Tips for newly diagnosed type 1

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Jas_99

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Hi everyone.
I have just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I have a freestyle libra, novorapid fast acting insulin, and tresiba long acting insulin.
I wondered if anyone has any advice, tips or tricks that they wish they knew when newly diagnosed that may help me!
Thankyou
 
Pace yourself; don’t expect perfection; be kind to yourself - it takes a while to get your head round it all.

Practical tips are to take notes of carbs for your favourite meals, along with insulin amounts; keep breakfast and lunch similar to save too much thought if you’re busy; keep hypo treatments everywhere and always err on the side of caution.

Joining this form was a good move too 🙂
 
Lots! But my main tip is to take control of your diabetes, your insulin doses, carbs etc as soon as you feel confident to do it.
Prebolusing your insulin before eating, and then taking a walk when your levels rise after eating normally keeps your post meal spikes down. If i can't take axwalk after eating then i have a few low carb meals that won"t spike blood sugars (fried egg, salad of half avocado and 70g tomatos and 2 linda mccartney veggy sausages is my 'go to')
Tummy injection work quickest, the leg thigh. Bum slowest, i use that for basal.
You may have different insulin to carb ratios for different times of day, also if working day or weekend.
Really meals and convenience food pretty much always will spike you, but not small amounts chocolate, mini magnums
Chocolate is no good as hypo treatment.
Always have hypo treatment to hand. And a back up hypo tratment.
I have a bs monitor and hypo treatment left in my bag so i have them whenever i leave house.

If if freestle libre gives you grief, as for a dexcom.

Finally, your diabetes consultant will never be happy with your a1c
 
@Inka has already mentioned my biggest tip - do not expect perfection.

When I was first diagnosed (nearly 20 years ago), I was told "diabetes should not stop you doing what you want." So far, it hasn't and I have no diabetes complications.
I have made mistakes along the way but rather than being afraid of going too high or too low, I keep an eye on my levels (Libre has really helped this) and correct when necessary (but don't add extra fast acting insulin for about 4 hours after injecting as I still have active insulin on board).
To start with, don't panic about different insulin to carb ratios. You could spend all your time tweaking and adjusting when perfection is never possible and even harder during your honeymoon period when your pancreas may occasionally burst into life and randomly produce a bit of unexpected insulin.

My next tip is not to go anywhere without your "diabetes kit" - insulin, meter and hypo treatment.

Finally, we are all different. Other people's experience is useful to know but your basal dose will be different, your insulin to carb ratio will be different, your diet is different, your reaction to exercise is different, your lifestyle is different, your life targets will be different - you will need to work out what suits you, your body, your lifestyle and, very importantly, your mental health. Don't be afraid of getting it wrong - take it as a learning experience rather than an error.
 
Make sure you have hypo treatments in every room, you don't want to have to walk about the house trying to find one when you're hypo, especially if you were in the shower when the hypo started!
 
Jas_99 said:
Hi everyone.
I have just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I have a freestyle libra, novorapid fast acting insulin, and tresiba long acting insulin.
I wondered if anyone has any advice, tips or tricks that they wish they knew when newly diagnosed that may help me!
Thankyou
Click to expand...
Don't aim for perfection!
I'm 68, and was diagnosed with Type 1 six months ago. Initially I felt overwhelmed, and it was as if I was on vertical learning mountain...not a learning curve.
My consultant was great, and said "You are aiming to be 70% within your target range, so you can allow yourself 30% slack!"
I'm still learning so much, but have to try to keep my perfectionist streak from feeling I've failed when my glucose levels go haywire!
 
Hypo treatments everywhere. Aim for good enough not perfect. Talk to friends and family about what it’s like day to day. The more support you have the easier it will be in the long run.
 
Everything said above, plus keep to your hospital/ clinic appointments & beware of dubious info on web promising everything but delivering nothing.
 
Agree with what others have said - I'd add that you should expect the unexpected as part of your not letting perfection be the enemy of the good approach. There are apparently over 40 identified factors that influence BG levels, so don't beat yourself up if things don't go as you expect from time to time - accept that things happen that don't quite 'make sense' and carry on.
Oh, and use this forum for support - it's invaluable to talk to others going through similar experiences.
 
I agree with all of the above. There will be a huge amount of information overwhelming you at the moment, so I would suggest making changes/ testing things slowly. One thing at a time. And also know that it is normal to find eg an insulin amount for a specific meal that works perfectly one day and behaves very differently the next.

I have had t1 for 26 years and am still learning, I just completed a fantastic course with 40 other T1 women and learning from them all was fab. If you have Instagram take a look at lauren_bongiorno and riselyhealth - I’ve found the content really great and they offer a lot of free tools alongside they’re paid for coaching (just keep in mind the US blood sugar measurements are different to the UK and those accounts are US)
 
Hello @Jas_99, so much great advice already offered from people who've been doing this for a long time.

Currently you have been started on fixed doses and as I understand things your DSN will be reviewing and adjusting in a few days and probably several times over the next weeks. Since you already have Libre have you registered on the LibreView website and set that up to share your data with your DSN. This might sound obvious, but after I had Libre I had to ask for the DSN's hospital "code" - they didn't automatically offer it.

Its important to put basic data into your LibreView, such as meals taken, carbs eaten (if possible) and insulin taken. Then the DSN can see the various graphs and reports on LibreView in relation to what you are doing. It's also important, in my non-medical opinion, to try and eat the normal meals that you would previously have been doing - so that your DSN can suggest alterations to match your normal lifestyle. Likewise its a great help to show the reviewer the exercise and activity you are doing, particularly if that activity is your normal way. For example if you walk to work or routinely climb 3 flights of stairs - because that is your norm.

While I understand the observation earlier about regulating highs or meal spikes by taking that extra exercise - if that activity is not going to be your "normal" you are at risk of misleading the reviewer of LibreView and getting set up for a dosing regime that won't be helpful for future routine days. I fully appreciate that "normal" is a very relative perspective and for me every day can be pretty different. You alone are the only person who will know what is your normal! But if you do have consistent events in weekdays and different events at weekends, continue those patterns as best you can.

Are you monitoring your Libre on a Reader or by phone? Each has certain advantages (and disadvantages). One limitation of the reader is that only so much information can be logged; the notes section within the app allows a lot more to be logged - but this does become onerous eventually. However in these early days I found it helpful to keep good records and I still, after 2+ yrs with Libre, log carbs and insulin.

These early days of insulin dependency are very confusing. There is so much information on the internet, that can greatly add to the confusion. I personally think just about everything you might want to know outside of the guidance by your DSN is findable on this site or answerable by members here AND with the great certainty no-one will intentionally set out to mislead you, judge you or generally be critical. Huge experience "base" here from people happy to help and who understand what it's like to be new to D (all types).
 
And if you stress out, remember all situations can be solved with either...eating or insulin.
I prefer the eating bit
 
Tdm said:
And if you stress out, remember all situations can be solved with either...eating or insulin.
I prefer the eating bit
Click to expand...
Me too!. Much quicker and pleasanter to resolve a low level than a high, although that sounds like I am being a bit cavalier about hypos, but I mean that I get to eat a prune or a fig 🙂 at 4.5 and be up in the 5s 20-30 mins later rather than jab a needle into myself when I am high and then wait hours for it to come down. 🙄 😡
 
Ideed. Easier to raise bs than lower. Except when you have one of those days when you seem to eat forver and your bs keeps bouncing along the bottom...which is annoying if you need to do somehing, or just want to go to sleep!
 
Tdm said:
Except when you have one of those days when you seem to eat forver and your bs keeps bouncing along the bottom...which is annoying if you need to do somehing, or just want to go to sleep!
Click to expand...
I had one of those days today!

Generally speaking though, I'd say to a new type 1, don't be tempted to eat more or to eat less in order to fit in with your insulin doses - eat normally and let the DSN work out for you what your insulin doses should be in order to fit in with what you eat.

I said on your other thread, but in case other new type 1s are reading this - get the email address and/or phone number of your DSN, you are sure to have questions and while occasionally you may need an emergency number, most of the time they'll be things you can ask in an email or a voicemail message. People here can give you good general advice, but it's your DSN who will be able to give you tailored medical advice.
 
Jas_99 said:
Hi everyone.
I have just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I have a freestyle libra, novorapid fast acting insulin, and tresiba long acting insulin.
I wondered if anyone has any advice, tips or tricks that they wish they knew when newly diagnosed that may help me!
Thankyou
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum @Jas_99

You've had some great suggestions already.

By chance, we had a thread on just this subject some years ago, which you might find interesting 🙂

forum.diabetes.org.uk

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 forum.diabetes.org.uk
 
Jas_99 said:
Hi everyone.
I have just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. I have a freestyle libra, novorapid fast acting insulin, and tresiba long acting insulin.
I wondered if anyone has any advice, tips or tricks that they wish they knew when newly diagnosed that may help me!
Thankyou
Click to expand...
Hi @Jas_99, welcome to the Forum 🙂

The suggestions so far should be a good starting point!

One thing I could ask is if you come across our Learning Zone (the orange tab at the top of the page) yet? It could be worth taking a look at 🙂

Just checking in to say you're welcome to ask (ask, ask) any questions you may have - we're all here to support.
 
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