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Newly diagnosed

Douglasw

Member
Messages
19
Hi I am newly diagnosed with type one diabetes and I seem to have got my blood sugar levels under control fairly quickly, the only thing that I am getting worried about is the fact that I have no energy and feel lethargic all the time.
I feel like checking blood sugar levels and injecting insulin at least four times a day is bringing me down, hate feeling like this and hoping that it goes away soon, do my best to try and keep active but feel I run out of things to do, walks are good but want something different. Gyms are not my thing
 
Welcome to the forums @Douglasw , can you elaborate a little?

Do you feel that the tiredness is physical - are you constantly nodding off? Or is it a psychological issue purely to do with the routine of testing and injecting?
 
I am wondering what you are eating? Maybe not enough to supply the fuel you need?
 
Hi @Douglasw,
Welcome to this site and the club of us with TID.
Not sure how your health was when diagnosed, but some of us were exceedingly sick, whilst others less unwell.
From my reading about diabetes over many years, but not as health professional advice or opinion:
You may have lost weight, become depleted in body salts, and lost some muscle in the months before you were diagnosed, and that all takes time to recover from.
Not sure if your diet and thus insulin has been prescribed to help you increase weight and replenish body salts like potassium and magnesium ( which are important for muscles to work).
When you say your bsls are OK, when abouts are you testing your bsls ( blood sugar levels) and with what type of device).
If you go to the Home page of this site, you will see about midway along the horizontal menu bar 'living with diabetes' and within that, on the far left a heading about blood sugars at the top, the tables on there give the acceptabke ranges for bsls, fasting, before and 1 1/2 to 2 hours after meals.
If i just measure say before meals i will have no idea how the meal has affected my bsl. I could have a higher than acceptable bsl at say the 2 hour mark but back near normal by the next meal and so on.
Failing to test on waking may mean i miss the fact that my bsl may have been too high during the night.
If i am relying purely on a device like the Libre, and not checking its accuracy with some finger prick readings i may be obtaining a false impression of my actual bsls. Blood glucose meter with fingerprick blood are supposed to be within +/- 5 % accuracy ( compared to lab blood test) these days.
Also some of us get depressed, after the diagnosis, with the continual drag of testing, injecting etc, or if we have hypos ( hypo - = low, -glyc-= glucose, -aemia = in the blood) or hypos for short or sleep disturbance from unrecognised hypos.
Depressed mood can also be associated with tiredness, lack of energy, spark and interest.
Certainly it is important to discuss your symptoms with your health team. They are there to help you, and your GP because not everything may be caused by diabetes itself.
In many areas there may be local groups of diabetics on sites like facebook and Diabetes UK may well know of grouos who meet in your local area.
You have this site as well for support.
Having things to keep one occupied is a health strategy in itself. It does not necessarily need to be sport but that is one possibility but social contact, ideally involving some exercise and outdoors activity, an interest such as photography for example, but not something too risky to one 's health or finances.
Sometimes a browse on computer at the local library as well as of the shelves will reveal hobbies and interests as well as the local newspaper. Finding a group of diabetics, or diabuddies as we call them may open other avenues.
Please keep asking questions because we have all started afresh at some point in our lives, recently diagnosed and wondering what it is all about.
Be assured also that the outlook these days for TIDs is great. My specialist advises all his new TID patients that they would be wise to ensure they have a normal age retirement plan set up, the outlook is that good.
Best Wishes

Most things are possible

 
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Welcome to the T1 club, @Douglasw
It may have been 15 years ago, but I still remember the shock of my diagnosis and the feeling of exhaustion dealing with the shock of have a condition for which there is no cure, the exhaustion of learning all about blood sugars, hypos, complications, ... and the exhaustion of getting used to testing and injecting.
Fifteen years later and diabetes is just part of me now, testing and insulin dosing is a way of life. It took some time for me to adjust but within a couple of months I was back to my usual life. I eat as I did before, I exercise as I did before, I work as I did before, I socialise as I did before, ... And I feel grateful for my diagnosis. Yes, I am glad I was diagnosed with diabetes. I am not glad I have it but if I had not been diagnosed when I was, I would not be here now.

You mention you are walking but want something different. My question is what did you do before your diagnosis? A diagnosis of type 1 does not have to be an overhaul of your life. But if you want to do more exercise, there is much much more than the gym. I enjoy climbing and cycling. Some people play team sports like football and hockey. Some people enjoy gardening and some people even enjoy house work (I don't understand them but each to their own). Some local charities offer things like gardening for old people who cannot get out as much as they used to. They are many options.

But, I can't emphasise strongly enough to avoid overdoing it. Dealing with a diagnosis of diabetes is a big thing. Take each day at a time and things like testing and injecting should become second nature rather than something which is overwhelming.

Look after yourself.
 
What @helensaramay says is totally right - so many sports are available. I was a T1 endurance rower for years, and now I love walking, sea swimming and I still row if I get the chance (although I just poddle about on the water these days).

Go to http://www.runsweet.com/ - it's very helpful for advice on sports and T1, and there is a good book - The Diabetic Athlete's Handbook written by a T1, medical doctor, athlete - by Sheri R. Colberg. Lots of useful advice in there.

But first and most important of all - get comfy with your diagnosis and learn your diabetes. We each have our own, and we all react differently to eg. the same foods, the same amount of the same insulin - everything. As the others have said, you'll adjust - we all did and we're no different to you. It just takes a little time, and a fair bit of effort but you'll end up with decent control, doing what you want, when you want (but always taking the diabetes with you, which is why the first thing is learning how to live together)
 
Thanks for the replies to my post, I saw the doctor today and got told that I might be getting started with statins, this really brought me down.
Not been on the site for a while as I am having good days and bad days, more bad than good, but I have a wonderful wife who supports me and keeps me going. Worried about why I might be getting started on statins
 
Hi again @Douglasw, It sounds like you are still struggling a bit.
From my reading and personal experience as a TID, not as health professional advice or opinion:
And if your doctor is talking about statins then you have probably had blood tests recently.

First: could you tell us what your good and bad days are like? What your blood sugar levels ( bsls) are like on each type of day and what your insulin doses, types and food choices are?

Stains are drugs to lower cholesterol levels. They cause side effects in quite a few people. i have read that in drug trials the drug companies, or their investigators, remove people who have side effects at the 'lead-in' phase of the trial if side effects happen to them so that the side-effect numbers reported at the end of the trials are lower than is the truth. Your doctor may not be aware of this.

There is a lot of controversy over cholesterol as none of the trials have proven that high cholesterol causes heart disease.

But it is known that keeping blood sugar levels at as close to non-diabetic levels as possible is important in preventing all diabetes complications including heart disease and with the corect diet, insulin management and lifestyle this level of bsl control has been proven to be achievable for many TIDs.

Looking forward to hearing more about your health and diabetes.

Best Wishes
 
Blood sugar levels are usually between 7 and 9 occasionally a bit higher, foods that I take are porridge or cereal in the morning, usually have a sandwich and fruit at lunchtime then it's rice or pasta with chicken or pork or beef in a sauce. I usually feel really lethargic and do not want to do anything, I get blurry vision a lot and feel like I want to break down and cry a lot. This is the first time I have spoken about it apart from my wife and I am feeling better knowing that there are people out there who have maybe felt the same way
 
Thank you @Douglasw for sharing your feelings and details of your diabetes with us.
We appreciate that doing so is not easy and takes courage.

Many of us with diabetes struggle with low mood whether from the shock of diagnosis, the way the routine takes over one's life or the knowledge we acquire if all the bad things written abiut diabetes or the effect of high or low bsls on one's emotions and thinking.

Many of us look back months later at thecearly struggles we experienced and winder why we worried when niw the whole diabetic routine seems as straight forward as breathing. That is said nit to trivialsie those stressful times but to show that it us a phase in time and that there is sunshine once through the tunnel!

Some of us may also have family who struggle with low mood and wonder if we have inherited the same.

If you can impart your concerns to your doctor and he/she can assess you, you may be helped by a referral for counselling.
And sharing your troubles and concerns with your wife is important she that she is not left wondering what is happening with you. From your previous posts we can see that she is a great support to you. Trusted friends and family may be great supports also as well as sites like this one.

Your GP can also test you to make sure they are nit other medical causes for your mood. - such as a thyroid disorder or low vitamin B12 - both of which can be treated. And whilst having the possibility of yet another health problem may seem daunting the fact that an easily treatable cause may be found at least provides an easy solution.

I am unsure whether you have had any particular diet or way of eating prescribed, but being able to attain non-diabetic bsls as much as possible without hypos, or only very mild ones, seems to help some diabetics feel much better. This is based on surveys done in association with data on bsl control.

This early on you also may start to find that you need less insulin, as you find hypos start to happen more often ( and hypos can affect one's moods something rotten)! If you look up 'honeymoon phase' in the question box upper right of either the Forum or Home page screen you can read an explanation of what this phase is. Knowing to anticioate this phase at least gives you warning and understanding of what is happening when it starts - forewarned is forearmed.

There is research being done on the effect of diet on one's emotions. I would encourage you to read Dr Ede on psychologytoday.com about this.
In terms of best diabetes control and as an alternative to what your current diet and insulin management probably is can i suggest you obtain the book or ebook if Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, and read it? There is also helpful information on dietdoctor.com. With the diet discussed in these readings and if you were minded to try it there with be a need to consult your doctor or nurse regarding things like insulin dose adjustment.

Doctors get worried about low carb diet as described in these readings because less carbs means more protein and fat in one's diet. But if you subscribe to zoeharcombe.com you will see that eating saturated fat and having high cholesterol levels have never been proven to cause heart problems and that low carb diets have never been associated with higher risk of heart disease no matter what a paper in a medical journal stated last year - the statistics in that trial intentionally or unintentionally produced the result the reserachers favoured. At the outset. Zoe provides the argument to show the flaws in the statistics.

So please consider the above step by step in order to realise a better time ahead.

Please keep posting as you go, to let us know how you are travelling and know that we all make mistakes along the way and that we learn not to take things too seriously.
Best Wishes.
 
Thanks for your comments I will go through them and look at the suggestions you make, found out earlier today from the diabetic doctor that I am not type 1 diabetic but it's pancreatic diabetes due to chronic pancreatitis I have had over the last couple of years
 
Ah! This new revelation might explain some things like challenges with controlling bsls and as the pancreas gland also produces the digestives enzymes to breakdown protein anf fat ( a multi-tasker like so many other organs) i wonder whether you might not be breaking down and absorbing all your food.
There are tests to help determine that and if required special medication with digestive enzymes in them to help manage that.
Best Wishes with the continuing ' detective story' of your health and solving things.
 
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