Newbie

[cookie211270]

Hi my name is Mandy, I'm 49. I recently got over the Coronavirus and 2 weeks later, BOOM! a newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic.

I was told to go to hospital IMMEDIATELY and not to drive. I had suspected D.K.A. a very serious complication of Diabetes, I didn't even know I was diabetic!!!

It's all been very overwhelming and a bit much to get my head around.

I'm a bit of a party girl, always out at gigs, clubs, festivals, parties (well prior to lockdown). A few weeks ago, I was living my life, having a good time, healthy, so this has all come as a bit of a massive shock.

So here I am.

Hello everybody.

Mandy x

 

[Paulbreen]

Hey Mandy, welcome
Don’t freak out too much, you’ll still be able to be the party girl, just taking a little better care of yourself is needed.
I’m the same as you, love gigs, festivals and much more and I’ve been T1 40+ years, getting a bit slower these days but there’s plenty to live for. Modern technology will make the T1 a smaller issue than it seems now to you CGM and Pump technology really makes diabetes much easier to cope with, you sound like you will take it in your stride and if you need any advice just ask

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. You are the second new member in 2 days to get a diabetes diagnosis off the back of Covid. I sadly suspect there may be more to come.
Hope you are feeling a bit better now. Which insulins have you been given and how are you managing with them? I hope you have a good team/nurse to support you but we are here to answer any questions and share out experience with you to hopefully keep you sane and roughly on the right track.

It takes time to get to grips with it all and whilst we share common experiences, our diabetes will respond very individually due to a number of factors including what we like to eat and drink and our metabolism and gut biome and how much exercise we do and what sort of exercise etc. There are in fact 42 factors which affect Blood Glucose levels so it is a bit of a balancing act where you never entirely get it right all the time. Becoming the expert in how your body responds is key to managing it well and doing your best to keep BG levels in range but accepting that perfection is not possible.

Let us know if there is anything particular you need answers for but if you read some of the posts here you will start to get an idea of the different approaches people take and form a plan for how you will best manage things.
It will all eventually start to make sense and become your new routine and you will not feel as lost and overwhelmed as you probably do now.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @cookie211270

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, and the way it came about. Hope you have been able to recover from Covid, and it hasn’t left you with any lingering chest or breathing problems.

T1 must have come as a real shock - especially coming on so suddenly, and without much in the way of symptoms.

When I was diagnosed in my early 20s I’d had a few months of gradually increasng thirst, tiredness and weight loss which finally made me realise ‘something was up’, such that confirmation from the GP was a bit of a relief.

Try not to be too disheartened with your diagnosis. Diabetes is a serious condition, but it’s also one that can usually be managed well with a few changes and adaptations, and a little planning and preparation. It’s something that you can learn to live well with, and it shouldn’t stop you doing things you enjoy.

In a sense, there’s never been a better time to get a T1 diagnosis, and modern treatments and tech make near-normal BG levels tantalisingly possible (with the associated reduction in risk of diabetes nasties).

Rest assured you’ll still be able to party and go to festivals and gigs once lockdown lifts, you’ll just need to keep a bit of an eye on what your diabetes is getting up to while you are enjoying yourself 🙂