(Very) Newly Diagnosed

[classicnorm]

Howdy all. Currently in hospital and newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Came in on Monday and had a blood sugar of 29 and high(?) ketones. Got my goody bag of test strips, and hopefully being released back into the wild today.
Been checking out some of the veggie recipes out there so looking forward to some non-hospital food when I escape, and will probably be using this forum to learn a little about what to expect next. 🙂

 

[Em89]

Hi there ‍♀️ I’m new to the forum myself but have been type 1 for 13 years, how are you feeling?

 

[classicnorm]

Hi there ‍♀️ I’m new to the forum myself but have been type 1 for 13 years, how are you feeling?

Not feeling too bad at all. Monday night was the worst night of my life- was ready for them to put me down I felt so sick, but as soon as I was off the insulin sliding scale I felt much better. Just looking forward to getting back home!

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Welcome to the forum @classicnorm

And welcome to the club no-one wants to join!

It’s great that you’ve found the forum - there’s a lot to get your head around to begin with, and it can feel quite overwhelming. So feel free to ask away with any questions as they arise - nothing will be considered too obvious or ‘silly’.

A while back we had a thread where members posted their tips, and things they wish they had been told early in their diabetes journey. There might be a few things in there to get you thinking

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

 

[SB2015]

Welcome to the forum @classicnorm , but sorry that you have had to join us.

Thisnis great place to tap into years of experience, from people that ‘get it’. I have learnt so much of the practical ideas for managing my T1 from others on here. I also know that this is place I can have a good rant if I need one.

Learning to manage all that we have to do is a steep learning curve. The best analogy I was given is that it is like learning to drive. It all seems complicated at the start but then a lot of it becomes automatic, and you are just watching out for obstacles and diversions. Work with your team and they will help you learn how to make adjustments to your insulin to make your treatment match whatever you want to do.

Out of interest which insulins have you been given. They may have started you in fixed doses and they will want to bring your levels down gradually.

Any questions that arise just ask. Nothing is considered silly on here.

 

[Jago]

I will echo everyone else by saying welcome! It’s a great forum and is filled with some really great advice.

I remember that moment when I walked out of the hospital, I was excited to get home - I was deeply relieved that I once again had saliva in my mouth and perhaps equally deeply worried about what I could or should eat … and I was finger pricking like it was going out of fashion!

It was also the start of a bit of an emotional rollercoaster- after the shock wore off, it took me days and weeks to work out how to relax into, and come to terms with my diagnosis- and whilst everyone is different… I think it’s really important to give yourself time and space to come to terms with everything.

Whilst I can only speak for myself, the thing that most helped settle my mind was learning more about my new condition- I trawled the internet like crazy and bounced from website to website and quickly suffered from information overload… this forum and website were really useful but i’m a fan of books - and it was reading and learning more that allowed me to turn a daunting “unknown” into a more manageable “known”.

There are two books which really helped me learn about diabetes - and I would reccomend either or both:

Think Like a Pancreas by Garry Scheiner.
and:
Take Control of Type 1 Diabetes - Dr David Cavan

Failing that, this website and forum are both great resources.

The other thing that I am a huge believer in, is getting some form of CGM or FlashGM - such as the Freestyle Libre. I found not having to finger prick and the security offered by the alarms was fantastically liberating. Additionally, the near real time data also allowed be to quickly understand the effects of foods/exercise/drink etc. on my condition.

Anyway, once again welcome to the forum and wishing you the best of luck on your journey.

 

[classicnorm]

Welcome to the forum @classicnorm , but sorry that you have had to join us.

Thisnis great place to tap into years of experience, from people that ‘get it’. I have learnt so much of the practical ideas for managing my T1 from others on here. I also know that this is place I can have a good rant if I need one.

Learning to manage all that we have to do is a steep learning curve. The best analogy I was given is that it is like learning to drive. It all seems complicated at the start but then a lot of it becomes automatic, and you are just watching out for obstacles and diversions. Work with your team and they will help you learn how to make adjustments to your insulin to make your treatment match whatever you want to do.

Out of interest which insulins have you been given. They may have started you in fixed doses and they will want to bring your levels down gradually.

Any questions that arise just ask. Nothing is considered silly on here.

Hi thanks for the welcome. I was given two pens- one Lantus and one NovoRapid and I have to set the dial to 12 and 6 respectively if that helps? My fasting blood this morning is 15.1. I was told in the hospital it shouldn't go above 14, but not sure what I'm supposed to do now that it's above that already.

 

[classicnorm]

I will echo everyone else by saying welcome! It’s a great forum and is filled with some really great advice.

I remember that moment when I walked out of the hospital, I was excited to get home - I was deeply relieved that I once again had saliva in my mouth and perhaps equally deeply worried about what I could or should eat … and I was finger pricking like it was going out of fashion!

It was also the start of a bit of an emotional rollercoaster- after the shock wore off, it took me days and weeks to work out how to relax into, and come to terms with my diagnosis- and whilst everyone is different… I think it’s really important to give yourself time and space to come to terms with everything.

Whilst I can only speak for myself, the thing that most helped settle my mind was learning more about my new condition- I trawled the internet like crazy and bounced from website to website and quickly suffered from information overload… this forum and website were really useful but i’m a fan of books - and it was reading and learning more that allowed me to turn a daunting “unknown” into a more manageable “known”.

There are two books which really helped me learn about diabetes - and I would reccomend either or both:

Think Like a Pancreas by Garry Scheiner.
and:
Take Control of Type 1 Diabetes - Dr David Cavan

Failing that, this website and forum are both great resources.

The other thing that I am a huge believer in, is getting some form of CGM or FlashGM - such as the Freestyle Libre. I found not having to finger prick and the security offered by the alarms was fantastically liberating. Additionally, the near real time data also allowed be to quickly understand the effects of foods/exercise/drink etc. on my condition.

Anyway, once again welcome to the forum and wishing you the best of luck on your journey.

Thanks for the welcome, and yes- having saliva again feels like magic! 🙂 Thanks for the book recommendations, one of the first thing I did was go looking for books online, but struggled to find any that didn't look low quality, so I'll definitely be picking up those two! I met someone with a CGM thingy a while back, seem cool- I wanna be bionic!

 

[Em89]

Hi thanks for the welcome. I was given two pens- one Lantus and one NovoRapid and I have to set the dial to 12 and 6 respectively if that helps? My fasting blood this morning is 15.1. I was told in the hospital it shouldn't go above 14, but not sure what I'm supposed to do now that it's above that already.

Unfortunately it’s a bit of trial and error, I remember when I first got diagnosed they were keen for me to not “come down too fast” so over the week or so after I was getting down to normal levels gradually. You should always aim for your BG to be in the normal range but it’s best to consult your nurse/dr at the hospital if you are concerned.

It’s all about correction doses!

 

[classicnorm]

Unfortunately it’s a bit of trial and error, I remember when I first got diagnosed they were keen for me to not “come down too fast” so over the week or so after I was getting down to normal levels gradually. You should always aim for your BG to be in the normal range but it’s best to consult your nurse/dr at the hospital if you are concerned.

It’s all about correction doses!

Thank you. That's reassuring. Feel like I was discharged with very little information, but I was told I'll have an appointment at a diabetes clinic soon so hopefully I'll be a bit more clued up after that 🙂

 

[Em89]

Thank you. That's reassuring. Feel like I was discharged with very little information, but I was told I'll have an appointment at a diabetes clinic soon so hopefully I'll be a bit more clued up after that 🙂

It’s frustrating to me when I see I’m not in range, even right at the beginning I was inpatient to get it down straight away!

But I’ve learnt I’m not perfect and it won’t always be in range no matter how hard I try so try not to feel too disheartened.

 

[Leadinglights]

It is better to bring down levels steadily especially if you have been running high levels for some time as you will be less likely to get issues with your eyes and nerves as you body tries to adjust to lower levels.
Everybody wants to get there asap but sometimes that is not the best option but do take guidance from you team, as newly diagnosed you should have good access to then so don't be fobbed off with them giving no follow up for weeks.

 

[SB2015]

Hi thanks for the welcome. I was given two pens- one Lantus and one NovoRapid and I have to set the dial to 12 and 6 respectively if that helps? My fasting blood this morning is 15.1. I was told in the hospital it shouldn't go above 14, but not sure what I'm supposed to do now that it's above that already.

They will have given you those fixed doses to start with and as others have said they will want to bring your levels down slowly to allow your body to adjust. It is difficult to be patient but work with your team. As they hep you to bring those levels down you will feel a lot better.

One thing that you will need to learn is the carbohydrate count of your meals as they will teach you to adjust your insulin to match this once things have settled. So a good starting point is to start looking at this. The info is on any packaging, for others there is Google ‘how many carbs in …‘ as well as various apps such Carbs and Cals.

Another useful thing to do is to start keeping a record of your pre meal BG readings alongside the amount of carbs you have eaten. you may spot some patterns with some foods that you eat. We all react in different ways. I used to eat porridge until I saw what it did to my levels so I just knocked that out. In general though once you are carb counting and have been taught how to make adjustments to your doses, you can eat whatever you want, and no special diet is needed for T1.

Keep in touch. Ask whatever questions arise.