Hi and welcome. Things will become clearer over the coming weeks so don't panic. First, I can see no reason why needle phobia has anything to do with carb-counting unless you think it does. Carb counting means working out the carbs in a meal and adjusting the pen to inject the right amount. Most of us have been started on a Bolus ratio of 1 unit of insulin to 10 gms of carbs and then tweaking as you gain experience of meter readings 2 hours after a meal. If you are not sure then start with slightly less insulin and increase over a few days using the meter. Carb-counting is very important to reduce hypo risk and enable you to eat fairly freely so you might want to ask the DN what she is on about. As things settle you need to get your Basal balance right before tweaking the Bolus by much. The DN should help with this or come back and ask. I assume you've been prescribed needles with a 4mm length which is the shortest and thinnest you can get. This will help with needle phobia. There are various places you can inject which may help reduce the phobia. General advice is to use the stomach for the Bolus as it works more quickly and perhaps the thighs for the Basal. There are no golden rules on this. For diet, go for low-carb in general and have enough protein, fats, veg and fruit to keep you feeling full. Beer is OK in sensible quantity but be aware that while the liver is dumping alcohol it can't provide emergency glycogen (glucose) if you start to go hypo. For sports just use the meter more before and after until you find out what works for you; some have a piece of fruit or carb just before exercise. Do ask anything else.

 

[wiserkurtious]

Evening all, I'm a newly diagnosed type 1 and just looking for any advice I can get really.

It all started end of October with what I thought was a flu. A week of working through the dreaded 'man flu' and my student nurse girlfriend said she thought I was diabetic. See, my flu had me up to the toilet at least 5 times a night and drinking at least 4x 2 litre bottles of water during the night and the same during the day, but still I was parched, tired, lacking motivation etc etc.

Roll on a week, I was seen at sort notice by my GP... BS at 26.7 (or thereabouts) and a ketone level of 6.8! Yes... 6.8, you read correctly :S

So I'd been attacked by T1 while I had the flu and had hit DKA too. A night in hospital and numerous drips later, my BS had returned to 'normal' levels and I'd been diagnosed.

The issues... I'm needle phobic ... I know, of all the things to be diagnosed with and be needle phobic? I'd have preferred the lottery but hey ho, we can't pick them all. So far, I'm just about coping and have had some autocovers prescribed for my phobia which is helping. I am however extremely concerned for my 8month pregnant girlfriend and subsequently our 4 year old daughter. My gf won't let me do anything at all, saying I need to get my head around the current situation first. More over, it is straining the relationship with my 4 year old too as I'm stressing out and mood swings have come out of nowhere, having never had them before.

My diabetes team and GP have fallen out as both have given different advice and says the other is wrong, so both pulling me away from the other and saying not to listen to the other. My diabetic nurse while great, has said she wants me to get my head round needles before carb counting, but I feel I need to count asap to get this under control.

My question is to you all, please suggest and provide any help or advice that you have for any aspect of diabetes at all, the more the merrier. Diet, sports, drinking (if love a pint), and anything further to add!

Ps - I'm 29, 11 stone 5 lbs (10 stone 2 months ago when diagnosed) and open minded so suggest away please

Thanks guys and girls

We all know what your going through bud,I was diagnosed july of last year at the age of 29 and have 3 kids,and 1 on the way. I was in hospital on a drip for 3 days having suffered from dka for way too long,at first my head was in a spin my emotions we're all over the place thinking my god it feels like the end of the world but it really isn't,once time goes by diabetes becomes part of your normal life. try not to stress to much bud.

 

[fairylights]

If you are on two injections a day now I expect that is why your DSN is reluctant to start you carb counting, once I moved to basal /bolus I was doing many more injections a day 6 to 10 - so maybe she thinks this will be more difficult for you, especially as you say you are just about coping. Although basal/bolus is much more flexible, I have a friend who has had diabetes for 47 years and her brother has had it more than 50 and they are both still on two injections a day. They're both doing okay even though they would possibly have better control / more flexibility on basal/bolus. It's still early days for you yet, I have been diagnosed 3.5 years now and I started on just basal, then intermediate, then mixed, then basal/bolus (although this was around a year after diagnosis) and now a pump.