The TSR Diabetics Thread
WELCOME FELLOW DIABETICS TO THE FIRST EVER TSR DIABETES THREAD
If you have diabetes of any type (I, myself am a type 1 insulin dependent :P) please feel free to join the conversation.
OK seeing as this is the first post, I'll invent a topic to get things going.
How did you/your parents (if you were diagnosed really young and can't remember it yourself) find out that you had diabetes?
Friday 3rd December 1999
I got sent home from school because I felt unwell with a stomach ache. I was supposed to have a friend around that day, but he had to be cancelled as it was assumed that I had seasonal flu. I was booked a doctor's appointment for 9am Monday morning
Monday 6th December 1999
I struggle to gain breath on the way to the doctors - at this point I was much worse than I was on the Friday morning. I nearly end up getting a taxi to hospital. However, I make it to the doctors. The doctor says I have appendicitis and require emergency treatment, so he calls me an ambulance. I don't really remember much about the journey apart from having to wear an oxygen mask (I've had to wear one once since - which was when I had a fever several years later). After arriving at A&E I was put into a wheelchair and I was wheeled up to high dependency unit where the paediactrician examined me briefly and told us the doctor was wrong and that I was a type one diabetic. The nurses obviously gave my parents time to get their heads around what was going on, I didn't really know the extent of how bad the diabetes was at the time, but I knew something wasn't right. Eventually I found out I had real bad ketoacidosis due to not be diagnosed early enough, and I very very nearly ended up in ITU. The next thing I remember was watching Home & Away on my hospital bed when the nurse came to do my first ever insulin injection. She jabbed me in the leg. I was soooo scared. Obviously she had worked with many diabetics before, but I had no idea why I needed to be injected with medication, as well as being on a drip. The next thing I remember is waking up during my first night in hospital around 3am and the night doctor came to take a bloods sample.
Tuesday 7th December 1999
The Nurse came early the following morning to talk to us about what was going to happen now I've been diagnosed and what things we may expect to happen in the future. I'll never forget that talk, because of how it made us all feel. I didn't pay attention to much of it, but I do remember seeing how upset and sad they were. My parents were struggling to get their heads around the fact I was diabetic, let alone being told what to expect.
Wednesday 8th December 1999
My friends were allowed to start visiting me in hospital. I got a massive card off of my best friend (we're still close friends now. We were aged 7 at the time, and by the time this year ends we will both be 20), which had best wishes etc from the school in it. I still have it somewhere at home now. It was probably the first thing that cheered me up that week
I knew then, somehow, we could all get get to terms with this and it would make me a stronger person - I've not been wrong so far - though I do occasionally phone my Mum for a bit of advice.
Saturday 11th December 1999
It was getting close to the end of my stay in hospital and the best day of the week. The nurses said I was well enough to be able to leave the hospital for a few hours so Mum took me to see father christmas.
Monday 13th December 1999
I was finally let out of hospital, and friends and family were slowly told the good news from early in the afternoon (of course though, after I'd had lunch and watched my favourite cartoons on CiTV
).
Wednesday 15th December 1999
I returned to school for the afternoon to watch the nativity that my friends were doing, and we had to let the teachers know exactly what was what. From then on, we quickly came to grips with the diabetes and how to work it as I'd been diabetic for over a week by this point. My christmas calendar was changed for some little pokémon collectors toys - which I loved - I was a major Pokémon fan at the time (every 7 year old boy was!)
And the rest as they say is history .....
If you have diabetes of any type (I, myself am a type 1 insulin dependent :P) please feel free to join the conversation.
OK seeing as this is the first post, I'll invent a topic to get things going.
How did you/your parents (if you were diagnosed really young and can't remember it yourself) find out that you had diabetes?
Friday 3rd December 1999
I got sent home from school because I felt unwell with a stomach ache. I was supposed to have a friend around that day, but he had to be cancelled as it was assumed that I had seasonal flu. I was booked a doctor's appointment for 9am Monday morning
Monday 6th December 1999
I struggle to gain breath on the way to the doctors - at this point I was much worse than I was on the Friday morning. I nearly end up getting a taxi to hospital. However, I make it to the doctors. The doctor says I have appendicitis and require emergency treatment, so he calls me an ambulance. I don't really remember much about the journey apart from having to wear an oxygen mask (I've had to wear one once since - which was when I had a fever several years later). After arriving at A&E I was put into a wheelchair and I was wheeled up to high dependency unit where the paediactrician examined me briefly and told us the doctor was wrong and that I was a type one diabetic. The nurses obviously gave my parents time to get their heads around what was going on, I didn't really know the extent of how bad the diabetes was at the time, but I knew something wasn't right. Eventually I found out I had real bad ketoacidosis due to not be diagnosed early enough, and I very very nearly ended up in ITU. The next thing I remember was watching Home & Away on my hospital bed when the nurse came to do my first ever insulin injection. She jabbed me in the leg. I was soooo scared. Obviously she had worked with many diabetics before, but I had no idea why I needed to be injected with medication, as well as being on a drip. The next thing I remember is waking up during my first night in hospital around 3am and the night doctor came to take a bloods sample.
Tuesday 7th December 1999
The Nurse came early the following morning to talk to us about what was going to happen now I've been diagnosed and what things we may expect to happen in the future. I'll never forget that talk, because of how it made us all feel. I didn't pay attention to much of it, but I do remember seeing how upset and sad they were. My parents were struggling to get their heads around the fact I was diabetic, let alone being told what to expect.
Wednesday 8th December 1999
My friends were allowed to start visiting me in hospital. I got a massive card off of my best friend (we're still close friends now. We were aged 7 at the time, and by the time this year ends we will both be 20), which had best wishes etc from the school in it. I still have it somewhere at home now. It was probably the first thing that cheered me up that week
I knew then, somehow, we could all get get to terms with this and it would make me a stronger person - I've not been wrong so far - though I do occasionally phone my Mum for a bit of advice. Saturday 11th December 1999
It was getting close to the end of my stay in hospital and the best day of the week. The nurses said I was well enough to be able to leave the hospital for a few hours so Mum took me to see father christmas.
Monday 13th December 1999
I was finally let out of hospital, and friends and family were slowly told the good news from early in the afternoon (of course though, after I'd had lunch and watched my favourite cartoons on CiTV
).Wednesday 15th December 1999
I returned to school for the afternoon to watch the nativity that my friends were doing, and we had to let the teachers know exactly what was what. From then on, we quickly came to grips with the diabetes and how to work it as I'd been diabetic for over a week by this point. My christmas calendar was changed for some little pokémon collectors toys - which I loved - I was a major Pokémon fan at the time (every 7 year old boy was!)
And the rest as they say is history .....
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BUMP!
BUMP!
I was 12 when I was diagnosed. Although I had diagnosed myself months earlier - I had read the symptoms on one of those packets of flower seeds from the Diabetes Federation and told my brother (why my brother and not my Mum I don't know but anyway) who laughed at me and told me not to be stupid. So I didn't mention it again... I eventually got so tired (April 1999) I had a few days off sick from school with my Mum feeding me a constant supply of 7Up and toast with marmalade.. oops! So after 3 days of that I went to my GP and said I had diabetes and sent me to hospital. My blood was 33 when I went in but I don't remember much else about getting there besides them offering me a wheelchair as I was so weak. I remember those 3am blood tests too. I remember crying once when I came back from a few hours out of hospital, being starving, sitting down to dinner and then being told, "No, your blood is too high, you can't eat yet" 
The first day I came home, I ate about 6 slices of wholemeal bread (another change!) and then having a blood sugar of 18. Stupid bread!
Also I remember I was reading Angela's Ashes at the time and the consultant apparently told my mum that it wasn't suitable, it was too adult and depressing lol She took it off me til I got home
I was in hospital the next year as well feeling very similar. I got Coeliac a year, probably triggered by diabetes - anyone else have that? then I cried because my toast was burnt and loads of other silly things. I was really upset as the food they served was so crap! And I knew more than them, even then! They served me fish fingers and pasta 2 evenings and I could tell them after a day of being diagnosed, "Oh come on, is this not on your chart? I'm only here because I've been diagnosed as allergic!?". Mum brought me food from home after that
Looking back the paediatric diabetic clinic I was at was utterly useless. I was recommended I could have 3 treats a week, which had to have less than 3g of fat (at 12, roll on eating dosorder). I mean, i get now where they were coming from with the <3g of fat per 100g being low fat but they got it totally wrong! They were very focused on kids not going low but not too focused on the highs which were my worry about problems in the future (mature even then!). But they just said they don't matter too much as long as you can get the lows under control. I felt like they weren't thinking about the bigger picture, they were dealing with kids so only had to focus on the here and now for the next few years.
The first day I came home, I ate about 6 slices of wholemeal bread (another change!) and then having a blood sugar of 18. Stupid bread!Also I remember I was reading Angela's Ashes at the time and the consultant apparently told my mum that it wasn't suitable, it was too adult and depressing lol She took it off me til I got home
I was in hospital the next year as well feeling very similar. I got Coeliac a year, probably triggered by diabetes - anyone else have that? then I cried because my toast was burnt and loads of other silly things. I was really upset as the food they served was so crap! And I knew more than them, even then! They served me fish fingers and pasta 2 evenings and I could tell them after a day of being diagnosed, "Oh come on, is this not on your chart? I'm only here because I've been diagnosed as allergic!?". Mum brought me food from home after that
Looking back the paediatric diabetic clinic I was at was utterly useless. I was recommended I could have 3 treats a week, which had to have less than 3g of fat (at 12, roll on eating dosorder). I mean, i get now where they were coming from with the <3g of fat per 100g being low fat but they got it totally wrong! They were very focused on kids not going low but not too focused on the highs which were my worry about problems in the future (mature even then!). But they just said they don't matter too much as long as you can get the lows under control. I felt like they weren't thinking about the bigger picture, they were dealing with kids so only had to focus on the here and now for the next few years.
I have been wanting this for ages!
Okay, I am almost 19 currently, I was diagnosed June 2010 when I was 17 at the time. I self diagnosed myself, I noticed things weren't right with my body. I was constantly thirsty and so I was trying to drink a lot to get rid of my thirst, and then peeing a lot. Thing is I was drinking orange juice by the pint to quench my thirst, making the whole thing a lot worse! Of course now I understand how I was actually thirsty because I was urinating a lot, which some people still try to correct me on (
). I also lost a stone in the space of a month, which was quite nice, but I knew that just wasn't right. I was often falling asleep in my lessons after lunch, and generally experiencing a lot of fatigue.
I told my mum this, and my sister has a diabetic friend and was going to borrow her BG monitor to see what my sugars were like, but I had to go to work (Sunday) and then to a funeral 3 hours away, so if anything was a problem we wouldn't be able to go to a doctors for a few days anyway. I went to work and had a relatively small lunch due to time constraints and after work tested to be 17.6. The look on my sister's face (She'd done a module on Diabetes at university) had said it all. Cue worrying from mum and my sister trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't eat for now!
Traveled to Winchester for the funeral, we didn't want the rest of the family to know really because it was just the wrong time. Sister kept trying to control what I was eating, but me being the defiant person I am I gorged myself at the buffets to piss her off. Was fun.
We did a test just before we were going to leave back to my hometown a few days later on Tuesday and had a reading of 27.3 or so - cue even more panicking! Got straight in for an appointment at the doctors who then referred me onto a hospital after much hassle, the joys of age 17 limbo land, not a 16 year old child but not an 18 year old adult.
At the hospital I had to do some urine samples etc, they weren't sure whether to keep me in hospital or not. One of the doctors who saw me was thinking it was type 2 diabetes because my BMI is 25% and so not in the healthy range (my sister was on the verge of raging at him at that point for being thick doctor). Eventually they decided on me staying the night, I hated it. I couldn't sleep, I hated being alone, I hated hearing the sounds of all the old men in the ward further down hacking up their own lungs.
I came to terms with my diabetes easily. All the nurses and doctors kept saying, "Oh I've been heard you've been feeling ill." etc. But I didn't. My mother seemed to care more than me because she is a worrier. My local diabetic clinic is so supportive, they arranged for me to go onto a carb-counting programme, I can call them whenever I need to and they're always there to answer my questions.
My HbA1C is 7.9% as my latest result, I want to get it to under 7. I've only just introduced exercise into my life (C25K) so hopefully that'll keep me insulin sensitive!
Has anyone got any humorous hypo stories? What are your "hypo signs"?
Okay, I am almost 19 currently, I was diagnosed June 2010 when I was 17 at the time. I self diagnosed myself, I noticed things weren't right with my body. I was constantly thirsty and so I was trying to drink a lot to get rid of my thirst, and then peeing a lot. Thing is I was drinking orange juice by the pint to quench my thirst, making the whole thing a lot worse! Of course now I understand how I was actually thirsty because I was urinating a lot, which some people still try to correct me on (
). I also lost a stone in the space of a month, which was quite nice, but I knew that just wasn't right. I was often falling asleep in my lessons after lunch, and generally experiencing a lot of fatigue.I told my mum this, and my sister has a diabetic friend and was going to borrow her BG monitor to see what my sugars were like, but I had to go to work (Sunday) and then to a funeral 3 hours away, so if anything was a problem we wouldn't be able to go to a doctors for a few days anyway. I went to work and had a relatively small lunch due to time constraints and after work tested to be 17.6. The look on my sister's face (She'd done a module on Diabetes at university) had said it all. Cue worrying from mum and my sister trying to tell me what I should and shouldn't eat for now!
Traveled to Winchester for the funeral, we didn't want the rest of the family to know really because it was just the wrong time. Sister kept trying to control what I was eating, but me being the defiant person I am I gorged myself at the buffets to piss her off. Was fun.
We did a test just before we were going to leave back to my hometown a few days later on Tuesday and had a reading of 27.3 or so - cue even more panicking! Got straight in for an appointment at the doctors who then referred me onto a hospital after much hassle, the joys of age 17 limbo land, not a 16 year old child but not an 18 year old adult.
At the hospital I had to do some urine samples etc, they weren't sure whether to keep me in hospital or not. One of the doctors who saw me was thinking it was type 2 diabetes because my BMI is 25% and so not in the healthy range (my sister was on the verge of raging at him at that point for being thick doctor). Eventually they decided on me staying the night, I hated it. I couldn't sleep, I hated being alone, I hated hearing the sounds of all the old men in the ward further down hacking up their own lungs.
I came to terms with my diabetes easily. All the nurses and doctors kept saying, "Oh I've been heard you've been feeling ill." etc. But I didn't. My mother seemed to care more than me because she is a worrier. My local diabetic clinic is so supportive, they arranged for me to go onto a carb-counting programme, I can call them whenever I need to and they're always there to answer my questions.
My HbA1C is 7.9% as my latest result, I want to get it to under 7. I've only just introduced exercise into my life (C25K) so hopefully that'll keep me insulin sensitive!
Has anyone got any humorous hypo stories? What are your "hypo signs"?
My hypo signs depend on whether my blood is used to being high or low at the time. If I'm being bad and had a few weeks being not so controlled and I go high a good bit, then I feel low when my blood gets to about 7. Then it's just the usual dizziness and irritation but veyr mild. If I'm used to being low (I'm lower than I'd like in the mornings now, mostly 3, sometimes 2, one 1.8 where I felt completely normal which gave me the kick in the **** I needed to get things under control) then I don't feel it as much until it's really low and then the symptoms are worse and happen quicker and I can't react. I get really confused and I can understand what people tell me but I can't take action. See the flight incident below lol Sometimes I'm not unconscious but when I walk I just fall on the ground with a shudder through my body every minute or so. That has only happened maybe 3-4 times. It happened when I got out of bed, realised I was low, went to go to the kitchen for Lucozade and fell on my way. Drinking it, I had a few judders as well. I sound uncontrolled there but there are only the bad bits, I am usually well controlled unless I get stressed or change routine. Like now I have breakfast but at work we don't get a lunch break or at least not one I could inject for. I work in a kitchen/bar at lunchtime so basically you grab something while passing or if it quietens down for a few minutes. But obviously I can't inject and then have a big rush of people and not be able to eat anything. Living on Lucozade at work sometimes
I have both amusing and not so amusing hypo stories. A few years ago I had a flight home and when I didn't appear to wake up with my alarm my bf tried to wake me up. He got my usual very-low reaction: "You need to get ready!" "...yeah". "You have a flight in less than 2 hours." "....yeah". Accompanied by the blank look lol I missed the flight No very amusing ones (yet).
My more serious one happened Xmas 2010. My body just seemed to go completely out of control and not react to insulin/food in the same way it had done for years. I had to be woken out of a coma 3 times by my parents injecting me with Actrapid (I think that's the one, obviously I've never used it!) and I couldn't seem to do anything to rectify it. I had been on 3 shots of Novorapid with meals (usually about 6-8 units) and 16 units of Levemir at night for years and it had been working perfectly, HbA1c of 7%, not too many highs or lows. But it just changed suddenly - I would wake up with a blood of 2 every morning I actually did wake up. I dropped the Levemir to 7 and eventually brought it down to 4. I gave 3, then 2 units of Novorapid for a big dinner at about 5/6 in the evening which is supposed to have a 3 hour life anyway so wouldn't have been active overnight. I would have a snack before bed and start going to bed later too - I don't usually do this but I'd go to bed with a blood of 16 and I'd still wake up the next morning at 2, even with the extra food and less than half the insulin I'd set an alarm for 2am and have a banana too. It was so scary as there was nothing I could do that changed it. One morning I woke up nearly in a coma but I managed to get out of bed and go to the bathroom... where I collapsed and had a 'fit'. I think I must have started kicking the sink and I sprained my ankle, broke 2 toes and 2 metatarsals. My parents were insistant I called my doctor (which I did but only to satisfy them) but I knew all they'd tell me would be to lower the insulin and eat more. It eventually stopped by itself, no idea how but it was just so strange how it can just be so irrational! I blame stress as I had been really stressed the few months before that. My doctor even said it could have been something as simple as the change in temperature at home. Indeed, a lot warmer than a student flat lol
I have both amusing and not so amusing hypo stories. A few years ago I had a flight home and when I didn't appear to wake up with my alarm my bf tried to wake me up. He got my usual very-low reaction: "You need to get ready!" "...yeah". "You have a flight in less than 2 hours." "....yeah". Accompanied by the blank look lol I missed the flight
No very amusing ones (yet).My more serious one happened Xmas 2010. My body just seemed to go completely out of control and not react to insulin/food in the same way it had done for years. I had to be woken out of a coma 3 times by my parents injecting me with Actrapid (I think that's the one, obviously I've never used it!) and I couldn't seem to do anything to rectify it. I had been on 3 shots of Novorapid with meals (usually about 6-8 units) and 16 units of Levemir at night for years and it had been working perfectly, HbA1c of 7%, not too many highs or lows. But it just changed suddenly - I would wake up with a blood of 2 every morning I actually did wake up. I dropped the Levemir to 7 and eventually brought it down to 4. I gave 3, then 2 units of Novorapid for a big dinner at about 5/6 in the evening which is supposed to have a 3 hour life anyway so wouldn't have been active overnight. I would have a snack before bed and start going to bed later too - I don't usually do this but I'd go to bed with a blood of 16 and I'd still wake up the next morning at 2, even with the extra food and less than half the insulin
I'd set an alarm for 2am and have a banana too. It was so scary as there was nothing I could do that changed it. One morning I woke up nearly in a coma but I managed to get out of bed and go to the bathroom... where I collapsed and had a 'fit'. I think I must have started kicking the sink and I sprained my ankle, broke 2 toes and 2 metatarsals. My parents were insistant I called my doctor (which I did but only to satisfy them) but I knew all they'd tell me would be to lower the insulin and eat more. It eventually stopped by itself, no idea how but it was just so strange how it can just be so irrational! I blame stress as I had been really stressed the few months before that. My doctor even said it could have been something as simple as the change in temperature at home. Indeed, a lot warmer than a student flat lol(edited 12 years ago)
if you're waking up that low every morning sprockette, sounds like you need to just keep reducing your long acting untill your morning bg is the same as your pre-bed bg, or within 2mmol anyway.
For lunchtimes at work, maybe eat and then inject after? That way you are certain of what you have eaten and can inject for it when you've eaten it. Just inject as soon after you've eaten as you can. Alternatively, you could have food that has no carbs (unless your already low - then have carbs!), like meat/cheese/whatever, so it doesnt require insulin anyway.
I was diagnosed age 21, i'm 24 now and use lantus humalog and apidra.
Do you all use the basal/bolus (seperate long and fast acting insulins) and adjust doses according to carbohydrate in your food, or does anyone use something different or fixed doses?
For lunchtimes at work, maybe eat and then inject after? That way you are certain of what you have eaten and can inject for it when you've eaten it. Just inject as soon after you've eaten as you can. Alternatively, you could have food that has no carbs (unless your already low - then have carbs!), like meat/cheese/whatever, so it doesnt require insulin anyway.
I was diagnosed age 21, i'm 24 now and use lantus humalog and apidra.
Do you all use the basal/bolus (seperate long and fast acting insulins) and adjust doses according to carbohydrate in your food, or does anyone use something different or fixed doses?
It isn't happening every day, just I have no routine these days I up and down the Levemir according to how my blood is that night, I suppose I could do with downing it one more when it's low though. To be honest it's only partly diabetes that has me not eating lunch. I'm Coeliac as well so can't eat most of the food at work (everyone else just makes themselves a toasted sandwich for lunch) and I'm basically living very much hand to mouth and am pretty stressed out. Really need to start bringing food with me though...
It took me a while to agree to basal bolus purely because Levemir wasn't available and the other cartridges don't fit my pen. I use the Novopen Penmate - for children who are scared of needles lol I've been using that for years and love it so I didn't want to start having to actually put the needle in myself. I had trouble getting to grips with that. I was ok for a year and I don't know what happened after that but it took me ages to inject every time (with lots of tears) until I got the penmate.
I carb count but now I just guess some things. If I'm going to be home all day then I'll just give a few units extra as I know I'll just end up eating more! Plus if I'm at work I'll give less than what I'm eating as I go low at work quite easily.
I up and down the Levemir according to how my blood is that night, I suppose I could do with downing it one more when it's low though. To be honest it's only partly diabetes that has me not eating lunch. I'm Coeliac as well so can't eat most of the food at work (everyone else just makes themselves a toasted sandwich for lunch) and I'm basically living very much hand to mouth and am pretty stressed out. Really need to start bringing food with me though...It took me a while to agree to basal bolus purely because Levemir wasn't available and the other cartridges don't fit my pen. I use the Novopen Penmate - for children who are scared of needles lol I've been using that for years and love it so I didn't want to start having to actually put the needle in myself. I had trouble getting to grips with that. I was ok for a year and I don't know what happened after that but it took me ages to inject every time (with lots of tears) until I got the penmate.
I carb count but now I just guess some things. If I'm going to be home all day then I'll just give a few units extra as I know I'll just end up eating more! Plus if I'm at work I'll give less than what I'm eating as I go low at work quite easily.
(edited 12 years ago)
Hey my friend is doing a project on future products to control blood glucose levels. It would be great if you could help him out. It should only take less than a minute. Thanks! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QZ5HLN2
I'm 21, type 1 diabetic since January 2003, when I was 12.
I started out by losing loads of weight very quickly. I'm skinny anyway, but I became skeletal within a few weeks. I constantly had to drink (would take three bottles of squash with me to school, and usually buy two more cans on top of that). When I tried to clear my throat, the saliva would come out as a white powder which would actually sparkle in the sun O.o I had to go the toilet every half an hour, and was constantly lethargic.
One morning I got up and got ready for school, by the time I was at the bottom of the stairs I collapsed onto my knees from exhaustion. My dad (who is also type 1 diabetic, but we didn't think his was genetic for various reasons, until his mum turned round and said her sister had it) took me to hospital and they did a blood test. My sugar levels were off the scale ("over 60") so it was kind of obvious what it was. I was in hospital for a few days while they sorted out my sugar levels.
I put the weight I had lost back on within a few weeks, and after an 'okay' few years with sugar level control, I'm now doing really well. Latest HbA1c was 6.9%, so just inside normal range. I use Lantus and Novorapid now. I was originally on Levemir but I had a funny reaction to that, so swapped to Lantus.
As for hypo stories. I've never had a super serious one, but there is one that sticks out in my mind because I don't remember any of it. I woke up one morning with my back covered in scratches. I went downstairs and my dad was looking at me a bit funny. I asked what was wrong, and he opened the cupboard. One of the shelves had collapsed and another was half off its hinges. I must have had a hypo in the night, and instinctively gone looking for something to eat. Then I must have collapsed in the cupboard (its a walk-in one), had something to eat, then found my way back to bed. The scratches didn't clear up for days.
Glad to see we've got a proper thread going on this now
I started out by losing loads of weight very quickly. I'm skinny anyway, but I became skeletal within a few weeks. I constantly had to drink (would take three bottles of squash with me to school, and usually buy two more cans on top of that). When I tried to clear my throat, the saliva would come out as a white powder which would actually sparkle in the sun O.o I had to go the toilet every half an hour, and was constantly lethargic.
One morning I got up and got ready for school, by the time I was at the bottom of the stairs I collapsed onto my knees from exhaustion. My dad (who is also type 1 diabetic, but we didn't think his was genetic for various reasons, until his mum turned round and said her sister had it) took me to hospital and they did a blood test. My sugar levels were off the scale ("over 60") so it was kind of obvious what it was. I was in hospital for a few days while they sorted out my sugar levels.
I put the weight I had lost back on within a few weeks, and after an 'okay' few years with sugar level control, I'm now doing really well. Latest HbA1c was 6.9%, so just inside normal range. I use Lantus and Novorapid now. I was originally on Levemir but I had a funny reaction to that, so swapped to Lantus.
As for hypo stories. I've never had a super serious one, but there is one that sticks out in my mind because I don't remember any of it. I woke up one morning with my back covered in scratches. I went downstairs and my dad was looking at me a bit funny. I asked what was wrong, and he opened the cupboard. One of the shelves had collapsed and another was half off its hinges. I must have had a hypo in the night, and instinctively gone looking for something to eat. Then I must have collapsed in the cupboard (its a walk-in one), had something to eat, then found my way back to bed. The scratches didn't clear up for days.
Glad to see we've got a proper thread going on this now
Original post by FXX
As for hypo stories. I've never had a super serious one, but there is one that sticks out in my mind because I don't remember any of it. I woke up one morning with my back covered in scratches. I went downstairs and my dad was looking at me a bit funny. I asked what was wrong, and he opened the cupboard. One of the shelves had collapsed and another was half off its hinges. I must have had a hypo in the night, and instinctively gone looking for something to eat. Then I must have collapsed in the cupboard (its a walk-in one), had something to eat, then found my way back to bed. The scratches didn't clear up for days.
As for hypo stories. I've never had a super serious one, but there is one that sticks out in my mind because I don't remember any of it. I woke up one morning with my back covered in scratches. I went downstairs and my dad was looking at me a bit funny. I asked what was wrong, and he opened the cupboard. One of the shelves had collapsed and another was half off its hinges. I must have had a hypo in the night, and instinctively gone looking for something to eat. Then I must have collapsed in the cupboard (its a walk-in one), had something to eat, then found my way back to bed. The scratches didn't clear up for days.
hahaha ohhh dear. don't think i have any amusing hypo stories.
WELCOME TO THE GROUP EVERYBODY!!!!
Please feel free to talk about your diabetes experiences. Share your problems, give some advice, have an opinion. We are all diabetics, so we can easily support one another.
Please feel free to talk about your diabetes experiences. Share your problems, give some advice, have an opinion. We are all diabetics, so we can easily support one another.
I thought we already had this one? http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1929631 Shame it died so quickly.
Original post by FXX
I thought we already had this one? http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1929631 Shame it died so quickly.
Agreed, but I thought making a group would make the thing more official, so more people would notice and join.
@ FXX; how low were you :O. The lowest I've been without realising is 0.6 - that was a couple of weeks ago, when I was walking up the 2nd steepest hill in Aberystwyth back from town to the university. Adrenaline or what! I don't know how i didn't notice.
Original post by gagaslilmonsteruk
@ FXX; how low were you :O. The lowest I've been without realising is 0.6 - that was a couple of weeks ago, when I was walking up the 2nd steepest hill in Aberystwyth back from town to the university. Adrenaline or what! I don't know how i didn't notice.
Wow. 0.6?? The lowest I've been (feeling perfectly normal) was 1.2. I always get paranoid that my machine is playing up when I get results like that!
I went into Diabetic Ketoacidosis in August through no fault of my own (twice) after having no complications for almost 11 years, turns out I had the most serious blood infection that you could get and was treated like a suicide case as they blamed me! Good ole NHS.
Original post by Sprockette
I was 12 when I was diagnosed. Although I had diagnosed myself months earlier - I had read the symptoms on one of those packets of flower seeds from the Diabetes Federation and told my brother (why my brother and not my Mum I don't know but anyway) who laughed at me and told me not to be stupid. So I didn't mention it again... I eventually got so tired (April 1999) I had a few days off sick from school with my Mum feeding me a constant supply of 7Up and toast with marmalade.. oops! So after 3 days of that I went to my GP and said I had diabetes and sent me to hospital. My blood was 33 when I went in but I don't remember much else about getting there besides them offering me a wheelchair as I was so weak. I remember those 3am blood tests too. I remember crying once when I came back from a few hours out of hospital, being starving, sitting down to dinner and then being told, "No, your blood is too high, you can't eat yet" The first day I came home, I ate about 6 slices of wholemeal bread (another change!) and then having a blood sugar of 18. Stupid bread!
Also I remember I was reading Angela's Ashes at the time and the consultant apparently told my mum that it wasn't suitable, it was too adult and depressing lol She took it off me til I got home
I was in hospital the next year as well feeling very similar. I got Coeliac a year, probably triggered by diabetes - anyone else have that? then I cried because my toast was burnt and loads of other silly things. I was really upset as the food they served was so crap! And I knew more than them, even then! They served me fish fingers and pasta 2 evenings and I could tell them after a day of being diagnosed, "Oh come on, is this not on your chart? I'm only here because I've been diagnosed as allergic!?". Mum brought me food from home after that
Looking back the paediatric diabetic clinic I was at was utterly useless. I was recommended I could have 3 treats a week, which had to have less than 3g of fat (at 12, roll on eating dosorder). I mean, i get now where they were coming from with the <3g of fat per 100g being low fat but they got it totally wrong! They were very focused on kids not going low but not too focused on the highs which were my worry about problems in the future (mature even then!). But they just said they don't matter too much as long as you can get the lows under control. I felt like they weren't thinking about the bigger picture, they were dealing with kids so only had to focus on the here and now for the next few years.
The first day I came home, I ate about 6 slices of wholemeal bread (another change!) and then having a blood sugar of 18. Stupid bread!Also I remember I was reading Angela's Ashes at the time and the consultant apparently told my mum that it wasn't suitable, it was too adult and depressing lol She took it off me til I got home
I was in hospital the next year as well feeling very similar. I got Coeliac a year, probably triggered by diabetes - anyone else have that? then I cried because my toast was burnt and loads of other silly things. I was really upset as the food they served was so crap! And I knew more than them, even then! They served me fish fingers and pasta 2 evenings and I could tell them after a day of being diagnosed, "Oh come on, is this not on your chart? I'm only here because I've been diagnosed as allergic!?". Mum brought me food from home after that
Looking back the paediatric diabetic clinic I was at was utterly useless. I was recommended I could have 3 treats a week, which had to have less than 3g of fat (at 12, roll on eating dosorder). I mean, i get now where they were coming from with the <3g of fat per 100g being low fat but they got it totally wrong! They were very focused on kids not going low but not too focused on the highs which were my worry about problems in the future (mature even then!). But they just said they don't matter too much as long as you can get the lows under control. I felt like they weren't thinking about the bigger picture, they were dealing with kids so only had to focus on the here and now for the next few years.
Yeah I've got Coeliacs too, a lot of people get both.
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