life at uni for type 1's

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bev

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Hi all,
This is years off for us - but on the other list there is a discussion about letting your child go to uni etc and how worrying it is for a parent if they have no hypo awareness at night time.
For those of you who have experienced uni after diagnosis - can you tell me how you coped and how your parents coped? Have you had times when you were dangerously low during the night and on your own? Did you check yourselves through the night ever?
What facilities were available at uni if you didnt go to lectures one day? Did anyone check you were ok etc?

Uni is a real worry for us parents - but - I - for one, dont want to stand in the way of Alex living a normal life - so any reassurance you can give would be appreciated!🙂Bev
 
When I went to the meet up the other weekend back, Tom is a great example of someone just getting on with it and uni life!

Im sure he will have something to add, but I am sure if you had of met him you would feel abit more at ease about this!
 
Hi Bev,

It's funny, because when I started thinking about and looking at unis, diabetes didn't even come in to my head! I was petrified enough without thinking about any diabetes issues!
I'm sure it was a worry for my parents though, and my younger sister (with diabetes) will be at uni age very soon and i think they may worry about her as she has less hypo awareness.
I've always had very good hypo awareness and always woken up during the night etc. I guess if your child doesn't have hypo awareness when sleeping when the time for uni comes around, it could be worth you looking to get a CGM with an alarm?? (I think these exist!?) For peace of mind?

My uni was very small so people would notice if i did not turn up for my lectures (as i was in a class of 19 - my course was very practical and not lecture based).

The student support at my uni was also very helpful - they provided a fridge for my room, where i was able to keep insulin and also FOOD which other people couldn't get their theiving hands on!!
They were constantly emailing to ask whether i needed any other support (they got a little annoying actually haha).

Umm... not sure what else to say really, I've never let diabetes get in the way of doing anything i want to do, and when i was at uni it never proved to be much of a problem. (obviously it sometimes got in the way with appointments and having to collect prescriptions etc, which my friends didnt have to do).

Hope some of that helps! 🙂
 
P.s - the main problems i had was when i went out drinking, and i tended to stuff myself when i came home or with a fatty takeaway, as i was terrified of going stupidly low and not realising cos of the alcohol.
So this meant i sometimes woke up with high numbers the morning after a night out, but i preferred that to the alternative.

After the first couple of yrs i got better at drinking 😉
 
I was diagnosed while at university, at the end of the third year. I know my mum was very worried about me at the time but it's difficult to say whether that was because of the new diagnosis, or specifically because I was away from home.
I think the trick is probably being confident that the person at uni knows what how to look after themselves, and is confident to get help if they need to. Although I do know of people who have decided not to tell those around them that they were diabetic I've always made sure that at least a few trusted people around me know what to do.
Often I think one of the biggest 'risks' for new students who are diabetic is alcohol, however sensible you are most students will drink more than they're used to at some point after starting uni (in my exerience anyway!) and with that comes the increased risk of a hypo. I suppose again that comes back to knowing that the diabetic will know how to look after themself and be, as far as possible, sensible.
In my first year (wasn't diabetic then) there was an older student in my building who was there to offer support so I suppose if I'd been diabetic then she would have been useful as a safety measure. I did go back into halls for my last year but the only thing that was different as a diabetic was that I was allowed a fridge in my room.
 
Hi Bev,

Well, university and diabetes can make life exceptional fun. First off, freshers fortnight as it was in my case meant endless boozing and clubbing. I didn't have any drink related diabetes issues as I don't exactly drink much with my friends due to the fact that I haven't known them that long, therefore I don't really trust them to do the right thing if they saw me passed out or something.

Secondly, freshers flu. You will get this and it will absolutely bugger up your levels. That and in my case I managed to pick up a secondary infection afterwards which just made life the little bit more fun! 😛

As for my parents, well yes they do worry. It's in the job description. Though seeing as I've been looking after myself with a reasonable degree of success for my entire sixth form and a little before that they know I'm capable of looking after myself. That said, at my appointment last week I did get a slap on the wrist for playing around with my levemir far, far too much in the first two months of uni. That resulted in loads of high blood sugars simply because I wasn't letting the levemir settle out for a few days to see if the new doses were actually working.

What I would say matters is confidence in yourself, in your abilities to manage diabetes with a hectic social life and work coming at you from left right and centre. Long nights and caffeine make for great fun. Pro plus and Relentless are wonderful if you want to stay awake in a rather dull lecture. They don't really affect bloods too much if you cover the carbs in Relentless/Red Bull. I don't know the carbs for my trusty pro plus tables though. Negligible I would say.

Uni and MDI can be rather complex. You need to be able to tap and go as far as being a student goes. MDI simply can't offer the facilities for that. try predicting the future. That's partly why I'm going for a pump (roll on January the twelth!) and for the tailor made basals that it can give if you need it. MDI can be a bit on the side of socially awkward. Come levemir time and you're busting out moves on the dance floor with someone it's a bit of a downer to have to head off to the khazi to give yourself the damn stuff.

I asked my uni to give me a mini fridge for my room to store my insulin in. I got it. It also stores food and large amounts of booze. I don't trust my insulin or my booze to the communal fridge in the kitchen! It's a very nice thing to have.

Uni doctors are worth having. There is a surgery at my campus and they are wonderful about my repeat prescriptions. Ok, they are a whole world away from my previous GP who I had to fight to get a load of test strips out of. Now seeing as I'm going back home for the Christmas holidays in a week I've asked for a double load of test strips. I'm pretty sure that the usual four tubs will cover my needs for three weeks but I want to have a few more to tide me over if I need them. They were lovely in there this morning. Perfectly reasoned arguement and they just printed off the script and said I could collect it as soon as it was signed by the doctor or whenever I want. Finding a good GP is essential.+

If there's anything else you want to know just shout and I'll do my best.

Tom
 
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I didn't get diagnosed pre uni so not much help just wanted to say I studied (okay that's another debate) with two type one's, they didn't advertise it, they got on with everything (some other things too that I won't mention here 😉) But as I think the others have said it's a parents job to worry, Tom is indeed a good example (or at least he's doing a good job at conning us so!(Joke!)) But I think as with everything it probably more down to the make up of the individual as to how anyone copes with what we have to deal with, and okay yes we have an extra ball or two to juggle with. Hope you do manage to give your Alex a "normal" life. thinking about it uni today it seems the students have more contact with home, email and all that, I think I wrote home once and phoned once a term or so! So it may help you rest well that you can keep in contact with him where ever he goes!

Take care

Rossi🙂
 
bev said:
Hi all,
This is years off for us - but on the other list there is a discussion about letting your child go to uni etc and how worrying it is for a parent if they have no hypo awareness at night time.
For those of you who have experienced uni after diagnosis - can you tell me how you coped and how your parents coped? Have you had times when you were dangerously low during the night and on your own? Did you check yourselves through the night ever?
What facilities were available at uni if you didnt go to lectures one day? Did anyone check you were ok etc?

Uni is a real worry for us parents - but - I - for one, dont want to stand in the way of Alex living a normal life - so any reassurance you can give would be appreciated!🙂Bev
Click to expand...

I was diagnosed just before my A levels so pretty soon before Uni! and ive only recently finished 😉 (4 year course!). During my firt year I lived in a shared house with 3 other people and I only mentioned I had diabetes, they wouldn't have known what to do if I was acting funny, unless they had a personal interest in it! I was 18, so pretty much looked after my own diabetes from the beginning, with a little help at first of course. I have never checked through the night. If I have a bad hypo I wake up and realise I'm shaking etc and need to get some glucose. Sometimes I wake up in the morning to a low, but not too low level of about 3.5. Nothing bad has ever happened. I also got drunk quite alot and nothing bad happened then either :D

I think it must sound more scary to you at the moment Bev because you have so much input into A's diabetes care and do alot for him. By the time he is 18 he will be more independant and take control of his own diabetes with your support.

All mum's worry about their kids going to uni and it will be a bit more worrying for you at first, but you will sonn realise he is perfectly fine 🙂
 
Thanks all!

Lots of invaluable insight into uni life as a diabetic! I must admit that i cant get over the 'not checking at night' thing -but that is because Alex is 11 and we take on the role for him. Obviously he wouldnt want me checking him at 18 at 3am in the morning whether he was at uni or not!😱

I know i need to get my head around this and i do thank you all for your advice.
I think that, as a parent, you worry about different things. When my eldest went off to uni- all i worried about was whether she made friends and 'fitted in'. My middle one goes to uni in september and i worry about the same.

But its a whole different ballgame with Alex!

My main worry is alcohol and whether he has a huge hypo at 3 in the morning and no-one is aware enough to help him. And obviously i worry about DIB. Although i do know that this is rare - it is still a huge worry for a parent.

Anyway, thankyou for all your replies - very much appreciated (apart from Tom's mention of pro plus?....)🙂Bev
 
Hi Bev,

You've already had some great replies to this, so I won't add much except to say that I went to uni while on two injections of Mixtard a day, and I never had a huge amount of problems, so I'm sure Alex on a pump will be fine! He seems to be a very sensible young mad. 🙂 I think the most important thing for me was to make sure my friends new I was diabetic and what to do if I went hypo, but it was never an issue.

With regards to not checking during the night, I think a lot of that might be to do with age. Alex is growing a lot now, and hormones are playing havoc and so his basals are probably changing quite a lot. When he's old enough to go to uni, I would imagine that won't be such an issue, and he won't have to check anywhere near as much. 🙂
 
Hi Bev, I was diagnosed whilst in my final year at Uni, so was used to being able to go out drinking etc without having to worry. The diabetic clinic were great they got my 2 flatmates at the time in and talked to them about hypos and showed them how to use the glucagon kit. The main advice I was given with drinking was to make sure I ate before going to sleep especially if I had been out clubbing too. Getting the doctors approval of stopping off at the chippy on the way home was not a problem 🙂

My worry was always what would happen if I hypo'd in an exam. I always made sure I spoke to the invigilator before the exam so I could keep my test kit and some food at my desk with me, just in case. It never happened though, I think if anything the stress ofthe exam sent me higher.
 
Remember that most 18 year olds sleep considerably fewer hours than 11 year olds - so there's less time for a hypoglycaemic episode while asleep. It's more likely than not that Alex will still have good hypo awareness when / if he chooses to go to university, whether at 18 or older. Remember that a university education doesn't have to involve leaving home - there are usually at leats one or two universities within commuting distance of any home in England, plus the Open University is a wonderful institution, unmatched in any other countries. Personally, I didn't start my first degree until I was 25 years old, then did my MSc starting at age 36 years, after diagnosis. Who knows what the funding situation, course options etc will be by the time Alex may or may not want to go to university? He's got GCSEs and A levels or alternatives first....
 
Hi Bev,
Thought I'd add my thoughts to the great input you've already received... I became diabetic at 18 months old and my sister became diabetic at 9 years old and we both went to uni at 18. My parents did the whole worrying thing(!) when we were growing up but did take steps to prepare us for uni...

My parents encouraged us to have alcohol (in SMALL quantities!!) around the dinner table whilst we were still living at home, so we had a chance to see the effect it had on my sugars.

My uni was also really good... They allowed me to have a fridge in my room to keep my insulin in (and even changed the fuse in my room to allow it to work!). I also had a doctors on campus, who were really good, and a hospital for my check-ups.

Regarding hypos in the night, I think it should be less of a concern by the time Alex is old enough to go. I was very independent with my sugars by then - had a lot of preparation, such as sleeping over at friends' houses and even going on holiday with friends before then so I could practise and drinking alcohol down the pub with friends (our school sponsored its own pub where the students could drink when we were 17). Also, I didn't hypo nearly as much in my late teens as I did during my childhood... It became more manageable the older I got.

I think the thing I would really say is to encourage Alex (perhaps when he's a bit older!) to progressively take on more of the responsibility of his diabetes (not only doing his injections and blood tests, but also the other more mundane bits, like ordering prescriptions and managing his supplies so he doesn't run out), as well as experimenting with alcohol within the family environment. All those things helped me, anyway!!

Oh, just one final comment... Not sure if things have changed since I was at uni, but in my day, Red Bull and Pro Plus both had warnings on their sides, saying that they were not suitable for diabetics...? Maybe things have change since then!?!

Natalie
 
NTIL said:
Oh, just one final comment... Not sure if things have changed since I was at uni, but in my day, Red Bull and Pro Plus both had warnings on their sides, saying that they were not suitable for diabetics...? Maybe things have change since then!?!

Natalie
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Hahaha, they probably are! Oh well, it helps when I really need it. That's when powering on through fatigue just isn't an option.
 
Bev - another thought, possibly Uni could be a good way of Alex becoming more independent but still in a protected environment. This is all assuming Alex wants to go to Uni.
 
Tom Hreben said:
Hahaha, they probably are! Oh well, it helps when I really need it. That's when powering on through fatigue just isn't an option.
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Tom, the diet stuff works just as well and is probably nicer 🙂
 
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