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son with type 1

J

joannemouse

Newbie
Messages
4
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hi all, ive really come to this site re to get information and to maybe help my son a bit more. He was diagnosed with type 1 two years ago at the age of 20, going on 21, which was a really bad time for him, they only diagnosed type 1, as he saw the optician, as i thought he needed glasses, as he mentioned his vision was blurry. BIGGEST shock ever when they said he might have Type 1. Next day was at the drs, took his blood sugars and said he had keytones, very high and had to go to hospital immediately. That was the start of my sons diabetic life style. After being in hospital for over a week and learning all the injections that he would have to have, ie Novarapid and Lantus, we went home and to be honest since then its been an uphill struggle. I hate the fact that he has this, i hate the fact that he has to inject every day, but i have to remind my self at least they can do this now for him, years ago i know it would have been different. My son has other issues as well, doesnt like going out, infact he doesnt go out, sleeps a lot during the day, because he hasnt been to the hospital to see his nurse, as he kept missing appointments, i think they have discharged him from the hospital, so basically were getting no help.
So thought i would come on here for some advice....maybe find some local groups and support for him or at the least that I can go to and maybe educate myself a lot more to teach him.
 
Hi, welcome

Is your son testing and injecting still?

When did he last have an hba1c test done?

Has he dlways been more of a loner rather than a socialiser?

Sorry to hear of your obvious concerns. There are no easy answers... We are all individuals so inevitably we all react in various different ways....
 
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hes injecting still but as for testing his blood that is another matter, he only does that when he gets clamy and thinks that he is having a hypo so will check then. Yes he has always been more of a loner, was bullied when younger, and i think that has had a lasting affect on him.
 
last had hbc1 test done around a year ago
 
Hey @joannemouse and welcome to the forum.

I'm newly diagnosed but what you said relates to how my mum felt during my rapid decline in health and diagnosis. It is an emotional rollercoaster for family life in coming to terms with it all and getting used to the injections etc. However, this forum will provide you with excellent information on advice, diet or any questions you might have. I think my parents see how positive I am being about it all and this in turn is helping them feel better because nobody wants to see their son/daughter ill or take something unexpected.

I think it is important that it becomes a two-way process in that your son puts effort into understanding it all better and this in turn will improve his confidence and most importantly ensure that the blood glucose levels are under good control. Is he keeping active? Why sleeping so much during the day? - high sugars?
 

My son has always had a funny sleeping regime, he seems to sleep a lot during the day, and then comes alive at night. But ive told him thats all to do with because hes got to get out of sleeping during the day, as when he goes to bed at a normal time he can then go to bed at a normal time.
 
I suppose it's hard to change that as us young people just want to do our own thing @joannemouse

Just try and encourage him in how he structures his day and most importantly start checking his blood levels more regularly because ultimately if these are out of control then tiredness becomes a greater issue and complications will arise later in life. It's difficult to accept initially but a quick blood test takes 30 seconds max and only minutes out of his day. It means he will feel more in control and also give you peace of mind about him as all mums worry so much!
 
Some hospitals will refer back to GP care if there are 2 or 3 uncancelled appts.

Your son can go back to Hospital care with another GP referral.

Is he actually having retinopathy screening and annual check ups organised thru the GP at all?

The best place I think to start off with would be to get him to go to a DSN at your GP Practice on a regular basis.

Many younger persons go through a rebelling against diabetes. Unfortunately some do have complications from this.

Is your son "distant" from yourself too? Or will he be open to talking to you about diabetes? Is he aware of the complications that could occur?
 
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Hi there,
Ask your son to take a look at www.teambloodglucose.com - it's a not-for-profit set up to encourage all to be more active. Diabetes needn't be something to hold you back and certainly that's what TeamBG believe.
As well as this brilliant forum, there is also a huge twitter diabetes community out there - see if your son wants to take a look at www.gbdoc.co.uk
Really there is a huge community of people out there willing to offer support and advice, it's just a case of your son finding something/someone that he connects with and inspires him to want to live well with diabetes.
 
Hi and welcome. If he is due an annual check worth seeing if he will go to this. Hopefully all is well and he will be ready to accept things and use some of the help out there. Might also be worth steering him to the forum as other members are likely to appreciate what he is feeling so he knows he isn't slo e in this. Good luck
 
You need to get him an appointment at the diabetic clinic and go with him as support. And he should also get an appointment with a counsellor at the same clinic. First of all, diabetes is associated with quite severe depression, which can both precede and follow diagnosis. Men often don't get treated for depression because they are not as expressive as women, so they can go untreated for years. Also, their depression symptoms are different. Secondly, there are other psychiatric disorders that can co-occur with diabetes, and the quicker he gets treatment, the more likely you are to head off anything else developing.

If he is sleeping all day and waking at night, he probably has quite a serious Vitamin D deficiency, which is also associated both with diabetes and with depression.

I think you need to be quite assertive about helping him and going with him to the clinic and telling them his symptoms. These are actually symptoms, not just "bad habits."

In the meantime, buy a good quality fish oil and make sure he takes a couple of capsules twice a day. It can help to reduce or prevent any neurological damage which may be occurring at this stage. And try to get home out of the house and into daylight for 90 minutes a day. Go for a long walk with him or something.

But above all, get him to the diabetic clinic.
 
Hi, your son

Hello and welcome, so sorry to hear of your son;s problems, your son sounds as though he could be depressed, in denial of his diabetes and feeling like his life before, (being alone and the bullying) was bad enough and now this life long condition is just another 'nail in the coffin' for him. He probably felt like a nothing before and now this, so his self esteem and self worth must be pretty low. Could you try to get him to join the forum, another good way is to write in a diary, write as a poem or lyrics for a song or see his GP for some possible counselling
All parents can do is give love, support, and guidance if possible and try to talk to him, whether verbally or in a letter to him.
It doesn't matter how old our children are, we still worry about them.
Regards and best wishes RRB
 
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