Its been about a month since I was diagnosed with T1, and everyone's been saying that pretty soon i'm going to start feeling so much better. My question is when? The first week of the diagnosis I felt unbelievably awful, but that has past. Now my body just feels so low in energy. Even if I drink coffee throughout the day. sleep and caffine isnt the problem, my body just feels so weak. I've been taking my medication. i hate lantus at night but i rarely take novolog throughout the day because my sugars have been pretty low and i generally do not tend to eat a ton of carbs. rather, i have a high protein diet. any advice on this? I really want to start feeling like my normal self, but it's really hard for me to leave the house for long periods of time because I get so tired and weak i just want to crawl back into bed.
are there any vitamins I could take?
I feel like im eating very healthy. I eat a lot of protein and veggies, i try to stay very low carb, not just because i'm diabetic, but also because i'm just not a huge fan of carbs. often times I have to look for ways to try to incorporate carbs into my meal by eating a little extra even if im full because i guess carbs are still important? idk.
Insulin is sort of like the "key" that allows cells to "unlock" energy from sugar. Even if your BG is ok, it may be preferential to have a small amount of insulin to make that happen? 53% of protein is converted to carbs so if you are protein-heavy, you might experiment with a dose to cover the protein as well? IF you do that, I'd recommend being very careful and testing extra to make sure it's not pounding your BG down a ton.
It does get better and it does take time. I remember asking a nurse about 4 months after diagnosis if it was normal to feel like you don't have a third gear. She didn't have a helpful answer but it probably took six months for me to settle in.
If your blood sugars are still swinging wildly that may be taking a toll on your energy as well.
Take care, have compassion on yourself and be brave. In a suprisingly short time, T1 will feel very natural if not always comfortable.
If your thyroid levels were not checked recently, I'd suggest getting them checked.
You could also be in honeymoon, and producing your own insulin, which would explain why you don't appear to need novolog for meals, especially if low-carb. You might even have to high dose of Lantus if your BGs are frequently below 80. Do you see a pattern of feeling tired at a certain BG level ?
If your A1C was high at diagnosis, then your body was accustomed to high BGs, so now normal BGs can also give a feeling of low energy. It takes time for your body to re-adjusts to normal BGs (80-120).
Sorry to hear you are feeling unwell and i hope it improves soon I was diagnosed when I was 12 so I barely remember what it was like now but just so you know, I'm not sure I ever felt "normal" ever again
I agree with one of the other posters, it may be iron, but probably worth checking it out with your Doctor. The other thing Id recommend is exercise. I know it sounds weird considering you are low on energy but when I feel at my most exhausted, exercise for some reason always seem to create energy for me
First, have your thyroid levels checked. T1s are very prone to developing something called Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is when the immune system attacks the thyroid. If your thyroid levels are low, that could make you feel pretty crummy.
Second, how are your BGs? When you swing from high to low, it can make you feel pretty crummy as well. Are you spiking at any time of the day? I personally have always had trouble maintaining steady BGs on long-acting insulins. It was one of my primary reasons for switching to the pump and I definitely felt better once I eliminating those wild swings.
Another thing - a month really isn't that long. It will probably take your body longer than 4 weeks to recover from the shock of being diagnosed, starting insulin, and having to follow this new regimen. I think you might just need to give it some more time (assuming everything else checks out ok). I was having some issues with control a couple of years ago and when I finally got things back under control, I definitely went through a period where I just DID NOT feel well. As my BGs came back into range, I constantly felt tired and like I was going low (even when I wasn't). It was incredibly frustrating, but I stuck with it and eventually started to feel better. Sometimes, you've just got to be patient and let your body do its thing.
take heart, good control and ok BS can still leaving you feeling like crap- I hope it gets better soon for you nobody likes feeling bad- lots of good low carb veggies and some good old fat mixed with some protein is a good thing (sounds like what you were saying) I would say 120-150-g of protein is as high as you wanna go- don’t fear fat - if you are low carb’in you need calories from somewhere and if not carbs your body is burning fat for energy so make sure it has fuel
Hi hk62: I think it takes much longer than a month to recover from a Type 1 diagnosis, both mentally and physically. I wrote my top ten tips for the newly diagnosed T1, maybe there is something there to help? For me, it took about 10 months to recover from diagnosis, but I was in DKA at diagnosis which left me physically wasted. Then there was the grieving over the loss of the life I knew.... So I would say be kind to yourself and give yourself LOTS of time, and get support here at TuD from people who know.
Hi, I was not in DKA, only suddenly was drinking water one afternoon and so tested myself and was definitely diabetic both fasting and after meals. And after the weekend, my A1c was up at the doctor's. In 3 months, my A1c was 7, but my energy was not normal yet. In 9 months, I felt my energy back to normal. I was best when I was exercising, my BG at 100 solidly with my taking glucose tabs to immediately correct to there if I even dropped to 70. My daily carb intake was 70gm at that time, I took Lantus mostly in the morning and only 1-2u at night so I would never go low, and I kept working to get that basal so it was even round the clock. I experimented back then with one food one portion size to see what it needed in insulin to return me to 100. One food after another and finally I put them together in meals. I learned to eat veggies and meat and learned that I couldn't even cover grains/bread/rice with insulin. I spiked too much. I weighed daily to ensure I wasn't going up since that can only start a cycle. Give it time. Give it good research on yourself. Record the tests,foods and portions and amount of insulin every day a page. You'll see progress. You're taming a tiger. And you'll win.
It will take some time for your body to recover, but it will. For awhile after my son was dx his skin was really dry and his hair thin and falling out. He felt weak and had tummy aches and head aches. But he slowly got better and now he is back to normal. Getting insulin again will work like magic.
