Keto acidosis introduction!

[TygerBright]

hello everyone,
I was diagnosed in around April, with type 1 diabetes or Lada. I was introduced to this condition via being rushed into hospital from the my GP's surgery with Keto acidosis. it has all been such a roller coaster, and I am still feeling rather dazed by everything, and struggling with the idea of this life changing illness and having to manage it.
I look forward to sharing this journey with others, hoping to receive and give support.

 

[Flower]

Hello and welcome @TygerBright , glad you've joined us 🙂

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, DKA is incredibly frightening and dangerous and it does take a while for your body to start to get back to equilibrium after going through that. Take it slowly and bit by bit you'll start to feel better and probably better than you did before diagnosis when your own insulin supply was declining. It is a steep learning curve but things will start to settle down and stop feeling so overwhelming given time.

What insulin regime have you been started on and how are your levels behaving? I hope you've got access to support from a diabetes specialist nurse so that you can get help when you need it.

Ask any questions you may have on here as it's a very friendly, supportive forum with a wealth of experience. You're also welcome to have a rant about the whole situation should you need to as we get just how challenging diabetes can sometimes be trying to juggle so many things at once.

I wish you well.🙂

 

[TygerBright]

hi flower,
thank you so much for your response. Yes, it is all consuming, this looking after blood glucose levels. I have a libre which is by far nicer than having to keep pricking my fingers which were getting very sore and purple, and highly distressing as my skin is very thin & my senses super-sensitive! (like a flower maybe?!)
In fact it is all quite depressing but I am facing up to it, and actually managing very well in terms of the blood glucose being generally kept between 4.0 and 10.0 which are my targets. But this though is at great personal cost. Use exercise on my elliptical machine to bring it down, and have been eating mainly fruit to bring it up....
To top it all, I now have constipation by which I mean, no bowel movement for days on end, and then when there is, it is hard and ball like....oh dear. have been doing some research and find that there is increasing evidence that more fibre may actually worsen the problem, not improve it!
I am now on the basal and bolus regimen, with 4 units in the morning of basal, and varying amounts at meals, including, by choice, eating foods which don't require any. In fact at the moment I am eating quite a lot of animal protein, the opposite of what I was about two weeks ago when I was on a largely plant-based diet.... so far, this has not made very much difference to bowel issue, but does mean I need minimal insulin.
Yes, have diabetes nurse who I have been seeing regularly for advice and support at the hospital, and a consultant, or I should say different consultants....Some more personable than others. Altogether in about three months I have seen three... On the whole though, most professionals have been quite kind.
Thank you again.

 

[Deleted member 25429]

hi flower,
thank you so much for your response. Yes, it is all consuming, this looking after blood glucose levels. I have a libre which is by far nicer than having to keep pricking my fingers which were getting very sore and purple, and highly distressing as my skin is very thin & my senses super-sensitive! (like a flower maybe?!)
In fact it is all quite depressing but I am facing up to it, and actually managing very well in terms of the blood glucose being generally kept between 4.0 and 10.0 which are my targets. But this though is at great personal cost. Use exercise on my elliptical machine to bring it down, and have been eating mainly fruit to bring it up....
To top it all, I now have constipation by which I mean, no bowel movement for days on end, and then when there is, it is hard and ball like....oh dear. have been doing some research and find that there is increasing evidence that more fibre may actually worsen the problem, not improve it!
I am now on the basal and bolus regimen, with 4 units in the morning of basal, and varying amounts at meals, including, by choice, eating foods which don't require any. In fact at the moment I am eating quite a lot of animal protein, the opposite of what I was about two weeks ago when I was on a largely plant-based diet.... so far, this has not made very much difference to bowel issue, but does mean I need minimal insulin.
Yes, have diabetes nurse who I have been seeing regularly for advice and support at the hospital, and a consultant, or I should say different consultants....Some more personable than others. Altogether in about three months I have seen three... On the whole though, most professionals have been quite kind.
Thank you again.

You have had a similar experience to me . It is hard going , I now have a brilliant diabetic nurse who is making all the difference. I’ve had two consultants so far ..one brilliant one awful . It is a minefield and you just pick your way through . Most of what I know is down to the wonderfully supportive people on here . They are the only ones that provide practical advice having experience of living with D . Good luck and hope you start to get on top of your problems x

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome. There are some of us who have also struggled with constipation on low carb diet and we had a thread about it not long ago. Increasing your fluid intake and a fibre supplement is usually beneficial. Chia seeds and psyllium husk soaked in plain or flavoured water certainly can help. I will try to find the thread and post a link...

 

[rebrascora]

Here we go re the link to constipation thread...
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/constipation.81824/