Newly diagnosed

[D_G]

Hi Im 21 and have just got out of hospital after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last week. It was really scary as at the time i was at home and had been feeling tired and energyless for the past week, by the end of the week i could hardly walk and was taken into A&E with a blood sugar of 26, i was told my organs were failing and was close to a diabetic coma! i was in intensive care for a few days connected to every drip imaginable and i was so scared, this was my first time in hospital. Anyway im out now but i feel like my world is falling apart i am finding it really hard to deal with having diabetes. My diet before was appauling and i wiuld eat nothing but fast food, chocolate,ice cream sweets, cake crisps, rarely a proper meal (im not overweight) and being told i couldnt have any of that any more, and that i had to inject myself 4 times a day for the rest of my life brought me to tears, i know it may sound really silly but this is a massive change for me and im finding it realy scary at the moment. My bloodd sugars in hospital were really high, they stil are but im wondering if thats down to the fact that i wasnt really walking or moving around alot and im hoping for them to even out now that im out of hospital. Im also scared that if i do this all wrong im going to end up with complications later in life such as blindness or organ failure. If anyone could give me any tips on diet and stuff that would be really great as im having a tough time adjusting to my sugar free life! Thanks x

 

[Northerner]

Hi Diabetic Gal, welcome to the forum🙂 Wow! It is an awful lot to take in. I ended up in A&E too and was in for 8 days - certainly know about all those drips and tests, they began to run out of places to put them!

Try not to panic, just take things slowly. The most important thing is to take your injections and eat regularly. 🙂 Try to avoid sweet foods generally as these will raise your levels very quickly. Avoid white bread, go for seeded, granary bread instead. If you can, get a book about 'Low GI' food - these are slow-release energy foods that are best for people generally, but especially diabetics.

Are you in contact with a Diabetes Specialist Nurse, and is she telling you how to adjust your doses? In the coming weeks you should have various checks on your feet, eyes and kidneys to check that things are OK. Don't worry about these - you were diagnosed quickly and although you were in a bit of a state when diagnosed (as I was!), you will recover from this now you are getting the insulin and being looked after. Your blood sugar levels will also improve as your nurse or doctor adjusts the insulin doses. Eventually, you will learn to 'carb count' and this will help you to fine tune things to further improve things.

You should also ask to see a dietician to discuss your own personal requirements - what you like to eat and can continue to, and what you should avoid. You should also ask about education courses (DAFNE and XPert are two, but your clinic may have something different).

An excellent book that covers everything is Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas (amazon link). It covers every topic under the sun regarding insulin-treated diabetes in a very readable and accessible way.

Although there is a lot to learn, you will do it. Don't overwhelm yourself by thinking you need to know everything from Day 1.

 

[am64]

hi diabetic -gal
welcome ! Have a good look round the forum, no questions are silly here so post away im sure you've got loads to ask. Being Diagnosed is very scarey but your not alone and im sure you get some advice from other T1's soon x

 

[D_G]

Questions....

Thanks for that information 🙂 i do have a couple of questions that are bugging me:

with easter (and my birthday) round the corner and everytime i walk into a shop and see all that chocolate and stuff i go nuts and all depressed, i wondered if i can still eat chocolate but in moderation? will i be able to have a piece of my birthday cake even? but i dont know how much i can have without my BG shooting right up!? this may sound really insignificant to you but i am a complete chocoholic and am finding this particuarly hard to deal with!!

Also i am currently injecting insulin 4 times a day (3 short lasting and 1 long lasting insulin a night) my first one would be with my breakfast at 8am but at the weekend where i dont usualy get up as early as i dont work, would i still have to get up as normal or what happends if i was to completly oversleep and miss that injection?

I know i should probably be asking these questions to the diabetes specialist but my appointment is not till friday and i really could do with some answers so i dont have to worry 🙂 i just hope this all gets easier??

If anyone could help me please would be much appreciated 🙂 x

 

[aymes]

Hi there

welcome to the forum. I was also diagnosed as type 1 at the age of 21 so know a bit of the shock and confusion you are going through. I wish that this forum had been here then, I think I'd have found it really useful, I'm sure I would have.

what indulins are you on? Are you testing your blood regularly? If you're on a basal bolus regime (taking soirt acting with meals and one or two doses of longer acting) which it sounds like you are then there's no reason why you can't have some chocolate or birthday cake, the key is understanding what different foods do to you and how best you can dose your insulin to deal with it. Are you adjusting your insulin according to what you're eating, or have they started you on set doses? The freedom with basal bolus is that you can choose what and when you eat, so long as you can work out how much carbohydrate you're eating, and how much insulin you need for that. There is so much to take in at first though so they may have started you on set doses initially but certainly once you can start carb counting and adjusting doses accordingly you'll find you can be quite flexible in timings etc.
Hospitals should be able to offer you access to some sort of education course to help you learn about carb counting etc. Although some don't let you access it until you're out of the honeymoon period ( sometimes when you go on insulin your pancreas gives one more little push so the insulin doses you need to Inject can be quite small at first).
I've found the key has been to ask lots of questions, either to your medical team or pointers from others here so do stick around and ask anything you want.

 

[PhilT]

Hi Diabetic Gal, welcome to the forum.