Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum but was diagnosed T1 2 years ago. I've had no help or support from the hospital and my doctors aren't interested. Due to depression I haven't been looking after myself and ended up in intensive care in a coma from DKA. I got home on Friday still very weak and confused about what happened, I can't remember a thing!! I demanded help from the diabetic team and am going to change doctors. I wanted some advice on what to do with hypos, I keep having them in the middle of the night. What's best to take/eat ?
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DKA
- Thread starter Swordy
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Really sorry to hear about your depression and DKA @Swordy - diabetes can be managed, but some things (and mental illness is certainly one of them) make it much, much trickier.
Good to hear that you have asked for more help. You deserve good solid support to see you through this tricky time.
You don't say what insulin(s) you are taking and when, but I struggled with overnight hypos a while back and one of the best tips I got was to change the timing of my injection.
I experiemented a bit and what worked best for me was to take my basal (background) insulin in the morning at breakfast. I was on Lantus at the time and only needed one basal dose per day (some people find it hekps to split their basal into to doses approx 12 hours apart. What I hadn't realised for years was that Lantus isn't as flat and steady in it's action as I had thought. It has a mini-peak about 5 hours after injecting and this was co-inciding with approx 3am for me when my BGs were likely to be low anyway.
Speak to your hospital/new clinic/team about it and see wht they think?
Good to hear that you have asked for more help. You deserve good solid support to see you through this tricky time.
You don't say what insulin(s) you are taking and when, but I struggled with overnight hypos a while back and one of the best tips I got was to change the timing of my injection.
I experiemented a bit and what worked best for me was to take my basal (background) insulin in the morning at breakfast. I was on Lantus at the time and only needed one basal dose per day (some people find it hekps to split their basal into to doses approx 12 hours apart. What I hadn't realised for years was that Lantus isn't as flat and steady in it's action as I had thought. It has a mini-peak about 5 hours after injecting and this was co-inciding with approx 3am for me when my BGs were likely to be low anyway.
Speak to your hospital/new clinic/team about it and see wht they think?
Ruby/London
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I am shocked but becoming less surprised at the lack of support people are receiving, Swordy. It really is disgraceful that people are having to turn to public forums for advice and guidance but I am glad that there are people here that can help you, based on sound experience.
Depression and illness often go hand in hand and there are things you can do about it. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can be particularly helpful in managing anxiety and depression and long term condition management. It is usually delivered by your primary care trust and you can be referred by your GP. For more information about CBT: https://www.diabetesselfmanagement....definitions/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-cbt/
Good luck, it sounds like you've had a rough old time of it ...
Depression and illness often go hand in hand and there are things you can do about it. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) can be particularly helpful in managing anxiety and depression and long term condition management. It is usually delivered by your primary care trust and you can be referred by your GP. For more information about CBT: https://www.diabetesselfmanagement....definitions/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-cbt/
Good luck, it sounds like you've had a rough old time of it ...
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Ah OK! If you are on Mixed insulin it's a bit more difficult to tailor things precisely as the insulin you take for meals is muddled up with the insulin you need to keep you ticking over between times.
Did you choose to stay on a mixed system? Were you advised to by your previous clinic? I wonder if you might find it more flexible and easier to manage on Multiple Daily Injections (MDI), but there might be reasons why your Drs have suggested biphasic/mixed insulin so you'd be better off discussing the problems you are having and asking them whether they think MDI would help. It does mean more injections and more thinking about things (matching what you are eating to the insulin you are taking, and keeping your background dose in balance with your body) but it is more flexible. So more effort, but generally better results.
trophywench
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- Type 1
What Mike said in his post plus I'd comment that 2 years ago the National Guidelines for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes do not include a person being started on a mixed insulin and they still don't !
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
As others have said, it is a lot more flexible using separate background (basal) insulin and the bolus injections we need for our carbohydrates. Is there a reason why you are using the mixed insulin. This sometimes happens when T1s are managed at their GP Practice where the team are not used to managing people with T1. Well worth getting the support of a specialist teamat the hospital or egional clinic.
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