Newly diagnosed Type 1 in London

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carbyourenthusiasm

carbyourenthusiasm

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Type 1
Hello my name is Jen, I got diagnosed with type 1 about 2 weeks ago.

Big shock, no fun, but coping ok so far. I still feel pretty unwell.. just very drained really. I am injecting 5 times a day - Levemir in the morning and evening, and NovoRapid with meals. I am also regularly attending the diabetic clinic at St thomas' hospital.

My best friend's mum has type 1 diabetes, and referred me to this forum, though i am not sure what her user name is..
 
Hi Jen love the username lol
Welcome to the forum but sorry to hear of your diagnosis have a good look around and you will soon see where a good genuine bunch of people x
 
Hi there and welcome!

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. From the sounds of it I was around the same age when I was diagnosed (quite a while ago now)

Sounds like you are on a good regime to start with, which is good news... Take a look at the 'Useful links' thread here: http://www.diabetessupport.co.uk/boards/showthread.php?t=10406

The John Walsh book 'Using Insulin' comes highly recommended.

Have a look around and fire away with any questions that crop up. Chances are that someone around here will have been there before you.
 
Hi Jen, welcome to the forum 🙂 Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, but glad to hear you were directed here and also that you are on a good insulin regime - none of that twice a day mixed insulin! 🙂 It will take a little while to get used to everything, but it usually gets much easier as long as you treat it with respect and learn all you can! There's a wealth of experience here, so we will be happy to help out with any questions or concerns you may have 🙂

Have a look in the Useful links thread for lots of links to, erm, useful information. Probably the best thing you could invest in is a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas - a really accessible, well-written book about all aspects of Type 1.

How were you diagnosed? Had you been ill for long?
 
Welcome Jen. Great user name!

In case no-one has explained yet, your insulin doses will be gradually increased and thus your blood glucose levels will gradually decrease. If it's done too quickly, you'd feel like you were having hypos (hypoglycaemic episodes) when your levels were actually OK. So, it will take a while before the "drained" feeling begins to disappear.
 
Welcome to the forums Jen 🙂
 
Welcome form me as well.

You will find - as I am sure your friends mum has told you 😉 - that you can always find an answer from someone with knowledge here - its a wonderful and helpful place.

Hope you feel better soon. 🙂
 
Hi Jen, sorry about your diagnosis, but a warm welcome to the forum.🙂
 
Hi Jen. Welcome 🙂

Hope you can make sense of all things type 1. We'll help where we can. 🙂

Rob
 
Welcome to the forum Jen. Wonderful username.:D
 
carbyourenthusiasm said:
Hello my name is Jen, I got diagnosed with type 1 about 2 weeks ago.

Big shock, no fun, but coping ok so far. I still feel pretty unwell.. just very drained really. I am injecting 5 times a day - Levemir in the morning and evening, and NovoRapid with meals. I am also regularly attending the diabetic clinic at St thomas' hospital.

My best friend's mum has type 1 diabetes, and referred me to this forum, though i am not sure what her user name is..
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Hi Jen and welcome. It's a bit of a shock isn't it? I am also on NovoRapid and Levemir, but 3 times daytime, and once before bed, also Carb Counting. As you have mentioned St Thomas's Hospital, my daughter and I went to The Old Operating Theatre, near Guys and in St Thomas road yesterday. I would definately recommend it if you haven't been before.
I hope you start to feel much better soon, it may take a little time for your body to adjust. Take care and best wishes Sheena
 
Hello Jen and welcome aboard although I'm sorry you have to be here. Well done to your friends mum for recommending you sign up. Good luck with it all and keep in touch. XXXXX
 
Northerner said:
How were you diagnosed? Had you been ill for long?
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Well, i had felt under the weather for a while, though I didn't really think about what it could be. I was very tired, napping alot during the day and not going out as much as usual, that sort of thing. Looking back on it, I was also drinking a HELL of a lot, and thus needing to visit the loo more than usual. It was quite funny, I kept saying to my boyfriend that I wanted to go swimming, and I kept fantasising about water and being in water - I must have been super de-hydrated, and this is how it effected my mental state!

After a while I went to the doctors, did a urine sample - inevitably, it showed high levels of glucose. Was asked to do a blood test, but when I rang up for the results, they had lost the sample or something. By this stage I was feeling very unwell and insisted I was seen by a doctor there and then anyway. I went in, the nurse took a finger prick glucose test and the machine just read 'hi', meaning high! - the doctor then gave me a some insulin and sent me to st thomas', informing me that I almost definately had type 1 diabetes. A bit of a shock to say the least..


Thanks for all the welcomes everyone, hopefully I'll be able to learn alot from you guys. 🙂
 
Jen, there are a couple of organisations you may be interested in called Circle D and NLYD (North London Young Diabetics). They are really fantastic people and have a lot of fun, so worth getting in touch - it can really help to meet up face to face with people who 'get it', and it's not all about diabetes - far from it.

Here's the link: http://www.circledrocks.co.uk/

They also have a Facebook page if you use that, plus many of the people in Circle D are also members of NLYD! 🙂
 
Hi Jen, from Jen - you beat me by a year - I was 22 !

As I forget who said, this is a marathon not a sprint - so don't feel you need to know everything in one fell swoop, cos you can't. And nobody will expect you to. And people (here or the NHS) would rather explain something 53 times than you not be able to grasp it.

So the best advice anyone here can give you at this stage is - never stop asking. I seem to learn something new every day, even after nearly 40 years.

And like others have said - although I'm sure you probably doubt this at the moment - things can and will get a lot better quite quickly !

And since I was recently reminded how ruddy awful I felt 'in myself' after the initial shock of diagnosis had worn off, here are some {{{Hugs}}} to be going on with.
 
trophywench said:
Hi Jen, from Jen - you beat me by a year - I was 22 !

As I forget who said, this is a marathon not a sprint - so don't feel you need to know everything in one fell swoop, cos you can't. And nobody will expect you to. And people (here or the NHS) would rather explain something 53 times than you not be able to grasp it.

So the best advice anyone here can give you at this stage is - never stop asking. I seem to learn something new every day, even after nearly 40 years.

And like others have said - although I'm sure you probably doubt this at the moment - things can and will get a lot better quite quickly !

And since I was recently reminded how ruddy awful I felt 'in myself' after the initial shock of diagnosis had worn off, here are some {{{Hugs}}} to be going on with.
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Yeah I've had alot of questions, luckily the diabetic team at St Thomas' has been great so far - really reassuring and helpful, giving me answers to all my queries. They even gave me a number I can call at any time for medical advice, which seemed pretty good to me!

Thanks for your kind words, I am feeling a bit rubbish at the moment as it's all starting to sink in - but generally I am positive and determined to keep on top of it all.

Shame this all had to happen as I start the final year of my degree..
 
Another one who loves the username!

Welcome to the club nobody wants to join; you'll find that people here are very freindly and helpful. Well, they've put up with me for over seven months. 😉

Feel free to ask us anything, or just to rant; no question is silly here, although some answers might be. 🙂

Incidentally, there's a London meet coming up on the 12th November; I don't know if you'd like to come to that...
 
Welcome to the forum Jen 🙂 x
 
carbyourenthusiasm said:
Yeah I've had alot of questions, luckily the diabetic team at St Thomas' has been great so far - really reassuring and helpful, giving me answers to all my queries. They even gave me a number I can call at any time for medical advice, which seemed pretty good to me!

Thanks for your kind words, I am feeling a bit rubbish at the moment as it's all starting to sink in - but generally I am positive and determined to keep on top of it all.

Shame this all had to happen as I start the final year of my degree..
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There's never a good time to get diagnosed - in my case, I had to do an MSc, when my diagnosis 3 years after completing my BSc Marine Biology made it virtually useless, as professional SCUBA diving, driving minibuses, working on ships, oil rigs etc were all banned. However, universities are usually well set up to help with issues. When I worried about how I would cope if I needed to eat during 3 hour final exams, I went to the disability officer, who was very reassuring and didn't push me into anything I didn't want, such as sitting exam alone in a small room, so I sat in the main hall, but invigilators reminded me that if I needed to leave, I could just go and one would follow me, then I'd get extra time to complete exam. Probably because this was so near to normal exam practice, I didn't need to go anywhere, and got good results.

So, I hope your university will be as helpful. And make use of their careers service for as long as you are allowed.
 
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