A not new newbie

[Sarah JW]

Hi
I have posted a little while ago, I am not new to diabetes having been diagnosed in 1980, however I am relatively new to this site. I am really struggling at the moment with a variety of things in my life and a bit worried about disclosing all of which to one of these sites. My diabetes is all over the place, HBA1C the highest it has been for a while and I feel out of control with it. I feel scared of going back to see practice nurse or even the diabetes nurses as I feel that I should know what I am doing. I have such a busy life both at work and at home and just feel so helpless at the moment to make changes, then feeling guilty about not making changes. I just do not know what to do, I feel so empty

 

[Ljc]

Hello @Sarah JW . I am sorry to hear you are so low.
It sounds like you have an awful lot going on in your life right now that may be pulling you down and it’s well known that stress affects diabetes in a negative way.

Please don’t be wary or afraid of contacting your diabetic team esp your DSN, to be honest I think you should do this ASAP! You see they won’t have a right go at you , they are there to help you not to make you feel worse in any way. You certainly won’t be the first person they have seen who is wobbling, nor will you be the last. They do understand that life can be darned tough at times and that we are mere humans not saints.

XXX

 

[SB2015]

Hi Sarah
I am sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time at present, and it sounds like you are having to juggle a lot things, on top of keeping on top of your Diabetes. In addition stress and worries will also impact on your BG.

I would echo what Ljc says about contacting your DSN. They are there to help you, and will understand how hard it can be to keep everything on track. I had a big wobble last year, and didn’t ask for help straight away as I thought I ought to be able to cope. They were wonderful when I finally explained how I was feeling. If you think it would help I can direct you to a thread on here where I shared the support that Inreceived and the strategies that I used to get back on track.

Is there a specific aspect of your diabetes management that you feel you want to tackle? It can seem a big thing to manage, but if you can focus on one small part of it that may help.

 

[Bloden]

Hiya Sarah.🙂 Sorry to hear you’re struggling at the mo - I think we can all appreciate how you’re feeling. You don’t have to give us all your personal info, just let us support you thru a tough time.🙂 Welcome!😛

 

[stephknits]

Hi Sarah, sorry to hear you are struggling. Lots of good advice already. I agree it might be good to start with one small thing, like testing before and after breakfast, writing it down and then seeing what the numbers are like after a few days.
Have you ever gone on a DAFNE course? I found this invaluable and there were people on the course who had had diabetes for 40 years and still learned loads. I knikit is a lot of time to take out of a busy life, but sometimes we need to focus on us for a bit.

 

[Flower]

Hello Sarah and welcome 🙂

I'm sorry you are having such a tough time at present but glad you found us 🙂, Diabetes doesn't care what else is happening and it is really tough to keep juggling everything you need to- however many years you've been dealing with it

I'll echo what the others have said, please ask your team for help , it isn't your fault, diabetes is;relentlessly challenging and we can't do it all on our own. They will want to help you get to a happier place with it The diabetes UK helpline is very helpful if you want to talk to someone about issues you are having. I have spoken to them a few times and they are very good. https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/helpline

I hope things start to settle down for you soon. Please let us know if there is anything we can help with, there's years and tears of collective experience with the lovely people on here.🙂

I wish you well.

 

[Ralph-YK]

Welcome to the forum Sarah.
You don't have to share anything other than what you are comfortable with.

 

[CathyB]

Welcome Sarah, you have a lot going on but please feel safe here, no one will expect you to share anything you don’t want to. Let us know what aspect of your diabetes you are struggling with and an idea of how you manage it and we will all do our best to support you

 

[HOBIE]

Hi
I have posted a little while ago, I am not new to diabetes having been diagnosed in 1980, however I am relatively new to this site. I am really struggling at the moment with a variety of things in my life and a bit worried about disclosing all of which to one of these sites. My diabetes is all over the place, HBA1C the highest it has been for a while and I feel out of control with it. I feel scared of going back to see practice nurse or even the diabetes nurses as I feel that I should know what I am doing. I have such a busy life both at work and at home and just feel so helpless at the moment to make changes, then feeling guilty about not making changes. I just do not know what to do, I feel so empty

First thing ! Well done for being at Work ! Pat on the back big style. It is hard at times. Some days are just wrong & being active has always been a positive thing to me.😉

 

[Matt Cycle]

Hi Sarah

Sorry to hear you're feeling this way. Are you seen at the hospital clinic or through the GP? Either way there's no need to feel guilty about anything and the DSN or practice nurse will be more than willing to help. T1 can be very difficult to manage no matter how long you have been diagnosed and lonely as even those closest to us don't really know what it's like to live with it. The nurses will be able to help and there's loads of support on here from people who 'get it'. Keep in contact and let us know how you're getting on.

 

[Sarah JW]

I am seen at the gp surgery by the practice nurse, but havnt been in a while, I have completed a course which was similar to the daphne course which makes me feel worse as I should know what I am doing and ow to look after myself, but I just feel unable to at the moment. My bloods are so high most of the time, im then going hypo, had bad hypo at work on friday, which brought attention to me which I hated. Thank you for you replies I need some motivation to change what I am doing and at the moment I cant seem to find any

 

[Sarah JW]

Hi Sarah
I am sorry to hear that you are having such a hard time at present, and it sounds like you are having to juggle a lot things, on top of keeping on top of your Diabetes. In addition stress and worries will also impact on your BG.

I would echo what Ljc says about contacting your DSN. They are there to help you, and will understand how hard it can be to keep everything on track. I had a big wobble last year, and didn’t ask for help straight away as I thought I ought to be able to cope. They were wonderful when I finally explained how I was feeling. If you think it would help I can direct you to a thread on here where I shared the support that Inreceived and the strategies that I used to get back on track.

Is there a specific aspect of your diabetes management that you feel you want to tackle? It can seem a big thing to manage, but if you can focus on one small part of it that may help.

Its all of it really, Idont know where to start

 

[SB2015]

Hi Sarah

There is no should or shouldn’t know this or that. You are where you are and you need some help to get things back on track. My own experience would suggest that it is difficult to get appropriate support at a GP practice, so the first I would suggest is to ask for a referral to the specialist team at the hospital. They are focused on dealing with people with T 1 and may be able to give you more specialist advice than at the GPs.

Can you pick a specific part of your management like making sure that you test before your meals, and do your background insuiln leach day. If you were able to keep records of that and then get some speciaist advice they would have some information to work on with you.

Keep in touch and keep asking and we will try to help in any way we can.

 

[HOBIE]

I am seen at the gp surgery by the practice nurse, but havnt been in a while, I have completed a course which was similar to the daphne course which makes me feel worse as I should know what I am doing and ow to look after myself, but I just feel unable to at the moment. My bloods are so high most of the time, im then going hypo, had bad hypo at work on friday, which brought attention to me which I hated. Thank you for you replies I need some motivation to change what I am doing and at the moment I cant seem to find any

Those courses are very good for anyone. There is no You passed etc. I did mine about 5 yrs ago & picked up info after 40 odd yrs of T1. 😎

 

[Sarah JW]

Hi Sarah

There is no should or shouldn’t know this or that. You are where you are and you need some help to get things back on track. My own experience would suggest that it is difficult to get appropriate support at a GP practice, so the first I would suggest is to ask for a referral to the specialist team at the hospital. They are focused on dealing with people with T 1 and may be able to give you more specialist advice than at the GPs.

Can you pick a specific part of your management like making sure that you test before your meals, and do your background insuiln leach day. If you were able to keep records of that and then get some speciaist advice they would have some information to work on with you.

Keep in touch and keep asking and we will try to help in any way we can.

Thank you,
I have had another hypo at work again today, got really scared, felt so vulnerable and ended up crying I then over treated and now my bloods are sky high. I m scared of correcting now in case I go hypo in the night. My background insulin I do twice a day and isprobably the only thing I am doing without fail everyday

 

[Carolg]

Hi Sarah SW
One appointment I went to, I just blubbered all the way through. That’s why they should have tissues on desk. Share as much as you want here, but it’s yours so as private as you wish. Take care and be kind to yourself

 

[New-journey]

Thank you,
I have had another hypo at work again today, got really scared, felt so vulnerable and ended up crying I then over treated and now my bloods are sky high. I m scared of correcting now in case I go hypo in the night. My background insulin I do twice a day and isprobably the only thing I am doing without fail everyday

Welcome and so glad you posted here. I echo all that has been said and want to congrat you on taking your background insulin every day. That is a big achievement and from there you can take baby steps with your rapid insulin. You are doing well, juggling so much and doesn't sound like you have the support you deserve. Hypos are scary and easy to over treat. Sending loads of support.

 

[Sarah JW]

Everyone is being so kind, thank you so much. I do not feel like I deserve any of it. I saw the practice nurse a while ago who said she would refer me back to specialist nurse, however I havnt heard anything. Everytime I request a repeat prescription the receptionist is reminding me to re book in with the practice nurse. I feel under pressure to do it, I know what she is going to say with out going to see her. The surgery have changed the way they offer diabetic reviews and I dont like that either, it wastes so much of my time, I am so fed up of being diabetic, I just want it to go away

 

[Northerner]

Everyone is being so kind, thank you so much. I do not feel like I deserve any of it. I saw the practice nurse a while ago who said she would refer me back to specialist nurse, however I havnt heard anything. Everytime I request a repeat prescription the receptionist is reminding me to re book in with the practice nurse. I feel under pressure to do it, I know what she is going to say with out going to see her. The surgery have changed the way they offer diabetic reviews and I dont like that either, it wastes so much of my time, I am so fed up of being diabetic, I just want it to go away

Sarah, you must keep badgering the surgery to be referred to a specialist. Even though you are struggling at the moment you know far more about your diabetes than the practice nurse, and only someone specially-trained can help with difficult situations like yours. Sometimes these 'referrals' can get lost in the system, so you need to be proactive 🙂 You'd already made a big start in trying to improve your situation by joining here, so now take it further and keep pushing until you get that specialist appointment! I'm not a particularly assertive person, but I learned early on that you have to look after Number 1 sometimes and make sure you are getting the help you need and are entitled to.

My first suspicion is that you may need to do a basal test in order to check that your basal doses are set correctly - once your basal is right the meal doses will make more sense (the link is for a pump basal test, but the same principles apply on injections. If you are not confident about doing it on your own then wait until you see the specialist).

I also suspect you would be a very good candidate for an insulin pump - again, this is something you would need to discuss with a specialist, but it should give you much better control in the longer term 🙂 If you don't know much about pumps, have a browse of the INPUT website.

Good luck, you can do this and we are all here to support you to get where you need to be 🙂

 

[Sarah JW]

Thank you, I will contact the surgery in the morning and also start the basal testing process, the problem I have is that the advice it gives about things to do when basal testing, for example not being stressed I am going to struggle with because I am so stressed at the moment, so I am unsure whether it will be accurate or not?