Newly diagnosed Type 1

[John_H]

I think it might help me to briefly share my diabetes “journey” with the forum.

On 10 August 2015, I was a fit and healthy, 54 year-old man with a good BMI and lifestyle. Over the next couple of days, I developed an insatiable thirst, increased frequency of weeing and a shift in my visual focal length. These symptoms persisted over the next couple of weeks while I was trying to enjoy my holiday in Italy with my wife and two children. On returning, I was rushed into hospital as a medical emergency with ketones in my wee and a blood sugar level of 35 mmol/l. I was completely gob smacked to be diagnosed on 1 September with type 1 diabetes and having had a myocardial infarction (aka a heart attack). Subsequent investigations, thankfully revealed that the latter never happened and my heart is actually pretty healthy. I was discharged after six days.

I’m now on daily insulin injections and my blood-sugar levels over the last week have been very stable at around 6 mmol/l, but with a couple of hypo’s. My eyesight hasn’t improved and my fitness level is much reduced. I’m charting my blood sugars with the mySugr App (converting mmol/l to mg/l by multiplying the former by 18) and Excel. I’m going to explore Carb counting today.

My emotions through the journey have been wide-ranging, including anger, despair, denial and some acceptance. I have only recently started talking to close friends about my experiences and I will probably return to work at the end of the month.

 

[tim2000s]

Welcome to the forum and this community of T1s @John_H . There are many resources out there to help. Firstly I'll tag @daisy1 to provide some info for you.

Secondly, I'll point you to this resource: http://www.bdec-e-learning.com/ which is an excellent way to learn about carb counting and dose adjustment. For Carb counting though, you really need to be on an MDI regime (multiple daily injection) and according to NICE guidelines, this is what you should have been put on after diagnosis.

Given the age at which you are diagnosed, it may also be worth investigating whether you are T1 or T1.5. @LucySW can provide more info on that.

In addition, there is a wealth of groups on Facebook, such as The Diabetic Lounge UK, Diabetic Hang Out UK and GB Diabetic Community that will all be helpful to you as you get to know your condition.

There's a lot to learn about, but as you are seeing, it takes time. The good news is that your eyesight will get better and your fitness will improve, it just takes a little time for your body to recover from the shock of DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). I've been T1 for a long time, and the key thing for you is that you need to manage your diabetes and not let it take over your life!

 

[daisy1]

@John_H

Hello John and welcome to the forum Here is the information, as mentioned above, which we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful. Ask as many questions as you like 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

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.