Partner of a Type 1 Diabetic

[TonberryA01]

Hi, I'm new to this forum. My name is Ashlee and I'm a 16 year old from Australia. I have a boyfriend of 1 year who has Type 1 Diabetes. I understand majority of the theory behind Diabetes, understand injecting and levels and hypos and whatnot, but I'm beginning to realize (only now...) that theory is not enough sometimes. I do not understand much about what I am supposed to do as his partner.

What originally spurred me to think this was that a few months back we were both traveling on a bus. He was heading to work, I to meet some friends. On the way, he mentioned he forgot to inject after lunch, and was starting to feel a bit high. He asked me if he should take some insulin then. Stupidly, I said yes. He did a standard injection for himself (something like 24? Maybe?) and hopped off the bus to work.

I met my friends and was having a nice time, until a few hours later Dan (my partner's best friend) missed a call from him. Soon after, he received another call. He answered, but Ben never spoke, and hung up soon again. After that, nobody could reach him for roughly 3-4 hours. Finally, I got a text from him. It pretty much said 'Sorry I didn't text you earlier, I just had my first ever hypo. I'm still recovering, but I'm fine now.'

Apparently, the entire time he was at work, he was having a low that no amount of sugar could fix. Thankfully, his father picked him up from work. He was rambling nonsense in the back of the car and fiddling with his phone (none of which he remembers) before fainting. He had to be dragged up the steps of his house by his father and 12-year-old sister, which by then he was convulsing. And dear god, were they both idiots. They have a full supply of glucagen kits in the house, but did not use them, instead pouring straight cordial down his throat. He was resuscitated after roughly a litre.

Well, I've gotten carried away here, but this is mainly why I want to make sure I can take care of him properly, so that this sort of situation does not happen ever again, to myself or any other person.

I hope to use this topic as a general guide not only for me, but for any other partner (or friend) of a diabetic who wants to understand what they need to look out for and what they should do to keep their partner (or friend) in good health.

Any tip or advice is welcome, as long as it is true. Thank you for listening to this rambling of mine, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Regards,
TonberryA01

 

[suzi]

Hi Ashlee,
Your boyfriend is one lucky guy to have such a caring girlfriend, i hope my son finds one like you when he starts dating (he's only 10) Firstly , yes if you miss an injection after youv'e ate, you have to inject as soon as possible, to stop your bs rising too much. Guessing by your boyfriends experience, he injected way too much, which meant he had a serious hypo. Best way to bring blood levels back up quickly when hypo, is to drink lucozade or have glucoze tablets ( the glucoze tabs are handy and easy to carry about) This should be followed be a long acting carbohydrate which keeps the blood sugar stable. Hope this helps,
Suzi x
ps jelly beans, any full sugar soft drink, even sugar water, are all helpful whilst hypo.

 

[hanadr]

Hi Ashlee
you might find that Diabetes UK have groups for people in your position, which you can join. They can help you to learn what to do
Hana
38 years married to a T1 and having had to deal with EVERY kind of emergency

 

[Fujifilm]

Gday Ashlee

Does your boyfriend not have a meter? it could well have been that his feeling a bit high was him actually feeling a bit low therefore the injection of insulin too much.

I have been in that position myself where I have felt high and without checking injected some insulin. Now I always check.

It is a horrible situation when you are still dropping despite taking the sugar to correct it.

The good news is you will start to recognise all the signs of him being high or low and will probably get to a stage where you realise what he is before he does. Also he will learn what to do and what not to do, thats one of the things with diabetes, you have to learn whats right for you.

If he does not have a meter make sure he gets one and carrys it with him along with lucozade tabs etc. I seem to remember that medicare paid something towards the sticks but I was in Perth so may be different in Queensland. As a type 1 its really important that he checks himself reguarly especially if he is not feeling good. I know the sun would play havoc with how I felt some days not a problem we have here. :lol:

Not sure if you can get them in Queensland but worth checking and thats glucogel used to be called hypostop, its in a plastic tube and can be easily carried around not bulky like the glucogen kit.

When you feel low you just snap the top off and squeeze it in your mouth, quite effective and something I always carry and with it being a plastic tube it be carried into the sea when surfing etc. Also something you can carry in your bag in case you need to get sugar into him because you can put inside the gums.

 

[TonberryA01]

Thank you, all of you. I'll have to look into that Lucozade, Glucoze tabs and Glucogel. They'll come in handy.

In reply to Suzi, yes, he does have a meter, but he's not very diligent about checking. I'm always up him to test. He just complains :lol:

And I'm already very good at telling when he's high or low. When he's low he's generally quite happy, but slows down in everything he does. He generally has a headache and usually is sleepy. When he's high he's always crabby, and spends a lot of his time trying not to flip out at tiny things. It's amusing to watch.

But yes, I can generally tell if he's high or low before he can. I found this power about two months ago.

Continue to post everyone, I really appreciate it!