Hi everyone,
Recently had my pancreas, gall bladder and spleen removed which, whilst saving my life, has given me the gift of Type 3C diabetes. Finding it all very daunting and scary so I have joined every forum going to get as a much help and information as I can. Particularly interested in speaking to others with Type 3C as I’m beginning to see that we are a small and misunderstood group. Any hints or tips will be gratefully received.
Hi
@Prime Monkfish , welcome to the forum.
I'm only a boring old late onset T1, so I'll leave the specifics on T3C to the T3C people out here.
The main similarity between T1 and T3C is not producing (enough) insulin. (You don't produce any because you don't have a pancreas, but many T3C's do still produce some insulin because their pancreas was damaged for other reasons than a total pancreas removal.)
This means that for learning about insulin adjustments, which you asked about in your other post, any T1 information is completely relevant for you, and there is lots more to find on T1 than on T3C.
From your other post:
Hi all, I recently had my pancreas, spleen and gall bladder removed due to the discovery of a large IPMN in my main pancreatic duct. I have now been discharged from hospital and I’m starting the slow road to discovery. All this means that, like others on this forum, I now have Type 3C diabetes and I have to admit I am struggling somewhat. There are a number of things worrying me, firstly getting my basal dose correct. I was put on Lantus in the hospital but my practice nurse has swapped me over onto Levemir. First question regarding that, do people generally take two doses of this (one at night and one in the morning)? I’m on 10U at night and have been advised to take 5U the following morning. I guess there will be some trial and error there. My second question relates to FreeStyle Libre. They fitted one on the hospital and it was fine. Just changed it today and the new one is giving much higher readings than my accuchek, does it take a while for them to calm down? Don’t really want an unreliable system on me nor do I want to be pricking my fingers all time. Any help will be gratefully received.
Levemir is the shortest acting insulin as far as long acting insulins go, and it's very common to need split doses like you are taking.
You're correct, finding the correct basal dose is trial and error. In a nutshell: You start out with a rather random and relatively low dose in case you turn out very sensitive to insulin, don't want a bad hypo right away. Then you and your diabetes nurse review your numbers and adjust doses based on your daily readings. At first, this is usually as per instruction from your DN, after a while you'll become more confident tweaking your own doses.
The same goes for your NovoRapid, before and after meal numbers tell you something about your dose being right for a particular meal.
Have you started counting carbs yet to be able to adjust your insulin to what you eat?
As for the Libre, the first 24 hours aren't as reliable for many, and after that they may still not match fingerpricks perfectly.
How much higher are we talking? If it's way out, call Abbott and they will replace a faulty sensor.
While the Libre may not be as accurate as a fingerprick, it is amazing for seeing trends to help adjust your doses, and it's invaluable for warning you you are rising or dropping before actually going very high or low.
Keep asking questions, the more you know, the quicker you'll get the hang of this!
