Type 1 diagnosis

[jackcap1]

Hi All,

I've just been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 55! Things started back earlier in the year with unexplained weight-loss etc and a trip to the GP diagnosed diabetes. They jury was out on which type as I am apparently not your 'typical diabetic' for type 2. Consultant did an anti-body test & started me on insulin the very same day, the anti-body test has came back positive nine weeks later. Interestingly she said maybe having had covid/and or stress this has triggered type 1 diabetes, have had plenty of stress over the past 18months I did add but still smiling . Not sure about the covid theory only had loss of sense of taste and smell at the time didn't feel ill as such but it would make sense I guess. Anyway have to accept my fate and have plumped up nicely being on insulin this past three months (had dropped 2 stones in weight for no reason) as they say, but just struggling with eating meals and what to eat but looking on here for recipes and trying to get myself more organised around meal times. Any advice would be very helpful 🙂

 

[Robin]

Hello, and welcome to the forum, from another 'late starter' I was 51 at diagnosis, and also went through the 'Well, it must be Type 2 because of your age, but you don’t seem to fit the pattern' stage.
What insulin regime are you on? Do you take a once daily long acting basal and then short acting mealtime insulin? If so, you ought to be able to adjust your insulin to suit what you want to eat, and not have to adjust your eating to your insulin. Though having said that, I know there are some things I find harder to inject correctly for, so I have them just once in a while.

 

[helli]

Welcome to the club.
Full marks to your GP for suggesting Type 1. Unfortunately, as adults we are too often misdiagnosed.
There has been an increase in Type 1 diagnosis following covid. I am not surprised as a virus is a common pre-cursor to it. For my it was a different type of virus which caused my tongue to swell. Personally, I don't dwell on why I have it or what caused it - I focus on minimising the impact it will have on my life. And, from that perspective, I choose to learn how to adjust insulin rather than change my diet. Many people with type 2 have chosen to follow a low carb diet and some people with Type 1 have found it beneficial. However, I found very low carb much harder to calculate the insulin dose for so have continued to have a "normal healthy" diet with as little highly processed food as possible and a lot of fresh fruit veg. Nearly 20 years after my diagnosis, I have no complications due to diabetes and exercise regularly with more energy than most of my non-diabetic friends who are a similar age to me ... and you.

 

[Rob Oldfield]

Welcome to the site Jack. As mentioned by @Robin and @helli there's no definite need to be changing your diet to fit the insulin - over time you'll be seeing how it works the other way round. I'd also be interested to know what regime you're on at the moment and how your health care team have mapped out what's going to happen next.

As for immediate advice, the main one you've already picked up - keep smiling! It's a steep learning curve you're looking at but this site is an excellent resource for info.

 

[jackcap1]

Hi
thanks all for quick responses
I'm on 8 units of sem-glee first thing in the morning and then 3 x 3 units before each meal which is where I think I'm struggling as who knows when you want to eat, I've found if I don't eat then I have a hypo (Had 5-6 up until now) I guess it is making the insulin fit around your life not your mealtimes its just switching your head to eat in that way. The diabetic team have been really good at the local hospital but you do get bombarded with all sorts of info in the beginning. They've said I will stay under the diabetic team at the hospital rather than the GP as they are more specialised and apparently I'm special

 

[helli]

@jackcaps I am sure over time you will be taught how to carb count which will give you more flexibility.
But even now, you only need to inject your "before meal" insulin when you eat - no food, no need for the insulin.
If you are not eating and still injecting, it is not surprising you are hypoing.

You need to take the semglee every day regardless of food.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I've found if I don't eat then I have a hypo

You will, yes, because you're on fixed doses of insulin. With any luck they'll change that so you make adjustments.

You might find the course next week https://understandingtype1.mydiabetes.com of interest.

Though I can completely understand if you'd rather leave it for a few weeks (or months) since as you say things are rather intense at the beginning.

 

[Inka]

Hi
thanks all for quick responses
I'm on 8 units of sem-glee first thing in the morning and then 3 x 3 units before each meal which is where I think I'm struggling as who knows when you want to eat, I've found if I don't eat then I have a hypo (Had 5-6 up until now) I guess it is making the insulin fit around your life not your mealtimes its just switching your head to eat in that way. The diabetic team have been really good at the local hospital but you do get bombarded with all sorts of info in the beginning. They've said I will stay under the diabetic team at the hospital rather than the GP as they are more specialised and apparently I'm special

Those set doses of 3 units before meals will each cover a certain amount of carbs. As you’ve found out, if you eat too few carbs you’ll hypo, and if you eat too many carbs for your 3 units you’ll go high. “So how many carbs should I eat??” I hear you ask. Unfortunately no-one can tell you as the answer is individual. However, your DSN should be able to make an educated guess.

In addition, you should gradually pick up how many carbs you need for each meal. The 3 units at breakfast might cover a different amount of carbs than the 3 units before your evening meal.

What you should be doing very soon is counting the carbs you’re about to eat and adjusting your pre-meal insulin to cover them - ie you might be injecting 2 units, 4 units, 5.5 units, etc depending on the carbs in your meal. Carb counting isn’t hard and it makes life a lot more flexible. Push to be shown how to do it, or simply work it out yourself or use an online education site like:

BERTIE

.

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @jackcap1 , from another late starter (aged 53 and I didn’t have such a wise GP).

There is little point in worrying about what got your antibodies going on their mission to destroy your beta cells, and that may have started about a year ago, so who remembers that far back. A severe illness will cause the body to need more insulin and so a bout of illness near diagnosis often tips us over the date as the few beta cells remaining just go on strike with the overload of work.

As @helli says we have got it now so better to focus on the way forward. It is a lot to get your head round at the start, so try to be patient with yourself. As others have said your three meal time doses are there for meals. No meal no injection.

With your fixed doses you will need to match your food to the doses. If you start to work out how many carbs are in the meals you are eating, that will be a good starting point. The info is there on packets or googling ’carbs in …’ and with a bit of weighing and head scratching you come up with the amounts. If you are finding you hypo after a meal with your current doses, you need to eat a few more carbs. If you are still high two hours after your meal you could eat fewer carbs.

Once you are carb counting and your team have explained how to adjust the meal doses (bolus) you can then eat whatever you want and match the dose to your meal. Then life just becomes a lot more flexible.
You will also be surprised at just how good you get at eyeballing a portion of rice, and knowing how many carbs are there.

There is a wealth of experience to tap into on here, so just ask.