I’m really touched by all these great replies. Believe me, I’ve read them all and have taken them to heart. You guys are right, I really need to get accustomed to testing, and testing often. And thanks for all the suggestions on avoiding these scary lows. I’m happy to say this was a much better day!
Julie, thanks for all these great links (and the great advice), I really appreciate it!
Hi Steven and Welcome to the rest of your life! I can always relate to the woes & feelings of a new diabetic. Lord knows everyone here can totally relate to you. It does really suck when this all hits you at once. It scares you, it confuses you and it overwhelms you at first. I was like you at first, it overwhelmed me and scared me half to death. It’s allot to take in and learn for anyone. Like you, I had some really bad lows and was continually waking up in ambulances or with my friends, family or strangers helping me drink juice, bringing me back to reality. Suddenly my brain would kick in just enough to confuse me and make me wonder what is going on here? I know that feeling of just sort of waking up in the middle of a conversation your suddenly aware of, but didn’t remember having. Your diabetic educator and endocronoligist and supportive diabetic friends are now your best friends. Your lifeline so to speak. We all have been there and gone through it and you will make it, believe it or not. I stopped having all those lows after I went on my pump. The long acting insulin was the culprit in my case and on a pump you no longer need the long acting insulin. Your pump is something else you have to learn how to use, learn to wear and live with. When I got mine a (minimed paradigm link), I thought OMG~I am technology IMPAIRED, I mean I still can’t set my DVD/Video recorder correctly and I will never learn all of this technical stuff. Take a moment to breathe and take things calmly and slowly. I just prayed for God to help me comprehend it all, keep me safe and help me and never let go of my hand. I have had diabetes nearly my entire life. As research and technology moves forward and grows, life as a diabetic gets better by the day. So hang in there Steven you will make it, just as we all have, we are here for one another taking one day at a time~~Sande
Life is like a coin, you can spend it anyway you like, but you can only spend it once!
I just thought of something else that I didn’t understand right away. The long-acting insulin isn’t a straight baseline for 24 hours. It does have peaks and valleys. When I was on it, I had to eat something without a short-acting bolus around 3:00 in the afternoon to avoid going low. Your logbook should help you to figure out your own patterns.
Also, if you want to speed up the process, you can eat the same thing every day at about the same times for a week or two while you tweak your insulin. I know it’s boring but you limit a major outside influence in the experiment and can more clearly see what the insulin is doing. I had the least problems in the evening, so that’s when I would vary my diet…but in the beginning, I ate the same breakfast, lunch, and mandatory snacks on most days.
When you make the transition to a pump, you won’t have to deal with the peaks and valleys becuase you’re only using short-acting insulin in your pump and you can set the basal rate (long-acting insulin replacement) to meet your body’s needs instead of making your body (or more specificaly your stomach) meet the needs of the insulin.
Good Luck!
Hi Steven -
I’m new here too, also LADA just diagnosed. My numbers run low, reactive hypoglycemia to pre-diabetic only - when I took the 2 hour test my numbers dropped below 50 but my fasting was 113 - it seems so odd to me that bg would go low after I eat and be higher when fasting - my dr said it’s a precurser. My dad was also dx hypoglycemic a few years before he became diabetic, five years after he was dx T2 they switched his dx to T1, now we know it was LADA. SInce your numbers are still pretty low, I’m wondering if your natural ability to produce insilin is also wreaking havoc with you -
what were your numbers at Dx? (I was dx June 4th) I’m not taking anything and get numbers in the mid 40s -
Glad you are coping well now - take care
Thanks so much for your kindness and insight, Sande. That’s interesting, I’m beginning to suspect the long-acting insulin may be the culprit in my case, too. Anyway, I’m so glad you got past all those scary lows and went on the pump. And if it’s any consolation, I too am totally tech impaired! (I can barely work a toaster.)
You will get though diabetes cause u have to. DO NOT give up like some people do. Its alot to deal with, but we (tudiabetes) are here for ya. I went through alot you did, acaully every diabeic does. “why me” is a normal questioin to ask., but you are NEVER on your own in your day to day struggles.
take two things in mind: -i have to do this to stay alive -im not alone
and be positive! to the best of your ability
Hey Karen, wow, I’ve also been baffled by high fasting numbers and lows after eating. My lowest recorded low is only 69, which I know isn’t so low, but, up until I joined this community, I haven’t been so great about testing. I think you’re right, the fact that I’m still producing insulin is probably the reason for my up-close-and-personal incident with the sidewalk on Saturday!
Thanks so much for shedding light on that—I had no idea the long-acting has peaks and valleys. Great idea about diet cuz I really need to get a handle on what the insulin is doing. Wow, sounds like the pump avoids a lot of guesswork/uncertainty—something to look forward to!
Those are such great things to keep in mind—thank you for that, James. You and everyone I’ve met here have all been so incredibly positive, and I can’t tell you how much that helps.
I think that the higher you run the less tolerant you are to lows - so that’s part of why I can function at really low numbers - I just don’t get that high -
hope you can get the insulin dose right - from all I hear it’s really best to start it early but those lows are scary
Hi, I am new here too, but I have had type 1 diabetes all of my life. Please be sure as you learn about insulin that you are with someone else (for example in your home). The type 1 diabetic needs to have a person around to check to see if one is ok. Many of us have “hypoglycemia” (low blood sugar) unawareness, and we may not wake up in the a.m. You may be on a too high dose of insulin, are not taking in enough carbos, or may be overtreating the diabetes. Until you are regulated, I would have my MD send me to a center for diabetic training . (Joslin Diabetes Centers) in Boston is an example of one; you will require CLOSER monitoring. Low blood sugar can be life threatening, and one should not drive without taking blood sugar reading first. It is scary, emotional ups and downs occur with low blood sugar, then anger when it gets too high. Ask your endo for closer care, perhaps at an in patient center or clinic while you are in the injection “honey moon” phase.
My prayers are with you; know that you will be successful…Do not fear, take control…Lee
Hi Steven… It so wonderful to have found this site and realize there is a ton of support out there. I’ve been diabetic for 13 years and have met NO ONE like me and now here is an entire community. I got diagnosed at 25 (healthy as ever, fit, vegetarian, skinny) and for no reason ended up diabetic. Now I guess we know it as LADA. Now I’m 38 and have been able to carve out a normal life with this disease… with hard work. For two years I did the “why me” and I don’t want to do shots! THEN I got pissed and determined to kick this diseases ■■■ and lead a normal life as possible. It didn’t make my husband or family love me less, it didn’t make me less healthy or funny. It just became something I had to deal with. So, I got a great team in place- doctor, nutritionist, etc, family/friend support system. And I take the time I need for me when I have to do shots, do my doctors visits, etc. And I let it all hang out… shots and educating people and everything. People are surprised how well you can do with diabetes and you can and will lead by example for others. Just give yourself time to wrap your head around it, accept, reach out to others and the community and take it day by day. It’s hard to believe until I found this site I really was doing it all on my own for so long. So my advice for living with diabetes when you first get diagnosed is: feel how you want to feel. Good, bad, ugly. But realize we are all here to support you and you will live a completely normal existence with this disease.
I’ve been type 1 since age 5, 1978. I wish my mom and I had been better informed about the astounding range of complications. I went to camp, and learned about retinopathy, nephropathy and peripheral neuropathy, but most of the issues I’ve had don’t fall under those problems. Depression, adhesive capsulitis, autonomic neuropathy (heart problems, gastrointestinal problems), diabetic mastopathy… I’m sure I’ve forgotten something because I can’t keep track anymore. Luckily, most of it’s been treatable or more annoying than life-threatening, and while it has affected my quality of life at times, it hasn’t drastically changed it. It’s just a lot of stuff I could’ve lived without.
Although, I attribute all the physical complications to depression and difficulty accepting my diabetes for such a long time. So mostly, I wish there had been structured support networks integrated into the medical health care, not just for patients and families having problems in the present, but more prophylactic interventions to prevent or ameliorate the development of psychosocial issues.
PS- If family/friends/whoever ask you what they can do for you I always let them know to educate themselves best they can on this disease… at first I felt like the “diabetic educator of the universe” and it got exhausting. And let them know there may be times you are out of it, confused, need some assistance, whatever. It will happen. I also carry a Glucagon Emergeny Kit and train those sitting around me at work how to use it, etc. I’ve never had to use it but have had to stop everything and get some juice quickly.
I wish someone had told me that I’d be as healthy and happy as I am now, ten years after diagnosis.
Sounds like they started you with too high a dose. The “low” starting dose they put me on was WAY too much for me too (I have the other kind of Type 1.5, MODY)… Had i not developed a healthy paranoia about doctors and taken only 1/2 of what the doctor told me to take–which was also way too much, I would have had the same thing happen. Your diagnosis was sudden, you haven’t gotten into the habit of testing your blood sugar after meals and before you go out to see where you are and whether you might need a correction. You’ll get that habit and learn how to manage what you have to manage and life will go on.
You’ll figure what dose you need and which insulin works best for you–there are a lot of different kinds and some of us have to try out several to find the right mix. I sure did. You’ll learn how to correct. And because you have LADA, once you get your blood sugars back in range you probably will have a bit of margin of error there to keep you out of trouble. Folks with LADA often have more residual beta cell function left than those with childhood onset Type 1.
So get into testing an hour after you eat and learn how to use glucose to correct. Here’s a brief explanation: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/14047370.php Treating Mild Hypos.
All it takes is a stick of Sweetarts. Keep them in your pocket when you go out on a walk, and if you feel at all odd, take as many as will push your blood sugar up 20 or 30 mg/dl.
It is overwhelming at first, but by this time next year, I promise you, you will be laughing at what happened today, not crying. The folks online can really help you understand what your options are and all the tips and tricks that make it work.
You’ll be fine and you can live a long and healthy life.
Thank you, Dana! I gotta get me one of those kits, just to be on the safe side.
Thank you, Lee!
Hi LeeAnn, thanks very much for this. Who could blame you for having difficulty accepting diabetes, especially at such a young age. Despite the obstacles you faced, I really admire the way you persevered.
Hi, Jenny, that’s so encouraging to read–thank you! I’m definitely still in the overwhelmed stage, but the amazing outpouring of support here at TuDiabetes has helped more than I can say.