Type 1 diabeties DKA

DSN = Diabetes Specialist Nurse

 

Just myself mate. Two years in now and I’m still here so I’ll be ok. I just re order my insulin and stuff every two weeks

 

Tell your GP you want a referral to the diabetes team at the hospital - Type 1 needs specialist care and they will be able to help you avoid DKA etc. "still here" shouldn't be enough - you should be well and not needing admission to hospital too

 

Honestly I’ve been waiting nearly two years for help I am beyond reliant on them ‘trying to help’ I appreciate you’re advice but I’m just going to keep reading about it myself and trying my best to keep normal x

 

Who have you asked, and when?

If you're in the UK, there are loads of good people out there who can and will help you - without waiting. If your GP won't help, change GP. Call the diabetes team at your local big hospital, ask how to get a DSN appointment, and don't take no for an answer. Have the appointment, arrange a treatment plan, arrange follow up appointments and go to them.

It is possible to look after diabetes without much outside help if you work at it. Testing is vital - lots of it. 6+ tests a day, and adjusting doses based on what you eat, what you do and what the tests tell you. But it's not something you can just relax at - T1 diabetes can change daily, so needs constant vigilance.

This stuff is important. You can get away with not very much for a while, but at some point it's very likely to go wrong, either from something like DKA, or complications from running high sugars for too long. If on the other hand you look after it, a lot of the problems can be undone.

 

Very good info Clive but after two years of constantly trying but to be told you need to wait 6+ months to see a specialist is a joke. Like I said I’ll just take each day as it comes try keep in the green and if not then ye I’ll lose my eyes or a limb or two. Then **** it I’ll roll my blind sugary self off the tallest building that has disables access lol

 

Hi, sorry for interrupting, I'm nervous. I've been waking up with high BS every morning, 9.0-10.0, its usually high during the day as well, goes up to 14.0. I feel shaky all day every day and I feel sick even when my BS goes back to normal range. I feel dizzy, cant feel my head and sometimes my leg is numb. I dont think its possible to get DKA with my readings, but I've never had this feeling for this long. In the past I only got this feeling for max an hour while I waa high, but now it continues for the whole day and it stops me from doing my daily activities properly. I had to cancel my doctors appointment due to lack of time, but I'm worried. I feel close to fainting the whole day. Should I raise my basal to get bettwr morning results? Maybe that would help? Thanks in advance for all answers.

 

There's something I'm not seeing here. Are you in the UK? The wait to see a DSN is no more than a couple of weeks, shorter if it's urgent. Do you have personal reasons which restrict which appointments you can go to? Which specialist are you on a 6+ month waiting list for, and where? Are you registered with a GP? Do they know you're T1 diabetic? Do they do their regular reviews and do you go to them (should be 6 monthly minimum)?

Yes, that's a few questions. But the normal experience of diabetes medicine in the UK is way, way better than you describe, so I'd be interested to know why it's failed for you - and maybe by answering them we can help with some of the problems.

 

You need to go to the hospital or doc ASAP!!

 

Ye uk ....Moved to a new town in March 2018 haven’t seen anyone got given an appointment to see someone in August and I missed the app by like an hour. Tried to explain that due to shiiit levels I am all over the place and they say they have discharged me from the hospital even tho I never went in the first place. Been back to my doc they just **** and winge my hba1c is 148. Still didn’t get re ref again tho... #ithoughtwasdanger #obvsnot

 

Ok, HbA1c of 148 is high, you really do need to something about this, and they will understand this. I suppose one problem might be that if they think you're deliberately missing your insulin doses - are you taking the treatment they've suggested (injections at certain times etc)?

How often are you testing and how often are you injecting? If this is less than you've been asked to do, can you say why?

Yes, I know these are probably questions you've been asked a lot before, but I think they're worth thinking about. "No, I can't say why" is an acceptable answer to the last question if necessary, though takes things into areas I don't really know about.

 

I got diagnosed dec 2017 and all I got given was novorapid and levimir and told take this or die.. my choice. The women I see was too busy to bigger off on Xmas break. I was told then because of the season there was no one to see me. Every appointment I went back too was just told to do a diary for no information about it etc months went by like this. Then moved tried my hardest to connect with the diabetic team here. They took my freestyle libre from me and said wait six months too see someone. Albeit my fault I missed the appointment but I tried to rebook and again I’m discharged keep getting the bs of go to my doctor and get referred. No joy as yet

 

I'm deleting what I wrote there, because there appears to be good news which changes what I would say.

 

Just keep plugging lol

 

Couldn't agree more! Blindness, or the very real likelihood of it, made me change my attitude (and treatment) at the age of 21, er, 39 years ago. It is impossible for @Bladezy to fully realise our experiences, unless... it's too late. Which it isn't right now.

 

Hi @Bladezy I think this has a lot to do with glucose tolerance. In my late teens my glucose tolerance (i.e. how high my blood sugar levels could reach before feeling unwell) was very high - nobody talked about HbA1c then. But if it sharply increased I would get very bad ketones, which would blurr my sight, make me nauseous, or even sick, give me appalling diarrhoea and lock my muscles up. Once I had been read the riot act, at the age of 21, and been lent a glucometer like a housebrick, my glucose tolerance went down to a point where I had the same symptoms as above, sometimes even if my blood sugar was only just over 10mml/ml. All I can say is that the longer your tolerance level is high, the more damage will occur to the extremes of your circulatory system, that is, eyes, feet, kidneys and private member's bill. Nobody can force you to do this, but my life would have been very different had I not ignored advice in my childhood and teens. Good luck with tackling this.

 

Before increasing basal, especially over night, Google somogyi effect. You need to be certain the high morning numbers really are due to insufficient insulin or it could be the last basal adjustment you ever make .

Shiba.

 

Is that what we normally call Dawn Phenomenon?

 

@Kevvb1 - Apparently despite you giving me permission to post that picture, it's not good enough and I need to ask for permission in public. Which is why the message has been deleted. Can you confirm it's ok to share again?

Edited by Mod: Forum Rule C12 is clear on this.