Hi, I'm a newbie and Type 1 diabetic

[KateAdy29]

Hello, my name is Katie and I am type 1.
I was diagnosed in 2011 after having a huge seizure in a shop on my way to work! Thats a very shortened version of what happened and how I came to learn the cause of the fit!
So, after a few years living with this absolute invasion of my life and being totally useless at keeping my levels down, I have joined Diabetes UK, in the hope of trying to learn more about this illness and to learn to accept it.
So, I may not write much on here, but i will be reading people's posts and answers and hopefully learn things along the way!!
I'm not saying that I don't know anything, obviously I do have knowledge otherwise I'd probably be dead by now if I didn't know how to treat myself day to day, but I'm not a good patient and have a lot to learn.
Thank you in advance!!
Katie

 

[rebrascora]

Hi Katie and welcome.

Sounds like you had rather a traumatic diagnosis. Many of us late starters with Type 1 are misdiagnosed as Type 2 because it comes on more slowly but you clearly don't do things by halves!

Would you like to tell us a bit about how you manage your diabetes? Ie Which insulin(s) you use? Multiple Daily injections or a pump? Do you have any tech to help you.... thinking Freestyle Libre sensors?? Or are you reliant on finger pricking for checking your levels. Do you carb count? When you say you struggle to keep your down, I am wondering if you might be on an old fashioned insulin regime which makes that more difficult, so if you can give us answers to the above questions it will help us understand where the problem may lie. What sort of readings do you normally get?
Is there anything particular you don't understand or have difficulty with?
Have you been on an education course like DAFNE?

I know that probably sounds like the Spanish Inquisition but the more info we have about your management regime the better our suggestions for improvement can be tailored to your situation.

Not sure if you are also looking for a social element to the forum but we have a long running thread called "Group 7-day waking average" where we post our waking BG levels and exchange a bit of info about ourselves and sometimes a bit of chat and banter. It can be helpful to see the range of readings people get and how people approach improving them and sometimes just have a bit of a virtual laugh..... Anyway, if you fancy joining us there in the morning this is the thread

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/group-7-day-waking-average.20148/page-3946#post-1109712

Look forward to getting to know you better and hopefully seeing you improve your diabetes management.

PS. Don't try to read that thread from the beginning as it is massively long.... just jump in at the end with your waking reading and you will soon get the hang of it after that.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @KateAdy29 from another late starter with T1/LADA.

it sounds like you have been through the milll at your diagnosis. I am pleased that you have found the forum now that you are wanting to try to improve your levels.

You will find a lot of information simply reading the posts. This will show you just how different we all are, and see that Diabetes is fickle and we each have to find what works for ourselves. It is through the forum that I learnt about The more recent developments in tech and apps available to help us with our day to day management.

If you would like to tell us more about how you manage your own diabetes, it will help us to tailor our answers to any questions that you have. No questions are considered silly on here. Just ask.

 

[Inka]

Welcome @KateAdy29 🙂 What a way to be diagnosed - scary! I don’t know about ‘learning to live with’ Type 1. To be honest, I tolerate it. It helps to try to keep good control because that’s a mental boost, I find.

If you fancy some reading, two great books about Type 1 are:

Think Like a Pancreas’ by Gary Scheiner.

And Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas (ignore the title - it’s great for adults too)

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @KateAdy29

And glad you have decided to say hello, rather than relying on just lurking. Not that we don’t love our lurkers, but there’s something special about being able to ask direct questions every so often, or simply let off steam at the irritations of your diabetes misbehaving and not following it’s own rules.

Personally I also find I receive suggestions and ideas very differently when they are offered by people who face the same struggles day-to-day. Not that suggestions from consultants aren’t welcome, but there’s something different about hearing the lived experience of others, what they’ve tried, and what ended up working.

Have you ever been offered a course like DAFNE or BERTIE to give you a good grounding in modern approaches to insulin management around food, and also the tricky blighters like exercise, alcohol, illness, stress and all that?

If the idea of sitting in a room with other diabolics fills you with horror, you might get good value out of these books which are frequently recommended on the forum:

Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - despite the title, this book is relevant to people diagnosed with T1 at any age.

Think Like a Pancreas by Gary Scheiner - A practical guide to managing diabetes with insulin.

Whether you post much or not, welcome to the community, and I hope you get a real benefit and sense of support from being here.

 

[helli]

Welcome @KateAdy29
As the others have said, your diagnosis sounds very scary.

We are all different in the way we manage our condition. I am stubborn and will not let diabetes get in the way of my life so come up with ways to continue to travel (when there is no pandemic), socialise (when there is no pandemic), exercise (especially during a pandemic when being overweight is a higher risk factor), eat (got to fuel that exercise some how) and do a sometimes stressful job which (when not in a pandemic) requires lots of travel.

I definitely feel better and find living (rather than surviving easier if my levels are lower. Do you understand why your levels are higher? As Type 1 is so invasive, there can be many reasons and amongst the forum members we have different techniques for managing them.

Ask any question or just rant (or laugh) about diabetes. Hey, why limit your questions and comments to diabetes - just because it is what we have in common, it is not all we are and does not define us.