Gmccona
New Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hello all!
I’ve come onto the forum as a diabetic for 9 years now. I was diagnosed at age 9 and I’m here to give my story and experiences so others can learn from my mistakes!
My favourite hypo treatment is a mini cola (exactly 15cg!!!)
Pumps I’ve had:
Minimed 640g (twice)
AccuChek Solo
I am waiting on a closed loop, looking like it will be the T-slim x2 but I’m eager to try the Minimed 780g!
I use a dexcom G6 and have for 5 years now!
I’ve used lots of insulins:
Novorapid
Lantus
Humolog
Insulatard
Levemir
And currently:
Fiasp
Tresiba
Now we have some base facts down, here is my journey.
I was 9 when I was diagnosed, I started losing a lot of weight and drinking gallons of water, going to the toilet sooo much and getting such a sore stomach when I ate. I was getting up multiple times during the night to pee and drink water. Eventually my mum brought me to the doctor and they sent me straight to hospital. They said if it had been any longer, that I would have been in a coma. I didn’t eat all of that day so when I finally got seen my bloods were 8.9 but as soon as I ate it was in the 30s. I still remember the cheese sandwich they forced me to eat sticking to the roof of my mouth. I remember getting held down to be injected, a scared child who didn’t know what was happening. I also vividly remember getting my blood sugar done with one of those brutal fingerprickers and kicking the (male) doctor or nurse right down there as a reflex to pain. I went in that night. It was a Saturday night by then and you know the NHS doesn’t supply diabetic staff on the weekends of course, so I was in hospital for a week, getting trained up on my pens and finger pricks. I got given my (first) Rufus and I started on Novorapid and Lantus or Levemir (I cannot remember). I remember thinking they were going to take my Rufus away so I held him tight until they said I could keep him. We went home and my mum sewed him an outfit, a very snazzy one too!
After a while, I realised that not everyone got a red itchy mark around their basal sites and they switched me through various different long acting insulins. We settled on Insulatard and that made a big difference.
My diabetes doctor was not the friendliest of doctors. She constantly shamed me for not having 100% time in range and for eating g like a normal 9 year old child. My parents, however, shielded me from that and made sure that I got the closest to a normal childhood and I could get. (Apart from only ever getting exactly 60g of ice cream, which if you can picture that, is not a lot)
I got my first pump fairly quickly (1 year of being diabetic) as I was still mildly allergic to my basal insulin. I was started on the Medtronic Minimed 640g. Such an exciting day! I got Lenny the Lion and I was totally over the moon to be able to get a pump and it was pink! I loved that the new blood sugar meter took less blood! I was deathly afraid of the cannulas though, a fear that was based on being a skinny little 10 year old girl, who’s only allowed to do leg sites which huuurt. My parents did them for me for a long time and then I went to a diabetes psychologist who helped me work through my fears but honestly, every site change was a battle with my mind. It was the infusion sets that caused such panic and my little hands would have to squeeze them so hard and sometimes it wouldn’t go so I was constantly on edge. I eventually got offered a new infusion set which had a little button on the top which made it so much easier. I didn’t have to prime the needle while seeing it which made such a difference.
A big perk of me getting a pump was temporary basals! I was a very active child so I was over the moon to get to run around for long periods of time and not have to be eating constantly! I also remember baths were now a pain, I hated having nowhere to clip my pump and I took it off, which limited the length of my baths.
One of my appointments with my diabetes psychologist she took me to get my first bi-annual bloods but I FORGOT MY RUFUS! Rufus came to every injection with me so this was so scary. So I got my second Rufus- her name is Honey (she got a snazzy outfit too!)
In 2019 I got my dexcom. Such a lifesaver. We self funded it through getting my disability living allowance which increased my quality of life so much and relieved my scarred fingers.
Along came 2020 and I wasn’t considered safe to be on that pump anymore due to mental health. I was offered two options. Go back to injections or get an AccuChek Solo. I chose the solo. They picked this pump as it is wireless and has a locking handset, which was extremely essential. I was the first person in Scotland to receive this pump.
Throughout 2021 I used the solo, it became a problem very quickly. The infusion sites would fail daily. The pump base would fail. The connection would fail. The biggest problem was that I was changing the sites up to twice a day to get the insulin that I needed. I loved the infusion sets, they were quick and easy but twice a day was getting too much. The sites would fail if I even had a shower and reattached a the pump. (The base came off the pump) They would fail if I moved wrong. They would fail if I took the base off at all. They would fail if I slept on it. All the time.
I moved houses and diabetes teams. The worst part is my diabetes team didn’t believe me. They thought I was going crazy. Being paranoid. But I was not. I was going high all the time and always needing to change sites. I also got my dexcom funded! Woop woop!
Eventually, as I was going into a hospital which couldn’t cater to my pump, I was put back into injections. We started me on Fiasp and Tresiba which worked wonders.
And this is me now. I’m getting a closed loop soon and it looking like it will be with the T-slim and dexcom G6 but I would really like the minimed 780g and simplera sync. I do not like the reservoir on the T-slim and I have no interest in charging myself every day. But I do like my dexcom so pros and cons.
Thank you for reading!
🙂
Grace
I’ve come onto the forum as a diabetic for 9 years now. I was diagnosed at age 9 and I’m here to give my story and experiences so others can learn from my mistakes!
My favourite hypo treatment is a mini cola (exactly 15cg!!!)
Pumps I’ve had:
Minimed 640g (twice)
AccuChek Solo
I am waiting on a closed loop, looking like it will be the T-slim x2 but I’m eager to try the Minimed 780g!
I use a dexcom G6 and have for 5 years now!
I’ve used lots of insulins:
Novorapid
Lantus
Humolog
Insulatard
Levemir
And currently:
Fiasp
Tresiba
Now we have some base facts down, here is my journey.
I was 9 when I was diagnosed, I started losing a lot of weight and drinking gallons of water, going to the toilet sooo much and getting such a sore stomach when I ate. I was getting up multiple times during the night to pee and drink water. Eventually my mum brought me to the doctor and they sent me straight to hospital. They said if it had been any longer, that I would have been in a coma. I didn’t eat all of that day so when I finally got seen my bloods were 8.9 but as soon as I ate it was in the 30s. I still remember the cheese sandwich they forced me to eat sticking to the roof of my mouth. I remember getting held down to be injected, a scared child who didn’t know what was happening. I also vividly remember getting my blood sugar done with one of those brutal fingerprickers and kicking the (male) doctor or nurse right down there as a reflex to pain. I went in that night. It was a Saturday night by then and you know the NHS doesn’t supply diabetic staff on the weekends of course, so I was in hospital for a week, getting trained up on my pens and finger pricks. I got given my (first) Rufus and I started on Novorapid and Lantus or Levemir (I cannot remember). I remember thinking they were going to take my Rufus away so I held him tight until they said I could keep him. We went home and my mum sewed him an outfit, a very snazzy one too!
After a while, I realised that not everyone got a red itchy mark around their basal sites and they switched me through various different long acting insulins. We settled on Insulatard and that made a big difference.
My diabetes doctor was not the friendliest of doctors. She constantly shamed me for not having 100% time in range and for eating g like a normal 9 year old child. My parents, however, shielded me from that and made sure that I got the closest to a normal childhood and I could get. (Apart from only ever getting exactly 60g of ice cream, which if you can picture that, is not a lot)
I got my first pump fairly quickly (1 year of being diabetic) as I was still mildly allergic to my basal insulin. I was started on the Medtronic Minimed 640g. Such an exciting day! I got Lenny the Lion and I was totally over the moon to be able to get a pump and it was pink! I loved that the new blood sugar meter took less blood! I was deathly afraid of the cannulas though, a fear that was based on being a skinny little 10 year old girl, who’s only allowed to do leg sites which huuurt. My parents did them for me for a long time and then I went to a diabetes psychologist who helped me work through my fears but honestly, every site change was a battle with my mind. It was the infusion sets that caused such panic and my little hands would have to squeeze them so hard and sometimes it wouldn’t go so I was constantly on edge. I eventually got offered a new infusion set which had a little button on the top which made it so much easier. I didn’t have to prime the needle while seeing it which made such a difference.
A big perk of me getting a pump was temporary basals! I was a very active child so I was over the moon to get to run around for long periods of time and not have to be eating constantly! I also remember baths were now a pain, I hated having nowhere to clip my pump and I took it off, which limited the length of my baths.
One of my appointments with my diabetes psychologist she took me to get my first bi-annual bloods but I FORGOT MY RUFUS! Rufus came to every injection with me so this was so scary. So I got my second Rufus- her name is Honey (she got a snazzy outfit too!)
In 2019 I got my dexcom. Such a lifesaver. We self funded it through getting my disability living allowance which increased my quality of life so much and relieved my scarred fingers.
Along came 2020 and I wasn’t considered safe to be on that pump anymore due to mental health. I was offered two options. Go back to injections or get an AccuChek Solo. I chose the solo. They picked this pump as it is wireless and has a locking handset, which was extremely essential. I was the first person in Scotland to receive this pump.
Throughout 2021 I used the solo, it became a problem very quickly. The infusion sites would fail daily. The pump base would fail. The connection would fail. The biggest problem was that I was changing the sites up to twice a day to get the insulin that I needed. I loved the infusion sets, they were quick and easy but twice a day was getting too much. The sites would fail if I even had a shower and reattached a the pump. (The base came off the pump) They would fail if I moved wrong. They would fail if I took the base off at all. They would fail if I slept on it. All the time.
I moved houses and diabetes teams. The worst part is my diabetes team didn’t believe me. They thought I was going crazy. Being paranoid. But I was not. I was going high all the time and always needing to change sites. I also got my dexcom funded! Woop woop!
Eventually, as I was going into a hospital which couldn’t cater to my pump, I was put back into injections. We started me on Fiasp and Tresiba which worked wonders.
And this is me now. I’m getting a closed loop soon and it looking like it will be with the T-slim and dexcom G6 but I would really like the minimed 780g and simplera sync. I do not like the reservoir on the T-slim and I have no interest in charging myself every day. But I do like my dexcom so pros and cons.
Thank you for reading!
🙂
Grace
