# New type 1 diabetic , diagnosed 6 days ago...#Newstruggles#Newlife



## Andy young (Jun 16, 2016)

Hi my name is Andy , I'm 22 and I've recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after they found my levels were 33.9 . 
Only known for the past 6 days so the specialists are working on balancing my insulin. 
I'm on novarapid and levemir as it stands I'm on 5 injections a day but my levels have rarely gone below 15 but hopefully I will see an improvement  . 

My biggest struggle at the moment is trying not to overload my body with food like I usually do lol trying to educate myself more on what is better to eat which is also a pain.

If any body has advice, comments, or just chatting feel free. Would be good to hear others stories . 

P.s any carb coating jedi's out there that can slowly educate me would be very appreciated xx


----------



## grovesy (Jun 16, 2016)

Welcome! don't be hard on yourself it is early days yet !


----------



## Andy young (Jun 16, 2016)

grovesy said:


> Welcome! don't be hard on yourself it is early days yet !


Thankyou. I'm currently throwing all I have with a positive attitude at it. There is some real I s piratical people out there .


----------



## Martin Canty (Jun 16, 2016)

Hi Andy, welcome to the group...


----------



## Martin Canty (Jun 16, 2016)

Andy young said:


> I'm currently throwing all I have with a positive attitude at it


That's half the battle, Andy, the rest is all procedure..... Best of luck & hope they figure out the correct dosing.....

BTW, 15 down from 33 in 6 days.... Great work


----------



## Diabeticliberty (Jun 16, 2016)

Hello Andy it is a real pleasure to meet you in wish it were in different circumstances I really do but welcome to the diabetic cave. It is very easy to feel really overwhelmed when first diagnosed but if you just take things slowly step by step then pretty soon it becomes first nature. In fairness there is nothing that you cannot eat but obviously some food types will be more conducive to good management than others. It might be a good idea to get yourself settled into routine working on the foods that you currently like to eat and how much of them you can have with your current management routine. Perhaps then start to spread your wings a bit. There are loads of people on this forum more than ready to offer you advice. Perhaps follow it and then over a period of time adapt it to what works best for your own lifestyle.  There really are no absolute rights or absolute wrongs with diabetes since we are all unique. Enjoy your own uniqueness


----------



## Andy young (Jun 16, 2016)

Martin Canty said:


> That's half the battle, Andy, the rest is all procedure..... Best of luck & hope they figure out the correct dosing.....
> 
> BTW, 15 down from 33 in 6 days.... Great work


Thank you Martin, appreciate it


----------



## Andy young (Jun 16, 2016)

Diabeticliberty said:


> Hello Andy it is a real pleasure to meet you in wish it were in different circumstances I really do but welcome to the diabetic cave. It is very easy to feel really overwhelmed when first diagnosed but if you just take things slowly step by step then pretty soon it becomes first nature. In fairness there is nothing that you cannot eat but obviously some food types will be more conducive to good management than others. It might be a good idea to get yourself settled into routine working on the foods that you currently like to eat and how much of them you can have with your current management routine. Perhaps then start to spread your wings a bit. There are loads of people on this forum more than ready to offer you advice. Perhaps follow it and then over a period of time adapt it to what works best for your own lifestyle.  There really are no absolute rights or absolute wrongs with diabetes since we are all unique. Enjoy your own uniqueness



Thankyou for the reply and for the advice so much easier hearing stuff from people who have the same diagnosis (diabetes in general) just trying to get used to being run down alot , very new to this forum so yet to have a look what's about so thanks again


----------



## KookyCat (Jun 16, 2016)

Hi Andy
Sorry to hear you have to join our club.  Diabetes is a right pain at times, but it gets easier the more you learn about it.  If you give it time and attention for a while it pays in the longer term because you can just respect it and live with it and get on with the rest of your life.  It takes a while to get there but I promise it gets easier, and you'll start to feel better when the insulin stabilises.  I'll stop waffling now and say welcome aboard


----------



## trophywench (Jun 16, 2016)

Well the only thing really a Type 1 needs to watch in our diet, ids the carbohydrate content.  Not because we 'cannot' eat them - far from it! - but because we have to match the bolus (faster acting) insulin near enough correctly to those carbs in order for our body to deal with them.  I happen to be 'lucky' in this respect  as for most of them I happen to need 1u for every 10g of carb.  This makes the maths easier if nothing else LOL

However - by no means everybody will need the same ratio, and by no means everyone will need the SAME ratio for each meal throughout the day, or for that particular meal's other contents either !

Aaarrgghh - almost everyone is different in this respect Andy! - but at least the medical profession understand that a bit better nowadays than they used to - but Hey - look! - we survived!  LOL

22 is a brilliant age to be diagnosed - I'm certain that you'll agree with me when I say that all the BEST people are ........

Has anyone suggested any reading matter to you?  First choice would be 'Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young Adults' by Ragnar Hanas and the second - to help you to carb count is a book entitled 'Carbs & Cals' - for which there is also a phone App.

This is a marathon not a sprint - so don't expect to know it all quickly.  Learn it in small pieces - easier to eat and a lot easier to digest.

They say you'll get there eventually but TBH, they learn something new about D practically every day - so absolutely nobody that has ever lived knows everything!   ...... Yet!

Good luck!


----------



## Andy young (Jun 16, 2016)

KookyCat said:


> Hi Andy
> Sorry to hear you have to join our club.  Diabetes is a right pain at times, but it gets easier the more you learn about it.  If you give it time and attention for a while it pays in the longer term because you can just respect it and live with it and get on with the rest of your life.  It takes a while to get there but I promise it gets easier, and you'll start to feel better when the insulin stabilises.  I'll stop waffling now and say welcome aboard


Thankyou means alot  !!


----------



## Andy young (Jun 16, 2016)

trophywench said:


> Well the only thing really a Type 1 needs to watch in our diet, ids the carbohydrate content.  Not because we 'cannot' eat them - far from it! - but because we have to match the bolus (faster acting) insulin near enough correctly to those carbs in order for our body to deal with them.  I happen to be 'lucky' in this respect  as for most of them I happen to need 1u for every 10g of carb.  This makes the maths easier if nothing else LOL
> 
> However - by no means everybody will need the same ratio, and by no means everyone will need the SAME ratio for each meal throughout the day, or for that particular meal's other contents either !
> 
> ...


Wow thank you trophywench really appreciate i will look into those books and the app for sure !! Anything to help get over the rough stages to start with is worth a go so thankyou!


----------



## zx10pilot (Jun 17, 2016)

Hi Andy, welcome to the club you don't want to join... I was diagnosed with type 1 about two months ago so know pretty much where you are at the moment.
All I can say is this lot on here are fantastic, there is a wealth of information on the site (I'm reading posts every night long after I should be in bed) and don't worry about asking daft questions.  
My only advice is to try and keep a food diary as you may find there are some foods that you can eat which don't affect your levels very much - for me new potatoes and wholemeal pitta bread work very well (and help me feel more "normal"). "Carbs and Cals" is a great tool to help with the carb counting.  Are you testing your BG before and 2 hrs after meals?
Good luck with everything and keep up the positive attitude


----------



## Copepod (Jun 17, 2016)

Welcome to the club noone wants to join. For Jedi-like teaching of carb counting, Bournemouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre has a free online course, although you need to register. For detail about exercise, whatever your sport(s), Runsweet and TeamBloodGlucose websites both have lots of information. In the longer term, many areas offer education courses such as DAFNE to people at least one year post diagnosis.
What else is important in your life?
I was also diagnosed as a young adult, aged 30 years, but you might not share my interests


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

zx10pilot said:


> Hi Andy, welcome to the club you don't want to join... I was diagnosed with type 1 about two months ago so know pretty much where you are at the moment.
> All I can say is this lot on here are fantastic, there is a wealth of information on the site (I'm reading posts every night long after I should be in bed) and don't worry about asking daft questions.
> My only advice is to try and keep a food diary as you may find there are some foods that you can eat which don't affect your levels very much - for me new potatoes and wholemeal pitta bread work very well (and help me feel more "normal"). "Carbs and Cals" is a great tool to help with the carb counting.  Are you testing your BG before and 2 hrs after meals?
> Good luck with everything and keep up the positive attitude


Thank you for reply . I test before every meal and 1 at 9:30ish and one at bed time , currently 5 injections a day but defo going to have to increase my units


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

Copepod said:


> Welcome to the club noone wants to join. For Jedi-like teaching of carb counting, Bournemouth Diabetes and Endocrine Centre has a free online course, although you need to register. For detail about exercise, whatever your sport(s), Runsweet and TeamBloodGlucose websites both have lots of information. In the longer term, many areas offer education courses such as DAFNE to people at least one year post diagnosis.
> What else is important in your life?
> I was also diagnosed as a young adult, aged 30 years, but you might not share my interests


Hello thank you for your reply.  I'm ex army came out last year so like my fitness . But I lost 4kg in two weeks so laying off it for the moment lol being active occasional drinking , other than gaming one of my main hobbies fitness and walking are my active ones .


----------



## Stitch147 (Jun 17, 2016)

Hi Andy and welcome to the forum.


----------



## Northerner (Jun 17, 2016)

Andy young said:


> Hi my name is Andy , I'm 22 and I've recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after they found my levels were 33.9 .
> Only known for the past 6 days so the specialists are working on balancing my insulin.
> I'm on novarapid and levemir as it stands I'm on 5 injections a day but my levels have rarely gone below 15 but hopefully I will see an improvement  .
> 
> ...


Hi Andy, welcome to the forum  Very sorry to hear about your diagnosis, how did it come about? There is a very steep learning curve with lots to get your head around, but you will get there! You will learn new things every day, but try not to become overwhelmed and do ask any questions you have - no question is 'silly'! 

I would definitely recommend getting a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - considered to be the 'bible' for children and young people on insulin regimes. Just browsing through it can help you to raise questions and learn about what you might expect. Always keep something sugary with you in case of hypos - my hypo treatment of choice is jelly babies, between 1 and 3 depending on how I feel and what the meter is showing me 

It will take a little time to establish appropriate doses of insulin for you. It's likely that you will be very hungry to begin with as your body will have been unable to make use of your food properly prior to your diagnosis, hence the weight loss. Don't worry, this is perfectly normal - I lost 8 kilos in three days prior to my diagnosis and was absolutely ravenous once they had given me insulin!  Also, your eyesight might go a bit blurry as your levels normalise - this is also perfectly normal, and will normally improve within a week or two if it happens. If you are interested in learning how everything works from a fitness point of view, I'd recommend getting a copy of the Diabetic Athlete's Handbook - it's written by an American, so uses different units for blood sugar levels (you have to divide theirs by 18 to get what it would be in UK units, or multiply ours by 18 to get theirs).

Good luck, ask!


----------



## Flower (Jun 17, 2016)

Hello and welcome Andy 

It is one steep learning curve to start with and a bit mind boggling trying to run just one part of what a body normally does. Take it slowly and bit by bit the pieces of the diabetes jigsaw will start to slot together, I still have days when I'm definitely missing a few pieces of the jigsaw! That's just part of the lovely diabetes challenge, aim for stability and as good control as possible because there is no getting it right all the time, just too many variables at work.

Give yourself time to recover from the turmoil your body has been through lately struggling without insulin before diagnosis, it takes a good while to get back to working order and equilibrium.
This forum is full of lovely, knowledgeable people dealing with the same problems so you are in a very good place for advice and support. I wish you well getting sorted with things


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

Stitch147 said:


> Hi Andy and welcome to the forum.


Thank you stitch


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

Northerner said:


> Hi Andy, welcome to the forum  Very sorry to hear about your diagnosis, how did it come about? There is a very steep learning curve with lots to get your head around, but you will get there! You will learn new things every day, but try not to become overwhelmed and do ask any questions you have - no question is 'silly'!
> 
> I would definitely recommend getting a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children Adolescents and Young People by Ragnar Hanas - considered to be the 'bible' for children and young people on insulin regimes. Just browsing through it can help you to raise questions and learn about what you might expect. Always keep something sugary with you in case of hypos - my hypo treatment of choice is jelly babies, between 1 and 3 depending on how I feel and what the meter is showing me
> 
> ...



Thank you northerner for the in depth comment it was very useful will check out the things you recommended!  just randomly went in to the doctors to check something and it turned out it was type 1 originally I thought I had thrush but no that would of been nice haha I do appreciate the advice and will definitely listen to it so thank you


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

Flower said:


> Hello and welcome Andy
> 
> It is one steep learning curve to start with and a bit mind boggling trying to run just one part of what a body normally does. Take it slowly and bit by bit the pieces of the diabetes jigsaw will start to slot together, I still have days when I'm definitely missing a few pieces of the jigsaw! That's just part of the lovely diabetes challenge, aim for stability and as good control as possible because there is no getting it right all the time, just too many variables at work.
> 
> ...



Thank you flower means alot especially the turn out of people giving me advice and support that itself is slightly over whelping in a good way!! So thankyou for your comment


----------



## HOBIE (Jun 17, 2016)

Andy young said:


> Hi my name is Andy , I'm 22 and I've recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after they found my levels were 33.9 .
> Only known for the past 6 days so the specialists are working on balancing my insulin.
> I'm on novarapid and levemir as it stands I'm on 5 injections a day but my levels have rarely gone below 15 but hopefully I will see an improvement  .
> 
> ...


Welcome Andy !  You have joined a good site for info etc. Please keep asking.   In a couple of weeks its my 50th year of T1 (a lot of hard work) But has never stopped me from doing anything.   Good luck & ask away


----------



## everydayupsanddowns (Jun 17, 2016)

Hi Andy

Good that you found this forum so soon after diagnosis. It can really help to have a bunch of people who 'get it' to bounce questions and ideas off to make your appointments at the Drs/clinic more productive.

I'm another who was Dx'd at almost the same time as you (I was a year earlier at 21 - and 25 years later no D-nasties to speak of). Living with T1 has never really stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do. Some things just take a bit more preparation and lateral thinking  Keep working away at it and you'll get there!


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

HOBIE said:


> Welcome Andy !  You have joined a good site for info etc. Please keep asking.   In a couple of weeks its my 50th year of T1 (a lot of hard work) But has never stopped me from doing anything.   Good luck & ask away


Thankyou and wow ! Fair play to you you sound like a strong person ! Thank you again


----------



## Andy young (Jun 17, 2016)

everydayupsanddowns said:


> Hi Andy
> 
> Good that you found this forum so soon after diagnosis. It can really help to have a bunch of people who 'get it' to bounce questions and ideas off to make your appointments at the Drs/clinic more productive.
> 
> I'm another who was Dx'd at almost the same time as you (I was a year earlier at 21 - and 25 years later no D-nasties to speak of). Living with T1 has never really stopped me from doing anything I wanted to do. Some things just take a bit more preparation and lateral thinking  Keep working away at it and you'll get there!


Thankyou for the reply all this good advice and people that have battled with it it's an inspiration , so I appreciate you taking the time to message thank you again


----------



## TheClockworkDodo (Jun 17, 2016)

Hi Andy and welcome 

You've already been given loads of good advice, so I'll just say if you have any questions please do ask - someone is sure to be able to help.


----------



## Copepod (Jun 17, 2016)

Andy young said:


> Hello thank you for your reply.  I'm ex army came out last year so like my fitness . But I lost 4kg in two weeks so laying off it for the moment lol being active occasional drinking , other than gaming one of my main hobbies fitness and walking are my active ones .


I'm also ex Army, diagnosed about 1 year after resignining to travel overseas, aiming to emigrate, but diagnosi meant the end of that, plus no chance of professional SCUBA diving, minibus driving etc. Still, back in UK, I'm working in several jobs, including coaching orienteering, teaching bush craft, pond dipping etc, plus led expeditions to Costa Rica, Chile / Falklands / South Georgia, and lots of independent travel, mountain marathons etc. No need to give up alcohol, but a bit of blood glucose testing is part of the deal now.


----------



## Carolg (Jun 19, 2016)

Hi Andy and welcome to forum. Can't say anything about insulin, but good luck with getting your head around everything.


----------



## Irene Matthews (Jun 22, 2016)

Hi Andy,

What did you say your bs levels were i am supposed to be type 2 but have high levels one of mine was 27+ diabetes nurse said last week when i went to see her i am being put on insulin too cus of high numbers no other choice.
Let us all know how you get on likewise i am new to all of this too.
Hope you get on ok .

IreneMatthews.


----------



## heatherjoy (Jun 22, 2016)

Hi, welcome to the forum! 
Make sure you give yourself time to adjust, when I was first diagnosed I found trying to adjust too quickly made things even harder!


----------

