Hello

[Claire7569]

Hi all my names Claire. Been diagnosed with T1 4 weeks ago now. Had lost 2.5 stone in 5 months without doing anything but didn't think anything of it. Well that was until this showed up on my yearly Thyroid blood test. No I'm here learning from the deep end. Feel lost, angry, and overwhelmed. Not sure how to explain what's going on. So open to learn more

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Claire and welcome.

We all feel pretty overwhelmed at first with a whole range of emotions but I can assure you it does get easier. What was your HbA1c reading at diagnosis and which insulins have they given you?
This is a tricky time to be diagnosed because face to face appointments and courses are restricted but hopefully we will be able to support you until things are back up and running more normally.
I am just over a year down the line from you, so I can clearly remember how mind blowing it was and there is such a lot to learn and those first few hypos are super scary but it all becomes your new normal after a while and you figure out how to manage it most of the time and accept that sometimes you don't get it right. It gives you a real sense of amazement at how wonderfully clever the body is when it is working correctly and how complex it is to manually take over the task of just part of one small organ.
Are you on fixed doses of bolus insulin at the moment or have they given you an idea of how to carb count and adjust your doses? I hope you have a good team to support you but I have learned far more form the experience of the members here than I have from health care professionals. Talking to people who have experienced the same problems in reality is very different from health care professionals who mostly just know the theory. There can be such a huge variation in all manner of things between one individual and another, so being able to share our experiences and discuss them with each other is really beneficial. I hope you get as much out of this forum as I have over the past year.

 

[stephknits]

Welcome to the forum, Claire. It is a huge shock and lots of changes to get used to. Feeling lost, overwhelmed and angry is definitely something we can relate to as you try and wade through the mountains of information and advice whilst trying to get your head round a new normal you didn't want. Glad you found us, we are all here to support each other where we can.

 

[Deleted member 27171]

Hi @Claire7569 welcome to the forum.

There is a wealth of experience here and many who have been where you are now so now how you are feeling.
If you have any questions please ask, don't be afraid that anything will be a silly question - the more you ask the more you'll learn and whilst there is lots to learn you don't need to know it all at once so if it gets overwhelming take your time.

If you want to rant, scream and shout go ahead, if you want to complain about the diagnosis you didn't want do that too no one will judge you harshly - but do keep talking, asking, venting there's lots of support here for you.

 

[JoRo]

Hi Claire
You must feel intensely peeved but as a newbie myself I can vouch that you are in the right place so as the other respondents say, keep venting frustrations and asking questions

 

[Claire7569]

Hi Claire and welcome.

We all feel pretty overwhelmed at first with a whole range of emotions but I can assure you it does get easier. What was your HbA1c reading at diagnosis and which insulins have they given you?
This is a tricky time to be diagnosed because face to face appointments and courses are restricted but hopefully we will be able to support you until things are back up and running more normally.
I am just over a year down the line from you, so I can clearly remember how mind blowing it was and there is such a lot to learn and those first few hypos are super scary but it all becomes your new normal after a while and you figure out how to manage it most of the time and accept that sometimes you don't get it right. It gives you a real sense of amazement at how wonderfully clever the body is when it is working correctly and how complex it is to manually take over the task of just part of one small organ.
Are you on fixed doses of bolus insulin at the moment or have they given you an idea of how to carb count and adjust your doses? I hope you have a good team to support you but I have learned far more form the experience of the members here than I have from health care professionals. Talking to people who have experienced the same problems in reality is very different from health care professionals who mostly just know the theory. There can be such a huge variation in all manner of things between one individual and another, so being able to share our experiences and discuss them with each other is really beneficial. I hope you get as much out of this forum as I have over the past year.

Thank you so much. Already beginning to see why thus forum is so good. My HbAc1 was 119. Practice nurse put me on 6 of humilin 1 increased it by one every 3 days. The following was sent to OCDEM, Oxford. So now have a lovely nurse guiding me that I can phone or email whenever I want/need. She has put me on levemir, twice a day and 1 novo rapid with food. She doesn't want me to carb count until I have base level. She said from my figures my pancreas has all but given up. Anyway this new normal will not beat me. Plus I have the most amazing partner who is helping me through it all

 

[Ditto]

Hello and welcome. 🙂

 

[trophywench]

I'm glad you have been changed to a much more sensible insulin regime in this day and age - the Humulin I was an 'intermediate' insulin, a cross between fast acting (like Novorapid) and longer acting (like Levemir)

New nursie is right - waste of time and effort trying to get the mealtime insulin doses right if you haven't got the background one AOK.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Good to hear that you have been switched to a more flexible insulin regimen @Claire7569. Far better to begin to get used to thatbfrom the beginning, and it sounds as though your pancreas has pretty much given up on the whole BG management role!

Hopefully your doses will begin to be adjusted to bring your BGs gently towards the normal range, and you will begin to feel more like yourself.

Has it been suggested that you keep a food diary?

That might be quite helpful information to begin to gather, especially if you can use something like Carbs and Cals book/app, and take a squint at the backs of packets to try to vaguely add up the carbs in the different meals you are having. Not specifically carb counting, because you won't be worrying about adjusting doses, but a useful precursor by beginning to get your head around the carb content of various things.

 

[Claire7569]

Good to hear that you have been switched to a more flexible insulin regimen @Claire7569. Far better to begin to get used to thatbfrom the beginning, and it sounds as though your pancreas has pretty much given up on the whole BG management role!

Hopefully your doses will begin to be adjusted to bring your BGs gently towards the normal range, and you will begin to feel more like yourself.

Has it been suggested that you keep a food diary?

That might be quite helpful information to begin to gather, especially if you can use something like Carbs and Cals book/app, and take a squint at the backs of packets to try to vaguely add up the carbs in the different meals you are having. Not specifically carb counting, because you won't be worrying about adjusting doses, but a useful precursor by beginning to get your head around the carb content of various things.

Hi Mike thank you so much. You have made me fell so much better that I'm getting my BG levels right before the carb counting. My partner has been keeping a eye on how many carbs etc I'm having using the carbs and cal app. She's doing it as I am still struggling to get head round it all. My nurse gets annoyed with so many people giving advice when they don't know. That's why she said here is a good place as its people who know and won't judge