Hello, My name is Andi and have just been diagnosed with type 1, having been rushed into hospital last week with pneumonia, which in turn sparked my DK. A very scary experience. I am 51 and starting my journey. Just getting to grips reaaly with the whole concept. My blood sugar is all over the place at the moment as they are trying to balance them out. Because of the stay in CCU I dont have the energy levels at the moment, however I am sure these will return soon. So it's a massive helloe from me and I will have an abundance of questions. Looking forward to the community.
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I have just been diagnosed with Type 1!
- Thread starter andip1967
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stephknits
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
hello and welcome. Another late developer at 43! Hopefully you will be feeling a bit better soon. There is a lot to take in, so take it easy - it'll take a while to get things sussed.
Flower
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hello and welcome @andip1967 🙂
Diagnosis certainly is a big shock with a very steep learning curve. Your energy will return but your body has been through turmoil with DKA and it does take a while to settle back into equilibrium.
There's a wealth of experience and support on here so please let us know how things go for you. 🙂
Diagnosis certainly is a big shock with a very steep learning curve. Your energy will return but your body has been through turmoil with DKA and it does take a while to settle back into equilibrium.
There's a wealth of experience and support on here so please let us know how things go for you. 🙂
SueEK
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Sorry to be thick but what is DKA?
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Welcome Andi from another late starter, diagnosed T1 at 53.
It is a shock and a steep learning curve, but there is plenty of help available on here.
Your energy levels will return now that your condition has been diagnosed.
What insulin’s are you using? You should have access to a Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN)
who will guide you through the each stage, and help you to get your levels settled
along with the correct doses of insulin.
Any questions that you have, just ask. No questions are considered silly on here.
It is a shock and a steep learning curve, but there is plenty of help available on here.
Your energy levels will return now that your condition has been diagnosed.
What insulin’s are you using? You should have access to a Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN)
who will guide you through the each stage, and help you to get your levels settled
along with the correct doses of insulin.
Any questions that you have, just ask. No questions are considered silly on here.
TheClockworkDodo
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hello Andi, and welcome from yet another late starter - I was 44 when I was diagnosed. Do ask any questions you have, someone is sure to be able to help 🙂
@SueEK - DKA is Diabetes Ketoacidosis, which is what happens (mainly in type 1) if blood glucose stays really high and the body has no insulin so is unable to process glucose at all - the body starts to break down body tissue instead, resulting in Ketones (poisonous chemicals) which cause all sorts of havoc. It's quite a common way for people to find out they're type 1, because it leads to sudden weight loss for no apparent reason, which in turn leads to diagnosis and a rapid trip to A&E - but it's very rare in type 2, so no reason you'd have heard of it!
@SueEK - DKA is Diabetes Ketoacidosis, which is what happens (mainly in type 1) if blood glucose stays really high and the body has no insulin so is unable to process glucose at all - the body starts to break down body tissue instead, resulting in Ketones (poisonous chemicals) which cause all sorts of havoc. It's quite a common way for people to find out they're type 1, because it leads to sudden weight loss for no apparent reason, which in turn leads to diagnosis and a rapid trip to A&E - but it's very rare in type 2, so no reason you'd have heard of it!
SueEK
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- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Oh my goodness that sounds terrible. So sorry Andi to hear that happened to you. Thank you Juliet for giving me that information, much appreciated x
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
It arrives very suddenly when people who have Type 1 'brewing' in the background poised to give them diabetes symptoms anyway, become ill with something different or have a bad accident, both of which place extra stresses on the body so the failing insulin producing cells are entirely unable to cope and Wham.
That's how Alan, aka Northerner, administrator of the forum, became Type 1 himself. Hence it isn't exactly rare unfortunately.
But at least newly diagnosed folk like Andi hopefully won't feel quite so alone as he may have thought he was before joining the forum. Hi Andi !
What insulin(s) have they started you off on?
That's how Alan, aka Northerner, administrator of the forum, became Type 1 himself. Hence it isn't exactly rare unfortunately.
But at least newly diagnosed folk like Andi hopefully won't feel quite so alone as he may have thought he was before joining the forum. Hi Andi !
What insulin(s) have they started you off on?
Thanks for your kind words of support It's reasurring that their are people in the same situation who can help
My insulin is Lantus which I take 20 units in the morning that lasts the day and before every meal I take 6 units of humalog
My sugars are very erratic at the moment as they try and balance themselves out I guess this is a normal thing
My insulin is Lantus which I take 20 units in the morning that lasts the day and before every meal I take 6 units of humalog
My sugars are very erratic at the moment as they try and balance themselves out I guess this is a normal thing
TheClockworkDodo
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Yes, it will take a while for them to settle. If you find your blood sugar is regularly too high or too low though, don't hesitate to contact your diabetes team at the hospital for advice about raising or lowering your insulin doses - the ones they put you on at first will be a "best guess" and most people find their doses need adjusting once they're back to their normal lifestyle (and adjusting again whenever the weather changes!).
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Entirely normal - now!
It is indeed a balancing act we all have to learn asap how to go about - cos no Type 1 with a normal life is on fixed doses of insulin for very long periods and unless we all kept 'an outside expert' inside our head 24/7 it would be utterly impossible to live with. Hence - we all have to learn to become expert in our own diabetes.
In this respect - you my lad are in the Reception class at infant school again but hopefully during the last 51 years you've picked up a bit more general resistance to life's little idiosyncracies and a greater ability to cope. We may not have a brain that soaks up new info like blotting paper and more - but when it's info we need to actually stay alive it kinda matters a bit more than some things - so settle down in class. It's a steep learning curve - but you know - turns out you can walk up a hill and still be able to breathe when you get to the summit and appreciate the view - if you take smaller steps.
Kinda Mission Impossible - but none of us have a choice whether to accept the Assignment in this case so far easier to just accept it and get on with the task with a grin on our faces, all in all.
Believe it or not - it really does get easier ! 🙂
You could very well start by getting a book called (and now you'll think I really am barmy 😱) 'Type 1 diabetes in children teenagers and young adults' by Ragnar Hanas. It is honestly really helpful whatever age you happen to be - Northerner and Robin both 'swear by' it - whereas the bloke hadn't even written it in 1972 LOL - and we've all come a very long way since a diabetic bloke called HG Wells and his - also diabetic - doctor Robin Lawrence decided to start a diabetic association to try and help people like us lot ! 🙂
It is indeed a balancing act we all have to learn asap how to go about - cos no Type 1 with a normal life is on fixed doses of insulin for very long periods and unless we all kept 'an outside expert' inside our head 24/7 it would be utterly impossible to live with. Hence - we all have to learn to become expert in our own diabetes.
In this respect - you my lad are in the Reception class at infant school again but hopefully during the last 51 years you've picked up a bit more general resistance to life's little idiosyncracies and a greater ability to cope. We may not have a brain that soaks up new info like blotting paper and more - but when it's info we need to actually stay alive it kinda matters a bit more than some things - so settle down in class. It's a steep learning curve - but you know - turns out you can walk up a hill and still be able to breathe when you get to the summit and appreciate the view - if you take smaller steps.
Kinda Mission Impossible - but none of us have a choice whether to accept the Assignment in this case so far easier to just accept it and get on with the task with a grin on our faces, all in all.
Believe it or not - it really does get easier ! 🙂
You could very well start by getting a book called (and now you'll think I really am barmy 😱) 'Type 1 diabetes in children teenagers and young adults' by Ragnar Hanas. It is honestly really helpful whatever age you happen to be - Northerner and Robin both 'swear by' it - whereas the bloke hadn't even written it in 1972 LOL - and we've all come a very long way since a diabetic bloke called HG Wells and his - also diabetic - doctor Robin Lawrence decided to start a diabetic association to try and help people like us lot ! 🙂
TheClockworkDodo
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
It's adolescents rather than teenagers in the title, but a lot of 50+ year olds find it helpful too! - https://wordery.com/6th-edition-typ...ung-adults-6th-edn-ragnar-hanas-9781859595664 Apparently it is regularly updated so worth getting the latest edition, even though it's a bit pricey.
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
I am now 11 years in, and still refer back to the Ragnar Hanas book, and I certainly don’t fit the age profile in the title (diagnosed at 53).
It will take time to get your levels settled, and once you start to adjust your own doses to match your food, life will become more flexible. Just try to be patient and things will get easier.
It will take time to get your levels settled, and once you start to adjust your own doses to match your food, life will become more flexible. Just try to be patient and things will get easier.
toffee
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hello Andi
I was newly diagnosed with type 1 a few days before my 49th birthday last month. There's been a lot of new words thrown at me from specialists and getting to grips with a whole new concept of keeping myself as healthy as possible, as well as managing the day to day stuff life throws at me has been tough and interesting in equal measure.
Being a newbie, and having a insatiable thirst for knowledge has meant I have dived headlong into learning about my condition, and I stress MY condition as during appointments I've listened to seasoned diabetics informing me how I'll lose a leg and all sorts of stuff...
I've read so much good advice on this forum, bought the recommended books and have to say, if I was you then I'd purchase them too, certainly buy a couple to get you up to speed so to speak. Also, they can be extremely reassuring at a time in your life when you might be feeling confused or unsure about this new condition and how to manage everything.
I honestly did not know how I would cope, but I'm doing well. I came back to work on Monday after a couple of weeks off, my DKA levels were through the roof when I went into hospital and I spent time in a trauma unit, I was very ill but with the help of some wonderful people in the NHS I'm back running along the beach already, which I never imagined I would be after a month, and confidently taking my insulin. Finger pricking is second nature and the best thing I can say is that it does indeed, get easier. I was slightly sceptical about those comments I read on here I must admit, after all, how did anyone else know what I was going through?....turns out they were absolutely right, and at the time, just seeing those words gave me a huge lift. It gets easier mate.
Very best of luck
Dave
I was newly diagnosed with type 1 a few days before my 49th birthday last month. There's been a lot of new words thrown at me from specialists and getting to grips with a whole new concept of keeping myself as healthy as possible, as well as managing the day to day stuff life throws at me has been tough and interesting in equal measure.
Being a newbie, and having a insatiable thirst for knowledge has meant I have dived headlong into learning about my condition, and I stress MY condition as during appointments I've listened to seasoned diabetics informing me how I'll lose a leg and all sorts of stuff...
I've read so much good advice on this forum, bought the recommended books and have to say, if I was you then I'd purchase them too, certainly buy a couple to get you up to speed so to speak. Also, they can be extremely reassuring at a time in your life when you might be feeling confused or unsure about this new condition and how to manage everything.
I honestly did not know how I would cope, but I'm doing well. I came back to work on Monday after a couple of weeks off, my DKA levels were through the roof when I went into hospital and I spent time in a trauma unit, I was very ill but with the help of some wonderful people in the NHS I'm back running along the beach already, which I never imagined I would be after a month, and confidently taking my insulin. Finger pricking is second nature and the best thing I can say is that it does indeed, get easier. I was slightly sceptical about those comments I read on here I must admit, after all, how did anyone else know what I was going through?....turns out they were absolutely right, and at the time, just seeing those words gave me a huge lift. It gets easier mate.
Very best of luck
Dave
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