# Recently diagnosed



## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 9, 2018)

Hi new to the forum was recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and still getting used to the insulin 8 units and 25 at night still yet to see a dietician until Monday could anyone advise the types of foods when they were first diagnosed and what they had for breakfast dinner and tea thankyou mat


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 9, 2018)

Also after eating each main meal how long after should you take your Insulin


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## stephknits (Feb 9, 2018)

Hi Matt, welcome to the forum. Most, but definitely not all take their insulin before their meal, to try to avoid a spike in blood sugar after it, as most insulins take a little while to get going.  What insulin are you on?


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## mikeyB (Feb 9, 2018)

Hi Matthew, welcome to the forum.

Can I ask what insulin you are using, and who started you on it? Sounds distinctly odd for a new Type 1. Certainly this century, anyway.  I cant really answer your question without knowing that.

Generally speaking, you should be avoiding high carbohydrate meals. That doesn’t mean just sugar, but spuds, pasta, white bread and such should be avoided, certainly until you’ve seen a dietician, and until you are on a proper multi dose insulin regime.

You need to be able to recognise a hypo. I assume you have been given a blood glucose testing kit. Anything 4 or below needs treating with something sweet and quickly absorbed - jelly babies are particularly good for this.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 9, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> Hi Matthew, welcome to the forum.
> 
> Can I ask what insulin you are using, and who started you on it? Sounds distinctly odd for a new Type 1. Certainly this century, anyway.  I cant really answer your question without knowing that.
> 
> ...



I take insulin as part novorapid 8 units 3 times a day after meals and insulin glargine abasaglar kwikpen 25 units before bedtime


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 9, 2018)

Any help much appreciated


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## mikeyB (Feb 9, 2018)

Thanks for explaining that, Mat. 

Generally speaking, Novorapid should be taken before food. How soon before food varies from person to person, depending on their particular response, but you will come to no great harm in the short term if you take it straight after food.

Has anyone explained to you variation of dose depending on the carbohydrates in the meal, rather than using a fixed dose?

It may well be that you are on an interim fixed dose until such time as you are seen again in the clinic, and, of course, the dietician.

The main thing is are you testing your glucose levels, and, if so, how are they doing? You really need to record your waking level, and 2 hours after eating at the very least to give your diabetes team an idea about dosage levels.

Out of interest, how did you come to be diagnosed?


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## Carolg (Feb 10, 2018)

Hi Mathew and welcome to forum


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## Amberzak (Feb 10, 2018)

Hi Matt. 

Hopefully your dietician or nurse will soon teach you to carb count. That’s when you calculate how much insulin you’ll need for the carbs your eating. It’s a bit of trial and error, but generally it’s around one unit of insulin for 10 grams of carbs. Until then, it is a case of the more carbs you eat the more insulin you need. 

The thing is that not all carbs are equal. Some carbs, like sugary food and mash potato, act a lot quicker and others, like like unsweetened porridge, act slower. Those are called low GI foods. 

There’s a book that was recommended to me. It’s by a guy named Ragnor Hanus and is called type one diabetes in children, adolescents and young adults. It’s amazing and I learned so much from it. I highly recommend it. 

I’d highly recommend testing sugars quite a bit at this stage, to check what’s happening. 

Many people do inject before eating but I still inject after. (Well, now I’m on the insulin pump so I can split it, but before I would inject after). My reason is that I’m a fussy eater and I wouldn’t always eat all my dinner, causing hypos. 

At this stage it doesn’t matter if you inject before or after. As long as you inject.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 10, 2018)

Thanks for all your help


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 12, 2018)

Has anybody ever suffered from blurry vision in one eye with type one diabetes only affects small writing  with me at the minute is this normal?


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 12, 2018)

Hi and welcome to the forum 
I had blurry vision when diagnosed, it seems to be pretty standard when diagnosed, as the lens becomes mishapen by high sugar levels and it should calm down as your sugar levels stabilise. Please ask your DSN to put you forward for your local equivalent of the DAFNE course so you can learn to carb count and adjust your insulin to what you eat.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 12, 2018)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum
> I had blurry vision when diagnosed, it seems to be pretty standard when diagnosed, as the lens becomes mishapen by high sugar levels and it should calm down as your sugar levels stabilise. Please ask your DSN to put you forward for your local equivalent of the DAFNE course so you can learn to carb count and adjust your insulin to what you eat.



Thank you I also take the Novorapid


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 12, 2018)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> Hi and welcome to the forum
> I had blurry vision when diagnosed, it seems to be pretty standard when diagnosed, as the lens becomes mishapen by high sugar levels and it should calm down as your sugar levels stabilise. Please ask your DSN to put you forward for your local equivalent of the DAFNE course so you can learn to carb count and adjust your insulin to what you eat.



Was your Blurred Vision with just small font text Lucy? Seem to be fine with larger fonts


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## SB2015 (Feb 12, 2018)

Welcome  to the forum Matthew.

Like you I was started on fixed doses of insulin for each meal for a while.  I also injected after my meals initially.  As others have said with Novorapid it takes a bit of time to get active and if given after your meal it will lag behind the carbs being converted to glucose and entering your blood.  When you know what you are eating you could try injecting just before you eat.  As others have said it is good to find out about carb counting as putting it simply the carbs you eat the more insulin you will need.  They should start you on this idea soon and as others have said getting a place on a DAFNE course is brilliant.  I learnt so much from my course and also enjoyed meeting others who had T1.

Things will take time to settle, including your sight.  But once you get your BG under control your sight should return to normal.

There is a lot to learn very quickly at the start, but it becomes just a part of your ne normal life.  If you have any questions there are plenty of people on this forum who are very happy to help.  Just ask.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 12, 2018)

SB2015 said:


> Welcome  to the forum Matthew.
> 
> Like you I was started on fixed doses of insulin for each meal for a while.  I also injected after my meals initially.  As others have said with Novorapid it takes a bit of time to get active and if given after your meal it will lag behind the carbs being converted to glucose and entering your blood.  When you know what you are eating you could try injecting just before you eat.  As others have said it is good to find out about carb counting as putting it simply the carbs you eat the more insulin you will need.  They should start you on this idea soon and as others have said getting a place on a DAFNE course is brilliant.  I learnt so much from my course and also enjoyed meeting others who had T1.
> 
> ...



Yes just getting used to things as was only diagnosed last Wednesday at the age of 26 really appreciate everyone’s help and support just got little worried about the eye sight but has reassured me some more now thank you


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## Lucy Honeychurch (Feb 12, 2018)

Matthew James Hardy said:


> Was your Blurred Vision with just small font text Lucy? Seem to be fine with larger fonts



Yes, smaller text, try not to worry, it will improve.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 12, 2018)

Lucy Honeychurch said:


> Yes, smaller text, try not to worry, it will improve.



Thank you


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 12, 2018)

Probably will take time my levels were crazy when I went doctors for my annual checkup they could tell straight away I was diabetic due to how dry my lips were then did a urine sample and my levels where a staggering 19 before going to hospital for the night


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## SB2015 (Feb 12, 2018)

Sounds like you are diong really well already. 
Just take things step by step.

The best analogy I heard was comparing it to learning to drive.
When I started it seemed complex to change gear, steer, look in the mirror, dip lights, ...
Now I don’t think about all those things they are automatic.  
There are still roadblocks on the way but they are easier to deal with.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 13, 2018)

How long roughly did it take for your eye sight to return to normal Lucy?


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## Nikki35 (Feb 13, 2018)

Hi Matthew. I was diagnosed in November last year and my eye sight was also blurry as i was getting my glucose levels under control. It took around 3 weeks from when i first noticed to when i realised it had settled. I did purchase some reading glasses from Asda to help - it wasn't worth buying anything expensive. Your vision will settle, its frustrating i know!


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 13, 2018)

Nikki35 said:


> Hi Matthew. I was diagnosed in November last year and my eye sight was also blurry as i was getting my glucose levels under control. It took around 3 weeks from when i first noticed to when i realised it had settled. I did purchase some reading glasses from Asda to help - it wasn't worth buying anything expensive. Your vision will settle, its frustrating i know!



Very frustrating can barely read my phone without these temporary spare glasses my mum has was really worried at first but now this is just the norm am guessing and my eye sight will be fine again once my body is used to the insulin ?


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## Northerner (Feb 13, 2018)

Matthew James Hardy said:


> Very frustrating can barely read my phone without these temporary spare glasses my mum has was really worried at first but now this is just the norm am guessing and my eye sight will be fine again once my body is used to the insulin ?


As you get better control of your blood glucose your sight will return to normal  The high and fluctuating glucose levels cause a distortion in the lens of the eye, making it difficult to focus. I was exactly the same, but everything came good after a few weeks


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## mikeyB (Feb 14, 2018)

Just a technical point. It’s not the lens that distorts, it’s the vitreous humor, the gel inside the eye. Because there is more sugar in the blood, osmosis (remember that from school?) causes fluid to be removed, making the eye slightly smaller and therefore slightly long sighted.


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## Northerner (Feb 14, 2018)

mikeyB said:


> Just a technical point. It’s not the lens that distorts, it’s the vitreous humor, the gel inside the eye. Because there is more sugar in the blood, osmosis (remember that from school?) causes fluid to be removed, making the eye slightly smaller and therefore slightly long sighted.


I'm going to go and put that doctor right for giving me duff information!


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## Nikki35 (Feb 14, 2018)

Matthew James Hardy said:


> Very frustrating can barely read my phone without these temporary spare glasses my mum has was really worried at first but now this is just the norm am guessing and my eye sight will be fine again once my body is used to the insulin ?



In short, yes. Its not becoming used to the insulin as such. I dont know if you've been advised to bring sugars down gradually? My DN was giving me targets for glucose levels. Once your sugars are stablised at a lower figure then your vision should settle quickly. Feels like it takes ages. I was like it over Christmas but was okay by mid-january. My vision is back to normal now.


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## trophywench (Feb 14, 2018)

Yup, took 3-4 weeks for mine to behave again.  I was bored silly at home alone - they hadn't invented daytime telly in 1972 and we didn't have a radio or record player, I couldn't see well enough to knit sew or read and there's a limit to how much cleaning you can do in a house with hardly any furniture - the floorboards were spotless though as were the windows!  I knew every cubic inch of the local park though ......


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 17, 2018)

Did anyone have headaches probably due to my eyes getting used to the insulin still feeling blurred but only been diabetic a week


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## HOBIE (Feb 17, 2018)

Matthew James Hardy said:


> Did anyone have headaches probably due to my eyes getting used to the insulin still feeling blurred but only been diabetic a week


Cant remember I was 3   Keep doing your best, very probably dehydration with your eyes.


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## Matthew James Hardy (Feb 23, 2018)

Hi everyone eye sight has now settled down got my first screening next Wednesday heard this can blurr your eyesight again how long does that usually last?


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## grovesy (Feb 24, 2018)

It lasts for a few hours and your advised not to drive yourself.


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## trophywench (Feb 24, 2018)

But even if it's a dull day - always take your sunglasses with you - the dilated pupils the drops cause to get a good view to take the photos, cause them to be hypersensitive to light and if it's actually sunny you'll most likely squint even with them on!


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## Matthew James Hardy (Mar 1, 2018)

Had this done yesterday everything well with my eye sight and so it should be at 26


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## trophywench (Mar 2, 2018)

Having a retinal photo has bog all to do with your eyesight and vice versa!

And anyway we don't get the results of retinal photos immediately even though the technician might say 'Looks OK to me!' - the photos have to be checked by Opthalmologists 'back at the office' before we get the letter to tell us what is actually what.  Admittedly I think the technician may actually mark the 'iffy' ones to be looked at quicker than the 'normal looking' ones, but I'm not certain about that.  At any event it's always been about a fortnight before I've heard a dicky bird. cos I've never needed any treatment of more than annual checks.

However my eyesight is different and definitely needs spectacles!


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## Matthew James Hardy (Mar 2, 2018)

She showed me the actual diagram of the eye on the computer screen etc said everything was well however still waiting for the results of the experts


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