Thanks for kind words and advice and sure the journey forward will be peaks and troughs.
one thing I would appreciate advice on is how long it took to stabilise the BG levels within the targeted range.
I know everyone is different depending on where they started from/ individual body responses and normally takes 2-3 weeks for other types of diabetes so not sure if it similar for a Type 3c( appreciate can’t be certain if Pancreas is producing what level of insulin ( if any).
My loading dose is 2 units of Novo D 3* a day before meals and once a day 6 units of Lantus.My weight is 75kg and have pretty average diet.
Thanks in advance
I agree with all that
@rebrascora has said, above. Also, it is difficult to advise on a timescale to achieve that "stabilisation" you aspire to.
Firstly there are many insulin dependent folk on this forum who could tell you that stabilisation is a bit of a pipe dream. No sooner do you think you've mastered this D malarkey than something changes and the known rules aren't being obeyed and anarchy has resumed! I don't mean to be defeatist in telling you this - but there is a lot to get on top of and it takes time.
Secondly, my own experience was that I spent my first 12 months without CGM (Libre 2 at that time) and I was struggling with malabsorption for at least 18 months. So even after that amazing dramatic insight into not only what my BG was recording at any one moment AND telling me whether it was level, going up or crashing - and I was happily carb counting and adjusting my insulin doses accordingly - my malabsorption meant the carbs I was counting and eating weren't actually being fully digested. So that aspect was a lottery!
Thirdly, my DSN from our local hospital had no grasp of the significance of my T3c - with absolutely no pancreas at all. So much so when my GP arbitrarily rationed my test strips down to 4 per day, my DSN was consulted (unknown to me) and told my GP I didn't need to test more than 4 times daily. I was driving to Chemotherapy, 4 return trips per fortnight - yet apparently testing wasn't appropriate, I could ask someone else to drive me (or perhaps in her mind I was totally senile and incapable .....) I must admit I am still extremely bitter about that experience of 3 yrs ago: a previously alert and clever GP didn't have the courtesy to discuss this with me or recognise that no pancreas meant that testing was vital; and a DSN was simply badly adrift and I lost all confidence in her abilities and experience. But the significance for you
@Wendal is that you are already "well ahead of the curve". You seem to have a great D team not rar away (intellectually) and you have found this Forum where people are happy to answer questions and NO question is stupid. Everyone on this forum has some memory of how confusing it used to seem and how wretched things could sometimes feel.
Lastly, I don't think anyone gets on top of this in a couple of weeks.
Thanks Barbara and my Diabetes specialist did mention the point about slowly adjusting your dose and being very conservative in approach due to managing retinal concerns.
As my levels are very high at the moment not sure I have to worry about hypos for a few weeks but also monitoring every 2 hours and being very careful re diet and exercise until stable but still recognise risks.
My reaction is that being very high at the moment will NOT and should not stop you from being wary of hypos from now on.
Just now being on insulin can create a scenario of pancreatic recovery (albeit temporarily) and suddenly hou could have natural and injected insulin in your system overwelming any glucose in your blood. Even if that doesn't apply (I have no pancreas so it can't apply to me) just one energetic session can change that apparent high BG status. It doesn't have to be a sprint for a bus or a 5 km walk; just walking around inside a shop or pushing a vacuum cleaner can and does create low glucose conditions. Personally I have a hypo response something with me at ALL times: in the bedroom, bathroom, both cars, all coat pockets - literally always available. I also have my CGM alert set at 5 or higher so that I get an alert, rather than an alarm and can treat a lowering BG BEFORE it becomes a hypo.
Another question is on timing in that it is obviously more comfortable working from home when I can plan and control timing of injections/ meals etc and would only be happy to return fully to my normal job which involves a lot of driving and visits to customers when I am stable and can better manage my condition.
Yes, I think managing my D from home is vastly easier than when away. But I do drive long distances and nowadays take overnights away 'in my stride' which I doubted was going to be possible 3 yrs ago. But my situation is different to yours.
I totally want you to master this in weeks, not months. I truly want you to absorb all the D understanding quickly and simply. But I want to try and manage your expectations. The US author Gary Scheiner, in his book "Think Like a Pancreas" [a book I found most helpful] early on states that Diabetes is Complicated, Confusing and Contradictory. Reluctantly, I agree with that analysis and the more I find out the more complicated, confusing and contradictory it becomes. I am in no doubt that it suits me to be well informed and to have a good sense of understanding of what is going on. I am a retired Civil and Structural Engineer and I was indoctrinated in my 20s to the concept that Knowledge Dispels Fear - so I like to try and know about "what is what and why". T3c is at first glance just a variation of T1, yet in so many ways it is far more than that. Different metabolic processes going on than T1 driven by the autoimmune circumstance; different dietary responses because of (in your case) pancreatitis and surgery or treatment affecting your digestion; and different understanding by most Health Care Providers (HCPs) of your diabetes - or rather appallingly little understanding by most HCPs.
YOU have to look out for THEIR stupidities. During an emergency hospital admission for a blockage on scar tissue from my original Whipples Procedure, when my BG was dropping after the emergency surgery the Nurse insisted I needed more insulin because the Hospital's own Endocrinology Team had written that into their protocol. Defies belief! After I'd most robustly refused their intervention and then fallen asleep, this protocol was manuscript amended (corrected) - then the Duty Dr later denied it was ever changed (despite the evidence). 24 hrs later during a friendly discussion with a junior registrar, I asked about this discrepancy and she assured me there were safeguards and the protocol would have been fully scrutinised and tested. But when asked to explain or demonstrate that safety she went silent.
T3c is not particularly easy being 2 potentially conflicting ailments: diabetes and pancreatitis (for you). It might take more than a few weeks to get comfortably on top. You will get there. Good luck.
