University Freshers Tips

[Giverny]

It is an exciting time for young people who are starting university in a few weeks. Amongst the excitement, some people may feel nervous or stressed about how they will deal with their diabetes away from home and away from parents.

Do you have any tips to share to students with diabetes who are starting university?

 

[hornplayer]

Don't really have any tips. My "university" was in central London and halls were a 40min tube journey away. It really wasn't safe to try and navigate around London drunk, - there's a tip, - DON'T DO IT! - your diabetic, don't do it anyway!!

Every year, I find myself working at a theatre on my local Uni campus during Freshers week. Driving out at the end of the evening, I find it really depressing to see all the bright young things. Lying in their own vomit or reeling down the middle of the road. Again, it's not big or clever, don't do it! - Be the one who remembers EVERYTHING and tells everyone else why they now only have one eyebrow, or where they got the lovely tattoo.

Any lastly, with my little ray of sunshine response. As the owner of a number of student houses, can I just say to all the parents out there, you're welcome to go over the properties with a fine tooth comb and we will bend over backwards to accommodate your requests, however strange. BUT. Also please bear in mind that if we have to rip out the bathrooms and replace the entire kitchen at the end of the year because your little darlings don't know where to buy bleach, we will not be impressed and you may well lose your bond!

- a bit tongue in cheek, a bit not! .

- sorry Giverny, not really directed at diabetic students, just general. My advice to diabetic students would be to make sure your closest friends know how to deal with a hypo, but to also bear in mind that the people you meet in Freshers week may not end up being your closest friends!

Have fun but STAY SAFE!!!


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[drvoles]

I left university 5 years ago.
Having been ripped off by a couple of dodgy landlords in my time, I can safely say that you are not at the top of my friends list.
My advice Re landlords is take photos of everything when you move in. Check and double check your inventory, and make sure your deposit is in a protection scheme.
Dodgy buggers the lot of them.


Diabetes at university... Didn't feel like a massive deal for me since I has already been type 1 for 15years by that point.
I made the mistake of going out for our welcome night out, getting home at 3. Up at 6 for induction. Naturally, I had a hypo mid morning.
Everybody responds differently to alcohol. All I can advise is have fun, but be careful. People may think you're drunk instead of having a hypo.
You can do more or less anything a non diabetic can do.... But you need to plan a bit, think a bit, and sometimes decide it's just a little too risky.
Eg. Sport followed by no food followed by drinking games would always be a big no no for me.

If you do indulge in alcohol, limit yourself don't get 'hammered'. Make sure you eat something before you start. Check your glucose regularly. Just be careful.
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[hornplayer]

I left university 5 years ago.
Having been ripped off by a couple of dodgy landlords in my time, I can safely say that you are not at the top of my friends list.
My advice Re landlords is take photos of everything when you move in. Check and double check your inventory, and make sure your deposit is in a protection scheme.
Dodgy buggers the lot of them.
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Well gee, thanks!

I'll agree, there are some dodgy landlords out there, but not all of them. Make sure your landlord has an HMO and that your letting agent is reputable.

You wouldn't believe the mess one of my houses got left in last year. - Four students in a six bedroom house. They broke the locks on the remaining two rooms and moved their friends in. There were fifteen people living in the house at one point. Only two of whom were real students so when they left i was hit with a council tax bill for nearly £2000. They left owing two months rent. They had taken the interior doors down the garden and burnt them and there was dog poo all over the house. - I kid you not! We literally had to gut the place and start again.

We are very proud of our houses. They are done to the highest spec and as a result, the students put themselves on a waiting list and are happy to pay holding deposits over the summer. We also use an extremely good agent. None of this would be the case if we were, as you say dodgy. I'm sorry you had bad experiences. - Good, reputable letting agents are for your protection as well as ours. - Good luck!


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[noblehead]

Make friends and Lecturers aware that you have diabetes, keep your insulin and testing equipment close to hand and carry plenty of fast-acting glucose with you, lectures can over-run at times so carry some snack just in case bg starts to drop. Frio Insulin Wallets are ideal for keeping insulin cool in those stuffy over-heated classes and worth the £12 you pay for them.

 

[drvoles]

Haha.
Sorry. I think I just had bad memories when I read your post. There are going to be bad tenants, just as much as there are going to be bad landlords.
That said - the tenants you mentioned sound more like animals than students. Blimey.

Definitely let everyone you know about your diabetes. Don't hide it. Its nothing to be ashamed of.
Always always always have some sugar at home for emergencies. Always have a back up. Same goes for extra pens, meters etc.
Always carry sugar on you, as I'm sure you already do.

Be prepared to develop a terrifyingly accurate dosage of your insulin to beans on toast....

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[hornplayer]

My brother and I have quite a few properties between us. You wouldn't believe some of the stories! This last one was so bad that my brother wouldn't let my Dad see it until he'd done some cleaning. - Then he and Dad went through it again before two teams of professional cleaners went in. Then we gutted it and redid it before more cleaners went in. - The bathrooms had black mould all the way up the walls and across the ceiling. The shower screens were smashed and Dave had already ripped the toilets out before Dad got there. There was so much grease in the kitchen it was beyond saving. Everything had to be re- plastered, flooring and woodwork replaced. - it was only two years from the original refit. We ended up putting granite floors and walls in the bathrooms instead of tiles and we also replaced window sills, worktops and stuff with granite too. It's harder to damage.

- a friends son went to college a few years back, I gave him a cookery book which had the nutritional info and price per portion next to every recipe. I'm sorry, I don't remember what it was called. It was one of those student food ones that pop up this time of year. I got it in WHSmiths.




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[Patch13]

Get a large amount of insulin, testing strips and whatever else you use to manage your diabetes before you go. I doubt signing up with a doctor or getting a prescription will be the top of most students lists so make sure you have a little while before you need to so this.

Once you've settled in sign up with a doctor and find out where the chemist is!

Always take a test kit with you when you go out and test throughout your nights out regularly (especially if drinking!).

And as states above remember to take glucose with you!

Also get a bracelet or some kind of diabetic ID incase you get separated from people that know about your diabetes and you are suffering from a hypo. Diabetics can be confused for drunk people.

Lastly have fun and enjoy - uni will go quickly!


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[Patch13]

Sorry that first bit doesn't make sense ! I meant have lots of supplies as you may not get round to signing up with a doctor for a bit and you don't want to run out of things you need to keep yourself safe and healthy.


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[tettenhall boy]

Why go to university? There are no jobs and you're just getting into massive debt.

 

[big_daddy]

I would say to not drink beers and ciders in excess and stick with either wine or spirits as I drank too much in freshers fortnight and ended up being treated in hospital with Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic Syndrome. Shop at stores like Lidl or Aldi and buy in bulk.

 

[LittleWolf]

Sorry to hear that, Big Daddy, that must have felt awful and been terrifying!

Am I the only person who did not drink AT ALL in Freshers' Week? I enrolled in the library, did a needle felting workshop with an old lady and went home.


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[drvoles]

Sorry to hear that big daddy.
But I would add as a caveat, if you do drink spirits and wine only, watch your blood sugars very very closely and have a snack at bedtime. Its a good way to risk severe nocturnal/morning after hypoglycaemia.

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[hornplayer]

Sorry to hear that, Big Daddy, that must have felt awful and been terrifying!

Am I the only person who did not drink AT ALL in Freshers' Week? I enrolled in the library, did a needle felting workshop with an old lady and went home.


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LOL! - no, you're not the only one! Ours was a Freshers DAY, not week. We got our photo id's done, got a tour of the building, including our already bulging pigeon holes and were given our teachers phone number and told to phone them to arrange our first lesson. It was terrifying! I couldn't believe that I was where I was and I kept thinking someone was going to walk up to me and tell me that there'd been a mistake and that I shouldn't be there after all! I remember going back out to halls - really a big house with room for 40 first years, and a few of us going for a quiet, nerve settling drink at the local pub. We were dropped straight into rep sessions, rehearsals and performance classes next morning. - phoning my teacher - one of the best horn players in the world, was a truly terrifying experience. It was weeks before I stopped shaking whenever I was in a room with him, - months with some of the others!!

A felting class would have been lovely!


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[DiabeticDan]

My advice is to just have fun and go a bit crazy!! If you have been insulin dependent for a number of years already, going to university isn't going to change that much. Be wary of the amount of alcohol you drink and ALWAYS buy a big bag of chips for the way home!! Higher sugars whilst you sleep is not going to be a huge problem for a few hours and they will be back down to normal levels by lunch!!

My final bit of advice is to just not let the diabetes take over you. Don't go chasing sugars or worrying about meals. At university, you can have your proverbial cake and eat it. I did. Just have common sense around your needs and you wont have any problems.

Good Luck to all!!!

Dan

 

[spomeroy]

Plenty of jobs in engineering (we need 100,000 new ones a year and we graduate 90,000)

And if you don't want to repay your loan don't get a real job - you don't start paying until you earn over £21,000 and then it's only 9% of your salary over 21,000

 

[hornplayer]

Bought 65 low energy light bulbs and lamp shades yesterday. Not sure why people feel the need to take them when they move out, but they do all seem to do it. - also not sure why the letting agent didn't notice! :/


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[hornplayer]

Just drove onto my local Uni campus. Half six at night and they're preparing for the evening ahead. I counted four full sized ambulances and eight paramedic cars parked ready out front.

Sometimes I think that eighteen is too young to start Uni. People maybe need to grow up a bit first? - let's hope no one else in the city needs medical attention tonight!


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[dubzn1]

The only tip I can offer is take advantage of the cheap drinks ......

 

[Lamble]

Yesterday I went up with the freshers who were enrolling. I went up to explain that I'd developed Type 1 during the last semester of year 2.
The Uni has a student service department. They have been in touch immediately. There's assistance, help with grants and in submitting work.
Make the student services aware and make your lecturers aware. Tell everyone that can help and they will.

Good luck and enjoy the first year.