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Need a bit of reasurance

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
G

Gordon Briggs

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello All,

I am new to the forum, but not new to T2 as I was diagnosed about 6 years ago. Up to now it has been controlled through medication, diet and exercise. However my last long term sugar count was 127 and I have been referred to a diabetic clinic with a view to being put onto insulin. Up to now diabetes has not been "in my face" so to speak, as long as I take my meds and watch what I eat, so my day is not spent thinking about my condition.
If I am put onto insulin my day will controlled with finger pricks three or four times a day and insulin injections once or twice a day, so I will be constantly reminded that I have diabetes.
I know many of you will have gone through the same thing so how do you get your head round this new regime?
Any help and advice will be thankfully received.

Gordon.
 
Welcome.
I am not on Insulin, but some of thoose that are have said it was the best thing they did.
 
Gordon Briggs said:
Hello All,

I am new to the forum, but not new to T2 as I was diagnosed about 6 years ago. Up to now it has been controlled through medication, diet and exercise. However my last long term sugar count was 127 and I have been referred to a diabetic clinic with a view to being put onto insulin. Up to now diabetes has not been "in my face" so to speak, as long as I take my meds and watch what I eat, so my day is not spent thinking about my condition.
If I am put onto insulin my day will controlled with finger pricks three or four times a day and insulin injections once or twice a day, so I will be constantly reminded that I have diabetes.
I know many of you will have gone through the same thing so how do you get your head round this new regime?
Any help and advice will be thankfully received.

Gordon.
Click to expand...
I can't comment on your situation but I will tell you my story, I was at the doctors and they tested for ketones, the doctor then phoned the hospital who insisted I was admitted that day, a few hours later an ambulance picked me up and I was taken to hospital where I was hooked up to drips and having my finger pricked every hour, the next morning a very lovely nurse injected some insulin into the back of my arm to allow me to have breakfast, a few hours later a DSN came to have a chat with me and told me I was now Type 1 diabetic and it scared the hell out of me, I was told I could not go home until I showed them I could inject myself etc, not good for someone scared of needles haha, but the best thing was finding out as god knows what might have happened to me, it took me a while to get round it but my life has completely changed and for the better, I still eat chocolate etc but I am now having 3 proper meals a day whereas before I would miss breakfast, dinner then have something for tea and sit and eat my way through many packets of crisps during the evening, I don't feel tired anymore etc I know how scary it is thinking about it but it is much easier to adjust to than you might think, if there are more detailed specific questions you'd like to ask then go ahead, everyone here will try and help you along your journey if you want us to, I don't know where I'd be now if it wasn't for all the guys on here, good luck whatever happens 🙂 x
 
Thanks Kaylz for your detailed reply. It's good to hear from someone who has gone through the trauma of being put on insulin. I like the bit about the chocolate, I haven't eaten any for ages. I am going to the clinic on Wednesday and I will report the findings after that.

I have a feeling that this forum will become a very important part of my life from now on.

Thanks also to you Grovesy for your input.

Cheers

Gordon.
 
Hello Gordon, welcome to the forum. 🙂

I don't think D is ever in your face, it is one sneaky b****** and you ignore it at your peril. My sister has ignored it for twenty years, now has the tender feet and a heart attack and isn't good at all. She won't measure "because it hurts." I'd have thought the heart attack hurt more. 😱
 
Gordon Briggs said:
Thanks Kaylz for your detailed reply. It's good to hear from someone who has gone through the trauma of being put on insulin. I like the bit about the chocolate, I haven't eaten any for ages. I am going to the clinic on Wednesday and I will report the findings after that.

I have a feeling that this forum will become a very important part of my life from now on.

Thanks also to you Grovesy for your input.

Cheers

Gordon.
Click to expand...
Good luck for Wednesday, I'm sure you will be having a wee bit of chocolate at somepoint very soon, if you like dark stuff though there has been no need to really avoid it many of the type 2's on here enjoy a couple of squares every day if you have a look at the what did you eat yesterday thread you will see that, be careful though as after starting eating dark chocolate regularly (I was always a fan of it anyway) I can't really stomach milk chocolate now, let us know how you get on and ask any questions you like 🙂 x
 
Hi Gordon, I think that the reason diabetes has not been "in your face" is the reason your HbA1C reading is now up to an unacceptable 127. The regime of tablets, diet and exercise is clearly not controlling your Diabetes otherwise those numbers would have been a lot lower. I was in the same position as you some years ago and had to go onto injections (Byetta then Victoza) now I'm on mixed Insulin plus tablets. The injection thing is a bit of a pain but not as much as some of the medical complications you could get if your 'control' was left as it was. Needles these days are tiny, 4 or 5mm. The finger prick hurts yes, but only for a split second and you have a choice of fingers (I tend to alternate left/right). Having numbers that high isn't sustainable and an injection is really quite a small price to pay to combat that.
Having diabetes doesn't mean that you must give up everything, it just means that you might have to make some compromises that's all. Try not to rush headlong into massive changes of diet etc. as you probably won't keep to it and you may well do yourself more harm than good. Take your changes gradually and you'll reach the levels that are right for you
Good Luck with the journey and, if you ever feel the need to ask a question or just let off steam in frustration, then that's what the good folk on this forum will help with.
 
Hi Gordon. I've been diabetic for 20+ yrs. I went on to long acting (background) insulin just over a year ago along with my Gliclazide, a few months later I dropped the Gliclazide and started on a rapid (basal) insulin for meals . and tbph I haven't looked back, Through this site I learned a better way of controlling my D , because the official recommendations weren't working very well for me. due to this I've been able to reduce my insulin doses.
T2 Diabetes is a sneaky little so and so, it creeps up on us very quietly , letting us think all is well, and it's not untill it taps us on the shoulder and says hi that we realises it is so sneaky.
Unfortunately it is often helped along it course by the very people who should be helping us to control it.
Don't be afraid of insulin nor ever forget about your D , look after it and it will be kind to you and like many on here you could end up fitter and healthier than you may ave been for a long time.
 
I have to say that in the short time I have been on this forum (3 days!) I am very impressed with the help and concern shown by it's members, thank you all for your welcome input.
Thanks to you Jonsi and you Ljc for your very good advice. Just one thing I would like to say is that I was called to this clinic I am going to tomorrow over a year ago when my count was up, they wanted to put me on insulin then. Instead they put me on Linagliptin as well as Gliclazide I was already taking, and told me to loose some weight (I wasn't that overweight) At my next visit three months later I had got my HbA1C down to 52, so I wasn't put on Insulin and was in fact discharged back to my surgery diabetes nurse. That is until now of course, BTW I did loose and have controlled my weight and my BMI is now below 25.

By this time tomorrow I will now what the next course of action will be and I will report back to you good folk in the forum, wish me luck, or maybe luck doesn't come into it!.

Regards

Gordon.
 
Good luck Gordon, whatever they say we should be able to help with any questions or concerns you may have 🙂
 
If you can afford it get yourself an Abbotts Freestyle Libre. https://www.freestylelibre.co.uk/libre/ You will still have to finger prick but not nearly as much as you would normally. You can also get strips to test your blood from a finger prick on the same reader. Unfortunately it is not on the NHS but you may be able to persuade your doctor to prescribe the strips. I told them that although the strips are more expensive than they prescribe on the NHS as I will not be using them as much it will be more economical in the long run and they agreed.
 
Hello All,

Just returned from the clinic after a very in-depth consultation with the diabetes consultant and the diabetes nurse. The consultant was very thorough and went into every detail about how to control my T2.

The upshot is that as of tomorrow I will be on 12 units twice a day (before breakfast and before evening meal) plus four monitor tests per day. This will take some getting used to, but it has to be done. The nurse did a non fasting test this morning and the reading was 28.5, so no doubt you will all know the consequences of that. I also have a doctors appointment this afternoon where I am sure the subject will be discussed again.

So tomorrow is "D day", if you forgive the pun, and I am sure I will be sharing my thoughts with you after that, and no doubt asking lots of questions.

Regards

Gordon.
 
Good luck Gordon, hopefully that will really help to get those levels under control and you will feel much better 🙂 I started straight off on insulin so didn't have any 'build up' of expectations. It doesn't take that long to get used to the tests and injections, the tricky part is getting the appropriate doses correct. I imagine that the doses they have given you will start you off cautiously, that's normally the case and a very sensible approach. Try not to worry - before you know it you will be doing it all automatically 🙂 It won't dominate your life and will become a habit before you know it 🙂

Any questions, you are not alone and we are happy to help 🙂
 
Wishing you well for D day tomorrow. And hope you start to feel better soon with your new regime.
 
D Day, I like it :D. You should soon start to feel better in yourself.
Do you know what insulin your being rescribed.
 
Good luck for today. 🙂
 
Good luck
 
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