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Newish Type 1

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LJSteady

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi Everyone

I was diagnosed on 30 April 2015 and found this wonderful site then but just joined today. I was 50 when I started to moan about my eyesight. Must go to the optician and get my eyes checked! Then I started to drink loads more than usual and need the toilet every 30 minutes.

As I am 'fat and fifty' I did think 'hmmm diabetes' however I had also lost 9lbs that week so thought I was doing really well on my new diet! I didn't know pancreases can go wrong at any age.

I got a GP appointment for a couple of weeks time but when I came home from work at 3.00pm and went to bed and had a sleep my partner insisted the GP saw me. I ended up in hospital the next day with Ketoacidosis which I think was 4.4 and blood glucose which was off the scale of the meter!

I had only had symptoms for two weeks so they were pretty sure it was Type 1. Unfortunately the autoimune disorder has also decided my thyroid was not a good thing either so I need thyroxine too.

My last Hb1AC was 55. I was very strict after my diagnosis; probably like many people if something bad happens as a result I want to know I reduced the chance as much as I could. I do not freak out now if my numbers are high but just go back to a few low carb meals and try and increase my dogs walks!

I consider that I am quite lucky as I have had fifty years of not having to think as a pancreas!

This site is very useful and I am sure it will continue to be so I decided it was about time I signed up.
 
Hi LJSteady, welcome to the forum - glad you decided to join! 🙂 Sounds like you have got to grips with things pretty well. What insulin are you on? Have you been on a diabetes course? I felt the same as you - I was lucky to have 49 years before being diagnosed.
 
Hi LJSteady, Welcome to the forum.

Like you I was diagnosed in my 50s with T1 and had had 53 years where my pancreas dealt with food. Now it is my responsibility. Talking of which have you seen the book Think like a Pancreas, by Gary Sheiner? That is the most useful book that I have come across so far, and his approach appealed to my way of working.

Well done on the HbA1c of 55. A good start. I have found that there are loads of really helpful people on this forum, so it is a great place to ask questions or simply to have a good rant when needed.
 
Hi LJsteady
You're about a year behind me, my pancreas took a turn January 2014 at age 40, bit of a shocker isn't it? Anyway just wanted to say hello and welcome :D
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.

I too have a spluttering pancreas and thyroid! Both diagnosed at the same time.

Thankfully I have not had to come to terms with insulin but the thyroxine is taking it's time to sort out but I am getting there.
 
Welcome to the forum, LJSteady. We look forward to your contributions, questions, answers, comments etc.
 
Thanks for all your friendly welcomes!

I was put on a basal bolus regime with novorapid and lantus. I use disposable pens. Currently I am 2:1 for breakfast and 1:1 for the rest of the day. I'm due to go on a DAFNE course in May. Thankfully I got on really well with my hospital Diabetes Team nurse. I have just been moved to the community team. So far the community team have told me to split my lantus and do bedtime and morning as it gives better coverage than one shot at night. What do people think?
 
Lots of folk do split injections of their background insulin, depending upon their needs, but I think Lantus is more commonly taken as a single dose. Did they say why they thought it would be a good idea? Is there a particular portion of the day when you're blood sugar is less controlled?
 
Hello, LJ, I'm another 'oldie', diagnosed at 52.
It depends on how the Lantus works in your particular body. I was advised to split my Lantus at one point, because I didn't think it was quite covering me for the full 24 hours. However, I take quite a smal dose, 8 units, so splitting it into 4 and 4 meant two very small doses, and I think that the smaller the dose, the less of a flat profile it has, so I ended up getting bumps in it several times a day instead of about twice.
In the end, I did a lot of basal tests ( there's a thread on here somewhere with a link about how to do them if you're not familiar) and worked out that the main problem with the Lantus with me, was that it took a while to get going, and had a peak after about 5 hours. I decided after a bit of experimentation that taking it in a single dose at 11am worked best for me, because I was awake when I had the dip and the spike, and could adjust my novorapid to compensate.
Really, it depends on what you find is happening for you, as Lantus seems to work very differently in different people, and what fits best with your daily routine.
 
Hello LJ and welcome to the forum. 🙂
 
Hello LJS, a very warm if a little bit late 😳 welcome from me too. I am very new on here also. The welcome though has been as friendly as any I've ever known.
 
Yes it does depend when you are getting the blips in your basal control - if you have them - and most people do.

I'm forever repeating myself here LOL - personally I found using Levemir as my basal far far better than splitting Lantus since firstly Levemir is supposed to be 2x daily in the first place and secondly because whenever you fiddle with timings and doses of it, you see the end result of the changes within about 12 hours instead of having to wait 3 days!

I'm clearly not alone in this since NICE now actually recommend 2x Levemir plus whatever fast acting as the bolus insulin as the immediate 'first choice' for the newly diagnosed Type 1 !
 
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I'm clearly not alone in this since NICE now actually recommend 2x Lantus plus whatever fast acting as the bolus insulin as the immediate 'first choice' for the newly diagnosed Type 1 !
Assume you mean Levemir, Trophy.
 
LOL Robin! Yes - thank you! - I certainly do mean 2x Levemir ! and I've edited my post now for future readers.

I apologise for thus making you post sound weird now, but thought it was better to correct it.
 
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