# Hello all :) diagnosed t1 over two months ago, 10 days after 16th birthday



## Georgia (Nov 25, 2011)

Hello everybody,
Having been fortunate enough to live 15 years of almost perfect health, 'disaster' struck the day after my 16th birthday... excessive thirst, craving sugar, excessive urination, headaches, sudden poor sight. My local pharmacist and opticians were certain I was exaggerating or was wrong, stating "don't be so silly - you're not diabetic". I knew there was something up, 10 days later I found myself in A&E, terrified, to find out my Blood Glucose level was 29.7. I knew that was it - I was T1 Diabetic for life. 

I got out of hospital late the following day, equipped with insulin, glucose tablets etc... and a whole lot to learn about my new life. I was one twice daily novomix. My BG levels were still poor... so i switched to 4 a day injections a week later. ('daytime insulin'=novorapid, 'night-time insulin'=levemir).

I returned to school the day after i was let out of hospital, determined to live my life. It was hard at first, but i just kept trying to do everything as i have before. Attending parties has proved greatly difficult, avoiding anything sugary/alcohol. 

So now I suppose I am doing a bit better, and it all seems a bit more 'normal' I guess... except I am greatly depressed as I have had awful headaches for about a week. My doctor could not help me in much of a way. I am terrified there is something more going on, so next Tuesday I have a CT scan in Harley St., London. I am absolutely fearing the worst - brain tumor? Apart from that i seem in fairly good control, maintaining pre-meal levels at about 6 or 7. 

This is my 'story' i guess, it would be lovely to chat with some of you out there!


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## Steff (Nov 25, 2011)

Hi Georgia and a warm welcome to the forum, sorry to hear about your diagnosis

I do hope it all goes well Tuesday for you I know it must be a huge worry for you  but try and keep positive


edit= sorry i got the wrong end of the stick x


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## Northerner (Nov 25, 2011)

Hi Georgia, welcome to the forum  Very sorry to hear that you had to end up in hospital when your diagnosis could have been made sooner - it always amazes me how often I hear that people with glaring symptoms are not believed or they don't perform the simple tests!

You seem to have done very well with getting to grips with things, so well done!  I hope that the appointment goes well on Tuesday, and it is not as bad as you fear. One thought - is there a possibility that you may be hypoing in the night? A night hypo often leaves people feeling 'hungover' the following day, including horrible headaches. Is there a possibility that your night time levemir dose is too high? Might be worth doing some 3 am checks just to make sure.

Anything you need to know, please ask and we will do our best to help out


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## Georgia (Nov 25, 2011)

Thank you very much for your warm welcomes! I think I am currently in the 'honeymoon 'period, and requiring very little insulin. So, most of the time I tend to be running a little on the low side. Perhaps  this could explain it.


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## Northerner (Nov 25, 2011)

Georgia said:


> Thank you very much for your warm welcomes! I think I am currently in the 'honeymoon 'period, and requiring very little insulin. So, most of the time I tend to be running a little on the low side. Perhaps  this could explain it.



Georgia, see if you can get a copy of Type 1 Diabetes in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults by Ragnar Hanas - it's a brilliant book about Type 1 and all the different things you may have to deal with. Also, there's lots of links to interesting stuff in the Useful links thread, so worth checking out


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## teapot8910 (Nov 25, 2011)

Welcome to the forum Georgia  Hope everything goes okay for you next week and the experts can put your mind at ease xx


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## Georgia (Nov 25, 2011)

Thanks very very much! Just to put my mind at a little more rest, any other ideas that may explain the headaches? (I'd describe them as feeling tension like, great tightness at the back of the head mostly)


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## teapot8910 (Nov 25, 2011)

Georgia said:


> Thanks very very much! Just to put my mind at a little more rest, any other ideas that may explain the headaches? (I'd describe them as feeling tension like, great tightness at the back of the head mostly)



As Alan said it could be 'hypo hangover' which does make you feel pretty rubbish for a while after. I had headaches for a while after I started insulin but they did go as I got adjusted to it xx


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## Tina63 (Nov 25, 2011)

Hi Georgia, welcome to the forum.  I wonder if the headaches could be down to the stress/anxiety/worry of your diagnosis.  My son was diagnosed almost a year ago, 3 days before his 16th birthday.  He suffered dreadful diarrhoea for a few weeks, and after talking to DSN, GP and Consultant, all agreed it was a stress/anxiety reaction.  They were right, after a few weeks it all settled down.  Do you normally get headaches in a stressful situation?  That could explain it?  You do sound like you are coping amazingly well though, keep it up, and try and stay positive.  It does take some adjustments, but life really does go on.  Hopefully the headaches settle very soon for you.


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## Georgia (Nov 25, 2011)

Thank you all for your kind, supportive, positive messages. I haven't tested in the middle of the night at any point, but perhaps i should do. I'm just assuming i'm not having hypos in the night, as when i wake my levels are usually around the 6 or 7 mark. As far as headaches are concerned, in my non-diabetic life i hardly ever had a headache, perhaps 2 or 3 times ever. But i guess it could be now due to the shock of coming to terms with this out-of-the-blue diagnosis, as well as excessive GCSE stresses at school, as well as worrying about why I have the headaches, i guess it's a vicious cycle. The more i worry about my head, the worse it will get!


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## Mark T (Nov 25, 2011)

Welcome to the forums Georgia


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## Georgia (Nov 25, 2011)

thanks Mark!


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## Tina63 (Nov 25, 2011)

This is probably a random idea, but I also wonder if now you are on insulin and almost certainly not drinking half as much as you were a few weeks ago, whether you could in fact be a bit on the dehydrated side.  That is well known to cause headaches.  Just an idea....


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## Georgia (Nov 25, 2011)

that's definitely a possibility! I never have been the best of water drinkers, but now i am aware this is so vital. Perhaps this could be the case then. However, when i was not diabetic and drinking about the same as i do now, i didnt have headaches.


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## grahams mum (Nov 25, 2011)

welcome to the forum dont worry about the headache my boy was not well for a while after diagnosis and it was keep saing this stupid sugars in my head  and i could not do nothing


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## melissaf (Nov 25, 2011)

Hi Georgia - cannot offer you much advice at the moment as I was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago with Type 1 but stick to the forum because its helped me a lot in the past 2 weeks. You sound very brave - much more than me and I should know better at the age of 33. Just listen to the advice you are given and try and not (although its hard) to get stressed. Everyone here says it becomes part of your life
 and Im confident they are right - it just takes time. Take care xx


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## Catwoman76 (Nov 25, 2011)

Georgia said:


> Hello everybody,
> Having been fortunate enough to live 15 years of almost perfect health, 'disaster' struck the day after my 16th birthday... excessive thirst, craving sugar, excessive urination, headaches, sudden poor sight. My local pharmacist and opticians were certain I was exaggerating or was wrong, stating "don't be so silly - you're not diabetic". I knew there was something up, 10 days later I found myself in A&E, terrified, to find out my Blood Glucose level was 29.7. I knew that was it - I was T1 Diabetic for life.
> 
> I got out of hospital late the following day, equipped with insulin, glucose tablets etc... and a whole lot to learn about my new life. I was one twice daily novomix. My BG levels were still poor... so i switched to 4 a day injections a week later. ('daytime insulin'=novorapid, 'night-time insulin'=levemir).
> ...



Welcome to the forum Georgia sorry to hear of your D diagnosis  I hope your scan goes well, fingers crossed for you.  Good luck and best wishes  Sheena


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## KateR (Nov 25, 2011)

Welcome to the forum Georgia. Best of luck with the hospital visit. I'm sure it will all turn out fine.


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## am64 (Nov 25, 2011)

welcome from me too ... sorry about you dx but glad you have found the forum so quickly ..it is very supportive ...


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## Estellaa (Nov 25, 2011)

welcome to the forum georgia, im only a year older than you and fairly use to diabetes now so if you need any advice or anything im here, also im on facebook if thats easier to talk  
hope you get all sorted soon! x


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## Copepod (Nov 26, 2011)

Welcome Georgina

Hope the CT scan doesn't show anything serious. Presumably that's being done privately, as I don't think there are any NHS facilities in Harley Street? Hope you have a GP who is guiding you through health / medical services, particularly as at 16 years of age, you are at the cusp of children's / paediatric and adult service. As others have said, symptoms of stress and headaches could well be associated with / caused by diagnosis of a serious (but highly manageable) lifelong condition and dehydration if you're not drinking enough fluids. 

You will learn how to drink alcohol safely (and legally!)


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## Robster65 (Nov 26, 2011)

Hi Georgia. Welcome 

I think it's all been said but if you hadn't got headaches you'd be far from normal. High BGs, stress of diagnosis, dehydration will all make you feel washed out and rubbish.

It's good that you've got access to the best medical care. At least you won't have to wait long for answers.

Rob


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## Georgia (Dec 2, 2011)

Good news! The brain scan, which was an MRI scan revealed no issues there. Still headaches, which may be caused by the novorapid I take, and am therefore switching to humalog very soon!


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## Northerner (Dec 2, 2011)

Georgia said:


> Good news! The brain scan, which was an MRI scan revealed no issues there. Still headaches, which may be caused by the novorapid I take, and am therefore switching to humalog very soon!



Ah, good to hear that it might just be the insulin  Hope the change to humalog relieves you of the headaches


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## Georgia (Dec 2, 2011)

Thanks   Have you heard of headaches related to particular types of insulin before?


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## Northerner (Dec 2, 2011)

Georgia said:


> Thanks   Have you heard of headaches related to particular types of insulin before?



I think it's very rare. A lot of people experienced problems if they went onto synthetic insulins after being on animal insulin for many years and I have heard one or two isolated cases where people have had an adverse reaction which a change of insulin has helped.


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## Georgia (Dec 2, 2011)

Okay, i understand . Perhaps i can relate headaches to the whole stress of taking on my new ways of life/exam stress/ perhaps i am sensitive to sugar fluctuations; perhaps sudden swings


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## Northerner (Dec 2, 2011)

Georgia said:


> Okay, i understand . Perhaps i can relate headaches to the whole stress of taking on my new ways of life/exam stress/ perhaps i am sensitive to sugar fluctuations; perhaps sudden swings



You're still very new to things Georgia, so it's quite possible that it's exactly that. Hopefully, things will settle for you soon as you get used to things and your body recovers from the stresses leading up to your diagnosis


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## Georgia (Dec 2, 2011)

Thanks Northerner your kind words have been great, i hope so too. The headaches are incredibly annoying!


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## Craig1980 (Dec 3, 2011)

Wecome to the forum 

Sorry to hear of your diagnosis, must be hard for someone of your age. However ask as many questions, no matter how silly they seem as there are alot of people here on hand to give you sound advice and guidance. 

Good Luck


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