Type 1 diabetes

LooperCat

Expert
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5,223
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Other
I'm okay you? I still struggle everyday. The thing is people who don't have diabetes don't really understand what I go through daily. x
Ups and downs. I didn’t deal with diagnosis well at all, took incredibly good care of it when I wanted to have a baby, and then it all fell apart again when he was born. Since this year I’m on a real mission to get on top of it, I’ve been lucky enough to be prescribed a Libre, which has removed the biggest obstacle to my management, which was the finger prick tests. I work with metal, so my hands are usually pretty filthy and rough! So now I know what’s going on glucose-wise, I can deal with it. So I’ve changed my food, feel much better and my levels are in range. Not sure how long this new enthusiasm will last, I’m quite scared it will wear off and then I’m stuffed. I’m hoping that making contact with other type 1s will help with that - I’ve dealt with it alone up until now. Family and friends are really supportive, but nobody actually KNOWS unless they walk the same path, do they?
 
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Messages
8
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
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Football
Ups and downs. I didn’t deal with diagnosis well at all, took incredibly good care of it when I wanted to have a baby, and then it all fell apart again when he was born. Since this year I’m on a real mission to get on top of it, I’ve been lucky enough to be prescribed a Libre, which has removed the biggest obstacle to my management, which was the finger prick tests. I work with metal, so my hands are usually pretty filthy and rough! So now I know what’s going on glucose-wise, I can deal with it. So I’ve changed my food, feel much better and my levels are in range. Not sure how long this new enthusiasm will last, I’m quite scared it will wear off and then I’m stuffed. I’m hoping that making contact with other type 1s will help with that - I’ve dealt with it alone unp until now. Family and friends are really supportive, but nobody actually KNOWS unless they walk the same path, do they?

Do you know how much the Libre machine costs? Because I was thinking of getting one myself. I'm pleased you are managing to get on top of things, I'm still struggling. You're absolutely right they don't know.until they've dealed with what Type 1's go through daily.
 
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LooperCat

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5,223
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Do you know how much the Libre machine costs? Because I was thinking of getting one myself. I'm pleased you are managing to get on top of things, I'm still struggling. You're absolutely right they don't know.until they've dealed with what Type 1's go through daily.
You may be able to get it on prescription, or as a trial from your consultant. The sensors cost around £50, and last for two weeks. Newer smartphones can scan it, or you can get a reader direct from Abbott pharmaceuticals for around £60, I think. I was issued a scanner when I had it on trial from the hospital last summer. More and more areas are prescribing it for T1s in the U.K. now, so it’s definitely worth asking about. It’s been an absolute game changer for me.
 
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Messages
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Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Insulin
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Football
You may be able to get it on prescription, or as a trial from your consultant. The sensors cost around £50, and last for two weeks. Newer smartphones can scan it, or you can get a reader direct from Abbott pharmaceuticals for around £60, I think. I was issued a scanner when I had it on trial from the hospital last summer. More and more areas are prescribing it for T1s in the U.K. now, so it’s definitely worth asking about. It’s been an absolute game changer for me.

I'll definitely ask about it. Thank you for letting me know.
 

Sarahxx

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
You may be able to get it on prescription, or as a trial from your consultant. The sensors cost around £50, and last for two weeks. Newer smartphones can scan it, or you can get a reader direct from Abbott pharmaceuticals for around £60, I think. I was issued a scanner when I had it on trial from the hospital last summer. More and more areas are prescribing it for T1s in the U.K. now, so it’s definitely worth asking about. It’s been an absolute game changer for me.
Out of curiosity do you have to fund the sensors yourself?
 
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LooperCat

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Type of diabetes
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Out of curiosity do you have to fund the sensors yourself?
I don’t, no - I’m lucky enough to have them on prescription. More and more areas are approving it now, but more so in Wales, Scotland and NI than England, I believe. I’m on my 6th sensor now, and have almost halved my HbA1c using the data it gives to make some changes. It doesn’t suit everyone, but it’s worth a try if you can get it, even the two week trial clinics often offer will tell you a lot about your diabetes.
 
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Scott-C

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,474
Type of diabetes
Type 1
When were you diagnosed? JustxJust out of interest. I was diagnosed in May 2017. x

1988, a looong time ago, coming up for my 30th anniversary soon. It is terrifying in the first few years - hypos/hypers which make no sense - and there's still a lot of unpredictability involved in later years, but as time goes by, you learn little tips and tricks to manage it better.

You're less than a year into this, so you've still got stacks to learn. You'll learn it.

You'll likely have a few bat-sh*t crazy hypos in the middle of the night where you wake up dripping with sweat not knowing who, what or where you are. I'm not saying that to scare you, just to make you aware that these things will probably happen - I wish my team had told me about those at the start so I had some forewarning.

Night hypos like that won't kill you, even though it might seem like it at the time. Your body has lots of defence mechanisms to pull you out of it, and you can help it a lot by keeping sweets bedside.

Cgm is becoming more and more available - strips tell you where you are now, but what you need to know is a continuous graph showing where you've been and where you might be going. Cgm does that. It's a postcode lottery at the moment, so ask your doc what your area's approach is.

You'll deal with this, mate. It's not always easy, but it's not stopped me having a professional career, travelling through 20 countries, going ski-ing in blizzards and a whole stack of other stuff. It's do-able.
 

db89

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,134
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Oh so just over a year? How are you coping?

I have good and bad days. Quite a life adjustment but not a death sentence.

Once I found a level playing field for my doses it became about accuracy in carb counting. The rest of the time trying to stop it invading my thoughts and becoming the center of my attention. I'm waiting for a DAFNE course to be run locally so I'm just muddling along for now.

I had a trial of the Libre in the back end of the year and it is great if you can get one so I'd second that suggestion. I missed it as soon as the sensor expired.

Now how about you?
 

Fairygodmother

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4,045
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Bigotry, reliance on unsupported 'facts', unkindness, unfairness.
Yes, I recommend you get a Libre too. If you can’t get it prescribed then Asda provides sensors for £44.00. Seeing a graph of your levels during 24 hours helps with spotting the times when your bs are good and the times when adjustment to ratios, or basal, might be beneficial.
@Scott-C talks of the rate at which different foods and combinations of food are absorbed and the Libre helps you see this too.
I was diagnosed in 1969, aged 20, and I wish Libre had been around then, or even portable, personal blood sugar test kits, it would have made a big difference to the way I’d have been able to manage T1!
It is a daily struggle to begin with, you’re right. I hope you find it easier as you find out more about the ways you can run it, and as you get to read and react to your own physical signs that give you a feel of where your bs are at any given time.
This forum is great if you need to talk about it with others.
 
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gillkin

Active Member
Messages
39
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
1968 aged 4, I get my 50 year medal later this year .
It hasn’t all been a walk in the park but, believe me, life with diabetes now is so much easier to deal with than it was then when it was pretty much guesswork. We had no equipment other than a metal and glass syringe you had to put in boiling water to sterilise and needles you screwed onto the end that were over an inch long and felt about half an inch thick. Urine testing was the only home check you had, 5 drops of urine, 10 drops of water in a test tube with a tablet dropped in that changed colour, blue was good, green ok and orange bad.
It’s not going to go away so, as my beloved Mum who passed away last year said to me one day when I was feeling sorry for myself, “ Don’t waste your life waiting for the storm to pass, just get on with learning how to dance in the rain” her version of a well known saying. And, I have.
 

NoKindOfSusie

Well-Known Member
Messages
427
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Night hypos like that won't kill you

Keep sugar BY THE BED.

Not in the kitchen. By the bed. You won't be able to remember where the kitchen is, or go there if you can.

Again, not trying to scare you, but yeah. Within arm's reach. By the bed.

By the way, people have said that it's easier now, they have also said that it was easier years ago when you weren't testing a dozen times a day and worrying about it constantly. Back then they probably had worse control, but people have told it both ways.