Newly Diagnosed Type 1

[sharp00782]

Hi All,

Just wanted to say Hi. I was diagnosed on Wednesday with Type 1 Diabetes after being rushed to hospital. Lost 3.5 stone over the last 3 months. Currently on Levemir morning and night and Novorapid 3 times a day with meals. Any advice for a newbie appreciated. They have told me to continue as normal until my first review when they crunch my blood diary data.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and a big, warm welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear that you have been hit with the Type 1 diagnosis, but it sounds like you have been promptly started on appropriate treatment from the off which is something many people here have had to push for.
Did they also give you Freestyle Libre sensors to monitor your BG (sensors which are applied to the arm and scanned usually with a phone), as well as a finger pricking device and meter? If not do ask for Libre at your next appointment. As a Type 1 you should be offered it now.

How are you managing with your injection routine and what sort of readings are you getting. Hopefully they have started you on conservative doses to bring your levels down slowly and steadily as this is kinder to a body which has likely had very high BG levels for quite a while and adapted to those high levels. The fine blood vessels in the eyes and feet can be particularly vulnerable to significant change, so slow and steady reduction is the best approach.

We all know it is a massive learning curve in the first few months of diagnosis and the medical staff will probably give you a lot of information, some of which will go in one ear and out the other because information overload is near impossible to avoid. The forum is great for filling in the gaps and gaining reassurance. I am 3.5 years down the line and coming here regularly and asking questions and reading about what other people do and using that information to experiment on myself (with one eye always on being safe) has improved my knowledge and confidence to the point that I actually feel like I know more about my diabetes than the consultant does and whilst he is there to support me, I only speak to him for 10 mins twice a year whereas I live with my diabetes day in and day out, meal after meal and night after night, so I need to understand how it works and adjust my doses etc and gaining knowledge through the DAFNE (Dose Adjustment For Normal Eating) course and Freestyle Libre sensors and particularly this forum allows me to do that confidently now. Of course, it took time to get to this level on confidence and you have to accept that perfection is not possible and you will always make the occasional mistake or get it wrong, but on the whole diabetes should not stop you from doing anything you want to do, it just needs a bit more thought and planning.

 

[Inka]

Hi All,

Just wanted to say Hi. I was diagnosed on Wednesday with Type 1 Diabetes after being rushed to hospital. Lost 3.5 stone over the last 3 months. Currently on Levemir morning and night and Novorapid 3 times a day with meals. Any advice for a newbie appreciated. They have told me to continue as normal until my first review when they crunch my blood diary data.

Welcome from me too - and sorry you’ve had to join us. My advice is to take things slowly and carefully. It’s a big emotional shock so allow yourself time to process it. Always keep hypo treatments near and take them with you when you’re out. Also, be aware your pancreas will probably still be producing a bit of insulin erratically and this can mess with your expectations as it will contribute to lowering your blood sugar. Always err on the side of caution to avoid hypos as much as possible.

We try to control diabetes but it’s pretty impossible being a perfect pancreas so don’t expect perfect sugars 24/7. That was something I found hard to get my head round - that I could do everything right and still get not so good results. Push to be shown carb counting if you haven’t been taught it already. It makes everything easier and gives more flexibility and normality.

Finally,
Here are two great books about Type 1:

Think Like a Pancreas’ by Gary Scheiner.

And Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas (ignore the title - it’s great for adults too).

.

 

[Windy]

Hi All,

Just wanted to say Hi. I was diagnosed on Wednesday with Type 1 Diabetes after being rushed to hospital. Lost 3.5 stone over the last 3 months. Currently on Levemir morning and night and Novorapid 3 times a day with meals. Any advice for a newbie appreciated. They have told me to continue as normal until my first review when they crunch my blood diary data.

Hi, I can't help you with anything to do with being T1, as I'm type 2, but as a diabetic person, you can apply for free prescriptions if you live in England (I think that they're free in Scotland and Wales already, unsure about Northern Ireland). Also, you'll find you get invited for lots of medical appointments, blood tests, eye screening (they take photos of the back of your eye to check everything looks ok), and with a nurse, aka "the foot tickler", probably at your GPs, to test the sensation in your feet, I think both of these are yearly.

I can also recommend signing up for the Learning Zone (orange/red link at the top of the page) to find out more about diabetes, and don't be shy in asking questions on the forum, we're a friendly bunch, or phoning the Diabetes UK helpline:
Diabetes UK 0345 123 2399
if you have any questions you don't fancy posting on the forum.
Best wishes, Sarah

 

[Eternal422]

Hello @sharp00782 and welcome to the forums. It is quite an emotional shock getting the diagnosis, as @Inka has said, allow yourself time to process it and take it in. There is lots to learn, but don’t get overwhelmed, better to take small steps.

Gary Scheiner’s “Think Like A Pancreas” is an excellent book and well worth getting, but there is a lot of information in it which may be overwhelming to start with but once you have had a little bit of instruction from your consultant it will definitely help you understand more of what you need to do.

I presume you are doing carb counting with the Novorapid to determine how much you need before each meal? I found that reasonably easy once I got used to roughly how many carbs are in, for example, a slice of bread, a fist full of rice, etc.!

As @rebrascora said, you should be offered Freestyle Libre, which is absolutely brilliant at showing you not just your current BG but also how it’s moving, stable, up or down and how quickly it is moving. Even if you don’t do anything with it to start with, having the data is really useful and looking back you can start to see the effect of certain types of foods and whether your insulin is matching them or not.

Good luck with everything and keep asking questions!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @sharp00782

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. How have things been going?

Any idea how long you might have to wait for your next appointment?

Alongside the other suggestions, you might find a few hints and tips that members here wished they had discovered earlier 🙂

5 Top Tips for Better Diabetesing

Just found myself absently wondering what I would say to myself if I could go back in time ‘Bill and Ted’ style and offer newly-diagnosed-me some hints and tips for better diabetes management, and a better relationship with my diabetes from future-me. What 5 hints and tips I might offer myself...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @sharp00782 , but sorry that you needed to join us.

I would recommend the Ragnar Hanas book Type 1in Children, adolescents and young adults. Ignore the age reference. I was diagnosed at 53 and still found it to be an excellent book. I just ignored the chapter about starting school!

It is a lot to take in at the start, but I am pleased that you have been put straight onto the basal (background)/ Bolus (quick acting or mealtime) insulins straight away. As your team work with you to bring down your glucose levels they will teach you how to adjust your doses, and this regime will give you lots of flexibility, and enable you to eat what you want when you want.

Take time to get used to all that you have to do, and come back with any questions that arise. There is loads of experience to tap into, and nothing is considered silly on here. Just ask.

 

[sharp00782]

Welcome to the forum @sharp00782

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. How have things been going?

Any idea how long you might have to wait for your next appointment?

Alongside the other suggestions, you might find a few hints and tips that members here wished they had discovered earlier 🙂

5 Top Tips for Better Diabetesing

Just found myself absently wondering what I would say to myself if I could go back in time ‘Bill and Ted’ style and offer newly-diagnosed-me some hints and tips for better diabetes management, and a better relationship with my diabetes from future-me. What 5 hints and tips I might offer myself...

forum.diabetes.org.uk

 

[sharp00782]

Hi,

Thanks for you reply all of you. Yes, it is a bit of a roller coaster at the moment. Been told to eat as normal and so on while i'm on the initial dose until they crunch the numbers. My bloods are all over and am paranoid about what to eat.

Last night was a bit rough after dinner at about 9. Could feel my eyes getting blurry while I was watching tv. Checked my bloods and they were 31.2. Took 2 units of Novorapid and went to bed (took Levemir also).

My first appointment is 4th October with a second follow up booked for 19th December.

 

[helli]

Another welcome from me (another T1) @sharp00782
Great advice above although you will find there are many geographical anomalies when it comes to treatment and clinics. For example, some get their feet tickled at their GP surgery, some at their hospital/diabetes clinic and some not at all. I is best just to ask locally rather than make assumptions based or rely on a comment on the forum.
In addition to the comments above, my advice is to be kind to yourself, don't expect perfection and don't let diabetes rule your life, although it may feel that way at the start.

Oh, and ask questions.

 

[caesardaras]

Good day everyone, I'd say thank you to @sharp00782 for this forum as I was just diagnosed this Saturday and was allowed to go home yesterday. Everyone has shared a wealth of experience and knowledge that is valuable. I am still confused about a lot. But I would look into the resources shared. Thank you everyone.

 

[Inka]

@caesardaras You were diagnosed Type 1 on Saturday? How ironic, as you’d posted this research survey here in March:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/diabetes-research-survey.99278/

What insulins are you taking? Have you been shown how to count carbs?