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T1 Struggling

tommyg2014

Member
Messages
21
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
hi all,
i found out i had T1 diabetes in july last year. At the time of being diagnosed i was forced out of my job basically and i have been on ESA for a while now,
I live alone and have no body to speak to about this stuff, the people i do try speak to have not got a clue what im dealing with but they are all 'experts' on diabetes even tho they dont know the difference between T1 and T2.
In the first few months i had quite a few bad hypos, as low as 1.2 one time which really scared me. Which has led to my problem, i was thinking keeping it slightly high is better then slightly low... WRONG now im really struggling to get any sort of control on it, my readings are allways high and its took its toll, im absolutely exhausted all the time. my sleep pattern is all over the place im having like 3-4 2hr sleeps through the day and when i do sleep i wake up with cramps in the calf's , when i am awake i cant move from the couch/bed i hate it, my eyes are every starting to go funny i think as my right eye keeps losing focus and going blurry which is very scary at 30 years old!

i have had another job since i lost my last job but they had to let me go as i couldn't go in all the time as i was so tired and took days off.

the DSN ect dont really do much to help, ive yet to see any dietitian, foot specialist or had any 'real' support.

i know its all down to myself in the end but im really struggling and real i have no one to help me, thanks for listening and i look forward to hearing from you all
 
Hi
Sounds like you have had a real tough time. What sort of insulin regime are you on?
 
hi there tommyg2014
welcome to the forum

you are certainly in the right place here and well done for posting such an honest heartfelt topic.

you are right that you need to take charge but with lots of help here on the forum and certainly your D care team you can do it

first thing is to test loads and try and get your bloods back to below 8 as much as possible.
and don't be down if it doesn't happen overnight

all the best !!
 
hey guys, im on apidra 10g:1unit and lantus 25 units a day. and i do try but once it gets below 6 i always start getting worried ill hypo and end up eating and when i check again im stupidly high again :/
 
Hey Tommy,

Yes you are in the right place for support, and I think you've answered your own question there it really is down to you. Please call your DSN tomorrow, have a heart to heart, running high is like a formula one car running on diesel and you need to reign it in. I was like you when first diagnosed, I hated having hypos it made me feel so ill so I ran high for a while but yo yo-ed a lot and it made me feel depressed, I then decided to try eating low carb so I could balance out my Bg and quite soon I felt a lot better. Your still learning a lot too so speak to your DSN about getting on DAFNE or an expert course, they will help but you need to ask. If you don't get any joy from your DSN then see your doctor, they will help but it depends on how loud you shout.
 
It is really difficult when you have a fear of hypo, feel your pain. I know it is difficult but if you see your dsn and get put on the list for a dafne course it would really help you I think.
 
tommyg2014 said:
hey guys, im on apidra 10g:1unit and lantus 25 units a day. and i do try but once it gets below 6 i always start getting worried ill hypo and end up eating and when i check again im stupidly high again :/
Click to expand...

Yes after a few bad hypos I appreciate your nervous at 6, unfortunately it's easy to go high though, I personally panic at around 4.5 but even then I only have 10g of carb which is 1 biscuit, or a couple of jelly babies.
 
at the end of the day it is a lot about confidence
the confidence to trust yourself
the confidence that you have matched your insulin dose to your food.
it will take some time but we will try to help you get there
 
Hi Tommy
Very similar to what everyone has said. And I am glad you came and posted here.

I think gaining confidence and trust in your bodies ability to tell you if it is hypo may help.
This link is to a website to help people increase their hypo awarness http://hypoglycemia.uk
It may help. Do you have hypo symptoms that you are aware of?
Also if you have a sugar that you feel is a bit low then try to limit what you eat and then re test and if it is still low eat again.

But talk to you DSN they are normally very helpful and are there to help with any problems.

Good luck and I hope this helps.
It won't change over night, and there may also be days that are higher than others and days that you have hypos, but dont let them hit you.
 

Hi, Tommy, it is incredible that you are a Type one, and have not yet even seen a dietician since last July. - i suggest you go to see your doctor, and make sure they understand that you have Type one, and ask for an urgent referral to a specialist diabetes clinic. Make sure you mention your concern/fear about the readings of 1.2. Perhaps if you are unsure about this, you can also phone Diabetes UK Careline urgently to ask for advice as to what a newly diagnosed Type one should expect in terms of care, and education and access to a dietician, and mention the effect on you of the 1.2 readings also. It is not really just down to you, not so soon after diagnosis, when your body chemistry may not yet have recovered from what may have been a long pre-diagnosis period. Your insulin sensitivity may not yet have stabilised - How were you diagnosed? Maybe your body has been used to very variable blood glucoses, probably most on the high side, in the lead up to diagnosis? I hope things improve soon
 
its funny you say that about the body chemistry not being used to a 'normal range' ann, because as soon as im into the 'normal range' is when it starts to feel like im having a hypo, i did think at one point maybe this is what normal feels like, but maybe its what you say. My body is so used to being high that even a normal range feels like i will hypo.
i was diagnoised after losing a hell of a lot of weight, i was using toilet every 10 mins ect and was waking up alll night wee-ing and drinking pints of water.
i think i had honeymoon period in jan, when 3 units of insulin took me down from around 25 BG to 3 bg which again confused and scared me a bit.

thanks for the advice guys and girls, been great to actually get a bit of advice from people who know whats going on thanks again
Tommy
 
Great advice above - confidence, carb counting and high average BGs making you feel low when you're actually in the normal range.
Another thing you might like to consider to tackle the 'isolation' bit (although the guys on the forum are like a virtual 'hug'!) is coming along to next year's gbdoc People's diabetes conference. (Calling it a conference sounds a bit dull - but it's basically an opportunity for the diabetes community to get together and chat/share/discuss what matters)
Have a look at www.gbdoc.co.uk.
Sending you my own 'virtual hug' of support.
 
Hi tommy
it really is going to be a few weeks of retraining your body what a "normal" range is ( 5-8 )

just take it 1 day at a time -- try not to panic , keep posting here

all the best !!!!
 
+1 for this, sometimes knowing you aren't alone is a great help and no better place than in a room of people all in a similar boat
Also if you live in or near London we have regular meet-ups, next one is end of September. You should try and get yourself to one of these.
 
The London meets are great, really does help just being with others
 
thanks guys feel better for talked with you lot, glad i did. unfortunatly i live near chester so londons a bit far, i also have really bad social anxiety so going places like that is pretty tough goin but i usually feel better if theres no body i know so i will defo try get to the GBDOC one,
thanks again for all advice guys,
BTW BG is 8.2 atm so hopefully this is the start of getting back on top of this, i also rang DSN and got a appointment for tomorrow as she had somebody cancel which was lucky.
 
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