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Recently been diagnosed with Diabetes type 1, help?
- Thread starter diabetic1
- Start Date
- Messages
- 23,618
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Pump
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Welcome! 
Take a look at the community pages of DCUK first as there is some excellent information for those who are newly diagnosed, just click on the logo above. When you have had a look come back to the forum and have a good read of the type 1 section, there are many experienced and very helpful type 1's on the forum who will answer any questions or concerns you may have......so just fire away when ready.
Best wishes
Nigel
Take a look at the community pages of DCUK first as there is some excellent information for those who are newly diagnosed, just click on the logo above. When you have had a look come back to the forum and have a good read of the type 1 section, there are many experienced and very helpful type 1's on the forum who will answer any questions or concerns you may have......so just fire away when ready.
Best wishes
Nigel
Hi
I am a type1 diabetic adn have been since the age of 6yrs old.
For the first few months i would test your blood glucose level four times a day (b/fast, lunch, dinner and before bed.
I would wathc the amount of carbs you are taking, as carbs turn to glucose.
Make sure you are carrying glucose tablets or at least a lucozade in case of a hypo.
If you can keep your blood levels under 10 but not below 5 as thats when i personally have hypo's but please remember every diabetic is different to the other so we all have different ways.
I rebelled against my diabetes for quite a while but obviously i don't want to worry you, but i have alot of health complication mainly my eye sight. I have had both eyes completely laizered and i am now partially sighted now.
i have to sign off at this moment, but i wish you all the best with everything, this doesn't stop you carrying on a normal life.
Take care
I am a type1 diabetic adn have been since the age of 6yrs old.
For the first few months i would test your blood glucose level four times a day (b/fast, lunch, dinner and before bed.
I would wathc the amount of carbs you are taking, as carbs turn to glucose.
Make sure you are carrying glucose tablets or at least a lucozade in case of a hypo.
If you can keep your blood levels under 10 but not below 5 as thats when i personally have hypo's but please remember every diabetic is different to the other so we all have different ways.
I rebelled against my diabetes for quite a while but obviously i don't want to worry you, but i have alot of health complication mainly my eye sight. I have had both eyes completely laizered and i am now partially sighted now.
i have to sign off at this moment, but i wish you all the best with everything, this doesn't stop you carrying on a normal life.
Take care
copepod
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 735
- Type of diabetes
- Type 1
- Treatment type
- Insulin
Welcome diabetic 1. Type 1 diabetes has absolutely nothing to do with your lifestyle prior to diagnosis - in fact, type 2 diabetes is not purely associated with poor lifestyle.
However, moderately healthy lifestyle is important for maintaining your health. I was diagnosed type 1 15 years ago, aged 30 years, having always been fit and active, and have added a couple more sports to my life since then - basically, adventure racing is younger than my diagnosis. I did my BSc before diagnosis and MSc since - both involved moving, and MSc involved moving from England for research in Northern Ireland.
It all depends on your interests, hopes, priorities etc. I'll be honest that loosing my right to drive minibuses & vans, serve in TA, professionally SCUBA dive etc was a pain for me, as I'd done all those before diagnosis, and thus had to change my employment. But I have found some ways round things eg going as volunteer youth / science leader on expedition to Chile, Falklands & South Georgia.
However, moderately healthy lifestyle is important for maintaining your health. I was diagnosed type 1 15 years ago, aged 30 years, having always been fit and active, and have added a couple more sports to my life since then - basically, adventure racing is younger than my diagnosis. I did my BSc before diagnosis and MSc since - both involved moving, and MSc involved moving from England for research in Northern Ireland.
It all depends on your interests, hopes, priorities etc. I'll be honest that loosing my right to drive minibuses & vans, serve in TA, professionally SCUBA dive etc was a pain for me, as I'd done all those before diagnosis, and thus had to change my employment. But I have found some ways round things eg going as volunteer youth / science leader on expedition to Chile, Falklands & South Georgia.
jopar
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 2,222
Being diagnosed is a major blow in life as yes it does change things, the life you sort of saw in front of you has been pulled under your feet, as you try to work out how the dignoses fit into your future.. And where ever you look you get a message of 'if you don't this will happen' doesn't help matters either..
Reality, you will go through a period of time which is very much like the 5 stages of grieve process when you lose somebody close to you, as you grive for your past life etc, as with grieve there is no time scare or what stages you will travel through it.. You are likely to hit a period where you want to bury your head in the sand so it all goes away etc...
Getting good management routines in with testing and data collection, learning how to adjust insulin to suit your needs, so you can adjust your insulin to cover your foods or compensate for exercise, knowing how the body process alcohol if you fancy a drink with your mates etc.. Will set you up for good control...
As to your future, well not alot will change, take care of your diabetes and life is your oyster as it was last month and last year! There is very little that you can't do as a diabetic most things you are more than able to do, just got to put a bit more thought into as you know got to work with you diabetes in mind, You can drive a car (as long as you have good control and hypo aware) but not an HGV vechiel, if you had aspartions of becoming an astronought, sorry these will be dashed.. But if you fancy climbing Ben Nevis then this is achieveable with the right sort of planning...
Almost 23 years ago, I sat in your position, scare whitless to what my future held now 23 years on the horror stories I was told would happen haven't, still got my limbs, only wear glass's for fine print (age related) and my kidneys are still doing what they supposed to do..
There is only one thing that diabetes has stopped me doing, and that's taking a crack at an HGV licence but otherwise I've done what I've wanted to do...
Reality, you will go through a period of time which is very much like the 5 stages of grieve process when you lose somebody close to you, as you grive for your past life etc, as with grieve there is no time scare or what stages you will travel through it.. You are likely to hit a period where you want to bury your head in the sand so it all goes away etc...
Getting good management routines in with testing and data collection, learning how to adjust insulin to suit your needs, so you can adjust your insulin to cover your foods or compensate for exercise, knowing how the body process alcohol if you fancy a drink with your mates etc.. Will set you up for good control...
As to your future, well not alot will change, take care of your diabetes and life is your oyster as it was last month and last year! There is very little that you can't do as a diabetic most things you are more than able to do, just got to put a bit more thought into as you know got to work with you diabetes in mind, You can drive a car (as long as you have good control and hypo aware) but not an HGV vechiel, if you had aspartions of becoming an astronought, sorry these will be dashed.. But if you fancy climbing Ben Nevis then this is achieveable with the right sort of planning...
Almost 23 years ago, I sat in your position, scare whitless to what my future held now 23 years on the horror stories I was told would happen haven't, still got my limbs, only wear glass's for fine print (age related) and my kidneys are still doing what they supposed to do..
There is only one thing that diabetes has stopped me doing, and that's taking a crack at an HGV licence but otherwise I've done what I've wanted to do...
I'm around the same age as you and I can understand why you'd be a little worried. I'm assuming that at times you want to go out with mates and have a drink or spend the day with them. Drinking can be difficult because I've found some drinks raise my sugars and others lower them.
Once you get in to a good routine then it's really not too much of an issue like brushing your teeth and combing your hair.
Both me and my brother have had diabetes (he's had it for most of his life) but we haven't suffered the too badly. We have the odd day where we may have a hypo (where the sugars drop too much) but our eyes are still healthy etc.
Another issue I had was when I looked into army jobs. They wouldn't take me on so I'm sorry if you were looking to that sort of thing and the thingd mentioned above.
Once you get in to a good routine then it's really not too much of an issue like brushing your teeth and combing your hair.
Both me and my brother have had diabetes (he's had it for most of his life) but we haven't suffered the too badly. We have the odd day where we may have a hypo (where the sugars drop too much) but our eyes are still healthy etc.
Another issue I had was when I looked into army jobs. They wouldn't take me on so I'm sorry if you were looking to that sort of thing and the thingd mentioned above.
Welcome to the world of diabetes, diabetic1. Of course it's not exactly the club you wanted to join, but it beats a lot of them.
The first thing you need to do is ask your doctor what education facilities are available in your area. There are various courses you can go on, and if none are available, you should have access to a specialist diabetes nurse who can advise you on everything and unravel the mysteries.
The most important thing you will need to learn is how to work out how much insulin to have to balance the carbohydrate (starchy foods like bread, potato, pasta etc) that you eat. It is done on the basis of working out a ratio of insulin to carbs and that ratio is different for everyone. It is often different between morning and night for the same person.
Remember that physical activity will lower your blood sugar, sweet foods like sweets etc, will raise it quickly and can start off a bit of a roller coaster of ups and downs if you're not careful. Sweet foods are not a no no at all, you just need to learn how to balance them with the right amount of insulin, and, just like the rest of the world, it's not too healthy to have too much of them. There's not much in the food line that you really shouldn't touch, but non-diet fizzy drinks is one I never go for because they are soooo sweet and will kick your blood sugar (BS) sky high, so reserve such things for if you go hypo - and you will sometimes, it's inevitable.
I was diagnosed at age 17, about 35 years ago, and I still remember the attitudes of other people. I don't think much has changed in the public perception. People will try to tell you that you shouldn't eat anything with sugar in it: don't listen to them, just learn to balance insulin and carbs and you will be fine. Sometimes you will go hypo and sometimes your BS will go high: these are absolutely inevitable, no matter how hard you try to keep balanced it is a bit like keeping both ends of a seesaw off the ground with a wobbly weight jumping about in the middle, pushing one end down then the other. Controlling what that weight does will take time to learn. The weight represents the variables like emotion that often pushes BS up due to adrenalin whose job it is to fill your system with sugar so you can run or fight: it's a pain for diabetes and you can't predict when it might happen. When it feels as if people expect you to have perfect control, ignore them if you can. All you can do is your best and as you get to know how your body responds to insulin your control will get better and better until it all seems easy. But even then, don't expect perfection, you will only be disappointed: it's ok to not be perfect, none of us are.
With that in mind, you MUST make sure that you keep some fast acting carbs with you at all times. Preferably a drink, a carton of fruit juice is good although a bit bulky, because liquid is absorbed into the system much quicker than solids are and when you go hypo you need to treat it is fast as possible because then it doesn't go so low that it leaves you feeling like you've been run over by a truck. That must up there is about the only must to remember... except of course the obvious of don't forget to have your insulin and balance it with carbs.
One of the biggest pains of the whole thing is that you cannot just say, 'Hey let's go out for bit,' without making sure you have your emergency rations with you, and if you are not going to be back for a bit, you have to take your insulin too. It seems like a little thing, but it is the one thing I sometimes resent even now, that I have to make sure I have that emergency kit with me. You get used to it and life goes on and you can live normally.
I have spent my life working with horses and bringing up children that I had normally and none of them have diabetes. I have done and still do endurance riding which is quite a challenge, but worth it and I am now training to be a driving instructor, which is no longer a banned profession. There are still a few careers you are not allowed to go into, but they are not many.
I hope you manage well. There is loads of advice and support available in these pages, and if you insist, and I mean insist because you might have to, on getting some comprehensive education about how to manage it all then you will do fine.
The first thing you need to do is ask your doctor what education facilities are available in your area. There are various courses you can go on, and if none are available, you should have access to a specialist diabetes nurse who can advise you on everything and unravel the mysteries.
The most important thing you will need to learn is how to work out how much insulin to have to balance the carbohydrate (starchy foods like bread, potato, pasta etc) that you eat. It is done on the basis of working out a ratio of insulin to carbs and that ratio is different for everyone. It is often different between morning and night for the same person.
Remember that physical activity will lower your blood sugar, sweet foods like sweets etc, will raise it quickly and can start off a bit of a roller coaster of ups and downs if you're not careful. Sweet foods are not a no no at all, you just need to learn how to balance them with the right amount of insulin, and, just like the rest of the world, it's not too healthy to have too much of them. There's not much in the food line that you really shouldn't touch, but non-diet fizzy drinks is one I never go for because they are soooo sweet and will kick your blood sugar (BS) sky high, so reserve such things for if you go hypo - and you will sometimes, it's inevitable.
I was diagnosed at age 17, about 35 years ago, and I still remember the attitudes of other people. I don't think much has changed in the public perception. People will try to tell you that you shouldn't eat anything with sugar in it: don't listen to them, just learn to balance insulin and carbs and you will be fine. Sometimes you will go hypo and sometimes your BS will go high: these are absolutely inevitable, no matter how hard you try to keep balanced it is a bit like keeping both ends of a seesaw off the ground with a wobbly weight jumping about in the middle, pushing one end down then the other. Controlling what that weight does will take time to learn. The weight represents the variables like emotion that often pushes BS up due to adrenalin whose job it is to fill your system with sugar so you can run or fight: it's a pain for diabetes and you can't predict when it might happen. When it feels as if people expect you to have perfect control, ignore them if you can. All you can do is your best and as you get to know how your body responds to insulin your control will get better and better until it all seems easy. But even then, don't expect perfection, you will only be disappointed: it's ok to not be perfect, none of us are.
With that in mind, you MUST make sure that you keep some fast acting carbs with you at all times. Preferably a drink, a carton of fruit juice is good although a bit bulky, because liquid is absorbed into the system much quicker than solids are and when you go hypo you need to treat it is fast as possible because then it doesn't go so low that it leaves you feeling like you've been run over by a truck. That must up there is about the only must to remember... except of course the obvious of don't forget to have your insulin and balance it with carbs.
One of the biggest pains of the whole thing is that you cannot just say, 'Hey let's go out for bit,' without making sure you have your emergency rations with you, and if you are not going to be back for a bit, you have to take your insulin too. It seems like a little thing, but it is the one thing I sometimes resent even now, that I have to make sure I have that emergency kit with me. You get used to it and life goes on and you can live normally.
I have spent my life working with horses and bringing up children that I had normally and none of them have diabetes. I have done and still do endurance riding which is quite a challenge, but worth it and I am now training to be a driving instructor, which is no longer a banned profession. There are still a few careers you are not allowed to go into, but they are not many.
I hope you manage well. There is loads of advice and support available in these pages, and if you insist, and I mean insist because you might have to, on getting some comprehensive education about how to manage it all then you will do fine.
If you are able to, order yourself a copy of a book called Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults: How to Become an Expert on Your Own Diabetes. I found it very useful in learning to understand diabetes, how the different insulins work and a load more information. Don't try to read it all at once, and in the beginning some of it may not make sense. But if you dip into it on and off on a regular basis then it will help you to manage your diabetes a lot by yourself. Your doctors and nurses will help you a lot but I have found having knowledge and understanding of diabetes myself has made it a whole lot easier to manage. I'm sorry you've been diagnosed but remember that it does get easier with time and knowledge and although it can be an inconvenience it shouldn't stop you from doing most things that you want to do.
phoenix said:
Thanks for that tip, just sat and read the section about insulins
Hello diabetic1
This site is full of useful info and i find other peoples experiences helpful too.
I am not diabetic myself but my daughter was diagnosed with type 1 two years ago.
