Diabetes nightmare

[Abilen2208]

Hi this is a bit of a rant and a long story so i year ago in February i was feeling unwell and i had been telling my gp for months something wasn't right but thsy kept saying it was my other long term health conditions. I finally got them to do a diabetes check and a week later i was told i have diabetes, and the diabetic clinic would be in touch soon. I was feeling extremely unwell, i was feeling like i was gonna pass out, i was constantly thirsty and peeing a lot. i finally got another appointment that day around 4pm my blood sugars was 26 and there were keytones in my urine. So I was told to go to a&e. They did tests and i was admitted to hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis. They said that if i hadnt gone in when i did i wouldn't have woken up the next morning. I was in there a week i was boarderline diabetic type 1 and put on insulin. They have tried to put me on metaformin but i had a really bad reaction to it. I take novarapid before meals and abasaglar at night. Now for a year i my levels were in my target range 6-12 but since January ive my levels have been between 15-31 it doesn't matter what i do i just cant get them down. My diet hasnt changed since i was diagnosed. Ive tested my ketones and there 0.5 but i have symptoms of being thirsty all the time, headaches, peeing a lot my vision keeps altering, breathing is hard work. I spoke to diabetic nurse but wasnt very helpful she just said to increase my abasaglar which i did but my wake up readings are 15-20. I just have no clue what to do coz of what happened i dont have much trust in my gp. Im a single parent with zero support and several long term health conditions such as fibromyalgia and Hidradenitis suppretivia are just two of them, im just stuck. My diet is fairly high carb but i eat what my daughter likes coz i refuse to cook twice but its always been like that since i was diagnosed and like i said my bloods was within my target. Lately im just not hungry or feel too rubbish to eat.

 

[Leadinglights]

Hi this is a bit of a rant and a long story so i year ago in February i was feeling unwell and i had been telling my gp for months something wasn't right but thsy kept saying it was my other long term health conditions. I finally got them to do a diabetes check and a week later i was told i have diabetes, and the diabetic clinic would be in touch soon. I was feeling extremely unwell, i was feeling like i was gonna pass out, i was constantly thirsty and peeing a lot. i finally got another appointment that day around 4pm my blood sugars was 26 and there were keytones in my urine. So I was told to go to a&e. They did tests and i was admitted to hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis. They said that if i hadnt gone in when i did i wouldn't have woken up the next morning. I was in there a week i was boarderline diabetic type 1 and put on insulin. They have tried to put me on metaformin but i had a really bad reaction to it. I take novarapid before meals and abasaglar at night. Now for a year i my levels were in my target range 6-12 but since January ive my levels have been between 15-31 it doesn't matter what i do i just cant get them down. My diet hasnt changed since i was diagnosed. Ive tested my ketones and there 0.5 but i have symptoms of being thirsty all the time, headaches, peeing a lot my vision keeps altering, breathing is hard work. I spoke to diabetic nurse but wasnt very helpful she just said to increase my abasaglar which i did but my wake up readings are 15-20. I just have no clue what to do coz of what happened i dont have much trust in my gp. Im a single parent with zero support and several long term health conditions such as fibromyalgia and Hidradenitis suppretivia are just two of them, im just stuck. My diet is fairly high carb but i eat what my daughter likes coz i refuse to cook twice but its always been like that since i was diagnosed and like i said my bloods was within my target. Lately im just not hungry or feel too rubbish to eat.

Welcome to the forum, I hope some of our Type 1 folk will be along to offer some words of wisdom but it sounds as if you need to be going back to your diabetes clinic and ask for some more advise. Are you adjusting your dose of bolus insulin to take account of the carbs in your meals?
Peoples insulin requirement can change as time goes on soon after diagnosis and in the scheme of things you are in early days.

 

[SimonP]

Some questions, sorry!

How many carbs do you have in total a day (or if it's easier what do you think per meal)? Do you think your basal is correct? Do you think you might be under-estimating the amount of bolus you need (which is quite easy for high carb meals as one never wants to get it too wrong and go low, especially in the evening)?

If you're high I'm not surprised you're not hungry, I can go all day without eating if I'm running high.

If I have a large evening meal (>90g carbs) it's anyone's guess what's going to happen overnight as I need to split dose, and usually the absorption is still happening when I go to bed so guestimating the 2nd half of the split is often conservative to avoid risking going low overnight. Life is easier with fewer carbs (say 60g) as there's less concern about getting the exact dose/response right and heading far to high or low. I know this and yet I still fail sometimes, though I do try to fail less often or select foods that can pad out a meal without adding massive amounts of extra carbs (like skipping bought sauces, going for sugar free baked beans or DIY beans completely if there's time).

 

[helli]

Hi @Abilen2208
Sorry to read about the struggles you are having.
Do you mind sharing with us what your insulin dose is and whether it has changed in the last year?
My thinking is that, if you were “borderline type 1”, your body would have still been producing some insulin. Unfortunately, as type 1 is an autoimmune condition, over time you will produce less and less insulin so will need to make it up by injecting more.
This has nothing to do with diet … and there should be no reason to eat differently to your daughter.
Typically, the recommendation is to sort out your basal insulin first. And then adjust your bolus. Its purpose is to keep your levels stable in the absence of food. You mention your waking levels but how is this compared to when you go to bed? If the morning is higher than the night, it is likely that you need to increase your basal more.
Do you have a Libre? If you live in England and do not have one, demand it from your GP. You are entitled to it and it will give you a great insight (although I recommend reading a few threads about its limitations). It will show, for example, whether you experience Dawn Phenomenon (your liver dumping glucose which will show a rise in the morning) or whether your levels rise all through the night.

I realise I am waffling on. So will stop for now and invite you to ask more questions.

 

[Inka]

@Abilen2208 Do you carb count and adjust your mealtime insulin? As said above, it’s possible your insulin requirements have changed, and your doses/meal ratios might need adjusting.

Are you testing for ketones? Do you know how to do correction doses?