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Struggling

Scant on information .. what is going on? Walk back to the starting blocks and reset :)

We're here to help
 
jo you need to see your doctor/diabetes nurse. Is your surgery open today?
I am not able to help you, I'm type 2 and don't know enough about type 1.
 
No clue about type 1, am a type 2 myself. But I do know about hopelessness. Please, see someone about how you're feeling. Talk to a DN or specialist to help you get things right, maybe try for a freestyle libre to help you get a grip of your readings, if you don't have one yet. You shouldn't have to tackle this alone. I know type 1's often get better control when starting a low carb diet (not keto i think, just lchf!), and it should make counting carbs and compensating easier. You can do this, but again... You don't have to do it by yourself. Ask the doc for a referral to see someone about diabetic burn out. Get help. A forum is nice, but we can't give medical advice and structurally change anything for the better. If your sugar's all over the place it can contribute to depression/ anxiety and that means it can get better. Really. There's light at the end of the tunnel here, honest. But get help. Samaritans and forums are just a patch to get you through the weekend. But do something.

I chose life. Turns out, I rather enjoy it now. You can too. Good luck, and big hugs. (I have appointments so won't be logging in again until much later today. No response doesn't mean not caring!)
 
jo789 said:
The injections the carb counting. I can’t get it right!
Click to expand...

Hi @jo789 sorry to hear you're struggling, call the Samaritans again if today is feeling especially tough.

But what you've written here is a great place to start.

So are your bloods running too high or too low? Or both?! It's tricky for everyone!

1. What long acting insulin are you on? How many units a day? Do you split it (2 injections or one)?

2. What short acting insulin are you on? What is your carb ratio? Do you pre-bolus (that is, inject a few minutes before eating) Do you rotate your injection sites? They're ok, not damaged?

3. How many carbs a day do you eat? What does a typical days food look like? What did you have for breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday for example?

4. What does a typical days blood sugar results look like? Lots of lows? Constantly running high? What was yesterdays highest and lowest results?

5. What is your HbA1c?

Lots of questions, sorry! But injecting and eating are the fundamentals, get these right and it all becomes so much easier. These answers will give people here a lot to go on and we will be able to help.
 
jo789 said:
Type 1 diabetic. 3 years. Struggling with what has gone before and what is to come. Help needed.
Click to expand...

Jo, I think we've all gone through stages like that.

That whole T1, "this is for life" gig, bad hypos etc. is a big thing to deal with.

Like @Draco16 say, if you can give us more details about your regime and which bits are bugging you, we can all suggest a few things.

I remember when I was first dx'd in my early twenties. I thought I was doomed. I thought I would spend the rest of my life just being able to eat "special diabetic food". I thought I'd never be able to do sports again.

But I learned that was wrong and there was very few limitations on what I could do, provided I carried some sweets with me.

One thing which often bucks me up when I'm on a downer is reminding myself of Eva Saxl. She and her husband, Victor, were Jewish and fled to Shanghai during WWII to escape the Nazis. Eva was T1, so things got nasty when the Japanese invaded China and insulin supplies were cut off. Did she curl up and die? Did she heck. She and Victor managed to find papers about how to make insulin, set up a make shift lab in a basement, got a butcher to supply them with water buffalo pancreata, did lots if experiments, and ended up making insulin from scratch. During a war. Saved Eva and several hundred others. After the war, they went on to become ambassadors for T1s at a time when there was a lot of prejudice against it, and were involved in bettering supplies in third world countries.

Yes, T1 is a tough gig, but when I think about what Eva did, it's difficult for any of us to complain with what's available to us now.

Video about them here:
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...4Qt9IBCFUwBg&usg=AOvVaw0ok0OBVTZ8rQHrAZ3C5-9S
 
As others have said, seek help as soon as possible.
You appear to be unable to express what is happening beyond a despair about carb counting and injections,
Yes it is hard, it takes time and practice. All of us have had trials and tribulations about it early on.
Perhaps you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself.
Worry causes blood sugars to go a bit haywire. A vicious cycle.
So to clear your head of worry see someone, a counsellor preferably to begin with.
When you feel able to write more , by all means, write here.
Many of us have been around the block many times, so we can help.
But counsellor first. Have a friend who is at hand help you, or contact your nurse and ask who to see.
 
Draco16 said:
Hi @jo789 sorry to hear you're struggling, call the Samaritans again if today is feeling especially tough.

But what you've written here is a great place to start.

So are your bloods running too high or too low? Or both?! It's tricky for everyone!

1. What long acting insulin are you on? How many units a day? Do you split it (2 injections or one)?

2. What short acting insulin are you on? What is your carb ratio? Do you pre-bolus (that is, inject a few minutes before eating) Do you rotate your injection sites? They're ok, not damaged?

3. How many carbs a day do you eat? What does a typical days food look like? What did you have for breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday for example?

4. What does a typical days blood sugar results look like? Lots of lows? Constantly running high? What was yesterdays highest and lowest results?

5. What is your HbA1c?

Lots of questions, sorry! But injecting and eating are the fundamentals, get these right and it all becomes so much easier. These answers will give people here a lot to go on and we will be able to help.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply.
I take 34 units of Tresiba at night. I just switched about 3 weeks ago from Lantus. I take Humalog with my meals my ratio is 1::6 a breakfast 1:6 at dinner and 1:7 at tea time. I also take 175mg of Levothyroxine. Yes I rotate and are not damaged. I sit at a desk all day (I don't think this helps) and usually eat the same for breakfast and dinner most days. I'm mostly high all the time and am constantly chasing that. I worry about the amount of insulin I take it seems a lot. I take between 14 and 17 units with my breakfast including a correction. I can still some times be as high as 20 by lunch time. If I take more I have a hypo. They've suggested just getting my background right for now. I've had a few Libre and it shows I'm going low at night. Sometimes below 4 for a couple of hours. Which suggests I'm taking too much background? My last Hba1c was 8.9 I think. It has been around this the whole time. I don't think I have a real understanding of what I'm supposed to be doing even though I've been on a course and it all makes sense to me when they talk about it. I struggle to transfer that to actually doing it in real life. Nobody talks about the emotional effect it can have. That's what I find the hardest.
 
kitedoc said:
As others have said, seek help as soon as possible.
You appear to be unable to express what is happening beyond a despair about carb counting and injections,
Yes it is hard, it takes time and practice. All of us have had trials and tribulations about it early on.
Perhaps you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself.
Worry causes blood sugars to go a bit haywire. A vicious cycle.
So to clear your head of worry see someone, a counsellor preferably to begin with.
When you feel able to write more , by all means, write here.
Many of us have been around the block many times, so we can help.
But counsellor first. Have a friend who is at hand help you, or contact your nurse and ask who to see.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply.
 
Scott-C said:
Jo, I think we've all gone through stages like that.

That whole T1, "this is for life" gig, bad hypos etc. is a big thing to deal with.

Like @Draco16 say, if you can give us more details about your regime and which bits are bugging you, we can all suggest a few things.

I remember when I was first dx'd in my early twenties. I thought I was doomed. I thought I would spend the rest of my life just being able to eat "special diabetic food". I thought I'd never be able to do sports again.

But I learned that was wrong and there was very few limitations on what I could do, provided I carried some sweets with me.

One thing which often bucks me up when I'm on a downer is reminding myself of Eva Saxl. She and her husband, Victor, were Jewish and fled to Shanghai during WWII to escape the Nazis. Eva was T1, so things got nasty when the Japanese invaded China and insulin supplies were cut off. Did she curl up and die? Did she heck. She and Victor managed to find papers about how to make insulin, set up a make shift lab in a basement, got a butcher to supply them with water buffalo pancreata, did lots if experiments, and ended up making insulin from scratch. During a war. Saved Eva and several hundred others. After the war, they went on to become ambassadors for T1s at a time when there was a lot of prejudice against it, and were involved in bettering supplies in third world countries.

Yes, T1 is a tough gig, but when I think about what Eva did, it's difficult for any of us to complain with what's available to us now.

Video about them here:
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xlOBl_nEits&ved=0ahUKEwi63MDnybTbAhXrKcAKHf7ZDZ4Qt9IBCFUwBg&usg=AOvVaw0ok0OBVTZ8rQHrAZ3C5-9S
Click to expand...
I watched the video. Thank you for your reply.
 
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