Hi I am Carol

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Hi @Carolmch and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about all your problems but if you read around the forum you will find a number of members with diabetes induced by treatments, for other problems. I am sure some of them will be along soon to swap notes but my first thought is that after what you must have coped with to date, you will be able to take insulin treatment in your stride. I am not an insulin user myself but, should it ever become necessary, what I have read on this forum would not give me any worries at all about it.

Whatever questions you have, just ask away. Nothing is considered trivial or silly. We will have members who have been exactly where you are now and will know what it is like.
 
Hello @Carolmch and Welcome to the Forum. So sorry to hear what brought you here and I can completely understand your feeling of fear about starting insulin injections on Monday. Although it does sound most daunting, I found my chemo treatment far, far worse than grappling with enforced diabetes and insulin. The injecting process is remarkably painless and I personally take comfort from knowing that it is not only essential for keeping me alive, but without insulin my blood glucose would quickly rise to an intolerable level and leave me feeling horribly poorly.

Do you know anything about the insulin regime being proposed for you? There are so many permutations from different regimes with different sorts of insulin that it's pretty well impossible for me to 2nd guess what you will be starting with.

It is well recognised that longer term use of steroids raises one's blood glucose and leading to a diabetes diagnosis. Strictly your diabetes being steroid induced would give you an official diagnosis of Type 3e. But this is a rare form of diabetes and many Health Care Providers either don't know this term or choose to ignore it. Anyway, given your overall prognosis your Type of Diabetes is somewhat irrelevant. But you may find it singularly helpful to be diagnosed "as if Type 1" which should then make you routinely eligible for a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), such as Libre 2, to allow you to monitor your insulin treatment process by seeing pretty instantly how your blood glucose is doing. Has anyone mentioned giving you CGM? You should routinely as an insulin user be given a routine blood glucose (BG) test meter with a finger pricker and test strips and an expectation that you would test by fp at least 4 times daily - more frequently in practice for most people without CGM.

As @Docb just said, do feel free to ask any questions about anything that is bothering you - there is a wealth of collective knowledge here. I look forward to hearing more from you as and when you need.
 
Thank your your warm welcome .Asyou can imagine I feel shattered even reduced to tears,because I have fought so long to to keep everything balanced . I will e mail when I know more about what’s happening. No one has mentioned a a cgm I will probaliy get it when I see diabetic nurse.
 
Carolmch said:
Thank your your warm welcome .Asyou can imagine I feel shattered even reduced to tears,because I have fought so long to to keep everything balanced . I will e mail when I know more about what’s happening. No one has mentioned a a cgm I will probaliy get it when I see diabetic nurse.
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May I suggest, Carol, that you specifically make a point of asking for Libre or a similar CGM. It has become my experience over my first 3 years that nothing should be taken for granted and I have had to be politely robust when I've not got the answer I needed to hear or expected to get.

My Surgical Team were exemplary with the care they gave me. My Oncology Nurses could not have been more caring, loving and attentive during my chemo (the Oncology ward Doctor less so and I never met my Consultant until over a year after my Surgery). But my first Hospital based Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN) was a delightful person who knew I had no pancreas and knew I'd been discharged as if Type 1 but had no idea how much worse my circumstances were than other T1s. I want to think she was overloaded from Covid and lockdown etc but I've been forced to conclude she simply did not understand how important it was to get what I needed solely because having no panc'y was a significant shortcoming for so many related metabolic issues.

Someone else recently advised another member that we have to be our own advocates in the diabetes world and that has also been my experience. If you don't ask it won't necessarily be offered - it should but might not.

Could I also just check the diabetes nurse you are referring to is a DSN working either from or within a Hospital and not the nurse who deals with patients in a GP's Surgery (often called the diabetes nurse in a Surgery) and dealing with the more routine and taking only oral meds Type 2 patients in that Surgery. Your diabetes has a complexity of its own. Certainly manageable, but needing Specialist help in the early days of starting insulin.
 
Hi Thankyou for your reply.my health providers care is not very good.I saw the practice nurse, then it took her a week to get a go appointment, the I saw Gp last Friday, and my appointment with With practice diabetic nurse to start insulin is not until a week on Monday. As my kidney function is 29 she says the only choice I have is insulin because of the kidney. It’s such a fight getting through the receptionist to get to see someone. I do not think anyone who sots the NHS is given the right care.
 
Carolmch said:
I am 68 years old have incurable cancer and kidney transplant I am starting insulin injections a week on Monday very scared and any info would be useful.
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Welcome to the forum @Carolmch

Sorry to hear about everything you have been going through.

It is quite common for people to be a little nervy about starting insulin therapy. In a sense it is perfectly natural, but for the vast majority of people starting insulin find their fears are largely unfounded and melt away relatively quickly - especially as the glucose-management benefits start to be felt.

Is there anything in particular you are worried about with insulin?
 
Hi the reason that I’m scared is none of my journey has gone smoothly, and this is another hurdle that I could without.I suppose the nedical appointments are taking control of my life instead of life fitting around lines if that makes sense.i also suffer from scan anxiety am due tonsee renal consutant ties cardiology cons ultant on Wednesday and oncology consultant Friday . What a week.
 
Carolmch said:
Hi the reason that I’m scared is none of my journey has gone smoothly, and this is another hurdle that I could without.I suppose the nedical appointments are taking control of my life instead of life fitting around lines if that makes sense.i also suffer from scan anxiety am due tonsee renal consutant ties cardiology cons ultant on Wednesday and oncology consultant Friday . What a week.
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Hi Carol,
Very sorry to hear of your situation and that you are anxious about having to use insulin and it is one additional consideration in the midst of other challenges.
In time I think you will find it one of the less intrusive aspects that you have to cope with and as others have said the benefits should help allay any fears.
Wish you much success in moving forward.
 
Carolmch said:
Hi the reason that I’m scared is none of my journey has gone smoothly, and this is another hurdle that I could without.I suppose the nedical appointments are taking control of my life instead of life fitting around lines if that makes sense.i also suffer from scan anxiety am due tonsee renal consutant ties cardiology cons ultant on Wednesday and oncology consultant Friday . What a week.
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I understand that feeling! When I was diagnosed with diabetes at 21 I had almost never needed to see a Dr, let alone go to hospital, and I was suddenly thrust into this completely alien world being poked, prodded and monitored. And I could see that this stretched out in from of me for the rest of my life. I was quite unnerving!

Hope your appointments go well this week and the conversations and discussions put your mind at rest and offer an optimistic way forward.

For what it‘s worth, insulin is something I suspect you’ll get used to very quickly. The pens make it very convenient, the needles are tiny, and it doesn’t really feel like an ‘injection’ at all. Mostly completely painless. Very quickly I found it susbsided into the background and it was more difficult to remember whether I’d actually done it, than it being an event that dominated my morning.
 
Sorry to hear about your health problems @Carolmch I completely understand why diabetes and insulin on top of all that feels so stressful. All I can say is that probably the fears you’re having beforehand will be worse than actually starting the insulin. The insulin pens have such tiny, thin little needles - nothing like the injections you might have for vaccinations and the like. They really are super-thin and are designed to be as painless as possible.

The first few injections will, of course, be a bit stressful, but once you get the hang of it, they’re not hard. You’re only injecting into the subcutaneous layer under the skin, so not very deep.

Sending you best wishes x
 
Hi can anyone help me , I am on 6 ml of Lantus , the GP put it up by 2Ml asI was still reading 7. They haven’t given me an amount of carbs to eat so I curently eatin arou 130 carbs per day buy blood sugars are currently. Increasingly . Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong.
many thanks carol
 
Hi again @Carolmch Insulin is measured in units, so you’re currently on 8 units, it seems. People are normally started on less insulin than they need so the amount can be increased carefully and gradually.

How are you blood sugars? How high? How often are you testing them?
 
Hi inks, insulin level was 4GP upped it up to 6 , since she upped it sugars have gone up . Blood sugar was 8.4 this morning and 15 at 4pm . I am taking it three times per day ,will take it before bed many thanks Carol
 
Ok, so your morning reading wasn’t too bad but went up during the day. This could be due to the food (carbs) you ate; it could be a side effect of your medication; or it could simply be that you need a little more insulin. As I said, they usually start off with less than they think you’ll need for safety reasons

It might be helpful if you took your blood sugar before each meal, then 2hrs after your meal. This will give you an idea of how what you eat is affecting you, and it will give you some information to give your nurse or doctor, which will help them decide if you need a little more insulin.
 
Carolmch said:
Hi inks, insulin level was 4GP upped it up to 6 , since she upped it sugars have gone up . Blood sugar was 8.4 this morning and 15 at 4pm . I am taking it three times per day ,will take it before bed many thanks Carol
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That seems a bit unusual as Lantus is a long acting basal insulin which people usually take once (or twice) a day but you seem to be using it more like a bolus insulin which is taken for meals although you are taking a dose at night.
 
Leadinglights said:
That seems a bit unusual as Lantus is a long acting basal insulin which people usually take once (or twice) a day but you seem to be using it more like a bolus insulin which is taken for meals although you are taking a dose at night.
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I think @Carolmch was saying she tested her blood sugar three times a day.
 
Sorry to hear you are seeing higher levels than you’d like @Carolmch :(

Are you still taking the steroids?

Hopefully your Dr will be able to adjust your doses gently and safely to bring your results more into range, without dropping too low.
 
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