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Scared

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sunfloralis

Newbie
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Hello everyone
I was diagnosed with LADA a few days ago..I am 27 years old. I went to my yearly check up and they discovered my blood sugar was 19 mmol/l.
They send me straight to the GP and I was put on insulin 4 times a day, before every meal and before bed. They ran a lot of tests and everything was fine expect my blood sugar was really high. I had no symptoms whatsoever...I wasn't thirsty, wasn't going to to toilet a lot, had no blurry vision...basically nothing out of the ordinary..
I am very grateful they discovered it.
But I have a problem as I am completely new to this..My blood sugars are still very high..from 12-20 mmol/l even now on insulin.
My diet was quite healthy before diagnosis. I try to avoid processed food, eat loads of veggies and fruit and I am also pretty active, I hike a lot and also do exercise at home.
But since the diagnose I am really really scared, my anxiety is through the roof... This high blood sugar worries me as I read a lot about complications.. My GP says it might take a while for my blood sugar to stabilize and that we need to figure out my insulin doses.
But I have a really hard time and I worry sick about my blood sugar levels. The diagnosis was also a huge shock and I still haven't wrapped my head around it. We have diabetes in my family also, my dad was a type 1..
Any advice would be helpful and appreciated...does it really take time for blood sugar to stabilize?
 

Welcome here and try to have faith in the help you get , it takes also some time to educate yourself in these conditions . Meanwhile try to cut back on fruits and bread to start with and eat more protein and fats , maybe from chia. avocado olives and nuts , the protein is easiest to get from fish and animals and eggs like around 1 gram of protein pr KG of bodyweight
I’ll try to tag @daisy1 to get you the basic information in this forum
 
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sunfloralis said:
Any advice would be helpful and appreciated...does it really take time for blood sugar to stabilize?
Click to expand...
Yes, they don't want to rush things. Partly because they want to gradually increase doses so that you don't have massive hypos, and partly because it's less damages for organs like your eyes for your sugars to reduce slowly back to normal levels.

You'll probably still be in a honeymoon phase, producing some insulin, which it makes it more difficult to calculate doses, since people sometimes start to produce more insulin when their bodies are no longer under pressure to produce all the insulin that they need.

Unfortunately T1/LADA has nothing to do with diet or exercise before diagnosis, you've just got slightly faulty genes which have led to an autoimmune condition which is destroying your insulin producing cells. On the other hand, it'll probably be easier to take control of your diabetes because you've already got a healthy lifestyle/diet. Also, since you're T1 rather than T2 you'll have much more freedom over your diet as you can inject to cover your dietary needs rather than being forced to go extremely low carb. (Most of the T2s on here control their illness by going low carb, although some T1s also do this as it means they need less insulin, it's a choice you can make.)

You say your father was T1, I don't know whether he's dead or absent, but I do know that the care for T1s is much better now than it was 50 years when I was diagnosed. So there's no reason why you can't have a normal lifespan, have kids if you want them, do all the normal stuff that any 27 year old might wish to do. There are plenty of us on these boards who've been diabetic for a half century or more and are still going strong.

It doesn't matter that your blood sugars are still high, they'll probably still go high occasionally in ten years time. T1 is a marathon not a sprint, and the technological tools to aid control and avoid complications are improving day by day. I'm still fine after 49 years, and I couldn't even do blood tests for the first decade or so of my illness.

(Just one thing: if you smoke, please stop now. It's way way worse for diabetics than non-diabetics and it will take decades off your life if you keep doing it.)

Otherwise, relax, don't panic. There's a lot to learn but you don't have to do it all at once.

I'll tag in @daisy1 to give you the usual intro to diabetes pack, but if you've diabetes in the family you probably already know it, and it tends to be slanted slightly more to T2s than T1s.

Good luck, and welcome to the forums
 
Hi @sunfloralis Welcome to the forum. Much has already been said above and I would simply like to add two points. Firstly I know that the risk of complications is a real fear, but even after 20 years of very poorly controlled Type 1 from 1959 - 1979, I certainly had complications (retinopathy, nephthropathy and charcot foot) but I am still very mobile, only use reading glasses, and have a transplanted kidney and pancreas. Your attitude suggests that this is unlikely to become a reality. Secondly stress, shock and anxiety can all activate the adrenal gland. The main function of adrenaline is to increase blood glucose! It is interesting that you showed none of the usual symptoms. I wish you the best of luck getting this sorted quickly and efficiently.
 
@sunfloralis
Hello and welcome to the Forum Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it both interesting and helpful.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 147,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:

  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:

  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
 
Welcome to the forum, @sunfloralis
With LADA, I recommend reading the type 1 sub forum and remembering it is a very different beast to type 2.
As 9 out of 10 people with diabetes have type 2, this number is closely reflected on this forum.
For example, the introductory message from Daisy is very type 2 focused and you will often receive recommendations to cut back on fruit and veg which is not necessary if you are able to match your insulin to the carbs you are eating.

It is initially very scary to hear that you have a chronic condition. However, you are not alone; many people live full and active lives and have no concern about continuing your hiking. I hike, spin. climb, go the gym a lot and keep pretty fit whilst eating what I want and maintaining relative good control.

As others have said, your team will likely want to reduce your BG slowly and give your body a chance to get used to the lower levels. A few weeks of higher BG are unlikely to cause complications.
Diabetes takes some time to tame ... and some times you may feel it is untameable ... so don't rush and ask questions.
 
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Thank you for the replies. I am just really down about this but I guess that is pretty normal. I've been around diabetics since I can remember as my Dad was diagnosed when he was 14 and my grandmother had type 2.
So diabetes is nothing new to me, I was just hoping I would never get it. And now that I did I am scared as hell. I really want to control it and live life as normal as possible.
My lifestyle is pretty healthy already, I don't follow any diet though, I just try to stay away from processed foods and cook meals at home. I eat at least 5 times a day. Also the fruits that I eat are mostly apples, blueberries..sometimes bananas.
I am aware it takes time and being diagnosed can be scary.. I do feel like the stress got to me and it's probably also a huge reason why my blood sugar is high. I also read a lot about the complications and that's the main reason why I have so much anxiety.
My dad was type 1 for almost 44 years but he sadly passed away because he got pneumonia and a stroke. His diabetes was well controlled and he lived a very normal life.
I just hope everything falls in place and I will get my levels down.
 
 
Hi and welcome. The good thing about insulin is that it works with the occasional high (and low) as others have said. Your nurse should guide you in getting both insulins balanced over the coming weeks. The once a day Basal does the job of balancing your liver's continuous background glucose output and when you are ready can be tweaked very gradually up or down to keep your BS stable when not eating for a good few hours. Your nurse may not yet have explained and started you on carb-counting where you adjust your mealtime Bolus insulin to match the meal carbs. Do discuss this with the nurse at your next review as it can have a big effect on BS control minimising highs and lows. Don't worry as a T1/LADA on insulin can often manage BS more easily than a T2 and you have freedom to eat what you like as long as you are sensible with the carbs.
 
Hi I'm nearly in the same boat as you - I don't have a type diagnosis yet though. I've been treated as a T2 diabetic since July last year but am going for testing next week to find out what type I actually have.

I'm also 27 and had no real symptoms as such. I fell asleep a lot as a child and was crazy skinny and had multiple records of high blood sugar but nothing was ever looked into.

Fast forward 20 odd years and when I was first diagnosed 9 months ago, my blood sugars started at 12 and on oral medication (for 6 months) very quickly shot up to 30 and stayed there before they decided insulin was a necessity. During the last few weeks I've had a multitude of hypos which has caused my anxiety to spin out of control. Unfortunately I have no idea what's causing them which makes the anxiety worse!

For me personally, it's a very fine line. If I down any of my doses (basal or bolus) my levels shoot to above 12 again, regardless of what I eat, and if I don't change them I end up with levels between 3 and 3.5. I'm beginning to suspect it's the steroids I'm taking for my hayfever, as that's the only thing that's changed over the last few weeks!

Before this bout of hypos, since getting the correct dosing of insulin, my levels were starting to stabilise at 6 upon waking, around 5.5 before food, around 9 an hour and a half after eating and 6.5 four hours later. However it has taken 4 months of weekly adjustments to get there.

Fingers crossed for you that you find your dosage soon and start to feel more in control of your diagnosis. Mine threw me too, mainly because of my age and lack of symptoms but also because I have 2 young children that I want to be fit and healthy for.
 
The important thing is to keep you stable, at any number. Then as people have said your team will work to bring you down. Hypos can be scary and your first ones can be especially alarming so your team will try prevent your first one as long as they can. Also, your body might still be producing some insulin that they are trying to work around. Crashing down to 'target' numbers too quickly might make you feel very unwell. I don't know how you feel right now but most of us would feel like roadkill if we were hovering at 20. Your body is going through a lot of changes and responding to this weird thing being injected into it that it sort of recognises but isn't sure about is only one of them. It sounds like you have a good base around you so just try to do everything you did before but with the instructions the hospital have given you. It will gradually fall into place I am sure. In the interim, we're always here.
 
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