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Newly diagnosed type 1!

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
H

HannahVictoria

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
hey,
I have had type 1 for about a month and a half now and although I have managed to get a hang of this new routine, I would be grateful for some top tips about dealing with type 1 and any tips and tricks you think it would be worth me knowing!
thanks!
 
Welcome to the club no-one wanted to join Hannah.

This is a marathon, not a sprint and your learning curve at the moment is vertical - it gradually transforms into a curve but it never actually stops.

After 45 years I still learn something new almost every day - the things we have to learn about how the body actually works are fascinating and the more I find out, the more I marvel at how very little actually seems to go wrong with them for us individually. If someone could make a car as reliable as an average human body they'd go bust - cos we'd never hardly need to buy another !
 
Hello and welcome to forum
 
Hi @HannahVictoria and welcome to the gang. As TW says this is a marathon not a sprint and you will have bad days when you BG is high and/or low. The trick is to try and work out why and act accordingly, but some days there will be no rhyme nor reason and then you need to move on and not get too hung up on it. Perfection is impossible to achieve for the majority of the time so don't get stressed if you've done your best and things don't go according to plan. D is a fickle little b**ger and does like to play games to keep us on our toes 🙂.
Any questions, or if you just want a rant, fire away and one or more of us will be along to help wherever we can.
 
HannahVictoria said:
hey,
I have had type 1 for about a month and a half now and although I have managed to get a hang of this new routine, I would be grateful for some top tips about dealing with type 1 and any tips and tricks you think it would be worth me knowing!
thanks!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum and well done for managing to get your routine going well. It is such a shock and hard at the beginning. Do ask anything and as others have said, share the 'moany' bits as well. After nearly two years, I still feel a beginner but now am much more confident thanks to this forum. How did you come to be diagnosed?
 
Hi from me as well. As others have said, you're in this for the long haul so don't worry if everything doesn't go according to plan. I think it was on my birthday about a month after my diagnosis that I realised this and cut myself a bit of slack for the first time!
My tip would be to use the forum. I wish it had been available when I was first diagnosed. I didn't find it (not this one, a different one) until I was 15 years or so in, and learned more about managing the condition from it than I had in the previous 15 years.
 
Welcome to the forum! Glad you found us so soon - living with diabetes can be a lonely business without people around you who instinctively 'get it'

Just chip in with the discussions, rant, moan, and ask any questions you like - nothing will be regarded as silly or too obvious here 🙂
 
New
Hi @HannahVictoria from me as well.
The best tip I can offer is to take one day at a time and don't dwell on bad days. Remember you are human so nothing will be perfect every day.
 
Newly diagnosed type 1 too. Really frustrating when you are trying hard and the BG's just will not drop.The only time it drops is if I have a protein bar for a meal or cream and I clearly can't live healthily on that. I an on

Apidra 6 units before meals & Abasaglar 10 units once a day, Is that high/low/typical? I have never been one to take medication and really want to understand the dosage etc.
I have a telephone appointment with the DN on Tuesday any suggestions for questions for her appreciated.
 
PURPLESALLY said:
Newly diagnosed type 1 too. Really frustrating when you are trying hard and the BG's just will not drop.The only time it drops is if I have a protein bar for a meal or cream and I clearly can't live healthily on that. I an on

Apidra 6 units before meals & Abasaglar 10 units once a day, Is that high/low/typical? I have never been one to take medication and really want to understand the dosage etc.
I have a telephone appointment with the DN on Tuesday any suggestions for questions for her appreciated.
Click to expand...

Impossible for anyone here to advise you on doses - we are not medically qualified for starters! But this is certainly something you should feed back to your nurse/clinic.

What you describe sounds like your meal doses are not well matched with your food intake? Have you been given guidance about monitoring the amount of carbohydrate you are eating?

Tricky in the early days as your pancreas may still be intermittently helping you out.

In the old days you would have been given a 'grams of carbohydrate per meal' guide/target. So I guess you could start by wirking out what you are currently eating and reduce/increase based on your results until you get some carb counting/dose adjustment guidance?
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Impossible for anyone here to advise you on doses - we are not medically qualified for starters! But this is certainly something you should feed back to your nurse/clinic.

What you describe sounds like your meal doses are not well matched with your food intake? Have you been given guidance about monitoring the amount of carbohydrate you are eating?

Tricky in the early days as your pancreas may still be intermittently helping you out.

In the old days you would have been given a 'grams of carbohydrate per meal' guide/target. So I guess you could start by wirking out what you are currently eating and reduce/increase based on your results until you get some carb counting/dose adjustment guidance?
Click to expand...
I think that's the frustrating bit, not having a target. The only time it stays steady is if I have a protein bar for a meal and that has 9 grams of carbs so thats what I have been trying to keep to. I am cutting out as many carbs as possible, 2 hours after eating my count can reduce and I think yeah, but then 2 hours after that it can be 4 points higher.
 
PURPLESALLY said:
I think that's the frustrating bit, not having a target. The only time it stays steady is if I have a protein bar for a meal and that has 9 grams of carbs so thats what I have been trying to keep to. I am cutting out as many carbs as possible, 2 hours after eating my count can reduce and I think yeah, but then 2 hours after that it can be 4 points higher.
Click to expand...

Try a fasting basal test? Miss a meal, take no bolus insulin (so only your background is active) and measure BG every 2 hours. Ideally your BG should remain within +/-1.7mmol/L by your next mealtime. Can give clues for your clinic as to whether your basal(background) insulin is set right.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum HannahVictoria. 🙂
 
Welcome Hannah and PurpleSally

It is a lot to learn at the start and as others have said we are looking individuals so things are different for each of us. One reference book I found invaluable (apologies if I missed someone else mentioning this) is Ragnar Hanas's book Type 1 in Children, adolescents and young adults. Ignore the age reference, as I was 53 at diagnosis and still find it invaluable. A bit of a layout, but well worth it as it is an well indexed and tackles most things that arise.

Also we are all here in the same club. So come along with questions, as well as a rant, moan, whatever helps. The forumis great and full of people who understand what is going on and are happy to help as best they can.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I know that it doesn't feel like it at the moment but it will soon become second nature. Carbohydrate counting and matching your bolus is my tip but also important is learning to "guesstimate" your carbohydrates so that you feel comfortable eating when out and about. Diabetes is individual so you learn to respond to how how your body reacts. If in doubt at anytime test your sugar and don't beat yourself up if your level isn't what you want. Just deal with it, reflect on what might have happened and move on.
 
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