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Type 1'stars R Us

Re the talk of it being a full time job, I don't know if it's an urban myth or I just imagined it during a hypo but I've got a faint memory of reading about a study where they wired some doctors up to pumps delivering saline and asked them to pretend they were diabetic for a month - most of them packed it in after a week or two. Would love it if it was a real study and not just urban myth. Is this ringing bells with anyone?
 
Scott-C said:
Re the talk of it being a full time job, I don't know if it's an urban myth or I just imagined it during a hypo but I've got a faint memory of reading about a study where they wired some doctors up to pumps delivering saline and asked them to pretend they were diabetic for a month - most of them packed it in after a week or two. Would love it if it was a real study and not just urban myth. Is this ringing bells with anyone?
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Don't know.

Have had a mooch around Google, while waiting for this Exchange Server to install, and I can't find anything. Then again I could well be using the wrong search keys. :)
 
Circuspony said:
Pop the early hours of 31st August into your diary for cake and wine! I think my first insulin injection was around 2am :meh: Lots of promises from the diabetes team about how much better I would feel, except I was feeling absolutely fine in the run up to diagnosis. My body was so used to running on BG levels of 30+ that the detox from the sugar overload was horrendous in those first few weeks.

Definition of 'Chronic illness' is around the longevity of the illness. Here's a good description
Chronic illnesses are mostly characterised by:
  • complex causes
  • many risk factors
  • long latency periods (time between onset of the illness and feeling its effects)
  • a long illness
  • functional impairment or disability.
Most chronic illnesses do not fix themselves and are generally not cured completely. Some can be immediately life-threatening, such as heart disease and stroke. Others linger over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes. Most chronic illnesses persist throughout a person’s life, but are not always the cause of death, such as arthritis.

or Wiki
A chronic condition is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months.

& yes, I'm sure it is easier to manage than it was in the past but it has had - and continues to have - such a detrimental impact on my life that it doesn't feel easy at all. I've gone from being a very active person to someone whose energy levels fall through the floor after just a few hours of being active. HBA1c is fine (around the 48 mark) and no other problems showing up in blood tests, so it does seem to be the new 'normal' for me annoyingly.
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I have, even from and early age, realised that gettng any sort of diabetese later on in life would be a tremendous blow to the individual concerned and the life changing condition it could become.

I really admire people like you and others on here who still manage to lead a normal, or semi normal kind of life after getting diabetese.
 
Circuspony said:
That's kind of how I thought it worked. I know I can feel <4 and >11 but between those figures seems ok. Unless there's a sharp rise or fall where I feel ill no matter what the actual figures are.

Nearly at my 1 year anniversary so will stop being 'newly diagnosed' then. Still feel like a total novice! Sister in law round at weekend and she lost her cousin to T1 last year (died in sleep from hypo at age of 33) so she was asking me a tonne of intelligent questions about how I was doing. Mother in law listening in interrupted with 'well you LOOK fine', so obviously illnesses only count if you've got bits falling off you.

It did strike me how boring long term chronic illnesses are though. The novelty of people caring how I am and offering help etc has definitely worn off. Nowadays when they ask how I am all they want to hear is "fine" and not me waffling on about it being a bad week.To be fair I'm pretty bored of the whole thing too.
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i hate when people tell you you look great and you say to them well i dont feel great and then they look at you as if you have two heads one of my bug bears :arghh:
 
Circuspony said:
Pop the early hours of 31st August into your diary for cake and wine! I think my first insulin injection was around 2am :meh: Lots of promises from the diabetes team about how much better I would feel, except I was feeling absolutely fine in the run up to diagnosis. My body was so used to running on BG levels of 30+ that the detox from the sugar overload was horrendous in those first few weeks.

Definition of 'Chronic illness' is around the longevity of the illness. Here's a good description
Chronic illnesses are mostly characterised by:
  • complex causes
  • many risk factors
  • long latency periods (time between onset of the illness and feeling its effects)
  • a long illness
  • functional impairment or disability.
Most chronic illnesses do not fix themselves and are generally not cured completely. Some can be immediately life-threatening, such as heart disease and stroke. Others linger over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes. Most chronic illnesses persist throughout a person’s life, but are not always the cause of death, such as arthritis.

or Wiki
A chronic condition is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects or a disease that comes with time. The term chronic is often applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months.

& yes, I'm sure it is easier to manage than it was in the past but it has had - and continues to have - such a detrimental impact on my life that it doesn't feel easy at all. I've gone from being a very active person to someone whose energy levels fall through the floor after just a few hours of being active. HBA1c is fine (around the 48 mark) and no other problems showing up in blood tests, so it does seem to be the new 'normal' for me annoyingly.
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Have you had your thyrod function checked out? It's not uncommon for T1 to go hand-in-hand with hypo or hyperthyroidism, both of which have lack of energy as a common symptom.
 
hh1 said:
Helensaramay I've never used a pump but I do use Lantus. I don't find any over-run beyond 24 hours and sometimes it doesn't seem to even reach that to the point where I'm talking to hcps about trying Tresiba. It may not be the same for you so you might want to be a bit cautious initially, depending on whether you prefer to correct hypos or hypers. Hope that's what you were driving at?
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when i was on lantus mine didnt last full 24 hours been on tresiba and havent looked back :)
 
Knikki said:
I have, even from and early age, realised that gettng any sort of diabetese later on in life would be a tremendous blow to the individual concerned and the life changing condition it could become.

I really admire people like you and others on here who still manage to lead a normal, or semi normal kind of life after getting diabetese.
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I was diagnosed at 30, and what I honestly felt was lucky that I'd had so long without it. Not as late onset as some, I know; nevertheless Iwas grateful that I hadn't had to cope with it as a child, nor go through puberty with all the hormonal changes that go on then, plus normal teenage angst, and the temptation to pretend it's not happening. I'd also think it'd be much easier to be really resentful if you're diagnosed much younger, so the admiration works both ways.
 
hh1 said:
Thanks Karen, from that and following @kev-w's results, I'm more and more sure I want to give it a go.
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Can I just say that although Tresiba seems an improvement that Lantus was an improvement back in the day and for the best part of 20 years helped keep my HBa1C around 52-55 and it's only been the last 3 years maybe I've seen a change in how my body has reacted to it and for many it'll remain a good basal to use :)

House clearing again for me and a lunchtime hypo of 3 as I wasn't paying attention, but soon fixed and I'm away to the gym shortly when I've had a coffee, chicken and rice for tea I think when I get back.
 
hh1 said:
I was diagnosed at 30, and what I honestly felt was lucky that I'd had so long without it. Not as late onset as some, I know; nevertheless Iwas grateful that I hadn't had to cope with it as a child, nor go through puberty with all the hormonal changes that go on then, plus normal teenage angst, and the temptation to pretend it's not happening. I'd also think it'd be much easier to be really resentful if you're diagnosed much younger, so the admiration works both ways.
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Oh yes, I agree. In fact I've said pretty often in the past 12 months that I feel very lucky not to have had this any earlier in life. My heart goes out to parents managing children with it.

Thyroid etc all fine. I'm on a study with one of the hospitals so have had quarterly blood tests for everything going. If it wasn't for my dodgy pancreas I'd be a picture of health! My GP re-ran a load of tests despite the hospital results and everything was great - at which point he said it must be diabetes related. Hospital team not really had much to add. The change from lantus to tresiba helped a fair bit (although I now get DP which is annoying), but the lack of energy doesn't go away. I can only think it's to do with my system not working properly any more.
 
I’m knackered.

Living in a crack in the ground in South Wales, we get quite a bit of mould and damp etc. So I’ve spent most of the afternoon scrubbing my big bedroom window and surround with bleach and white vinegar... still, good physio for my shoulders, I suppose! Sugars steady in the mid fives all (fasted) day - had a hot bath and they hit 6.7 but came down again as soon as I got out.

We’re gradually doing the jobs in our little hovel that have been put off for that bit too long. Husband has been clearing ivy off our gable end and then using a drill powered brass brush to get rid of the flaky paint. Moral of the story, never give my husband a job to do that involves making marks on things. I now have a rather childish motif on the end of my house until he paints over it.... photo here, it’s a bit NSFW so don’t click if you’re easily offended by peurile graffiti ;)

Off to do a spot of food shopping now, we’re so rock and roll!
 
Mel dCP said:
I’m knackered.

Living in a crack in the ground in South Wales, we get quite a bit of mould and damp etc. So I’ve spent most of the afternoon scrubbing my big bedroom window and surround with bleach and white vinegar... still, good physio for my shoulders, I suppose! Sugars steady in the mid fives all (fasted) day - had a hot bath and they hit 6.7 but came down again as soon as I got out.

We’re gradually doing the jobs in our little hovel that have been put off for that bit too long. Husband has been clearing ivy off our gable end and then using a drill powered brass brush to get rid of the flaky paint. Moral of the story, never give my husband a job to do that involves making marks on things. I now have a rather childish motif on the end of my house until he paints over it.... photo here, it’s a bit NSFW so don’t click if you’re easily offended by peurile graffiti ;)

Off to do a spot of food shopping now, we’re so rock and roll!
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Must be a Welsh thing. I did the same when painting the fence, thinking we had more paint...went to the shed and it wasn't there. That was a quick drive to Home bargains lol
 
@helensaramay & @hh1 I'm on Lantus and looking to change I also find that it does not last the full 24 hours and I think, if I remember the profile correctly there is a rise around 2-3 hours after injecting, which, me being me, I don't seem to get.

I now split mine and slowly dropping it one unit at a time for the evening dose, which I have found works for me as it has cut down the bad hypo's I used to get during the night. I still run low of a night but my Etch A Sketch is set to low=5, so anything below that is orange or red if it dips to the hight 3.
 
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Scott-C said:
Re the talk of it being a full time job, I don't know if it's an urban myth or I just imagined it during a hypo but I've got a faint memory of reading about a study where they wired some doctors up to pumps delivering saline and asked them to pretend they were diabetic for a month - most of them packed it in after a week or two. Would love it if it was a real study and not just urban myth. Is this ringing bells with anyone?
Click to expand...
Not exactly. I remember reading about a DSN that made her trainees pretend to be T1 for a week. She told them to test - They had to "test" by drawing a dot on their finger and sending her a picture message, she then sent then a random reading, thay had to respond with what they did. All day and night this went on. Apparently it did help them get the idea...
 
kev-w said:
Can I just say that although Tresiba seems an improvement that Lantus was an improvement back in the day and for the best part of 20 years helped keep my HBa1C around 52-55 and it's only been the last 3 years maybe I've seen a change in how my body has reacted to it and for many it'll remain a good basal to use :)

House clearing again for me and a lunchtime hypo of 3 as I wasn't paying attention, but soon fixed and I'm away to the gym shortly when I've had a coffee, chicken and rice for tea I think when I get back.
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I agree Kev, it was an improvement; it's in the past year that I've been finding Lantus less and less effective/reliable/whatever. I wonder sometimes whether our bodies get so used to something that they kind of get slightly inured to it and therefore it's less effective. Anyway, I'll let you know if/when I make the change and hopefully it'll work as well for me as it has for you.
 
Cumberland said:
What do you think about Toujeo? I’m on it too
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Better than splitting Lantus, but to be honest it’s not perfect. Most days I go up in the mornings and down at night. To be honest I could do with half unit pens. Tried different doses on alternate days at consultants suggestion but it didn’t work. No such thing as perfect around here though is there!
 
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