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Diagnosed with type 1 on my 50th birthday......yikes.

Dom74

Dom74

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi, I'm Dominic. I went to see the Doc last week of November about some pain passing urine. He arranged for me to see the nurse on the Saturday and give some samples. 2 hrs later she rang me up and told me to go to A+E as my blood sugar levels were sky high (at this point I didn't know what this all meant). So I trotted off to the hospital they did a finger prick and confirmed it. Long story short they told me I probably had diabetes,kept me in for 3 days whilst they gave me insulin and on my birthday weekend as well. I spent a month and a half thinking I had type2 till I saw the consultant who told me about anti bodies and said i had type1. I think I'm doing OK. Just finding it a bit confusing sometimes.
 
Hi Dominic and welcome to the Forum! 🙂 . Not a great birthday for you :( It's all very daunting/overwhelming when first diagnosed as there is so much to absorb and understand about how to manage the condition. I assume you must have been feeling unwell for a while (?). I felt awful - dry mouth, blurred vision, severe fatigue and weight loss so it was a a relief to get properly diagnosed. It would be useful to know about what treatment you are on and what support you are getting from consultant/diabetic clinic. This is such a useful place as you can chat to people with a wealth of experience who can relate to what you're going through....
 
Welcome to the club no-one ever asked to join!

There are no silly questions on this forum, though sometimes you might get silly answers but we do try to avoid those. I'm still asking questions sometimes, so ask, ask, ASK.
 
Hi Dom, welcome to the forums. I was diagnosed with t2 earlier this year either just before or just after my 52nd birthday. The diagnosis was more of a shock than it should have been but so far things seem OK. I hope it all goes well for you with the next few months and getting to grips with everything (your means of managing it are very different from us t2 bods). It's a big change though no matter which version you're diagnosed with so don't be afraid to ask questions or reach out for help, the people here are really friendly and supportive.
 
Hi @Dom74 and welcome to the forum - although I didn't end up in hospital (fortunately) my story is very similar and was diagnosed at the ripe old age of 47 - ask any questions you may have - we're all here to help & support each other
 
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Welcome @Dom74 🙂 Whatever you find confusing, just ask. A Type 1 diagnosis is a big shock and there’s an awful lot to take on board.

What insulins are you taking?
 
Hi @Dom74 from another late starter with T1. I was 53 at diagnosis.

It is a lot to learn very quickly but definitely gets a lot easier. Any questions just ask. There is a wealth of experience to tap into and as others have said,nothing is considered silly on here.
 
Welcome from me too. Also a late starter with Type 1 and diagnosed the day after my 55th birthday but I had a pretty good idea it was diabetes by then as I had been drinking water and weeing for England for a fortnight before that. Coming up to my 6years Diaversary next week.... as well as my birthday of course. 🙄 It is all just part of my new normal now but those early months particularly were a bit overwhelming. All I can say is that it does get better and for me this forum and it's wonderful members have been a real lifeline in learning how to practically manage it, both physically and emotionally. I hope you come to feel the same way too and look forward to hearing more from you.
 
rebrascora said:
Welcome from me too. Also a late starter with Type 1 and diagnosed the day after my 55th birthday but I had a pretty good idea it was diabetes by then as I had been drinking water and weeing for England for a fortnight before that. Coming up to my 6years Diaversary next week.... as well as my birthday of course. 🙄 It is all just part of my new normal now but those early months particularly were a bit overwhelming. All I can say is that it does get better and for me this forum and it's wonderful members have been a real lifeline in learning how to practically manage it, both physically and emotionally. I hope you come to feel the same way too and look forward to hearing more from you.
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Similar with me: I was diagnosed when I was 53. I was diagnosed with 'Late Onset'/'Type 1.5' - although I understand that there's some debate about whether or not this is actually distinct from 'standard' Type 1.
 
Hi @Dom74 and welcome to the forum from me too!
I can only echo what others have said - any questions, worries or whatever else - just shoot them here as someone will always have an answer. Also, if you feel like there's too much info flooding your way, I suggest you register for our Learning Zone (the big orange button at the top left) as it has some easily accessible info that you might find useful.
 
HayleyR said:
Hi Dominic and welcome to the Forum! 🙂 . Not a great birthday for you :( It's all very daunting/overwhelming when first diagnosed as there is so much to absorb and understand about how to manage the condition. I assume you must have been feeling unwell for a while (?). I felt awful - dry mouth, blurred vision, severe fatigue and weight loss so it was a a relief to get properly diagnosed. It would be useful to know about what treatment you are on and what support you are getting from consultant/diabetic clinic. This is such a useful place as you can chat to people with a wealth of experience who can relate to what you're going through....
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Yeah I'd been feeling like crap for months maybe even years. Things become normal quickly like the fact that I was urinating loads all the time and had really bad fatigue but you just get on with it don't you. I had noticed my waist was getting thinner even though I was eating loads. I'm on novorapid before meals and lantus at night. I've seen the nurse a couple of times. She thought I must be type 2 because of the small amount of insulin I was on. The next day I saw the consultant who told me it was type 1 due to the massive amount of antibodies in my tests. I'm due to see them both again in March.
 
trophywench said:
Welcome to the club no-one ever asked to join!

There are no silly questions on this forum, though sometimes you might get silly answers but we do try to avoid those. I'm still asking questions sometimes, so ask, ask, ASK.
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Thanks, I think what shocked me the most was how quickly you have to become a dietary expert because your life quite literally depends on it.
 
Mark72 said:
Hi Dom, welcome to the forums. I was diagnosed with t2 earlier this year either just before or just after my 52nd birthday. The diagnosis was more of a shock than it should have been but so far things seem OK. I hope it all goes well for you with the next few months and getting to grips with everything (your means of managing it are very different from us t2 bods). It's a big change though no matter which version you're diagnosed with so don't be afraid to ask questions or reach out for help, the people here are really friendly and supportive.
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Thank you, I thought I was t2 for a month so I'm still following the low carb eating that I put myself on. It seems to be working well for me at the moment.
 
Dom74 said:
Thanks, I think what shocked me the most was how quickly you have to become a dietary expert because your life quite literally depends on it.
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I always had the advantage of knowing what contained the 3 basic food groups ie protein, fat and carbohydrate from Day 1 of my diagnosis because I was female so my mother taught us to cook, wash & iron, clean etc even before my big sister and I started school, since we always had to help around the house even before mum went back to work once I started senior school. Then a bit later I wanted to look like Twiggy and every Ladies magazine contained dietary advice, so learned a bit more about calories.

So Twiggy was 7 or 8 inches taller than me and had blonde hair. So what? Can't look smart in a 16 inch length mini skirt with fat legs, can you!
 
Dom74 said:
Thank you, I thought I was t2 for a month so I'm still following the low carb eating that I put myself on. It seems to be working well for me at the moment.
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I did that at first too, but long term it can lead to a bit of insulin resistance, so you need to inject more to have the same effect...plus, i totally missed bread.
I soon worked out ho to manage my levels just as well o normal carb
It can be useful whilst you find your feet though
 
Dom74 said:
Thank you, I thought I was t2 for a month so I'm still following the low carb eating that I put myself on. It seems to be working well for me at the moment.
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Another member @rebrascora followed that path too, and still finds benefit in a low carb approach. But as @Tdm says, you do have to be a little careful with T1 not to go too low on the carbs as there’s a risk that can lead to insulin resistance in some people.

As always Your Diabetes May Vary.

FWIW I’ve been on a moderate-ish carb menu for 30-odd years, roughly 150-180g of carbs a day. That has always suited me well.
 
Yes, I have found lots of health benefits in following a low carb, higher fat way of eating, plus it has stopped the cravings for sweet stuff and therefore greatly helps me control binge/comfort eating. I do have to inject for protein release a lot of the time as, in the absence of enough carbs in a meal, the body breaks down about 40% of protein into glucose, but it only starts to release 2 hours after the meal and continues for several more hours, so I prebolus for whatever few carbs are in the meal and then keep an eye on my Libre and if levels start rising 2 hours later I jab a small correction and if they continue to rise I might need to jab a second correction. This might seem like a bit of a faff, but works really well for me and my high alarm is set at 8.2 and when that goes off I know I need a couple of units because I rarely have enough carbs to take me above 8.
This is of course just what works for me, and in the early days of diagnosis, you are likely still able to produce enough insulin to cover the protein release because it is just a very slow steady rise. Once your own insulin production fully dries up, then you have to start injecting for it, but for me the benefits far outweigh the minor inconvenience of extra jabs and it is just my way of life.
 
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