• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Newly Type 1

D

Day0_NZ

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all,

I was diagnosed type 1 this week and it has me freaking out. I'm in my 30s with a family and I don't quite understand what all this means right now. Looking forward to reading through this forum and getting some ideas... Trying very hard right now to not think about the negatives!

Thanks everyone
 
Hi @Day0_NZ and welcome to the forums.

I know it's a shock but it gets easier, trust me.

If you have any specific questions then ask away.
 
Thanks guys, my biggest concern is messing up and doing damage to myself which then affects my family! I find eating almost scary right now...
 
Hi I was diagnosed nearly 3 months ago and it is really scary at first (sometimes still is) but it is amazing how much you can learn very quickly.

What I did not realise at first was that it can take time for your levels to come down & that causes excess stress because I thought I was doing something wrong, but as long as they are going down & not up that is good!

What sort of typical meals do you like to eat? Making a couple of small changes away from carbs can make a big difference especially whilst you are learning how to dose correctly.

I’ve not fully learned how to bolus for what I’m eating yet so I eat to my insulin dose, but I am gradually changing that & testing my limits. Keeping a food & testing log really helps, as does having a free style libra that constantly measures my BG, it might be worth seeing if you can get one on prescription or self fund while your figuring things out.

Take each day as it comes, learn as much as you can but at your own speed. Diabetes UK have a good learning centre, I also found an online hypo awareness course that helped to stop worrying.


https://www.hypoprogram.com/
 

Thank you for your reply.

My levels seem high still, I'm less than a week in to this lifetime journey but it seems like that is what happened to you to so that's reassuring, it's certainly contributing to my stress!

As for typical meals, I like pretty much every food there is! I think this is the hardest thing right now, can I eat this? Can I eat that etc. I can't be funded (or right now afford) a CGM - I see a lot of people use them.

Are there many "cheat" foods that T1's know they can just eat without any care?
 

The text book response to this is that you can eat whatever you want as long as you bolus correctly and keep on top of your glucose levels. And many T1's can do this successfully.

After time and a lot of testing, a few of us find that reducing carbohydrate intake makes glucose levels easier to manage. But don't worry about this too much right now and don't obsess about glucose levels. Work to reduce your overall average level gradually because there is evidence to suggest that dropping too quickly may cause permanent damage to eyesight.

So let it take a few weeks to settle down, "nice and easy does it"!

Edited to add, stress raises your cortisol levels and that's a cue for your liver to release lots of stored glucose so "relax".
 
Day0_NZ said:
Are there many "cheat" foods that T1's know they can just eat without any care?
Click to expand...

Eggs are a good bet, any kind of meat & fish, salads, green veg. If you like to snack anything under 10g of carbs won’t significantly increase your levels. I’ve found crisps under 10g, cottage cheese, crab sticks, pork scratchings (although bad for fat content), cucumber, cheddar cheese, crackers all work for me.

But it’s really all about testing for yourself & seeing what happens. For example I know that a 4oz cheese burger & bun will spike my levels out of range but a large portion of homemade lasagne is fine. If I crave a takeaway kfc chicken & chips is fine but a McDonalds isn’t worth it. A roast dinner is great but 4 roast potatoes is my limit & I eat more green veg.

Looking ahead once you can figure out your insulin to carb ratio you can eat whatever you want & just take an adjusted insulin dose. I’m not there yet & waiting on a dietician appointment to help.

It’s a lot of balancing of different factors too so don’t worry if you get it ‘wrong’ just make notes & adjust for next time. Daily activity plays a part too so if I know I’ll be inactive after lunch I will eat less carbs than if I plan to take the kids to the park or do a lot of housework.

Good luck & just keep trying
 
urbanracer said:
The text book response to this is that you can eat whatever you want as long as you bolus correctly and keep on top of your glucose levels. And many T1's can do this successfully.

So let it take a few weeks to settle down, "nice and easy does it"!
Click to expand...

Sounds like it becomes a bit of an art where you can predict/calc the carbs and bolus accurately! Maybe I will aim for sensei level in my craft!
 

Your snack foods sound great!

Talking about your roast and it’s potatoes.... is that your limit without injecting before hand? Thanks for answering my questions!
 
No problem at all. That’s my limit having taken insulin.You are always going to need to bolus before a meal but over time that dose will change, until of course you reach sensei level & there’s more freedom.

I use the carbs & Cals app & log what I eat. It doesn’t always have everything on there but in that case I calculate carbs from the labels & enter something similar on the app to keep track. There are other apps, mysugar is a popular one too & I think there’s a thread on here about them.
 

Awesome thanks.
 
I remember clearly 20 years ago when i was told "your type !" It does get so much easier as you start to understand your body a bit more and whats good or bad for you. I have never met a type ! (who if they are honest with you) will not at some sage mucked up and had the highs n lows, so dont let anyone let you think they have it mastered cos truth is more than lightly they havent. I remember way back I was speaking with the Wife of a Type 1 and i sais to her, wow your husband was talking to me and telling me what gtrat control he has..... she started laughing and saying you have got to be kidding, its a hypo one day and a mega high the other. So listen to YOU. My advise would be try and get a Freestyle Libre 2 Sensor. Its been a life changer for me and free here in Spain on the national health. You will be fine and good luck
 
I find the worse thing that pushes me right up there is Rice, if I dont counteract it with my insulin it would send me through the roof every time, typical seeing I live close to Valencia and the rice dishes are every where, Paella, Arroz al Horno (rice in the oven) I swear someone was having a proper laugh up there when they labelled me a type 1. Are the sensor systems free in other countries? In spain they give me 3 months supply each time and its so bloody good to know not only what your sugar levels are doing but to also know in what direction its heading and if its heading up or down fast or slow, its a real game changer. wish I had have had that 20 years ago as a lot of it then was trial and error MOSTLY ERROR
 
Last edited:

Thanks for your reply. The sensor system is not free where I live and not covered by insurance. Testing strips are what is covered by the government.
 
Cheers for the advice all. I really need to get off google! Jumping from life expectancy to “banned” foods is getting too much!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…