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Diagnosed in January - its been a rocky year!

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

Rosabean

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi everyone!
I was diagnosed in January after a hospital admission. In some ways covid and lockdown have been a blessing whilst I got over the shock! But continuing to work and look after a toddler has been really tough. Despite having supportive friends and family I do feel quite alone with the stress of it all. I feel like I'm in a place where I'd like reach out and chat to others now!
Sending happy healthy vibes ✌
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. 🙂
Wow does sound as if you are very busy with a little one plus work. Well done you in managing to juggle your new diagnoses, work and a toddler.
 
Good grief Rosa - you've done very well indeed to have coped with all that and survived! Toddlers can be a fulltime job themselves, without anything else.

Anything we can help you with, we'll try. Have you managed to get carb counting and dose adjustment training during this very strange year we're having?
 
trophywench said:
Good grief Rosa - you've done very well indeed to have coped with all that and survived! Toddlers can be a fulltime job themselves, without anything else.

Anything we can help you with, we'll try. Have you managed to get carb counting and dose adjustment training during this very strange year we're having?
Click to expand...

Thanks for kind messages. Where's the best place to start with training? I do carb count and adjustment myself but it's been a bit of trial and error... and still is! My basal insulin still isn't quite right so things are constantly changing!
 
Hi @Rosabean and welcome to the forum!

The more you can you tell us about your diagnosis and your lifestyle pre and post then the likelihood of those on here with more directly relevant experience replying, and helping, increases because we're all different and our diabetes fairies are all pretty unique too!

So, pull up a chair, make a cuppa - or maybe make the cuppa before pulling up the chair unless your kettle is in within easy reach of the chair of course - and tell us about you 🙂

Also let us know if there's anything specific you've got questions about as we're quite a helpful bunch most of the time!
 
Welcome to the forum Rosabean.
 
Hi and welcome from me too.

I have to say I am quite in awe of you.... having coped with Type 1 diagnosis through lockdown when normal support has been restricted, worked from home AND looked after a toddler.... and managed all that without the support of this forum..... AND even more impressively it seems you still have your sanity!

One of the biggest lessons to learn with diabetes is that perfect management of your levels is unattainable and there will be days when things mostly go as you expect and other days when things go haywire and you may or may not be able to figure out why.
Getting your basal insulin dose correct (or even a basal insulin which suits your body's needs and biorhythms) is crucial to any hope of success and basal needs can change due to various factors so you need to be aware of that and be able to test and adjust. Some basal insulins are more responsive/adjustable than others, so if you have a very set routine then a long acting insulin like Tresiba might suit you best, but if your activity levels vary and you don't have a set routine then something like split dose Levemir might be better. I seem to need to tweek my evening Levemir every few days at the moment.
Do you have Freestyle Libre as this can be a huge help in spotting when your basal insulin dose is wrong and helping you to fine tune it?
Which bolus and basal insulins are you currently using?
Are your team happy for you to adjust your basal insulin yourself and do you feel confident to do so?
 
ColinUK said:
Hi @Rosabean and welcome to the forum!

The more you can you tell us about your diagnosis and your lifestyle pre and post then the likelihood of those on here with more directly relevant experience replying, and helping, increases because we're all different and our diabetes fairies are all pretty unique too!

So, pull up a chair, make a cuppa - or maybe make the cuppa before pulling up the chair unless your kettle is in within easy reach of the chair of course - and tell us about you 🙂

Also let us know if there's anything specific you've got questions about as we're quite a helpful bunch most of the time!
Click to expand...
ColinUK said:
Hi @Rosabean and welcome to the forum!

The more you can you tell us about your diagnosis and your lifestyle pre and post then the likelihood of those on here with more directly relevant experience replying, and helping, increases because we're all different and our diabetes fairies are all pretty unique too!

So, pull up a chair, make a cuppa - or maybe make the cuppa before pulling up the chair unless your kettle is in within easy reach of the chair of course - and tell us about you 🙂

Also let us know if there's anything specific you've got questions about as we're quite a helpful bunch most of the time!
Click to expand...

Thank you @ColinUK
I am 33 and a mum to a little girl who is 2.5. I have worked in the charity sector for all of my career and now do development work for a small local charity. Since having my girl I was so so tired ALL THE TIME and looking back pretty sure I was having blood sugar fluctuations as couldn't leave the house some days as felt so poorly. This was, of course, palmed off by everyone as post-baby fatigue and so I sucked it up. Then towards the end of last year felt progressively worse and lost a lot of weight. Went to the doctors 3 times before a finger prick in January then was admitted on the spot! In some ways it was a relief knowing it was something, rather than nothing!

Fast-forward 9 months and I feel I have a much better understanding of it all, but overwhelmed too, as clearly lots still to learn. I have recently started using a libre which is amazing but feel I've probably had more spikes since having it. This is likely due to me obsessively checking then trying to rectify constantly.

I am carb counting but do a lot of guessing due to a busy life and often having to eat on the go/not having time to properly look things up. I am gradually getting a better understanding of it but will look up some training like someone else on here suggested.

My biggest question at the moment is around fatigue - mental and physical. I suppose I thought I'd start feeling much better by now. In some ways I do but still get very tired. Is this quite normal? Is it very individualized due to circumstances?

I'd also love to hear any tips for those days when you try your best and your levels are all over the shop and you think 'I just can't do this any more'! How do you all try combat that feeling?

Thank you for your support
 
rebrascora said:
Hi and welcome from me too.

I have to say I am quite in awe of you.... having coped with Type 1 diagnosis through lockdown when normal support has been restricted, worked from home AND looked after a toddler.... and managed all that without the support of this forum..... AND even more impressively it seems you still have your sanity!

One of the biggest lessons to learn with diabetes is that perfect management of your levels is unattainable and there will be days when things mostly go as you expect and other days when things go haywire and you may or may not be able to figure out why.
Getting your basal insulin dose correct (or even a basal insulin which suits your body's needs and biorhythms) is crucial to any hope of success and basal needs can change due to various factors so you need to be aware of that and be able to test and adjust. Some basal insulins are more responsive/adjustable than others, so if you have a very set routine then a long acting insulin like Tresiba might suit you best, but if your activity levels vary and you don't have a set routine then something like split dose Levemir might be better. I seem to need to tweek my evening Levemir every few days at the moment.
Do you have Freestyle Libre as this can be a huge help in spotting when your basal insulin dose is wrong and helping you to fine tune it?
Which bolus and basal insulins are you currently using?
Are your team happy for you to adjust your basal insulin yourself and do you feel confident to do so?
Click to expand...

Thank you @rebrascora - kind words! Not sure about my sanity
It's very reassuring to hear about levels being unattainable. Sometimes (although you know it deep down) you need that reality check. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so this will be a hard lesson to learn, but the more I let go the easier the journey should hopefully be!
I'm on Semglee and Humalog but just waiting to try out Tresiba. I wouldn't say I've got a set routine with a toddler (haha) but I'll give it a try and see what happens. I am nervous testing new basal doses as I've had a fair few night hypos due to changing things around. It makes me quite anxious about going to bed!
And yes to a Libre - I'm on my 4th one now and whilst it's SOOO good not having to finger prick all the time, it's another way of managing things to get used to.
This forum sounds really lovely and supportive though, I'm glad I signed up!
 
Hi @Rosabean 🙂

I think Type 1 does affect energy sometimes. Trying to keep blood sugars in range is a massive mental effort in and of itself. Then, our sugars will fluctuate more and in a different way from someone who’s not Type 1. We’re trying to balance something that’s normally automatic. It’s not easy, and our external insulin doesn’t ‘go away’ in the same way endogenous insulin does.

I don’t have a Libre because I think it might obsess me or make me anxious. There’s a slim line between control and over-correcting, letting diabetes take over your life, eating disorders, etc, etc. We can never be perfect, and accepting that is important. Get a ‘bad’ number? Deal with it and move on.

Carb counting, getting some kind of routine, and simplifying things by sticking to similar breakfasts and lunches each day reduces the mental load and is less stress, I’ve found.
 
Inka said:
I don’t have a Libre because I think it might obsess me or make me anxious.
Click to expand...

For what it's worth I think that's a common effect. But only for a while, and then you accept that you're really not trying for perfection: just good enough (and maybe a bit better than last week or yesterday). And (since you can scan as often as you like) each scan doesn't mean as much as a test strip result, so in a way it's less stressful even though you're getting 24/7 readings.

However, it's not for everyone. (And that's partly why there's a 6 month trial for prescriptions: it doesn't agree with everyone.)
 
That might well be true @Bruce Stephens 🙂 But I’ve seen so many people obsessing over it way after the 6 month period, and the thought that might be me is off-putting.
 
Do you take the Semglee at night as that can sometimes cause night time hypos I believe as it has a peak of activity about 5hrs after injecting which can coincide with a natural drop in BG levels in the small hours, if injected in the evening. Some people find swapping it to a morning injection instead helps.
I certainly sympathise with your concerns about night time hypos. I have concerns about them even though I haven't had a bad one and tend to half consciously run my BG high overnight to be safe.
 
Inka said:
That might well be true @Bruce Stephens 🙂 But I’ve seen so many people obsessing over it way after the 6 month period, and the thought that might be me is off-putting.
Click to expand...

I'm having a little break from Libre at the moment as I felt I was relying upon it too heavily and waking up in the night more often just to scan and most times go back to sleep when I would not have got out of bed and finger pricked. I found the prospect of the first night without it a bit daunting and I am certainly finger pricking more often than I probably need to, but think it is helpful to me to have this period of resetting my confidence in managing my levels without it and may do this intermittently after I get it prescribed just to keep myself grounded.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum @Rosabean 🙂
 
Semglee is a biosimilar insulin glargine, hence one assumes works in a similar way to Lantus. Lantus definitely peaks in its own activity at around 4-5 hours after jabbing before lessening again and flattening off so I suppose it's reasonable to assume that Semglee would too - but I don't think I've ever seen an activity graph from the manufacturers so can't say whether it does or not. Any insulin that does that and the peak coincides with your body's natural lowest BG is going to cause hypos and because most people's lowest BG is between 2.30 and 3.30am* and the NHS continually reckon the best time to jab your basal is before bed - then it doesn't need the brain of Einstein to work out that people will have hypos in the middle of the night.

(* before the world went all PC this was commonly known by medics employed in A&E as 'The suicide hour')
 
Rosabean said:
I'm a bit of a perfectionist so this will be a hard lesson to learn, but the more I let go the easier the journey should hopefully
Click to expand...
Hi Rosabean

I too was a bit of a perfectionist, and my diagnosis of T1 at the age of 53 fed into this initially. Wanting to get it spot on meant that I quickly got to grips with carb counting etc and my levels improved. I expected this to continue and to be able to get them spot on all the time.
It took me quote a while to accept the impossibility of perfection with this. The energy I wasted in the effort!!!

In a strange way I think my diagnosis has now made me more relaxed about other things too. I no longer push myself as much, if things aren’t perfect that is fine and I find I am able to enjoy what I do a lot more, happily dabbling in new things without expecting to be good at them.

I hope that you can find a carb counting course that you can access, or use the online ones. All any of us can do is do the best that we can, and remember our levels will never be perfect. Now we have to do the complex job of being our pancreas, it is amazing how clever our bodies are whilst they work.
 
Hear hear @SB2015 - but @Rosabean - we spent ages on here telling SB that perfection was unachievable, so we all heaved a sigh of relief once she said she'd accepted that fact ! The rest of us already knew we couldn't, since most of us had been there, tried that and discovered it for ourselves. We do try to save newer members of the club the angst of most things, where we can!
 
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