Very pleased to find this as a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic aged 45. Struggling with tiredness, (have a family, vicars wife and teach Early years) and getting a little peeved trying to carb count. Wondering if I should stick to a limited diet of food until I crack it? Had a few dizzy spells to but blood sugars still quite high so not sure what is happening there either?! Ah well KBO as Churchill says! Thanks for reading this.
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Hi everyone, glad to find y'all!
- Thread starter Boot
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Hello & welcome. A few tips , keep hydrated , test lots & wright results down. Keep active. It might not be the same for you but if I am high I get tired. Have a look at some of the other posts that Northerner has recommended to read. Good luck 🙂
Northerner
Admin (Retired)
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- Type 1
Hi Boot, welcome to the forum 🙂 How did you come to be diagnosed? It can be a good idea to stick to a (boring?) predictable and simple diet whilst you get to grips with carb counting as it helps to remove some of the variables. Have you been on a course for your diabetes? What insulin are you on?
The one thing I would highly recommend to anyone with a diagnosis of Type 1 - and don't be misled by the title, it applies whatever your age- is a copy of the excellent Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents by Ragnar Hanas. It covers all aspects of living with Type 1 and is written in a very readable way, useful both as a reference and fr browsing to discover wat possible pitfalls may await you. 🙂
Hopefully, the tiredness will diminish as you become more adept at controlling your blood glucose levels 🙂
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. There are many of us who were diagnosed Type1 in later adulthood (I was 49), so we have a lot of experiences we can share. If it confuses or bothers you - ask away! 🙂
Bloden
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Hi Boot and welcome.🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. 😱 There's a lot to take in at first but it does get easier, honest! 🙂 What support are you getting from your medical team? As you suggest, it can be easier at first, when you're fine-tuning your doses, to eat similar meals and stick to a similar routine. Let us know how you get on. 🙂
Robin
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Welcome from me too, Boot. I'm another 'late developer' type one, diagnosed at 50. I found it useful to concentrate on fine tuning the insulin a meal at a time, for example, I concentrated on breakfast until I had a few 'known' carb counts for different breakfasts, then moved on to lunches, etc, then when I'd got those buttoned down, extended my repertoire. I wrote everything down, what I ate, how much insulin, and also how long before each meal I did the injection ( it varies, I find I get best results when I inject half an hour before meals, and up,to 45 mins at breakfast, but everybody's different) then you can look back and work out if there's a pattern, or anything glaringly obvious happening. Good luck, and ask about anything you need to know.
Thank you
Many thanks for all your messages and tips, some really useful ideas there. I'll order that book Northerner, thank you. Interested to hear about not eating immediately after injections, didn't realise a slight delay was an option. I was diagnosed after thinking I'd picked up a bug this summer a week after returning from a hot holiday in Spain. Obviously the extreme heat masked the initial symptoms ( though I was drinking so much juice I thought I might be pregnant at 45!) but a week after our return I lost more weight and had classic hyper symptoms. Pleased my eyesight is slowly improving but still waiting for my exemption certificate a month on from initial application. Have kept some of the weight off though.....silver lining! Thanks everyone a lovely welcome to this forum.🙂
Many thanks for all your messages and tips, some really useful ideas there. I'll order that book Northerner, thank you. Interested to hear about not eating immediately after injections, didn't realise a slight delay was an option. I was diagnosed after thinking I'd picked up a bug this summer a week after returning from a hot holiday in Spain. Obviously the extreme heat masked the initial symptoms ( though I was drinking so much juice I thought I might be pregnant at 45!) but a week after our return I lost more weight and had classic hyper symptoms. Pleased my eyesight is slowly improving but still waiting for my exemption certificate a month on from initial application. Have kept some of the weight off though.....silver lining! Thanks everyone a lovely welcome to this forum.🙂
Northerner
Admin (Retired)
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- Type 1
I also thought it was just a bad stomach bug. I did have a virus, but it was probably the symptoms of DKA that were making me so poorly after the first 3 days, ended up in hospital for 8 days! 
The theory behind injecting a period of time before eating is that, although described as 'rapid' or 'fast-acting', insulin takes time to 'get going'. Injecting immediately prior to eating can result in the food raising levels before the insulin has started working, giving a spike in levels which then falls back as the insulin starts to do its job. I inject 45 mins before breakfast, around 25 mins before lunch and evening meal. You need to establish with caution what sort of timing is suitable for you, for example, trying 5 mins before and testing to make sure levels are not falling, then ten minutes etc. Most people find that it takes at least 15 mins. 🙂
Your exemption certificate will be backdated to a month before you applied, so there shouldn't be any problems with that.
It sounds like you got a good diagnosis straight away, which is good to hear - we get so many people who are misdiagnosed as Type 2, based purely on age! 🙄
The theory behind injecting a period of time before eating is that, although described as 'rapid' or 'fast-acting', insulin takes time to 'get going'. Injecting immediately prior to eating can result in the food raising levels before the insulin has started working, giving a spike in levels which then falls back as the insulin starts to do its job. I inject 45 mins before breakfast, around 25 mins before lunch and evening meal. You need to establish with caution what sort of timing is suitable for you, for example, trying 5 mins before and testing to make sure levels are not falling, then ten minutes etc. Most people find that it takes at least 15 mins. 🙂
Your exemption certificate will be backdated to a month before you applied, so there shouldn't be any problems with that.
It sounds like you got a good diagnosis straight away, which is good to hear - we get so many people who are misdiagnosed as Type 2, based purely on age! 🙄
Flower
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- Type 1
Hello and welcome Boot 🙂
I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It is a very steep learning curve to start with but you do start to settle into a routine. I tend to stick to meals with similar carbs and insulin doses because I just feel happier and safer doing so and the results are usually more predictable.
Good luck with it all 🙂 There's a wealth of lovely people on here with bags of diabetes experience for any problems/questions you may have.
I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis. It is a very steep learning curve to start with but you do start to settle into a routine. I tend to stick to meals with similar carbs and insulin doses because I just feel happier and safer doing so and the results are usually more predictable.
Good luck with it all 🙂 There's a wealth of lovely people on here with bags of diabetes experience for any problems/questions you may have.
TheClockworkDodo
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Hello Boot, and welcome from another relative newbie here 🙂
I was diagnosed with type 1 a few years ago at the age of 44 - I've been surprised to find so many people here who were diagnosed t1 as adults as the consultants made me think I was really weird!
The dizzy spells might be rapidly changing blood sugar if they're not hypos - I find I get dizzy if my BGL is going down rapidly, even when it's not particularly low.
I'd add to Hobie's advice to keep hydrated that the best thing to do this with is water! You've probably been told this, but in case not - keep off the juice unless your blood sugar is too low - all the juice you drank on holiday will have helped keep your levels too high. I had a similar problem before I was diagnosed as I had DKA which meant I was starving all the time even though I was rapidly losing weight - so I kept eating more carbs, which of course meant I got more ill.
I'd also echo Northerner's advice to establish with caution how long before eating you need to inject - if I inject more than about ten minutes before eating I'll hypo in the middle of my meal, which is a real pain as it will then take much longer than usual to get my blood sugar up to normal levels again! Try a few minutes at a time and keep doing extra tests until you have sorted out what works for you.
I was diagnosed with type 1 a few years ago at the age of 44 - I've been surprised to find so many people here who were diagnosed t1 as adults as the consultants made me think I was really weird!
The dizzy spells might be rapidly changing blood sugar if they're not hypos - I find I get dizzy if my BGL is going down rapidly, even when it's not particularly low.
I'd add to Hobie's advice to keep hydrated that the best thing to do this with is water! You've probably been told this, but in case not - keep off the juice unless your blood sugar is too low - all the juice you drank on holiday will have helped keep your levels too high. I had a similar problem before I was diagnosed as I had DKA which meant I was starving all the time even though I was rapidly losing weight - so I kept eating more carbs, which of course meant I got more ill.
I'd also echo Northerner's advice to establish with caution how long before eating you need to inject - if I inject more than about ten minutes before eating I'll hypo in the middle of my meal, which is a real pain as it will then take much longer than usual to get my blood sugar up to normal levels again! Try a few minutes at a time and keep doing extra tests until you have sorted out what works for you.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I echo what everyone else has said, Boot but would add, make sure you get and keep proper receipts for all the scrips you need to fill in between diagnosis and when you get your exemption certificate - otherwise you won't get the dosh back !
It will all sink in and become second nature as you go on - but don't worry how long it tales - this is certainly a ruddy marathon - not a sprint !!
It will all sink in and become second nature as you go on - but don't worry how long it tales - this is certainly a ruddy marathon - not a sprint !!
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