Struggling

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sugarfreeprincess

sugarfreeprincess

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hiya, I am in desperate need of some help and guidance. I was diagnosed type 1 almost four years ago. I am found the diagnosis quite easy to cope with previously and kept a steady 5.9 HBA1c but the the last year I have found myself really struggling to keep check of my sugars due to stress and personal issues. My current HB is at 129 and I'm scared I will never get back on track.

I have an amazing boyfriend and family who support me but I'm finding myself hiding how badly I'm neglecting my diabetes. I am finding my Blood sugars are spiralling out of control and have been hispoitalised twice in 6months. I am really worried about the future and what I am doing to myself. I have lost a stone in weight of this period and I am starting to look a bit scrawny which is commented on alot!

Has anyone got any advice on how to get back on track, and how they manage there diabetes fitting it in around their work and personal life. Seriously struggling.
 
Hello and welcome to forum, I am very sorry to hear you are having such a difficult time. I think it is very important you speak to you DSN and dr at diabetic clinic about the ptoblems you are having. Phone your DSN and make an apt. You have to be brutally honest with them and try to explain the reasons you think you cannot control your bs levels. Make a list if you need to, i.e not being able to fit it in with work etc. It would be good if you could tell your family your problems, but if you cannot maybe talking to someone you do not know might be easier. Your GP should be able to help, maybe refer you for some counselling, there is no shame in not coping and needing a bit of help. You have to remember you were brilliant with your bs for such a long time that you can take control again, with a bit of help. Start slowly, are you injecting your long acting insulin ?, and is it enough ?. If you eat are you taking any fast acting insulin, if you are skipping injections, try not to, it only takes a minute to inject. If you are losing so much weight is this an issue for you ?, do you want to lose weight ? There are other organisations on line who can help as well if this is the case. First step go to your GP and be honest about whats going on. See this as a blip you can recover from. Please stay in touch and if you need further help just send me a pm if you would likee. Take care TinTin
 
Hi sugarfreeprincess, welcome to the forum 🙂 I'm very sorry to hear about the problems you are having :( I can't really add much to what TinTin has suggested - do speak to your DSN about this, and soon. There is no shame in how you are feeling, many of us go through periods of poor control when life starts getting on top of us, and the trouble with diabetes is that having poor control makes us feel even worse. Take small steps, maybe a couple of extra tests, ensuring you take your insulin. Try not to become overwhelmed by things. What insulin regime are you on?
 
Thanks for the reply, the weightloss isnt a huge deal, I weigh 9 stone now from 10 so not a real complaint. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks with my consultant and hes isnt the most pleasant of people. I pretty much just get weighed, asked how I am and then shown the door. My diabetes team havent been especially great since diagnosis.
I have a wonderful life but I just fear that my diabetes is going to take over and will have to give up what I love.

I am currently on Tresiba, 30 Units after dinner. I think my control is failing due to lack of rapid when eating. I forget and then try to cover on the night only to end up with a hypo. I used to be confident injecting in public but after an incident with an older gentleman it has knocked my confidence and dont like to now.
 
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Hi Sugarfreeprincess is it too personal or do you mind saying what it is you think you are going to have to give up because of diabetes ? It shouldnt stop you from doing most things. When you go to your clinic does a nurse do your blood pressure, weigh you etc before you see your consultant ?. If so you can ask to see a different doctor, I know that could be hard to do but the nurse will not mind at all. I only ever see the dr I want to see and have been known to walk out of a consultation if I am not happy. Anyway be brave and ask, you dont have to go into detail, just say you find it difficult to talk to this particular dr. Also ask the nurse or the dr when you go in if you can see the DSN. Though I think even though you are going to clinic in a couple of weeks it would be better if you could see DSN before then. She could speak to the dr before you even get to clinic to help you. As for injecting in public, I know its easy to say but if you could try to put the incident with the man out of your mind and remember in the majority people are not remotely interested in you injecting. If you cannot face it (do you use a pen ?, its easy to do discreetly, under a table etc), if you cannot do this, then go to a toilet if possible, your car anywhere but it is so important you do it. As Northener said, take small steps, you will feel so much better with the correct amount of insulin. Keep a diary, how much you eat, the carb content and how much you inject and your bs results. It will make sense to you when you see it written down and a pattern will emerge , do you know how to alter your own insulin with regards to what you eat ? When your bs is running too high your mind does not think clearly, you feel ill, tired etc. I hope some of this helps, if you could phone your DSN tom I am sure this would help. It can be a slow process regaining control, but by saying something you will have started, take care x
 
Hi Sugarfreeprincess, welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that you are finding things difficult at the moment, please rest assured that you are not alone, it gets on top of all of us from time to time! I think one of the hardest things to cope with is the relentlessness of it, you can't get up in the morning and think "oh I can't be bothered with all that today, let's have a day off..."

Tintin has already given some excellent advice, which I can't really improve on. But would just like to say that you have taken the first step by realising that you need help, the next step is to talk to someone and don't be ashamed to admit how hard you are finding things at the moment. You say you have a fantastic boyfriend and family, could one of them perhaps come to your doctor's appointment to give you a bit of moral support?

Then after that it's one step at a time to try to put things right. You mention that injecting short acting is an issue for you so perhaps that is the place to start. Your work and any place that you eat whilst out and about should be able to offer you a quiet place to inject if you are not comfortable doing it in front of people, and you shouldn't be afraid to ask, after all you have a legitimate medical condition that is nobody's fault. We are now so used to testing etc before meals that it would feel strange not to, we just get on with it wherever we are (although we are on a pump which makes things slightly easier, people don't know what we're doing). It can be a bit of a faff having to remember to take your kit and insulin and everything everywhere you go, but if you keep them in strategic places so that you can't forget them then that helps.

Good luck, and I hope that things start to improve for you soon.
 
Hi princess.🙂 Sorry to hear you're struggling. We all go thru this at some point. As evone else has said Baby Steps are the key to getting back on track. Don't try to fix evthing at once. Just take your time.😱 And keep posting - we're here to help.🙂
 
Welcome the forum, Sugarfreeprincess.

Sorry to hear that one person's reaction has affected your attitude to injecting in public. Most short acting insulin can be injected after eating, which sometimes is more convenient, especially for meals out, when you don't know portion size until you see it, plus by then you may know a discrete place to inject, I've never been spotted injecting my abdomen under table - even an aircraft pull down tray, next to a stranger.

If taking kit is difficult, I'd suggest what I have found helpful - a pencil case holds a pen with short acting insulin, spare cartridges for both short and long acting insulin, spare needles etc (plus other odds and ends eg plasters for blistered feet, painkillers, tampons etc). The case fits easily into a pocket of a rucksack, jacket, waterproof case (for kayaking) etc, depending on what I'm doing. Another case holds meter, strips and lancets, but those can fit into pencil case if I want.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum 🙂

You've had some great advice already, but since you say your team have been mediocre since diagnosis, can I also suggest you get yourself a copy of "Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young People" by Ragnar Hanas (link below). Don't be put off by the title, as it is equally useful for people of all ages who have type 1. It takes you right back to basics and explains everything you need to do to get your diabetes well managed, so that you can get on and enjoy your life and stay well and complication-free. It's written in an upbeat can-do style and is ideal for making a fresh start if your control has gone downhill. Ragnar Hanas is a Swedish paediatric endocrinologist, and a really nice man (I met him at a conference he was speaking at). This book has helped me out many a time when there was nobody from my team to answer the phone 🙂

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Type-1-Diab...8&qid=1394996729&sr=1-1&keywords=ragnar+hanas
 
Thanks for all the great advie. I have spoken to my boyfriend about it and he already knew how hard it was becoming as he has noticed a change in me. I am thankful to have someone who is going to support me through it and get me back on track.
I dont know another type 1 so it has been a struggle to try and talk to people about my illness without getting the dreaded questions such as " is it because you ate too much chocolate?"
I have been reading through this forum over the past day and have found the information to be really usefull and its great to know I'm not the only one out there 🙂
 
Hi princess so glad you have spoken to your boyfriend and he is being so supportive. You never have to feel alone, there are loads of us type 1's out there and we have all had bad times struggling with diabetes and life at the same time !. Good luck and keep posting so we know how its going x
 
You are lucky that you have such a supportive boyfriend and family, make use of them! It may be a slow process getting yourself back on track, but have faith in yourself, YOU CAN DO IT. Especially with your loved ones to help you through it.

Once you start to get your blood sugars under better control you should feel an awful lot better too, which hopefully will encourage you to keep going.
 
I have to say I found the support and help from this forum the boost I needed to help me inmprove my results. I thought I couldn't do any better, no-one told me I wasn't, but some of the apparently small things from here started to make a difference.

You are already on the right track because you are looking to improve, well done, and keep coming on here, there's some really useful stuff!
 
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