Hello Everyone.

[Gareth]

Hello, my name's Gareth and I've recently been diagnosed with diabetes.

Three weeks ago I became very ill and was rushed to hospital, I was diagnosed with Autoimmune hemolytic anaemia. In simple terms my immune system had begun attacking my own cells and I later found out this included my pancreas. Even though I've had some previous experience with diabetes (my mother also had Type 1), I'm still trying to wrap my head around so sudden a change in so short a time. For now I'm managing as I'm just sticking to the hospital's routine but things will have to change once I'm back at work.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all. 🙂

 

[Steff]

Hi Gareth and a warm welcome to the forum from me, sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but now your here all the support and help you need you will get, so get stuck in and ask any questions at anytime

 

[Mark T]

Welcome to the forums Gareth 🙂

 

[Northerner]

Hi Gareth, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, these autoimmune problems frequently affect more than one area of health. What insulin regime are you on? There are lots of very experienced people here who will be able to answer any questions you may have, so please do ask. I would highly recommend getting a copy of the 'Type 1 bible': Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas. It is an excellent reference and gives a good idea of all aspects of Type 1 diabetes to watch out for.

I know what you mean about the sudden change - I was due to run a marathon the week I got diagnosed, so quite a reassessment of my state of health! Happy to say I am now back into the running, so it doesn't need to stand in your way 🙂

 

[Robster65]

Hi Gareth. Welcome 🙂

That sounds like a bit of a bummer. What other problems has it caused you so far ?

And what insulin/meds have put you on ?

I'm imagining that there could be some that may not sit very well with diabetes.

Rob

 

[Gareth]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.

Hi Gareth, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, these autoimmune problems frequently affect more than one area of health. What insulin regime are you on? There are lots of very experienced people here who will be able to answer any questions you may have, so please do ask. I would highly recommend getting a copy of the 'Type 1 bible': Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas. It is an excellent reference and gives a good idea of all aspects of Type 1 diabetes to watch out for.

I'm on four injections a day, Lantus in the evenings and NovoRapid at mealtimes. Thanks for the book suggestion, I'll definately look into that.

Hi Gareth. Welcome 🙂

That sounds like a bit of a bummer. What other problems has it caused you so far ?

And what insulin/meds have put you on ?

I'm imagining that there could be some that may not sit very well with diabetes.

I'm on 30mg of Prednisolone at the moment, though when I first went into hospital they had me taking 80mg.

 

[Robster65]

The prednisolone will presumably be causing high BGs. I hope the dose continues to drop to minimise their effect.

Rob

 

[Gareth]

The prednisolone will presumably be causing high BGs. I hope the dose continues to drop to minimise their effect.

Rob

I'm going for a third treatment of Rituximab on Monday and the doctors plan on reducing my dosage to 20mg.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hi Gareth

Welcome to the forums, but sorry you have to be here 🙂. Not heard of your type of anaemia, but just in case it hasn't been mentioned it might be worth bearing on mind that anaemia usually renders the standard 'how well are you doing with diabetes control' (the HbA1c) unreliable. People with anaemia usually have to have a fructosamine test instead as the lifespan/number of red blood cells is reduced.

 

[Gareth]

Hi Gareth

Welcome to the forums, but sorry you have to be here 🙂. Not heard of your type of anaemia, but just in case it hasn't been mentioned it might be worth bearing on mind that anaemia usually renders the standard 'how well are you doing with diabetes control' (the HbA1c) unreliable. People with anaemia usually have to have a fructosamine test instead as the lifespan/number of red blood cells is reduced.

I did a bit of reserarch once I got out of hospital and apparently my form of anaemia is rare, affecting 3 in every 100,000 people. I feel so special. 🙄

 

[novorapidboi26]

Welcome from me Gareth............

What other cells did your immune system go for................?

It seems you are very special indeed.......

 

[Gareth]

Welcome from me Gareth............

What other cells did your immune system go for................?

It seems you are very special indeed.......

When I was in hospital the doctors performed echo scans and CT scans to check for other problems, everything came back clear. heart, lungs, liver all good. I even had a bone marrow biopsy, which came back clear. So other than my red cells and pancreas everything else seems to have survived (more or less).

The main problem I'm left with isn't to do with the anaemia, it's the effect of the steroids. I was bed ridden for two weeks on a very high dose for most of that time so my muscles are not what they were, especially my leg muscles. I can walk about but it does take it out of me and the muscles themselves quickly become sore.

 

[teapot8910]

Welcome to the forum Gareth! 🙂

 

[slipper]

Hi Gareth, sounds as if its been a tough time. Welcome to the forum🙂

 

[fireant4]

Hi

Welcome to the site..

Same thing happened to me with regards to coming out of know where and only happened to me about 4 weeks back!

You will get you head around it all i'm still learning and thnaks to this site been getting some great advice..

Ant

 

[Gareth]

You will get you head around it all i'm still learning and thnaks to this site been getting some great advice..

Ant

The advice is excellent, I've learned a lot in a very short time. Personally the main appeal of this site is the members. I wanted to meet others in the same boat. Apart from my grandfather I'm now the only other member of my family that's diabetic, so you can appreciate I'm feeling a little isolated. In the hospital there was one nursing student that was Dx T1 at 7 so her and I ended up talking quite a lot (I think she took pity on me to be honest 😛) but now I'm home I've no one to relate to.