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Riggers

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi there.
I have been loitering around this site for a few weeks and have found it incredibly useful and everyone seems so friendly and knowledgeable.
So…my diabetes story
Last May got called into GP for a general health check with the nurse. Sent home with a finger prick monitor, for the weekend, as they were concerned about my blood sugar levels. This confirmed they were high and a subsequent blood test put my HbA1c at 105. GP requested a second test to confirm this and said I would probably need some medication. After several missed calls, receptionists most insistent about the time, even though I said I was not able to answer the phone at that time!! Eventually I managed to see a GP who said I was Type2, that my HbA1c was 110, prescribed me Glicazide for 3 months.
Was away for the summer. 3 weeks after coming back GP sent me to A&E to have my bloods tested, I had felt progressively iller over the course of a few days. Admitted with a DKA. Spent several days being pumped full of insulin, saline and potassium. And, starting to feel better, realised how rough I had felt for several months!
Was put under the care of the hospital diabetes team who then started me on insulin, Novamix twice a day, and felt as if my life had been hit with a sledgehammer.
Found this site and all the wonderful advice you give which has helped me begin to cope.
I’m now on Lantus and Novorapid and have a Libre2.
Just wanted to say thank you to you all for the help and support you give to people.
 
And how are you coping?
 
Glad you have found the forum helpful @Riggers - and glad you have ‘delurked’.

Goodness! What a tough time you have been having 😱

T1 is one of those things that doesn’t really cope well with an overstretched healthcare system where getting routine appointments can be tricky (and weeks or months apart).

Sorry you were mislabelled initially, and ended up in DKA. It amazes me how many older people we get who are assumed to be T2 based almost entirely on age despite many other factors in their presentation (not least a rapid onset and A1c in the 100s!)

Glad you are on MDI / basal:bolus now, and have access to Libre.

Keep asking away with the questions. There are bound to be lots in the early years!
 
Welcome @Riggers 🙂 I’m glad you’ve finally got the correct diagnosis but it is a bit depressing that still so many adults are just assumed to be Type 2 and cases of Type 1 are missed. You’re far from alone.

The first few months with Type 1 are hard. It’s such a big change to have to be fussing about carbs, calculating and injecting. I hope you’re finding it’s gradually getting a little easier.
 
Thanks for your welcome and replies.

How am I coping?Have certainly had a few meltdowns over it all, my husband has a very broad back!
Mostly it’s about the unfairness of it. What has been the point of looking after myself reasonably well and then getting hit with this?!
And then it’s just trying to get my head around all of this, the change it’s made to my (our) life. Think I am managing to get to grips with carb counting, though the first time I went to a restaurant was really scarey.

Have a question for you all. Does the cold affect blood sugars? Or am I imagining that. Going out for walks the last few days, my BS has dropped really quickly. The diabetic team have suggested taking 1 less unit at breakfast when I’m going for a walk.
 
I can't say the temperature seems to effect my diabetes, but we ate all different...perhaps you were walking quicker due to the chill weather?
Taking less i insulin would work, but i prefer sweeties...
 
Riggers said:
Have a question for you all. Does the cold affect blood sugars? Or am I imagining that. Going out for walks the last few days, my BS has dropped really quickly. The diabetic team have suggested taking 1 less unit at breakfast when I’m going for a walk.
Click to expand...
Sensible advice by your team, you might also find a small carby snack on a long walk keeps bg steady, I'm walking fan myself & that's what I do.
 
Hello @Riggers,

It's strange: warm weather makes me go hypo and I reduce my basal when warm spring weather starts. But cold weather can also make me trend lower. Only this morning a planned visit by an electrician needed me to go outside into the cold to sort out the access he needed. I knew I wouldn't be out there for long and didn't bother to put a coat on; in less than 3 minutes my BG had dropped and my phone was trying to panic me!

I don't know if you have already come across these, but here are a couple of books which I've found very helpful along with several other forum members:

Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas. It is clearly indexed, well explained and regularly updated. It is also highly suitable for all age groups and is perhaps more of a reference source than bedtime light reading!​
​
Think Like a Pancreas by the US author Gary Scheiner, who is himself T1. It has many numerical examples in American units and these are conscientiously accompanied by European metric units. I found this book easy going and apart from skipping, during my first read, the Chapter about pumping I happily read everything else.​
​
Quite early on, Gary Scheiner tells his readers that Diabetes is Confusing, Complicated and Contradictory. I'm 4 years in (as if T1 - after a total pancreaectomy) and virtually every day I meet some aspect about my D management that resonates with Gary Scheiner's remarks.

Sorry, I should have added Welcome to the Forum.
 
Tdm said:
I can't say the temperature seems to effect my diabetes, but we ate all different...perhaps you were walking quicker due to the chill weather?
Taking less i insulin would work, but i prefer sweeties...
Click to expand...
I seem to be eating lots of sweets now, something I never really did.
One of my granddaughters got a pack of jelly babies for Christmas and gave them to me “cos you need them Grandma”.
 
Proud to be erratic said:
Hello @Riggers,

It's strange: warm weather makes me go hypo and I reduce my basal when warm spring weather starts. But cold weather can also make me trend lower. Only this morning a planned visit by an electrician needed me to go outside into the cold to sort out the access he needed. I knew I wouldn't be out there for long and didn't bother to put a coat on; in less than 3 minutes my BG had dropped and my phone was trying to panic me!

I don't know if you have already come across these, but here are a couple of books which I've found very helpful along with several other forum members:

Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas. It is clearly indexed, well explained and regularly updated. It is also highly suitable for all age groups and is perhaps more of a reference source than bedtime light reading!​
​
Think Like a Pancreas by the US author Gary Scheiner, who is himself T1. It has many numerical examples in American units and these are conscientiously accompanied by European metric units. I found this book easy going and apart from skipping, during my first read, the Chapter about pumping I happily read everything else.​
​
Quite early on, Gary Scheiner tells his readers that Diabetes is Confusing, Complicated and Contradictory. I'm 4 years in (as if T1 - after a total pancreaectomy) and virtually every day I meet some aspect about my D management that resonates with Gary Scheiner's remarks.

Sorry, I should have added Welcome to the Forum.
Click to expand...
I’ll have to look into those. Seems to me we spend all our time learning.
 
Riggers said:
I’ll have to look into those. Seems to me we spend all our time learning.
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum @Riggers Very pleased that you have found us.

It is a very steep learning curve at the start and a lot to get your head round. Can you remember learning to drive? It seemed complicated at the start, but then most of what you do is automatic, and you are watching for the unusual. That’s T1 management for me.

It is good that they have switched you to the two separate insulins as this will make life a lot more flexible. At the moment they are advising you on how to make adjustments to your doses, and the advice to reduce your insulin before a walk is good. I also use Wurthers along the way on a long walk to keep my levels topped up.

Your team will gradually enable you to make decisions about changes to your meal time ratios for your bolus insulin (Novorapid) , and also to change your background/basal insulin (Lantus). I do find that my insulin needs change with the weather, especially when it is a lot colder. There are lots of factors that impact our insulin needs, but the main bit to get used to at the start is carb counting. You will quickly become an expert, and have head full of carb counts. Meals out are more difficult to work out but you just do the best that your can, and enjoy the meals out.

Keep the questions coming, there is a wealth of experience to tap into on here, and no questions are considered silly. Just ask.
 
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