Hey there! I am a new Type 1 Diabetic!

[TheTazmanianDevil]

Hey there! I am a 20 year old female and I got diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on Tuesday 27th November 2018. My grandmother (who I am not in contact with) on my mothers side has it as well but I never even thought it could be a risk to me.
Everything recently has been such a blur. I haven't had time to really let my feelings and emotions flow. Since Tuesday, I've had many doctors appointments and hospital appointments and its distracted me from really feeling anything and properly coming to terms with everything. My parents, my boyfriend and my friends have been such a big support. My parents have really struggled to come to terms with my diagnosis and I feel like I've had to try and support them and help them through it more than I've thought or cared about my own emotions.
But about 2 or 3 days ago, I was on my own for a couple of hours and I just had a bit of a break down. Whenever I am left alone with my own thoughts, I just get and feel really depressed. I am also worried about eating anything. I dread meal times in case I eat something wrong and it sends my blood sugar levels bad. I haven't even touched a drop of alcohol since I got diagnosed because I am worried about drinking. I've got my 21st birthday in about 2 weeks..
I just don't really know how to feel and I guess even though I have so much support.. I still feel so alone.
If there is any advice or anything anyone could possibly offer me then I would be very grateful. Thankyou very much.​

 

[trophywench]

Hiya - it takes FAR longer than a week to come to terms with it and yes you will cry - but actually it's very much OK to do exactly that - so don't stop yourself except if you happen to be using dangerous machinery, driving or something of the kind. Don't hide it from your parents - daft as this may sound - they will understand that you ARE upset - as they no doubt expect you to be and will most likely worry MORE that you aren't!

When you hide things and push them to the rear of your mind a lot of the time - this will cause you more mental health problems in the future than collapsing in tears eg at a bus stop, ever will. Let it out and have a rant about how unfair it is and all the other things you need to have a rant about.

Then before you completely use up all the tissues in the box - listen to me talking sense please for a minute. Don't be frightened to eat stuff - your medical team need to be able to see what that amount of that food did to your blood glucose - otherwise they won't be able to show you how to adjust the doses of insulin you give yourself before food so your BG doesn't go far too high. I imagine you're keeping a diary of what you eat, the insulin injected and your meter readings. Be HONEST - nobody will shout at you - the medics know its difficult however 'clever' you are.

Alcohol can be quite tricky - some lowers BG and some increases it - so you need to learn which does what to you.

Last thing I'm saying right now, is don't expect to learn how to live with it happily, in the space of a month. Diabetes is a marathon - not a sprint!

Good luck.

 

[Lizzy78]

Hi Tasmanian Devil

Welcome. I was diagnosed last month, just after celebrating my 40th. I know exactly how you are feeling, everything is just a fog at the moment. But with each day you will get stronger, and it's something we will be able to handle with experience I think. The main thing is just do the basics at the moment, follow the advice of your care team, and ask if there is anything that is worrying you.

 

[Ivostas66]

Hi! I was diagnosed at the start of January and so am close to my 'anniversary' with type 1. It has changed a lot of things, but also a lot has remained the same. I was diagnosed at the age of 41 and at the time our daughter was 8 months old and teething. How my wife coped with everything I will never know!!! There is a lot to learn and I would recommend speaking to your Diabetes Specialist Nurses and dieticians if you have any worries. This forum is fantastic, as the best people to learn from are those who have lived with it for some time - there will be someone here who has experienced things that you do and so will be able to offer really helpful advice. The issue I have encountered is almost fooling myself into thinking I have a handle on things, with no hypos and fairly stable BG for several weeks and then rollercoaster levels, followed by feeling low and depressed about not being able to control things. You will be told about the 'honeymoon period' and it is really misnamed. When your pancreas in the first year or so decides to wake up and randomly kick out some insulin it can throw you off kilter. As trophywench says, don't be afraid of food - you will learn to carb count and adjust levels of insulin accordingly. You will also get to grips with changes in everything from weather to illness and how that can cause changes to levels.

There are times when you will feel alone, but if you speak to people they tend to be really understanding. This place is great for a rant or a moan if you need one!

 

[mikeyB]

Hi Tasmanian Devil, welcome to the T1 crew. I’ve been doing it for 23 years, and nothing has dropped off yet.

You learn something every day at first, learning how every bit of food affects your body, and learning to adjust your insulin. Diabetes isn’t an illness, it’s a condition. After a while, it’s just a different way of life. Sounds like you’ve got a good support group around you. Parents always take it badly, because of inappropriate feelings of guilt. My mother was completely unimpressed, she’d been T1 for forty years when I kicked off. A great example.

You’ll get support on here for sure, so anything you need to know in those lonely moments, just ask. We’ve all been through those early days, and we can all remember what it was like.

Keep in touch, and let us know how you are getting on.

In the meantime, you can play “Are you sure you can eat that?” bingo. If you can endure 10 in a day without swearing, you get into the Hall of Fame🙂

 

[HOBIE]

Hi Taz. Really good luck with things. I have been T1 for more than 52years & I was talking to a bloke who had been T1 for 60yrs. Do you think I shook his hand ? 😉 (My mates call me Tasmanian Devil) might be because I am a sho-- a ?