anyone in the same boat

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honeybee

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I haven't done this before but wondering if anyone out there same as me, am struggling to cope with Diabetes (type 1) and have been since having children. Also started back to work now kids are a bit older (3 & 5) which is making the diabeted control near impossible. Not enough hours in the day for normal life let alone managing control of diabetes and buscuit intake (which is my main downfall)!!

Was only diagnosed a year before having my first child, a late onset diagnoses so sort of got used to it and then new born baby interupted my control, sleep patterns and general life as babies do.

My partner is very good at supporting me but would feel better to discuss this with someone in the same boat! My levels currently range between 2 and 27 plus despite getting support from my local specialist nurse etc. Wondering if a buddy could help more than the health professional approach.

Can you help?
 
Hi honeybee, welcome to the forum🙂 We have quite a few mothers here with Type 1 and hopefully they will be able to give you much better advice than me as a single bloke!😉
 
Hi Honeybee: I was diagnosed type 1 exactly 1 year before getting pregnant with twins. Had good control whilst pregnant, as was able to stick to routine. Once they arrived, however, control flew out of the window for a while, now that they are almost 7, this weekend in fact, have been back on track for quite a while. Once they are older, you will find that they understand why Mummy sticks needles in herself, gobbles food, and is sometimes unable to do anything other than lie in a heap - or maybe thats just me!

I work 2/3 days a week, no problem with colleagues there, plus we do have a biscuit tin, which has been useful at times!

It will get better, remember a few high readings won't wreck the good work done majority of time. Take care,

Casper
 
I am not sure mine has been anywhere near under control since I had my first child its just got worst more recently and I feel despite my best efforts I have very little control over it. I am working full time at the mo and even though my boys are absolutely accepting of the situation with me injecting, managing to put myself first and my diabetes first just does not happen. I know it should but I assume like most mums I am last on the list of things to look after and my eating reflects this too (especially when I get tired) my eating habits just go to the wall.

Do you have any tactics or advice you have found helpful to keep eating habits under control and making sure levels are kept within range?
 
honeybee said:
I am not sure mine has been anywhere near under control since I had my first child its just got worst more recently and I feel despite my best efforts I have very little control over it. I am working full time at the mo and even though my boys are absolutely accepting of the situation with me injecting, managing to put myself first and my diabetes first just does not happen. I know it should but I assume like most mums I am last on the list of things to look after and my eating reflects this too (especially when I get tired) my eating habits just go to the wall.

Do you have any tactics or advice you have found helpful to keep eating habits under control and making sure levels are kept within range?
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Hiya honeybee

Are you on MDI? Do you carb count? Have you thought about a pump, that would help you with the biscuits?

Ooo lots of questions.
I guess carb counting is the biggest question. I am presuming you are on MDI and not mixed insulins and so am hoping your team have told you and taught you to carb count.
 
hi honeybee,

i was diagnosed nearly 10 years ago now and have constantly struggled with my control. i to have 2 young kids (6&5). i found that i didnt have enough time in the day for everything i was doing and ended up in hospital quite a few times. lucky for me i had an employer who knew me quite well and knew i was neglecting myself. he told me he was reducing my hours so i could get myself straight and then he would gradually increase my hours till i was at a level i could deal with and manage my diabetes.

i think sometimes we put to much stress on our own shoulders by not letting people help us. i have a wonderful partner and we are getting married next year and i cant wait. i have just started a new stressfull training post for a new role in life (the name on here kinda gives it away lol)

hope everything works out well for you 🙂
 
What is MDI, i'm not sure if I am or not ? I have no idea when it comes to calorie counting, the hospital has suggested a course of some kind I think it includes this but not sure when this will happen or even if I can fit it in, I don't have a very understanding employer....

I am still on the guessing amount eaten and amount injected, which works ok but of course lack of control of the eating throws any good guessing at meal times out the window.

I am glad I am not the only one struggling with the riggers of managing this with the kids in the picture, even with the best of intentions it seems to require more than intentions and some planned way of managing it. I am currently testing and injecting before I eat as advised by the hospital to stop me forgetting to inject altogether and they have suggested some counselling to help with food issues and controlling the eating but again this is just more time I don;t have to spare!!!!

i also keep getting told to eat little and often but of course if I do this i.e. having a cereal bar or something about 10am, having eaten breakfast at 7am (or earlier) I have no insulin left, so do I just not eat between meals? Even a banana as a snack sends my blood sugars soaring due to having no insuline working ??? I'm on Novorapid so runs out after 3 hours max. Have an underlying lantus insulin but does not seem to help with snacks??

ANy guidance gratefully accepted, coming to the end of my teather trying to make this work for me, just so much info what should and shouldn;t do that never seems to be of use in my busy day on top of my own issues trying to control my eating.

Am I just really messed up????
 
honeybee you're not messed up! you just sound confused and believe me most of us are at some point or another!

MDI is multiple daily injections. by the sounds of it you are on it - you are injecting the short acting Novorapid and long lasting Lantus.

Adrienne mentioned carb counting. this means counting the amount of carbs in your meal/snack and then injecting the correct amount of insulin. for example, some people may use a ration of 1 unit of novorapid for every 10g of carbs eaten.

so if you had a snack, a banana or biscuits or whatever, you would work out how many carbs are in it and then take the right amount of insulin (each person's ratios vary).

i would definitely push to get onto any kind of course your hospital can offer - they can also write to your employer to say it is necessary for your health.

please stick around and ask as many qs as you like!

(also just to point out the obv, i am not a trained medic or health care worker of any kind. any changes you make to diet/insulin etc should be based on the advice of your diabetes team!)
 
Hey no you are not messed up, you just sound confused, and I don't blame you in the slightest, diabetes is very very confusing.

Ok you are on MDI (multiple daily injections). This is Lantus in your case as the long acting background and novorapid as the quick acting. In general the quick acting peaks at about 2 to 3 hours but can hang around for up to 5 or 6 hours depending on the person.

What lots of people find (and this is not everyone) is that they have breakfast then two hours later test and are high and then by lunch time they are hypo or nearly. This can then happen again after lunch. You need to have enough insulin (novorapid) to cover your food ie breakfast to try and combat the high two hours later. However if you manage to get that sorted it is pretty much guaranteed you will be hypo by lunchtime so this is why people have a 10 to 15 gram carb snack at mid morning to avoid the lunch time hypo.

Have I made sense so far?

So people (not all I might add), have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, tea, snack and then bedtime snack possibly.

This would be the little and often I guess.

The best and only way to get the best out of your novorapid is to carbohydrate count, (not calorie). I imagine you were told about the DAFNE course. This is a course to teach you how to carb count. It is excellent and you should go. Infact you should ask about it again. If it is some way off then ask your nurse specialist to teach you basics. She needs to work out how many insulin units you need to cover however many carbs.

For example my daughter is on 1 unit of novorapid for ever 10 carbs she eats at breakfast. So if her breakfast is 30 carbs, then she has 3 units.

This is easier than it sounds. This is one of the hardest things to get your head around but once you do get the hang of it, it is easy.

I hope this has helped a little bit and you are definitely not messed up. You've taken the first major step by asking for help on here. You'll get there.
 
Shiv you beat me to it but I do tend to waffle !!🙂
 
Adrienne said:
This is easier than it sounds. This is one of the hardest things to get your head around but once you do get the hang of it, it is easy.
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this. it is a LOT to take in and a lot to get your head around. BUUUUUT - when you get the hang of it, it will make everything so much easier.
 
Hi Honeybee!

Just to say I can totally relate to how you've been - it's really hard to juggle diabetes & kids! (& I've just got one to deal with at the mo!!) I really hope you get some better help from your nurse & can definitely recommend the DAFNE course - it was a life changer for me & although control (& general organisation!) is still a major challenge, without the basic tool kit (carb counting, ratios etc) the other ladies have already described I'd be lost! 😱

One other thought - after having my first kid I noticed that my blood glucose (BG) was dropping until around 2-3am, then just soaring throughout the morning - apparently this is called the "dawn phenomenon" & can tend to happen post kids (?!typical!!)...For me it meant i was on a rollercoaster, trying to sort things out all day! If after getting to grips with carb counting, insulin : carb ratios etc you find something like this seems to be happening it might be worth asking your consultant if you can have a 72hr constant blood glucose monitor attached...basically you get a really good idea of what your sugar levels are doing in a "big picture" context. If it is dawn phenom, a pump might help. (So I'm told...can't have one whilst pregnant though it seems! 😡)

Hope that's not just confused things!!

All the best!
 
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