Newly diagnosed potentially type 1

[Nikkinakkinoo12]

Hi everyone

I was diagnosed a week ago today as possibly being type 1 and I’m still trying to get to grips with everything. A bit of background info: I’m 43 and for 3 weeks I had numerous diabetes symptoms but was probably a little bit in denial until my husband forced me to ring the doctor and get a blood test. I got the results back the same day and my blood sugars were 29.9 and I had very high ketones.
I’m currently on 8 novorapid 3 times a day and 14 lantus before bed. My blood sugars range anywhere between 7.9 on a morning to about 14-16 on a night.
They are treating me as type 1 as I don’t fit the criteria for being type 2 ( I have a normal bmi of 20)

 

[Peely66]

Hello @Nikkinakkinoo12 (obviously a Ken Dodd fan too),

Welcome to forum. You'll find lots of very experienced people on the forum so just ask away no question too silly on here I've found. It is a massive thing to adapt to, being diagnosed with diabetes, and it is very early days but adapt we do. Good luck.

 

[Northerner]

Hi everyone

I was diagnosed a week ago today as possibly being type 1 and I’m still trying to get to grips with everything. A bit of background info: I’m 43 and for 3 weeks I had numerous diabetes symptoms but was probably a little bit in denial until my husband forced me to ring the doctor and get a blood test. I got the results back the same day and my blood sugars were 29.9 and I had very high ketones.
I’m currently on 8 novorapid 3 times a day and 14 lantus before bed. My blood sugars range anywhere between 7.9 on a morning to about 14-16 on a night.
They are treating me as type 1 as I don’t fit the criteria for being type 2 ( I have a normal bmi of 20)

Hi, welcome to the forum 🙂 Best User Name I've seen for a long while!

Sorry to hear about your (almost) diagnosis, but it's good that you have found us quickly as there are lots of friendly, experienced people who can help you with any questions or concerns you may have 🙂

It's not unusual when you are a bit older for there to be some hesitancy about your Type, although you are pretty similar to my own situation when I was diagnosed aged 49. The really good thing is that they have already put you on an appropriate treatment - insulin - instead of spending months trying to control your levels with Type 2 medications.

There is a lot to take in, but probably the best thing you could do is get a copy of Type 1 Diabetes by Ragnar Hanas, which covers all aspects of living with Type 1. Don't be put off by the 'children and young people' thing, it is useful whatever your age 🙂

It will take some time before you have your blood sugar levels worked out - much is based on experience, so things will improve as you become more knowledgeable 🙂 Please feel free to ask any and every question you may have - nothing is considered 'silly'! 🙂

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome.

Good to hear that your medical professionals are not making any assumptions and treating you as Type 1 with appropriate insulin regime from the start. Hope you are beginning to feel better with some insulin inside you now. Have they arranged for GAD antibody and C-peptide tests to confirm Type 1 or are they going to just accept the clinical presentation as enough to support a Type 1 diagnosis?

It is all very overwhelming at first but after a while you start to get the hang of it and it becomes just part of your daily routine, albeit a bit of a frustrating one sometimes.

The forum is a fantastic resource of knowledge experience and just general support, so come and dip into it whenever you need to and feel free to ask anything.

 

[Nikkinakkinoo12]

Hi and welcome.

Good to hear that your medical professionals are not making any assumptions and treating you as Type 1 with appropriate insulin regime from the start. Hope you are beginning to feel better with some insulin inside you now. Have they arranged for GAD antibody and C-peptide tests to confirm Type 1 or are they going to just accept the clinical presentation as enough to support a Type 1 diagnosis?

It is all very overwhelming at first but after a while you start to get the hang of it and it becomes just part of your daily routine, albeit a bit of a frustrating one sometimes.

The forum is a fantastic resource of knowledge experience and just general support, so come and dip into it whenever you need to and feel free to ask anything.

They have done the GAD antibody and C-peptide tests last Friday but I’m still awaiting the results. The hospital said it could take a couple of weeks to come back.

I’m starting to feel better although my eyesight is still a little blurry sometimes (it is as I type this). I’ve read that it may take a few weeks to return to normal.

 

[Nikkinakkinoo12]

Hi, welcome to the forum 🙂 Best User Name I've seen for a long while!

Sorry to hear about your (almost) diagnosis, but it's good that you have found us quickly as there are lots of friendly, experienced people who can help you with any questions or concerns you may have 🙂

It's not unusual when you are a bit older for there to be some hesitancy about your Type, although you are pretty similar to my own situation when I was diagnosed aged 49. The really good thing is that they have already put you on an appropriate treatment - insulin - instead of spending months trying to control your levels with Type 2 medications.

There is a lot to take in, but probably the best thing you could do is get a copy of Type 1 Diabetes by Ragnar Hanas, which covers all aspects of living with Type 1. Don't be put off by the 'children and young people' thing, it is useful whatever your age 🙂

It will take some time before you have your blood sugar levels worked out - much is based on experience, so things will improve as you become more knowledgeable 🙂 Please feel free to ask any and every question you may have - nothing is considered 'silly'! 🙂

Thank you, I will have a look at the book as I’m willing to understand everything there is about diabetes.

 

[PattiEvans]

Hi and welcome. Good for you taking it on board and learning all you can! Another excellent book is Think like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @Nikkinakkinoo12

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It does sound like they’ve made the right call though. T1 can develop at any age - we have members here diagnosed well into later life. While sometimes it gets reported as a condition that develops in childhood, in fact 50% of cases occur in those over 18.

Good that you have found the forum already. Diabetes can be frustratingly fickle and illogical-seeming at times, and it can be a real help to have folks to ask ‘is it just me or...’ and ‘how do you cope with...’ for all manner of things. There are lots of friendly and experienced T1s here who can share their hints, tips and experiences.

Hope your blurry eyesight continues to improve - yes it can certainly take a little while for the eyes to readjust.

 

[SB2015]

Hi @Nikkinakkinoo12 from another late starter (53)

It does take a bit of getting used to and there is a very steep learning curve at the start. It is great that they have already got you on the appropriate treatment. So many are misdiagnosed as T2 and the meds for that simply don’t work.

My eyes were very blurry at diagnosis, but they did clear once my levels came back to normal. This took a little while.

Great that you have found the forum. Fire away with any questions that you have.

 

[Lizzie Wizzie]

They have done the GAD antibody and C-peptide tests last Friday but I’m still awaiting the results. The hospital said it could take a couple of weeks to come back.

I’m starting to feel better although my eyesight is still a little blurry sometimes (it is as I type this). I’ve read that it may take a few weeks to return to normal.

Have they given you a date for a diabetic eye test? My blurry sight didn’t improve after a while which thru said it probably would and it turns out that because I had a Dka (unusual as was diagnosed as type 2) and my sugars were lowered extremely quickly and a lot, that the drop has caused eye damage - I’m not trying to worry you but if it doesn’t improve in a few weeks, push to have a diabetic eye check though hopefully it will settle

 

[Nikkinakkinoo12]

Have they given you a date for a diabetic eye test? My blurry sight didn’t improve after a while which thru said it probably would and it turns out that because I had a Dka (unusual as was diagnosed as type 2) and my sugars were lowered extremely quickly and a lot, that the drop has caused eye damage - I’m not trying to worry you but if it doesn’t improve in a few weeks, push to have a diabetic eye check though hopefully it will settle

Thank you. I see a consultant at the beginning of June so I was going to wait until then to see how my eyes are. The blurriness comes and goes and for most part of the day they are ok. I will ask about them if they don’t improve.

 

[Northerner]

Thank you. I see a consultant at the beginning of June so I was going to wait until then to see how my eyes are. The blurriness comes and goes and for most part of the day they are ok. I will ask about them if they don’t improve.

I had the blurry eyes for a few weeks after diagnosis, I bought myself some cheap reading glasses 🙂 Don't let an optician sell you any proper glasses until you are sure things have settled 🙂

 

[Lizzie Wizzie]

I had the blurry eyes for a few weeks after diagnosis, I bought myself some cheap reading glasses 🙂 Don't let an optician sell you any proper glasses until you are sure things have settled 🙂

Absolutely agree I have been told by the hospital not to have my eyes tested for a new prescription until they are sure my eyes have settled down!