Hi, I was diagnosed LADA late February this year, after being misdiagnosed type 2 since 2013. I started on insulin right at the beginning of lockdown. So instead of getting clinical appointments to get eased into it it's just been a few phone calls and emails between my diabetes clinic team. I have felt a bit alone with it all to be honest, as I don't personally know anyone else who is type 1.
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Started insulin same week as lockdown
- Thread starter Shari
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Welcome to the forum @Shari
What a tricky time you have had of things! Glad you have now got an accurate diagnosis, but I’m not surprised you are feeling a bit isolated and cut adrift given the circumstances.
Great that you have connected here. we are a friendly bunch, and have literally centuries of lived T1 experience between us, so feel free to ask any questions - nothing will be considered too obvious or ‘silly’
If you are struggling for insulin adjustment advice, there is a special new clinical helpline which might come in handy
forum.diabetes.org.uk
What a tricky time you have had of things! Glad you have now got an accurate diagnosis, but I’m not surprised you are feeling a bit isolated and cut adrift given the circumstances.
Great that you have connected here. we are a friendly bunch, and have literally centuries of lived T1 experience between us, so feel free to ask any questions - nothing will be considered too obvious or ‘silly’
If you are struggling for insulin adjustment advice, there is a special new clinical helpline which might come in handy
NHS Diabetes Advice Helpline
Thought this might be useful for any insulin users struggling to contact their GP or diabetes clinic for advice and support: NHS Diabetes Advice Helpline What it is and who is it for? NHS Diabetes Advice is provided by NHS England and NHS Improvement in response to disruption to normal...
forum.diabetes.org.uk
rebrascora
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Hi Shari and welcome from me too. So pleased you have eventually got the correct diagnosis. That will help a lot and mean you have access to different resources.
It is a bit overwhelming at first but you will get used to it. It is a bit like learning to drive.... seems really complicated at first trying to do so many things at once but after a while you find you are doing many of them without conscious thought... it just becomes second nature.
It can still be a rather frustrating condition and doesn't always play by the rules but we are here to support you through those difficult times if you need any help or just people who understand and can sympathise when you need a good rant!
Which insulins have they given you and how are you managing with them?
It is a bit overwhelming at first but you will get used to it. It is a bit like learning to drive.... seems really complicated at first trying to do so many things at once but after a while you find you are doing many of them without conscious thought... it just becomes second nature.
It can still be a rather frustrating condition and doesn't always play by the rules but we are here to support you through those difficult times if you need any help or just people who understand and can sympathise when you need a good rant!
Which insulins have they given you and how are you managing with them?
trophywench
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Hi Shari - you could do worse than treat yourself to a book (but don't get concerned about the title, it's really useful however old you are!) - Type 1 Diabetes in children, adolescents & young adults - 7th edition - by Ragnar Hanas. 7th ed. is the latest one, it gets revised reasonably frequently.
I was given Tresiba, which I take 23 units and Fiasp, which I take 1 unit per 8g of carbs. I've been OK mostly, although last week I got mixed up with them and I took 23 units of Fiasp. That was a panic. I've also had a few hypos which are scary, but I'm getting used to the signs. I'm a bit scared of when I have to go back to work, especially when I have to buy lunch. Before I got rediagnosed I had lost a lot of weight, but since being on insulin I can't stop eating. I've put 2 stone on since March!
Thank you for the suggestion. I'll take a look.
rebrascora
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I bet some of that weight you have put back on was down to eating a mountain of carbs to counteract all that Fiasp 😱 ..... I bet that was scary!! When did you realise your mistake? You are certainly not the first person to make that error and will not be the last, I am sure.
I remember my first few hypos being really scary and totally washing me out and even the false hypos before that really knocked me out for half a day. Now I can sometimes have two in a day and just treat them and carry on working and it is barely an issue unless I am trying to make conversation with someone and then I sometimes struggle to make sense of things but I muddle along doing manual jobs just fine until I have come back up. I think, the more hypos you have the more confident you get at treating them and the less of a drama they become, both physically and mentally, but they are still very much to be taken seriously.
Tresiba should give you a nice flat baseline if you have a steady routine. I currently use Fiasp and I like it but I have Levemir for my basal which I inject twice a day and that is much better for my rather chaotic lifestyle where I have no real routine as I can vary the dose according to how active I have been or how naughty I may have been with the rum and coke occasionally 😉
Did you need to put the weight back on and are you co about the weight gain?
I remember my first few hypos being really scary and totally washing me out and even the false hypos before that really knocked me out for half a day. Now I can sometimes have two in a day and just treat them and carry on working and it is barely an issue unless I am trying to make conversation with someone and then I sometimes struggle to make sense of things but I muddle along doing manual jobs just fine until I have come back up. I think, the more hypos you have the more confident you get at treating them and the less of a drama they become, both physically and mentally, but they are still very much to be taken seriously.
Tresiba should give you a nice flat baseline if you have a steady routine. I currently use Fiasp and I like it but I have Levemir for my basal which I inject twice a day and that is much better for my rather chaotic lifestyle where I have no real routine as I can vary the dose according to how active I have been or how naughty I may have been with the rum and coke occasionally 😉
Did you need to put the weight back on and are you co about the weight gain?
I was never overly overweight, a healthy size 12, which I was very comfy with, but for the year leading up to my rediagnosis my weight was going down, until I was around a size 8. My family were getting worried. I had gone to my gp about it. He took blood tests for a whole range of things, including cancer. I also had been asking my gp and practice nurse if I could be type 1 as I had more symptoms of type 1 than type 2, but they kept insisting that no, I was definitely type 2. It took for my hb1ac to be rising with each test, eventually going up to 95 before they made a referral to the Diabetes Clinic. As soon as I sat down with my consultant she said straight away about me being LADA. It might sound strange but it was a relief to hear it. Sorry I went on a bit of a tangent there, back to the weight. Since going onto insulin I've now went from size 8/10 to a 14! I think it's maybe down to being on lockdown too, as I'm not going out much, so not getting the same exercise etc. I also have osteoarthritis in my back and hips, and bursitis in my hip, frozen shoulder and tendonitis so doing home exercises leads to me being in a lot of pain. I'm a bit of a mess around lol.
Thank you
I forgot to mention when I realised that I mixed up my insulin. It was when I took the pen out of my leg when I noticed the different coloured pen. I have a silver one for the tresiba and blue for the fiasp. I know, I keep thinking back wondering why I hadn't noticed but I think I was on autopilot. I take extra care since to make sure that I'm using the correct pen/insulin.
rebrascora
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If you are concerned about the weight gain, then you could cut back on your carbs and make suitable reductions in your Fiasp doses. It sounds like you have got the hang of carb counting since you have a 1:8g ratio with the Fiasp so you should be able to figure the reduced doses out. Eating less bread, rice, pasta, potatoes and breakfast cereal will help with weight loss but I know with the lockdown, many people are comfort eating these sorts of foods and worse like cakes and biscuits etc just to get through it, so maybe not the best time to try to lose weight.
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