Type 1 Problems

Don't be scared of what they will say be scared of what not controlling your diabetes will do to you. Get an appointment asap and get your eyes checked good luck control is the key to success

xNicolex said:

Hey everyone im new to this just joined for some advice my blood sugar levels have been running high in there 20s for a couple of years now as im always having sugary drinks im terrified to go hypo as i always think i will faint ive only collapsed twice in 10 years though! i just cant seem to keep my blood sugars in control even when i do try to. Ive noticed that ive started to get blured vision is this common? i cant seem to control my blood sugar levels ive been diabetic for 10 years. i have 2 injections a day one before breakfast and one before dinner time. Ive missed alot of appointments at the diabetic clinic because i am scared of what they will say to me ive not had blood tests or any other tests for a long time. i know i need to sort myself out but im really scared.

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Hi Nicole.
Welcome to the forum.

Blurred vision is a common symptom of Hyperglycaemia (high blood sugars). You may also be suffering from increased thirst and passing a lot of urine, large amounnts of sugar and ketones in the urine, weakness, abdominal pains, generalised aches and pains, loss of appetite, feeling and being sick, heavy laboured breathing. ALL common symptoms of elevated Bg levels.

The main causes are too little or no Insulin, eating more carbohydrates than your diet allows for, infection or fever, emotional stress or less exercise taken than usual. Changes HAVE to be made.

None of this is good and is indicative of a loss of control of your Bg levels. As Ham says, get yourself an appointment ASAP and this time go to it. Nobody is going to 'bite your head off'. Just explain what has been happening and ask for help. I am sure that is exactly what you will get. Your health is the priority here. You are certainly young enough to stop this in it's tracks, providing you do something NOW.

You must get back control and stop those elevated numbers, otherwise you will find that further complications will set in. Control is everything and should be easy to achieve with help and support. We can offer both here, but you must take the first step and get help close to home....see your GP/Nurse now.

The damage of hypo's is nothing compared to the damage you are causing yourself with constant hypers.

I used to be like you, until an orthapaedic surgeon that I used to garden for told me I was killing myself. I admit I was. Despite not being a specialist in diabetes his words finally made me turn my life around.

I don't understand totally why you aren't controlling your diabetes, I believe that most T1 diabetics will go through a phase at some point of complacency, but you do appear from your posting to be concerned now, so I was wondering what has made this concern come about?

Diabetes has to live with you, and it is certainly manageable if you have the backing of a good GP, nurse or consultant. Is there anybody that will listen to you, not just with a 10 minute appt with GP, somebody that will make time to listen to why you are finding life with diabetes so unmanageable.

After my orthapaedic consultant told me I was killing myself, I saw my GP and told him everything. He let me email my results to him, he would see me 1/2 an hour before surgery if necessary. There are good GP's around. Please don't give up on managing your life with diabetes, otherwise you may get longer term problems. Please be honest with yourself about your life and how diabetes fits in with you. I haven't looked back, and despite changing GP's as I moved grom England to Wales, there are some good people willing to help but at the end of the day it all boils down to whether YOU are going to decide that YOU can manage your diabetes.

You do need to go back to your GP so you can get back into the diabetic clinic ASP..

You need as much help and guidence you can so that you can tackle your hypo fear as this does need to be seriously addressed, until your are more comfortable about how you can maintain good control while still avoiding hypo's actually controlling your diabetes is going to be extremely difficult

I see that you are still on 2 injections a day, I would ask to go onto the basal/bolus (carb counting) regime it does mean increasing injections, but well worth it for the better control and more flexiability it gives.. You will find that because you have a more flexiable control over your diabetes, matching insulin dose to your foods (along side ofther factors) this will give you the empowerment to help tackle your hypo phobia Don't forget to ask about going on a carb counting course very helpful indeed..

Even though it's disariable to get your BG's back to near normal as possible, you are likely to find your diabetic clinic will want you to do this over a period of time, and not aim at getting you there within days or a week..

There are several reasons for this..

Your body has got used to functioning at higher levels, to drop these too quick will cause the body to go into a phamtom hypo, screaming that you are when you'll not, not very nice if you have a hypo phobia...

Lower your levels too quick can effect the eyes, any damge that you've got could get worse before they stablise, so you need to have your eyes checked to find out what is what with them...

Also the body is more resistent to insulin at higher levels, requiring more insulin at these levels to make any effect on them, so taking your level down at a slower pace it is easier to match insulin needs at any one point..

As to what the diabetic clinic is going to say, you be surprised, as they may ask what you've been doing in the past with your control but that is so they can see what and where they need to go with helping you, they will not use it to judge you as a diabetic or even a person. In fact they will be reliefed that you are asking them for help, you asking for there help makes ther life a lot easier as it's dam slight easier to help some-one who wants it rather than some-one who turns up to clinic who isn't interested in being helped!

xNicolex, As you're 18, your memories of clinic are probably of childhood / paediatric clinic, but you would attend adult clinic now - the new start might be helpful for you? What do you want to achieve - career, activities, travel, relationships, parenthood etc. Clinic staff should be able to help you with your hopes, ambitions etc, and other board members, too. Definitely worth asking about basal bolus regime and carbohydrate counting courses (eg DAFNE), as these offer far more freedom to adapt diabetes to life, rather than adapting life to diabetes. Hope to hear from you again - best wishes for the new year.

Hi Nicole, if you are only taking insulin twice a day (you don't mention dosage or if you carb count) then you can only be taking the 'edge off' and only skimming the surface of your blood glucose levels with this kind of BG management - Hypo's are scary but there are levels of control that can help you avoid them and collapsing through hypo symptoms is the worst case scenario, if you have good warning symptoms (which you can have with good control) then you can recognise when you are hypo and you can take actions to raise your BG levels again.

If I can give you any advice at all it would be to make sure you attend your appts and don't miss your tests! Even if the results are bad it's better to know this now so you can do what you can to fix them.

all of that could mess with your BG levels! and probably has done which makes it even more important to keep on top of things. Keep testing regularly. Can you see your DN for advice about adjusting your doses and your diet if you want to gain weight?

More importantly your son needs you to be as healthy as possible. Think about what could happen if you continue with high BG levels?

Nicole

I can see why you fear the hypo with having such a young baby to care for, every thought that have gone through your head ‘the what if I hypo’ went through my head when my children were babies and I had to also cope with my diabetes…

I suspect your worries about your baby welfare if you have an hypo is increasing your fear of them, pushing you to avoid them even more..

I noticed that in your first post you mentioned you constantly drink sugary drinks, which will naturally push up your levels, perhaps try to start with swapping some of these drinks for a non-sugary drink, but to reassure your self that you aren’t heading for a hypo increase you BG testing, this hopefully will allow your blood glucose to return to a more normal level, but give you the reassurance that you aren’t going to go hypo. It would be far better for you to test your BG hourly even at times testing every 15 minutes, got to be far better than increasing your blood glucose..

Your weight loss is likely to be because of high blood glucose, and once you’ve start to settle and improve your control the weight should naturally return with out you having to try…

I would as well, enlist the support of your health visitor, as she will have come across the diabetic mums who also had the same fears of hypo while bringing up young babies, and she might be able to put you in touch with other diabetic mums or groups that can help with plain old fashioned moral support

Your GP, diabetic clinic and health visitor, will all be willing to help and support you, you just need to do as you have done here, ask them to help, explain all your fears along side how this has effects your control etc.. And none will judge you in any shape or form, only endeavour to find ways and means to help you to be what you want to be, a happy well controlled diabetic mum…