-
Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
-
Learn more about joining the Diabetes UK Support Forum team here: https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/volunteering-opportunities-why-dont-you-join-us.112862/
- Status
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hi and welcome.
Sorry to hear about your relatively recent diagnosis. We all know how overwhelming it can be in the beginning regardless of age, so do ask if you have any particular problems you don't understand or need help with.
I am not your age I am afraid, by a rather long chalk and we don't have many regular young members but @Lily123 posts regularly on the Group 7-day waking average thread. She is a bit younger than you, in her teens, but has a very mature head on her shoulders (which is very much intended as a compliment, if you are reading this Lily 🙂 ) Hopefully now I have tagged her, she will be along when she has time and say "hello".
Would you like to tell us a bit about your diabetes? How your diagnosis came about and which insulin(s) you are using and which CGM (sensors) you use. Have you been offered an insulin pump or are you on multiple daily injections?
If there is anything us "oldies" can help you with, please just ask, but I appreciate you wanting to make contact and swap notes with people your own age. We do have some parents of young people who might be able to put you in touch with them....
@Thebearcametoo and @Bronco Billy and @Sally W are three parents that spring to mind. Hope I have got those right.
Sorry to hear about your relatively recent diagnosis. We all know how overwhelming it can be in the beginning regardless of age, so do ask if you have any particular problems you don't understand or need help with.
I am not your age I am afraid, by a rather long chalk and we don't have many regular young members but @Lily123 posts regularly on the Group 7-day waking average thread. She is a bit younger than you, in her teens, but has a very mature head on her shoulders (which is very much intended as a compliment, if you are reading this Lily 🙂 ) Hopefully now I have tagged her, she will be along when she has time and say "hello".
Would you like to tell us a bit about your diabetes? How your diagnosis came about and which insulin(s) you are using and which CGM (sensors) you use. Have you been offered an insulin pump or are you on multiple daily injections?
If there is anything us "oldies" can help you with, please just ask, but I appreciate you wanting to make contact and swap notes with people your own age. We do have some parents of young people who might be able to put you in touch with them....
@Thebearcametoo and @Bronco Billy and @Sally W are three parents that spring to mind. Hope I have got those right.
trophywench
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Has wherever you live got a Facebook page? Are you a member of that group? If so - why not ask if anyone's interested on there or - ask if you could put some sort of notice up in local places to you asking the same - OR is there a local DUK members group in your locale anyway? Near me there is a local group for parents of children with diabetes so I would contact them and ask if they would publicise your request at their next few meetings pretty please.
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Bella
There is quite a community amongst the Type 1 volunteers who do the Type 1 Family Weekends. There are a few oldies in the group (like me who work with the parents) but there is a fabulous group who meet up and stay in contact through the year. Have a look at this as an option if you fancy having a weekend of activity during which you support youngsters, some who do their own injections for the first time that weekend. The next one is in Nottingham in Oct/Nov.
Lily123
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Welcome to the forum @Bella1 ,
I’m 16, so a bit younger than you. How are you finding everything so far?
Thanks for the tag @rebrascora
I’m 16, so a bit younger than you. How are you finding everything so far?
Thanks for the tag @rebrascora
Hi All,
thank you for your responses!!
I was quite lucky with my diagnosis, if it was left any longer It would’ve been bad. I always knew that something was wrong with me so it all makes sense. I got my blood results back and looked on my NHS app with a text from the doctor to make a normal routine appointment to speak about it. My mum rang the receptionist and asked if it was correct because my result seemed serious etc. Long story short, I was in the hospital the next day, stayed overnight and everything. My sugar was SO high with ketones - 2.9 so had to have them flushed. The doctor also said that to diagnose it, something had to be between 40 to 48 (not 100% sure). Well mine was 105..
It was definitely interesting but i’m grateful I didn’t find out by passing out or anything.
I have some questions about the pump, the cannula’s scare me a lot but i’m sure there’s a whole forum on it so I’ll have a look there !
I hope you all are well x
thank you for your responses!!
I was quite lucky with my diagnosis, if it was left any longer It would’ve been bad. I always knew that something was wrong with me so it all makes sense. I got my blood results back and looked on my NHS app with a text from the doctor to make a normal routine appointment to speak about it. My mum rang the receptionist and asked if it was correct because my result seemed serious etc. Long story short, I was in the hospital the next day, stayed overnight and everything. My sugar was SO high with ketones - 2.9 so had to have them flushed. The doctor also said that to diagnose it, something had to be between 40 to 48 (not 100% sure). Well mine was 105..
It was definitely interesting but i’m grateful I didn’t find out by passing out or anything.
I have some questions about the pump, the cannula’s scare me a lot but i’m sure there’s a whole forum on it so I’ll have a look there !
I hope you all are well x
Lily123
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The 105 would have been your HbA1C result, I believe.
Between 20 and 42 is normal, it’s a measure of average blood glucose over the past 3 months.
Any questions you have about pumps, ask away! Anyone here will be glad to answer.
Between 20 and 42 is normal, it’s a measure of average blood glucose over the past 3 months.
Any questions you have about pumps, ask away! Anyone here will be glad to answer.
rebrascora
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yes, many of us were into 3 figures at diagnosis. I was 114 but thankfully I didn't develop ketones, so didn't need to attend hospital. Good that you only needed a day though and weren't really ill as some people are.
Do you currently have a pump or is it the thought of cannulas which you find scary and is perhaps putting you off getting one?
Have you been offered a pump or told that you will be eligible as it isn't automatic unless you are a child at the moment, but will eventually become more readily available. No good getting your hopes up too soon if you haven't been offered one and it is important to get competent with injections first so that if the pump fails you can revert back to injections at short notice.
The patch pumps like Omnipod have an integrated cannula so it isn't much different to applying a Freestyle Libre sensor I believe.
The advantage of the tubed pumps with separate cannulas is that you have more choices of places on your body that you can place the cannula and different types of cannula and the cannula itself is obviously smaller than a patch pump. You can then just keep the pump in your pocket or strapped to your leg or waist or even in your bra. Some people have a clear preference of what they would prefer. I think you can order a free trial dummy Omnipod to see it's size and how you feel about wearing it.
Do you currently have a pump or is it the thought of cannulas which you find scary and is perhaps putting you off getting one?
Have you been offered a pump or told that you will be eligible as it isn't automatic unless you are a child at the moment, but will eventually become more readily available. No good getting your hopes up too soon if you haven't been offered one and it is important to get competent with injections first so that if the pump fails you can revert back to injections at short notice.
The patch pumps like Omnipod have an integrated cannula so it isn't much different to applying a Freestyle Libre sensor I believe.
The advantage of the tubed pumps with separate cannulas is that you have more choices of places on your body that you can place the cannula and different types of cannula and the cannula itself is obviously smaller than a patch pump. You can then just keep the pump in your pocket or strapped to your leg or waist or even in your bra. Some people have a clear preference of what they would prefer. I think you can order a free trial dummy Omnipod to see it's size and how you feel about wearing it.
The additional thing I would add about pumps is to talk to your clinic before making any decisions about what pump you want. It is rare that a clinic will offer all pumps as it would mean that the DSN would need to be trained in all pumps. I believe the Omnipod id one of the more expensive pumps so it may not be available. My clinic does to offer it, for example.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Welcome to the forum @Bella1
We are diabetes twins! I was diagnosed aged 21 in February too!! Though in my case that was *ahem* a couple of years ago.
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad you were able to spot it before you collapsed. Many of us with T1 had a range of results at the top end of the scale at diagnosis. If I recall think my ketones were ++++ (as high as the strips read), and BG was over 39 (it was before meters were in common use, which tend to freak out above 35)
Do keep firing away with pump questions. It can feel like a scary change, and many of us who are now long-term pump users were pretty resistant to the idea in the beginning. I certainly was!
We are diabetes twins! I was diagnosed aged 21 in February too!! Though in my case that was *ahem* a couple of years ago.
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad you were able to spot it before you collapsed. Many of us with T1 had a range of results at the top end of the scale at diagnosis. If I recall think my ketones were ++++ (as high as the strips read), and BG was over 39 (it was before meters were in common use, which tend to freak out above 35)
Do keep firing away with pump questions. It can feel like a scary change, and many of us who are now long-term pump users were pretty resistant to the idea in the beginning. I certainly was!
SB2015
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi @Bella1 if you are interested in going for a pump and are worried about the cannulas, you could ask your clinic if they have some that you could try. There are Teflon/metal, angled/straight, … Lots of options for the different pumps. I wear mine in the abdomen and sometimes have to hunt around under my clothes to find it. It causes no pain once it is in and settled.
As @helli says your clinic will offer specific pumps, for which they have trained to support you. Once you have the list there will be plenty of people on here using each of them and can give you the pros and cons.
As @helli says your clinic will offer specific pumps, for which they have trained to support you. Once you have the list there will be plenty of people on here using each of them and can give you the pros and cons.
- Status