# Hi all, I'm new here!



## Natalie123 (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi everyone,

I have just come across your wonderful forum  I am 23 and have been been type 1 since I was 16 and I am really looking forward to getting to know other people with diabetes and hoping that I can solve some of my unanswered questions ...

Natalie


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## Steff (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie and a warm welcome to this wonderful forum x


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## Northerner (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie, welcome to the forum  Please feel free to ask anything you want and we'll do our best to help  - don't feel you ought to know it all because you've been diagnosed a few years, there's always something new to learn!  What insulin are you on, and how are your levels behaving?

Looking forward to hearing more from you.


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## lucy123 (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie - Hello and welcome!


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## Natalie123 (Mar 1, 2011)

I am on Levemir twice a day and Apidra before meals. My blood sugars have been a lot more stable recently although I have some way still to go, my HbA1C is improving - down from 9.4 to 7.1%. 

My blood sugar control seems to vary a lot and my main problems are with dealing with Stress as this affects my control badly and coping with low mood sometimes.


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## chrismbee (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie123 and welcome 

I joined this forum after 28 years of diabetes and have already learned some useful stuff - things that you will never get from a DSN or from books!

@ecky-thump-boy: is it a requirement for newbies to have a "123" at the end of their name now? Seems to me to be a bit abc-ist


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## Northerner (Mar 1, 2011)

Natalie123 said:


> I am on Levemir twice a day and Apidra before meals. My blood sugars have been a lot more stable recently although I have some way still to go, my HbA1C is improving - down from 9.4 to 7.1%.
> 
> My blood sugar control seems to vary a lot and my main problems are with dealing with Stress as this affects my control badly and coping with low mood sometimes.



That's a good improvement in your HbA1c  Do you find you have any particular part of the day when you have a problem? Have you been on a carb counting course, like DAFNE for example? Sorry about all the questions!


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## shiv (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie! I'm 22 and have had type 1 for 20 years. Great you found us!


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## teapot8910 (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie

Welcome to the forum!  x


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## macast (Mar 1, 2011)

hi Natalie ... welcome to the forum


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## Deborah Batton (Mar 1, 2011)

Hi Natalie, I was only diagnosed Type 1 in February this year, but already been given some encouraging advice.


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## Sheilagh1958 (Mar 1, 2011)

Welcome to the forum Natalie


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## stxo (Mar 2, 2011)

hey natalie, i've just joined as well, i'm 19, got diagnosed 12 1/2 years ago, but want to learn more about diabetes, so your not alone! hope your ok


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## Jennywren (Mar 2, 2011)

Hi Natalie , welcome to the forum


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## ypauly (Mar 2, 2011)

Hello and welcome to the forum.


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## Freddie99 (Mar 2, 2011)

Hey Natalie,

I'm twenty and I've been type one for coming up to fifteen years. Welcome to bedlam.

Tom


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## Natalie123 (Mar 2, 2011)

I have most of my problems in the morning after breakfast. I get very tired and find simple things like getting up the stairs hard. However my blood sugars are usually ok. I will post some of the questions I have on the general message board. 

I have done a carb counting course, but it wasn't particularly sucessful, I seem to need about the same dose regardless of how much carbs I eat, for example in the morning I have about 40g carbs with 34 units of insulin and for lunch I eat about the same amount of carbs, maybe up to 50g but only need 8 - 10 units of insulin depending what I am eating and how my blood sugar level is before eating!


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## Northerner (Mar 2, 2011)

Natalie123 said:


> I have most of my problems in the morning after breakfast. I get very tired and find simple things like getting up the stairs hard. However my blood sugars are usually ok. I will post some of the questions I have on the general message board.
> 
> I have done a carb counting course, but it wasn't particularly sucessful, I seem to need about the same dose regardless of how much carbs I eat, for example in the morning I have about 40g carbs with 34 units of insulin and for lunch I eat about the same amount of carbs, maybe up to 50g but only need 8 - 10 units of insulin depending what I am eating and how my blood sugar level is before eating!



Natalie, this is very common, as your carb to insulin ratios vary through the day. Most (not all!) people find that they need more insulin per 10g of carbs in the morning and then gradually (or significantly) less as the day goes on. I am similar to you - I can have a slice of toast and need 7 units for breakfast, a sandwich (more than twice the carbs) for lunch and 8 units, and then a meal in the evening with even more carbs and maybe 9 units!


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## Natalie123 (Mar 2, 2011)

Northerner said:


> Natalie, this is very common, as your carb to insulin ratios vary through the day. Most (not all!) people find that they need more insulin per 10g of carbs in the morning and then gradually (or significantly) less as the day goes on. I am similar to you - I can have a slice of toast and need 7 units for breakfast, a sandwich (more than twice the carbs) for lunch and 8 units, and then a meal in the evening with even more carbs and maybe 9 units!


Thanks Northerner! I'm glad you said that, when I did the carb counting thing I was told that I was a bit odd, I'm pleased to know that I'm normal after all


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## stxo (Mar 2, 2011)

i dont like the way because your body works slightly different to most with insulin or something, that hcp can say you were a bit odd! that is slightly out of order! but i have a higher ratio at breakfast and tea than i do to lunch, so yeah it does make sense


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## Northerner (Mar 2, 2011)

Natalie123 said:


> Thanks Northerner! I'm glad you said that, when I did the carb counting thing I was told that I was a bit odd, I'm pleased to know that I'm normal after all





stxo said:


> i dont like the way because your body works slightly different to most with insulin or something, that hcp can say you were a bit odd! that is slightly out of order! but i have a higher ratio at breakfast and tea than i do to lunch, so yeah it does make sense



We have a saying (as do many other diabetes forums!): Everybody is different! There is no 'one size fits all' as far as diabetes is concerned. Some people may match up perfectly in some aspects, but be completely different in others.


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## chrismbee (Mar 2, 2011)

Natalie123 said:


> Thanks Northerner! I'm glad you said that, when I did the carb counting thing I was told that I was a bit odd, I'm pleased to know that I'm normal after all




Be careful who you use as a reference for being "normal"


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## donnarob (Mar 3, 2011)

Hi Natalie and welcome. 

Donna


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