Type 1 diagnosed at 40, hi

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adi182

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Hi

I turned 40 in September and was asked to go for my over 40s health check on Wednesday
Thursday morning I was asked to go for another blood test and had very high glucose and keystones levels and later on diagnosed with type 1 diabetes

I didn't think I had any symptoms, occasionally dizzy and blurred eye sight but didn't think it was diabetes

Just wanted to say hi and I'd welcome any advice you have to make living with diabetes a bit easier
 
Welcome @adi182 🙂 Time makes things easier. It does gradually get easier. Also - something that you can do now is read up on Type 1 (and read around this forum, of course). Type 1 is a condition where lots of the control rests on the individual.

There are a couple of books often recommended for Type 1s here:

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).

Ask anything you want here too. Nothing is ‘silly’ or too trivial.
 
Hi and welcome from me too.

There are lots of us late starters with Type 1 here on the forum. I was 55 and I am coming up to my 5 years "Diaversary" next month. I still remember how totally overwhelming it was at first, but I can assure you it really does get easier and we live in a time when the technology and insulins make managing it so much easier than 30 years ago, so there is no reason why we can't manage the condition well and be as healthy as or even healthier than friends our age. I find that I am more focused on eating well and keeping fit compared to other people who don't have diabetes because I have to think about everything I put in my mouth and getting daily exercise. Much as it can be a pain in the backside and often very frustrating, I fully believe that it has added years to my lifespan rather than shortened it, because I now eat much less sugar (I was a sugar addict and chocoholic pre diagnosis) and changing my diet has improved my gut health and reduced joint pain and more or less put an end to the horrendous migraines I was suffering on a very regular basis.

From your post it isn't clear if you were diagnosed back in September just after your birthday or just in the last few days of this week? Have you been started on insulin yet and if so, which ones?
How are you managing? There is a huge amount to take in in the first few months and feeling overwhelmed and sad and angry etc is totally understandable, so do feel free to let off steam here if you need to and definitely ask any questions you have. I learned most of what I know from the good people here and I think I would have been lost without them for support and to fill in the blanks where something the nurse probably told me went in one ear and out of the other.

Anyway, just wanted to say that we are here to support you in any way we can, so please do make use of this fantastic resource as much as you need to. No question is considered to basic or silly. Most of us knew nothing (or worse still misinformation) about diabetes until we were diagnosed and some GPs and nurses still harbour some of that misinformation. Sounds like yours might be switched on to diagnose you with Type 1 straight off as many people here were assumed to be type 2 and some had to wait and battle years for a correct diagnosis.
 
Thanks for your advice and support so far. I was diagnosed on Thursday so only two days ago.

I've started on insulin. I've got a blood monitor but it's one of those that needs me to prick my finger each time so hoping to get a better way to monitor my blood glucose

The insulin shots aren't too bad and I guess it could have been much worse
 
adi182 said:
I've started on insulin. I've got a blood monitor but it's one of those that needs me to prick my finger each time so hoping to get a better way to monitor my blood glucose
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If you live in England you will (other parts of the UK don't necessarily follow the NICE guidelines so closely). You'll still need to use finger prick tests, though, just less often.
 
You can apply to Abbott Laboratories for a free trial of their Libre 2 sensor system, which is the most prescribed Constant Glucose Monitoring (CGM) system on the market. If you Google Freestyle Libre 2 you should come up with the relevant website. The qualifiers for the free trial are that you have a suitable smart phone which will run their LibreLink app and that you have diabetes and that you haven't used their system before. You may get the free trial before you start getting them on prescription, so it might tide you over.
It is however important to develop a good technique with testing via finger prick because it is the fall back system if the CGM technology fails or when you have a hypo and to double check any readings that the CGM throws up which don't agree with how you feel. Ultimately, the finger prick test takes precedence over the sensor for reliability, but the sensor will give you lots of really useful data most of the time and obviously the alarms are a useful safety net for going low particularly.

Which insulins have they given you to start off with?

Have you been referred to a specialist diabetes clinic? Hopefully so.
 
Hello @adi182, welcome from me also.

In the book "Think Like a Pancreas" referred to by @Inka above Gary Schneider remarks that Diabetes is Complicated, Confusing and Contradictory. That is so accurate and true, particularly at the beginning.

With that firmly in mind one bit of advice I would offer is at first confine any Internet research you do to UK sites. There is a deluge of "stuff" about diabetes potentially available through the internet; some of it correct and some rather more opinionated and blatantly less correct. Its tricky enough sorting out what on UK sites is spot on - without trying to filter out info from outside of UK that sounds plausible - but isn't practiced here nor supported by the NHS and therefore not going to be readily available to you from the NHS. All of that is because Diabetes is Complicated: starting with getting an accurate diagnosis from the outset, leading into finding the optimum treatment path since we are all different and unfortunately need subtle differences in our treatment.

I'm a relative newcomer to D with just under 4 yrs experience. This forum has been, for me, a great place to have found with the accumulated centuries of experience and knowledge that is explained or offered but with good will and no pressure to make you adopt any suggestion. I think @Inka's opening response is a great start point:

Inka said:
Welcome @adi182 🙂 Time makes things easier. It does gradually get easier. Also - something that you can do now is read up on Type 1 (and read around this forum, of course). Type 1 is a condition where lots of the control rests on the individual.
Click to expand...
Trial and Learning (we none of us intentionally seek error) will guide you towards what works best for you amidst the Complications, Confusions and Contradictions. The quicker you can get a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) such as Libre, the better for you to see how your body is responding to your insulin doses. CGM doesn't replace all finger pricks, but certainly can greatly reduce the need for FPs.

Once again Welcome to the Forum.
 
On Thursday when they started to diagnose me I had
glucose 18.6
keytones 1.8

now my glucose is around 6 and keytones have dropped to about 0.4 on my last check

I've got Abasaglar for my 24-hour dose and novorapid for before meals. I need to check in with the diabetes expert on Tuesday

The treatment so far looks to be working, I've noticed bread/carbs seem to make it spike a bit more, and I'm interested in finding out more about a good diet.
 
adi182 said:
I'm interested in finding out more about a good diet.
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Welcome from another later diagnosee (yes, I know that’s a made up word but, hey, why not?).
A “good” diet for someone with Type 1 diabetes is the same as a good diet for someone without diabetes. The only difference is is we have to calculate our insulin accordingly and, some people find it is easier with less carbs (I don’t find this).
A diabetes diagnosis is often a catalyst for looking at our diet so some will make a change for that reason. But, if you are healthy despite the diabetes, there is no reason to change. Regarding bread/carbs spiking a bit more, that will just mean you need more insulin. It is early days for you and it is common to start on fixed insulin doses. It is important to stick with what is/will be your “normal” diet to help your diabetes team calculate your appropriate dose and, when you start adjusting your dose, provide a suitable insulin to carb ratio.
 
adi182 said:
On Thursday when they started to diagnose me I had
glucose 18.6
keytones 1.8

now my glucose is around 6 and keytones have dropped to about 0.4 on my last check

I've got Abasaglar for my 24-hour dose and novorapid for before meals. I need to check in with the diabetes expert on Tuesday

The treatment so far looks to be working, I've noticed bread/carbs seem to make it spike a bit more, and I'm interested in finding out more about a good diet.
Click to expand...

A good diet is good for everyone, Type 1 or not. The diet recommended for Type 1s is the same diet recommended for everybody else.

Type 1 isn’t really about diet, it’s about appropriate use of insulin. We’re trying to be our own pancreas. We can eat bread, fruit crumble and custard, potatoes, rice, chocolate, cereal, cake, cheesecake, pasta, fruit, etc etc, just as we would have done pre-diagnosis. The difference is we now need to manipulate our external insulin to control our blood sugar whereas before our pancreas did this (we just didn’t appreciate how clever it was). That means carb counting and adjusting our insulin. This is something you’ll improve with over time as you gain experience and confidence. It’s a tedious old job being a pancreas, but it becomes routine.
 
Another 'late starter' here.

There is so much to learn. At the beginning you need to get a lot of input from your diabetes team, but you only really get going when you start making your own decisions...and the more you learn about your diabetes, the better those decisions will be.

This message board is great, as is 'think like a pancreas'. If you like youtube 'type 1 talks' is a good channel, or 'diabetes strong' though i'd have a bit of healthy cynicism for anyone selling 'a way'

Get a cgm asap....its so reassuring to have the alerts.
 
Hi @adi182 from me too. I'm a late starter and actually just hitting my 1 year diaversary after a spell in hospital at diagnosis.

Just a couple of points to add

- sorry you've had to find this forum but I'm so glad you have. It's made a huge difference to me
- particularly in the early days I obsessed about what I was eating and found it easier to manage by basically going low carb. With a bit more practice I find I can basically eat "normally" (by which I mean similar to pre diagnosis for me). For example yesterday u was pretty low carb early doors with an omelette for breakfast, then mackerel salad for lunch. Then evening I had a chicken Kiev with loads of veg including potatoes and an unhealthy amount of roulade. And my sugars were fine throughout, I just injected multiples more insulin

To be honest I never should have had the confidence for that last meal early on but I just wanted to illustrate the point that we T1s can, with practice, adapt insulin to diet

Anyway really just another hi from me and do fire away with any questions
 
Welcome to the forum @adi182

Glad you have found us!

Gold to hear that your doses seem to be working well already. Expect things to ebb and flow over time - that seems to be part of the nature of T1. You’ll learn what affects the ‘right’ mealtime ratios and background doses for you over the years. Illness, alcohol, level of exercise/activity, stress, and even ambient temperature can all play their part in the puzzle!

Keep asking questions, and let us know how things go 🙂
 
Mumpie_olgran said:
Hi @adi182 from me too. I'm a late starter and actually just hitting my 1 year diaversary after a spell in hospital at diagnosis.

Just a couple of points to add

- sorry you've had to find this forum but I'm so glad you have. It's made a huge difference to me
- particularly in the early days I obsessed about what I was eating and found it easier to manage by basically going low carb. With a bit more practice I find I can basically eat "normally" (by which I mean similar to pre diagnosis for me). For example yesterday u was pretty low carb early doors with an omelette for breakfast, then mackerel salad for lunch. Then evening I had a chicken Kiev with loads of veg including potatoes and an unhealthy amount of roulade. And my sugars were fine throughout, I just injected multiples more insulin

To be honest I never should have had the confidence for that last meal early on but I just wanted to illustrate the point that we T1s can, with practice, adapt insulin to diet

Anyway really just another hi from me and do fire away with any questions
Click to expand...
thats exactly what i did...low carb was like my traing wheels! The downside of low carb is it can make you more insulin resistant long term...but i still do low carb for dinner when i am working and i can't use my normal strategies such as going for a walk after eating or injecting 15 min before eating...some times its nice just to eat, inject, and forget about it.
Plus, i missed bread!
 
adi182 said:
Hi

I turned 40 in September and was asked to go for my over 40s health check on Wednesday
Thursday morning I was asked to go for another blood test and had very high glucose and keystones levels and later on diagnosed with type 1 diabetes

I didn't think I had any symptoms, occasionally dizzy and blurred eye sight but didn't think it was diabetes

Just wanted to say hi and I'd welcome any advice you have to make living with diabetes a bit easier
Click to expand...
Hi, newly diagnosed here too in early Sept (60 and retired from 30 years in the NHS in November, what a present that was!). I have coeliac disease and another auto immune skin condition, but it was still a shock to be told I had type 1. You will find good advice and support on here but it's very early days and we are all on a learning curve, as the Diabetic nurse tells me diabetes is very individual. Wishing you well. X
 
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