Newly Type 1 - Just a few questions

[Shane_L]

Afternoon All,

I am 29 and have recently been diagnosed as type 1, using novorapid and abasaglar. In the beginning i was very much accepting of the insulin injections etc but i believe that was only because i felt so ill and this was the only thing making me feel better. Now nearly a month on, i have these wild thoughts that i am just going to grow out of this and all will resume to normal. Did anyone else have the same thoughts?

Also i have had a few, lets say episodes were i will randomly start pulsating to the point were i genuinely believe that i can feel my blood going round my body, in the mist of all this my eyesight goes mega blurred and i struggle to focus on one given thing. Has anyone had these and how do i stop them?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pmerrill]

Hi Shane,
Like you I developed Type 1 later in life and had a long "honeymoon period", I've only just started injecting insulin since September and only basal, so I'm still producing some insulin of my own, I don't eat a massive amount of carbs either so that helps with control. I guess I'm still in the honeymoon period, but certainly in the early stages I often had thoughts of "maybe I'm not Diabetic". I now accept full that I am

Re the episodes, did you test you BG levels whilst having the episodes? It could be that you were hypo or perhaps hyper. Depending what the BG situation is you can then either correct with insulin (for Hyper) or have something sugary to eat (for Hypo).

Good luck with it all.

Kind regards

Pete

 

[Shane_L]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the feedback, i believe i was in the 'honeymoon' period for around 8 months as my diabetes went on un-diagnosed. It was only when my BG levels were tested that i came in at 29.8 and the fact that i was like death warmed up was when it all came to light, as i had ketones in urine. I did my BG at the time of the episodes and i was 12.8 and 15.6, however this was still at the stage were my BG was on the way down. So may well be that i was in hyper.

So i think it is a known fact that i am never going to grow out of this.

 

[slip]

I think we've all gone through the 'maybe I'm not diabetic' thought at some point!

If your BG has been high for a while, like 29, and 'suddenly' it's in the low teens your body may think it's a hypo, it's called a false hypo. An ultra fast short drop can also bring on a false hypo too.

 

[Juicyj]

I agree with @slip about fantasising about not being a diabetic, I also had a brief spell when I was diagnosed..

Until your bg levels stabilise and are in range more often you will experience these sensations with your control, always ensure you have glucose to hand everywhere you go and check every time you feel like this.

 

[Bluey1]

Hi Shane,
I'm very similar to you only now much more experienced. Apart from the feeling of your blood going around your body everything you have described you could have been describing me. The blurred vision will resolve itself. Your body is still adjusting it's delicate chemical balance back to the new normal.
Although you don't realise it you are going through a grieving process "denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance"
You have entered the first challenge Everyone's D is personalised, however 99% is common to all of us. Most of us we have Diabetes. With a few Diabetes has them. What I mean is don't let D rule your life. Yes there are going to be occasions when it get is the road, but for most of our lives ti's there for our convenience. I just wish I had this forum 14 years ago. We can provide advice that your D team can't and that is personal experience. Except for airline pilot and a few other professions, you can still do anything. For the last month things will have been a whirlwind, you will have been running to appointments, being jabed and poked, in a daze partially from D and from information overload, let alone the mental stress.

Get yourself back into your old routine with the obvious minor adjustments as much as you can. I promise you in a year you will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Don't take any notice of the whinges here. We are experts at having good whinge every so often, sadly for some that is all they do. I suspect if it wasn't D, they would be complaining about something else and unfortunately D has them. Most whinges are relevant, but may never impact you. With some, well lets just worry about you mastering D, then you can take on some of the more interesting challenges D can present.

Whenever you feeling down come and ask for support here. When you have a question ask it here and expect 10 different answers many contradicting each other. Look around you, out of all the nasty things out there you were lucky enough to get D and in this amazing technological world. 80 years ago this would have been a death sentence, it's now a minor inconvenience, well it will be once you get yourself sorted and some experience. I'm now off to inject, have a shower then breakfast (I'm in Oz) and off to challenge Saturday.

Craig

 

[NoKindOfSusie]

I agree with @slip about fantasising about not being a diabetic, I also had a brief spell when I was diagnosed..

This never occurred to me (I was diagnosed on September 12.) I never thought "oh maybe they're wrong." I knew how screwed I was from the second I was told and it never crossed my mind to think any other way. Am I strange? Don't answer that.

I had heard people say that getting bad news was "Like being hit by an express train." I never understood this. Then this happened, and yes, it was like being hit by an express train. I had some knowledge of it, enough knowledge to realise what I had to look forward to. It happened again recently when I got a very unwelcome result on a test and you stagger around trying to remember how to breathe. It is not nice, you do not have to like it.

Lantus makes me feel terrible but I don't know about the whole heart pounding thing, it just makes me feel tired and shaky.

 

[slip]

Am I strange? Don't answer that.

................................

 

[alhubb]

Definitely.

I was diagnosed just over a year a go at 31/32 (I was diagnosed the day before my birthday!) and I still have many times when I "forget" that I am diabetic and suddenly hits me I need to check my BG or inject. It has certainly taken some getting used to, even though my partner is type 1 also and has been since she was a child.

I think in the back of my mind I sometimes think it will go away and I won't be diabetic anymore, but I think I just tell myself that to get through the days and keep my BG under control. The days I realise this is for life are the days it gets me down and upset. I try to ignore those days, especially after the death of my friend last year from complications after not looking after himself, but trying to use his mistakes as a way to motivate myself to do the best I can.

 

[NoKindOfSusie]

Definitely.
I still have many times when I "forget" that I am diabetic and suddenly hits me I need to check my BG or inject.

I get this most mornings. You wake up, lie there in your morning fuzz for a few seconds, then become aware that something utterly horrible has happened, and then you remember. It makes me not want to go to sleep, because this is going to happen when I wake up.

 

[Shane_L]

Hi Shane,
I'm very similar to you only now much more experienced. Apart from the feeling of your blood going around your body everything you have described you could have been describing me. The blurred vision will resolve itself. Your body is still adjusting it's delicate chemical balance back to the new normal.
Although you don't realise it you are going through a grieving process "denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance"
You have entered the first challenge Everyone's D is personalised, however 99% is common to all of us. Most of us we have Diabetes. With a few Diabetes has them. What I mean is don't let D rule your life. Yes there are going to be occasions when it get is the road, but for most of our lives ti's there for our convenience. I just wish I had this forum 14 years ago. We can provide advice that your D team can't and that is personal experience. Except for airline pilot and a few other professions, you can still do anything. For the last month things will have been a whirlwind, you will have been running to appointments, being jabed and poked, in a daze partially from D and from information overload, let alone the mental stress.

Get yourself back into your old routine with the obvious minor adjustments as much as you can. I promise you in a year you will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Don't take any notice of the whinges here. We are experts at having good whinge every so often, sadly for some that is all they do. I suspect if it wasn't D, they would be complaining about something else and unfortunately D has them. Most whinges are relevant, but may never impact you. With some, well lets just worry about you mastering D, then you can take on some of the more interesting challenges D can present.

Whenever you feeling down come and ask for support here. When you have a question ask it here and expect 10 different answers many contradicting each other. Look around you, out of all the nasty things out there you were lucky enough to get D and in this amazing technological world. 80 years ago this would have been a death sentence, it's now a minor inconvenience, well it will be once you get yourself sorted and some experience. I'm now off to inject, have a shower then breakfast (I'm in Oz) and off to challenge Saturday.

Craig

Hi Craig,

Many thanks for your encouraging words, it does make life that little big more bearable. I am just at the stage were i think, 'For F**k sake, i am sick of having to do this', especially when i was meeting up with pals over xmas and we had booked a fine dining restaurant for our night out. As the carb counting was so new to me, i ended up getting severe anxiety as to what i was going to eat, what carbs were in what meal etc. This was a massive thing for me to stomach as i know you can live a perfectly normal lifestyle as long as you can control your BG, i spoke to my friends and explained the situation and thankfully they were more than accommodating and we booked a different restaurant were i was more comfortable and felt more in control and could work out the insulin/carb ratio. However, it was at that time i realised that life is not going to be the same again and that i will have to prep for everything that i do, i just felt that there would no more spontaneous nights out or meals. However, over the past few weeks i have been getting used to it all, i am wanting to get back to going to the gym, but have yet to be spoken to about exercising. I am back in the hospital tomorrow so will hopefully get told tomorrow, however all advice is welcomed.

Thanks again guys,

Shane

 

[Shane_L]

Definitely.

I was diagnosed just over a year a go at 31/32 (I was diagnosed the day before my birthday!) and I still have many times when I "forget" that I am diabetic and suddenly hits me I need to check my BG or inject. It has certainly taken some getting used to, even though my partner is type 1 also and has been since she was a child.

I think in the back of my mind I sometimes think it will go away and I won't be diabetic anymore, but I think I just tell myself that to get through the days and keep my BG under control. The days I realise this is for life are the days it gets me down and upset. I try to ignore those days, especially after the death of my friend last year from complications after not looking after himself, but trying to use his mistakes as a way to motivate myself to do the best I can.

Most definitely described exactly how i feel.