Things I wish I'd known when I started

[CheeseSeaker]

You'll need to shave bits of your body you never-ever thought would need shaving (to get CGM and cannulas to stick)
Orange juice actually tastes quite nice when its not a hypo treatment
I will know a lot more about T1 than my GP
Change is good - wish I'd moved onto pumping as soon as it was offered
It takes a long time to work out what's not working in a loop, its not always about changing basal and bolus
ISF is difficult to work out - if you can automate it, it'll be better than you ever imagined
You can eat Pizza (if you know how) - wish I'd known how when I worked in Naples...
Low carb helps a lot to get things on a level - and its not necessary to T1 when you get your regime correct
Don't eat enough for a family of 4 at one go - nothing will save you from that

Whats on your list of T1 'wish I'd known'?

 

[EllieM]

You'll need to shave bits of your body you never-ever thought would need shaving (to get CGM and cannulas to stick)

I'm guessing you are male because that hasn't been an issue for me

As for titbits I wish I'd known
However tempting when hypo, eating the fridge is generally a bad idea.

I agree with you about the pump, could have said yes 4 years ago.

When I was diagnosed at 8 I naively thought that once I'd had the diagnostic blood test to confirm diabetes I wouldn't get any more...... (Though maybe it was better that I didn't realise I was mistaken till later.)

 

[Chris24Main]

I wish I'd known I was actually type 2 - would have saved a lot of grief....

 

[RobertJ]

Do not start a meal on a reading of above 7mmol/L. I wish I'd been given that simple instruction from day one and it had been drummed into me. I cringe when I remember my teenage years and twenties (doing four finger-prick tests per day) when I'd go for a family meal and find out I was on 13mmol/L before having a curry with naan bread, beers, rice, all sorts. So painful to think what must have happened to my levels and the damage that's done to me.

Exercise does not simply make your blood sugars drop. Some of it makes it rise too, so don't always have a snack before any and all exercise.

Wait fifteen minutes between dosing and eating (and adjust based on your requirements). I only started consistently doing this fifteen or so years into diabetes. The NHS should ask every single patient, every single appointment, if they are doing this. It would take five seconds.

 

[CheeseSeaker]

Do not start a meal on a reading of above 7mmol/L.

Exercise does not simply make your blood sugars drop.

Wait fifteen minutes between dosing and eating (and adjust based on your requirements).

All depends on your regimes:
1. If insulin is working as expected and you pre-bolus (assuming MDI) so you wait for it to move towards active peak (assuming Fast acting rather than ultrafast) it can be done at higher BGs (I tend to start thinking at 8.5 or above, otherwise don't worry - its very individual though).
2. True - mostly it will, especially with active insulin on board as it tends to make it work faster, but can go up also - just have to keep an eye on it (or let your loop handle it)
3. Depends on the insulin - Ultrafast (Fiasp or Lyumjev) is 'eat now' which makes life easier once you've 'settled in' with how it works - on my loop, I just stick food in my mouth and it handles it (exception of Pizza, pasta and high fat meals) which is like having a pancreas back. For beer (fast acting carbs) I tend to raise my temp target as the insulin delivery and alcohol can cause a drop after an hour or so - the TT keeps me in range.

There are so many variants of treatments - its difficult to generalise - lots of advice I wish I'd had at the time and have learned the hard way over the years - I think there is only so much the DSNs etc can guess at to tell us. Thankfully t'internet exists to help for research....

 

[Fairygodmother]

I wish I’d known how much the expected lifespan of a T1 would rise; when I was diagnosed I was led to believe I’d be lucky to make it to 50. The upside of that was thinking I should fit in as much as possible before it was too late, but the downside was gloomy.
How much time is spent watching what blood sugars are up to (MDI).
That in the lottery of the postcode where I live, if you want anything that will improve your life in this you have to push hard for it and then push harder.
Really good diabetes specialists are worth their weight in 22carat gold.
How easily blood sugars affect behaviour but other, non T1 people don’t know that.

 

[jaywak]

I wish I’d known how much the expected lifespan of a T1 would rise; when I was diagnosed I was led to believe I’d be lucky to make it to 50. The upside of that was thinking I should fit in as much as possible before it was too late, but the downside was gloomy.
How much time is spent watching what blood sugars are up to (MDI).
That in the lottery of the postcode where I live, if you want anything that will improve your life in this you have to push hard for it and then push harder.
Really good diabetes specialists are worth their weight in 22carat gold.
How easily blood sugars affect behaviour but other, non T1 people don’t know that.

I was once told by a DR that I would be lucky to see 40 so it has now got me thinking why did my wife marry me with such a short life expectancy or was that part of her sneaky plan , anyway her plan has gone wrong i'me now 66 so hard luck on her eh

 

[Ushthetaff]

Probably being reassured it’s not the end of the world which it isn’t btw

 

[jaywak]

Probably being reassured it’s not the end of the world which it isn’t btw

Definetly not , I would say it is an inconvenience compared to how it used to be , it's certainly not easy compared to what a non diabetic life is but it's 10x better than it was with the new tech .

 

[Fairygodmother]

[emoji6][emoji6][emoji6][emoji6]" data-quote="jaywak" data-source="post: 0" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">

I was once told by a DR that I would be lucky to see [emoji[emoji6][emoji6]] so it has now got me thinking why did my wife marry me with such a short life expectancy or was that part of her sneaky plan , anyway her plan has gone wrong i'me now [emoji6][emoji6] so hard luck on her eh

I’m ahead of you there: [emoji[emoji6]][emoji6]

 

[jaywak]

I wish I could speak emoji .

 

[Antje77]

I’m ahead of you there: [emoji[emoji6]][emoji6]

Are you using the forum app?
It's pretty much non functional at the moment and it leads to unreadable posts.
If you visit the forum through your browser all should be well!
More on the issue here: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/information-for-all-members-using-the-dcuk-apps.208002/

 

[Fairygodmother]

Nope. It didn’t

 

[Fairygodmother]

Numbers aren’t working.
What I said was ‘I’m ahead of you there, I’m seventy-five.

 

[Antje77]

Nope. It didn’t

Very odd.